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Showing posts with label Healing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Healing. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

“No Brainers” & The Cost of Complicating Simple Decisions - Purity 1151


 “No Brainers” & The Cost of Complicating Simple Decisions - Purity 1151

Purity 1151 09/20/2023 Purity 1151 Podcast

Purity 1151 on YouTube: 



Good morning,

Today’s photo of mountains surrounded by a sea of clouds at sunrise comes to us from Fred Dimmick who shared this mountain morning scene on social media this past Monday from his visit to Wayah Bald in Franklin NC.

Well, it’s Wednesday and Fred’s mountain photo is spectacular and was a “no-brainer” of a selection to visually represent our arrival to yet another “hump day”. As easy a selection as picking Fred’s photo to represent our arrival at the midpoint of another week of our lives, unfortunately all our decisions don’t always seem so clear.

Life is complicated and sometimes the things we think will help us disappoint us or the things we thought are what we thought they were and because of our mistakes and disappointments, we can become a little gun shy about pulling the trigger on making decisions and taking action.  When we add in the elements of:

·       financial considerations (can I afford it – do I have the money for it? -Do I really want to spend the money on this?),  

·       The days of our lives (I don’t have time for that! I have to work. I have to go to ____!”  

·       And Our relationships – Maybe “they” won’t like it? I can’t because I have to take care of _________. I would but ______ has to __________.  

So our past experiences of mistakes and disappointments and all these other factors can really muddy the water and we can become even more uncertain about making decisions and taking action.

 A simple “no brainer” like “When you’re sick, you go to the doctor” can become a matter of debate.  If you have ever gone to a doctor and been sent home with no treatment other than what you were already doing, you know how hesitant you can seek out the assistance of a profession that admits they are just “practicing medicine.”

However, failing to seek medication or going to the doctor sooner rather than later can have severe if not fatal consequences.  I was reminded of this as we got the news about my wife, TammyLyn’s diagnosis yesterday.   The infection that stemmed from TammyLyn’s gums and spread to her ear and sinuses over the weekend is a serious one. The dentist told TammyLyn that if she didn’t get treatment when she did that it could have been fatal.  Fatal as in dead! If she had ignored her worsening pain and swelling or even just gone to sleep on Sunday evening the dentist stated that she could have gone into a sepsis condition and died. 

Fortunately, TammyLyn realized the seriousness of her situation and despite her initial hesitations asked me to take her to the emergency room, She admitted to me yesterday that at the time she had the feeling in her spirit that something was wrong and feared that if she fell asleep she would die.  But of course, she didn’t voice that concern because she thought she was overreacting.  

From her symptoms, I surmised that she had a pretty serious ear infection caused by the “germy kids” at school. But guess what, I am not a doctor and even though I have quite a bit of experience with ear infections and can tell you that if your ear starts making “crackling noises”,  like it did with TammyLyn, to get to the doctor ASAP – there are some that would say to just let it take its course,  and possibly die apparently.   

You the see the “ear infection” and “sinus infection” was a symptom of a more serious problem with wife’s gums and teeth that had no symptoms, and we are both thanking God for His mercy in moving us to get TammyLyn the medical attention she needed.  

Woo Hoo, that was a close one, but all’s well that ends well, right? TammyLyn got the help she needed and all is good right?  You ever notice that when you tell people about serious medical conditions, they always push to the “comfortable happy ending”.  “So, everything’s good now?” is the assumption we all make before we suffer a serious loss or tragedy.   “All things work out. Everything is going to be fine.” Is an urban legend of those who have not suffered unexpected losses because, praise the Lord, most of the tragic bad things that could happen don’t come to pass, leaving us somewhat naïve about life.  

Yes, TammyLyn got her meds and is scheduled for dental surgery on Thursday, and we are trusting the Lord to use her dentist to rid her of the infection and help her to be healed.  “So everything is going to be good now, good – Jeez you had me worried” –

Well, not so fast, because even though I have suffered unexpected tragedy in the past I am still predisposed to believe “everything’s gonna be all right”  - but yesterday to fully grasp the severity of TammyLyn’s situation – her dentist advised her NOT to use a warm or hot compress to alleviate the pain or swelling to her face.  

Gee, why is that?  Well, apparently TammyLyn’s infection is so toxic that the dentist warned her not to use a warm or hot compress on her face because it could cause the infection to come out of the pores of her skin – and the toxicity of the infected material would cause burning or scarring to the point that she would need plastic surgery!

So obviously, I am asking for prayers today for my wife and her healing.  We trust the Lord to help us, and we will face whatever comes in faith, with the expectation that all will be well after the surgery – but we are staying in prayer until TammyLyn is cleansed of this infection.   

In life, we can’t let the circumstances of our past experiences, finances, time, or relationships and responsibilities get in the way of making those “no brainer” decisions.  Often when we fall into calamities or conditions of suffering, we fail to do some simple things that could have prevented disaster, and we are invariably asked “Why didn’t you do what was right?”   

Heck, my whole testimony of brokenness could have been avoided if I had only done “what was right”, according to God’s word, time and time again. So much pain and suffering, could have been avoided in my life if I had only done the “no brainer” of believing God’s word and doing what it says.   

So whether it affects your physical, mental, emotional, financial, or spiritual health, let me encourage you that it is better to make those hard but simple decisions to take corrective action sooner rather than later.  Those decisions to “take care of yourself” or to “repent and follow the Lord” just may save your life if not your soul.  

So listen to that still quiet voice – that’s God calling you to do what’s right and follow Him into the healing He has for you.  

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For those who want more evidence for Christianity than my simple encouragements provide, I offer apologist, Frank Turek’s website, https://crossexamined.org/ .

Today’s Bible verse comes to us from “The Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling” By John G. Kruis.

( While Bible verses on various topics of Counseling can be found with a quick Google search, we encourage you to purchase this resource to support the late author’s work. (https://www.amazon.com/Quick-Scripture-Reference-Counseling-Kruis-ebook/dp/B00CIUJZT2?ref_=ast_author_dp )

This morning’s meditation verse comes from the section on Anger, Hot Temper.

1 Peter 4:8 (ESV)
8  Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

Today’s verses fall under the third point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Anger, Hot Temper

 3. Love covers a multitude of sins and overlooks many offenses.

Today’s verse is the fifth of five passages of scripture that our resource provides to demonstrate love's power over anger. And rather than presenting them all at once, we are doing them “one at a time, one day at a time.  

Today’s verse highlights the first clause of our resources’ third point by “pointing to love’s power to cover a multitude of sins. This is it guys – the “love covers a multitude of sins” verse is 1 Peter 4:8 – put that in your mental rolodex  for quick Bible verse dropping – Love covers a multitude of sins- 1 Peter 4:8 – impress your friends. 

But seriously, what does that mean?

Well the verses that precede it encourage repentance from sin and the verses that follow it indicate that we are to stop complaining and serve others. And the reason we behave in these ways is because of the love that was shown to us – that we will willingly face suffering, insults, and trials because we have “entrusted our souls to a faithful Creator” while doing good.

God’s love for us sent Jesus to die for us. It was the only thing that covered our sin. This isn’t a hallmark moment of some nebulous lovey dovey feeling making everything all right. This is the hard love of God that cost the life of His Son and causes us to do the hard things – like repenting and forgiving and being patient and choosing to put others above ourselves – and we do them because the One who loved us did it for us and we reflect His light by living like Jesus.

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

Today we continue sharing from  The Holy Spirit By A.W. Pink.

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage you all to purchase A.W. Pink’s books for your own private study and to support his work.  This resource is available online for $0.99 (https://www.amazon.com/Holy-Spirit-Arthur-Pink-Collection-ebook/dp/B008CM5292/ref=sr_1_3?crid=AHKAQOM39CTN&keywords=a.w.+pink+the+holy+spirit&qid=1684376225&sprefix=a.w.+pink+the+holy+spirit+%2Caps%2C96&sr=8-3) 

A.W. Pink’s The Holy Spirit

25 -The Spirit Assisting

Help in Intercessory Prayer

It is a great infirmity or weakness for the Christian to faint in the day of adversity, yet such is often the case. It is a sad thing when, like Rachel of old weeping for her children, he “refuses to be comforted” (Jer. 31:15). It is most deplorable for all when he so gives way to unbelief that the Lord has to say to him, “How is it that ye have no faith?” (Mark 4:40). Terrible indeed would be his end if God were to leave him entirely to himself. This is clear from what is said in Mark 4:17, “when affliction or persecution ariseth for the Word’s sake, immediately they are offended,” or as Luke says, “Which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away” (8:13). And why does the stony-ground hearer apostatize? Because he is without the assistance of the Holy Spirit! Writer and reader would do the same if no Divine aid were forthcoming!

But thank God, the feeble and fickle believer is not left to himself: “the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities” (Rom. 8:26). That “help” is as manifold as our varied needs; but the Apostle singles out one particular “infirmity” which besets all Christians, and which the blessed Spirit graciously helps: “for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us.” How this Divine declaration should humble us into the dust: so depraved is the saint that in the hour of need he is incapable of asking God aright to minister unto him. Sin has so corrupted his heart and darkened his understanding that, left to himself, he cannot even discern what he should ask God for. Alas, that pride should so blind us to our real condition and our deep, deep need.

In nothing do the saints more need the Spirit’s presence and His gracious assistance than in their addresses of the Throne of Grace. They know that God in His Persons and perfections is the Object of their worship; they know that they cannot come unto the Father but by Christ, the alone Mediator; and they know that their access to Him must be by the Spirit (Eph. 2:18). Yet such are their varying circumstances, temptations, and wanderings, so often are they shut up in their frames and cold in their affections, such deadness of heart is there toward God and spiritual things, that at times they know not what to pray for as they ought. But it is here that the Spirit’s love and grace is most Divinely displayed: He helps their infirmities and makes intercession for them!

One had thought that if ever there were a time when the Christian would really pray, earnestly and perseveringly, and would know what to ask for, it should be when he is sorely tried and oppressed. Alas, how little we really know ourselves. Even a beast will cry out when suffering severe pain, and it is natural (not spiritual!) that we should do the same. Of degenerate Israel of old God said, “they have not cried unto Me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds” (Hosea 7:14): no, relief from their sufferings was all they thought about. And by nature our hearts are just the same! So long as we are left to ourselves (to try us and manifest what we are: 2 Chron. 32:31), when the pressure of sore trial comes upon us, we are concerned only with deliverance from it, and not that God may be glorified or that the trial may be sanctified to our souls.

Left for himself, man asks God for what would be curses rather than blessings, for what would prove to be snares rather than helps to him spiritually. Have we not read of Israel that, “They tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust” (Ps. 78:18); and again, “He gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul” (Ps. 106:15)! Perhaps someone replies, But they were not regenerate souls. Then have we not read in James, “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts” (4:3)? Ah, my reader, this is a truth which is very unpalatable to our proud hearts. Did not Moses “ask” the Lord that he might be permitted to enter Canaan (Deut. 3:26, 27)? Did not the Apostle Paul thrice beseech the Lord for the removal of his thorn in the flesh? What proofs are these that “we know not what we should pray for as we ought!”

“The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities.” This being so, surely the least that we can do is to seek His aid, to definitely ask Him to undertake for us. Alas, how rarely we do so. As intimated above, when the pressure of trouble first presses upon us, usually it is nature which cries out for relief At other times the soul is so cast down that even the voice of natural “prayer” is stifled. Often there is so much rebellion at work in our hearts against the providential dispensations of God toward us that we feel it would be mockery to seek His face; yea, we are ashamed to do so. Such at least has been the experience of the writer more than once, and that not long ago, though he blushes to acknowledge it. O the infinite patience and forbearance of our gracious God![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)

For those who require the assistance of a Deeper Walk International Prayer Minister to experience healing or your freedom in Christ, I highly recommend Christy Edge’s Life on the Edge Freedom Prayer Ministry. You can schedule a session by going to : https://cedge216.wixsite.com/life-on-the-edge     

“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 Walkington Pink, The Holy Spirit (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, n.d.).

Friday, June 23, 2023

Saying What Needs to Be Said - 28 Day Joy Challenge – Day 20 – Purity 1076


 Saying What Needs to Be Said - 28 Day Joy Challenge – Day 20 –  Purity 1076

Purity 1076 06/23/2023 Purity 1076 Podcast

Purity 1076 on YouTube: 



Good morning,

Today’s photo of a view from a paddling session on Glimmer Glass Lake in Cooperstown NY comes to us from Mike Vaccarella who shared this scene on social media on June 19th.  Mike also recently shared some photos of some “Great Times”  from a camping trip with some old fraternity brothers from college showing that while much can change over the years, some things – like friendship can and do endure.   

Well, It’s Friday and I shared Mike’s photo because of its peaceful easy feeling and the fact that I am looking forward to gliding into the weekend as I have been bothered by a sore throat and spent most of last evening doing what I could to recover – through fluids, rest, and prayer. I feel that I have turned a corner and hope that as the day progresses I will get back to feeling 100%.  

I take an active stance with any physical infirmities that come my way. In the past, I have discovered that if I “start to feel under the weather” a battery of Zinc, Vitamin C, and hydration and prayer have resulted in stopping disease in its tracks.  While the vitamins and the water seem to help, I believe the key to the success of this “remedy” is prayer.   I have been bothered by a sore throat for a couple of days now, and started to implement this health plan, by drinking some OJ, taking some zinc, and drinking lots of water. I also played the mental game of denying any problems, I didn’t want to proclaim “I’m sick” over myself because I understand that we often receive what we believe.  But as the soreness in my throat has persisted, it has been harder and harder to deny that “somethings happening here”.   So I upped the ante over the last couple of days with the vitamins and fluids, but I forgot about the key to this strategy, and was reminded about what I was missing on the drive home from work yesterday afternoon.  

After a long day of work and ministry on Wednesday, I felt really run down after a challenging day of work yesterday and was looking forward to getting back to my place down by the River to crash.  I was feeling weak and in my weakness and run down condition I turned to the One who has unlimited reserves of strength to draw from: God. But in my run down state, I didn’t think to ask God for strength, I just wanted to talk to Him. So as I drove home yesterday afternoon, I thanked God for getting me through the day and praised Him for never leaving or forsaking me.  In my talking to God, I realized that I hadn’t prayed for healing of this “summer cold” or what ever it is.  As I stated, I was hoping to just ignore it and that it wouldn’t manifest, but then I realized that because God is sovereign, everything that goes down under the sun is either ordained or allowed by Him.  So if I was “sick”, He knew about it and it was for a purpose, and while it can be difficult to discern if sickness comes as a negative consequence of something we have done, or due to the fallen state of the world, or as an attack from the spiritual forces of darkness, or as a test of our faith by God -  I know the author of life and all healing is God – so in my conversation with the Lord, I admitted to my weakened state and confusion of why I was experiencing it, and my recognition that God knew about it.   While I can’t be sure, I was getting the indication that I was being directed to “Rest”.  Maybe I was burning the candle at both ends and was too distracted. 

That morning I had a long testimony to blog about and I neglected my regular Bible Study – which I felt convicted about and completed in the last hour of my work tour after my last job was done.   I was feeling low and turned to the Bible to draw close to God again, and that need continued with this conversation on the way home.  After getting this impression that I needed to rest, I realized that I never prayed for healing over this sore throat.  While I had done the vitamins and fluids, I never ask God to heal me.   And I realized that if I don’t ask, I might not receive… So I prayed to the Lord for healing and trusted Him to give it to me in His timing.  Right after the prayer, I felt a little better and that is when Shane & Shane’s song – “You’ve Already Won” came on the radio – reminding me that – “I’m fighting a battle, You’ve Already Won!” causing me to laugh at myself and to praise the Lord by singing along.  

While I didn’t receive instant healing, I understood that “this too shall pass” that healing was on its way, reminding me that “we need to actually say what needs to be said”.  We need to pray. We need to ask God to help us. To receive, we not only have to believe we need to ask!

We need to talk to the Lord and say what needs to be said, because when we do amazing things can happen.   And this principle of saying what needs to be said can do some mighty work in our earthly relationships as well.

And that brings us to our current series where I am walking through the 28 Day Joy Challenge, (https://4habits.org/) because we are encouraging ourselves and others, you, to “find peace” in our lives by increasing our capacity for joy and by building our emotional resilience through simple practices of quieting and appreciation.

The 28 Day Joy challenge is based on Dr. Marcus Warner & Chris Coursey’s latest book, The Four Habits of Joy-Filled People, and you can sign up to take it for free, and purchase a variety of books from Warner and Coursey on topic of Joy, by going to https://4habits.org/.  

So let’s jump into Day 20, which will direct us pass along the joy by saying “what needs to be said” – that we love and appreciate the people in our lives.

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Day 20 - Pass the Joy Along

 

Welcome to Day 20 of the 28 Days to Joy Challenge!

Today’s Encouragement:

For many of us, appreciation has seemed too simple to do anything worthwhile for our brains. Looking back over the last 3 weeks of this challenge, do you see any changes in yourself? Do you feel lighter and more present in your life? If not, keep going to discover the benefits of joy!

Today’s Practice: Exercise 20

Today we practice appreciating our people and sharing our joy with them.

- How This Exercise Will Benefit You:

Our joy is strengthened by the people in our lives. Joy spreads when we express our appreciation.

- Exercise Steps:

Think about a favorite shared memory with a close friend. What were you doing? Why was this special? Share thoughts and reflections with your friend along with a word of appreciation for what qualities you enjoy in your friend.

Have fun with this exercise. We pick up tomorrow with more joy practice!

I have to admit that the “sharing” – or relational aspects of these joy challenges can really be an act of faith.  Because of the difficulties of human relationships, we can easily tend to isolate ourselves from one another because we don’t want to appear to be vulnerable, weak, dependent, or foolish to one another.    

The awkwardness of sharing our emotions or the risk of having our emotional expressions being rejected can keep us from telling one another what we most desperately need to hear – that we are loved – that we are appreciated.  So when these practices tell us to “tell a friend” – we really need to “practice the sharing”. 

Me? I have my blog to tell the people involved and have a written record of how I feel, but I also practice “sharing my appreciation” by telling them.  I constantly try to express how much I love and appreciate my wife TammyLyn, and it may not be much of a surprise that today’s instructions caused me to think of her.  

The shared memory that I thought of when I sat down to do today’s practice was of one of the earliest weekends of our relationship as “boyfriend and girlfriend” – a short lived romance as I quickly popped the question making her my fiancé. 

But anyway, TammyLyn’s children were away for the weekend, and we got to spend some time alone at her place and we discussed what we wanted to do with our time alone.  As Christians who were committed to sexual purity, sex was being reserved for marriage, so as we sought to get to know one another we pondered what we would do with the few hours we had to ourselves. 

I suggested that we just spend the day just enjoying each other’s company, stating how many couples plan all types of activities or dates in their courtship but don’t spend time just getting comfortable with one another.  So we spent the day just hanging out, talking, and looking into one another’s eyes. We may have listened to some music but didn’t watch tv or really “do anything” as the point of the day together was just to “be with one another”.  It was a great day and we continued to practice “being together” from time to time to this day.  I often tell TammyLyn how I appreciate her beauty, spirit, humor, and faith and marvel over how the Lord brought us together.  We have truly been blessed by the Lord with one another and we often “say what needs to be said” that we love and appreciate each other.  

So what about you? What shared memory do you have that gives you joy? A big part of this practice is telling the other person that you appreciated that time together and letting them know what you appreciate about them. So pass the joy along to them, by telling them just how much joy you had with them and by saying “what needs to be said”.

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For those who want more evidence for Christianity than my simple encouragements provide, I offer apologist, Frank Turek’s website, https://crossexamined.org/ .

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

This morning’s meditation verse is:

Galatians 2:20 (NLT2)
20  My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Today’s verse is the quintessential surrender verse and is our core direction as disciples of Jesus Christ.  It is no longer I who live, as a disciple of Jesus Christ, I seek to do things according to His will and ways. 

By embracing this proclamation of faith, you enter into God’s purpose for your life- so say it – it needs to be said – and live it.

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

Today we continue sharing from  The Holy Spirit By A.W. Pink.

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage you all to purchase A.W. Pink’s books for your own private study and to support his work.  This resource is available online for $0.99 (https://www.amazon.com/Holy-Spirit-Arthur-Pink-Collection-ebook/dp/B008CM5292/ref=sr_1_3?crid=AHKAQOM39CTN&keywords=a.w.+pink+the+holy+spirit&qid=1684376225&sprefix=a.w.+pink+the+holy+spirit+%2Caps%2C96&sr=8-3)  

A.W. Pink’s The Holy Spirit

10 - The Holy Spirit Regenerating

Regeneration Is the Sole Work of the Spirit

In regeneration one of God’s elect is the subject, and the Spirit of God is the sole agent. The subject of the new birth is wholly passive: he does not act, but is acted upon. The sovereign work of the Spirit in the soul precedes all holy exercises of heart—such as sorrow for sin, faith in Christ, love toward God. This great change is wrought in spite of all the opposition of the natural heart against God: “So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy” (Rom. 9:16). This great change is not a gradual and protracted process, but is instantaneous: in an instant of time the favored subject of it passes from death unto life.

In regeneration the Spirit imparts a real, new, and immortal life; a life not such as that which was inherited from the first Adam, who was “a living soul,” but such as is derived from the last Adam, who is “a quickening Spirit” (1 Cor. 15:45). This new creation, though as real as the first, is widely different from it; that was an original or primary creation in the dust of the earth becoming man by the word of God’s power; this is the regeneration of an actual and existing man—fallen and depraved, yet rational and accountable—into an heir of God and joint-heir with Christ. The outcome is “a new man,” yet it is the same person, only “renewed.”

“Regeneration consists in a new, spiritual, supernatural, vital principle, or habit of grace infused into the soul, the mind, the will and affections, by the power of the Holy Spirit, disposing and enabling them in whom it is, unto spiritual, supernatural, vital actings and spiritual obedience” (John Owen). No new faculties are created, but instead, the powers of the soul are spiritualized and made alive unto God, fitted to enjoy God and hold communion with Him. Regeneration consists in a radical change of heart, for there is implanted a new disposition as the foundation of all holy exercises; the mind being renovated, the affections elevated, and the will emancipated from the bondage of sin. The effect of this is that the one who is born again loves spiritual things as spiritual, and values spiritual blessings on account of their being purely spiritual.[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)

For those who require the assistance of a Deeper Walk International Prayer Minister to experience healing or your freedom in Christ, I highly recommend Christy Edge’s Life on the Edge Freedom Prayer Ministry. You can schedule a session by going to : https://cedge216.wixsite.com/life-on-the-edge     

“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 Walkington Pink, The Holy Spirit (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, n.d.).

Tuesday, October 18, 2022

Healing By Faith – Gradually and All at Once- Purity 865


 

Healing By Faith  – Gradually and All at Once- Purity 865

Purity 865 10/18/2022 Purity 865 Podcast

Good morning,

Today’s photo of a kaleidoscope of autumn color found in a sampling of trees comes to us from an anonymous friend who captured this scene on social media last Thursday. My friend is not anonymous of course but time was limited this morning and I didn't think I had enough of it to  scour Facebook to discover the identity of the photographer. I know they're not a professional, I don't think, but the photo they captured shows they certainly have an eye  of an artist, and I am thankful to them for sharing what they saw. And if they should happen to see their photo and want credit, just contact me and I will add your name to the post.

Well it's the 18th of October and as I stated last week the peak season for the fall foliage in the Catskills and Adirondacks region of upstate New York is the first couple of weeks in October,  so we may be on the other side of seeing the best of the season as I see more and more leaves on the ground with each passing day.

The change in the leaves can be gradual but it can also seem like it happens all at once. For those people who were waiting for the changes that come it probably seemed like it took forever and now with each passing day the glory of those autumn colors are beginning to fade as October draws closer to the arrival of November in just two weeks.

In the past two weeks I was waiting for healing to come to my wife as she was suffering from an infection in her gums because of a dental problem. We started praying for healing immediately, and she started taking antibiotics to fight the infection, but instead of things getting better they seemed to get worse.

I was positively upset that my wife was suffering, and I had some real out loud conversations with the Lord about it. I wish I could say I wasn't angry but I was. My wife's journey has been a strange one this year, with several job changes and contentions in court, and just when it seemed like we were ready to finally come to a place of peace and victory she gets hit with this!

So I went to the Lord, and I told Him I wasn't happy. I kept praying for healing every day. I even answered a call that I felt the Lord was giving me to make an offering to a local cause that was calling for donations, and even though I stepped out in faith and made the sacrifice even that didn't seem to be changing the spiritual atmosphere to bring healing to my wife situation. But I kept praying and hoping and my wife kept suffering.

And then Saturday, I had a fall at work that could have been a real disaster, but I was providentially given the grace of the Lord so that I walked away from it with comparatively minor injuries.  But I was still pretty sore Sunday morning when I went to church.

Our pastor was concluding his four part series on prayer and the message broke down the different scenarios concerning God answering prayer.  Pastor Roscoe shared the four following points:

Request not right = NO

You're not right = grow

Timing not right = slow

Everything's right = go

He explained that if our prayer request wasn't in God's plan for us the answer would be no.  The second point meant that if we weren't right with God and needed to repent or mature in our faith, God would use our walk and our unanswered prayers to make us grow.  The third point meant that our prayer would be answered but not yet. And the fourth point meant that everything would be right, and your prayer would be answered.

Well I had to believe that my prayers for TammyLyn was a good request and I hoped that it was in God's plan that she'd be healed. Although I have to admit the enemy whispered my ear “This is how your wife dies” but I didn't listen to that!

As for me being right, while I will never claim to be perfect, I didn't think that I had anything in my life that would prevent God from healing Tammy Lynn.

So, it looked like option 3, the timing, wasn't right yet Or something else was going on that I didn't know about.

As a service drew to an end, Pastor Roscoe, the prayer team, and other members of leadership, invited people to come up to be prayed for.  Well I had been blessed the previous day without being seriously injured, I was still hurting, and I remembered

James 5:14-15 (NKJV) that says:
14  Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
15  And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

When I remembered that, there was no way I wasn't going up there for prayer.  So I went up and Pastor Larry, our executive pastor, just happened to be the person available for me to go to.

And so I explain to him how I had had a fall the previous day and the Lord had blessed me with without being seriously hurt but I was in pain and I wanted to be obedient to the word of God and come to the elders and get anointed with oil and be prayed for. But I also said that I wanted him to pray for my wife Tammy Lynn to be healed as well. And that I knew that if we want to be right with God we have to obey His word.   So pastor Larry prayed and the service ended.

Sunday night I made my way back to River house and I was very sore and very tired and I had entertained the idea I'm staying out of work for a couple of days to fully recover, not knowing for sure whether or not I would go to work come Monday morning.  But yesterday I woke up and I wasn't too sore and I was able to do my regular morning workout and although my neck was a little stiff I made it through a full day of work Monday without any real problems.

I think that sometimes we have a choice of what story we're going to tell with our lives. I think we can stay home sick or we can get on with our lives. Now don't get me wrong if you're sick stay home. If you're not well enough to work don't force yourself to do something that you can’t. 

But sometimes it's not very clear whether or not you're well or sick and you have to decide what you're gonna do. You have to either agree that the Lord is going to heal you and has healed you or you can choose to stay and wait on the Lord to see if you're healed. Yesterday I decided by faith that I was well enough to go to work and I was.

Now this is a Gray area because I could have easily just stayed home and believe me at different times I'm like what am I doing at work. But I didn't want to be a liar either. I don't wanna stay home nursing a little bit of muscle soreness and being deceitful and saying I couldn't work. When you're walking with the Lord you have to really be concerned with whether or not you're speaking the truth. By calling in sick saying i couldn't work, I thought it be dishonest.

So because I was convicted about being honest I assessed my situation and said I can work and if I could work that means I had received healing or at least I wasn't hurt too bad.

And this reminds me of the verse where Jesus asked the guy at the pool of Siloam in

John 5:6 (NKJV)
6  … "Do you want to be made well?"

Well, do you want to be made well? 

And it reminds me of the time Christ spoke to the woman who had the issue of blood who fought through the crowd to touch the hem of His garment and how she was healed. Christ said to her. 

Luke 8:48 (NKJV)
, "Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace."  

Your faith has made you well. Go in peace.

So I went in peace to work on Monday, oh brother.  But today I am feeling even better that yesterday, and I believe I made the right choice and my faith in that choice is blessed by the Lord.  

Oh by the way, after I had Pastor Larry pray for me and my wife, TammyLyn has dramatically improved as well.  She isn’t completely healed yet but her condition has vastly improved and I am encouraging her to take it on faith, and to follow her dentist’s instructions, that her complete healing is on the way, and it is all but a done deal in God’s eyes because He already knows the end from the beginning.  

So if you are hurting today or know someone who is sick or just have something you are praying for, I encourage you to get right with God by turning from any overt sins and by being under the spiritual authority of a local church, to examine just what your praying for and to consider how it may or may not be part of God’s plan for you, and to be patient and to trust the Lord’s timing and that He will get it right in the end, whether you receive what want or not.  

The way to peace and joy in our lives comes from following the Lord and from accepting what He has in store for you.  So keep walking and talking with God and you will be blessed. It’s just a matter of how and when. What God has for us may be gradual or may come all at once just like the leave on the trees will shine bright for a season one moment and fall to the ground the next, we may just have to wait to see God’s plan work in the seasons of our lives.  

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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

Mark 11:25 (NLT2)
25  But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.”

Today’s Bible verse reminds us of another aspect to our prayer life: forgiveness.  

Yeah, being right with God also includes forgiving others and asking others for their forgiveness.   Scripture repeatedly commands us to forgive much as we have been forgiven much.  So when we go to worship God or when we have prayers that we want to be considered, we should be obedient to God and true to who we are in Christ by living a lifestyle of forgiveness.  

If we sin, we are to confess it to God and ask for His forgiveness. 

If we offend or hurt someone, we are to ask them to forgive us.  

IF we are offended or hurt by others, we are to forgive them, as Christ forgave us.  

So pray to  the Lord at all times, but be sure to be obedient to His command to forgive.

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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.

Chapter Six

The Sermon on the Mount

Matthew 5

On theExtraordinaryof Christian Life

The Visible Church-Community

“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.

¶ “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:13–16).

Those being spoken to are those called in the Beatitudes into the grace of following the crucified one. So far the blessed have appeared as people worthy of the kingdom of heaven, but obviously at the same time as people unworthy of living,[51] superfluous for this earth. Now they are described using the image of the most indispensable commodity on earth. They are the salt of the earth. They are the noblest asset, the highest value the world possesses. Without them the earth can no longer survive. The earth is preserved by salt; the world lives because of these poor, ignoble, and weak people, whom the world rejects. It destroys its own life by driving out the disciples, and—O wonder!—the earth may continue to live because of those outcasts. This “divine salt” (Homer) proves itself by its effectiveness. It penetrates the entire earth. It is the earth’s substance. Thus, the disciples are focused not only on heaven, but are reminded of their mission on earth. As those bound to Jesus alone are they sent to the earth, whose salt they are. When Jesus calls his disciples “the salt,” instead of himself, this transfers his efficacy on the earth to them. He brings them into his work. He remains in the people of Israel, but he consigns the whole world to the disciples. Only when salt remains salty is the cleansing, flavoring power of salt preserved and the earth preserved by salt. Salt must remain salty for its own sake, as well as for the sake of the earth. The community of disciples must remain what Christ’s call has made them. That will be their true efficacy on earth and their preserving strength. Salt does not decay; it is, therefore, a lasting power for cleansing. That is why salt is used in the Old Testament for offerings, that is why in the Catholic baptism ritual salt is put into the child’s mouth (Exod. 30:35; Ezek. 16:4). The fact that salt will not decay guarantees that the community will last.

“You are the salt”—not “you should be the salt”! The disciples are given no choice whether they want to be salt or not. No appeal is made to them to become salt of the earth. Rather they just are salt, whether they want to be or not, by the power of the call which has reached them. You are the salt—not, “you have the salt.” It would diminish the meaning to equate the disciples’ message with salt, as the reformers did. What is meant is their whole existence, to the extent that it is newly grounded in Christ’s call to discipleship, that existence of which the Beatitudes speak. All those who follow Jesus’ call to discipleship are made by that call to be the salt of the earth in their whole existence.[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/channel/UCTxjSNstREpuGWuL0bF3U7w/featured

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


[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), 110–112.