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Wednesday, April 10, 2024

Broken Trusts - Purity 1322

Purity 1322 04/10/2024 Purity 1322 Podcast

Purity 1322 on YouTube:

Good morning,

Today’s photo of a pile of broken rocks in the foreground a sea of light green treetops, with a sun beam shining over a mountain in the distance comes to us from an unknown FB friend who shared this scene from an unknown location on social media on or around May 18, 2021. If this is a scene from your life and would like the photo credit, give me a heads up and I will update the blog with the pertinent information after the fact.

Well, It’s Wednesday and I share this photo to free it from my phones photo archive and to visually represent our arrival at the midpoint of another “work week”, and although I am enjoying a Stay-cation at my place down by the River, I wouldn’t say I haven’t been “working” as my “off days” thus far have been positively filled with yard maintenance, “data management”, educational training, and “ministry” as I have been raking, mowing, completing a Mental Health Coaching Course from Light University, and have been answering emails and providing advice, feedback, and discipleship and spiritual warfare materials as part of my “ongoing” Community Freedom Ministry. Just yesterday I provided Bondage Breaker materials to a pastor in South Africa and gave some discipleship and spiritual warfare advice to a couple that has been harassed by a demonic spirit that has been cast twice only to return – pointing out that when there is ongoing sin in one’s life – like sex outside of marriage – the enemy can use that as “legal ground” from which they can claim to have permission to afflict you. And the enemy says: “They give me a foothold and I don’t have to leave. I’m back!”

Putting your trust in Jesus – to receive a new life and the Lord’s protection – is more than saying a simple prayer and then going about your normal sinful business, or at least it shouldn’t be. When we trust Jesus to be the Lord of our lives, we are supposed to “pick up our crosses” and follow Him with the way we live. A covenant is an agreement between two parties and when we fail to be faithful to follow the Lord and live in sin we can suffer the consequences for “breaking that trust” – both by the natural negative consequences of doing the “wrong thing” or failing to do the “right thing” (sin works both ways, remember?) and we can suffer the “supernatural consequences” of attracting what Neil Anderson analogously referred to as “flies” – demons. Anderson described sin as bags of garbage that we should get rid of but decide to keep in our lives, and just like garbage attracts flies, sin attracts demons. So the first step of spiritual warfare should be to repent of any known sin. And when we examine our lives for the “trash” we need to clean up we need to make our evaluation based on what the Bible describes as sin, and not what may be acceptable in our postmodern – post-Christian confused and depraved society. While anything “may go” morally in this brave new world we live in these days, we are still accountable to what God says is right and wrong, whether we believe in Him or not, and we are vulnerable to the demonic spiritual forces of darkness, whether we believe in them or not.

When we break the trust we have put in Jesus with our sin, we need to take corrective action and repent. It may not be easy but it’s what we have to do if we want to be free from fear and the risks we make ourselves vulnerable to by doing nothing.

I’m glad I was able to present this little message on some basic principles of faith and spiritual warfare this morning because I have been absolutely busy protecting myself from possible negative consequences because of broken trust in my personal life.

I have recently fallen out of relationship with someone whom I love and have helped financially in the past but now that our relationship currently seems to be on “the outs” – communication has shut down - so I took steps to prevent a possible breach of trust this morning by reporting my credit card as lost – which I let them use once in the past. While I still consider them to be “trustworthy”, because of the break in our relationship and the conditions in their lives that preceded the break, I don’t want to leave the opportunity open for them, or their creditor, to use my payment method to pay their expenses. I don’t “believe” this person would use my card without permission, but I don’t trust the company paid previously to not to utilize a working payment method that was used in the past if a balance comes due.. So just like our communications, I cut it off! I’ll never know if they would have violated my trust, or if their creditor would have, but now I know they can’t. And just like cutting off the enemy by repenting of our sins, when our human relationships fail we have to be proactive to ensure our mutual protection – I am protecting my financial accounts, but I am also protecting them from further damaging our relationship with an unauthorized charge. I may not be in a good relationship with them currently, but I still care for them and while I am not offering any financial help to them currently, they owe me a few thousand dollars as it is, it doesn’t necessarily I wouldn’t offer help if they asked for it. And for that to happen, they would have to communicate with me… and possibly re-establish our relationship.

There are consequences for broken trusts. If God would allow the enemy to utilize the permission I give him through my sin, I can allow a loved one to suffer the consequences of their poor decisions. In these two scenarios, the lack of protection or help does not indicate a lack of love. I know God loves us, but He does want us to believe in Jesus and do what’s right, and as His child, I feel the same way about the person whom I had to take preventative measures against, I love them and want them to believe in Jesus and do what is right. And while I can’t make them do either, I can limit the damage they do to our relationship.

Tough love isn’t easy. Making someone responsible for the pain they caused you isn’t easy. And when we walk in the Spirit, we not only have to repent and stop doing what is wrong, we have to keep our eyes on the road ahead to lovingly prevent ourselves or others from further suffering. The pathway of Christian Discipleship is a pathway of peace and sometimes, to ensure we stay in that peace, we have to be wise and discerning to maintain it.

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

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

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

This morning’s meditation verses come from the section on Death and Eternal Life

Philippians 1:22-26 (ESV)
²² If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.
²³ I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.
²⁴ But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.
²⁵ Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith,
²⁶ so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.

Today’s verses fall under the fourth point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Death and Eternal Life.

4. Paul wanted both to remain here and to go home to be with the Lord, which is far better.

Today’s verse shows us that the disciple’s life should be spent in service to the Lord and others. Pail saying that remaining “in the flesh is more necessary on your account” means that he knows that, even though his eternal destiny with God is secured, it is better to live and help those he can materially and spiritually to help them to know God and to put their life in the trust of Jesus. So even though a “disciple’s vacation” can look a lot like work, we know that spending our time and efforts serving the kingdom of God is the best use of our time,

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

Today we continue sharing from “According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament” By Stephen F. Olford – A Collection of Devotional Journals: 1940-1941.

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage you all to purchase Olford’s books for your own private study and to support his work. This resource is available online for less than $10 at many sites.

EVENING READING: JOHN 14

“If it were not so, I would have told you.” – John 14:2

Personally, this is a very wonderful thought. Christ says, “If all the things about which I have been talking were not so, I would have told you.” Of course, this primary application is in connection with the few preceding words concerning the Father's house. And what a certain seal this was and is to the reality of a home in heaven for those who are His. But I like to apply the above verse to more than just the preceding few words. I like to take the whole revelation of Christ as recorded, and add, “Were this revelation not so, He would have told me.” This precious thought seems to seal home to my own heart the essential truth of all He has said in His Word, for were it not so, He would have told me.

Your Word stands as Truth, Lord. Amen.^{^[1]}

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

Join our “Victory over the Darkness”, “The Bondage Breaker”, "Freedom in Christ" series of Discipleship Classes via the mt4christ247 podcast!

at https://mt4christ247.podbean.com, You can also find it on Apple podcasts

(https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mt4christ247s-podcast/id1551615154). The mt4christ247 podcast is also available on Google Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartradio, and Audible.com.

These teachings are also available on the MT4Christ247 YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MT4Christ247

Email me at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and to be encouraged.

My wife, TammyLyn, also offers Christian encouragement via her Ask Seek Knock blog (https://tammylynask.blogspot.com/ ), her Facebook Group: Ask, Seek, Knock (https://www.facebook.com/groups/529047851449098 ) and her podcast Ask, Seek, and Knock on Podbean (https://feed.podbean.com/tammalyn78/feed.xml)

“The views, opinions, and commentary of this publication are those of the author, M.T. Clark, only, and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of any of the photographers, artists, ministries, or other authors of the other works that may be included in this publication, and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities the author may represent.”

Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship

^{^[1]} Stephen Olford and Heather Olford, According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament, A Collection of Devotional Journals 1940-1941 (Nashville, TN: B&H Books, 2008).

Tuesday, April 9, 2024

It’s Who I am in Christ, Not Who I am at Work - Purity 1321

Purity 1321 04/9/2024 Purity 1321 Podcast

Purity 1321 on YouTube:

Good morning,

Today’s photo of the sun setting over the Oswego Harbor West Pierhead Lighthouse comes to us from Celestial Blue Photography’s Rocco Saya who shared this scene on social media commenting that the sun did make an appearance on the day of the big eclipse, but it apparently was obstructed by clouds at the “magic moment” when the moon eclipsed its light.

Well, It’s Tuesday, and although I enjoyed unobstructed sunshine for most of the morning and early afternoon while doing a spring clean-up of my backyard, my view of the eclipse was similarly obstructed by overcast clouds causing me to agree with Saya’s other comment to his FB friends that we – “…can’t have everything in life”. I would add that if you are counting on the circumstances of your life to fulfill you or to give you “everything in life”, you will be severely disappointed.

We don’t look to blue skies and sunsets to give us joy. We don’t look to eclipses to give us a sense of meaning and purpose. We don’t look to thing things on earth or the things in the skies to give us those things. No, we should look to the Creator, God, not the creation, to give us a sense of purpose, joy, and worth. And luckily Our God revealed Himself throughout history and used men to tell us all about it in the Bible. We don’t have to look for a sign in the skies or listen for a voice from heaven, God shows us who we are and tells us what we need to know in Scripture. And He doesn’t only tell us about Himself and the history of His interactions with man, He also tells us about who we are when we put our faith in Christ.

This world would tell you that your identity and your worth is based on your accomplishments, talents, preferences, and performance but who we really are and what we are really worth should be determined by the One who has perfect knowledge and who made us.

I’m on vacation this week but as I was enjoying myself outside yesterday I received a negative report from a colleague at work who was assigned to use my truck and reported “there was no way he could work out of it” because of its disorganized – overstocked state and that he was concerned about negative comments about my “less than exemplary work”. Now this man is a brother and a friend, so I appreciate his “warnings” and readily admit to disorganized state of my truck when I left for vacation and humbly accept that people may criticize my skill sets (although I do perform the jobs I get to the best of my abilities) but then he wished to “encourage” me by reminding me that “we work for the Lord” and convict me that how I “choose to work is not a good testimony”. He then admitted that he may have his own issues in some regards but stood on the fact that he gets “his work done.” - whereas I guess the perception is that I don’t (because I don’t work overtime and will pass my unfinished work on to those who do and will readily ask for and accept help if I need it). He then reminded me that we have a “great job” – Its great… sorry for the sarcasm – it is a well-compensated job and I appreciate how it provides for my needs. But my colleague did admit that the job isn’t perfect, and neither are we, but “we need to be a reflection of Christ”.

While I understand what my brother is saying and appreciate that I could keep a more organized truck and strive to “do better”, I have to admit that I take issue with the performance based – works based – bill of goods that he is trying to impart me with. While I agree with the Colossians 3:23 sentiment to do everything “heartily” as to the Lord, I think there is a fine line here in thinking that we are approved, significant, or secure because of our performance and that the opinions of our fellow men are similar to what God thinks about us. The truth is our worth in Christ (who we are supposedly trying to “reflect”) doesn’t work that way.

As I stated I am doing everything to the best of my abilities – and somehow got a satisfactory evaluation from my supervisor during my last review, I believe, and even get customer accommodations on occasion. Oh by the way, I couldn’t stop myself and had to check my “numbers” and I discovered that I have exceeded my performance goals more than I have “missed the mark” so far this, although I can’t claim perfection. I know I am not the best tech but do my work to best my abilities and am satisfied with my work. The standards of performance and the opinions of others are subjective and honestly I don’t put my sense of personal worth in “doing a good job” because there will always be room to criticize me, and my performance will vary from time to time. If I were to put my sense of worth in my performance, I would be fearful of not measuring up to others (how good do I have to be?) or depressed because I am not “the best” (Is top 10 good enough, what about top 20?) Or do I have to be approved by all of my cp-workers to feel a sense of worth? Or do I have to be number one to “reflect Christ. – He is perfect after all.

The reason I am so zealous about my faith is because I am accepted by the Lord because of who I am in Christ, not because of “Who I am at Work” and honestly it bothers me when Christians fuel this worldly performance driven evaluation of our reflecting Jesus. That’s not how it works, although you may have been taught in the church! Legalistic standards created “Sunday best” and the Pharisaical attitudes of being “above the law” and often drive people away from faith or cause us to live in despair over our shortcomings.

I have been going through Neil Anderson’s “Who I am in Christ: A Devotional” and just yesterday read about how our worth is NOT determined by our “talents”. And so I am sharing what I read yesterday to stop the condemnation I was under and to remind myself that negative reports should be evaluated not by our “feelings” but should be check out according to the actual truth – the facts are my performance is satisfactory-ish, lol – like I said not perfect in all the areas, all the time, and more importantly – the truth of God’s word.

So from Neil Anderson, I present that:

I Am a Member of Christ’s Body

“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”

1 CORINTHIANS 12:27

Anybody who regularly relates to people on a deep level knows that they don’t inherently feel good about themselves. We are not born with an innate sense of worth or value. The natural man has no identity in Christ, so from the time we are born into this world, we are constantly pursuing some sense of identity, purpose or meaning in life.

The self-esteem movement has been profoundly affecting every aspect of life. More and more, people are searching for some sense of significance, and the philosophy of attempting to find it within yourself has even found its way into the Church.

I have heard Christians say a man finds his identity in a job and a woman finds her identity in her children or family. Some say this teaching comes out of Genesis 3, where it states that a man shall work by the sweat of his brow and a woman shall bear her child in pain. But that is the curse of the Fall, the result of man’s choosing to live independent of God. If a man finds his identity in his job, what happens when he loses his job? If a woman finds her identity in her family or children, what happens if she never gets married?

Who we essentially are is not determined by what we do or the roles we live out in society. It is who we are that determines what we do, and then what we do brings a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment.

The Search for Self-Worth

So the question is, “Where does a person find a legitimate sense of identity or worth?” Is it in talents? No, it can’t possibly be. God has given some one talent, some two talents, and others five talents (see Matt. 25:14–28). You may say, “Well, God, how could You do that? Don’t You know that the only person who can have any legitimate sense of worth or identity is the five-talented person?” But that is not true. I know a lot of five-talented people who are struggling for a sense of worth, just like the one-talented person.

Well, then, does our worth lie in intelligence? No, according to 1 Corinthians 1:27, “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.” Okay, how about appearance? If we only appeared good, certainly we would have the acceptance and affirmation of others. But according to Isaiah 53:2, Jesus had “no beauty or majesty to attract us to him.”

One time I asked my son, “Karl, suppose there is a young girl at your school who has a potato body, stringy hair, bad complexion, stutters when she talks and stumbles when she walks—is there any hope for happiness for her?”

He paused for a moment and said, “Hmmm. Probably not.” In the world’s system, probably not, but could she have a legitimate sense of worth in God’s system? Absolutely.

Is our worth found in spiritual gifts? No, I am sure it is not. God has not equally distributed gifts, talents or intelligence, but He has equally distributed Himself. Our identity comes from knowing who we are as children of God, and our sense of worth grows out of our commitment to become like Him.

Legitimate Sense of Worth in Christ

Show me people today who know who they are as children of God and have committed themselves to Him, and I will show you those who have a profound sense of self and of worth. Show me somebody who is continually growing in the fruit of the Spirit, whose life is characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Will that person have a good sense of identity and value? Yes, I am sure of it. And the beautiful part of that truth is that everyone has exactly the same opportunity.^{^[1]}

Not to “toot my own horn”, but I do know who I am as a child of God and have committed myself to Him, and as Anderson indicates, I have a profound sense of self and of worth. I marvel over how much I have grown in the areas of the fruit of the Spirit and have a great sense of peace and joy as long as I don’t let the world’s performance based system, or the opinions of men speak to me more than truth of what my Heavenly Father says about me.

There is NO condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, right? So if someone comes at you with a negative report and tells you to “do better” to “reflect Christ” take it under advisement, look at where they are coming from and see if they have a point, but at the end of the day remember we are not accepted because of our performance and we will never be “free in Christ” if we are busy in our attempts to measure up to some subjective standard of performance or to be “well considered” in the eyes of men – most of whom are desperately wicked and head for perdition. In only in Christ that I would I ever be accepted, secure, or significant and I won’t let the opinions of others, or the changing circumstance of the world erase the truth of my new identity in Christ. \

It’s who I am in Christ, not “who I am at work”, that’s sets me free. So please excuse me, as I reject your performance based evaluation of my sense of worth and choose to keep on walking and talking with God in the way He leads me.

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

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

This morning’s meditation verse comes from the section on Death and Eternal Life

Philippians 1:21 (NIV2011)
²¹ For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Today’s verse falls under the third point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Death and Eternal Life.

3. To live is Christ; to die is gain.

Today’s verse determines our mission in life. To live is Christ – so we live to proclaim the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ alone, until our dying breath. And if we die? We go to see Him. We can’t lose because we are victorious through Jesus. The only loss we suffer is when we fail to remember who we are in Christ or fail to tell others of how they can be saved, forgiven, and set free through 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 “According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament” By Stephen F. Olford – A Collection of Devotional Journals: 1940-1941.

MORNING READING: JOHN 13

“[Jesus] rose from supper and laid aside His garments,
took a towel and girded Himself.” – John 13:4

In this picture is presented supreme humility. O to grasp the same spirit, that my life may be characterized with the humility of my blessed Lord.

He rose from Supper. Here was the deliberate and intentional advance for the expression of humility. It is true that He was incarnate humility, but it is also true that He deliberately came to express it.

He laid aside His garments. He emptied Himself of all His glory. He who was rich became poor.

He took a towel and girded Himself. He took upon Him the form of a servant. Girding is essentially the sign of service. He could say, “I am among you as the One who serves” (Luke 22:27).

Teach me humility, O Lord.^{^[2]}

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

Join our “Victory over the Darkness”, “The Bondage Breaker”, "Freedom in Christ" series of Discipleship Classes via the mt4christ247 podcast!

at https://mt4christ247.podbean.com, You can also find it on Apple podcasts

(https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mt4christ247s-podcast/id1551615154). The mt4christ247 podcast is also available on Google Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartradio, and Audible.com.

These teachings are also available on the MT4Christ247 YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MT4Christ247

Email me at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and to be encouraged.

Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship

^{^[1]} Neil T. Anderson, Who I Am in Christ (Ventura, CA: Regal, 2001), 61–63.

^{^[2]} Stephen Olford and Heather Olford, According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament, A Collection of Devotional Journals 1940-1941 (Nashville, TN: B&H Books, 2008).

Wednesday, February 7, 2024

Action Plan For Freedom – Wisdom from Dr. Charles Stanley - Purity 1268

Purity 1268 02/07/2024 Purity 1268 Podcast

Purity 1268 on YouTube:

Good morning,

Today’s photo of a view of a blue skies over green mountain majesty that seems to stretch on forever comes to us from Fred Dimmick who spent the last day of January hiking up the Appalachian Trail via Wayah Gap to summit on Wayah Bald in the Nantahala National Forest near Franklin North Carolina.

Well, it’s Wednesday and I share Fred’s photo to visually represent our arrival at another “hump day” and to encourage my friends to “look higher” to pursue the upward call of God on their lives and to take the path of Christian Discipleship into new heights of freedom and victory in their lives.

I was surprised yesterday to discover that I forgot I had the day off from work. My shifted tour at my day job has me working this Saturday and as I started to head into work at the normal time, my phone buzzed me a reminder that I had the day off! So I turned the car around and went back to River house where I proceeded to use the time off to clean up my PC, send out a bunch of overdue or timely emails, and rest. I also was blessed with the opportunity to disciple and encourage one of the participants from my Freedom in Christ Course and spent the evening hours giving my testimony and encouraging men in a friend’s online Conqueror Series Support group!

So it was a day off from the day job, but it was filled with “kingdom work” and it impressed upon me all the more to continue to walk towards formally becoming a Christian life coach, albeit in a part-time capacity for the time being. I’m already doing the work so I might as well begin to proactively offer it to those who need it and are looking for it.

People in the body of Christ need to know who they are in Christ, and they need to learn how to “walk in the Spirit”. While I am far from perfect I have made significant progress along the path, and I feel I owe it to God to help others to know Him more and to show them the way to seek and follow Him into the abundant life of freedom that He has for them. Not only is freedom possible, but I can also instruct people to follow the way I found it and support them while they find it for themselves.

As if a sign from God, one of the guys from the Freedom in Christ course reached out and asked for a meeting to ask for “accountability” without fully knowing what he wanted to be accountable to or for. So in our discussions, I laid out an action plan to transform his life by introducing a holistic plan that would simultaneously minister to his body, mind, and spirit. This man has been diagnosed manic depressive, so this is an experiment of sorts. He will remain on his medications as he is now, but we are going to introduce him to the “path of Christian Discipleship” and be his guide along the way for 21 days. His action plan will include prayer, bible study, a healthy diet, exercise, meditation, quieting, appreciation, resting, and checking in daily to report his progress. His plan will challenge Him to reach out to the Lord for help and to follow Him with the way he lives his life. And I know that if this man is true to seek the Lord, he will find Him, and if he is true to follow Him, God will lead him into a peace that goes beyond the limitations of a diagnosis and into a peace that goes beyond understanding.

It's never too late to follow the Lord or to make a resolution and commitment to God to change. When we lean on Him, God will help us. I am going to share some words of wisdom from the late Dr. Charles Stanley that I received last month in the mail from in touch ministries about making a new start that I found to be encouraging and may cause you to renew your broken New Year’s resolution or to follow the Lord into a new life.

Stanley’s message states:

What's your outlook on beginning a new year? Some people think making New Year's resolutions is foolish. And it's true that many are quickly forgotten or abandoned, but that doesn't mean the whole practice is a waste of time. It's a way of setting your course in the right direction for the coming months. If you don't make plans for improvement, the only alternative is to drift along doing the same things you've done before, whether or not they're fruitful.

As the old year transitions to the new, take some time to evaluate your life… Try asking yourself the following questions: what did I achieve last year? Have they done anything that will outlive me or have eternal significance? Did I spend my time, energy, and resources accomplishing what I wanted or what God desired? Have I grown in my relationship with Christ? These questions relate to the most important aspect of your life and the key to anything you hope to experience in the future. Let's consider Paul's example in Philippians 3: 7-16.

First, Paul had one desire that superseded all others.

In Philippians 3:7-8 (NASB) Paul wrote:
⁷ …whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…

That's a challenging standard, isn't it? Are our career, family, financial, material, or social goals more important to you than gaining deeper knowledge of, and intimacy with, your Savior? There's nothing wrong with pursuing other things, but they need to take second place to your relationship with the Lord. That means you have to make time to spend with Him, in His word and prayer.

Second, Paul had a primary goal in life.

In Philippians 3:10 (NASB) Paul writes:
¹⁰ that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;

This wasn't just a superficial familiarity. Paul wanted to know Christ personally and experientially by:

1. Joyful, daily surrender to his resurrection power,

2. Suffering for righteousness as he did, and

3. Being continually conformed to Christ by putting sin to death in his life.

Is knowing God better honestly your primary goal? Most Christians would like to say yes, but the way they invest their time and effort indicates otherwise. The desire may be there, but the action is not, there is no “follow through” . No one ever drifts into fulfilling a goal. Without expending effort, you have a wish, not a goal, and no progress is made without a plan to fulfill it.

Third, Paul wholeheartedly pursued his goal.

In Philippians 3:13-14 (NASB) Paul says
¹³ …. forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Paul uses the imagery of a race. To make forward progress, you can't carry baggage from the past. Former accomplishments trip you up with pride, while failures and regret drag you down. Instead, run unencumbered, stretching forward with all your might to reach the finish line.

Did Paul succeed in achieving his goal? Listen to his last recorded words in

2 Timothy 4:7-8 (NASB) where he wrote:
⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; ⁸ in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness…

Wouldn't you like to finish life like this, setting a goal for eternal value that you pursued with all your heart from year to year? It's possible. And it's never too late to begin. Ask God for a fresh start. Relinquish any old baggage. And let this new year spur you on to know the Lord above all else.”

You have to love Charles Stanley. He had a heart for God and sought to encourage the body of Christ to let go of the past and to press into the future with a determination to follow the Lord with the way we live. I read this message an hour after crafting an action plan for a man who wants to know freedom and peace and I believe it was given to me to encourage myself to step onto new ground and to encourage you to do the same.

So it might by seven days into February and in the middle of another work week, but if the Lord is calling you to resolve to follow Him, it’s a wonderful place to start.

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

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

This morning’s meditation verse comes from the section on Communication, Gossip, and Lying.

John 8:44 (NIV2011)
⁴⁴ You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Today’s verse falls under the ninth point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Communication, Gossip, and Lying.

9. All lying is of the devil, the father of all lies.

Today’s verse reminds us of who we are like when we lie – the devil. So if you pride yourself on being a grifter or someone who can pull the wool over the eyes of the unsuspecting or trusting people of this world, take a good look into the mirror of God’s word and see that your lying ways don’t represent the kingdom of God. They are demonically inspired and come from the father of lies, Satan.

Once again, I consider the first rule of Christian Discipleship to be always to tell the truth, or more simply: stop lying. Our lies kill our integrity and murder people’s trust when our deception is discovered. So stop working for evil, stop lying, and start telling the truth in all your dealings to represent God’s kingdom.

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

Today we continue sharing from “According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament” By Stephen F. Olford – A Collection of Devotional Journals: 1940-1941.

EVENING READING: MATTHEW 28

“All authority has been given to Me in heaven
and on earth.” – Matthew 28:18

These are the words of the risen Christ. They are the words of the One who could say, “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death” (Rev. 1:18).

• “All authority.” This comprehends every power and principality.

• “Given to Me.” The exalted and ever-living Savior.

• “In heaven and on earth.” The angels and millions of heavenly hosts are not only to see the demonstration of that power, but also the thousands of people upon earth.

Therefore, says the risen Lord, “All authority has been given to Me … Go” (Matt. 28:18-19). In other words, “I have the power, I will impart the power. You, Go.”

Teach me daily how to appropriate this power.
Amen.^{^[1]}

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

Join our “Victory over the Darkness”, “The Bondage Breaker”, "Freedom in Christ" series of Discipleship Classes via the mt4christ247 podcast!

at https://mt4christ247.podbean.com, You can also find it on Apple podcasts

(https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mt4christ247s-podcast/id1551615154). The mt4christ247 podcast is also available on Google Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartradio, and Audible.com.

These teachings are also available on the MT4Christ247 YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MT4Christ247

Email me at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and to be encouraged.

Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship

^{^[1]} Stephen Olford and Heather Olford, According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament, A Collection of Devotional Journals 1940-1941 (Nashville, TN: B&H Books, 2008).

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