Covid, Death, and Heartbreak? I SAID: HAPPY THANKSGIVING! - Purity 1205

Covid, Death, and Heartbreak? I SAID: HAPPY THANKSGIVING!  - Purity 1205

Purity 1205 11/23/2023 Purity 1205 Podcast

Purity 1205 on YouTube: 

Good morning,

Today’s photo my canine pal looking into the distance while the sun roars in its glory in the west comes to us from yours truly as I captured this scene while walking down Wells Road homeward bound last Saturday.  

Well, It’s Thursday, and it’s the day that our nation celebrates Thanksgiving! So HAPPY THANKSGIVING everybody! It is my prayer that you are able to spend today with people you love and that your focus be on the many things that we can all be thankful for this year,  Thanksgiving is a choice. So let’s look at the good things we may take for granted, appreciate the calamities we didn’t suffer, and choose to be thankful to God, for others, and for ourselves for all we have.   

If you need an ice breaker I offer this joke: 

“What do you call the ghost of your Thanksgiving Turkey? A poultry-geist!” 

Okay, that was horrible, but I think it is actually better than the original that I stole from a list of 87 Thanksgiving Day Jokes on Countryliving.com. The link is on the blog as my Thanksgiving day gift – a gag gift for sure – to you.  (https://www.countryliving.com/life/a28522581/thanksgiving-jokes/)

But be careful where you joke about death today. Some may be grieving a recent loss or the anniversary of the loss and may not be in the mood to joke or give thanks.

Believe me when I say that I can understand if some of you may not be in the mood to give thanks.  I have SEVERAL people that I know who have recently lost loved ones to death, have broken relationships, have financial problems, or have health concerns.   Just this morning my son Brennan messaged me that both he and his sister have tested positive for COVID!  So I can understand why some of us might be a little bitter towards life in general as of late, and that is why I would stress, all the more, the need for a deep personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ!

Without God in your life, life is chaos because without Him you struggle to understand the meaning and purpose of life. If you deny the gospel of Jesus Christ, you effectively remove yourself from the God who loves us and you will suffer the consequences for your sin and pride. The Bible isn’t just a story – it’s HIS STORY – the story of God and man and the history of His interactions with us, that tells how He sent Jesus to reconcile us to Him. The Bible is true and it guides us to place our faith in Jesus to be forgiven and given eternal life in God’s kingdom. The Bible tells us that God loves us and plays an active role in the course of human events, our individual destinies, and the culmination of existence itself. It paints a big picture and the Lord invites to be with Him forever.  With God in our lives, we have hope for today, tomorrow, and forever.  

We tried to give good advice regarding setting your mindset for Thanksgiving with our previous messages, On Tuesday we suggested you could at least be thankful for the bad things that didn’t happen or that those things that didn’t happen could be worse,- and yesterday we share Lauren Roskilly’s thoughts from a 2020 message that encouraged us to “Always Give Thanks” – for God, for Others, and For Ourselves – But today I am PUSHING for more than “general thanks” to God. 

Have you ever seen that? Ever hear someone who has seemingly no relationship with God and lives contrary to His principles for a living say “Thank god”.  It gives you an experiential feeling of blasphemy! Like DUDE you are living in darkness, you need to KNOW HIM!

Or even if it’s the sweetest, nicest person in the world….. who denies Jesus… I’m like “OH LORD, open their eyes!!”  These very nice people don’t believe, they have abandoned Christianity, or believe in themselves or another religion or philosophy that will send them to hell.    OF course, I won’t necessarily be verbally condemning people to hell – that tactic didn’t work for me and so I will be silent with my fear and outrage and try to encourage people to seek the Lord through Jesus.

Ok, we can’t save anybody. That’s up to God, He opens the eyes of the blind and causes people to put their faith in Jesus. But as Christians, we can encourage people with the truth that they don’t have to earn their way into heaven.  People need to know and understand that the only thing that they have to do to be saved is to place their faith in Jesus. We can encourage people with the message of God’s love for us and how being right with God can happen in a moment. That was the game changer for me – knowing I didn’t have to “be good” or “earn” my way into God’s good graces.  

So when we give thanks today let’s be sure to be specific and name the name above all names, Jesus Christ, and be ready to tell anyone who is curious about why we are so crazy in love with Jesus.  Right now it’s a dark period in many people’s lives and I know and I understand that while the Lord may not solve all their problems in an instant I know that having the Light of the World in their life to guide them will lead them to a better place, on earth and one day in heaven.  

So be intentional and specific today when you give your thanks and be ready to give a defense of your positive outlook by letting everyone know that you have a relationship with God through the One who overcame the world, Jesus and that COVID, Heartbreak, or even Death, cannot separate you from His love. With that Good News defining our lives, there is always something to be thankful for. So give thanks, rejoice, and love the people you encounter today.

And, as always, keep walking and talking with God, and have a very Happy Thanksgiving!  

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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 verse comes 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 Church, Communion of the Saints.

Ephesians 5:25 (NIV2011)
²⁵  Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her

Today’s verse falls under the eighth point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Church, Communion of the Saints.

 8. Christ loves the church.

Today’s verse points to the love relationship we have with the Lord Jesus.  Jesus loves us. He died for us. He extends an invitation to be forgiven of every bad thing we have ever done in our lives and to be with Him forever.  He gives us wisdom for living and the hope of life everlasting.  The analogy as Christ as the husband to His bride the church is made because He loves us!

Christ proved His love for us and we should prove our love for Him by following Him in the way we live our lives and by telling about the new life we found because of Him.  

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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 are sharing from “God is in the Manger- Reflections on Advent and Christmas” – By Dietrich Bonhoeffer.      

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage you all to purchase Bonhoeffer’s books for your own private study and to support his work.  This resource is available online for less than $10 at many sites.

God is in the Manger – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

ADVENT WEEK ONE

WAITING

DAY ONE

The Advent Season Is a Season of Waiting

Jesus stands at the door knocking (Rev. 3:20). In total reality, he comes in the form of the beggar, of the dissolute human child in ragged clothes, asking for help. He confronts you in every person that you meet. As long as there are people, Christ will walk the earth as your neighbor, as the one through whom God calls you, speaks to you, makes demands on you. That is the great seriousness and great blessedness of the Advent message. Christ is standing at the door; he lives in the form of a human being among us. Do you want to close the door or open it?

It may strike us as strange to see Christ in such a near face, but he said it, and those who withdraw from the serious reality of the Advent message cannot talk of the coming of Christ in their heart, either.…

Christ is knocking. It’s still not Christmas, but it’s also still not the great last Advent, the last coming of Christ. Through all the Advents of our life that we celebrate runs the longing for the last Advent, when the word will be: “See, I am making all things new” (Rev. 21:5).

The Advent season is a season of waiting, but our whole life is an Advent season, that is, a season of waiting for the last Advent, for the time when there will be a new heaven and a new earth.

We can, and should also, celebrate Christmas despite the ruins around us.… I think of you as you now sit together with the children and with all the Advent decorations—as in earlier years you did with us. We must do all this, even more intensively because we do not know how much longer we have.

Letter to Bonhoeffer’s parents, November 29, 1943,

written from Tegel prison camp

Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.

Revelation 3:20^[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 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

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^[1] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, God Is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas, ed. Jana Riess, trans. O. C. Dean Jr., First edition. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010), 1–3.

From Darkness to Light – A Mindful of Christ Message of Hope and Power - Purity 1180

From Darkness to Light – A Mindful of Christ Message of Hope and Power - Purity 1180

Purity 1180 10/24/2023   Purity 1180 Podcast

Purity 1180 on YouTube: 

Good morning,

Today’s photo of a solitary figure walking towards a doorway illuminated by daylight, like Jesus emerging from the tomb, comes to us from Lauren Roskilly and MindfulofChrist.net (https://mindfulofchrist.net/from-darkness-to-light/?utm_source=Mindful+of+Christ&utm_campaign=2ec2391336-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_71432b340e-2ec2391336-537173128&mc_cid=2ec2391336&mc_eid=539e18b8b8) whose testimony of overcoming several “hurts, habits, and hang-ups” through her faith in Jesus Christ is an inspiration to all who are making their way out of the darkness of their pre-Christ existence into the new life that is available to all who put their faith in Jesus.     

Well, It’s Tuesday and as I was burning the midnight oil last night getting what needed to be done for today, tomorrow, and Thursday, finished I have decided to highlight Lauren’s work this morning on the blog and podcast because I am preparing to lead a brother in Christ through the first half of the Steps to Freedom in Christ this evening and just finished a lightning quick run through the Steps for myself this morning to clean house of any heaviness I might have been carrying before we sit down to lead our friend through the Steps and into possible enemy territory.  

So I feel great spiritually but am admittedly a little tired and thought I would share MindfulofChrist.net’s Lauren Roskilly’s latest blog post encouragement and an original poem she penned and shared with all of her ministry supporters this week.  

Darkness to Light

A Poem by Lauren Roskilly

The darkness is there, where there is no light,

Those who are walking in it can be blind; without sight.

They go and they stumble and their hearts may be hardened,                              

By indulging in impurities their worlds can be darkened

Trying to fulfill their lives with any deceitful desire,

Make new the attitude of the mind and stub out the flames of the fire.

Don’t let the enemy have a foothold; Repent and sin no longer,

Accept Jesus, the Light of the world, then in every moment we can become stronger.

The light can drown out the dark and the shadows will run from it,

Everything exposed by the light will become visible, so let's be filled with the Spirit.

Let’s throw up our hands and worship him, turn from our wrongs, put ourselves right.

Accept God, His Son and the Holy Spirit And wrap ourselves in light.

 

I love Lauren’s poetic call for repentance because I know there is life to be found in the light of Jesus. 

And now from the Mindful of Christ.net– Word for Wednesday last week, we present Lauren’s message based on Acts 4:13 – a verse that I just happened to read this morning as part of my normal Bible study- so I think we are on point with sharing this as it seems Lauren and I are “tracking with the Spirit!  Lauren writes:

“Acts 4:13 (NLT2)
¹³  The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.

“Have you accepted Jesus as your Saviour? If so then not only have you been with Jesus, but Jesus is living inside of you!

That fact can give you the boldness that you need to share the good news of Jesus to those around you.

Peter and John were in front of the council because in Jesus’ name the lame man, back in chapter 3, was healed. They then went on to teach about Jesus and at least 5000 people gave their life to Christ! Wow! They did this through the authority and power of Jesus Christ. They didn’t have any qualifications or training they simply followed and obeyed Jesus.

And you can too!

So go and heal the sick (James 5:15) and go and share the good news of Jesus. (Mark 16:15) as the Lord guides you.

You have Jesus’ authority, power, and boldness in you! 🙌

Who can you share the gospel with this week?” (https://mindfulofchrist.net/the-power-of-jesus-is-in-you/?utm_source=Mindful+of+Christ&utm_campaign=2ec2391336-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_71432b340e-2ec2391336-537173128&mc_cid=2ec2391336&mc_eid=539e18b8b8)

Lauren’s short encouragement points out that we are given authority to do the work God has for us to do. So whether or not you are given miraculous powers, the light of the gospel that every disciple of Jesus Christ carries has the power to “heal the sick”. Eternal life through Christ cures our terminal disease of death and the power of repentance that He grants to believers through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit can cast out demons and transform lives. 

So share the gospel and walk in the power Jesus Christ has given all believers by sharing His word, wisdom, and love and applying it to your life and the lives of those around you. 

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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 verse comes 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 Bitterness, Resentment, & Hate.

Proverbs 26:24-26 (NIV2011)
²⁴  Enemies disguise themselves with their lips, but in their hearts they harbor deceit.
²⁵  Though their speech is charming, do not believe them, for seven abominations fill their hearts.
²⁶  Their malice may be concealed by deception, but their wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.

Today’s verses fall under the ninth point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Bitterness, Resentment, & Hate.

 9. The way of a malicious man is deceitful

Today’s verses warn us to be wise in discerning when it comes to believing the things we hear because enemies disguise their deceitful words with charming speech and while their malice can be concealed with deception, their wickedness will be exposed in the light of the assembly of those who know the truth.  

The way that federal agents are trained to spot counterfeit currency is not to study the techniques of forgers but to study and familiarize themselves with the real McCoy.  They don’t look at funny money, they study and learn to know the real thing by sight, smell, and touch. They experience the authenticity of paper currency by examining and handling the real thing. They are trained to have an experiential knowledge of what real money is so that when a counterfeit bill gets mixed in with the real one, they stand out like a sore thumb. 

And so we should familiarize ourselves with the truth of God’s word and Sprit, so when someone tries to deceive us, we can see that although they have framed their lies in a pretty package, they are not the truth.   

So know the truth that will set you free and walk in the truth with the way you live your life by knowing Jesus, the Living word of God.  When you know Him, you will spot the false because it will contradict what He said and stick out like and be exposed for the counterfeit that it is.

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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

31 - The Spirit Endowing

Practice of Gifts in the Church Meeting – 1 of 2

Our discussion upon the Person and work of the Holy Spirit would lack completeness if we ignored the fantastic and fanatical view which some have taken regarding 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 as the Divine pattern and ideal for “the open meeting” of the local church today. We refer to those who decry a “one-man ministry” and who encourage an “any-man minis-try” under the guise of allowing the Spirit full freedom to move and use any whom Christ has “gifted.” It is insisted that here in 1 Corinthians 14 we behold different ones endowed with various gifts taking part in the same meeting, yet strange to say these very people readily acknowledge that the gift of tongues has ceased—but this very chapter prescribes how that gift was and was not to be used!

Now in the first place there is not a single statement in all the New Testament that the practice which obtained at Corinth prevailed generally in other churches of that day, still less that the assemblies of the saints in all generations were to be patterned after their order. Rather is there much to show that what obtained at Corinth was not the regular mode established by Christ and His Apostles. The fact is that not only were the conditions at Corinth merely transitory and exceptional, but they were fraught with much evil. In no other church of apostolic days was there such disorder and carnality. “Gifts” were valued there more highly than grace, knowledge than love, and the consequence was that the possessors of those miraculous gifts, by their pride and forwardness, neutralized whatever good those gifts accomplished. The reason for that is not far to seek: they had no governing head or heads and no Divinely authorized teacher or teachers. The absence of elders made them like an army without officers, or a school without masters. Where all were equal, none would submit; where all wanted to teach, none would learn.

So far from the Corinthian church supplying a pattern for all others to follow, it stands before us a most solemn warning and sample of what ensues when a company of Christians is left without a Divinely qualified leader. The most terrible laxity of discipline obtained: one member was living in adultery with his father’s second wife (5:1), while others were getting drunk at the Lord’s table (11:21). Those fearful sins (which would not be tolerated today in any Christian church worthy of the name) were winked at, because the assembly was split into parties through want of a controlling head (an under-shepherd of Christ), and because the sinning members belonged to the majority, the minority was powerless.

Besides the fearful laxity of discipline, the grossest irregularities prevailed at their public meetings for the worship of God. There was neither unity, order, edifying ministry, nor decorum. One had his “psalm,” another his “doctrine,” another his “tongue,” another his “revelation,” and yet another his “interpretation” (1 Cor. 14:26)—which is mentioned by the Apostle not by way of commendation, but as a rebuke for their disorder, as is quite evident from the final clause of that verse, as also from verse 40: carefully compare the opening words of verses 15 and 26! As another has said, “Here, then, all were charged, as it were, to the muzzle, and each wanting to have the first say, the longest say, and the loudest say. They did not wish to edify, but to show off.”

Now it was in view of such a situation that the Apostle was moved of God to pen 1 Corinthians 14, in order to correct these abuses and to lay down rules for the regulation of those who possessed the extraordinary gifts of prophesying and speaking in tongues. But this very fact at once over-throws that theory which has been built on an erroneous conception of this chapter! Not only is there not a single statement elsewhere in the New Testament that the Holy Spirit is the President over assemblies, or that He is ever present in any other sense than that He dwells in individual believers, but 1 Corinthians 14 itself is very far from teaching that the Spirit presides over the local church, and requires those who have been “gifted” by Christ to wait on Him, and be governed entirely by His inward promptings. Surely it is perfectly obvious that inward promptings of the Spirit render quite needless such rules and regulations as are given here!^[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 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

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^[1] Arthur Walkington Pink, The Holy Spirit (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, n.d.).

 

I Can’t Talk About My Faith – Lies of the Enemy #18– Purity 1030

 

I Can’t Talk About My Faith – Lies of the Enemy #18– Purity 1030

Purity 1030 04/28/2023 Purity 1030 Podcast

Purity 1030 on YouTube: 

YouTube turned us sideways... again.... 

Good morning,

Today’s photo a blazing sun and blue skies over Waite Rd comes from yours truly as I captured this scene last week on the walk back to my countryside home in Easton while out walking my canine, friend Harley.  I know this is a familiar scene but it’s a good one and I share it because I am rejoicing over being there again for the weekend and to illustrate the point that its okay to continually go back to the familiar things in our lives that give us joy and peace.  

Well it is Saturday, and while we have to be careful not to make idols, form addictions, and be discerning in what it is we get our “peace and joy” from, the practice of appreciation can increase our capacity for joy and in turn increase our emotional resilience.  The word of God tells us to think about things that are true, noble, pure, lovely, virtuous and good for a reason and the practice of appreciating the simple and pure things in our lives helps us to grow in the spirit. 

But I just don’t dwell on sunny days, blues skies, and country roads. Those things are good and pure but whenever we take pleasure in the created things of this word we should also remember and thank, the Creator – God.  

While that particular stretch of Waite Rd is near and dear to my heart, when I walk it I often give credit where credit is due by thanking the Lord for it, the other things in my life, and my relationship with Him.   

The best “true, noble, pure, lovely, virtuous, and good” Person to meditate on – God is not a thing – is the Lord and I know that thinking about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and my life with Him is the well spring from which I can continually go to find meaning, purpose, peace, and joy. 

And I don’t only enjoy thinking about God, I like talking about Him too, which brings us to our current series, The Lies of the Enemy, which is an examination of some of the common lies, sometimes sneakily whispered into our minds as “first person” statements, that the enemy tells us to cause us to doubt our faith, lose our peace, cause division, or influence us to not follow the Lord with the way we live our lives.  

Today’s big lie is:

Lie #18: I can’t talk about my faith.  

This lie of the enemy encourages us to keep silent about the most important topic of life – our relationship with the Lord.

It has often been said that “you can’t talk about “religion”, in public or at polite social gatherings, by various people throughout the ages as general advice to “keep the peace” and so this lie that you can’t talk about your faith has been widespread throughout the ages.  Even though our current culture supposedly tries to stress  “inclusion”, “tolerance” and “diversity”, political correctness would actually prefer that we remain silent on matters of faith, particularly that of the Christian faith, because the things that Jesus Christ said caused people to choose sides, to not tolerate evil, and to put their faith exclusively in Him alone.   Christ’s claim to be the ONLY way to God doesn’t allow for a “polite peace” because He was fighting the world, the flesh, and the devil to save people’s souls.  

Although conversations about the Christian faith could make people uncomfortable, that’s really the point. Jesus came to wake people up to the spiritual realities of life because the idea that “everyone is fine believing whatever they want to believe” isn’t true.  What we believe in and who we put our faith in matters. Our faith as Christians just doesn’t give us a framework to navigate through life with, it gives us a relationship with the Creator of all things who has shown us the way to live with Him forever – through faith in Jesus Christ.  

So not only should we be talking about our faith because of the personal peace it brings us, we should be talking about our faith in Jesus because it is the “good news” that saved us from destruction and could save others from a dire eternal destiny. 

We have to resist the devil and the societal forces that wish to silence our Christian witness. We may face persecution and rejection for sharing our faith ,but Christ was willing to die to share the truth and as Christians we should be faithful to the call of the Great Commission, to go and make disciples in all nations, to teach and to do all the things that Christ commanded us.   

Personally, I think the best way to share our faith is to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, to live out our faith and to make a regular habit of encouraging others to follow the Lord, not just with the words we speak but by the living example of how we live our lives.  

The purpose of this blog is to encourage people to seek the Lord and His ways for our lives.   I seek to lovingly testify to how the world and the enemy have lied to us and that the answers and solutions that secular society has for us will ultimately fail because no matter what utopian – or dystopian – plans man can come up with to help us  to “get along” – the existential questions of how made us, why we are here, and where we are going are never addressed or answered in light of ultimate reality – the reality of God and His kingdom that has been revealed to us by Jesus. 

Faith isn’t a matter of opinion or separated from certain aspects of our lives.  Our relationship with God is the only thing of value because it is the thing that will determine our eternal destiny.  

So let me encourage you to not believe the lie that you can’t talk about your faith, and instead demonstrate your faith by the way you live and to tell people about what the Lord has done for you since you put your faith in Jesus.     

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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 verse :

Revelation 3:5 (NLT2)
⁵  All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine.

Today’s verse points to the future and the destiny of those who put their faith in Christ and who are not soiled with evil.  

While I don’t really wear white – at all – here on earth, I will be happy to be clothed in white, if that’s the dress code, when I enter into God’s eternal kingdom when I go to heaven or when Christ returns to rule and reign here on earth. 

Today’s verse talks about our eternal destiny as Christians – our names are written in the Book of Life and Jesus will declare to God the Father, and His angel’s – Hey guys, Michael, Gabriele… – that we are His.       

While we can really appreciate the benefits of our lives as Christians now, this ultimate reality should positively amaze us and fill us with an awesome sense of joy and wonder.   Some day this will happen to us. We will see this scene. We will be “clothed in white” and stand before the Father and His angels to be declared those who will live for ever, as those who belong to Christ.  That’s good news.  So enjoy your relationship with God and share your faith because it’s the truth and your words could be used by God to bring others to experience this future “magic moment” too.

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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 begin sharing from  “Satan, Demons & Satanism: A Sinister Reality” By June Hunt.

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase June Hunt’s books for your own private study and to support her work.  This resource is available online for $7.99 (https://june-hunt.myshopify.com/collections/keys-for-living/products/keys-for-living-on-satan-demons-satanism_ ).

Satan, Demons & Satanism

A Sinister Reality

by June Hunt

Have you ever wondered, Why is there so much evil? Bewildered people all over the world watch the news wondering why evil is so prevalent. Many never realize that Satan is the source of evil—a sinister force who has influenced people to be evil from the beginning of time. His sly strategy is to distort the truth of God and to lead the whole world astray.

“That ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan … leads the whole world astray.”

(Revelation 12:9)

I.    Definitions

A.  Who Is Satan?

Do you remember in your early school years when you were assigned to a competitive team in sports? The obvious objective was to defeat your opponent. The team you played hard to defeat was viewed as “the adversary.” In later years, sport strategies became more sophisticated, and coaches began to make serious studies of the adversaries, including watching films of their opponents. Today you have an adversary. But this is no game—it is real. You need to know your adversary, Satan—the enemy of your soul. His one determined objective is to defeat you and to destroy God’s plan for you.

“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

(1 Peter 5:8)

•     Satan is the supreme adversary of God and the leader of the spiritual forces of evil.

•     The English word satan is derived from the Hebrew noun satan, which means “adversary” or “opponent.” The Hebrew verb satan means “to attack or accuse.”

•     Satan is an angelic being created by God and possessing:

—   A mind “Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning.…” (2 Corinthians 11:3)

—   A will “The devil … has taken them captive to do his will.” (2 Timothy 2:26)

—   Emotions “Then the dragon was enraged at the woman.…” (Revelation 12:17)

Q “If God is so good, why did He create Satan?”

He didn’t. God created “Lucifer, son of the dawn”—an angelic being who, because of rebellion against God, was cast out of heaven. Only after he sinned did he become “Satan,” which literally means adversary. Only then did he become the adversary of God and of all that is good.

“How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!” (Isaiah 14:12)

Scriptural Names of Your Adversary

•     Accuser

“The accuser of our brothers, who accuses them [believers] before our God day and night, has been hurled down.” (Revelation 12:10)

•     Angel of Light … Lucifer means “lightbearer.”

“For Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.” (2 Corinthians 11:14)

•     Destroyer … Abaddon and Apollyon mean “destroyer.”

“They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon.” (Revelation 9:11)

•     Devil … In Greek, diabolos means “slanderer” and is used 37 times in the New Testament.

“The devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” (Revelation 20:10)

•     Dragon … Also means “the great dragon.”

“There was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.” (Revelation 12:7–9)

•     Enemy

“The enemy who sows them [the weeds or the sons of the evil one] is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.” (Matthew 13:39)

•     Evil One

“Take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” (Ephesians 6:16)

•     Father of Lies

“For there is no truth in him [the devil]. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44)

•     God of This Age

“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:4)

•     Morning Star or Lucifer … Lucifer means “lightbearer” or “shining one.”

“How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!” (Isaiah 14:12)

•     Murderer

“He was a murderer from the beginning.” (John 8:44)

•     Prince of This World

“The prince of this world will be driven out.” (John 12:31)

•     Ruler of the Kingdom of the Air … or Prince of the Power of the Air

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.” (Ephesians 2:1–2)

•     Satan … A Hebrew word which means “adversary”—his most common name, used 53 times in the Bible.

“Jesus said to him, ‘Away from me, Satan!’ ” (Matthew 4:10)

•     Serpent … Sometimes called the “ancient serpent”

“He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:2)

•     Tempter

“The tempter came to him and said, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.’ ” (Matthew 4:3)^[1]

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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

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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

 

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^[1] June Hunt, Biblical Counseling Keys on Satan, Demons & Satanism: A Sinister Reality (Dallas, TX: Hope For The Heart, 2008), 1–3.