To Lose the Knowledge of Costly Grace– Lent with Bonhoeffer Day 18– Purity 990

 

To Lose the Knowledge of Costly Grace– Lent with Bonhoeffer Day 18– Purity 990 

Purity 990 03/14/2023 Purity 990 Podcast

Purity 990 on YouTube: 

YouTube likes to turn things sideways.........

Good morning,

Today’s photo of a mostly green grass field and tree line underneath a blue cumulus clouded springtime sky comes to us from yours as I decided to dial it back last night, (yup due to the threat of snow I am preparing this message AT NIGHT!) and look into my iPhone’s  photo archive to see what I could use for the photo of the day and set free from its digital prison. I found this simple spring time scene that I captured somewhere near Schenectady NY presumably while I was working back on May 8^th of 2019, and in light of the possibility of a large volume of snow falling today, decided to use it to help us to “think spring” even if we may have difficulty seeing it this morning.    

Well, its Tuesday today and regardless of the snow, I look forward to hosting men’s Freedom in Christ course that I facilitate on Zoom later this evening because we are past the half way point of the course and some of the participants have already handed in their paperwork to give their consent to be lead through the Steps to Freedom in Christ, with the first appointments happening next week. So it is officially “freedom season” and I can’t wait to see what the Lord will do in these men’s lives as they seek to resolve their personal and spiritual conflicts through repentance and prayer with The Steps. I have seen the Lord use this process to set people free from issues that have kept them stuck in negative thoughts and behavior patterns for most of their lives so I know that when we humbly ask the Lord for help, He is good and faithful to give it.   

So let these repentant men be an inspiration to us and let’s follow their example as we continue into the season of repentance and prayer known as Lent as we continue with our current series as we walk into Day 18 of the 40 Day Journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

As a reminder, and as we will say each day of this journey, we take this path to mark the season of Lent and to draw closer to God in anticipation for the celebration of Easter, knowing that if we take this journey of repentance seriously, we will not only see the days and seasons change, the Lord will use it to change us too. 

You can sign up to get this devotional yourself by going to the Biblegateway link on the blog ((https://www.biblegateway.com/devotionals/40-Day-Journey-Dietrich-Bonhoeffer/today)) . 

Day 18

Bonhoeffer writes:

“The word of cheap grace has ruined more Christians than any commandment about works…

For integrity’s sake someone has to speak up for those among us who confess that cheap grace has made them give up following Christ, and that ceasing to follow Christ has made them lose the knowledge of costly grace.

Because we cannot deny that we no longer stand in true discipleship to Christ, while being members of a true-believing church with a pure doctrine of grace, but are no longer members of a church which follows Christ, we therefore have to try to understand grace and discipleship again in correct relationship to each other.”

Biblical Wisdom

What then are we to say? Should we continue to sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead to the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. Romans 6:1-4

Questions to Ponder

• What do you think Bonhoeffer meant by saying: “The word of cheap grace has ruined more Christians than any commandment about works”?

M.T. Clark: I think that Bonhoeffer meant that cheap grace caused Christians to either stay bound in habitual sin without repentance or to decided to not pursue personal purity and holiness. Cheap grace ruins Christians by convincing them to be something less than the disciples of Jesus that the Lord calls us to be.

• Why might cheap grace cause someone to give up following Christ?

M.T. Clark: Cheap grace could cause someone to stop following Christ in two ways.  1, Cheap grace as a general forgiveness of sin could convince some that following Christ is not necessary.  They need to do nothing because of grace after all so they extended that idea to include being one of Christ’s disciples.   2. Cheap grace could cause some to pursue the flesh into continuous sin leading them to doubt their conversion and the authenticity of their faith causing them to make the decision not to follow Christ rather than to misrepresent Him as a someone who looks nothing like Him.  

• What is the correct relationship between grace and discipleship?

M.T. Clark: The correct relationship between grace and discipleship is that grace would cause one to walk out a disciple’s life. That amazing grace is to cause us to love God and to seek to obey Him by living as a disciple out of our love for Him.

Psalm Fragment

Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
   let your face shine, that we may be saved. Psalm 80:19

Journal Reflections

• Has the church’s proclamation and practice of cheap grace ever led you to consider not following Christ anymore? If so, write about the experience.

M.T. Clark: No, it did cause me to live a licentious life of sin for a time though, but the Holy Spirit convicted me and caused me to repent and now live as much as I can as a disciple of Jesus Christ.   I was very ignorant and very much a slave to sin when I got saved and I made the costly grace that Christ paid for cheap by running wild in sin for a time.

• Do you know anyone who has given up following Christ because of cheap grace? If so, did anyone speak up for her or him?

M.T. Clark: Yes, some new believers who prescribe to cheap grace can be easily offended when they hear that they are to be repentant and be like Jesus. The idea that one must do anything more than “just believe” is abhorrent to those “sinners saved by cheap grace.” When they give up “following Christ,” it never ends well.  

Intercessions

Pray for the church, and for all Christians, that they may not succumb to the lure of cheap grace.

M.T. Clark: 

Lord, we pray for the church and for all Chrstians that they would recognize and reject cheap grace in any form that it takes and to be shown the truth of your costly grace and to make the daily decision to follow and worship You in Spirit and truth.  

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Prayer for Today

Lord Jesus Christ, I would follow you, no matter what the cost; lead me in the way of true discipleship.

M.T. Clark: In Jesus Name, I pray, Amen.

(40-Day Journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Copyright © 2007 Augsburg Books, imprint of Augsburg Fortress.)

***As we are being provided with Bible verses from the 40 Day Journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, we will are taking a break from sharing a verse of the day from “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”. We plan on resuming that normal installment of the blog following Easter.*** 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

CHAPTER NINE

GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY AND PRAYER continues

 

Turn to 2 Cor. 12. The apostle Paul had been accorded an unheard-of privilege. He had been transported into Paradise. His ears had listened to and his eyes had gazed upon that which no other mortal had heard or seen this side of death. The wondrous revelation was more than the apostle could endure. He was in danger of becoming “puffed up” by his extraordinary experience. Therefore, a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan, was sent to buffet him lest he be exalted above measure. And the apostle spreads his need before the Lord; he thrice beseeches Him that this thorn in the flesh should be removed. Was his prayer answered? Assuredly, though not in the manner he had desired. The “thorn” was not removed but grace was given to bear it. The burden was not lifted but strength was vouchsafed to carry it.

Does someone object that it is our privilege to do more than spread our need before God? Are we reminded that God has, as it were, given us a blank cheque and invited us to fill it in? It is said that the promises of God are all-inclusive, and that we may ask God for what we will? If so, we must call attention to the fact that it is necessary to compare scripture with scripture if we are to learn the full mind of God on any subject, and that as this is done we discover God has qualified the promises given to praying souls by saying “If ye ask anything according to His will He heareth us” (1 John 5:14). Real prayer is communion with God so that there will be common thoughts between His mind and ours. What is needed is for Him to fill our hearts with His thoughts and then His desires will become our desires flowing back to Him. Here then is the meeting-place between God’s sovereignty and Christian prayer: If we ask anything according to His will He heareth us, and if we do not so ask He does not hear us; as saith the apostle James, “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts” or desires (4:3).

But did not the Lord Jesus tell His disciples, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you” (John 16:23)? He did; but this promise does not give praying souls carte blanche. These words of our Lord are in perfect accord with those of the apostle John: “If we ask anything according to His will He heareth us.” What is it to ask “in the name of Christ”? Surely it is very much more than a prayer formula, the mere concluding of our supplications with the words “in the name of Christ.” To apply to God for anything in the name of Christ, it must needs be in keeping with what Christ is! To ask God in the name of Christ is as though Christ Himself were the suppliant. We can only ask God for what Christ would ask. To ask in the name of Christ is therefore to set aside our own wills, accepting God’s!

Let us now amplify our definition of prayer. What is prayer? Prayer is not so much an act as it is an attitude—an attitude of dependency, dependency upon God. Prayer is a confession of creature weakness, yea, of helplessness. Prayer is the acknowledgment of our need and the spreading of it before God. We do not say that this is all there is in prayer, it is not: but it is the essential, the primary element in prayer. We freely admit that we are quite unable to give a complete definition of prayer within the compass of a brief sentence, or in any number of words. Prayer is both an attitude and an act, a human act, and yet there is the Divine element in it too, and it is this which makes an exhaustive analysis impossible as well as impious to attempt. But admitting this, we do insist again that prayer is fundamentally an attitude of dependency upon God. Therefore, prayer is the very opposite of dictating to God. Because prayer is an attitude of dependency, the one who really prays is submissive, submissive to the Divine will; and submission to the Divine will means that we are content for the Lord to supply our need according to the dictates of His own sovereign pleasure. And hence it is that we say every prayer that is offered to God in this spirit is sure of meeting with an answer or response from Him.

Here then is the reply to our opening question, and the scriptural solution to the seeming difficulty. Prayer is not the requesting of God to alter His purpose or for Him to form a new one. Prayer is the taking of an attitude of dependency upon God, the spreading of our need before Him, the asking for those things which are in accordance with His will, and therefore there is nothing whatever inconsistent between Divine sovereignty and Christian prayer.^[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

---

^[1] Arthur W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God (Swengel, PA: Bible Truth Depot, 1949), 185–187.

Showing Mercy, Giving Away Dignity and Honor – Lent with Bonhoeffer Day 12 – Purity 984

Showing Mercy, Giving Away Dignity and Honor – Lent with Bonhoeffer Day 12 – Purity 984   

Purity 984 03/07/2023 Purity 984 Podcast

Purity 984 on YouTube: Coming Soon!

Good morning,

Today’s photo of my wife in her Operation Adopt a Soldier hoodie seated on the beach at Myrtle Beach directly beneath the rising sun comes from yours truly as captured this scene while on vacation back on February 23^rd. I thought the slogan on the back of my wife’s hoodie “Till They All Come Home” and her gazing towards the rising sun on the horizon seemed to tell a story – that this woman was looking forward to the day when her loved one would return home. And in my wife’s case, it’s a true story as her daughter is currently serving overseas in the Marine Corp and even though I know she is proud of the hero raised, she will be glad when her daughter’s tour of duty comes to an end.  

Likewise, our heavenly Father has enlisted us, as Christians to be “all that we can be” through our faith in Jesus Christ and even though we were placed on the earth for a purpose the word of God tells us that our current position is temporary and that our true home is found in the presence of the Lord and that all of creation waits until the Lord will reclaim the earth and we can all go home to His kingdom and in His presence for all eternity. So our lives are in transit as we are all on a journey that is headed for home.

Speaking of being in transit, we are currently  transitioning through the season of Lent and have decided to take the 40 Day Journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Today we resume this series and step into Day 12.   

As a reminder, and as we will say each day of this journey, we take this path to mark the season of Lent and to draw closer to God in anticipation for the celebration of Easter, knowing that if we take this journey of repentance seriously, the Lord will use it to change us too. 

You can sign up to get this devotional yourself by going to the Biblegateway link on the blog ((https://www.biblegateway.com/devotionals/40-Day-Journey-Dietrich-Bonhoeffer/today)) . 

Day 12

Bonhoffer writes:

“These people without possessions, these strangers, these powerless, these sinners, these followers of Jesus live with him now also in the renunciation of their own dignity, for they are merciful.

As if their own need and lack were not enough, they share in other people’s need, debasement, and guilt.

They have an irresistible love for the lowly, the sick, for those who are in misery, for those who are demeaned and abased, for those who suffer injustice and are rejected, for everyone in pain and anxiety.

They seek out all those who have fallen into sin and guilt.

No need is too great, no sin too dreadful for mercy to reach.

The merciful give their own honor to those who have fallen into shame and take that shame unto themselves.

They may be found in the company of tax collectors and sinners and willingly bear the shame of their fellowship.

Disciples give away anyone’s greatest possession, their own dignity and honor, and show mercy. They know only one dignity and honor, the mercy of their Lord, which is their only source of life.”

Biblical Wisdom

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.” Matthew 5:7

Questions to Ponder

• Practically speaking, what does mercy look like? How do merciful people act?

M.T. Clark: Mercy looks like kindness and compassion. The merciful Christian feel the pain of the other person’s situation and seeks to alleviate it through extending the kindness and love that is found in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Rather than God’s wrath which every sinner deserves, we seek to extend to those in need God’s love, forgiveness, and grace that define His mercy.

• Why is “renunciation of their own dignity” necessary if disciples are to be truly merciful?

M.T. Clark: The renunciation of our own dignity is necessary if disciples are to be truly merciful because mercy requires that we don’t think too highly of ourselves as we go to the wretched and the lowly to administer God’s grace without a thought to the opinions of men who would judge us for our association with “known sinners”.  We also renounce our own dignity because we know that our message calls the sinner out of their darkness and we accept the risk that we will being hated for it and have our offer of mercy rejected.

• How might a church renounce its own dignity in order to be merciful?

M.T. Clark: A church could renounce its own dignity by not requiring certain forms of dress or a mandatory tithe for church membership. A church could renounce their own dignity by seeking out the poor and welcoming them into their church even though they could not give to the church. A church could also engage in street evangelism and community outreach programs such as food banks to reach the lowly.

• How is Jesus our model for renouncing dignity in order to be merciful?

M.T. Clark: Jesus exemplified renouncing dignity by being a “friend of sinners” as he associated with the most despised sinners of his day, tax collectors and prostitutes, and ministered to the poor and rejected (lepers and the occasional Samaritan and gentile).

• Is there anyone beneath the disciples’ mercy? Why, or why not?

M.T. Clark: No one is beneath the offer of the disciples’ mercy for we are commanded to go and make disciples of all. However, our fellowship would have its limits as the word of God establishes church discipline to remove unrepentant sinners from the congregation, as light is to have nothing to do with darkness.  The disciple’s ,mercy thus needs to go into dark places to bring the light of God but does not encourage others to stay there.

Psalm Fragment

They rise in the darkness as a light for the upright;
   they are gracious, merciful, and righteous.
It is well with those who deal generously and lend,
   who conduct their affairs with justice. Psalm 112:4-5

Journal Reflections

• Write about a time when you extended mercy to someone. How did you feel?

M.T. Clark: Once as a child a friend was upset and struck me repeatedly in anger. He was smaller and even though I was encouraged to pummel him. I did not raise a hand against him and instead walked away. I don’t know if that was mercy or some form of cowardice but I knew that he was acting out of frustration and I decided not to give him the beating that my other friends felt he deserved.  I guess I felt good about it because I didn’t give in to violence and lowering myself to his level but I think I also have some shame about it because I didn’t “stand up for myself”.  Oh life… it’s complicated.

• Write about a time when you withheld mercy. How did you feel?

M.T. Clark: I suppose I withheld mercy at various times when I decided to punish my children when they grew up.   They may have deserved the punishments but sometimes they were fueled by anger more that righteous indignation. I never felt good about withholding mercy and it was only to try to teach them the consequences for wrong action was I able to do it.

• Reflect on the ways in which God is merciful to you.

M.T. Clark:  According to the law, I would be dead ten times over, if not more, for the sins that I have willfully committed.  But God was merciful to me by showing me the truth and leading me to not only be saved but to serve His kingdom. Even though I had basically refused to acknowledge Him for most of my life and rebelled against all that was good and holy in my heart, if not in deed, He saved me and gave me my freedom in Christ. Let me never forget and be true to speak of God’s mercy and grace.

Intercessions

Think of someone who needs to experience mercy. Pray for them in their need. Ask God what you might do to show them mercy.

M.T. Clark:

Lord God, Heavenly Father, 

I am thinking of a few people who desperately need your mercy. I pray for them to be shown the light and be empowered by your Holy Spirit to lead them into repentance so they can experience the depths of your mercy and the wonders of your love. 

In Jesus name, Amen.

Prayer for Today

Lord, may your infinite mercy to me enable me to be truly merciful to all others.

M.T. Clark: In Jesus Name, I pray, Amen.

 

(40-Day Journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Copyright © 2007 Augsburg Books, imprint of Augsburg Fortress.)

***As we are being provided with Bible verses from the 40 Day Journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, we will are taking a break from sharing a verse of the day from “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”. We plan on resuming that normal installment of the blog following Easter.*** 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

CHAPTER EIGHT

SOVEREIGNTY AND HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY

 

IV. How can the sinner be held responsible to receive Christ, and be damned for rejecting Him, when God FOREORDAINED him TO condemnation?

A.W. Pinks response continues…

In the third place, should it be objected, Admitting all you have said above, Is it not still a fact that each of the non-elect is unable to repent and believe? The reply is, Yes. Of every sinner it is a fact that, of himself, he cannot come to Christ. And from God’s side the “cannot” is absolute. But we are now dealing with the responsibility of the sinner (the sinner foreordained to condemnation, though he knows it not), and from the human side the inability of the sinner is a moral one, as previously pointed out. Moreover, it needs to be borne in mind that in addition to the moral inability of the sinner there is a voluntary inability, too. The sinner must be regarded not only as impotent to do good but as delighting in evil. From the human side, then, the “cannot” is a will not; it is a voluntary impotence. Man’s impotence lies in his obstinacy. Hence, is everyone left “without excuse,” and hence, is God “clear” when He judgeth (Psa. 51:4), and righteous in damning all who “love darkness rather than light.”

That God does require what is beyond our own power to render is clear from many scriptures. God gave the Law to Israel at Sinai and demanded a full compliance with it, and solemnly pointed out what would be the consequences of their disobedience (see Deut. 28). But will any readers be so foolish as to affirm that Israel were capable of fully obeying the Law! If they do, we would refer them to Romans 8:3 where we are expressly told, “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.”

Come now to the New Testament. Take such passages as Matt. 5:48, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” 1 Cor. 15:34. “Awake to righteousness and sin not.” 1 John 2:1, “My little children, these things I write unto you, that ye sin not.” Will any reader say he is capable in himself of complying with these demands of God? If so, it is useless for us to argue with him.

But now the question arises, Why has God demanded of man that which he is incapable of performing? The first answer is, Because God refuses to lower His standard to the level of our sinful infirmities. Being perfect, God must set a perfect standard before us. Still we must ask, If man is incapable of measuring up to God’s standard, wherein lies his responsibility? Difficult as it seems the problem is nevertheless capable of simple and satisfactory solution.

Man is responsible to (first) acknowledge before God his inability, and (second) to cry unto Him for enabling grace. Surely this will be admitted by every Christian reader. It is my bounden duty to own before God my ignorance, my weakness, my sinfulness, my impotence to comply with His holy and just requirements. It is also my bounden duty, as well as blessed privilege, to earnestly beseech God to give me the wisdom, strength, grace, which will enable me to do that which is pleasing in His sight; to ask Him to work in me “both to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13).

In like manner, the sinner, every sinner, is responsible to call upon the Lord. Of himself he can neither repent nor believe. He can neither come to Christ nor turn from his sins. God tells him so; and his first duty is to “set to his seal that God is true.” His second duty is to cry unto God for His enabling power; to ask God in mercy to overcome his enmity and “draw” him to Christ; to bestow upon him the gifts of repentance and faith. If he will do so, sincerely from the heart, then most surely God will respond to his appeal, for it is written, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom. 10:13).

Suppose I had slipped on the icy pavement late at night, and had broken my hip. I am unable to arise; if I remain on the ground I must freeze to death. What, then, ought I to do? If I am determined to perish I shall lie there silent; but I shall be to blame for such a course. If I am anxious to be rescued I shall lift up my voice and cry for help. So the sinner, though unable of himself to rise and take the first step toward Christ, is responsible to cry to God, and if he does (from the heart) there is a Deliverer to hand. God is “not far from every one of us” (Acts 17:27); yea, “He is a very present help in trouble” (Psa. 46:1). But if the sinner refuses to cry unto the Lord, if he is determined to perish, then his blood is on his own head, and his “damnation is just” (Rom. 3:8).^[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

---

^[1] Arthur W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God (Swengel, PA: Bible Truth Depot, 1949), 169–171.

“Saying Grace” with our Lives- Purity 901

 

“Saying Grace” with our Lives-  Purity 901        

Purity 901 11/29/2022 Purity 901 Podcast

Purity 901 on YouTube: 

Good morning,

Today’s photo of an outlet of the Hudson River in the shadows of the fading light of day comes to us from yours truly as my wife and I decided to enjoy the last bit of daylight this past Saturday in each other’s company on a walk at Hudson Crossing Park, in Schuylerville NY.   I had spent most of the day indoors working on power point presentations for the Bonhoeffer series I am producing while TammyLyn went to lunch with her mother and daughters but upon her return, with the day disappearing, I just had a sudden impulse to “do something!” and off we went and I’m glad we did. Not only did Isnag this spooky beautiful photo but I got to spend some simple “quality time” with my wife, where we didn’t necessarily say or do much but enjoyed the simple fact that we were together and that we loved one another.  

Well, It’s Tuesday, and I guess recalling this past weekend’s little excursion is my attempt to encourage you to be cognizant of the time you have and to utilize it, where you can, to enjoy your life and let the people you love know you appreciate them.  At that late afternoon hour, we could have just surrendered to the regular routine of getting ready for dinner and watched the daylight wane from the inside of our country side home but instead we enjoyed the last brightness of the day on the drive to Hudson Crossing and at a time some may have determined to be “too late” to go on a walk, we were on our way out, having seen every bit of daylight in a place where we could enjoy God’s creation in each other’s company rather than indoors.   

I think about this “stuff” often, the fact that although God gives us His word to guide us, He also gives us a lot of “free time” to decide what to do with our lives. We can work. We can study. We can sleep. We can stay indoors. We can go out. But the thing is, even though I do enjoy my times walking and talking with God outside, I have pondered the fact that much of our human existence would seem to be “a wash” in terms of the impact that our decisions make on our lives.  In the grand scheme, one single day in our lives may not mean that much, and in hindsight, we can analyze similar days and see no difference between a day spent indoors or a day spent outside.

There is little in and of itself of certain experiences that make them “better than others” and God’s word is rather silent on what we should do with the particulars of each and every day of our lives. We can do anything and one thing isn’t necessarily better than another!  

However, the reason I write this blog and do this podcast is that I have discovered, and continue to learn, that a life spent, regardless of our particular activities, in the “presence” of the Lord and in the context of who we are in Christ is a life that is spent in peace, love, and joy.  

Anybody looking on the outside at TammyLyn and I during our walk in the park, would have counted two in our party, but they would have been missing Someone.  Yes, we were alone but the love and gratitude that we expressed towards each other at various times in our little stroll was replete with mentions of the God that we credit with bringing us together and with thanks given in His direction.  

As easy as this is to do when you are surrounded by the glory of God’s natural creation outside, it is also something you can do inside too. 

I have to admit that before TammyLyn, I never was much of a “saying grace” Christian but early on in our relationship I saw that it was a regular practice for her. Or at least I guess it was because since I have entered her life, the “saying grace” thing seems to have fallen to me!

But social awkwardness aside, its easy to do. What could be more appropriate than thanking the Lord for providing the food that you are going to eat, and in my case, for the beautiful woman who lovingly prepared it?  

So, that’s just one way we can keep the Lord in the midst of our presence while indoors, but the truth is that I am continually “saying grace” over my life as I literally thank God moment to moment for all the things I encounter.  When I say “keep walking and talking with God”, I really mean it, like literally. 

Yes, like “Wow that dude’s crazy”, walking and talking with God.  While I can’t say that all of my life is without problems, a lot of which I create myself, walking through life and recognizing the beauty of just being with the people we love, just being where you are, and just being alive is something God never tires of hearing about, or at least He hasn’t complained to me about my constant awe and thanks!

So if you are not doing this already, start living with and start loving the Lord. There is much to be thankful for and unlike some of our human companions, He never tires of hearing us “point out the obvious” or in telling Him about how we feel.  

The constructs of society and just the “business as usual” way we do things can make us “less free” as we are absorbed into the mundanity of the humdrum, when the truth is that our lives are a miracle and a mystery and there’s nothing humdrum about them. But you have to open your eyes to see it and open your heart to feel it,  the One that you never have to be ashamed to share your “silly thoughts” with is the Lord.  

So it’s another boring Tuesday again… or it is another day of living the adventure of our lives?, where we can do almost anything we want, with consequences of course, but even in the tight confines of doing what we “need to do” we can still find wonder and joy. 

So look around and appreciate where you are, or go “DO SOMETHING” and appreciate that, but no matter what you decided to do with this last Tuesday of November in the year of our Lord 2022, turn aside and thank the Lord for what you encounter.  

The pathway to peace isn’t a destination, its determined by the way you walk and the company you keep.  

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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:

Philippians 4:8 (NLT2)
⁸  And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

Today’s verse highlights the importance of what we think about in our Christian walk.  I can’t recall exactly what I was thinking about on my Saturday afternoon walk with my wife TammyLyn, but I can tell you this: I wasn’t thinking about my problems, my work, or the “bad state of the world” and because I didn’t think on those things I recall the walk quite fondly.  

But let’s not get that twisted, okay? We are not to walk through life in denial.  The world is out there and the failure to recognize our surroundings and our responsibilities will eventual cause us to suffer.  We are to be stewards of what God has given us and care for it. 

However, at the same time we can manage that quite well without dwelling on the things that will lead us into sin or that will disturb our peace. 

As much as we are “world citizens” and care  for our fellow man, in truth there is not much we can do about the events that are distant from us, or even near to us, unless we choose to get involved with them.  

So, there you go. If you choose to think on things that disturb you, I would like to hold you accountable by suggesting that your thoughts should not just be something that will steal your peace, but that you would seek to solve the situations that disturb you.  Oh yeah, I’m no political pundit but if the way of the world bothers you so much, I’m going to call you out and tell you to “do something about it”.  

I have had friends that would spend hours telling me about political situations or conspiracy theories and I would listen for a while but then would always ask: “So what should I DO?”

Unbelievably, or perhaps very believably, other than getting obsessed or angry like them, they didn’t have many helpful suggestions or a course of action that would correct the situations other to hand the problems over to someone else.

Thinking about problems will steal your peace but figuring out solutions and ENACTING THEM is another matter.

Solving problems is what we are supposed to do on earth as Christians.  But the biggest problem is sin and the fact that we are hopeless without Jesus.  

So that’s my suggestion every time: put your faith in Christ and apply God’s word to the way you live your life.  

And listen today’s verse’s advice: think on “what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”  

The world is fading away, and our lives on it every moment.  There is only so much we can do, but we should do it, if we can.  But the way to peace, no matter what we accomplish, is the way of the Lord and to think on those things that He would have us think about.

 

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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 Messengers

(An Interpretation of Matthew 10)

The Suffering of the Messengers

“See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware [the people], for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues; and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles. When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next; for truly I tell you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

¶ “A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!” (Matt. 10:16–25).

Lack of success and enmity cannot dissuade the messengers from the fact that they are sent by Jesus. As a mighty strength and consolation, Jesus repeats: “Behold, I send you!” It is not their own way or their own enterprise; they are sent. In this the Lord promises that he will remain with his messengers when they will be like sheep among the wolves, defenseless, powerless, fearful, and in great danger. Nothing will happen to them that Jesus does not know. “Therefore be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” How often the servants of Jesus have misused this statement! How difficult it is even for the willing messenger to understand this rightly and remain obedient! Who can always distinguish between spiritual wisdom and worldly cleverness? How tempting it is, therefore, to renounce all “wisdom” and only be as simple as doves, which, one-sided, is disobedience. Who tells us when we avoid suffering out of fear and when we seek it out of recklessness? Who shows us the hidden boundaries drawn here? It is the same disobedience, whether we use the commandment to be wise against innocence, or the other way around, whether we use innocence against wisdom. Because no human heart can fully know itself, and because Jesus never called his disciples to uncertainty, but always to greatest certainty, this warning by Jesus can only call the disciples back to the word. Wherever the word is, that is where the disciples are to be. That is their true wisdom and their true innocence. If the word must retreat, because it is obviously being rejected, then the disciples should retreat with the word. If the word remains in an open struggle, then the disciples should remain. They will have to act wisely and simply at the same time. But the disciples should never set out on a road out of “wisdom,” when that road cannot be approved by the word of Jesus. They should never justify with “spiritual wisdom” a way which does not correspond to the word of Jesus. Only the truth of the word will teach them to recognize what is wise. But it can never be “wise” to break off the smallest piece of the truth, for the sake of some human prospect or hope. Our own evaluation of our situation cannot make us see what is wise; only the truth of the word of God can do that. The only thing that is always wise is staying with the truth of God. Here alone is the place where of God’s faithfulness and aid are promised. At all times it will prove to be the “wisest” for the disciples at this time and in the coming time to simply stand by the word of God.

The word will give the messengers true knowledge of the people. “Beware the people.” The disciples should not show fear of the people, nor evil mistrust, least of all hatred toward human beings, nor should they show thoughtless trustfulness or faith in the good in all people. Instead, they should show true knowledge of the relationship of the word to the people and the people to the word. If they understand this soberly, then they will not be scared by Jesus’ announcement that their path among the people will be a path of suffering. Rather, they will be able to endure it. A wonderful strength resides in the disciples’ suffering. Criminals suffer their punishment in hiddenness. But the disciples’ path of suffering will lead them before princes and kings, “for my sake, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles.” The good news will be propagated by suffering. That is the plan of God and the will of Jesus; and that is why in the hour of accountability before courts and thrones the disciples will be given the power to give a good confession, to offer a fearless witness. The Holy Spirit itself will be with them. It will make them invincible. It will give them “a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict” (Luke 21:15). Because the disciples hold fast to the word in their suffering, the word will remain with them. Self-sought martyrdom would not have this promise. But the promise is absolutely certain for those who suffer with the word.

Hate toward the word of Jesus’ messengers will remain until the end of time. Hate will pronounce the disciples guilty of all the divisions which will come over cities and houses. Jesus and his disciples will be condemned by everyone as destroyers of the family, as forces leading the people astray, as crazy enthusiasts and troublemakers. Then the temptation to fall away will be very near to the disciples. But the end is also near. Until its coming they are to remain faithful, to endure, to stand fast. Only those who stand fast with Jesus and his word to the end will be blessed. But when the end comes, when the enmity toward Jesus and his disciples is revealed for all the world to see, then and only then should the disciples flee from one city to another, in order to proclaim the word where it will still be heard. Even in this flight, they are not separated from the word, but stand fast with it.

The promise of Jesus that he will come again soon has been kept for us by the church-community in the belief that it is true. Its fulfillment is a mystery, and it is not a good thing to look for human ways to evade the issue. But what is clear, and the only thing important for us today, is the fact that the return of Jesus will come quickly. His coming is more certain than our being able to complete our work in his service. It is more certain than our death. Jesus’ messengers can receive no greater consolation in all this than the certainty that in their suffering they will be like their Lord. Whatever happens to the master will happen to the disciple; whatever happens to the lord will also happen to the servant. If Jesus is called a devil, then that will happen even more to the servants of his house. So Jesus will be with them and they will be like Christ in everything.^[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

(https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mt4christ247s-podcast/id1551615154). The mt4christ247 podcast is also available on Google Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartradio, and Audible.com. 

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

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

My wife, TammyLyn, also offers Christian encouragement via her Facebook Group: Ask, Seek, Knock (https://www.facebook.com/groups/529047851449098 ) and her podcast Ask, Seek, and Knock on Podbean (https://feed.podbean.com/tammalyn78/feed.xml)

Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship

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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), 192–195.