Spending Time Together – Friendship Myths #1 - Purity 1333

 Spending Time Together – Friendship Myths #1 - Purity 1333

Purity 1333 04/23/2024 Purity 1333 Podcast

Purity 1333 on YouTube: 

Good morning,

Today’s photo of a pleasant summertime scene featuring a grassy pathway and a pair of trees so close together that my iPhone wanted to make the two become one and create a “sticker”, comes to us from an unknown FB friend who shared this photo on social media on or around July 27^th, 2021.  If this memory is yours and you would like to be acknowledged for your photography skills, give me a heads up and I will update the blog after the fact.  

Well, It’s Tuesday and my mind is on the topic of friendship this morning because recent circumstances have pushed it to the forefront of my attention. Our weekend Bible Study with the Cincotti’s was on friendship and a prayer ministry session I led last night touched on the subject as well. The person I led through an Immanuel-styled Real Prayer session last night recalled painful memories of rejection and when the Lord was asked to reveal the lies they believed after having suffered rejection from someone they thought was their friend, one of the lies was that:

Friendship means that you have continuous interactions with one another.  

That might not seem like a “lie” necessarily. It seems more like a definition of friendship albeit one that is rather simplistic but when you believe that “lie” and push it to extremes, you can establish a whole host of beliefs that can cause you to:

·       undervalue the relationships you do have,

·       feel rejected, unwanted, unlovable, unworthy, inadequate, or “different.”

·       or develop behaviors and attitudes that make you “unfriendly” or “needy” that will paradoxically drive away the potential friends that you so desperately want.

While it is true that friendships do require some level of interaction between the parties, the subject of last night’s prayer ministry session, believed that for a relationship to be a “real friendship” it meant that you would spend time together or be in conversation on a regular, if not daily, basis.  

They lamented the fact that they didn’t have many close relationships but also testified that when one of their acquaintances stated that they were friends, this person pointed to their lack of continuous interaction to make the case that they weren’t “really friends”, which in turn, I am almost positive, only made this acquaintance all the more distant!

Anyway, the Lord used last night’s prayer session to show this person that the things they were believing about friendship and about themselves were not true and even pointed out how these false beliefs that they believed impacted and drove them into their negative cycles of thought and behaviors. The false beliefs this person included:

·       I don’t have any friendships with people of the same sex.

This was revealed not to be true – they did have friendships with member of the same sex – and some good ones – but they undervalued them because of the lack of continuous interaction they believed was necessary for “real friendship”. 

This false belief was also shown to be a root cause of their struggles with sexual immorality – that they only related to and thus craved the attention of people of the opposite sex – even if it was only for “friendship”, but I know, from leading several people through the Steps to Freedom to Christ, that “emotionally” bonding to someone of the opposite sex is really a smoke screen for sin, as it treads thin ice and can, and usually does, violate the Lord’s commandments regarding coveting, at least, and more than likely, adultery as friendships with the opposite sex invite the temptations of the evil one who is content to have you to just imagine the sexual sin you would like to perform physically, but only keep to the confines of your mind.

Jesus tells us this is wrong in:

Matthew 5:27-28 (NKJV)
²⁷  "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.'
²⁸  But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

But beyond the sexual immorality resulting from the feelings of rejection, this person believed that their lack of “real friendships” with people of the same sex, with continuous interactions meant that they were unacceptable, causing the Lord to have them announce, and then renounce, the lie that:  

·       I am unwanted, unloved or there is something wrong with me!

This drove low self-esteem and caused the subject to be guarded in their relationships with others or it would cause them to put unrealistic expectations and undo strain on potential friendships. Their being guarded would make them seem distant causing other people to stay away and their expectation for continuous interactions caused potential friends to back away from their “neediness”.  The Lord revealed the lies regarding themselves as not true, He love them so others could, but they needed to:

A.    Believe they were accepted (in Christ for sure) and by others – while they may not have had what they envisioned as ideal friendships – they did in fact have friends!

B.    Accept and appreciate the friendships they do have.

C.   Not seek their fulfillment in friendship, and certainly without people of the opposite sex, as they are married and have sex immorality issues. 

D.   Be willing to be friends with others in less than “ideal” or continuous ways.   

Overall, it was an amazing session of the Lord showing His continuous interactions with us as his followers, and it revealed how the enemy can twist even good things like the concept of friendship to drive people into separation and pain.   

So don’t believe the lie that you don’t have “real friends” unless you are in continuous contact with one another.   Instead, remember that you will always have a friend in Jesus (and that makes you accepted, loved, significant, and secure) and when you stand in your identity in Christ, you can be confident in loving your neighbors as yourself even if it means you won’t be “best friends forever”.  

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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 Death and Eternal Life

John 10:14-15 (ESV)
¹⁴  I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,
¹⁵  just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.

Today’s verses fall under the fifthteenth point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Death and Eternal Life.  

15. Jesus, the good shepherd, laid down his life for his sheep.

Today’s verses show us the immense love that Jesus has for us. He was willing to die for us so that we could live with Him forever.  He is the good shepherd, and He calls us to know Him and His love for us. So we should rejoice in having a friend in Jesus and follow where His example, words, and Spirit lead.

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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.

MORNING READING: ACTS 4

“Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you
more than to God, you judge.” – Acts 4:19

These words were spoken by Peter and John to the rulers of the people and elders of Israel. They express the spirit of boldness and faithfulness which had stirred these poor fishermen, to “speak the things which [they had] seen and heard” (v. 20). The apostles themselves confess that they simply were compelled to speak for their Master, whatever the rulers and elders had to say.

Notice that their testimony was given “in the sight of God” (v. 19). Here was faithfulness. There were no ulterior motives or selfish desires. There was no attempt to please man. They were certain of the rightness of their testimony, for it was in the sight of God.

O Lord, inspire me with this zeal and
holy boldness. Grant to Your servant, that with
all boldness, I may speak Your Word.^[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] 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).

I am All Alone – Lies of the Enemy #6– Purity 1018

 

I am All Alone – Lies of the Enemy #6– Purity 1018

Purity 1018 04/15/2023 Purity 1018 Podcast

Purity 1018 on YouTube: 

Good morning,

Today’s photo of a sunrise pathway scene reflected in the waters at the Vischer Ferry Preserve in Rexford comes to us from Nancy Saunders Sever who leads the Starpoint Church Divorce Care Group at my local church and yesterday lead a group of friends from the group on an 6:00 am morning hike to enjoy a gorgeous morning and the fact that there is freedom and healing, even after divorce, when Christians come together in unity to support and encourage one another.      

Well, it is Saturday, and even though my shifting schedule has me working today, I pray that all of my friends with the day off, and those working, take some time today to enjoy yourselves and thank the Lord for all that He has done.  And if you can do so in the company of family or friends.  As the Swedish proverb says “shared joy is a double joy; shared sorrow is half a sorrow. "  And I can tell you that is the truth!

The Starpoint Divorce Care group was instrumental in my healing from my divorce. I shared my sorrow, and I can tell you that there was healing merely in having the opportunity to honestly talk about what I went through with others who had, were, or were preparing to suffer the same loss of divorce.   The word indicates that confessing our “sins” to our brothers brings healing (James 5:16) and I know that I released many burdens through that group.   

I also experienced joy! The leadership was intentional in organizing social gatherings for the group members and it was through these simple gatherings with new friends that I was able to get over loneliness and past the fear of “going out” in the world again.  

The enemy would have us isolate ourselves because when we are alone he can more easily condemn us, make us see the world as hostile to us, and keep us in bondage to addiction, fear, anger, or depression.   But when we come together as Christians, we can combat the lies of the enemy with the truth of God’s word and the support of one another.  

And so in the spirit of standing on the truth, let’s continue with our current series which is an examination of some of the common lies the enemy tells us to cause us to doubt our faith or to choose not to follow the Lord with the way we live our lives. 

So today’s big lie is:

Lie # 6:  I am All Alone.    

I purposely put today’s big lie in the “first person” tense because that is often how the enemy delivers the “fiery darts” into our minds.  

1 Chronicles 21:1 (NKJV) tells us
¹  Now Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel.

Here scripture indicates Satan, apparently underneath God’s authority (2 Samuel 24:1), moved David to take a census of the people of Israel but He didn’t follow the guidelines  for doing so that God established with Moses (Exodus 30:12) thus acting in pride and against God’s word.    Acting in pride and against God’s word, huh?  Sounds like Satan to me!  

But it probably didn’t sound like Satan to David, it probably sounded like a good idea of his own.  It is unlikely that Satan announced his maniacal plot that would result in the deaths of 70,000 Israelites (1 Chronicles 21:14) to David in the second person: 

“Hey David, You should do a census!”

Instead it is more likely that the enemy phrased it in the first person: 

“I should do a census before we fight. The enemy will be intimidated when they find out how large our army is! That’s a good idea! Boy, I’m smart!”

Little did David know that He was going against God’s word. He had a heart for God after all.  But scripture tells us that Satan knows the word and just how to twist it.  So when we consider combatting the lies of the enemy, we have to  be on the look out of “our own thoughts” because they could be “first person” fiery darts from demonic entities. That’s right. Sometimes our thoughts may not be our own!  

Satan did it to David and so he will certainly do it to us.  

That’s a big introduction for today’s lie but I wanted to explain those “first person” lies because if we aren’t “taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” – even first person thoughts, we will be susceptible to deception.

And just like how the enemy likes to take the truth of God’s word and twist it, he will also take the facts of a situation and twist them to afflict us. The best lies are partially true and Satan knows this.  

So, the lie of “I am all alone.” can be based on the facts of the circumstances.  I am alone. My spouse left me. My family is far from me.  I don’t have any close friends. 

The enemy will be quick to point out these facts and provided you with commentary to explain them:

“I’m alone because nobody loves me. Nobody wants to be with me.”

But what the enemy doesn’t tell you is that there is Someone that does love you and is always with you: God.  No matter what your circumstances on this earth may be there is One who will never leave you or forsake you.  God reveals the fact of His omnipresence through out scripture.  

In Joshua 1:9 (NKJV) God says:
⁹  Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."

Wherever you go, there you are with God.   

Remember David, the guy who really messed up more than once,  well he knew this truth about God too.  In

 Psalm 139:1-6 (NLT2)

¹  O LORD, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.
²  You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
³  You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do.
⁴  You know what I am going to say even before I say it, LORD.
⁵  You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head.
⁶  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!

 This is the wonderful knowledge about God that Satan doesn’t want you to know, read the rest of Psalm 139 and the whole counsel of God and you will see that God is all knowing, all powerful, every where present and He loves us enough to send Jesus to save us.    

If you have put your faith in Christ, the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, Himself, lives in you. 

SO in reality, the Christian is NEVER ALONE.  We can’t be alone because God is with us wherever we go.   But if we forget this, the truth of our relationship with God, the enemy can get us to believe the lies that will fill us with despair, cause us to be fearful or angry, and tempt us to look for satisfaction and love in all the wrong places.   

 So if you are hearing that lie: “I’m all alone.”   There are two ways you can combat it. 

1.    You remember word and your relationship with God and go into His presence through prayer, Bible Study, worship, praise, thanksgiving, or doing good works in His name.   The word says that in the presence of the Lord there is full of joy.  

Psalm 16:11 (NKJV)
¹¹  You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

God shows us the path of life. In His presence there is fullness of joy! So stay in His presence by walking and talking to God as you follow His path through life.  

And the second way you can combat, the lie that “I’m all alone.” Is to

2.    Seek the company of family, friends, and brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. Or go out to new places and make new friends, and take your faith with you.   

Psalm 133:1 (NKJV) says
¹  Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity!

So spend some time making friends in the body of Christ.  We need each other but no one will know your need if you don’t seek friendship. I know it is not easy but the Lord directs us to love one another and we can’t do that by ourselves.   

So don’t believe the lie that “I’m all alone.” It’s not true, God is with you.  But if you are lonely, be bold and courageous and seek out good company where you can confess your sorrows to cut them in half and where you can double your joy. 

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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 is:

Psalm 90:12 (NKJV)
¹²  So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Today’s verse points to the fact of our physical impermanence and encourages us to live from a heart of wisdom – to make our days count.  

All wisdom comes from God so to gain a heart of wisdom we need to know what God’s book of wisdom, the Bible, says and to wisely apply its teachings to our lives.  

The Bible will show us that our lives are but a vapor and we only have limited time to enjoy our lives and to contribute to the work of God’s kingdom.  

So don’t waste your time in earthly pursuits but seek God’s wisdom and to grow your capacity for being in His presence and doing His will. We have to grow into maturity and it may take some time to gain that heart of wisdom but if we number our days we will be able to focus on what’s really important – what will last for eternity – our character and the work we do for and with the Lord.

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As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.

Today we continue sharing from A.W. Pink’s “The Sovereignty of God.”

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

THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD

By  ARTHUR W. PINK

CONCLUSION continues

Let us take up these questions in the order of mention.

2. God’s Sovereignty and Christian service

If God has determined before the foundation of the world the precise number of those who shall be saved then why should we concern ourselves about the eternal destiny of those with whom we come into contact? What place is left for zeal in Christian service? Will not the doctrine of God’s sovereignty, and its corollary of predestination, discourage the Lord’s servants from faithfulness in evangelism? No; instead of discouraging His servants a recognition of God’s sovereignty is most encouraging to them. Here is one, for example, who is called upon to do the work of an evangelist, and he goes forth believing in the freedom of the will and in the sinner’s own ability to come to Christ. He preaches the Gospel as faithfully and zealously as he knows how; but he finds the vast majority of his hearers are utterly indifferent and have no heart at all for Christ. He discovers that men are, for the most part, thoroughly wrapt up in the things of the world, and that few have any concern about the world to come. He beseeches men to be reconciled to God and pleads with them over their soul’s salvation. But it is of no avail. He becomes thoroughly disheartened and asks himself, What is the use of it all? Shall he quit, or had he better change his mission and message? If men will not respond to the Gospel, had he not better engage in that which is more popular and acceptable to the world? Why not occupy himself with humanitarian efforts, with social uplift work, with the purity campaign? Alas! that so many men who once preached the Gospel are now engaged in these activities instead.

What then is God’s corrective for His discouraged servant? First, he needs to learn from Scripture that God is not now seeking to convert the world, but that in this Age He is “taking out of the Gentiles” a people for His name (Acts 15:14). What then is God’s corrective for His discouraged servant? This: a proper apprehension of God’s plan for this Dispensation. Again: what is God’s remedy for dejection at apparent failure in our labors? This: the assurance that God’s purpose cannot fail, that God’s plans cannot miscarry, that God’s will must be done. Our labors are not intended to bring about that which God has not decreed. Once more: what is God’s word of cheer for the one who is thoroughly disheartened at the lack of response to his appeals and the absence of fruit for his labors? This: that we are not responsible for results: that is God’s side, and God’s business. Paul may “plant,” and Apollos may “water,” but it is God who “gave the increase” (1 Cor. 3:6). Our business is to obey Christ and preach the Gospel to every creature, to emphasize the “Whosoever believeth” and then to leave the sovereign operations of the Holy Spirit to apply the Word in quickening power to whom He wills, resting on the sure promise of Jehovah: “For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall My Word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please (it may not that which we please), and it shall prosper in the thing whereunto I sent it” (Isa. 55:10, 11). Was it not this assurance that sustained the beloved apostle when he declared “Therefore (see context) I endure all things for the elect’s sake” (2 Tim. 2:10)! Yea, is not this same lesson to be learned from the blessed example of the Lord Jesus! When we read that He said to the people “Ye also have seen Me, and believe not,” He fell back upon the sovereign pleasure of the One who sent Him, saying “All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me, and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:36, 37). He knew that His labor would not be in vain. He knew God’s Word would not return unto Him “void.” He knew that “God’s elect” would come to Him and believe on Him. And this same assurance fills the soul of every servant who intelligently rests upon the blessed truth of God’s sovereignty.

Ah, fellow-Christian-worker, God has not sent us forth to “draw a bow at a venture.” The success of the ministry which He has committed into our hands is not left contingent on the fickleness of the wills in those to whom we preach. How gloriously encouraging, how soul-sustaining the assurance are those words of our Lord’s if we rest on them in simple faith: “And other sheep I have (“have” mark you, not “will have;” “have” because given to Him by the Father before the foundation of the world), which are not of this fold (i.e. the Jewish fold then existing): them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice” (John 10:16). Not simply, “they ought to hear My voice,” not simply “they may hear My voice,” not “they will if they are willing.” There is no “if,” no uncertainty about it. “They shall hear My voice” is His own positive, unqualified, absolute promise. Here then is where faith is to rest! Continue your quest, dear friend, after the “other sheep” of Christ’s. Be not discouraged because the “goats” heed not His voice as you preach the Gospel. Be faithful, be scriptural, be persevering, and Christ may use even you to be His mouthpiece in calling some of His lost sheep unto Himself. “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:58).^[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)

“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 W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God (Swengel, PA: Bible Truth Depot, 1949), 247–249.

Overcoming 101 - Saying Goodbye and Getting Over “The Hump” - Purity 908

 

Overcoming 101 - Saying Goodbye and Getting Over “The Hump”  -  Purity 908

Purity 908 12/07/2022 Purity 908 Podcast

Purity 908 on YouTube:

Good morning,

Today’s photo of Bell Mountain from the shores of Chatuge Lake comes to us from a friend who shared this scene from Hiawassee Georgia on social media back on November 27^th.   This particular friend’s travels have been highlighted often on the blog and its been a while since I have used any of his “stuff” but I wanted to let them know that “I see you, brother” and to thank him for his generosity in sharing his experiences with his friends.  

Well, it’s Wednesday again and I share our adventurous friend’s photo of Bell Mountain today to visual represent our arrival at the first “hump day” of December and to highlight the enduring quality of friendship and the personal mountains of adversity that we have to face in life on the path of Christian Discipleship.   

In all honesty, I have never personally met the photographer of today’s work. I made his acquaintance on social media a few years ago and have been following him ever since.  His journey, that I can see, has been an epic one.  From our view of his life, we have “seen” him retire and move from his home in Hillsdale in Upstate NY to hop around all over the place, settling for a time in Kentucky, Florida, and now North Carolina. And even though those were the states he has set up “camp” for a while, he has traveled to all the nearby places in between.  The only thing that hasn’t changed is his faithfulness in sharing the things he sees along the way.  If I am ever at a loss for the photo of the day, he is someone I can look to and can usually count on to have something to “use”.  So, thanks Fred, God bless you and your travelling spirit.   

Friends are people we can count right. Friends are people that we have a bond with that can endure separations and time.  As a CFMA, an encourager, for Freedom in Christ Ministries and as a former teacher, and the last director, of Celebrate Freedom my former church’s, now defunct, recovery ministry.  I have made a lot of friends through the years.  I have increasingly and continually found my freedom in Christ through the years  and since 2015, the year I went into recovery, I have been sharing the message of the hope for a new life of peace and abundant joy that is found through faith in Christ alone.

I have encouraged and walked with a lot of people on the path of Christian Discipleship and unfortunately as I keep walking and talking with God I eventually am separated from their company.  As a facilitator of the Freedom in Christ course, I meet new people and walk with them for 12 weeks or so and then have to wish them well as our paths divert.  However, I consider all the people I have known through my old church, and the people I have met through recovery ministry, and the volunteer work I do at Freedom in Christ ministries as my bothers and sisters in Christ, but also as my friends.  While we may have parted company, for whatever reasons, I still consider them to be my friends no matter how long we have been separated. As I leave the people I meet on the path of Christian Discipleship, I leave with the encouragement that they reach out to me to keep in touch or if they need or want to talk.  

With my two household existence, and my secular and ministry work, my availability is something that is hard to pin down on a regular basis, and let’s face it, if you are walking in the Spirit, the Spirit will move you to places you don’t expect! But I always encourage the people I meet along the way to reach out to me periodically or if they are in need because I want to be a friend they can count on.  

We in the body of Christ need each other.  I know how lonely this road of following the Lord can be and I want to be thought of as someone who is faithful to encourage others who decide to pick up their cross and follow the Lord.  

So Monday morning, an old friend from the past reached out to me to confess that he wanted to talk. I was running out the door to work at the time and suggested they just text me or record a voice message to give me a heads up to tell me what was going on and I would respond in kind later.   But they sheepishly replied to never mind and wished me a “Merry Christmas”.   

So as I was driving down the highway, the Holy Spirit indicated to me to reach out and call them.  My new car likes to highjack my phone and I still don’t quite understand how it works. So I reached out and eventually figured out how to speak though my car and learned that my friend had made some bad turns, suffered the consequences of poor decisions, and wanted some advice about what to do.   

Part of my friend’s testimony though revealed to me the root issue of all his problems: his rebellion.  We walked together for a time in the past but we separated because he went against several of his friends’ advice and got involved in a relationship that proved to be toxic. He also hid his relapse in drug and alcohol use.  He has been running ever since and predictably everything has become a huge mess.      

In his statements to me, in asking for help mind you, he was trying to establish his rights and his freedom to “have a beer” at the end of the day and was lamenting over the how he has been misused or wrongly accused  by the state and the other people in his life.  In essence, he was making the claim that he could do what he wanted and that he was a victim of circumstances.  While he was asking for help, he seemed to deny that he was the problem.   

So what do you do? Agree with him and tell him “the world sucks” or “Yeah, you do what you want!” I don’t think so!

I reminded him of how when he was clean and sober, he was thriving in life and I told him flat out that he had to “say goodbye” to the past, say “goodbye” to the beer, and to start following the Lord again.  I told him that there simply is no other way but the Lord’s way and that half measures don’t work. If he wanted true freedom and peace, he had to follow the Lord and do His will.   

Amazingly, he thanked me and said that he knew that he could count on me to “tell it like it is” and he made the decision to start following the Lord again.  

He has texted me over the last couple of days and says he  feels better and he indicates that he is going to change his story from being a cautionary tale to one that tells of a turn around and a new life of victory.   

I sent him a YouTube video of Bethel’s King of My Heart and an encouraging word to let the Lord rule his heart, just this morning.  

It doesn’t cost a thing to send him an encouraging word but I know just how valuable it is to have a friend in your corner when you decide to “climb that mountain” of problems that you have to overcome when you decide to be real with God and follow where He leads.      

I’m not sure what will happen with my friend but I am praying that he stays faithful to seek the Lord and to surrender his will to God.  It’s hard going on this path of Christian Discipleship but if you keep walking and talking with God, you’ll get over that hump and eventually you will leave the darkness of you old life behind as the Lord will fill your life with meaning and purpose that will just happen to lead you on a journey that never ends whose road is paved with peace, love, and joy.  

So turn it around and follow the Lord into all He has for you.  He did it for me and He is faithful and trustworthy to do it for you, too.     

 

  

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

This morning’s meditation verses is:

Isaiah 59:2 (NLT2)
²  It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.

 Today’s verse speaks of the spiritual reality of how our sins disrupt the harmony of our relationship with God. 

As born again believers who have put our faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, nothing can separate us from the love of God or break our relationship with Him.   But when we come into a covenant relationship with the Lord through Jesus Christ, there is an expectation that you are going to “walk the walk” as well as “talk the talk” of a Christian disciple.   It is expected that when we come to faith in Jesus Christ that we repent. We are expected to turn from our sinful and selfish ways and to start living our lives according to God’s will and ways.  

So what happens, when we don’t?   Well it feels like God has left us because our sin separates us from fellowship with Him.  we don’t experience His presence or blessing because WE have walked away from Him by sinning.  

One of the principles of prayer is to be “right with God” if we expect to have our requests heard and fulfilled.  Today’s verse indicates our prayers won’t “be heard”, fulfilled, because of our sin.   

But the good news is that God will hear us and be with us the moment we repent. Our fellowship with God is re-established the moment we confess our sins to Him and ask for His help. 

So don’t treat your faith like some game where you can “sin-confess”, “sin-confess”, Instead be faithful to never leave the Lord’s side by turning from sin and walking where He would direct you.     

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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 Ten

The Body of Christ

The first disciples lived in the bodily presence of and in community with Jesus. What is the significance of this fact, and in what way does this community still exist for us? Paul states that through baptism we have become members of the body of Christ. This statement sounds very strange and incomprehensible to us, and thus requires a thorough explanation.

It tells us that those who are baptized are still meant to live, even after the Lord’s death and resurrection, in the bodily presence of and community with Jesus. For those who belong to him, Jesus’ departure does not mean a loss but rather a new gift. For the first disciples the bodily community with Jesus did not mean anything different or anything more than what we have today. Indeed, for us this community is even more definite, more complete, and more certain than it was for them, since we live in full community with the bodily presence of the glorified Lord. Our faith must become fully aware of the magnitude of this gift. The body of Jesus Christ is the ground of our faith and the source of its certainty; the body of Jesus Christ is the one and perfect gift through which we receive our salvation; the body of Jesus Christ is our new life. It is in the body of Jesus Christ that we are accepted by God from eternity.

Since Adam’s fall God sent the divine word to sinful humanity, in order to seek and accept us. This is why we have received God’s word, to reconcile our lost humanity with God. God’s word came as promise and as law. For our sake God’s word became weak and lowly. But human beings rejected this word, refusing to be accepted by God. They offered sacrifices; they performed good works which God was supposed to accept in their stead, thereby letting them go free.

Then the miracle of all miracles takes place. The Son of God becomes a human being. The Word became flesh. The One who had dwelled from all eternity in the Father’s glory, the One who was in the form of God, who in the beginning had been the mediator of creation so that the created world can only be known through him and in him, the One who was very God (1 Cor. 8:6; 2 Cor. 8:9; Phil. 2:6ff.; Eph. 1:4; Col. 1:16; John 1:1ff.; Heb. 1:1ff.)—this One takes on humanity and comes to earth. He takes on humanity by taking on human qualities, human ‘nature’, “sinful flesh,” human form (Rom. 8:3; Gal. 4:4; Phil. 2:6ff.). Now it is no longer only through the word of preaching that God accepts humanity, but also in the body of Christ. God’s mercy sends the Son in the flesh, so that in his flesh he may shoulder and carry all of humanity. The Son of God accepts all of humanity in bodily form, the same humanity which in hate of God and pride of the flesh had rejected the incorporeal, invisible word of God. In the body of Jesus Christ humanity is now truly and bodily accepted; it is accepted as it is, out of God’s mercy.

When contemplating this miracle, the early church fathers insisted passionately that while it was necessary to say that God had taken on human nature, it was wrong to say that God had chosen a single, perfect human being with whom God would then unite. God became human. This means God took on the whole of our sick and sinful human nature, the whole of humanity which had fallen away from God. It does not mean, however, that God took on the individual human being Jesus. The entire gospel message can be understood properly only in light of this crucial distinction. The body of Jesus Christ, in which we together with all of humanity are accepted by God, has now become the foundation of our salvation.

The flesh borne by Christ was sinful flesh—yet borne without sin (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15). Wherever his human body is, there all flesh is being accepted. “Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our sorrows.” Only by bearing all our infirmities and sorrows in his own body was Jesus able to heal the infirmities and sorrows of human nature (Matt. 8:15–17). “He was wounded for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities.” He bore our sin, and was therefore able to forgive sin; for in his body our sinful flesh had been “accepted.” This is why Jesus accepted sinners (Luke 15:2): he bore them in his own body. In Jesus the “acceptable (δεκτόν) year of the Lord” had dawned (Luke 4:19).

The incarnate Son of God was thus both an individual self and the new humanity. Whatever he did was at the same time also done on behalf of the new humanity which he bore in his body. He is thus a second Adam, or the “last” Adam (1 Cor. 15:45). For Adam too was both an individual self and at the same time the whole of humanity. Adam also bore the whole of humanity in himself. In him all of humanity has fallen; in “Adam” (which in Hebrew means “human being”), humanity as such has fallen (Rom. 5:19). Christ is the second human being (1 Cor. 15:47) in whom the new humanity is created. He is the “new human being.”

It is only with this perspective in mind that we are able to understand the nature of the bodily community which the disciples enjoyed with Jesus. The bond between Jesus and the disciples who followed him was a bodily bond. This was no accident but a necessary consequence of the incarnation. A prophet and teacher would not need followers, but only students and listeners. But the incarnate Son of God who took on human flesh does need a community of followers [Nachfolgergemeinde] who not only participate in his teaching but also in his body. It is thus in the body of Christ that the disciples have community. They live and suffer in bodily community with Jesus. By being in community with the body of Jesus they are placed under the burden of the cross. For in that body they are all borne and accepted.^[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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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

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^[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), 213–215.