The Hidden Treasure – Costly Grace – Lent with Bonhoeffer Day 19– Purity 991

 

The Hidden Treasure – Costly Grace – Lent with Bonhoeffer Day 19– Purity 991 

Purity 991 03/15/2023 Purity 991 Podcast

Purity 991 on YouTube: 

I hope y'all understand I don't put these photos sideways on YouTube... 

Good morning,

Today’s photo of the sun, sand, and surf of Myrtle Beach SC comes to us from yours truly as I captured this scene from the Springmaid Pier near our resort back  on February 23^rd during our recent “mid-winter recess” vacation.  

Well it’s Wednesday and yesterday’s March Nor'easter really did demonstrate that our getaway was only “mid winter” as the hump this Humpday very well may be a pile of snow if you live anywhere in my neck of the woods.  But rather than dazzle you with a winter scene I am sharing this beach scene because that is where my heart is.  I will deal with whatever meteorological circumstances that come my way but I think I am “done” with the winter of 2023, even though it has been mild, and it might not be done with us. 

Hey, they say that one path way to joy is in anticipating good things to come so I think I will take my joy in knowing that unless the Lord ushers in a prolonged ice age, spring is still coming, with the calendar declaring the first day next week on Monday the 20^th.  

So in terms of the latest winter occurrence of snow I say “This too shall pass”, and speaking of “passing” another day of Lent is upon us, so let us turn back to, or spring ahead to our current series as we enter into Day 19 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 19

Bonhoeffer writes:

“Costly grace is the hidden treasure in the field, for the sake of which people go and sell with joy everything they have.

It is the costly pearl for whose price the merchant sells all that he has; it is Christ’s sovereignty, for the sake of which you tear out an eye if it causes you to stumble.

It is the call of Jesus Christ which causes a disciple to leave his nets and follow him.

Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which has to be asked for, the door at which one has to knock.

It is costly, because it calls to discipleship; it is grace, because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. 

It is costly, because it costs people their lives; it is grace, because it thereby makes them live.

It is costly, because it condemns sin; it is grace, because it justifies the sinner.

Above all, grace is costly, because it was costly to God, because it cost God the life of God’s Son․ “you were bought with a price” and because nothing can be cheap to us which is costly to God.

Above all, it is grace because the life of God’s Son was not too costly for God to give in order to make us live…

Grace is costly, because it forces people under the yoke of following Jesus Christ; it is grace when Jesus says, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30).”

Biblical Wisdom

For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 6:20

Questions to Ponder

• If costly grace means that God wants things from us as well as for us, what might those things be?

M.T. Clark: As Bonhoeffer writers, Costly grace costs us our lives as we are “bought for a price” and we become slaves of Christ’s as we make Him the Lord and Savior of our live.  It costs us our lives but because it is grace that leads to eternal life as a part of God’s royal family, we rejoice and give the Lord our love, loyalty, and allegiance to add to the cost of our lives. We give God everything and count it all joy.

• What is the difference between following Jesus Christ (costly grace) and simply believing things about Jesus Christ (cheap grace)?

M.T. Clark: The difference between following Jesus and simply believing things about Him is the difference of knowing Him and knowing of Him, the difference between the heart and the head, the difference between loving and liking, and the difference between life and death, as followers of Christ will enter into His kingdom one day, where as those who knew of Him and stopped short of following Him, will pass into the outer darkness where their will be weeping and gnashing of teeth because He will declare that He never knew them.

• What does it mean to say grace is costly “because it costs people their lives”?

M.T. Clark: Costly grace costs people their lives because followers of Christ are crucified and die with Jesus before they are resurrected and born again to new life with Him.   When we put our faith in Jesus, the old passes away and all things are new.

Psalm Fragment

Glory in his holy name;
   let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Seek the Lord and his strength;
   seek his presence continually. Psalm 105:3-4

Journal Reflections

• Have you experienced costly grace? If so, what did it feel like? If not, what do you imagine it might feel like?

M.T. Clark: I would say that I have experienced costly grace because I have made the decision to repent and to follow Christ. Costly grace can feel like loss but we are more than willing to pay the cost for receiving it because of the abundant love that we experience when we agree to die and live with Jesus and He comes to live in and through us.

• What would it mean for you to “leave [your] nets and follow him”?

M.T. Clark: For me to leave my “nets and follow him” would mean to walk away from my current job or my place down by the River that He led me to. I think leaving my corporate job and the comfort and security of having my relatively new house would be as close to the “total surrender” that the phrase “leaving your nets” represents.   

Intercessions

Pray for the church and for all Christians, that they may proclaim and practice costly grace.

M.T. Clark: Lord,

We pray for the church and for all Christians to proclaim and practice costly grace as your Spirit reveals to them just how you want us to “leave our nets” to follow you into the purpose you created for us.  

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Prayer for Today

Thank you, O God, for the costly grace you have offered me freely and which has made me a disciple of Jesus.

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 concludes

 

In closing this chapter we would utter a word of caution to safeguard the reader against drawing a false conclusion from what has been said. We have not here sought to epitomize the whole teaching of Scripture on the subject of prayer, nor have we even attempted to discuss in general the problem of prayer; instead, we have confined ourselves, more or less, to a consideration of the relationship between God’s Sovereignty and Christian prayer. What we have written is intended chiefly as a protest against much of the modern teaching, which so stresses the human element in prayer that the Divine side is almost entirely lost sight of.

In Jer. 10:23 we are told “It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps” (cf. Prov. 16:9); and yet in many of his prayers man impiously presumes to direct the Lord as to His way, and as to what He ought to do: even implying that if only he had the direction of the affairs of the world and of the church he would soon have things very different from what they are. This cannot be denied: for anyone with any spiritual discernment at all could not fail to detect this spirit in many of our modern prayer-meetings where the flesh holds sway. How slow we all are to learn the lesson that the haughty creature needs to be brought down to his knees and humbled into the dust. And this is where the very act of prayer is intended to put us. But man (in his usual perversity) turns the footstool into a throne from whence he would fain direct the Almighty as to what He ought to do! giving the onlooker the impression that if God had half the compassion that those who pray (?) have, all would quickly be right! Such is the arrogance of the old nature even in a child of God.

Our main purpose in this chapter has been to emphasize the need for submitting, in prayer, our wills to God’s. But it must also be added that prayer is much more than a pious exercise, and far otherwise than a mechanical performance. Prayer is, indeed, a Divinely appointed means whereby we may obtain from God the things we ask, providing we ask for those things which are in accord with His will. These pages will have been penned in vain unless they lead both writer and reader to cry with a deeper earnestness than heretofore, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1).^[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), 187–188.

Needy Disciples Hope in Him – Lent with Bonhoeffer Day 8 – Purity 980

Needy Disciples Hope in Him – Lent with Bonhoeffer Day 8 – Purity 980    

Purity 980 03/02/2023 Purity 980 Podcast

Purity 980 on YouTube: 

Good morning,

Today’s photo of winding “country road” disappearing into a dense forest undeath a light blue sky comes to us from Fred Dimmick who shared this scene from a recent drive that presumably took him home  on social media back on February 11^th.  

Well, it’s Thursday again and as is my habit I am sharing Fred’s “country road” as a visual reminder of the path of Christian Discipleship with the encouragement to all who hear or read this message to follow it on “home”.  Well, It’s March second and we are one more day closer to spring and after the winding road of February that saw me away from Riverhouse for 23 of the 28 of the short month’s days it’s not surprising that I had a major revelation of God’s goodness when I remembered what it took to get me here yesterday afternoon.  

I had actually received a report of troubling if not bad news yesterday stemming from my past and while the news bothered me instead of focusing on the situation that was beyond my control, I “returned to joy” by remembering that even this bad news couldn’t touch my current situation and security that I have in not only my place “Down by the River” but the new life I have because I have made the daily decision to walk in the Spirit, to live out my faith every day on the path of Christian Discipleship. 

So one minute, I felt sorrow for the situation and the person who has caused it because they have refused to move on, quite literally, and the next I was overcome with the joy of my salvation, my freedom, my Riverhouse, and the fact that Lord gave me all of it because I decided to faithfully follow Him even when it was hard.   

I literally was singing to the Lord and even took a photo of the view from outside my place to document the day I was reminded of all that the Lord has done for me. I’m sharing that photo on the blog if you would like to see it: 

So wonderful was the revelation of the fact of God’s love and providence in my life, I spontaneously broke out in song changing the lyrics of Whitney Houston’s “The Greatest Love of All”( https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/whitneyhouston/greatestloveofall.html)  to give glory to the Lord:  

I decided long ago

Never to walk in anyone's shadows

If I fail, if I succeed

At least I'll live as I believe

No matter what they take from me

They can't take away my dignity

 

Because the greatest love of all

Is happening to me…

….Learning to love THE LORD

It is the greatest love of all,”

This is what steadies our pace and lifts our spirits as we walk through the valleys and up the hills, and around the bends on this winding path of life and faith. We need to remind ourselves of the love of God and all that He has done for us and to continually bring these things into remembrance so we don’t take our freedom and victory for granted and we realize the new wonderful life we have in Christ didn’t end now that we have been in the faith for awhile. Our new life just keeps going on and although it may be winding at times, it always leads to good things because it is guaranteed to bring us home to the Lord.   

I believe that in deciding to draw close to the Lord by doing the 40 Day Journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer is bearing fruit already.  

So let’s keep going down that winding road of Christian Discipleship into Lent with a true 20^th century example of a life surrendered to God, as  we once again resume our current series of going on the 40 Day Journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer. 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 8

Bonhoeffer writes:

“The disciples are needy in every way.

They are simply “poor” (Luke 6:20). They have no security, no property to call their own, no piece of earth they could call their home, no earthly community to which they might fully belong. But they also have neither spiritual power of their own, nor experience or knowledge they can refer to and which could comfort them.

For his sake they have lost all that.

When they followed him, they lost themselves and everything else which could have made them rich.

Now they are so poor, so inexperienced, so foolish that they cannot hope for anything except him who called them.”

Biblical Wisdom

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3

Questions to Ponder

• What kinds of poverty are there?

M.T. Clark: Obviously there is financial poverty, not having enough or barely having enough to provide for you basic needs, to just survive.  There is also relational poverty where we have isolated ourselves away from others because of pain or distrust and have unwittingly made our lives poor by cutting ourselves and others from the relational resources of love, joy, encouragement, and support we could give to one another.  But there is also spiritual poverty that many people suffer from and don’t know it because they have no relationship with the Lord. Bonhoeffer indicates that disciples are poor because they have cut themselves off from materialism and the company of most men because they have decided to follow Christ. However, what is unseen on earth will be seen when we come into Christ’s kingdom and are shown first hand the riches of His love and receive our precious promised inheritance as we will live forever in His presence.

• In the life of faith, what is the point of disciples being poor?

M.T. Clark: The point of disciples being poor is to rely completely on God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit to guide us, strength us, comfort us, and provide for us.  The more we surrender our selves to God we experience the unbelievable benefits of being “poor”, like peace, love, joy goodness, patience, self control and the other fruit of the Spirit.

• Bonhoeffer asserts that for Jesus’ sake disciples lose everything. Why would Jesus want that?

M.T, Clark: Why would Jesus want His disciples to lose everything? He would want that so His disciples could be free and to fully experience God’s goodness.  When we lose the things of this world we become free of them and the bonds of dependence that come with them and we can truly understand just how much the Lord cares for us. Those of us who have lost possession, relationships, or physical health and walked through trials have a small idea of what it is like to “lose everything” and what peace and joy comes from leaning on the Lord.  No matter what we have lost though, we can never claim to have lost everything because if we are in Christ, we still have that, we still have God and quite frankly, we have everything, we have all we need, and all we should ever want. 

Psalm Fragment

As for me, I am poor and needy,
   but the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
   do not delay, O my God. Psalm 40:17

Journal Reflections

• Reflect on why you would (or would not) consider yourself poor as a disciple of Jesus.

M.T. Clark: I suppose I could consider myself “poor” as a disciple of Christ because of the relationships I have lost and mild persecution I have suffered because of my faith. When you follow Christ, you separated from the world and many people hate you for it and express it in subtle and not so subtle ways. So I have lost things and people  because of my faith, but His love makes it worth it all because in truth with Him no one will stand and one day those who rejected Him will see the error of their ways as every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. 

• Could you imagine yourself as ever seeing poverty as a gift? Why, or why not?

M.T. Clark: Could I imagine seeing poverty as a gift? Oof, although I have seen the joy of the Lord in communities in the mission field that were in abject poverty, the pain and suffering that I have seen because of poverty makes it hard for me to imagine seeing it as a gift.  I understand how freeing it would be to loose ourselves of the responsibilities of providing for ourselves, the homeless sure are free, but the costs of the loss of security and the comforts that come from work seem too high a price to pay.  Because the Lord has blessed me with the ability to work it is difficult to imagine a situation where poverty would endure. Frankly, I see poverty as not being a part of what God would want for us because He has gifted us with so much in terms of free will and the ability to change our situations, I’m not sure if God would want us to stay in poverty.  So I have a problem imagining a situation where I work and remain in poverty. People move and work and I feel that we are challenged to do what we can to flourish to represent the kingdom but that might all be from my western world view. If the Lord wants me in poverty, I guess I would stay there but I imagine He would want us to do what we can to flourish no matter how meager an existence that might be.   

Intercessions

Pray for the “rich” that they may have compassion for the “poor.” Pray for the “poor” that they may have compassion for the “rich.”

M.T. Clark: 

Lord God Heavenly Father,  

I pray that the financially rich” in this world would have compassion for the poor and that you would lead them to help their fellow man to rise out of poverty. I pray for the “poor” who depend on you to have compassion for the rich who only depend upon themselves and are thus cut off from peace with God because they don’t feel they need Jesus. Help us all to see us as you see us and guide us to be surrendered to your will for our lives in a spirit of repentance and love to take the help you have for us and to help others to find it. 

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.  

Prayer for Today

Lord, help me to lose everything for your sake and so discover all that I have and am in you.

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

II. How can the sinner be held responsible FOR the doing of what he is UNABLE to do? And how can he be justly condemned for NOT DOING what he COULD NOT do?

Pinks response continues:

But now the question returns, How can God hold the sinner responsible for failing to do what he is unable to do? This necessitates a careful definition of terms. Just what is meant by “unable” and “cannot”?

Now let it be clearly understood that when we speak of the sinner’s inability, we do not mean that if men desired to come to Christ they lack the necessary power to carry out their desire. No; the fact is that the sinner’s inability or absence of power is itself due to lack of willingness to come to Christ, and this lack of willingness is the fruit of a depraved heart. It is of first importance that we distinguish between natural inability and moral and spiritual inability. For example, we read, “But Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age” (1 Kings 14:4); and again, “The men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them” (Jonah 1:13). In both of these passages the words “could not” refer to natural inability. But when we read, “And when his brethren saw that their father loved him (Joseph) more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him” (Gen. 37:4), it is clearly moral inability that is in view. They did not lack the natural ability to “speak peaceably unto him” for they were not dumb. Why then was it that they “could not speak peaceably unto him”? The answer is given in the same verse: it was because “they hated him.” Again; in 2 Peter 2:14 we read of a certain class of wicked men “having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin.” Here again it is moral inability that is in view. Why is it that these men “cannot cease from sin”? The answer is, Because their eyes were full of adultery. So of Romans 8:8—“They that are in the flesh cannot please God”: here is spiritual inability. Why is it that the natural man “cannot please God”? Because he is “alienated from the life of God” (Eph. 4:18). No man can choose that from which his heart is averse—“O generation of vipers how can ye, being evil, speak good things?” (Matt. 12:34). “No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him” (John 5:44). Here again it is moral and spiritual inability which is before us. Why is it the sinner cannot come to Christ unless he is “drawn”? The answer is, Because his wicked heart loves sin and hates Christ.

We trust we have made it clear that the Scriptures distinguish sharply between natural ability and moral and spiritual inability. Surely all can see the difference between the blindness of Bartimeus, who was ardently desirous of receiving his sight, and the Pharisees, whose eyes were closed “lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted” (Matt. 13:15). But should it be said, “The natural man could come to Christ if he wished to do so we answer, Ah! but in that IF lies the hinge of the whole matter. The inability of the sinner consists of the want of moral power to wish and will so as to actually perform.

What we have contended for above is of first importance. Upon the distinction between the sinner’s natural Ability, and his moral and spiritual Inability rests his Responsibility. The depravity of the human heart does not destroy man’s accountability to God; so far from this being the case the very moral inability of the sinner only serves to increase his guilt. This is easily proven by a reference to the scriptures cited above. We read that Joseph’s brethren “could not speak peaceably unto him,” and why? It was because they “hated” him. But was this moral inability of theirs any excuse? Surely not: in this very moral inability consisted the greatness of their sin. So of those concerning whom it is said, “They cannot cease from sin” (2 Pet. 2:1), and why? Because “their eyes were full of adultery,” but that only made their case worse. It was a real fact that they could not cease from sin, yet this did not excuse them—it only made their sin the greater.

Should some sinner here object, I cannot help being born into this world with a depraved heart and therefore I am not responsible for my moral and spiritual inability which accrue from it, the reply would be, Responsibility and Culpability lie in the indulgence of the depraved propensities, the free indulgence, for God does not force any to sin. Men might pity me but they certainly would not excuse me if I gave vent to a fiery temper and then sought to extenuate myself on the ground of having inherited that temper from my parents. Their own common sense is sufficient to guide their judgment in such a case as this. They would argue I was responsible to restrain my temper. Why then cavil against this same principle in the case supposed above? “Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee thou wicked servant” surely applies here! What would the reader say to a man who had robbed him and who later argued in defence, “I cannot help being a thief, that is my nature”? Surely the reply would be, Then the penitentiary is the proper place for that man. What then shall be said to the one who argues that he cannot help following the bent of his sinful heart? Surely, that the Lake of Fire is where such an one must go. Did ever a murderer plead that he hated his victim so much that he could not go near him without slaying him. Would not that only magnify the enormity of his crime! Then what of the one who loves sin so much that he is at “enmity against God”!

The fact of man’s responsibility is almost universally acknowledged. It is inherent in man’s moral nature. It is not only taught in Scripture but witnessed to by the natural conscience. The basis or ground of human responsibility is human ability. What is implied by this general term “ability” must now be defined. Perhaps a concrete example will be more easily grasped by the average reader than an abstract argument.

Suppose a man owed me $100 and could find plenty of money for his own pleasures but none for me, yet pleaded that he was unable to pay me. What would I say? I would say that the only ability that was lacking was an honest heart. But would it not be an unfair construction of my words if a friend of my dishonest debtor should say I had stated that an honest heart was that which constituted the ability to pay the debt? No; I would reply: the ability of my debtor lies in the power of his hand to write me a check, and this he has, but what is lacking is an honest principle. It is his power to write me a check which makes him responsible to do so, and the fact that he lacks an honest heart does not destroy his accountability.^[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), 161–164.

 

Braving the Storm – Adapting to Life with God - Purity 916

 

Braving the Storm – Adapting to Life with God -  Purity 916

Purity 916 12/16/2022   Purity 916 Podcast

Purity 916 on YouTube: 

Good morning,

Today’s photo of a December Sunrise over Inlet Community Church comes to us today from a friend who shared this photo on social media yesterday with the caption: “Red sky at morn, sailors be warned”. While our friend was taking delight in the gorgeous morning before her, she also was  anticipating a change in the weather as a winter storm warning is in effect until Saturday, advising that

 “Heavy wet snow expected. Storm total snowfall amounts of 8 to 16 inches for the southern Adirondacks, eastern Catskills, Mohawk and Schoharie Valley and Helderbergs with locally around
two feet possible especially in the high peaks of the eastern Catskills and southern Adirondacks. Total snow accumulation of 6 to 12 inches expected for the Lake George Saratoga Region and 4
to 8 inches in northwestern parts of the Capital Region. Winds gusting as high as 35 mph, especially in higher terrain. Some downed tree limbs and power outages may occur due to the heavy
wet snow.”

Well, It is Friday and as I write this, and from what I can tell from trying to peer into the pitch black darkness from my countryside “office” we don’t have any snow yet but no matter how much or how little snow or when we will get it between today and tomorrow, the good news is that I actually had a personal day left at work and decided to use it rather than running the risk of having to travel to my countryside home in the midst of a storm.   

And while, the possibility of a power outage does not appeal to me, I don’t have much anxiety about the coming snow storm. 

“As long as the power doesn’t go out, I will be okay.”  May be a mantra that many will repeat today but the truth is that EVEN IF the power goes out, we will be okay.  

All of history that came before us testifies to the fact that human beings can survive without electricity! I know it shocks and disgusts me too.  In fact one of the wonderful amenities at my place “down by the River” is a fully automated Generac generator system.  I jokingly and seriously told my wife last night that I TRULY must love her because I have ventured into the “Great White North” of Easton with a storm coming just to be with her, when I could be secure from the possibility of a power outage at River House.  And I do love her dearly, so much so that I would be willing to suffer in the dark and cold with her, than to be at a place with electricity As long as the power outage doesn’t last too long! Monday comes quick and I may have to abandon ship for my other place  if the going gets too tough, doh.  

And that’s my right, and that’s smart.   

While there are many negative situations that can be fall us in life, we are not powerless in terms of the choices we make and the solutions to problems we can develop and rather than being consigned to suffering because “it is what it is”, we can rage against the storm or the “machine” of this world system to be prepared for contingences and ready to respond if things “go south”.    

My place “down by The River” in Stuyvesant is subject to semi-regular power outages due to the large trees that line State Route 9J so rather than just sit in the dark at odd times throughout the year the previous owner of my place installed a generator switch, So if the power went out they could roll out the portable generator they had and have electricity.  Unfortunately, when they moved out the generator switch remained but they took the portable generator with them.    

So when I moved into River House, I highly suspected that we could expect power outages and within the first few months of living there in the summer of 2020, the power went out on three or four separate occasions.  

While I contemplated getting a portable generator like the previous owners, I imagined myself dragging out a portable generator during a raging blizzard, by myself, and decided that I wanted to pay the cost to enact a solution that wouldn’t requite me to do anything. So I ordered the Generac generator to be installed and although it was delayed because of Covid-19, it was installed and fully operational as my children and I enjoyed our first winter at our new home in 2020.   

So if the going gets too tough, I might just get going! But this is obviously something I had to plan and pay for ahead of time, and I got the “full house” option so it cost me much more than some portable generator would have, but I determined that it was worth it! And it is. 

However there will be situations in life that we cannot prepare for, because we don’t resources to enact a plan like this, or we will face things that we could not anticipate and we will just have to “muddle through somehow”.  

But even if we face negative circumstance we can still find the strength to endure and actually can maintain or peace and joy, regardless of the circumstances, when we are walking and talking with God.  

Whether it is snowy or not, whether I am at our Countryside home or “down by the River”, or whether I am with my wife or not,  I am never alone and always prepared to trust in God to see me through. 

In recent days, I have been increasingly reminded that our walk of faith on the path of Christian discipleship is a continuous journey of adaptation.  We don’t know what we are going to walk through in this life but when we are grounded in our identity of who we are in Christ, know what the word of God says, and maintain a robust relationship and continuous conversation with the Lord, we will have everything we need for “life and godliness” and every storm that blows are way.   

Now don’t get me wrong, I have not “arrived” yet. I am not perfect and can still be surprised by how feelings of anger, anxiety, and threats of depression can blow into my life and take me off my feet. Things can still happen where I recognize that I am entering into old reactive patterns that are similar to my “pre-Christ” days, but the good news is that as I have been following the Lord and have learned through my walk and education what the answers are for every situation.  

No, I am not claiming that I know it all, and when I tell you the “answer key” for life you will either say “Of course!”, because you know it too, or you will either think I am insane – “This guy’s nuts! Walking and talking with God? CUCKOO!” or will thinking I am full of it because you don’t believe in God, not for real life things, not for life beyond the four walls of a church building.

The answer of course is to “Trust in the LORD”. We do this by applying His word to our lives, by obeying His commands and believing everything it HE says about us.  . 

That’s all. 

“Do you actually do that?!? I doubt it!” may be a worldly response to this.  

While I have already admitted I am far from perfect and still am surprised to see old patterns attempt to run their course,  my whole walk with God has been the ongoing saga of trying to be “real” in my faith walk, to believe and do what the word of God says and this is the path that I encourage every Christian to walk because it is the path less traveled but it is also the path that leads to peace and can continually be taken to lead you back to joy.  

The book “Building Bounce” by Marcus Warner and Stefanie Hinman speaks of developing strategies to “return us back to joy”.  They offer practical methods of changing our perspective and taking control of our thoughts to develop emotional resilience and they also offer the advice from a Christian worldview.  

True “Biblical” Christian counselors know that good mental health comes from “doing what is right”, knowing who we are in Christ, and how to apply God’s word to our lives.  

But you actually have to do it in order for it to work.  We must believe and do what the word of God says. We must practice what we preach in all the aspects of our lives and we surrender our will and lives for the better plan that God has for our lives.   

So batten down the hatches if you are in the storms path or enjoy the nice weather if you are not, but let me encourage you to follow the Lord so you can be prepared for any contingency that this life brings and that you can continually find the peace and the joy that God wants you to live in every day.

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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:

Psalm 34:5 (NLT2)
⁵  Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces.

Today’s verse just so happens to line up perfectly with what I was trying to express! That’s what some would call “coincidence” but after I have been following the Lord and seen His presence in my life in all kinds of ways, I prefer to say that’s “tracking with the Spirit!”

IF we look to God for help, by putting our faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we will be radiant with joy! Why?  Because we will live! Forever! And we are forgiven! In Christ we receive the forgiveness of sins and are promised an eternal place in His kingdom. HELLO! That’s something that should be a continual source of joy! So don’t lose that “joy of salvation”.  

However, the second part of this verse from Psalm 34:5, may depend on how you choose to live your life. 

While faith in Christ, forgives you of your sins, your life choices could continually bring the darkness of the shadow of shame to your face if you decide to persist in your sins.  

While we will not be sinless, we can sin less. And let’s face it, while even one sin would be enough to make us guilty of breaking the whole law,  some sins are darker than others.  However, all of them need to be repented of. 

And I suggest, that you deal with the darker sins first: your adultery, you fornication – your sexual immorality, your lies, your drunkenness, your theft, your cursing, and your hate of your fellow man – are all pretty dark areas that you can take on first.  

But even if somehow these works of the flesh aren’t a part of your story, there is still work to do, because if there is something that you are doing or aren’t doing that brings you shame, God will reveal it to you if you decide to follow Him.  

So as today’s verse go to God for help and ask Him what you need to know and what you need to do.  

While I can’t tell you specifics for your individual life and purpose, I can tell you that God’s word, the Bible, has plenty in it to help you to learn what God wants you to know.  

God wants you never to feel ashamed again and He can help you to experience that life of joy and peace when you decide to keep on walking and talking with Him.

 

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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 Church of Jesus Christ and Discipleship

 

Chapter Eleven

The Visible Church-Community, continues

 

The slave Onesimus had run away from his Christian master, Philemon, inflicting much harm on him. Now, after Onesimus has been baptized, Philemon is asked to “receive him back forever” (Philemon 15), “no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother … both in the flesh and in the Lord” (Philemon 16). In specifically calling Onesimus a brother “according to the flesh,” Paul issues a warning against the dangerous misunderstanding of those “privileged”^[37] Christians who think having community with Christians of lesser status and legal standing is acceptable in worship, but not to be practiced outside that context. Instead, Paul calls Onesimus Philemon’s “brother according to the flesh”! And he instructs Philemon to receive his slave back like a brother, even as if he were Paul himself (v. 17), and in brotherly love to ignore the harm Onesimus inflicted on him (v. 18). Paul asks Philemon to do all this voluntarily, although, if need be, he would also not hesitate to issue it as a command (vv. 8–14). Besides, Paul is confident that Philemon will go beyond what is requested of him (v. 21). Onesimus is Philemon’s “brother according to the flesh” because he is baptized. Even though Onesimus might remain a slave of his master Philemon, everything in their relationship with each other has radically changed. And the basis for that change? The free master and the slave have become members of the body of Christ. Their community with each other now embodies, like a small cell, the very life of the body of Christ, that is, the church-community. “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed your-slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:27f.; Col. 3:11). Within the church-community, one no longer sees others as free or slave, as man or woman, but only as members of Christ’s body. To be sure, this does not mean that a slave would no longer be a slave or a man cease to be a man. But this is a far cry from continuing to address everyone within the church-community with a view to their status as Jew or Greek, free or slave. This is precisely what should no longer happen. We see each other exclusively as members of the body of Christ, that is, as all being one in him. Jew and Greek, free and slave, man and woman now have community with each other because they are all part of the church-community of the body of Christ. They are in Christ wherever they live, speak, or interact with one another, and there the church-community is a reality. This fact determines and transforms their community with each other in a decisive way. The wife obeys her husband “in the Lord,” slaves really serve God in serving their masters, and masters know that they too have a Lord in heaven (Col. 3:18–4:1). But they are now all brothers and sisters, “both in the flesh and in the Lord.”^[39]

The church-community has, therefore, a very real impact on the life of the world. It gains space for Christ. For whatever is “in Christ” is no longer under the dominion of the world, of sin, or of the law. Within this newly created community, all the laws of this world have lost their binding force. This sphere in which brothers and sisters are loved with Christian love is subject to Christ; it is no longer subject to the world. The church-community can never consent to any restrictions of its service of love and compassion toward other human beings. For wherever there is a brother or sister, there Christ’s own body is present; and wherever Christ’s body is present, his church-community is also always present, which means I must also be present there.

All who belong to the body of Christ have been freed from and called out of the world. They must become visible to the world not only through the communal bond evident in the church-community’s order and worship, but also through the new communal life among brothers and sisters in Christ.

Where the world despises other members of the Christian family, Christians will love and serve them. If the world does violence to them, Christians will help them and provide them relief. Where the world subjects them to dishonor and insult, Christians will sacrifice their own honor in exchange for their disgrace. Where the world seeks gain, Christians will renounce it; where it exploits, they will let go; where it oppresses, they will stoop down and lift up the oppressed. Where the world denies justice, Christians will practice compassion; where it hides behind lies, they will speak out for those who cannot speak, and testify for the truth. For the sake of brothers or sisters—be they Jew or Greek, slave or free,^[42] strong or weak, of noble or of common birth—Christians will renounce all community with the world, for they serve the community of the body of Jesus Christ. Being a part of this community, Christians cannot remain hidden from the world. They have been called out of the world and follow Christ.

However, “Let each of you remain in the condition [Beruf] in which you were called. Were you a slave when called? Do not be concerned about it. Even if you can gain your freedom, make use of your present condition now more than ever” (i.e., by remaining a slave!). “For whoever was called in the Lord as a slave is a freed person belonging to the Lord, just as whoever was free when called is a slave of Christ. You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of human masters. In whatever condition you were called, brothers and sisters, there remain with God” (1 Cor. 7:20–24). Does all this not sound very different from that first time Jesus called the disciples to follow him? Then the disciples had to leave everything behind to follow Jesus. Now we are told: let each of you remain in the condition in which you were called! How are we to reconcile the contradiction? Only by recognizing that the sole point both in the call of Jesus and in the exhortation of the apostles is to bring those that are called into the community of the body of Jesus Christ. The first disciples had to come with Jesus in order to stay in bodily community with him. But now, through word and sacrament, the body of Christ is no longer confined to a single geographical location. The risen and exalted Christ has closed in on the world, in fact the body of Christ—in the form of the church-community—has broken into the very midst of the world itself. Those who are baptized are baptized into the body of Christ. Christ has come to them, taken their life into his own, and thus robbed the world of its possession. Those who are baptized as slaves still remain slaves. But they are now already part of the community of the body of Jesus Christ. As slaves they have already been rescued from the world and become freed persons of Christ. Thus slaves may remain slaves! As members of Christ’s community they have gained the kind of freedom which no rebellion or revolution could have brought them or could ever bring them. Paul’s exhortation to the slaves to remain slaves is most certainly not intended to tie them closer to the world, to fasten their life to this world even further by adding a “religious anchor,” or to make them better and more loyal citizens of this world! His statements are certainly not a justification or a Christian apology for a shadowy social order.^[47] The exhortation is valid not because vocations in the world are so excellently ordered and divinely instituted that this order must not be overturned. Rather, it is valid because of the fact that Jesus Christ already has brought about an upheaval of the whole world by liberating both slave and free. Would a revolution which simply overturned the existing order of society not obscure the awareness of God’s new ordering of all things through Jesus Christ, and the establishment of his church-community? Moreover, would every such attempt not actually hinder and delay the abolition of the entire world order and the dawning of God’s realm? The exhortation is also most certainly not based on the idea that the fulfillment of our secular vocation as such would already be identical with living the Christian life. Rather, by renouncing rebellion against the forms of order of this world, Christians express most convincingly that they expect nothing from the world but everything from Christ and his coming realm. That is why slaves are to remain slaves! Because this world is not in need of reform, but ripe to be demolished—that is why slaves are to remain slaves! They have God’s promise of something far better! Is it not both judgment enough on the world and comfort enough for slaves to know that the Son of God took “the form of a slave” (Phil. 2:5) when he came to this earth? And Christians who were called as slaves—do they not, in their very existence as slaves in the world, already have enough distance from the world to naturally prevent them from loving, desiring, or even worrying about it? Therefore, slaves ought to suffer not as a consequence of being rebellious but as members of the church-community and the body of Christ! That is how the world is getting ripe for its demise.^[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

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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), 235–239.