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Showing posts with label Memorial Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Memorial Day. Show all posts

Friday, May 26, 2023

Rest and Reflect. Are You Ready for a Reset? – Purity 1053

Rest and Reflect. Are You Ready for a Reset?  – Purity 1053

Purity 1053 05/26/2023 Purity 1053 Podcast

Purity 1053 on YouTube:



Good morning,

Today’s photo a roaring campfire in the foreground of a nighttime view of Indian Lake comes to us from Katie Fisher MacVeigh as she captured this scene from a “perfect midweek reset” on social media back on May 11th.  

Well, It is Friday, it really is, thank God and I am looking forward to the end of my shift at work because I will be headed north tonight to be reunited with my wife at our countryside home before we embark on our own wilderness Memorial Weekend “reset”.  Apparently, I was really looking forward to today because my wife informed me that I said it was Friday on the podcast yesterday.  So I apologize to anyone I may have confused and fully realize, now, that yesterday was Thursday, and today is Friday and it is my prayer that all my friends who read or hear this message have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.   

My wife and I are hiking to a cabin in the Merck Forest and Farmland Center grounds in Rupert Vermont where, as of this writing, we believe it will just be the two of us for a weekend retreat – two nights of no electricity and just one another’s company in a rustic cabin’s accommodations.   I have never gone backpacking before and my camping experience has been limited to overnights in the backyards or at RV campgrounds during my childhood and with my kids when they were growing up so although it is only a 2 ½ mile hike to the cabin, this will be a first for me in many ways and while I am a little weary of the lack of electricity and indoor plumbing, I am looking forward to “getting away from it all” and the relative silence and solitude I hope to find in the woods near Nenorod Cabin.   

While I try to find moments of peace every day during my times of prayer and Bible study, I feel I really can use this rest.  The beginning of 2023 has been very eventful thus far as I have had to travel for work, was trained in a new job function at work, got a new foreman, and have adapted to what seems to be an ever changing schedule as I have just surrendered to the fact that I don’t know what kind of work I will be doing from one day to the next. And that’s just work.  

2023 will also be known as the year that I began, and prayerfully will finish the process of becoming educated, trained, and certified in Deeper Walk Prayer Ministry. Thus far I have found the program to be “as advertised” as it was described to be “an intensive, interactive, hands-on, heart-focused discipleship training program in practical ministry skills” where “you will gain the ministry tools needed to help hurting people experience freedom, understand their identity in Christ, walk in the Spirit, and live in heart-focused (hesed) community”.  Last night was the final meeting  of our cohort until August as we finished the second module of four, on Spiritual Warfare and I can testify that the program is “intensive” as the expectations is to not only learn the material that is presented but to also put it into practice each week with our colleagues in “break out rooms”.  Although the course work keeps you busy, the material is so rich and rewarding that I feel my decision to get this education and certification was definitely “meant to be” as I have already incorporated some of the things I have learned to me personally and to the “recovery growth group” – Celebrate Freedom – that I am now leading at my local church.   

Yup, 2023 has had even more in store!  That was work and “school” but Let’s not forget about Ministry.  As soon as I finished facilitating an 11 week online Freedom in Christ Discipleship Men’s group in early April, where I led six men through individual sessions of the Steps to Freedom in Christ, I was approached by my pastor with the request to begin a “recovery growth group” and on May 10th, we dusted off our old Celebrate Freedom Lessons and the Lord blessed me with two dedicated and faithful volunteers to start the process of forming a community where Christians could overcome their “hurts, habits, and hang ups.”  But even though I have done “recovery ministry” before, this Celebrate Freedom is a NEW creation as I am incorporating all that I have learned from my walk and my latest studies to put the emphasis of this group on “building joy”, “walking in the Spirit” and knowing who we are in Christ.  And the results of my attempts seem well received as one of the participants thanked me this week for “my vision” and another shared on social media that this week’s meeting was “amazing” but before I go patting myself on the back let me assure you that I know that I am only sharing what others have taught me and that the “vision” is how the Lord see us and the amazing things we are experiencing is only because we are drawing close to Him.    

So we have been busy, but we have been blessed and although it may be challenging to keep “in step with the Spirit” at times, I wouldn’t have it any other way.  

But with that said, I am happy to have a “break” from school for a while, and that I get to kick it off with what I hope to be a peaceful weekend in the woods and with a few days off this week as I only have to work Wednesday, because although I had the vacation this week, I have made plans to go to Deeper Walk international’s 35th Anniversary conference in Indiana in October and had to give up a day of what would have been a whole “week off”.     

That’s right as we draw into the 6 month of the year next week, we will rejoice this weekend over where the Lord has brought us thus far, remember the servicemen who died to keep our country free, rest, and reset for what should be an eventful 2nd half of another year of walking in the Spirit.  

So, as we gear up for the end of the first half of 2023, it is my prayer that you take some time this weekend to rest, “reset” and reflect on the freedom we have in Christ and the freedom that we enjoy in this county because of the men and women in the armed forces that paid the ultimate sacrifice for what they believed was worth protecting and that they were willing to die to uphold.  God bless you all.

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

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

This morning’s meditation verses are:

Psalm 103:1-5 (NLT2)
1  Let all that I am praise the LORD; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
2  Let all that I am praise the LORD; may I never forget the good things he does for me.
3  He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases.
4  He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies.
5  He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!

 

Today’s verses show us what a man with a heart set on God does – he praises the Lord continually and he never forgets the good things that the Lord does for Him. He remembers that the Lord has forgiven him of all his sins and has brought him through all the illnesses and trials he has suffered in life.   He remembers how the Lord has blessed him with His presence, love, and all the tender mercies he has received in life recognizing that they all came through a sovereign God who is always in control.  He looks at the good things in his life and knows they come from God and his spirit is renewed because he praises the Lord.  

So give thanks to God. Sing his praises with all your0020heart. And do this: EVERY. DAY.  and you too will know what it is like to be continually renewed.

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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  

4 - The Deities of the Holy Spirit

Concurrence in the Trinity

The Holy Spirit is designated by a great many names and titles in Scripture which clearly evince both His personality and Deity. Some of these are peculiar to Himself, others He has in common with the Father and the Son, in the undivided essence of the Divine nature. While in the wondrous scheme of redemption the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are revealed unto us under distinct characters, by which we are taught to ascribe certain operations to one more immediately than to another, yet the agency of each is not to be considered as so detached but that They cooperate and concur. For this reason the Third Person of the Trinity is called the Spirit of the Father (John 14:26) and the Spirit of the Son (Gal. 4:6), because, acting in conjunction with the Father and the Son, the operations of the one are in effect the operations of the others—and altogether result from the indivisible essence of the Godhead.

Titles Used in Scripture

First, He is designated “The Spirit,” which expresses two things. First, His Divine nature, for “God is Spirit” (John 4:24); as the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Episcopal Church well express it, “without body, parts, or passions.” He is essentially pure, incorporeal Spirit, as distinct from any material or visible substance. Second, it expresses His mode of operation on the hearts of the people of God, which is compared in Scripture to a “breath,” or the movement of the “wind”—both of which adumbrate Him in this lower world; suitably so, inasmuch as they are invisible, and yet vitalizing elements. “Come from the four winds, O Breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live” (Ezek. 37:9). Therefore was it that in His public descent on the day of Pentecost, “suddenly there came a sound from Heaven of a rushing, mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting” (Acts 2:2).

Second, He is called by way of eminency “The Holy Spirit” which is His most usual appellation in the New Testament. Two things are included. First, respect is had unto His nature. As Jehovah is distinguished from all false gods thus, “Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods; who is like thee, glorious in holiness” (Ex. 15:11); so is the Spirit called Holy to denote the holiness of His nature. This appears plainly in Mark 3:29, 30, “He that shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit hath never forgiveness; because they said, he hath an unclean spirit”—thus opposition is made between His immaculate nature and that of the unclean or unholy spirit. Observe, too, how this verse also furnishes clear proof of His personality, for the “unclean spirit” is a person, and if the Spirit were not a Person, no comparative opposition could be made between them. So also we see here His absolute Deity, for only God could be “blasphemed!” Second, this title views His operations and that in respect of all His works, for every work of God is holy—in hardening and blinding, equally as in regenerating and sanctifying.

Third, He is called God’s “good Spirit” (Neh. 9:20). “Thy Spirit is good” (Ps. 143:10). He is so designated principally from His nature, which is essentially good for “there is none good but one, that is God” (Matthew 19:17); so also from His operations, for “the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, and righteousness, and truth” (Eph. 5:9).

Fourth, He is called the “free Spirit” (Ps. 51:12), so designated because He is a most munificent Giver, bestowing His favors severally as He pleases, literally, and upbraiding not; also because it is His special work to deliver God’s elect from the bondage of sin and Satan, and bring them into the glorious liberty of God’s children.

Fifth, He is called “the Spirit of Christ” (Rom. 8:9) because sent by Him (Acts 2:33), and as furthering His cause on earth (John 16:14).

Sixth, He is called “the Spirit of the Lord” (Acts 8:29) because He possesses Divine authority and requires unhesitating submission from us.

Seventh, He is called, “the Eternal Spirit” (Heb. 9:14). “Among the names and titles by which the Holy Spirit is known in Scripture, that of ‘the eternal Spirit’ is His peculiar appellation—a name, which in the very first face of things, accurately defines His nature, and carries with it the most convincing proof of Godhead. None but ‘the High and Holy One, inhabiteth eternity,’ can be called eternal. Of other beings, who possess a derivative immortality, it may be said that as they are created for eternity, they may enjoy, through the benignity of their Creator, a future eternal duration. But this differs as widely as the east is from the west, when applied to Him of whom we are speaking. He alone, who possesses an underived, independent, and necessary self-existence, ‘who was, and is, and is to come,’ can be said, in exclusion of all other beings, to be eternal” (Robert Hawker).

Eighth, He is called “the Paraclete” or “the Comforter” (John 14:16) than which no better translation can be given, providing the English meaning of the word be kept in mind. Comforter means more than Consoler. It is derived from two Latin words, com “along side of” and fortis “strength.” Thus a “comforter” is one who stands alongside of one in need, to strengthen. When Christ said He would ask the Father to give His people “another Comforter,” He signified that the Spirit would take His own place, doing for the disciples, what He had done for them while He was with them on earth. The Spirit strengthens in a variety of ways: consoling when cast down[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.).

 

Monday, May 30, 2022

You are Not Alone - Remembering the Dead, Caring for the Living - Purity 744

 


You Are Not Alone - Remembering the Dead, Caring for the Living – Purity 744

Purity 744 05/30/2022    Purity 744 Podcast

Good morning,

Today’s photo of a solitary figure standing next to a lighthouse on the shores of Lake Ontario at dusk comes to us from a friend who took an unexpected turn after a late day hike at Beechwood State Park yesterday and found themselves visiting nearby Sodus Point where they captured this scene.  

Well, It’s Monday again, but unlike most Mondays, today most of us will not be heading into work this morning because today is Memorial Day, where our country will honor those who not only served in the armed forces for our country but who paid the ultimate sacrifice by dying while serving.  

To make clear the purpose of this holiday, it should be stated that in a sense it is not a holiday for the living, it is for the dead.

As much as we respect and admire those who are actively serving, like my step-daughter Rachel in the Marine Corp, or those who have served previously and who are still alive, like my Father, Matt, my brother, Michael, and my brother in law, Steven, or who have gone now on to eternity, like both of my wife’s grandfathers, Memorial day is “a day to honor those who were killed in or as a result of participating in battle.”   

That’s pretty specific so I am sharing the link to article on History.com on the blog today (https://www.history.com/news/memorial-day-veterans-day-differences-quotes) that makes that distinction and shares some historical facts of why we have the day off today.  

So even though we may enjoy the day off by having a barbecue or doing other fun activities, and we should because I believe the Lord gave us life to enjoy it and live it “more abundantly”, the reason for the today’s holiday is a solemn one.

We are to remember that people have died in the service of our country and that our freedom in America has wasn’t a free gift. Our freedom in America was obtained and is maintained because there were those who were willing to fight and die for it.   

So although we could and should thank those who are actively serving or who once served and are now veterans, or want to fondly remember those who once served, but survived, and since have died, that is not what today’s holiday is for.

If they understand the meaning of the holiday, active service personnel and veterans are not expecting your thanks today, although I am sure they would appreciate them. 

No today’s holiday’s specific purpose is to remember the horrors of war and the lives that were lost in them.  We are to remember the dead, to try imagine the cold hard reality of what it must have been like to die in a war, and to deeply appreciate the lives that were sacrificed for our nation and the lives we enjoy in freedom because of them today.  

While this day casts our imaginations back to previous wars and conflicts where American lives were lost, it also comes with the hope that such horrors of the past are not repeated but paradoxically the holiday is celebrated with the certainty that as long as there is evil in the world the sacrifices of lives in the support of freedom will continue.  

So today, my family and I will take some time to honor the lives that have been given but will do so as part of an organization that seeks to support the men and women who could possibly be remembered next Memorial Day.  

My Father In Law, Cliff Seguin, is retired but dedicates his time serving as the Chairman of Operation Adopt a Soldier (https://www.operationadoptasoldier.org/) which is a non-profit organization that he founded in 2003 that provides support to U.S. Soldiers stationed worldwide by sending care packages through the generous assistance of volunteers from the Saratoga, Albany, Queensbury, and Clifton Park, NY areas.    

I am proud to be marching in the Glen Falls Memorial Day Parade todayto remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice as part of an organization that supports U.S. service men and women who are actively serving our country.

While remembering the dead by placing flags on fallen service member's graves at Saratoga National Cemetery yesterday, Operation Adopt a Soldier also serves the living.

Operation Adopt a Soldier sends care packages to men and women who are actively serving and also work with returning members and their families during deployments and after the service members return.

The very real problem of feelings of isolation while serving and the difficulty in adapting to life after military service is reflected by the fact that military suicide rates are at an all time high. (https://www.uso.org/stories/2664-military-suicide-rates-are-at-an-all-time-high-heres-how-were-trying-to-help) I am sharing links on the blog today for the USO that documents how they are trying to help and from veteran’s crisis line that veteran’s in crisis can use to get support. (https://www.veteranscrisisline.net/get-help-now/military-crisis-line/) because even though today’s holiday is meant to remember the dead, we should always be obedient to Christ’s call to love our neighbors as our selves  and care for the living.

 Years ago, I visited the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco where I visited a memorial near the bridge that honored all four branches of our armed services. A tour guide or something at the memorial explained that for many the Golden Gate Bridge was the last thing in America that many service men saw before being shipped out overseas and how many of them would never return.  At the time, the thought of it gave me chills as I realized how exciting, scary, and lonely you could have felt when being shipped out never knowing if you would come home again.  

I shared today’s lighthouse photo because I want everyone to know, whether you are serving, have served, or have never served, that our lives are precious and that there is a God that loves and cares for each and every one of us and that no matter what situations you may be going through or how you may feel this Memorial Day, you are never alone and no matter where your travels take you, you always have a home in God’s kingdom.   

While we could be distant from friends and family at various times in our lives, God is always with us and available to give us strength, guidance, and love. For anyone serving in the military or who is dealing with their own personal battles in life, God word tells us in:

Deuteronomy 31:6 (NKJV)
6  Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you."

In this passage of scripture, Moses who couldn’t go with them, was encouraging the nation of Israel, that the God who led them through 40 years in the wilderness would continue to be with them as they entered the promise land. Even though the prospect of going into unknown territory without knowing if they would live was scary, the Lord spoke through Moses to tell the Israelites, and us, to not be afraid and to always trust God’s presence in His people’s lives.  

Our God is faithful and ever present and when we accept the new life that He has available through faith in Jesus Christ, we become his people and we can realize just how faithful and present He is.  

So if you haven’t already, make the ultimate sacrifice with your life by placing your faith in Jesus Christ and making the daily decision to trust in and follow the Lord for the rest of your days.  

Our lives are precious, and God doesn’t want us to lose them. Through faith in Christ, He made a way to live with Him forever. 

In Matthew 16:24-25 (NKJV) Christ said:
24  … "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
25  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.  

We find life eternal in Christ alone. So on this day that is dedicated to those who have died in battle, let’s honor their memory but let’s learn the lesson of the brevity of this life and make sure that we are fighting for the new life and ultimate freedom that is found in Christ alone by showing the love of God by serving the living and sharing the good news of Jesus Christ while we are here on earth.

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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 58:11 (NLT2)
11  Then at last everyone will say, “There truly is a reward for those who live for God; surely there is a God who judges justly here on earth.”

Today’s Bible verse reminds us that God is a just judge and those who live for Him are rewarded.     

As awesome as that Bible verse is, I would remind everyone who seeks the wisdom of the word of God to always check the context of scripture before you draw conclusions from it or share it with others.

Those so inclined could see the mention of “reward” in this verse and decide to boldly “stand on the word” “to name and claim” their “reward” and try to force the Lord’s hand to bless them or to  “speak into being” the object or circumstances of their desire.      

To avoid the “prosperity gospel/ word of faith” heresy, I just like to remind people that God is in charge and that while He may choose to bless our prayers with fulfillment, we, while made in God’s image, are not “little gods” and we do not “speak things into existence” and that we should not take Bible verses and try to twist them to do our bidding.   

Today’s verse is a perfect example of the importance of knowing the context of scripture.   Psalm 58 is a short psalm that speaks of man’s wickedness and the psalmist’s desire for the Lord to avenge them by severely punishing their enemies!  

The preceding verses give us an idea of the theme:   

Psalm 58:9-10 (NLT2)
9  God will sweep them away, both young and old, faster than a pot heats over burning thorns.
10  The godly will rejoice when they see injustice avenged. They will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked.

Whoa?!? Rejoice as both the young and old are swept away! Let’s wash our feet in the blood of the wicked!  

Yikes! So be careful in cherry picking verses that speak of rewards. We have to know what the word says and use it appropriately, and not think too highly of our selves to think we can have the Lord do our bidding by saying the “right words”.

But today’s verse and psalm 58, does give us hope, that evil will be punished and the righteous, those who are made righteous because of their faith in Jesus Christ, the only way we can be righteous, will be rewarded.  This can happen circumstantial through God’s providence as he influences world history to move men to stop wicked men and governments on the earth, but it is also promised when Christ returns to rule and reign.  

When love comes to town, there will be hell to pay. For when the God who judges justly sends Christ back to earth, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess the Jesus Christ is Lord. 

For the wicked, those who reject Jesus, they will confess that He is Lord in defeat and bitterness as they will be separated from God for all eternity in a place that is described as outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 

But those who have put their faith in Him, they will declare Jesus Christ as Lord triumphantly and rejoice. When that day comes, the saints will echo the sentiments of today’s verse in the NKJV that says:

Psalm 58:11 (NKJV)
11  … "Surely there is a reward for the righteous; Surely He is God who judges in the earth."

 

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 John Piper’s “Don’t Waste Your Life”.  

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase John Pipers’ books for your own private study and to support his work.  This resource is available on many websites for less than $5.00.

Alive to Christ and Dead to America

Judson’s conversion was not immediate. But now it was sure. God was on his trail, like the apostle Paul on the Damascus road, and there was no escape. There were months of struggle. He entered Andover Seminary in October 1808 and in December made solemn dedication of himself to God. On June 28, 1809, Judson presented himself to the Congregationalists for missionary service in the East.

He met Ann that same day and fell in love. After knowing Ann Hasseltine for one month he declared his intention to become a suitor. He knew that the life he was about to embrace would not only be dangerous and dirty, but also distant. He never expected to return to America. He did only once, thirty-three years later, then never again. Ann went with him and died in Burma. Here is the letter Judson wrote to her father asking for her partnership in missions:

I have now to ask, whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next spring, to see her no more in this world; whether you can consent to her departure, and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of missionary life; whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean, to the fatal influence of the southern climate of India; to every kind of want and distress; to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death. Can you consent to all this, for the sake of him who left his heavenly home, and died for her and for you; for the sake of perishing, immortal souls; for the sake of Zion, and the glory of God? Can you consent to all this, in hope of soon meeting your daughter in the world of glory, with the crown of righteousness, brightened with the acclamations of praise which shall redound to her Savior from heathens saved, through her means, from eternal woe and despair?

Her father let her decide. She said yes.

God does not call us to ease, but to faithful joy. He is closing in on some of you, smiling and with tears in his eyes, knowing how much of himself he is going to show you—and how much it will cost. As I write, I pray that you will not turn away.

Pity for People and a Passion for Christ Are One

If you have pity for perishing people and a passion for the reputation of Christ, you must care about world missions. One of the burdens of this book is to show what life looks like when you believe that you dare not choose between the motives to love people and glorify Christ. They are not separate motives. Acting on one includes acting on the other. Thus, if your aim is to love people, you will lay down your life to make them eternally glad in God. And if your aim is to glorify Christ, who is God incarnate, you will also lay down your life to make people eternally happy in God.

The reason for this is that any good-hearted goal, without the desire to give people eternal joy in God, is condemnation with a kind face. Love always wants what is best for the needy, and what’s best is enjoying God fully and forever. Similarly, any effort to honor Christ that does not aim to make him the all-satisfying Treasure of God’s treasonous subjects is complicity in the revolt. God is only praised where he is prized. We pay our tribute to him when he is a Treasure to us. You cannot love man or honor God without doing both. This single passion—to see that Christ be glorified as perishing people become eternally satisfied in him—drives the great global enterprise we call world missions.[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/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] John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2003), 157–159.


Saturday, May 28, 2022

Memorial Day – The Incredible Value of Life and the Way to Everlasting Life– Purity 743


Memorial Day – The Incredible Value of Life and the Way to Everlasting Life– Purity 743

Purity 743 05/28/2022 Purity 743 Podcast

Good morning,

Today’s photo of sunset over the Saint Sebastian River in Sebastian Florida comes to us from a friend who shared this pic back on April 29th with the comment: “Fire in the Sky”.  

Well it’s Saturday of Memorial Weekend and even though I have to work today I am still happy for the long weekend and in light of the significance of the holiday that we are celebrating I am by no means complaining.  

I recently saw a cartoon on social media that I am sharing on the blog today that depicts a person filling their gas tank and looking over a cemetery with tombstones emblazoned with epitaphs such as “Normandy”, “Okinawa”, “Pearl Harbor” “Korea” “Viet Nam” “Iraq” and “Afghanistan” and many others, with the character stating “I’m not going to complain about the high cost of anything this weekend.” reminding us all that there have been many who paid the ultimate cost of their lives in the service of our country.   

Credit: Joe Heller


In light of the cost, others have paid for the service to our country, the inflation that we have been experiencing seems like a burden we can bear. The lives paid in service to our country puts our immediate concerns in perspective when we consider the fleeting nature but immense value of our human lives.  Remembering the loss of life that this holiday celebrates helps us to see the big picture.    

Our lives are more important that money and the Lord considered us all worth the cost of the life of His beloved Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  

As we remember the men and women, who died in the service of our country we can have mixed feelings of gratitude, sadness, and fear.  

We can be grateful because their lives were sacrificed for the greater good of our country and in the name of freedom that they fought to win our maintain. 

We can be sad because the lives were ended prematurely and the gift of the individuals who died to our communities and families were also cut short.  

And we may fear for the departed because even though the dead will be given honor this weekend in our country, their lives may have been lived in vain if their souls were not reconciled to God.  This fear can only be quenched with the certainty that God knows all, is merciful, and never gets anything wrong.  

Service to a country in and of itself won’t be honored by God. Noble deeds done for an evil cause are still evil. Evil deeds done in the name of a noble cause still need to be forgiven. Our works as noble as they may be is not what saves us.

While service men and women can be said to have died for our freedom and we should be thankful for their service, only faith in Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross will give us  ultimate freedom from sin and death.  Faith in Christ alone will reconcile us to God and save us from His wrath.  Christ frees us from the just penalty of our sin and gives us everlasting life. 

So as much as we honor the departed this weekend, we should always be aware of the big picture and share the good news Jesus to share God’s love and the freedom that will endure for all of eternity.

No matter what country we hail from we will all answer the Lord and we must be right with Him. 

One way we can know the Lord’s character and plans for our lives is through His word. This morning my Bible study covered Psalm 103 and I am sharing it to try to reveal more of that big picture, that looks beyond the nations of this world and focuses on the One who created us in His image and wishes to redeem our lives through the gift of His Son.  

Psalm 103:1-22 (NKJV) says:
1  Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
2  Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:
3  Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,
4  Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
5  Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
6  The LORD executes righteousness And justice for all who are oppressed.
7  He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.
8  The LORD is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
9  He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever.
10  He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities.
11  For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
12  As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
13  As a father pities his children, So the LORD pities those who fear Him.
14  For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.
15  As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
16  For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, And its place remembers it no more.
17  But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting On those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children's children,
18  To such as keep His covenant, And to those who remember His commandments to do them.
19  The LORD has established His throne in heaven, And His kingdom rules over all.
20  Bless the LORD, you His angels, Who excel in strength, who do His word, Heeding the voice of His word.
21  Bless the LORD, all you His hosts, You ministers of His, who do His pleasure.
22  Bless the LORD, all His works, In all places of His dominion. Bless the LORD, O my soul!

So this weekend remember and honor the sacrifices of those who died for our country but never lose sight of the big picture and seek to Bless the Lord, o my soul, by walking and talking with God every day to stay close to Him and to know His peace and by sharing the good news of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that can set us all free.

 

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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:

John 3:16-17 (NLT2)
16  “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
17  God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

Today’s Bible verse is the good news of Jesus Christ and reminds us of God’s mercy. 

The purpose of Christ’s first coming was to pay for our sins on the cross.  Although He was holy Christ didn’t come to judge us but He did implore people to repent and “sin no more” and to believe in Him.

Faith in Christ gives us freedom from sin and death.  We receive eternal life and a new power to turn from our sins in the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.  

In Christ, we are forgiven and we become new creations as we are adopted into God’s royal family when we put our faith in Jesus.

The contemplation of death and judgement fill us with fear but God made a way for us to be saved and we need only seek it and agree with it by confessing Jesus as our Lord and Savior to receive it.  

I was lost but now I am found and I pray that we who have placed in Jesus rejoice over salvation and endeavor to share the love of God by encouraging others to put their faith in Christ.

 

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 John Piper’s “Don’t Waste Your Life”.  

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase John Pipers’ books for your own private study and to support his work.  This resource is available on many websites for less than $5.00.

9 - The Majesty of Christ in Missions and Mercy—A Plea to This Generation

God is closing in on some of you. He is like the “Hound of Heaven” who means to make you far happier in some dangerous and dirty work. Missionaries and ministers of mercy don’t come from nowhere. They come from people like you, stunned by the glory of God and stopped in your tracks. Sometimes it happens when you are going in exactly the opposite direction.

How God Caught Adoniram Judson for Burma

That’s the way it was with Adoniram Judson, the first overseas missionary from America, who sailed with his wife at age twenty-three on February 17, 1812. They had been married twelve days. He spent the rest of his life, until 1850, “suffering yet always rejoicing” to bring Burma under the sway of Christ and make the people glad in God forever. But first God had to turn him around, and he did it in a way that so stunned Judson, he never forgot the providence of God in his conversion.

The son of a pastor, he was a brilliant boy. His mother taught him to read in one week when he was three to surprise his father when he came home from a trip. When he was sixteen he entered Rhode Island College (later Brown University) as a sophomore and graduated at the top of his class three years later in 1807.

The Detour from God

What his godly parents did not know was that Adoniram was being lured away from the faith by a fellow student named Jacob Eames who was a Deist. By the time Judson’s college career was finished, he had no Christian faith. He kept this concealed from his parents until his twentieth birthday, August 9, 1808, when he broke their hearts with his announcement that he had no faith and that he wanted to write for the theater and intended to go to New York, which he did six days later on a horse his father gave him as part of his inheritance.

It did not prove to be the life of his dreams. He attached himself to some strolling players and, as he said later, lived “a reckless, vagabond life, finding lodgings where he could, and bilking the landlord where he found opportunity.” The disgust with what he found there was the beginning of several remarkable providences. God was closing in on Adoniram Judson.

He went to visit his Uncle Ephraim in Sheffield but found there instead “a pious young man” who amazed him by being firm in his Christian convictions without being “austere and dictatorial.” Strange that he should find this young man there instead of the uncle he sought.

The Unforgettable Night

The next night he stayed in a small village inn where he had never been before. The innkeeper apologized that his sleep might be interrupted because there was a man critically ill in the next room. Through the night Judson heard comings and goings and low voices and groans and gasps. It bothered him to think that the man next to him may not be prepared to die. He wondered about himself and had terrible thoughts of his own dying. He felt foolish because good Deists weren’t supposed to have these struggles.

When he was leaving in the morning he asked if the man next door was better. “He is dead,” said the innkeeper. Judson was struck with the finality of it all. On his way out he asked, “Do you know who he was?” “Oh yes. Young man from the college in Providence. Name was Eames, Jacob Eames.”

Judson could hardly move. He stayed there for hours pondering death and eternity. If his friend Eames were right, then this was a meaningless event. But Judson could not believe it: “That hell should open in that country inn and snatch Jacob Eames, his dearest friend and guide, from the next bed—this could not, simply could not, be pure coincidence.” God was real. And he was pursuing Adoniram Judson. God knew the man he wanted to reach the Burmese people.[1]

---------------------------more tomorrow------------------------

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Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship



[1] John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2003), 155–157.