What do you want me to do Lord? - Purity 1314

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.org or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of a tree branch and clear blue skies over the brown fields located beyond the clearing at the end of Freedom Road comes to us from yours truly as I decided to capture this moment as I enjoy the stillness, quiet, and the view while sitting on a stone and mortar cornerstone foundation, which is all that remains from a building, a barn or a house, that is no more than a small pile of rubble and a distant memory of days gone by. With the 40-Day Journey with Martin Luther series on the blog and the online Freedom in Christ course that I was facilitating having been concluded on Saturday, When I got to the end of Freedom Road with my canine pal Harley along for the walk, I asked the Lord what He wanted me to do next. Part of my walk— part of walking in the Spirit is seeking the Lord's guidance through listening prayer. So when I say I walk and talk with God, or ask the Lord something, I mean that quite literally. Before I was born again, I used to talk to myself. Now I talk to God. Although I still have a few responsibilities and requirements to meet—two Freedom appointments this week, one today—to finish the work I started with this season's Freedom in Christ course and last year's School of Prayer Ministry with Deeper Walk International, the future seemed to be wide open during my walk on Saturday, and I wasn't just asking the Lord what was next as much as I was asking Him what He wanted me to do with the rest of my life. With different ideas about what I would like to do, what I could do, and what I would probably do concerning my personal, professional, and ministerial life swirling around my heart and mind. I just wanted some assurance that even though I don't have much that appears to be certain, I wanted to be certain that I was walking with God in the right direction, admitting that I didn't really know where I was going, I asked the Lord what He wanted me to do with the rest of my life and did not have to wait long for a response. "What do You want me to do, Lord?" "Tell people about Me." Although there were a few follow-up questions and concerns about exactly how I should do that, the word that the Lord put in my heart and mind—no, it was not a booming voice or even a quiet audible whisper—was gave me peace, assurance, and joy that even though I am perplexed or vexed quite often over what is next on this path of Christian discipleship, the Lord is with me and has given me a desire to do His will. I have been trying and will dedicate the rest of my life to doing just what the Lord said, to tell people about Him. So, even though much is still to be determined in what I will do, and where I will go and live, I was able to rest on that block of mortar and stone at the end of Freedom Road knowing that I had nothing to worry about and could just enjoy my freedom and life in Christ for the wonderful adventure that it is. Well, it's Monday, and although it's not spring break for me and I have to go to work today and lead a brother through the steps to freedom in Christ tonight, I will rest and rejoice in the Lord and our mission for my life. To tell others about Him all the same. God is good. He loves you. He calls you to put your faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior and invites you to come and see what a life lived in His presence feels and looks like. I know from experience that it is the best life you can have because it just happens to be the life you were created to live, but are free to reject or accept all the same. So let us not worry about where we will be next year, or in the distant future, or even tomorrow. For as Jesus said in Matthew 6:34, "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today." When we keep walking and talking with God, we can know that there are no troubles that we will face today that God and us cannot handle. Us and we, I don't know. Let's go and let, let's go, let's let go and let God lead us. Tell, and tell those we meet along the way just how good He is. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruis. This morning's meditation verse comes from the section on Contentment, Coveting, and Priorities. And today's verse is Matthew 6:33, which says, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Today's verse is the second of two passages of Scripture that fall under the 24th point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on contentment, coveting, and priorities. That 24th point is: The primary goal in life must be to fear God and keep His commandments. Today's verse is really what, what our lives in Christ are all about: seeking God's kingdom, His presence, and His purposes, and His righteousness, the person of Jesus and His ways for living. When I shared Matthew 6:34 above, I honestly did not know 6:33 was the verse of the day, but God knew, and He wants us to know the way to not worry about tomorrow is to seek His kingdom and His righteousness today. This is what we do as Christians. So, keep seeking the LORD, His Kingdom, and His righteousness, and reap the fruit of the Spirit that will grow in your life when you walk with Him. As always, I invite all to go to MTForchrist.org where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue sharing from According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament. By Stephen F. Alford. And in his devotional, Alford always directs us to read a chapter of the New Testament, and today's chapter is John 6. And from John 6, he shares a portion of verse 20, which is, "It is I, do not be afraid." And Stephen Alford writes, "What grand words! How they strengthen, cheer, and comfort the heart." It is true that these words were uttered at a dark moment in the experience of the disciples, but these same words are still the words of the Lord Jesus, and therefore continue to carry with them their ancient power. He says, "It is I, do not be afraid." There is no need to fear when He is near. He is the perfect love which casts out fear. Moreover, He has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. And with the Hebrew writer, I reply, the Lord is my helper, I will not fear. What can man do to me? It is I, it is I, John 6:21. If God is for me, who can be against me, Romans 8:31. And Alford ends his devotional by praying, Lord, in these uncertain times, Your word brings comfort and peace. Amen. And yeah, amen. And his word does bring comfort and peace. That's what I got on Saturday. Like I said, I asked the Lord, what do you want me to do, Lord? And I just got a, you know, pretty clear message: just tell people about me. Pretty simple mission. It's the Great Commission, actually. So it's Is it a word from God? Yeah, I guess. You know, that's what we do. We trust that when we ask, we receive wisdom from Him, and that response was in line with His will. So we'll say yes, we heard directly from the Lord on Saturday, and we'll try to follow that as we have been doing already on this path of Christian discipleship, you know, since we've started to follow the Lord in earnest. I'd say since you know, really since the time I was saved in 2010, but it was a lot better when I decided to walk away from my addictions in 2015, and progressively ever since then. So we recommend a life in the Spirit because it's a life filled with the fruit of the Spirit, which include joy, love, and peace, and we encourage you to do that. A special thanks for the King of Spain— King of Spain? I don't know— from Reddit for giving me a heads up that the blog The podcast was nothing but static this morning. I am re-recording today's message, and I think it's better than it was the first time. So thank you, sir, and God bless you and your family. And I really appreciate, you know, people reaching out to me, wish me a happy Easter yesterday, and stating they had listened to the blog, so, or listened to the podcast or the blog. And, uh, whatnot. If you needed a Bible study, I did one by myself yesterday when Arthur and Suzanne and Zingadi were doing a sunlight service for their new church, Strong Tower, in Philmont, New York, which I was happy to see. But we go on, and I think we'll just pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you so much for all you do for us. Thank you for our friends who encourage us along the path. And Lord, we thank you for your, for your, for your love and your wisdom, um, that guides us. Lord, we pray for anyone that's listening today or reading today's blog, that you come alongside them and their walk of faith and their prayer request. We pray for you to bless them. And, uh, Lord, as always, we pray for you to go before us today, lead us in the way we should go, and help us to do the things you want us to do, because all we want to do is represent you in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you. We pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.