In this devotional video, M.t. Clark shares a personal update about his World Vision child sponsorship ending after more than a decade of supporting a girl in Haiti, Sergeline, whose community has become self‑reliant. He reflects on the mixed emotions of sadness and peace that accompany the transition to a new sponsorship child in Colombia, Elise Tatiana, and uses the experience to illustrate a broader Christian principle: believers must eventually let go of relationships and help so that others can grow toward self‑sufficiency. Clark then reads and interprets Isaiah 9:1‑7 (New Living Translation), emphasizing the promise of a coming Light and the Prince of Peace, and connects this biblical hope to the reality that human assistance is temporary while God’s ultimate redemption is eternal. He references Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s The Cost of Discipleship (specifically the righteousness of Christ passage) and briefly mentions his past exposure to Joel Osteen, acknowledging both criticism and the positive impact Osteen’s event had on his own decision to sponsor. Throughout, Clark promotes his online ministry—mt4christ.org, the 24/7 podcast, YouTube channel, and past teaching series on Victory Over the Darkness, The Bondage Breaker, and Freedom in Christ—inviting listeners to engage, sponsor children, and access his resources. The video concludes with a heartfelt prayer for listeners, for the people he has helped, and for guidance in following God’s will.
Chapters
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 sunset from the vantage point of Snook's Bayside Restaurant and, and Grand Tiki Bar in Key Largo, Florida, comes to us from a friend who's on vacation and kicking back but took time to share this view for all his friends on social media 2 days ago. Well, it's Thursday again, and I've decided to break tradition and not share a typical pathway photo, as it has been my habit to share a pathway photo of a— as a visual encouragement to others to get on or stay on the path of Christian discipleship. Although I guess technically the water here could be considered a water pathway of sorts. We just need a boat, right? Anyway, I'm a little hard-pressed for time as I got distracted because I wanted to send a Christmas card and gift to my World Vision sponsor sponsored child because I received a prompting in the mail a couple of days ago, and although I finally found the envelope and materials to send out the card, I discovered that I have a new child. Um, hmm. Apparently my domain— my donations to my previous child that I have been sponsoring since 2011 have been switched to a little girl in Colombia because the girl I was sponsoring in Haiti her goal has been met. And upon further review, Sergeline, my sponsor child in Haiti, is, is a child no longer, as she is 17 years old. Even my sponsor children have grown up in a blink of an eye. I'm not sure how to feel about this, so the Christmas card that I'm going to put in the mail will be the last thing that Sergeline receives from me. While I am happy to help my new child, Elise Tatiana, in Ciudad Pensadora con la Niñez, Colombia. Say that 3 times fast. I'm saddened that Sergeline is all grown up and my sponsorship relationship with her has come to an end. Sergeline has grown into a young woman, and the help I gave apparently is no longer needed as her goal has been met and her community has become quote-unquote self-reliant. Individually, each year I would send a monthly donation, but at Christmas I would send the maximum individual gift to, uh, Sergeline to benefit her and her family. My gifts provided Sergeline with things she needed, but they also bought goats and other livestock that benefited the whole family. So I'm happy I was able to help Sergeline and her community and realize that my sponsorship can now help a new girl and her family and community. I guess my help couldn't continue forever, um, nor do I think it should have. While we can help others in need, at some point people should be encouraged to provide for themselves. It's a hard fact of life that we all have to grow up and become adults and support ourselves no matter where we live in the world. So even though I'm a little sad that Sergio Line sponsorship has ended, I hope that she would understand and encourage me to help another child in need. I started sponsoring Sergio Line going back because— going— I started sponsoring Sergio Line because After, after— that's what I was going to write— after going to a Joel Osteen event in Albany where I got to meet the megachurch pastor in person. So although many can criticize Joel and his lavish lifestyle and his rather prosperity gospel, your best life now messages, he did some good for World Vision and for a little girl in Haiti because it was through his event that I felt convicted to help, and now that help will reach a little girl in Colombia. There we go. And considering all this, I just have to say that I am just a Christian trying to follow the Lord with the way I live my life. And although I suppose some could judge me harshly for not— for allowing my sponsorship and relationship with Sergio Laine to come to an end according to World Vision's direction, and for not going above and beyond by continuing to send help to her directly. I have peace— oh, I have peace with the help I provided and with allowing it to end. I'm not perfect, but I did this small thing for a girl in Haiti, for just— for a girl in Haiti. Yeah, let's see. I'm not perfect, but I did this small thing for a girl in Haiti. I did this small thing for a girl in Haiti, period. But just like anyone else that I try to encourage to live a life of Christian discipleship, I have to let them choose to walk on their own eventually. There you go. That's what I meant to say. Anyway, um, but before I knew that the Christmas card that I was signing would be the last thing I was going to send Sergeline, uh, I filled it out. And the message I— uh, in the message— and I pray, and I pray that the message I sent will be taken as an encouragement and a fond farewell, uh, without knowing it would be goodbye. I wrote Read the Bible, follow the Holy Spirit, and keep walking and talking with God with the way you live your life. And I drew a little heart and signed it M.t. Clark. I sealed that— the envelope before I found out my sponsorship ended, so I'm pretty sure that's what I wrote. But I also included, almost as an afterthought, my blog's web address, mt4christ.org. So if she needs encouragement or wants to know more about the man that has been sponsoring her since 2011, Serjolijn can read all about me and, and be continually encouraged to follow the Lord on my blog or via the podcast or the YouTube channel. Uh, every relationship we have on this earth will come to an end unless Jesus comes back first, but I have peace about it because I know that while I know the people I know, I will be encouraging them to get right with God by putting their faith in Jesus and by telling them to seek the Lord's will for their life. And if the Holy Spirit decides to use my words I'll see them again when we go into God's eternal kingdom. I don't have time to share the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men's verse of the day today, but as the Lord would have it, with Christmas on my mind, my Bible study this morning just happened to be Isaiah 9. So I will share some of that because I— because it speaks of the advent of Christ and the culmination of his kingdom that is yet to come. Isaiah 9:1-7 from the New Living Translation Bible promise— well, nope, just New Living Translation of the Bible says, nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory. The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine. You will enlarge the nation of Israel, and its people will rejoice. They will rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest and like warriors dividing the plunder. For you will break the yoke of their slavery and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders. You will break the oppressor's rod just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian. Uh, the boots of the warrior and the uniforms bloodstained by war will all be burned. They will be fuel for the fire. For a child is born to us, a son is given. The government will rest on his shoulders, and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice for, for the throne of his ancestor David, from the throne of his ancestor David, for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven's Army will make this happen. So we can rest knowing that while we can't help everyone forever and always, the Lord has a plan to fix what is broken, uh, and to reclaim what was lost. Christ will return, and he will be our wonderful counselor and Prince of Peace forever and ever. Amen. Today's Bible— well, no, no, um, as always, I invite all to go to the, uh, 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 Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Discipleship, also known as The Cost of Discipleship. And today we continue sharing from that book. And if you want to know what section, uh, it's going to be, um, I can tell you, um, if I can figure it out, it's going to be on the righteousness of Christ from Matthew 5:17-20. So if you want to see what the 5:17-20 says and what Dietrich Bonhoeffer has to say about it, go to mt4christ.org and you'll see that resource at the end of today's blog post. As always, I encourage people to follow the Lord, put their faith in Jesus Christ, and live a life of Christian discipleship. To offer your help— to offer you help, I provide the, uh, the classes that I've taught for my— at my local Church on Victory Over the Darkness, The Bondage Breaker, and Freedom in Christ, uh, from back in 2021. They're on the M.t. for Christ 24/7 podcast and the M.t. for Christ 24/7 YouTube channel, and, uh, they're there for your enjoyment. And if you'd like, you can reach out to me at M.t. for Christ 247@gmail.com to receive the printed materials via email for those classes. To help you in your walk, because I've discovered that a life of Christian discipleship is the pathway to peace here on earth. You know, when we, when we know who we are in Christ, when we experience our freedom in Christ, we rise above the situations and circumstances of this world to live with the fruit of the Spirit growing in our lives. And that's my mission here at the, the blog, the podcast, and the YouTube channel, is just to be an encouraging voice to Christians to assure you that you know the truth and that you are— if you put your faith in Christ, you are secure in God's kingdom and you have a purpose. That purpose is to glorify God with everything you do and to lead others into the light and out of the darkness. So we do that. And, you know, I mentioned Joel Osteen today, and You know, some people are hard on Joel, calling him a false teacher and all that. And while I'm not currently watching, in my early days I did watch Joel Osteen. And at the end of every message, he invites people to make Jesus their Lord and Savior. And if Joel Osteen led you to the Lord, he might lead you to— you know, the Lord would, you know, welcome you into his kingdom. It doesn't matter who the messenger is. The Holy Spirit can use any one of us to impact other people. And I've been blessed by this latest Freedom in Christ course that I'm teaching online on Tuesday nights because I've had a couple of the men, you know, reach out to give their thanks and appreciation for, for just encouraging them, for facilitating the course, and for sharing resources that I have. Learned from, and, you know, I'm blessed. And one of the men actually contacted me yesterday via email and said that one of the things I just happened to say in passing was used by the Holy Spirit to really hit his heart. So, you know, the Lord can use even our offhand comments, you know, because he knows what's going on in the situation. You know, in a room full of, you know, a Zoom room full of 10 people or so. I try to, you know, I'm reviewing the course material and commenting on it, and something I say, oh, you know, as he says, almost in passing, convicted this man and gave him, you insight and peace. And, you know, that's God, that's not me, that's the Lord. So that's why we keep walking and talking with God and we keep encouraging other people, because we don't know how the Lord will use us. You know, what we say in passing can be used to impact someone's life. So if you don't sponsor a child with World Vision or one of those other other organizations that are Christian that sponsor kids, I recommend it. It's a small expense and it can help people, you know. So that's my plug for World Vision. So go, go to World Vision and sponsor a child today, and then they'll turn, they'll turn 17 and they'll switch it to another kid without even telling you. But anyway, we have peace with that. That's how they operate. And, you know, I could be upset, but, um, I let it go. I help where I can, and if the organization deems that's what they do, that's what they do. Um, you know, I wasn't the greatest sponsored guy, but I did send in the donations. You know, I didn't, uh, connect on a personal level, but I did try to provide monthly. And like I said, I gave those Christmas gifts to to try to bless Sergeline. And it's my prayer that her and her family are self-reliant and their community self-reliant and that they can prosper, um, going forward. And I hope they, they take the advice that I gave in, in my car, my last contact with them, um, to read the Bible, follow the Holy Spirit, and keep walking and talking with God. You know, if I, if I had known it was going to be the last thing, I would have said seek the Lord and find your purpose in him as but hey, if they go to the— if they go to the blog, they'll see that, they'll see this, and maybe they'll listen to the podcast and they'll hear that encouragement. Anyway, I'm here to encourage you that we're on the right path when we follow Christ, and we can do amazing things and be used by him to help others into his kingdom and encourage them in their faith. So let's do that today. By offering our prayers. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you so much for this strange journey that you put us on, where I'm, you know, totally confused about what message I'm going to write today, and then it goes in a totally different direction. But we know you're good, and maybe this will encourage someone out there. Um, Lord, beyond that, we pray for the people that are listening to this long diatribe. Um, we, we pray that, uh, they be blessed, Lord, that you would be with them wherever they go today, and that you would listen to their prayers and help them in their walk. Lord, we pray as always that you'd go before us today and open our eyes to what you want us to see, and also to lead us into the things you would have us do. Lord, you know the end from the beginning, and we need your help. Uh, so we're asking that for today. We're asking for your protection as we go about this world. Um, Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
