Thanking God for the Journey - 40 Day Journey with Martin Luther – Day 33 - Purity 1306
Purity 1306 03/22/2024 Purity 1306 Podcast
Purity 1306 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of an aerial view of blue skies over
the Che Che Pin Qua Woods area outside of Chicago and Lake Michigan on the horizon
comes to us from yours truly as I capture this scene and my IPhone’s GPS
locator captured my position even though I was in midair, back on April 25th
2021 as I was flying to San Antonio to complete my training as a CFMA with
Freedom in Christ Ministries.
Well, It’s Friday – Thank God – and This morning I
am rejoicing because of last night’s successful freedom appointment with one of
the men from the Freedom in Christ Course and because it’s the end of the work
week and I will have a couple of days in the presence of my beloved wife,
TammyLyn!
As I have had my iPhone’s photo gallery set to 2021
and have been cleaning house of some old photos by releasing them to the blog, I
have mostly discovered forgotten FB friends’ photos but this morning I came upon
today’s view from my flight to San Antonio and it reminds me of how much has
changed since that flight in 2021. Not
only did I complete my training as a CFMA for FICM but after that, TammyLyn and
I were engaged and married on New Year's Day 2022. In the same year, I went on
to serve at FICM’s next practicum in November where I met Sue Huber in person
and served under her on the Practicum’s prayer team. Shortly after that Sue
became the FICM’s Nation Course Coordinator and I began facilitating Men’s
Online Freedom In Christ Courses in 2022.
And in the shifting landscape of 2021, I also made the decision to leave
my local church, was “released in December 2021” and began attending Starpoint
Church, which has since moved locations, where I now serve as the leader to the
Celebrate Freedom (Recovery/Discipleship) Support Group (https://starpoint.church/supportgroups/)!
Little did I know how much would change after that flight in April. It was an end in itself in a way as I was
going to complete my training for FICM but now that I look back it was really a
beginning to some seismic changes in my life and it all began when I answered the
call to try to help others experience their freedom in Christ, which I experienced
when I decided to surrender to the Lord’s will for my life.
A lot can change in a short time when you follow the
Lord, and right now just happens to be the season to “repent and believe in the
gospel, so let me encourage you to considering asking God what He wants to do
with the rest of your life in this season of Lent. God’s plan is better than our plan for our
lives so why not use this season of Lent to discover it? And speaking of Lent…
It’s the thirty-third day of Lent and so we continue
my personal walkthrough of Gracia Grindal’s 40 Day Journey with Martin Luther
to observe and celebrate the Lenten season.
In this walkthrough of Grindal’s devotional, it is our hope that we will get to know
Martin Luther a little better as we seek to draw closer to the Lord on our
journey to Resurrection Sunday – Easter.
And so we continue.
“Journey
Day 33
What
then does “Daily Bread” mean? Answer:
Everything
included in the necessities and nourishment for our bodies, such as food,
drink, clothing, shoes, house, farm, fields, livestock, money, property, an
upright spouse, upright children, upright members of the household, upright and
faithful rules, good government, good weather, peace, health, decency, honor,
good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.
But
especially is this petition directed against our chief enemy, the devil, whose
whole purpose and desire it is to take away or interfere with all we have
received from God. He is not satisfied to obstruct and overthrow the spiritual
order... but he also prevents and impedes the establishment of any kind of
government or honorable and peaceful relations on earth... In short, it pains
him that anyone should receive even a mouthful of bread from God and eat it in
peace. If it were in his power and our prayer to God did not restrain him,
surely we would not have a straw in the field, a penny in the house, or even an
hour more of life-especially those of us who have the Word of God and would
like to be Christians.
Biblical Wisdom
Cast
all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Discipline yourselves,
keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking
for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5: 7-8.
Silence for Meditation.
Questions to Ponder
· How
do you think our prayer to God restrains the devil? Explain.
When we pray
to the Lord to provide for us, we are drawing into a close personal
relationship where we are trusting Him and when we have that communion with
God, we are empowered to do His will and He blesses our seeking Him with his
grace and protection. Our prayer to God
takes us away from the enemy’s influence and puts us where we are supposed to
live – in the presence of the Lord.
· Luther
sees all of life on this earth as a battle between God and Satan concerning
every single part of our lives, from spirit to flesh. What do you understand
Luther to mean by this?
Luther is addressing the truth of the unseen aspects
of our lives – the spiritual reality that our enemy is not flesh and blood but
are the principalities, powers, and rulers of the darkness of this age, who are
the “spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places – demons!” Just as
God is real and has interactions with man to draw us into His kingdom, demons
afflict mankind through deception, temptation, accusation, and condemnation in
a wicked campaign to “steal, kill, destroy” us.
· Read
again Luther’s list of what constitutes daily bread. What do you think is the
responsibility of individual Christians and the church to see that all people
enjoy this daily bread? How might this responsibility be worked out?
Our responsibilities as individuals and as the
church is to work towards and encourage others to know the truth of the gospel
and to work toward the betterment of our fellow man by encouraging community
and work towards a productive society where our needs – our daily bread – is provided
for. We can work out this responsibility
by being a productive member of society and by forming faith communities where
personal responsibility and being a good steward of the things God has provided
us with is encouraged and supported with words and actions.
Psalm Fragment
You
cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for people to use, to bring
forth food from the earth, and wine to gladden the human heart, oil to make the
face shine, and bread to strengthen the human heart. Psalm 104:14-15.
Journal Reflections
· The
Lord's Prayer directs us to ask: “Give us today our daily bread.” Meditate on
this petition and write about what each of these words means to you.
These words point to the fact that everything we
have is received by God’s grace and that we are to ask Him to continue to provide
for our needs-our daily bread- on a daily basis.
· Make
a list of all the things that might prevent you or anyone else from receiving
and enjoying your “daily bread”. Can you think of this petition as a way of
saying “no” to these things? Why or why not?
Negative
circumstances or trials could prevent our receiving “our daily bread” – loss of
jobs, famine, natural disasters. But also our negative mind states – our pride,
suffering from the consequences of our sin, anxiety, worry, fear, depression could
also take away our peace and cause us to not “enjoy – or appreciate our daily
bread. It took a second to figure out
what this prompting was asking but – Yes – by asking “give us today our daily
bread” – it could be seen as us saying – No – to the things that would prevent
us from receiving and enjoying our daily bread. Give us our daily bread – not these
other things that could prevent us from receiving or enjoying it.
· The
concept of the “devil” was a common way to talk about evil and its consequences
in Luther's time. Is Satan, or the devil, a reality for you? Explain. If not,
how do you think about evil?
The concept?
The word of God attests to the reality of Satan, and I have experienced
the reality of the spiritual forces of darkness of my life to confirm the word
of God is true! Not only was I freed from the temptations and condemnations of
the enemy when I repented personally, I have seen evidence of the presence of
demons in other people’s lives as I have seen glimpses of demons manifesting in
freedom appointments before the subjects repented and cast them out. There is
no “concept” about it. The devil is real, and he must be resisted and cast out
of our lives through our repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.
Prayers for the Life of Faith
Pray
that God will protect you and will triumph over the evil one, and give thanks
for the good that God has done to give you a good life.
Lord,
Protect us and help us to triumph over Satan and always remind us to give You
thanks for all you have done to give us good lives. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Prayer For Today
Dear
God, thank you for continuing to give us each day our daily bread; continue to
give us the strength to stand against evil and teach us to be thankful.
Amen.
(Gracia M. Grindal. 40-day
Journey With Martin Luther. Kindle Edition.
(We encourage you to purchase Grindal’s book and
take the 40 Day Journey with Martin Luther for yourself by purchasing Grindal’s
book wherever books are sold. You can find it online at many different sites
and purchase it new, used – paper or electronic for less than $15.00).
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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 Contentment, Coveting
& and Priorities.
Proverbs 16:16-17 (NIV2011)
16 How much better to get
wisdom than gold, to get insight rather than silver!
17 The highway of the upright
avoids evil; those who guard their ways preserve their lives.
Today’s
verses fall under the seventeenth point of our counseling reference guide
resource’s section on Contentment, Coveting, and Priorities.
17. It’s better to have wisdom than to have wealth.
Today’s
verses encourage us to know and experience the tremendous value of the wisdom
and insight that lead us to live a righteous life of obedience to God. Knowing the
truth of the gospel and wisdom of living for God is better that gold and
silver. Money can’t buy you love, and it can’t buy you the peace that is found through
faith in Jesus Christ and following Him into a good, pure, and righteous
life. SO seek the Lord and His
righteousness and wisdom to be truly rich.
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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: LUKE 22
“And He said to them, ‘When I sent
you without money
bag … did you lack anything?’ So they said, ‘Nothing.’”
– Luke 22:35
Loving Father, I do thank You for the fact that I can
faithfully and gratefully say with the disciples of old – “I have lacked
NOTHING.”
I thank You that You have supplied all MY NEEDS, despite
the fact that You sent me forth without purse. Indeed, Father, You have done
far exceeding abundantly above what I could have asked or thought. Blessed be
Your Holy Name forever.
I thank You most of all, however, for the Unspeakable
Gift, the Lord Jesus Christ, for all that He is and will ever be to me; for all
that has come and will yet come to me through Him; I bow in heartfelt
thankfulness.
Amen.[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
[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).
