Still Crazy After All These Years – Maintaining Your Freedom - Purity 1270
Purity 1270 02/09/2024 Purity 1270 Podcast
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Good morning,
Today’s photo of a hazy sunset over Schodack Creek
comes to us from yours truly as I was moved to capture the view from my
driveway at the end of the workday yesterday afternoon, basking in the
unseasonably warm weather and being filled with peace.
Well, It’s Friday, thank God, and it is my prayer
this morning that my friends who are reading or listening to this message will
find some peace at the end of the work day today to take into the weekend with
them and to consider taking some time this weekend to reach out to a friend
that you haven’t heard from in a while to share your appreciation for their friendship
and to check in to report and hear how the Lord has been moving in both your
lives.
That suggestion is both timely and God inspired, as I
reached out and met with old friend just last night after the Lord put them on
my heart during prayer a few days ago.
Instead of letting the thoughts of them just dissipate into the ether, I
reached out via FB messenger and we arranged to meet last night just to shoot
the breeze and to encourage one another in our walk of faith.
An old Paul Simon song is on my mind this morning as
I think of our meeting last night and so now I will infect you with its lyrics
to possibly inspire you to see how old “what’s their name is doing”, the song goes:
I met
my old lover
On the
street last night
She
seemed so glad to see me
I just
smiled
And we
talked about some old times
And we
drank ourselves some beers
Still
crazy after all these years
Still
crazy after all these years
Forgive the song choice but that’s
what came to mind. Warning: I am not trying
to inspire reaching out to old lovers or encourage you to have a nostalgic time
that leads to drunkenness but to simply share your appreciation for a friend
that you have not seen in a while, that’s all and to satisfy your curiosity about
whether or not they are still crazy after all these years, and if applicable to
share the good news of Jesus Christ to ensure you will see your old friend in
eternity.
An amazing amount of my past “friends
in low places” have come to have faith in Jesus as their Lord and Savior and it
is within the fellowship of the body of Christ where we can really be sure that
we can be “best friends forever.”
Anyway, the friend I talked to last
night isn’t really that old of a friend. They were actually one of the first “students”
of the freedom in Christ course that I first facilitated back in the early
months of 2022. So the length of our
relationship hasn’t been too long but the quality of it is what is dear to me
because it has Jesus at the center of it. While we have different backgrounds
and similar past struggles, the fact that we have Jesus and Freedom in Christ in
common makes our friendship one that will endure, no matter how crazy that may
seem to the rest of the world.
My friend had a significant shift in
his life through the Freedom in Christ course and through going through the
Steps to Freedom in Christ. He was set free from condemnation and sex addiction
and since our time together has moved on to lead other men to freedom from sex
addiction through facilitating an online Conqueror Series Men’s group. It is truly a blessing to see how my friend
has received his freedom and has taken it to inspire other men to find
theirs.
But my friend's journey to lead
others into freedom from sex addiction wasn’t a flawless one, last he admitted
that after a time he regressed in his recovery a bit and was inspired to sign
up to be a facilitator for the Conqueror Series in part because he wanted to reclaim
the freedom that he had previously had.
He testified that after we had parted ways that he had enjoyed his
freedom for a long time but became lax in maintaining a daily spiritual
practice and began to seek comfort in the ways of the flesh instead of abiding
in the ways of the Spirit.
“And that’s what I admire about you M.T.,
you have your spiritual disciplines that you do every day.” is what my friend said
to me, realizing that was where he had gone astray. And it’s true, I’m still “crazy
after all these years”. I can’t recall
exactly when I started rising early to pray, read the Bible, and to write about
my walk with God since I was born again in 2010 and went into recovery in 2015,
but I know it was and is a major factor
in maintaining freedom. Every morning I
rise early and ground myself in my identity in Christ through prayer, reading
scripture or Scripture heavy Christian resources, practicing gratitude, and
writing about my life with God or various aspects of our faith.
You might call me crazy when you
consider how early I get up to do all this but the results of living this Vida
loca with Jesus is crazy amounts of peace, freedom, victory, and joy. And it is in maintaining this walk in the
Spirit that I have not only maintained my freedom but have moved it into different
areas of my life. My series of
teachings, the Celebrate Freedom Discipleship Course – hits what I thought were
super important keys to my victory (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYr9n4D1yfkqqfZAmeJtWFsrH3tHyKpZE)
but Ascension was my wording of the concept of progressive sanctification
because I realized that if I wasn’t moving from my victory over one area of my
life to take on another it would only be a matter of time before things would
fall apart. As Christians we are called
to keep moving forward and to answer the upward call of God on our lives, so we
claim our freedom and victories and then we look for the “next thing” that God
wants to do in our lives – be it a new way to serve the body of Christ or a new
area of our lives that we need to put under the control of God’s will for our
lives.
But I understand, we need to know how
to maintain our freedom if we are going to move forward so I am going to share
Neil Anderson's advice on maintaining your freedom from his book Restored – but
these instructions are also in The Steps to Freedom in Christ, to encourage a
lifestyle of Christian Discipleship that will keep relapses at bay, to continue
to fight the good fight of faith, and to
give you peace and purpose for each new day.
“MAINTAINING YOUR
FREEDOM
Experiencing your freedom in Christ is exciting, but what you have
gained must be maintained. You have won an important battle, but the war goes
on. To maintain your freedom in Christ and grow in the grace of God, you must
continue renewing your mind to the truth of God’s word. If you become aware of
lies you have believed, renounce them and choose the truth. If more painful
memories surface, then forgive those who hurt you and renounce any sinful part
you played. Many people choose to go through The Steps to Freedom in Christ again
to make sure they have dealt with all their issues. Sometimes new issues will
surface. Some go through The Steps again as a periodic “house cleaning.”
After going through The Steps, people sometimes have
thoughts like nothing has really changed. You’re the same person you always
were. It didn’t work. In most cases you should just ignore those thoughts. We
are not called to dispel the darkness; we are called to turn on the light. You
don’t get rid of negative thoughts by rebuking every one; you get rid of them
by repenting and choosing the truth.
I encourage you to read Victory Over the Darkness (Bethany
House, 2000) and The Bondage Breaker (Harvest House, 2000). To continue
growing in the grace of God:
1. Get rid of or destroy any cult or occult
objects in your home (See Acts 19:18-20).
2. Get involved in a small group ministry where
you can be a real person, and be part of a church where God’s truth is taught
with kindness and grace.
3. Read and meditate on the truth of God’s Word
each day.
4. Don’t let your mind be passive, especially
concerning what you watch and listen to (music, TV, etc.). Take every thought
captive to the obedience of Christ.
5. Be open and honest with God in prayer. (See Liberating
Prayer, Harvest House, 2012).”
So, if you don’t have your freedom,
you can experience it through the prayerful repentance process, The Steps to
Freedom in Christ. You can get the book,
Restored, for free from Freedom in Christ Ministries (https://www.ficm.org/ministry-materials/free-resources/)
to teach you about the process and to
take you through the Steps.
And then you can follow Neil’s advice
to maintain your freedom. Not surprisingly, it involves abiding in Christ,
practicing Christian spiritual disciplines every day and living a Christian
with the way you live.
So get free and stay free by making Jesus
your Savior and the Lord of your Life. When you follow Jesus, you find a new
life of freedom, peace, and joy. So get started or keep on walking and talking with
God.
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For
those who want more evidence for Christianity than my simple encouragements provide,
I offer apologist, Frank Turek’s website, https://crossexamined.org/ .
Today’s
Bible verses come to us from “The Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling” By
John G. Kruis.
(
While Bible verses on various topics of Counseling can be found with a quick
Google search, we encourage you to purchase this resource to support the late
author’s work. (https://www.amazon.com/Quick-Scripture-Reference-Counseling-Kruis-ebook/dp/B00CIUJZT2?ref_=ast_author_dp )
This
morning’s meditation verses come from the section on Communication, Gossip, and
Lying.
Proverbs 11:11-13 (ESV)
11 By the blessing of the
upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is overthrown.
12 Whoever belittles his
neighbor lacks sense, but a man of understanding remains silent.
13 Whoever goes about
slandering reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing
covered.
Today’s
verses are the first of five passages of scripture that fall under the eleventh
point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Communication, Gossip, and
Lying.
11. Do not hurt your
neighbor by gossip or careless talk; control your tongue.
Today’s
verse give us practical advice on relationships with our fellow man and how to
use our speech to love our neighbors as ourselves. We are not to belittle or slander our neighbors
through gossip. Instead, we are to stop the sin of gossip before it happens by
remaining silent and keeping secrets covered.
Sharing someone’s dirty laundry isn’t helping them, keeping confidence
does. Our not sharing dirty secrets establishes
trust with others and gives us a platform from which we can encourage
repentance and guide others in the way of the Lord. So be silent when it comes to sharing juicy
stories but speak boldly to those we protect about the abundance of fruit that
comes from walking in the Spirit.
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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 “According to Your
Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament” By Stephen F. Olford – A
Collection of Devotional Journals: 1940-1941.
As always, I share this information for educational
purposes and encourage you all to purchase Olford’s books for your own
private study and to support his work. This resource is available online
for less than $10 at many sites.
EVENING READING: MARK 2
“He was in the house.” – Mark 2:1
What happens when Christ is in a house? Notice the
following things:
There is a Drawing Power. “Immediately many gathered
together, so that there was no longer room to receive them” (v. 2). Wherever
the Lord Jesus is, there is drawing power. “And I, if I am lifted up from the
earth, will draw all peoples to Myself ” (John 12:32).
There is Preaching Power. “He preached the word to them”
(v. 2). Luke adds, “The power of the Lord was present to heal them” (Luke
5:17). Paul tells me that “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty”
(2 Cor. 3:17). When Christ is in the house, there is perfect liberty for
preaching.
There is Healing Power. To quote Luke again, he says, “The
power of the Lord was present to heal them” (Luke 5:17). Notice also the
healing of the palsied man, and also the forgiving of his sins.
Lord, take Your rightful place in MY
house.[1]
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tomorrow------------------------
Join our “Victory over the Darkness”, “The Bondage
Breaker”, "Freedom in Christ" series of Discipleship Classes via the
mt4christ247 podcast!
at https://mt4christ247.podbean.com, You can also find it on Apple podcasts
(https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mt4christ247s-podcast/id1551615154). The mt4christ247 podcast is also available
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Audible.com.
These teachings are also available on the
MT4Christ247 YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MT4Christ247
Email me at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and
to be encouraged.
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]
Stephen Olford and Heather Olford, According to Your
Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament, A Collection of Devotional
Journals 1940-1941 (Nashville, TN: B&H Books, 2008).