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Showing posts with label Proverbs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Proverbs. Show all posts

Thursday, November 2, 2023

Let Go, Let God – A Mindful of Christ Encouraging Word - Purity 1188


Let Go, Let God – A Mindful of Christ Encouraging Word - Purity 1188

Purity 1188 11/02/2023 Purity 1188 Podcast

Purity 1188 on YouTube: 



Good morning,

Today’s photo is a view of the sun surrounded by clouds in a pleasant blue sky that comes to us from yours truly as I took this quick pic from my car while sitting in my car yesterday at the end of the workday.  

The first day of November was a wild weather day in the 518 yesterday as several of the northern areas saw a light dusting of snow – yup, even though I didn’t say the dread S-word two days prior on the blog - the “prophecy” – even though I said I didn’t want to see it until December – came to pass.  I don’t watch the weather, so I don’t know if it was expected or not but when I wrote about not wanting snow a couple of days ago – maybe that was the Holy Spirit giving me a heads up? I don’t know but in the 518 you have expected the unexpected and deal with the weather that we get.  

Of course, we are not always prepared to face unexpected trials or when situations that are going bad naturally get worse.  In my walk I see people overcome addictions and problems and I also see people who suffer and don’t seem to learn from it. 

This morning I received some not-so-surprising news that caused me alarm and concern.  It's not so surprising when people who are not doing what they should get worse, and their precarious situations get more precarious because of their failure to act and do what’s right. 

While “doing nothing” is always an option, it's usually not the best option, and if you choose to take that option continually problems tend to get worse.   So I was thrown off my normal routine this morning to express my concern and offer advice to “do what’s right” again.   And the process has drained me….

So I am choosing to “do nothing” in terms of writing any more than this admission this morning and am once again going to share from my friend in the UK, Lauren Roskilly’s blog on MindfulinChrist.net  (https://mindfulofchrist.net/) – whose “Word for Wednesday”, yesterday, is once again oddly appropriate for my current situation. So I thank Lauren for her faithfulness to the body of Christ as we turn to her encouraging words, reminding us to “Let go and Let God”. Lauren writes:

(https://mindfulofchrist.net/let-go-let-god/)

Proverbs 3:5 (ESV)
5  Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

This well-known verse is easy to remember but how do you actively apply this to your life?

We can know in our minds that we are to trust the Lord, but do you fully trust Him in your heart of hearts? I mean, in EVERY part of your life.

Sometimes we, as humans, want to understand and find sense or logic in a situation, I know I can be prone to this too!

But there are things that we won’t ever understand as much as we try to.

Perhaps you’ve been waiting for an answer to prayer for years or decades, perhaps you’re waiting for healing, or perhaps the suffering in your life or the world around you is beyond your comprehension and understanding.

Or perhaps there’s a situation or even a person you are trying to be ‘in control’ of. Yes, you have responsibilities but you don’t have to take everything on yourself!

Whatever it is that you are currently battling. Maybe, the Lord is telling you to let it go, just wait, sit with Him, and trust him. Maybe you’re not meant to know the answers either now or ever whilst you’re on this Earth.

God is the one thing in this universe that never changes and is consistent. Including His love and plans for you!

So, whatever is bugging you, whatever it is you need to let go of it, give it to the Lord and trust that He’s got not only this world but YOU in His hands.

Joyce Meyer’s famous phrase “Let go, let God” is helpful here. But how do you “let go?”

This is when the Serenity prayer comes in handy!

Here is the concise version:

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, and Wisdom to know the difference.”

Pray it, repeat it, meditate on it and this verse.

Whatever it is you are struggling to understand right now, give it to God and trust Him with it.

What do you need to let go of and trust God with today?”

 

What indeed! The Lord knows and I surrender it all to Him.  Thank You, Lauren!  

To receive more encouragement from Lauren Roskilly - to be encouraged and to find courses and Lauren’s books, like “Christian Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy”, “Breaking Chains”, and “Indestructible Faith” that can help you to overcome your “hurts, habits, and hang-ups” go to  https://mindfulofchrist.net/)

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

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

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

This morning’s meditation verses come from the section on Blame Shifting.

Matthew 7:1-5 (NKJV)
1  "Judge not, that you be not judged.
2  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.
3  And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?
4  Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye?
5  Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

Today’s verses fall under the third and final point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Blame Shifting.

 3. Do not judge others while you fail to acknowledge your own sin.

Today’s verses, again oddly appropriate, remind us to not judge others as we will be judged by the measure we judge them.   So sorry this is not “do not judge”, like so many out there misuse it.  Jesus is telling us not to be so “self-righteous: to judge others by a high standard when we have issues in our own lives. 

Sure some people aren’t doing what is right and they are suffering for it, and it makes us angry and make us want to “tell them what for!” But we don’t always do things right, all the time, either.  Thus Jesus’ advice to take out the log in our own eye before dealing with the speck in our neighbors.  

This is a call to personal responsibility and sanctification. Jesus is in essence telling us to be concerned with our own sins before attempting to help people with others.  Jesus is telling us not to be a busy body with others before we get busy cleaning up our own act.  Essentially he is calling us to be compassionate. By convicting us of our sins, Jesus is trying to elicit a loving response to our neighbor, which is not always easy why.  

So before we start pointing out the sin in others and blame them for all the wrong they do, should pause and reflect on all the things we fail to do perfectly so we can share the truth in love and help them rather than just chastising and judging them.  

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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 are sharing from A. W. Pink’s – The Arthur Pink Anthology  - a collection of A.W. Pink’s tracts brought together in one book and dispersed here on the blog for your encouragement.

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 free as a PDF at many sites, but printed copies of collections of A.W. Pink’s books are available for purchase wherever Christian books are sold. 

The Arthur Pink Anthology – 2

Another Gospel – Part 1 of 5

Satan is not an initiator but an imitator. God has an only begotten Son—the Lord Jesus, so has Satan—“the son of Perdition” (2 Thess. 2:3). There is a Holy Trinity, and there is likewise a Trinity of Evil (Rev. 20:10). Do we read of the “children of God,” so also we read of “the children of the wicked one” (Matthew 13:38). Does God work in the former both to will and to do of His good pleasure, then we are told that Satan is “the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Eph 2:2). Is there a “mystery of godliness” (1 Tim. 3:16), so also is there a “mystery of iniquity” (2 Thess 2:7). Are we told that God by His angels “seals” His servants in their foreheads (Rev 7:3), so also we learn that Satan by his agents sets a mark in the foreheads of his devotees (Rev. 13:16). Are we told that “the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God” (1 Cor. 2:10), then Satan also provides his “deep things” (Greek—Rev. 2:24). Did Christ perform miracles, so also can Satan (2 Thess. 2:9). Is Christ seated upon a throne, so is Satan (Greek—Rev. 2:13). Has Christ a Church, then Satan has his “synagogue” (Rev 2:9). Is Christ the Light of the world, then so is Satan himself “transformed into an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14). Did Christ appoint “apostles,” then Satan has his apostles, too (2 Cor. 11:13). And this leads us to consider: “The Gospel of Satan.”

Satan is the arch-counterfeiter. The Devil is now busy at work in the same field in which the Lord sowed the good seed. He is seeking to prevent the growth of the wheat by another plant, the tares, which closely resembles the wheat in appearance. In a word, by a process of imitation he is aiming to neutralize the Work of Christ. Therefore, as Christ has a Gospel, Satan has a gospel too; the latter being a clever counterfeit of the former. So closely does the gospel of Satan resemble that which it parodies, multitudes of the unsaved are deceived by it.—

It is to this gospel of Satan the apostle refers when he says to the Galatians, “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another, but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the Gospel of Christ” (Gal. 1:6, 7). This false gospel was being heralded even in the days of the apostle, and a most awful curse was called down upon those who preached it. The apostle continues, “But though we, or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.” By the help of God we shall now endeavor to expound, or rather, expose this false gospel.

The gospel of Satan is not a system of revolutionary principles, nor yet a program of anarchy. It does not promote strife and war, but aims at peace and unity. It seeks not to set the mother against her daughter nor the father against his son, but fosters the fraternal spirit whereby the human race is regarded as one great “brotherhood.” It does not seek to drag down the natural man, but to improve and uplift him. It advocates education and cultivation and appeals to the best that is within—It aims to make this world such a comfortable and congenial habitat that Christ’s absence from it will not be felt and God will not be needed. It endeavors to occupy man so much with this world that he has no time or inclination to think of the world to come. It propagates the principles of self-sacrifice, charity and benevolence, and teaches us to live for the good of others, and to be kind to all. It appeals strongly to the carnal mind and is popular with the masses, because it ignores the solemn facts that by nature man is a fallen creature, alienated from the life of God, and dead in trespasses and sins, and that his only hope lies in being born again.[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] Arthur Walkington Pink, The Arthur Pink Anthology (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2005).

Wednesday, November 1, 2023

It’s YOUR DAY – For Those in Christ: You are a Saint! - Purity 1187


It’s YOUR DAY – For Those in Christ: You are a Saint! - Purity 1187

Purity 1187 11/01/2023 Purity 1187 Podcast

Purity 1187 on YouTube:



Good morning,

Today’s photo of a large boulder of rock entrenched on the side of a hill surrounded by pine trees with their autumn deciduous friends in the background comes to us from yours truly as I stopped for a moment to capture this enchanted forest in the early moments of my exploration of the High Falls Gorge Nature Experience in Wilmington NY on Saturday October 28th.

Well, It’s Wednesday and I thought that this mini mountain of a rock was an adequate visual representation of our arrival at the midpoint of another work week – so happy hump day to all you saints out there!

That’s right if you have put your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior – I am talking to you! As the Apostles never addressed their epistles to the “sinners” in Rome, Ephesus, or Colosse, etc., we should not think of ourselves as “sinners saved by grace” although that is admittedly who were, but since we have been filled with the Holy Spirit and given new life in Christ, we should embrace our new identity in Christ as saints.  “Saints” is the word that is used to describe members of the church, those who were called by God to be adopted into His royal family. Since we put our faith in Jesus, we are forgiven, we are saved, we are children of God, we are citizens of heaven, members of a royal priesthood, and SAINTS.  

So as today is “All Saints Day”, consider today to be YOUR DAY and remember the life that you have been given in Christ and rejoice!   

While some traditions consider “saints” to be the all- star team of faithful Christians of the past, the Bible tells us that all who belong to God through their faith in Christ, the bride of Christ – the church – are saints.  

Just like our salvation, we don’t have to do anything to become saints or to earn “sainthood” other than trust in Jesus as our Lord and Savior.  

Don’t get me wrong, I will certainly encourage you to pursue holiness and sanctification through repentance and renewing your mind with the word of God to become more and more like Jesus – but as for sainthood – you are already there my friends – but of course that doesn’t mean you can’t grow in righteousness and maturity to better reflect your new identity as a saint.  

So rejoice saints! You didn’t have to earn that title, but you can show the love you have for what the Lord has given you by sharing your faith and life in Christ through the way you live your life.  

You can tell people all day long that you are a saint, but its probably better to take the humble road and let your life in Christ convince others that you have been changed by the Lord and walk the walk as well as talk the talk of a saint.  

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

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

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

This morning’s meditation vers come from the section on Blame Shifting.

Proverbs 19:3 (NKJV)
3  The foolishness of a man twists his way, And his heart frets against the LORD.

Today’s verses fall under the second point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Blame Shifting.

 2. Some try to blame God.

Today’s verses testify to how our own sinful and selfish desires warp our walk through life and how we tend to audaciously blame the Lord in our hearts for making us experience the suffering that OUR actions cause us.  

Okay, I have to admit, I needed some help to glean the meaning from today’s Bible verse – while I understand how my foolishness as a man has twisted my way from experience, I didn’t quite “get” how my heart “frets against the Lord”  - Fret?   

The definition for fret is to “be constantly or visibly worried or anxious” according to Oxford Languages. But how does one “fret against” the Lord – what do you mean?!?

But before I went to Oxford to try to discern what the second half of this verse was trying to tell us. I decided to consult an easier – more user-friendly version of the Bible – The NLT – The New Living Translation to see if I could “get” the meaning from it.  While I am in many ways a child at heart – or just childish at times – I have discovered that the NLT – which is appropriate for “youth” and those new to scripture helps me – a Bible college graduate – helps me to quickly discern meaning of some of the more poetic passages in the NKJV – although that is the one I prefer, mostly. 

Anyway, the NLT presents:

Proverbs 19:3 (NLT2) as
3  People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the LORD.

Angry! That’s what “fret against” means!  And I love the way the NLT just sort of simplifies both portions of this verse to make the meaning ultra clear. 

I ruin my life by my own foolishness and then get angry at God!  -That was my pre-Christ life of struggle and strife! And not for nothing – that verse remains true for Christians who decide to go their own way, rather than following Jesus and choosing to walk in the Spirit and do things according to God’s word.  

So with the NLT making this clear- I can “see” how this verse is associated with blame shifting.   We screw up our lives doing things our way – and we blame God for “making me this way”!

But now that we know the truth of who Christ is, let’s not do that. Let’s not “twist our way” with our own foolishness and “fret against God” in our hearts.  Instead let’s acknowledge our old ways as foolishness and choose to accept responsibility for what we do and choose to do things according to the wisdom of the Lord. 

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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 are sharing from A. W. Pink’s – The Arthur Pink Anthology  - a collection of A.W. Pink’s tracts brought together in one book and dispersed here on the blog for your encouragement.

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 free as a PDF at many sites, but printed copies of collections of A.W. Pink’s books are available for purchase wherever Christian books are sold. 

The Arthur Pink Anthology – 1

1 John 2:2  - Part 2 of 2

In the fourth place, when John added, “And not for ours only, but also for the whole world”, he signified that Christ was the propitiation for the sins of Gentile believers too, for, as previously shown, “the world” is a term contrasted from Israel. This interpretation is unequivocally established by a careful comparison of 1 John 2:2 with John 11:51, 52, which is a strictly parallel passage: “And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; And not for that nation only, but that also He should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.” Here Caiaphas, under inspiration, made known for whom Jesus should “die.” Notice now the correspondency of his prophecy with this declaration of John’s:

He is the propitiation for our (believing Israelites) sins.”

He prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation.

And not for ours only.” “And not for that nation only.

But also for the whole world”—That is, Gentile believers scattered throughout the earth.

He should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.

In the fifth place, the above interpretation is confirmed by the fact that no other is consistent or intelligible. If the “whole world” signifies the whole human race, then the first clause and the “also” in the second clause are absolutely meaningless. If Christ is the propitiation for everybody, it would be idle tautology to say, first, “He is the propitiation for our sins and also for everybody.” There could be no “also” if He is the propitiation for the entire human family. Had the apostle meant to affirm that Christ is a universal propitiation he had omitted the first clause of verse 2, and simply said, “He is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world.” Confirmatory of “not for ours (Jewish believers) only, but also for the whole world”—Gentile believers, too; compare John 10:16; 17:20.

In the sixth place, our definition of “the whole world” is in perfect accord with other passages in the New Testament. For example: “Whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the Gospel; which is come unto you, as it is in all the world” (Col. 1:5, 6). Does “all the world” here mean, absolutely and unqualifiedly, all mankind? Had all the human family heard the Gospel? No; the apostle’s obvious meaning is that, the Gospel, instead of being confined to the land of Judea, had gone abroad, without restraint, into Gentile lands. So in Romans 1:8: “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. The apostle is here referring to the faith of these Roman saints being spoken of in a way of commendation. But certainly all mankind did not so speak of their faith! It was the whole world of believers that he was referring to! In Revelation 12:9 we read of Satan “which deceiveth the whole world.” But again this expression cannot be understood as a universal one, for Matthew 24:24 tells us that Satan does not and cannot “deceive” God’s elect. Here it is “the whole world” of unbelievers.

In the seventh place, to insist that “the whole world” in 1 John 2:2 signifies the entire human race is to undermine the very foundations of our faith. If Christ is the propitiation for those that are lost equally as much as for those that are saved, then what assurance have we that believers too may not be lost? If Christ is the propitiation for those now in hell, what guarantee have I that I may not end in hell? The blood-shedding of the incarnate Son of God is the only thing which can keep any one out of hell, and if many for whom that precious blood made propitiation are now in the awful place of the damned, then may not that blood prove inefficacious for me! Away with such a God-dishonoring thought.

However men may quibble and wrest the Scriptures, one thing is certain: The Atonement is no failure. God will not allow that precious and costly sacrifice to fail in accomplishing, completely, that which it was designed to effect. Not a drop of that holy blood was shed in vain. In the last great Day there shall stand forth no disappointed and defeated Saviour, but One who “shall see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied” (Isa. 53:11). These are not our words, but the infallible assertion of Him who declares, “My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure” (Isa. 64:10). Upon this impregnable rock we take our stand. Let others rest on the sands of human speculation and twentieth-century theorizing if they wish. That is their business. But to God they will yet have to render an account. For our part we had rather be railed at as a narrow-minded, out-of-date, hyper-Calvinist, than be found repudiating God’s truth by reducing the Divinely-efficacious atonement to a mere fiction.[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] Arthur Walkington Pink, The Arthur Pink Anthology (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2005).

Monday, October 30, 2023

Accept No Substitutes – Simple, Pure, Relational Joy - Purity 1185

Accept No Substitutes – Simple, Pure, Relational Joy - Purity 1185

Purity 1185 10/30/2023 Purity 1185 Podcast

Purity 1185 on YouTube: 


Good morning,

Today’s photo of the silhouette of a tree being set a blaze by the rays of the setting sun comes to us from yours truly as I captured this scene Saturday afternoon while out taking a walk with my canine friend Harley, my wife TammyLyn and her daughter Elisabeth as they took me up on an invitation to go and see a place nearby that they had never been before.  When I have the time and feel the inclination, I have gotten in the habit of taking Harley for extended walks down the dirt and gravel farm road that runs perpendicular to Waite Rd and have come to really enjoy it and as relational beings when people find something good in life, we have a tendency to want to share it. So after having a most magical experience between the setting sun and full moon on Friday I invited TammyLyn to check it out and Elisabeth, being an aspiring photographer decided to join us as well.  The chore of walking the dog turned into a nice family outing where we all were able to appreciate the beauty of God’s creation and share in the joy of the experience.

Well, It’s Monday and even though that moment in the sun is over, because it was a moment of “relational joy” it qualifies as a “joy memory” – a memory that was simple, pure, and shared that can be recalled upon demand to remind us that there was a time where things were “good”. 

In my studies with Deeper Walk International’s School of Ministry, we are examining helping those with prayer ministry that are “dealing with addictions. In the lecture that we are assigned to examine and discuss, Dr. Marcus Warner explains that people were designed by God to “run on joy” but unfortunately when we lack for simple, pure, relational joy that we are to have in our relationships people have a tendency to find and rely on “joy substitutes” – the things, experiences, and behaviors that provide a measure of comfort or pleasure that lack the resilience building power of “simple, pure, relational joy’.  

Warner calls addictions “joy substitutes” because they are not simple, pure, and although they may involve other people, they lack that relational joy aspect – and thus they fail to provide lasting satisfaction and often lead to a “crash” when the experience wears off, guilt and shame when the activity we are addicted to is morally impure, unhealthy, or selfish, or feeling of pain when our minds or bodies suffer withdrawal or from the bumps and bruise that we encountered during our addictive escapades.   The costs of addictions include financial, mental, emotional, spiritual, physical, and relational consequences that demonstrate to us why addictions are “joy substitutes. 

The costs of taking a walk to enjoy the company of others and the beauty of God’s on a pleasant afternoon are minimal and the joy it produces can be re-experienced as we fondly bring the experience back into remembrance.  

Unlike, the “fast times” of a life of addiction, the recall of simple, pure, wholesome, moments of relational joy aren’t blurred by foggy memories while under the influence or by the negative costs of the crash, guilt, shame, and pain that followed the addictive episode.

And so one of the recommendations that Dr. Warner made in his lecture on dealing with addiction is to encourage those who are suffering from addiction to get off of their “joy substitute” and to enter into a supportive community where they can form “joy bonds” with people where they can develop relationships where they can encourage one another in practicing quieting and appreciation to increase the ability to “return to joy” and build emotional resilience and can share experiences of “simple, pure, wholesome, relational joy”.  

I love the way the Lord guides me through life because as I decided to pursue being educated and trained in Deeper Walk’s heart-focused discipleship model and prayer ministry techniques, the opportunity arose at my local church to lead a “a recovery growth group”. I added the caveat that I would infuse it with Christian discipleship principles that went beyond Celebrate Recovery’s recovery curriculum and since May have been encouraging the members of Starpoint Church’s Celebrate Freedom growth group – to not only ask God to help them with their “hurts, habits, and hang-ups” but to develop their abilities to “build joy and emotional resilience” and have moments of “simple, pure, relational joy” at our meetings. 

While we do cover the CR lesson each week, even that is relational as volunteers from the group “do their part” as the lesson is read through and presented together as a group. Beyond that we have been developing the ”joy bonds” with one another as our weekly “check in” invites the group member to share what’s happening in their lives and to receive the support of the other who are “happy to see them” each week.  As sad as it may sound, the world is a rough place, and you aren’t often told that people are “happy to see you” and I know that the group members appreciate the community that we have built because the thing that many people report on being grateful for is the group itself. 

Our group encourages its members to appreciate who they are in Christ and the good things the good things that the Lord has given us in life.  So we develop our “joy bonds” with God as we develop them with one another . And we also “keep it real” by honestly reporting what we are going through and encouraging one another to be responsible in working out solutions to the things that are not so good. As we receive the support and start to improve things by doing things God’s way, things tend to get better, which in turn increases our peace and joy.   And each week we worship and praise the Lord in song – a spiritual practice that draws us closer to God and one another that just happens to increase our ability to build joy.  And I see the fruits of what the Lord has done through our group as some of the group members’ lives have been radically transformed.  

So, don’t seek out “joy substitutes” and stay locked in bondage to addiction, seek the simple, pure, relational joy with God and man that you can have when you put your faith in Jesus, decide to live as God directs you to live, and share the joy of it with other Christians on regular basis. That’s right, keep on walking and talking with God and invite others to join you as you go.

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

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

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

This morning’s meditation verses come from the section on Bitterness, Resentment, & Hate.

Proverbs 10:12 (ESV)
12  Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.

Today’s verses fall under the thirteenth point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Bitterness, Resentment, & Hate.

 14. Hatred stirs up dissension.

Today’s verse keeps it pretty simple. Hatred stirs up strife – which means “angry or bitter disagreement over fundamental issues, conflict” – another word for dissension.  And these words and definitions are not exactly synonymous with peace. 

Whereas love is reported to cover all offenses.  Why?  Because love would cause us to be patient, kind, and forgiving. Love would cause us to not think too highly of ourselves and would lead us to think of the good of others first. Love would call us to, as much as it depends on us, to make peace.

Of course, “fundamentals issues” like believing that the Bible is the true inspired word of God and that it is only through faith in Jesus Christ that we can be saved, should not necessarily be compromised in the name of peace but we are to speak the truth in love and never sink to the depths of hatred in delivering our message of love.  So try to resolve strife with kindness, gentleness, patience, and love that tells others that although you may disagree on certain things, you represent the God that loves them anyway.

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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

32 - Honoring the Spirit

Worshipping the Spirit Directly – 2 of 2

“And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ” (2 Thess. 3:5). What could be plainer? Here each of the three Divine Persons is distinguished, and the Apostle prays directly to the Lord the Spirit—obviously “the Lord” here cannot refer to the Son, for in such case it would signify “The Lord (Jesus) direct your hearts into the patient waiting for Christ.” As it is the Spirit’s office to “guide us into all truth” (John 16:13), to “lead us into the paths of righteousness” (Ps. 23:3), so to “direct” our hearts into the love of God and longings after Christ. He it is who communicates God’s love to us (Rom. 5:5), and He it is who stirs us up to the performance of duty by inflaming our hearts with apprehensions of God’s tenderness toward us—and for this we are to pray to Him! It is just as though the Apostle said, “O thou Lord the Spirit, warm or cold hearts with a renewed sense of God’s tender regard for us, stabilize our fretful souls into a patient waiting for Christ.”

“John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before His throne; and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness” (Rev. 1:4, 5). This is as much a prayer—an invocation of blessing—as that recorded in Numbers 6:24–26. The Apostle John desired and supplicated God the Father (“Him who is,” etc.), God the Holy Spirit in the plenitude of His power (“the seven Spirits”), and God the Son, that the seven churches in Asia might enjoy Their grace and peace. When I say “The Lord bless you, dear brother,” I should utter empty words unless I also pray the Lord to bless you. This “grace and peace be unto you,” then, was far more that a pleasantry or courtesy: John was making known to the saints his deep longings for them, which found expression in ardent supplication for these very blessings to be conferred upon them. In conclusion let us say that every verse of the Bible which bids us “Praise the Lord” or “worship God” has reference to each of the Eternal Three.

“Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth labourers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:38). Here is something very plain and expressive, the only point needing to be determined is, Who is “The Lord of the harvest?” During the days of His earthly ministry, Christ Himself sustained that office, as is clear from His calling and sending forth of the Twelve; but after His ascension, the Holy Spirit became such. As proof thereof, we refer to “The Holy Spirit said, Separate Me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them … so they, being sent forth by the Holy Spirit, departed” (Acts 13:2, 4)! So again we read, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Spirit hath made you overseers” (Acts 20:28). It is the Holy Spirit who now appoints the laborers, equips them, assigns their work, and blesses their efforts. In 1 Corinthians 12:5 and 2 Corinthians 3:17 the Holy Spirit expressly is designated “Lord.”

“Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all you creatures here below. Praise Him above you heavenly hosts—praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.” Amen![1]

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

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

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

These teachings are also available on the MT4Christ247 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] Arthur Walkington Pink, The Holy Spirit (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, n.d.).