Our Future Hope - 40 Day Journey with Martin Luther – Day 23 - Purity 1296
Purity 1296 03/11/2024 Purity 1296 Podcast
Purity 1296 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of a blue sky ocean view comes to us
from an unknown FB friend who originally shared this scene from the end of a dock
or pier on social media on or around February 19, 2021. If this “crystal blue”
vision is yours, give me a heads up and I’ll update the blog to give you the
photo credit you so richly deserve.
Well, It’s Monday and I share scenes like today’s
photo to encourage my friends to go out and enjoy their lives and to remember
the moments of joy they had to help them make it through the times that weren’t
so good. When you are going through
trials it’s good to remember moments of joy from our past for two reasons. 1.
They tell us that life hasn’t always been as bad as the problems we are
currently experiencing. And 2. They give us the hope that someday in the future
we can have similar joy-producing moments where our current problems are things
we have overcome and left in the past.
Similarly, and more importantly, when we are going
through trials we can remember when God has helped us in the past and we can put
our faith in His promises that assure us that He is working all things together
for good and, if we are in Christ, regardless of the outcome of the particular
situations we are moving through, we are assured of a “good end” in that we
will one day experience what it means to live with God. The promise we have for eternity is spoken
of in:
Revelation
21:3-4 (NKJV) where we are assured:
3 … "Behold, the
tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they
shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.
4 And God will wipe away
every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor
crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed
away."
No
more, death, sorrow, crying, or pain…. Oh brother and sister -that’s our destiny.
Let’s not forget that and rejoice right now because when we hold on to that
truth nothing and no one can take away our hope for better days to come. We
just have to keep on walking and talking with God until we get there.
And
what better time to draw close to the Lord than right now in the season of Lent?
And speaking of Lent….
It’s the twenty-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 23
I
believe that by my own understanding or strength I cannot believe in Jesus
Christ my Lord or come to him, but instead the Holy Spirit has called me
through the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, made me holy and kept me in
the true faith, just as he calls, gathers, enlightens, and makes holy the whole
Christian Church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one common,
true faith.
Because
holiness has begun and is growing daily, we await the time when our flesh will
be put to death, will be buried with all its uncleanness, and will come forth
gloriously and arise to complete and perfect holiness in a new, eternal life.
Now, however, we remain only halfway pure and holy. The Holy Spirit must always
work in us through the Word, granting us daily forgiveness until we attain to
that life where there will be no more forgiveness. In that life there will be
only perfectly pure and holy people, full of integrity and righteousness,
completely freed from sin, death, and all misfortune, living in new, immortal,
and glorified bodies.
Biblical Wisdom
I
consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with
the glory about to be revealed to us. Romans 8:18.
Silence for Meditation.
Questions to Ponder
· If,
as Luther suggests, both the capacity to believe and the content of our faith
are pure gifts of grace given by the Holy Spirit, what if any is the role of
human effort in our relationship with God?
Although we are saved by the grace of God and given the
ability to repent by the power of the Holy Spirit, the role of human effort in
our relationship should not be dismissed. God brings us into his kingdom but
after we are saved He invites us to do our part in our relationship with Him by
actively renewing our minds with His word and making efforts to align our lives
with His principles for living by repenting of our former ways and crucifying
our flesh to abstain from sin and to do good works for His kingdom. Any Christian knows that although they are
given the joy of their salvation after putting their faith in Jesus, they still
have free will and can still be led into temptation and sin. So it is our
responsibility to make the daily decision to forsake our former ways of
thinking and acting and choose to follow God with the way we live. The degree to which we choose to follow is
our decision and the more effort we put forth to know God and to represent the
kingdom the more that God will teach us, bless us, and lead us into becoming the
people He created us to be.
· Why
is the daily forgiveness of sins so central to the work of the Holy Spirit?
The daily forgiveness of sins is so central to the
work of the Holy Spirit because we are imperfect sons and daughters of God who still
sin and we need the assurance of our forgiveness and the comfort that the
Spirit brings to us so we will not condemn ourselves and instead will persist
in our efforts to become more and more like Jesus, to grow progressively in our
sanctification and in finding our purpose in Christ.
· What
does it mean to say that “the Holy Spirit must always work in us through the Word”?
The Holy Spirit must always work within us through
the Word because it is by the wisdom of the Word of God that we learn what our
new lives are supposed to look like. The word renews our minds by causing us to
know the truth about who we are and how we are to live. The Holy Spirit illuminates
the scriptures, so the word convicts us and enlightens us. The Holy Spirit
encourages and empowers us to repent based on the wisdom of God’s word.
Psalm Fragment
Create
in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not
cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit. Psalm
51:10-12.
Journal Reflections
· Have
you experienced a longing to be “perfectly pure and holy”? If so, describe the
longing in your journal. How has this longing impacted your life? If not, Can
you imagine what it might be like to have such a longing?
I have experienced the longing to be perfectly pure
and holy. You don’t forsake sexual sin unless you have that desire and
amazingly the Lord will bless your efforts to be pure and holy by giving you
the power to overcome the sins of the flesh if you ask Him for help, lean on His
strength, and follow Him into righteousness.
This longing has changed my life – can you honestly say, “no sexual sin
in my life”? I can. And it is only by the grace and power of God that I can do
so, While I have victory in that one area, there is still room to grow – food addiction
is an ongoing struggle, frustration and it driving me into swearing is a real
present concern, but I can imagine that if I continue to surrender to the Lord,
He will help me to grow in these areas too.
· How
often do you read the Bible and spend time in prayer? Does it feel like enough
time?
I would normally say I read the Bible every day because
I normally do. Ironically, this 40 Da Journey with Martin Luther and my current
“March Madness” as the Freedom in Christ Course I am leading is coming to a
close has gotten in the way of my normal Bible study but in truth I am getting
lots of scripture through that. As for my prayer life, I spend 15-20 minutes in
dedicated prayer every morning and have an ongoing conversation with God
throughout my days. And no, I don’t think
I will ever feel that I have enough time for these two spiritual disciplines.
· Do
your devotional practices sharpen both your sense of sin and your joy in God's
forgiveness?
Yes, my devotional practices convict me in areas
where I need to grow, and they cause me to rejoice over my relationship with
God and the fact that I am forgiven and free in Christ.
Prayers for the Life of Faith
Pray
that your congregation will faithfully preach Christ in the power of the Holy
Spirit so that more will be called, gathered, enlightened, and sanctified in
the one true faith.
I pray that my church will faithfully preach Christ
in the power of the Holy Spirit so that more will be called, gathered,
enlightened, and sanctified in the one true faith. Show us the truth and lead us in holiness, O
Lord. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Prayer For Today
Come,
Holy Spirit, enliven my faith today, show me the depth of my sins and the glory
I receive in the forgiveness of my sins.
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.
Matthew 6:19-21 (ESV)
19 “Do not lay up for
yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves
break in and steal,
20 but lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do
not break in and steal.
21 For where your treasure
is, there your heart will be also.
Today’s
verses fall under the tenth point of our counseling reference guide resource’s
section on Contentment,
Coveting, and Priorities.
10. Do not lay up earthly treasures, but heavenly treasures.
Today’s
verses are the word of Jesus and He teaches us to value the things we do for
the kingdom of God rather than the things of this world . This should impress
upon us the importance of following the Lord with the way we live. Although this world may judge us by the wealth
we have and the things we own, God values the things we do for His kingdom. So
let’s not be obsessed with the material things but concern ourselves with the
spiritual treasures that come from the things we do for and with God.
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As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I
always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to
assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today we continue sharing from “According to Your
Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament” By Stephen F. Olford – A
Collection of Devotional Journals: 1940-1941.
As always, I share this information for educational
purposes and encourage you all to purchase Olford’s books for your own
private study and to support his work. This resource is available online
for less than $10 at many sites.
EVENING READING: LUKE 12
“Do not seek what you should eat or
what you should
drink, nor have an anxious mind.”
– Luke 12:29
What a message for today! When men and nations in the
world are very nearly beside themselves with anxiety.
“Do not seek,” said the Lord, “what you should eat or what
you should drink, nor have an anxious mind.” And previously, “Consider the
ravens, they neither sow nor reap … and God feeds them… . Consider the lilies,
how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon
in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothes the
grass … how much more will He clothe you” (Luke 12:24-28)?
To live in anxiousness is a definite sin. For it is rank
faithlessness and what is not of faith is sin.
Father, give me the faith of the
raven and lily.
Amen.[1]
---------------------------more tomorrow------------------------
Join our “Victory over the Darkness”, “The Bondage
Breaker”, "Freedom in Christ" series of Discipleship Classes via the
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at https://mt4christ247.podbean.com, You can also find it on Apple podcasts
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These teachings are also available on the
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Email me at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and
to be encouraged.
My wife, TammyLyn, also offers Christian
encouragement via her Ask Seek Knock blog (https://tammylynask.blogspot.com/ ), her
Facebook Group: Ask, Seek, Knock (https://www.facebook.com/groups/529047851449098 ) and her podcast Ask, Seek, and Knock on
Podbean (https://feed.podbean.com/tammalyn78/feed.xml)
“The views, opinions, and commentary of this
publication are those of the author, M.T. Clark, only, and do not purport to
reflect the opinions or views of any of the photographers, artists, ministries,
or other authors of the other works that may be included in this publication,
and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities the
author may represent.”
Encouragement
for the Path of Christian Discipleship
[1]
Stephen Olford and Heather Olford, According to Your
Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament, A Collection of Devotional
Journals 1940-1941 (Nashville, TN: B&H Books, 2008).
