Goals with God – A Mindful of Christ Encouragement - Purity 1264
Purity 1264 02/02/2024 Purity 1264 Podcast
Purity 1264 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of a blazing sun obscured by palms and
other trees over a Florida forest pathway comes to us from yours truly as I
reached back into the I phone’s photo archives to retrieve this scene from February
20, 2022, from my honeymoon trip to Tampa.
Well, It’s Friday and I am thinking about Florida
this morning because two weeks (2 WEEKS!!?!) out from, prayerfully, getting on
an airplane to return to the sunshine state for a mini-blended family vacation
to the Magic Kingdom! That’s right, in 2 weeks, I’m going to Disney World! So not
only am I thanking God that it is Friday, today, I am also thankful for the
ability to make plans and accomplish goals.
I can’t claim that Disney was a long-term goal because it wasn’t, and it
is only by the grace of God and His sovereignly moving earthly events that a
Disney World vacation is possible. It costs a lot of money to go to Disney but
when the Lord blessed me with the sale of my old house, I got the inspiration
to celebrate with a February Florida trip and to take my wife and two youngest
step kids to the Magic Kingdom. No sooner did I have the inkling of an idea
that “we could do this” than I was booking the trip and making the dream come
true. If you want something you have to
plan for it, and if you want to travel, you have to book it!
But I want to encourage you today to be responsible
with the plans you make. I walk in the Spirit
and frankly, a lot of the things I do come suddenly – but as my journey from my
former life of addiction and brokenness to the light of freedom and victory can
attest some times our goals have an undetermined end date and will require
walking and talking with God through deep dark valleys for tribulation before
we make it to the promised land – but even when you are walking on a trail of
tears you can have peace and joy with the Lord when you pray and follow what
you believe to be God’s plan for your life.
So to encourage you in establishing godly goals, I
am sharing Mindful of Christ’s Lauren Roskilly’s “Word for Wednesday” from this
week which is based on.
Proverbs 19:21 (NKJV) which says
21 There are many plans in a
man's heart, Nevertheless the LORD'S
counsel--that will stand.
Lauren’s message is called: Gods Will Not Yours. Lauren writes:
“How are you getting on with the goals or New Year's resolutions
that you set at the beginning of the month? Did they align with God's plan for you?
If they did then you may be experiencing each day with God in His
purpose and one that is becoming more and more exciting. If that’s where you
are we would love to hear what you’re up to. Do comment or reply here and let
us know.
On the other hand, if they aren’t aligned with God's will and
purpose then you may experience one of two things:
1. You strive each and
every day to hit those goals/ resolutions, perhaps you’re even feeling overwhelmed.
2. You are ploughing through
full steam ahead in your determination and enjoying the feelings of being
independent and self-sufficient.
Either way, if you’re not planning your life, year, month, or day
according to God's purpose, then his purpose will catch up with you in the end.
Whether he uses you or someone else.
Surely it’s better to align with Him and His purpose? Then you
will experience His love, peace and abundance. More importantly, you will be
walking in the purpose of the creator of the world! Wow!”
Lauren invites you to learn how to set Godly Goals by clicking on
the link on the blog today (https://mindfulofchrist.net/how-to-set-godly-goals/)
where you can see her teaching on how to be a piece of PAPAS ART .PAPAS ART is
Lauren’s an acronym for a process of setting goals with God that involves Prayer,
Aligning with God’s Will, having Peace, and setting goals with
God that are Assessable, Specific, Attainable, Relevant,
and Timely.
As Lauren states: It’s better to align with God and His purposes
for our lives and Mindful in Christ offers you a free download of Lauren’s
teaching that includes charts where you can be specific in writing out what you
hope to accomplish, and it even includes a calendar to track your
progress. So go to (https://mindfulofchrist.net/how-to-set-godly-goals/
to get yours.
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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 verse come from the section on Communication, Gossip, and
Lying.
Exodus 20:16 (NASB)
16 "You shall not bear
false witness against your neighbor.
Today’s
verse is the first of two passages of scripture that fall under the seventh point
of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Communication, Gossip, and
Lying.
7. God forbids us to
lie; he wants us to speak the truth.
Today’s
verse is one of the Ten Commandments, and it is what I paraphrase when giving
the first “rule of Christian Discipleship” which is “Stop Lying”. As Christians, we are to be obedient to God’s
law and because we are trying to become more and more like Jesus and represent The
Truth, the Way, and the Life, we should be honest and forthcoming in speaking
the truth even if it is hard or isn’t pretty.
Not
only is telling the truth the right thing to do, but it also just happens to
give you an enormous sense of peace. When you stop lying you don’t have to
cover your tracks anymore. You don’t have to look over your shoulder and be
burdened with remembering which lies you told to who. When you just tell it
like it is – the truth will set you free.
That’s
why it’s what I call the first rule of Christian Discipleship – walking in the
Spirit is supposed to set you free and when you speak the truth you walk out of
darkness and begin to experience the righteous, good, faithful, and holy life
of peace and joy that the Lord wants you to know. So keep it real, tell the truth, and keep
walking and talking with God.
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As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I
always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to
assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today we continue sharing from “According to Your
Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament” By Stephen F. Olford – A
Collection of Devotional Journals: 1940-1941.
As always, I share this information for educational
purposes and encourage you all to purchase Olford’s books for your own
private study and to support his work. This resource is available online
for less than $10 at many sites.
EVENING READING: MATTHEW 24
“My master is delaying his coming.”
– Matthew 24:48
It is one of the Devil's greatest achievements to
perpetrate this falsehood. For falsehood it is. The Scriptures declare “The
Lord is not slack concerning His promise [of His coming], as some count
slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish”
(2 Peter 3:9). The apostle says, “The time is short” (1 Cor. 7:29). The Lord
Jesus says, “Behold, I am coming quickly” (Rev. 3:11).
Nevertheless, there are those who are controlled by their
own lusts and by the Devil, who say, “Where is the promise of His coming? For
since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as … from the beginning” (2
Peter 3:4). The apostle replies that these people are willingly ignorant of the
Word of God.
O Lord, make Your coming a living
reality
in my life; that the Hope may purify my heart
even as You are pure.[1]
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tomorrow------------------------
Join our “Victory over the Darkness”, “The Bondage
Breaker”, "Freedom in Christ" series of Discipleship Classes via the
mt4christ247 podcast!
at https://mt4christ247.podbean.com, You can also find it on Apple podcasts
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These teachings are also available on the
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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
[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).