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Friday, June 2, 2023

Gratitude for Others - 28 Day Joy Challenge – Day 2 – Purity 1058

Purity 1058 06/02/2023 Purity 1058 Podcast

Purity 1058 on YouTube:

Good morning,

Today’s photo of a view “Along the River” that features bright orange flowers in the foreground, and a mirror like reflection of the green trees and the blue sky above on the surface of what is presumably the Hiawassee River, somewhere near Murphy NC, comes to us from Fred Dimmick who shared this oasis like scene yesterday on social media.

Well it’s Friday, thank God, and although I have things to do today. I am appreciating the oasis like splendor of my last official day of this Memorial Week vacation that will provide me with the time to get them done. As I have walked through this week that has been a combination of rest, work, and learning, I have come to the conclusion that “time off” is an illusion as even in the most laid back circumstances there are inherent needs and responsibilities that need to be addressed if we seek to maintain any semblance of balance and peace.

While we are free to choose to “do nothing”, we are not free of the consequences of “doing nothing” as the impermanent nature of this world requires that we be diligent in paying attention to the things and systems that surround us that need regular maintenance and care to operate as they should. As much as I was rejoicing over the silence that I found in Nemorod cabin just a few days ago, noting the lack of the sounds of lawn mowers, I am facing the fact that I will break the silence around my house down by the River today as I will choose to mow my own lawn, preferring to keep my lawn short and my chore less taxing but more frequent, rather then letting the grass grow thick and long making the mowing more challenging.

I also will be choosing to get an oil change even though the mileage isn’t quite to the limit yet because I would rather do it now rather than trying to sneak it in after work some day next week.

Yeah, time off is an illusion to some extent because we are called to be good stewards to what the Lord has provided us with, and we experience negative consequences when we don’t “do what is right.” This principle extends to our homes and things, and even our bodies. If we overindulge our flesh with too much food or too much rest, we begin to suffer under the weight of our own bodies or from the weakness that results from a lack of physical exercise. So even though it was my “week off” and I made some compromises on my food choices in the spirit of “vacation”, I have continued my normal exercise routine and have righted the ship of my food choices knowing that the occasional indulgence may be allowed, it isn’t wise, and it shouldn’t be repeated for long. So no more ice cream (why does a half gallon cost less than 2 pints?) and no more large buckets of popcorn at the movies, for a while anyway.

And similarly, we don’t really get any time off from our relationships either. When we avoid people, or take people for granted, there are negative consequences – we feel alone, the enemy comes in to encourage our isolation by causing us to think on the negative aspects of other people, and we feel even more anxiety over reconnecting because we haven’t been exercising our social skills that may require patience and forgiveness.

So today I am encouraging myself and whoever gets this far in the message to be grateful for the other people in our lives. I know some people right now who are grieving the loss of loved ones. I know some who are suffering medical problems – some quite sudden and traumatic. I know some people who are struggling to make ends meet because of a lack of work or a sudden change of employment status. And while all of these people’s problems are different and highly personal, I believe all of them could benefit through the care and concern of others.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (NKJV) tells us.
⁹ Two are better than one, Because they have a good reward for their labor.
¹⁰ For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, For he has no one to help him up.
¹¹ Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; But how can one be warm alone?
¹² Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

We are called to love one another, and Solomon points out how we greatly benefit from having others walking with us through life to help us. And so we should be grateful for the people in our lives and seek to form wholesome and godly relationships with others in our lives, based on our mutual faith in Christ, if we find ourselves alone. Easier said then done I know, but God calls us to be loving, bold, and courageous so don’t give up hope of finding good relationships and don’t stop giving yourself to others who may need a friend like you.

Anyway, that brings us to our current series where I am walking through the 28 Day Joy Challenge, (https://4habits.org/) which is based on Dr. Marcus Warner & Chris Coursey’s latest book, The Four Habits of Joy-Filled People.

You can sign up for the 28 Day Joy Challenge for free and purchase a variety of books from Warner and Coursey on topic of Joy, by going to https://4habits.org/.

So let’s jump into Day 2!

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Day 2: Gratitude Jumpstarts our Joy!

Welcome to Day 2 of the 28 Days to Joy Challenge!

Today’s Encouragement:

Just as with practicing a sport or instrument, we don’t start out as experts. The goal of this journey is not perfection, but rather to gain awareness and grow over time. If any of these exercises don’t come naturally or easily to you, that is okay. As you practice, you will grow!

Today’s Practice: Exercise 2

Today we will learn to use gratitude to jumpstart our joy.

- How This Exercise Will Benefit You:

Gratitude jumpstarts our joy and activates the joy switch in our brains. Spending time remembering the things we are grateful for retrains our brains to focus on life’s blessings versus life’s problems. The more we practice gratitude, the more we remember, see, and anticipate good things in life.

- Exercise Steps:

Identify a person you feel thankful for today and write out specific reasons and examples of why you appreciate this person. Then, take this skill to the next level and tell them how much you appreciate them. (If they are unavailable, practice with someone else.)

Have fun with this exercise. We pick up tomorrow with more joy practice!

(https://4habits.org/)

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I reviewed Day 2’s instructions last night to prepare myself for what I would be in for this morning, because I do intend to actually practice what they instruct and report on my experiences with them.

I had thought of a few people that I could be grateful for a variety of reason but when I sat down to do the practice this morning, I was moved to focus on my wife, TammyLyn, and to be true to the instructions on actually writing out “specific reasons and examples” of why I appreciate her. Also by blogging, and podcasting this – I will be faithful in telling her how much I appreciate her, but if for some reason she doesn’t read or here this message, I will be seeing her tonight and will have my little notebook of reason to present to her in person to let her know how much I appreciate her.

Luckily, we already “practice appreciation” for one another by letting each know how much we love one another and how we appreciate the things we do and the people we are to one another quite regularly. And there seems to be no limit on how much we each appreciate reporting and hearing these things to one another.

But just because we do this on the regular doesn’t mean that I am going to neglect doing today’s Joy Challenge in earnest!

SO this is straight from my scribbled notes (unedited -mostly)

TammyLyn,

I am grateful for you because (this was actually added as I more or less wrote a list) of your:

· Tenacity – You never gave up on me when you felt you “needed me in your life” even though I was unsure, fearful, and resistant to the idea, even though I felt drawn to you the moment I first saw you.

· Faith – Your faith in Christ is genuine and “the evidence” was there and real.

· Determination – While I think you were prone to perseverance, endurance, and acceptance because “it was what it was”, you increasingly seem to have become determined in pursuing the things you need to accomplish and realizing your full potential.

· Care – You care for your kids, your pets, your students, me, and others in countless selfless ways, putting the needs of others above your own.

· Love – I have never felt loved for, like the way I feel loved by TammyLyn – I feel joy in her presence as I feel like I am the “sparkle in her eye” and she seems genuinely happy to be with me.

· Character – She may not be perfect, but since I have known TammyLyn, she has done what is right and stood for righteousness, isn’t ashamed of it, and will even suffer because of it at times.

So that is my cleaned up version of my notes. After compiling the list, I am obviously very grateful for my wife, but I also recognized that of the other people I had thought of as other possible people to be grateful for in this practice – I noticed that they had the same attributes. In varying degrees, the people I could think of to be grateful for were also: tenacious, determined, caring, loving, and faithful people of character. Not surprisingly, the vast majority of people I could think on that had these qualities are Christians as they reflect the One they are called to follow: Jesus Christ.

And for those of you out there that may be struggling to think of anyone you can be grateful for let me suggest you make friends with Christians but also you remind you of the friend you have in Jesus.

As much as these joy exercises will lead us to try to increase our joy through the things around us, let’s not forget that True Joy is a fruit of the Spirit, and it is not contingent on positive circumstances.

TammyLyn could change. She could become bitter and angry. She could lose her mental facilities and forget who she is. She could and will someday die. So if my joy in life is only based on her, I am setting myself up for real disappointment.

However, God doesn’t change and our relationship to Him through our faith in Jesus Christ is sealed for eternity. If I am worshipping TammyLyn more than the Lord, I got something really wrong. I am worshipping the “created” over the Creator. That’s Idolatry and that’s a sin.

While we should be grateful for all the people, places, and things in our lives, we need to remember that they have all been provided to us from a tenacious, determined, caring, loving, God who defines what a righteous character is.

So thank God for the people in your life, show them appreciation because they may not always be who they are now or be present in your life, but remember that when you have your faith in Christ, you are never alone and can be grateful for God.

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For those who want more evidence for Christianity than my simple apologetic will provide, I offer apologist, Frank Turek’s website, https://crossexamined.org/ .

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Today’s Bible verse comes to us from “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”.

This morning’s meditation verses are:

Numbers 6:24-26 (NLT2)
²⁴ ‘May the LORD bless you and protect you.
²⁵ May the LORD smile on you and be gracious to you.
²⁶ May the LORD show you his favor and give you his peace.’

Today’s verses are the “Priestly blessing” – delivered from God to Moses, to Aaron to be give the people of Israel a “special blessing” and it relates God loves for His people and when we speak it, it relates our selfless love for others.

Instead of asking for “what we can get”, this prayer selflessly directs the Lord to bless others with His grace, His favor, and His peace.

I love how the Lord arranged to put this before us on the day we are practicing gratitude and appreciation for other people in our lives! It’s as if He is giving these words to us to bless those we are grateful for, and really there is no “as if” about it. He did give us these words to bless those we are grateful for!

So thank God for the people you are grateful for, and let them know about it too, and while you at it, use this “priestly blessing” to prayer for them as well!

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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 The Holy Spirit By A.W. Pink.

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage you all to purchase A.W. Pink’s books for your own private study and to support his work. This resource is available online for $0.99 (https://www.amazon.com/Holy-Spirit-Arthur-Pink-Collection-ebook/dp/B008CM5292/ref=sr_1_3?crid=AHKAQOM39CTN&keywords=a.w.+pink+the+holy+spirit&qid=1684376225&sprefix=a.w.+pink+the+holy+spirit+%2Caps%2C96&sr=8-3)

A.W. Pink’s The Holy Spirit

6 - The Holy Spirit During the Old Testament Ages

In Relation to the Nation Israel

Let us next observe the relation of the Holy Spirit unto the nation of Israel. A very striking and comprehensive statement was made by Nehemiah, when he reviewed the Lord’s dealings with His people of old: “Thou gavest also Thy good Spirit to instruct them” (Neh. 9:20). He was, until quenched, upon the members of the Sanhedrin (Num. 11:16, 17). He came upon the judges (Judges 3:10; 6:34; 11:29; 15:14), upon the kings (1 Sam. 11:6; 16:13), and the Prophets. But note it is a great mistake to say, as many have done, that the Holy Spirit was never in any believer before Pentecost: Numbers 27:18, Nehemiah 9:30, 1 Peter 1:11 clearly prove otherwise. But alas, Israel “rebelled and vexed his Holy Spirit” (Isa. 63:10), as Stephen declared, “Ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do ye” (Acts 7:51).

That the Holy Spirit indwelt saints under the Legal economy is clear from many considerations: how otherwise could they have been regenerated, had faith, been enabled to perform works acceptable to God? The Spirit prompted true prayer, inspired spiritual worship, produced His fruit in the lives of believers then (see Zech. 4:6) as much as He does now. We have “the same Spirit of faith” (2 Cor. 4:13) as they had. All the spiritual good which has ever been wrought in and through men must be ascribed unto the Holy Spirit. The Spirit was given to the Old Testament saints prospectively, as pardon of sin was given in view of the satisfaction which Christ was to render unto God.^{^[1]}

---------------------------more 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 on Google Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartradio, and Audible.com.

These teachings are also available on the MT4Christ247 You Tube 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)

For those who require the assistance of a Deeper Walk International Prayer Minister to experience healing or your freedom in Christ, I highly recommend Christy Edge’s Life on the Edge Freedom Prayer Ministry. You can schedule a session by going to : https://cedge216.wixsite.com/life-on-the-edge

“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 Walkington Pink, The Holy Spirit (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, n.d.).

Wednesday, December 28, 2022

The End of a Season - Purity 926

Purity 926 12/28/2022 Purity 926 Podcast

Purity 926 on YouTube:

Good morning,

Today’s photo of sunset from the shores of Oak Island North Carolina comes to us from a friend who made a post-Christmas exodus from the chilly weather in upstate New York with his family and shared this view yesterday reiterate his previous message that he is “loving beach life.”

As one of the “frozen chosen” who has been left behind and is looking forward to high temperatures in the 40’s today, I will choose to share in my friend’s joy because I know he is a faithful man of God and has earned his moments in the sun. If he should happen to see this, I wish him a belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Well, it’s Wednesday again and just like that my “staycation” at my countryside home in chilly yet beautiful Easton NY has quickly reached it’s summit as today will be my 6^th day off with 6^th days off remaining. Even though somewhere today I will pass the midway point of my vacation, I won’t count the hours and minutes but will seek to enjoy them all in the moment. And quite frankly, the prospect of going back to work doesn’t really depress me or give me anxiety. I am content with my life and realize that it is defined by various times and seasons,

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (NKJV) tells us
¹ To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:
² A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted;
³ A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up;
⁴ A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance;
⁵ A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;
⁶ A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away;
⁷ A time to tear, And a time to sew; A time to keep silence, And a time to speak;
⁸ A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace.

So right now, while on vacation in the company of my wife, it is officially a time to love, a time of peace, a time to embrace, a time to laugh, and perhaps a time to heal.

After Christmas, I have been getting my fair share of rest. I have spent my days reading, spending time with TammyLyn, taking the dog for brisk walks down Waite Rd, listening to “The Insanity of God”, and sleeping! Apparently, I owe the Sand Man quite a debt and he has been collecting as I have found that “naps happen” somewhat frequently here out in the country. But that’s a good thing, after another adventurous year of walking in the Spirit I believe this week is a great time to decide what to “keep” and what to “throw away” as well.

That’s the thing about our “faith walk” on the path of Christian Discipleship, the further we go the more we leave behind what was once familiar as we progress into the “new things” that God has for us in our new lives.

A couple of times this year I made decisions with my time and finances that seemed appropriate at the time but have either proven to be a waste of my resources or as a final confirmation that “those days” are over. The decisions I made were based on who I once was and proved to be foolish because the things I invested in appear to be less and less a part of where I am going.

One silly example of this is watching NFL football games. Earlier in the year I purchased a streaming subscription so I could watch the NFL where ever I was but I failed to remember just how much of the NFL I watched last year. I barely watched any games last year. Since giving up drinking and gambling years ago, and since increasingly growing in my faith, I have become less and less interested in “who wins the game”. While the sports action can be exciting at times, I discovered that I don’t really care anymore and the games take too long. I still take a look at the scores out of curiosity but this season, I have watched even less football this season as I did last year. So the money spent on the subscription service was a waste, I guess. But at the same time I think it’s good that I spent it, this last season I swear, because the flesh, the world and the devil love to tempt and accuse us with the things we abstain from.

Whenever a Christian tells others that they don’t do a certain activity, whatever it is, this world of the flesh and the devil, likes to accuse our faith and our God of being a kill joy or as someone who limits our freedom.

When I have admitted that I choose other leisurely pursuits rather than watching football, my NFL watching friends seem to either seem to be mildly annoyed or saddened that I no longer am a rabid football fan and don’t even know who is coaching or quarterbacking the teams anymore or have any idea about what is happening in the world of football. I believe they suspect that my faith has “stolen my freedom” but from my point a view, I remember the emotional ups and downs and hours upon hours spent in front of the television getting excited or upset over a game and know that I have been set free of that circumstantial reactivity and the “need to feed” on hours of sports programming.

Don’t get me wrong, to each their own. There is nothing wrong with the game itself but there is quite a bit wrong with the things that surround the game, like substance abuse and gambling, and the swinging moods of those who are emotionally subject to its outcomes. But if that’s not you, enjoy your game.

But as for me, while I may have access to some sports programming due to the streaming subscriptions that I have, I won’t be purchasing sports exclusive content, I just don’t watch enough anymore to justify the expense. So that’s one thing we are going to “throw away” this year.

For me the end of the year has always been a time of repentance and reflection, what to keep, what to throw away, and what to be healed from.

Philippians 4:8-9 (NKJV) encourages us -
⁸ Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things.
⁹ The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.

I think the key here in Paul’s letter to the Phillipians is verse 9. While we could make a case for many things of this world to be somewhat “true” “noble”, “just” and etc., we want to follow what Christ and His apostles DID. The peace of God that we want to be with us is contingent on learning from what we have received and heard from Jesus and the word of God and DOING it.

These things include meditating on the word of God, praying, giving thanks, rejoicing, and doing the good works that God has prepared for us to walk into. These are the activities of walking in the Spirit and this is where we grow.

Sports trivia and the thrills of victory and the agony of defeat that we vicariously receive from talented athletes can teach us some things but their value is limited.

However, the things of God infuse the fruit of the spirit into our lives and prepare us for our future in His kingdom. Our peace comes from knowing Him and being in His presence and knowing that we are investing our lives in something that matters, something that will last forever.

So as we go over the last “hump” of 2022, let’s remember the things that gave us peace and joy this year and reflect on the things that we should just throw away. Every day is a new day and the days we spend pursuing the Lord and His will for our lives are days well spent. Time in His presence gives us peace, right now, and prepares us for the days ahead. So keep walking and talking with God and walk into the New Year with the commitment to learn from the years past and to go further down the path that He has for us.

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I’m taking a vacation from sharing the “Bible Verse of the Day from the “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”, again, well frankly because I think I left that book back at Riverhouse! But I did grab the “Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling” By John G. Krus and will share the second Bible verse listed, right in the introduction, to impress upon you the importance of reading God’s word:

Hebrews 4:12 (NKJV)
¹² For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Today’s verse tells us that the word of God is LIVING! And POWERFUL! And cuts us to the bone! That division between the “soul” and “spirit” is supposed to separate us from our “soulish” darkness and convict us to live in the spirit.

When we study the word, agree with it, and apply it to our lives by the way we live, that we obey it experientially – that’s when we understand it’s POWER – the power to redirect our lives and to transform us into the people God created us to be.

I don’t want to sound quasi-mystical here, but the process of reading the word of God, when done in spirit and in truth, with a humble attitude of surrender to it’s authority, is a conversation with God. He is speaking to us from His word and when we listen to it and obey it, it reveals to us what needs to change and it demonstrates that God knows our thoughts and the intentions of our hearts. When we read the word of God, we discover that God is reading us!

So, just as we pointed out in the first part of todays message, let’s learn from what we have received – God’s word- and let’s put it into practice.

But first let’s read it, so we can know, for ourselves, what the word actually says.

I am including a link to Ligonier Ministries: “Bible Reading Plans for 2023” ( https://www.ligonier.org/posts/bible-reading-plans?fbclid=IwAR0aVs0a31ebdwexS1-N9i-dwV5v45fVTH5zoKCHsnmCPJnDks9fY9AjWsQ) as an encouragement to read the word this year - to have a plan, if you need one, to draw close to God through His word to experience the power that He wants to unleash into your life.

I also recommend getting Logos Bible software for your laptop, PC, tablet, or phone (https://www.logos.com/) . There are free versions of the software available and it gives you a means to have the word of God with you no matter where you go. Of course there are other Bible apps and actual paper copies of the Bible out there, I have all of the above, so how you get the word doesn’t matter as much as your commitment to seek the Lord in His word does.

Hey it’s a new year in just a few days, so why not make a commitment to grow in the power that the living word of God can bring to your life?

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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 Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s “Discipleship”, also known as “The Cost of Discipleship”

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase Bonhoeffer’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 Church of Jesus Christ and Discipleship

Chapter Thirteen

The Image of Christ, continues

Since fallen human beings cannot recover and assume the form of God, there is only one way to find help. It is none other than God, who assumes human form and comes to us. The Son of God who, in the form of God, lived with the Father, empties himself of this divine form and comes to human beings in the form of a servant (Phil. 2:5ff.). Changing one’s form, something which was not possible for human beings, now takes place within God. God’s own image, which had remained with God through eternity, now assumes the image of the fallen, sinful human being. God sends the divine Son in the likeness of sinful flesh (Rom. 8:2f.).

God sends God’s Son—that is the only way to find help. Neither a new idea nor a better religion would suffice to accomplish this goal. A human being comes to us human beings. Every human being bears an image. Our bodies and lives manifest themselves visibly. As a human being we are not merely word, thought, or will. Rather, before and in all of these, we are a human being, a form, an image, a brother or sister. A human being thus develops not only a new way of thinking, willing, and doing things, but a new image, a new form. In Jesus Christ, God’s own image has come into our midst in the form of our lost human life, in the likeness of sinful flesh. God’s own image becomes revealed in Jesus’ teaching and in his deeds, in his life and in his death. In him God has created anew the divine image on earth. The incarnation, Jesus’ word and deed, and his death on the cross are integral elements of this image. It is an image different from the image of Adam in the original glory of paradise. It is the image of one who places himself in the very midst of the world of sin and death, who takes on the needs of human flesh, who humbly submits to God’s wrath and judgment over sinners, who remains obedient to God’s will in suffering and death; the one born in poverty, who befriended and sat at table to eat with tax collectors and sinners, and who, on the cross, was rejected and abandoned by God and human beings—this is God in human form, this is the human being who is the new image of God!

We know, however, that the marks of suffering, the wounds of the cross, have now become the signs of grace on the body of the risen and transfigured Christ; and we are aware that the image of the crucified will forever live in the glory of the eternal high priest, who in heaven intercedes for us before God.^[12] On Easter morning Jesus’ form of a servant was changed into a new body of heavenly form and radiance. But whoever, according to God’s promise, seeks to participate in the radiance and glory of Jesus must first be conformed to the image of the obedient, suffering servant of God on the cross. Whoever seeks to bear the transfigured image of Jesus must first have borne the image of the crucified one, defiled in the world. No one is able to recover the lost image of God unless they come to participate in the image of the incarnate and crucified Jesus Christ. It is with this image alone that God is well-pleased. Only those who allow themselves to be found before God in the likeness of this image live as those with whom God is well pleased.

To be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ is not an ideal of realizing some kind of similarity with Christ which we are asked to attain. It is not we who change ourselves into the image of God. Rather, it is the very image of God, the form of Christ, which seeks to take shape within us (Gal. 4:19). It is Christ’s own form which seeks to manifest itself in us. Christ does not cease working in us until he has changed us into Christ’s own image. Our goal is to be shaped into the entire form of the incarnate, the crucified, and the risen one.

Christ has taken on this human form. He became a human being like us. In his humanity and lowliness we recognize our own form. He became like human beings, so that we would be like him. In Christ’s incarnation all of humanity regains the dignity of bearing the image of God. Whoever from now on attacks the least of the people attacks Christ, who took on human form and who in himself has restored the image of God for all who bear a human countenance. In community with the incarnate one, we are once again given our true humanity. With it, we are delivered from the isolation caused by sin, and at the same time restored to the whole of humanity. Inasmuch as we participate in Christ, the incarnate one, we also have a part in all of humanity, which is borne by him. Since we know ourselves to be accepted and borne within the humanity of Jesus, our new humanity now also consists in bearing the troubles and the sins of all others. The incarnate one transforms his disciples into brothers and sisters of all human beings. The “philanthropy” (Titus 3:4) of God that became evident in the incarnation of Christ is the reason for Christians to love every human being on earth as a brother or sister. The form of the incarnate one transforms the church-community into the body of Christ upon which all of humanity’s sin and trouble fall, and by which alone these troubles and sins are borne.^{^[1]}

---------------------------more 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 on Google Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartradio, and Audible.com.

These teachings are also available on the MT4Christ247 You Tube 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 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)

Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship

^{^[1]} Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Discipleship, ed. Martin Kuske et al., trans. Barbara Green and Reinhard Krauss, vol. 4, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2003), 283–285.

Saturday, September 24, 2022

A Time For Everything - Purity 845

Purity 845 09/24/2022

Purity 845 Podcast

Good morning,

Today’s photo of a the sun over cornfields and woods on the horizon just before setting comes to us from yours truly as I stopped for a moment to capture its blazing glory while I accompanied my canine friend, Harley, on our walk back to our countryside home yesterday afternoon.

I’m not sure what the weather was like in your neck of the woods yesterday but in upstate New York a brisk chill was in the air throughout the day that pointed to the undeniable fact that Autumn is here. While the sun was still shining the chill in the air caused me to don my Carhartt hoody for all but a few moments of the day and the seasonal turn to colder temperatures sent a shiver into my soul as my life experience and, perhaps the enemy, whispered “Winter is coming.”

But first things first, even though there is Christmas stuff in the stores already and its wise to see the changing signs of the times and to be prepared, let’s slow it down a little so we can enjoy the current season rather than fearing what will come.

While our direction as travellers on the path of Christian Discipleship is always forward, the way we experience the fruit of the Spirit of peace and joy is to not to be overly focused on the days ahead and its uncertain destinations so much that we fail to enjoy the journey in the here and now.

This morning’s Bible Study brought me to Ecclesiastes chapter 3 and the text points to the fact that there is a time for everything, that man is to enjoy his life and labors on the earth, but is to do so in the fear of the Lord, knowing that our lives are finite and that the content of them will be judged by the One who gave them to us. I was so moved by the wisdom of the text that I am sharing it today because I know that the wisdom of the word of God is the best thing I can share and I share it with the hope that it will encourage others to seek the Lord’s presence, wisdom, and ways.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-22 (NKJV)
¹ To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:
² A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted;
³ A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up;
⁴ A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance;
⁵ A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;
⁶ A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away;
⁷ A time to tear, And a time to sew; A time to keep silence, And a time to speak;
⁸ A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace.

⁹ What profit has the worker from that in which he labors?

¹⁰ I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied.
¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.
¹² I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives,
¹³ and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor--it is the gift of God.

¹⁴ I know that whatever God does, It shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, And nothing taken from it. God does it, that men should fear before Him.
¹⁵ That which is has already been, And what is to be has already been; And God requires an account of what is past.

¹⁶ Moreover I saw under the sun: In the place of judgment, Wickedness was there; And in the place of righteousness, Iniquity was there.
¹⁷ I said in my heart, "God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, For there is a time there for every purpose and for every work."

¹⁸ I said in my heart, "Concerning the condition of the sons of men, God tests them, that they may see that they themselves are like animals."
¹⁹ For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity.
²⁰ All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust.

²¹ Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth?

²² So I perceived that nothing is better than that a man should rejoice in his own works, for that is his heritage. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?

Well I am not as wise as Solomon, who wrote this, or the Holy Spirit, who inspired it. But I have the answer!

Who knows that the spirit of the sons of men go upward? And who can bring us to see what will happen after we die?

The Lord knows that and the Lord can bring us to see what will happen! And God gives us this knowledge through His word and through the Holy Spirit revealing its truth to us.

But the Lord was even more gracious to man by sending His living Word, Jesus Christ to earth to tell us the truth and to make a way to reconcile us to God.

We don’t have to go “down to the earth”, to Hell, when we die because Christ came to earth to pay for our sins and when we place our faith in Him, just like He ascended into Heaven after His resurrection, we can be lifted up to a new life in God’s kingdom forever when we put our trust in Jesus.

So enjoy your life this weekend, it is a gift of God. But fear the Lord and respect His righteous judgement, by acknowledging His sovereignty and by surrendering to His will for your life by making peace with Him through faith in Jesus Christ and by pursuing His purposes for you.

Have a wonderful Autumn weekend and keep walking and talking with God.

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Today’s Bible verse comes to us from “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”.

This morning’s meditation verse are:

Psalm 46:1-2 (NLT2)
¹ God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.
² So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea.

Today’s Bible verses assure us that God is our refuge and strength and that we need not fear the calamities that we will face on the earth because He is always ready to help us in times of trouble.

As someone who has walked through the fires of tribulations and trauma at various times in my 50 years of life, I can attest that it is much better to have a relationship with the Lord though faith in Jesus Christ in times of trouble rather than being all on your own.

Other Bible verses tell us that God is close to the broken hearted and I know that is true as trauma breaks us out of the normal conceptions of our world view of “how life is” and reveals to us the harsh realities of life and death in times of loss. In that stark shock of our world being torn apart by loss, God who is omnipresent is available to comfort and to help us and we have a decision to make: will we come to Him and seek His help or will we turn from Him in bitterness and anger?

I lost my infant son Holden, in March of 2002, as our nation was still overcoming the national tragedy of 911, and this personal loss ripped away the final shreds of an illusions I may have had about our lives being “safe” or secure. These losses woke me up to “ice cold world of life and death” but in the midst of my grief in the stark clarity of my new view of the world I simultaneously felt all alone but also had the sense that “I wasn’t alone”, that there was a presence with me that sought to comfort me.

At the time, I think I thought that I was just seeing the world with eyes wide open but in hindsight I know that the feelings I had of how I was all alone but somehow wasn’t can easily be explained as God being present in my broken heartedness and that He was patiently sitting with me in my grief and would further reveal Himself to me when the time was right and I had stopped being angry and running away from Him.

Of course, I was very angry, and very stubborn, and very rebellious, and purposely shut God out of my life by abandoning all semblances of Christianity in my life, but after the darkest days of my depression I sought meaning again, and even though I went in the wrong direction, my search for truth was rewarded in an instant by God’s grace.

The truth of the gospel was allowed to come into my life by a seemingly chance encounter, as in the midst of my confusion of following the philosophies of Buddhism, I happened upon a gospel radio message and decide to mock it only to be brought to my knees in humble surrender the my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ when I understood that faith in Him was all that was require to live.

So 8 years later (just put that together this morning – 8’s are a significant number in my walk) , again in the month of March (just put that together this morning), the Lord showed me that He could be my refuge and strength and be my constant help in times of trouble. I didn’t have to be alone anymore. I didn’t have to keep Him at a distance anymore. And so that day in March of 2010 I invited God, The Presence that I have known to be with me at various times throughout my life, to save me through His Son, Jesus Christ.

SO let me encourage you, no matter how the earth quakes or the mountains crumble into the sea, either literally or figuratively, in your life The Lord can be your strength and refuge. He is always ready to help us in times of trouble.

He may not stop the tragedies from happening, but sometimes He will. But either way, He knows the end from the beginning and He knows that even the traumas we suffer can be used for good to help us to grow and to know Him and our place in His kingdom. So trust the Lord with your life by putting your faith in Christ, and seek Him at all times for His strength, wisdom, and love.

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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 Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s “Discipleship”, also known as “The Cost of Discipleship”

Chapter Three

Simple Obedience – continues

How is such a reversal possible? What has happened that the word of Jesus has to endure this game? That it is so vulnerable to the scorn of the world? Anywhere else in the world where commands are given, the situation is clear. A father says to his child: go to bed! The child knows exactly what to do. But a child drilled in pseudotheology would have to argue thus: Father says go to bed. He means you are tired; he does not want me to be tired. But I can also overcome my tiredness by going to play. So, although father says go to bed, what he really means is go play. With this kind of argumentation, a child with its father or a citizen with the authorities would run into an unmistakable response, namely, punishment. The situation is supposed to be different only with respect to Jesus’ command. In that case simple obedience is supposed to be wrong, or even to constitute disobedience. How is this possible?

It is possible, because there is actually something quite right at the basis of this wrong argumentation. Jesus’ command to the rich young man or his call into a situation that enables faith really has only the one goal of calling a person to faith in him, calling into his community. Nothing finally depends on any human deed at all; instead, everything depends on faith in Jesus as the Son of God and the mediator. Nothing finally depends on poverty or riches, marriage or the single state, having or leaving a profession. Rather, everything depends on faith. To this extent, we really are right that it is possible to believe in Christ while we have wealth and possess the goods of this world, so that we have them as if we did not have them. But this is a last possible form of Christian existence, a possibility of living in the world, only in light of the serious expectation that Christ would return in the immediate future. It is not the first and simplest possibility. A paradoxical understanding of the commandments has a Christian right to it, but it must never lead to the annulment of a simple understanding of the commandments. Rather, it is justified and possible only for those who have already taken simple obedience seriously at some point in their lives, and so already stand in community with Jesus, in discipleship, in expectation of the end. Understanding Jesus’ call paradoxically is the infinitely more difficult possibility. In human terms it is an impossible possibility, and because it is, it is always in extreme danger of being turned over into its opposite and made into a comfortable excuse for fleeing from concrete obedience. Anyone who does not know that it would be the infinitely easier way to understand Jesus’ commandment simply and obey it literally—for example, to actually give away one’s possessions at Jesus’ command instead of keeping them—has no right to a paradoxical understanding of Jesus’ word. It is therefore necessary always to include a literal understanding of Jesus’ commandment in every paradoxical interpretation.

Jesus’ concrete call and simple obedience have their own irrevocable meaning. Jesus calls us into a concrete situation in which we can believe in him. That is why he calls in such a concrete way and wants to be so understood, because he knows that people will become free for faith only in concrete obedience.

Wherever simple obedience is fundamentally eliminated, there again the costly grace of Jesus’ call has become the cheap grace of self-justification. But this too constructs a false law, which deafens people to the concrete call of Christ. This false law is the law of the world, matched by an opposing law of grace. The world here is not that world which has been won over by Christ and is daily to be won over anew in his community. Rather, it is the world which has become a rigid, inescapable law of principles. But in that case grace is also no longer the gift of the living God, rescuing us from the world for obedience to Christ. Rather, it becomes a general divine law, a divine principle, whose only use is its application to special cases. The principle of struggle against the “legalism” of simple obedience itself erects the most dangerous law of all, the law of the world and the law of grace. The struggle based on principle against legalism is itself the most legalistic attitude. It is overcome only by genuine obedience to Jesus’ gracious call to follow him. The law is fulfilled and done away with by Jesus himself for those who follow.^{^[1]}

---------------------------more 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 on Google Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartradio, and Audible.com.

These teachings are also available on the MT4Christ247 You Tube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTxjSNstREpuGWuL0bF3U7w/featured

Email me at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and to be encouraged.

Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship

^{^[1]} Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Discipleship, ed. Martin Kuske et al., trans. Barbara Green and Reinhard Krauss, vol. 4, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2003), 79–81.

Labels

Friday, June 2, 2023

Gratitude for Others - 28 Day Joy Challenge – Day 2 – Purity 1058

Wednesday, December 28, 2022

The End of a Season - Purity 926

Saturday, September 24, 2022

A Time For Everything - Purity 845