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Monday, April 3, 2023

The Path of Reconciliation - Lent with Bonhoeffer Day 35– Purity 1007

 

The Path of Reconciliation - Lent with Bonhoeffer Day 35– Purity 1007

Purity 1007 04/03/2023 Purity 1007 Podcast

Purity 1007 on YouTube: 



Good morning,

Today’s photo of a sunlight pathway on pouring through brick windows over hardwood floors comes to us from yours truly as I captured this scene while visiting the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams on Saturday.  I was moved to take this photo because I was happy to see something pure that the Lord decided to put on display after being somewhat disillusioned and disturbed by what man would call art.  Some of the displays were man’s best attempts to create beauty out of things that had been broken and discarded and some of the themes revealed that the artists may have felt that way about themselves. Other displays were a distortion of things God created and others wittingly or unwittingly paid homage to “gods that were not God” or to Satan himself.  While I certainly wouldn’t discourage anyone from paying a visit to the very impressive venue of Mass MoCa, I would suggest keeping your spiritual eyes open and see the subtle but inherent dangers that come from man forcing their vision and definition of beauty on the world and in the ways the enemy spurs on that prideful self-expression of rebellion and how he can tempt these “artists” to give him glory to him by including symbols and images that represent him in their work.

I guess that’s what happens when the Lord calls you to follow Him and to pick up the mantle of a spiritual warfare ministry: you can’t help but see the subtle and not so subtle ways the enemy attacks us and actively seeks to steal, kill, and destroy the things God has created. I was moved and impressed by many of the exhibits at Mass MoCa but I also said a prayer of repentance this morning to cleanse myself of any demonic permissions or assignments that may have tried to attach themselves to me through the more sinister elements on exhibit at the museum.

Well, It’s Monday again and while I have to prepare for another week of work at my day job at a telecommunications company, I had to pray that prayer of repentance to prepare myself for a possible confrontation with the spiritual forces of darkness this evening as I will be leading another man from the Freedom in Christ course through the Steps to Freedom in Christ this evening.  And considering this man was oppressed with nightmares that involved bears, imprisonment, chaos, and sexual temptations the evening after he submitted his paperwork for his freedom appointment, the enemy may not be happy with this man’s decision to repent and could attempt to resist our efforts this evening.  

If we had to face off against the enemy in our own strength I would have serious concerns but because we are relying on the power and authority given to us by God because of our faith in Jesus Christ, I am relieved and confident that no demon could stop us from performing what God wants us to accomplish.  So we will trust in the Lord and the power of His might and follow where He leads us.  

Well, after Palm Sunday yesterday, we are in the midst of Holy Week and I looking forward to Resurrection Sunday this weekend but we have to take this journey through Lent one day at a time.  So let’s continue by taking one more step into the 35th day of Lent, and into Day 35 of our current series, the 40 Day Journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

As a reminder, and as we will say each day of this journey, we take this path to mark the season of Lent and to draw closer to God in anticipation of the celebration of Easter, knowing that if we take this journey of repentance seriously, we will not only see the days and seasons change, the Lord will use it to change us too. 

You can sign up to get this devotional yourself by going to the Biblegateway link on the blog ((https://www.biblegateway.com/devotionals/40-Day-Journey-Dietrich-Bonhoeffer/today)) . 

Day 35

Bonhoeffer writes:

“Thus there remains only one path for those who in following Jesus want to truly serve God in worship, and that is the path of reconciliation with their sisters and brothers.

Anyone who comes to the word and sacrament with an unreconciled heart stands judged by doing so.

Such a person is a murderer in God’s sight.

That is why you must “first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.”

It is a difficult path Jesus imposes on his disciples.

It includes much humiliation and dishonor for the disciples themselves.

But it is the path to him, our crucified brother, and thus, it is a path full of grace.

In Jesus, service to the least brother or sister and service to God became one.

He went and was reconciled to his human kindred, and then he came and offered himself, the one true sacrifice, to his Father.”

Biblical Wisdom

“So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother and sister, and then come and offer your gift.” Matthew 5:23-24

Questions to Ponder

  • Bonhoeffer states that: “It is a difficult path Jesus imposes on his disciples.” What makes it difficult?

M.T. Clark: The path of reconciliation that Jesus imposes on us is difficult because it requires our complete surrender to His Lordship which in turns requires our humility, our profession of faith publicly, and our sincere efforts to be “peacemakers” in a world that is hostile to God.  Just yesterday, I was accused of being either an “idiot or a liar” for sharing the belief that the Bible is the word of God.  Our natural inclination as men is to fight fire with fire but because of my skeptical and atheistic past, I know that the  criticism that would call me dishonest or ignorant is coming from a place of ignorance and dishonesty (they either “don’t know” God’s word or are stating that they “know” for certain it isn’t His word – which I would think they couldn’t honestly say). While I don’t think I will be reconciled to this person, I still felt moved to respond, thanking them for their honest feedback, and tried to encourage them to seek out the veracity of the claims regarding God, the Bible, and Jesus Christ for themselves by asking the question: Could the One who created the universe be unable to share His story and reveal His will to those He created? Obviously, I had to humble myself to respond to someone who laid such obvious criticism at my feet.  And even though this is extremely mild treatment on the persecution scale, it demonstrates in a small way the difficult path that Jesus imposes on his disciples to be reconciled to our brothers and to make peace where and if it is up to us.        

  • He also states that, “it is a path full of grace.” Where is the grace?

M.T. Clark: This path is full of grace because it is established by the grace of God.  God’s grace saved us, giving us mercy and favor, and it is only though God’s grace are we able to forgive and offer mercy and favor to others.  The grace is in me as I seek to be reconciled to others, but it comes from God, and if God moves within the situation, it can be received by the other as well. 

  • How did Jesus model the truth that, “service to the least brother or sister and service to God became one”?

M.T. Clark: Jesus’s earthly ministry of proclaiming the forgiveness of sins through faith in Him, His miracles, His acts of service, and His death on the cross to pay the penalty of our sins all model the truth that He is servicing the least brother or sister and simultaneously performing the service that God called Him to do.   All the things Jesus did was in service and obedience to God the Father’s commands, but they also serviced to men’s physical and spiritual needs.  Thus we can service God and man by answering the call to do good works in the name of God here on earth.

Psalm Fragment

O guard my life, and deliver me;
   do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
   for I wait for you. 
Psalm 25:20-21

Journal Reflections

  • Is there someone with whom you need to be reconciled? Write about the circumstances that led to alienation from this person.

M.T. Clark: Need to be reconciled?  Yeah, I would have to say because I still have unfinished business regarding the terms and conditions of my divorce, I need to be reconciled to my ex. While our marriage covenant has been broken and legally severed, our marriage home needs to be sold in order for the terms of our divorce agreement to be fulfilled and to be able to move forward with our lives independently of one another.  I have taken what legal action I can to move things to completion but am waiting for this matter to be resolved. It’s a difficult situation and I await the day we can be reconciled in this matter because I know that even though it may be difficult to get there, both parties will be better off when it is finished.

  • What step(s) might you take to begin the process of reconciliation?

M.T. Clark: I don’t taken the right steps with legal action but I know that I wasn’t getting anywhere without it.  I could try to extend an olive branch of peace but the other party has made it clear that they don’t wish to speak to me and I fear that further actions on my part to be reconciled in this matter would only make this matter worse.  So we wait.  It is difficult path, right?  

Prayer for Today

Gracious God, thank you for reconciling me to yourself; now make me a reconciler.

In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. 

 

(40-Day Journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Copyright © 2007 Augsburg Books, imprint of Augsburg Fortress.)

***As we are being provided with Bible verses from the 40 Day Journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, we will are taking a break from sharing a verse of the day from “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”. We plan on resuming that normal installment of the blog following Easter.*** 

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As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.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 A.W. Pink’s “The Sovereignty of God.”

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase A.W. Pink’s books for your own private study and to support his work.  This resource is available on many websites for less than $20.00.

THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD

By  ARTHUR W. PINK

CHAPTER TWELVE

THE VALUE OF THIS DOCTRINE continues

 

We shall now consider the Value of the doctrine in detail.

3. It repudiates the heresy of salvation by works

“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man; but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Prov. 14:12). The way which “seemeth right” and which ends in “death,” death eternal, is salvation by human effort and merit. The belief in salvation by works is one that is common to human nature. It may not always assume the grosser form of Popish penaces, or even of Protestant “repentance,” i.e., sorrowing for sin, which is never the meaning of repentance in Scripture; anything which gives man a place at all is but a variety of the same evil genus. To say, as alas! many preachers, are saying, God is willing to do His part if you will do yours, is a wretched and excuseless denial of the Gospel of His grace. To declare that God helps those who help themselves is to repudiate one of the most precious truths taught in the Bible, and in the Bible alone; namely, that God helps those who are unable to help themselves, who have tried again and again only to fail. To say that the sinner’s salvation turns upon the action of his own will is another form of the God-dishonoring dogma of salvation by human efforts. In the final analysis, any movement of the will is a work: it is something from me, something which I do. But the doctrine of God’s sovereignty lays the axe at the root of this evil by declaring “It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy” (Rom. 9:16). Does some one say, Such a doctrine will drive sinners to despair. The reply is, Be it so; it is just such despair the writer longs to see prevail. It is not until the sinner despairs of any help from himself that he will ever fall into the arms of sovereign mercy; but if once the Holy Spirit convicts him that there is no help in himself then he will recognize that he is lost, and will cry, “God be merciful to me a sinner,” and such a cry will be heard. If the author may be allowed to bear personal witness, he has found during the course of his ministry that the sermons he has preached on human depravity, the sinner’s helplessness to do anything himself, and the salvation of the soul turning upon the sovereign mercy of God, have been those most owned and blessed in the salvation of the lost. We repeat, then, a sense of utter helplessness is the first prerequisite to any sound conversion. There is no salvation for any soul until it looks away from itself, looks to something, yea, to Somone, outside of itself.[1]

---------------------------more tomorrow------------------------

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My wife, TammyLyn, also offers Christian encouragement via her Ask Seek Knock blog (https://tammylynask.blogspot.com/ ),  her Facebook Group: Ask, Seek, Knock (https://www.facebook.com/groups/529047851449098 ) and her podcast Ask, Seek, and Knock on Podbean (https://feed.podbean.com/tammalyn78/feed.xml)

“The views, opinions, and commentary of this publication are those of the author, M.T. Clark, only, and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of any of the photographers, artists, ministries, or other authors of the other works that may be included in this publication, and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities the author may represent.”

Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship

 



[1] Arthur W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God (Swengel, PA: Bible Truth Depot, 1949), 227–228.


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