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Monday, November 28, 2022

“An Expression of God that will Radiate His Light”- Purity 900


“An Expression of God that will Radiate His Light”- Purity 900         

Purity 900 11/28/2022 Purity 900 Podcast

Purity 900 on YouTube: 



Good morning,

Today’s photo of an epic November sunrise comes to us from a friend who captured this early morning scene yesterday near their home in the Clifton Park area of upstate New York.  Our friend wasn’t the only one to witness this stark evidence of God’s glory as many in the capital district shared similar photos with the local news outlets, who shared them on social media. I suppose I could have “borrowed” one of these other photos, but I prefer to share my friend’s even though it has been quite some time since I have seen them or have spoken to them.  This particular friend had some life experiences that are similar to mine and even though I honestly don’t know how they are doing currently, I’m rooting for them, and because of our crossed paths, I suppose I always will be. Just knowing that they witnessed this scene gives me joy.   

Well it is the Monday after Thanksgiving, and although I am filled with joy for my friend, my heart is somewhat heavy this morning as my wife, her children, and many others will be mourning the loss of a friend who was more like family later this afternoon. 

Our shared experiences and history can really form strong bonds in a short period of time, but those bonds can be especially strong when we walk through life with someone for an extended period of time, where the time of our relationships together can witness the aging of our children to adulthood. 

I only met Linda Lee Henle on a couple of occasions for brief periods and she seemed like a friendly lady but I know that she was much more than that to my wife, as she was introduced and described as a “grandmother” of sorts to my wife’s kids.  I only met her a few times so I won’t be taking off from work to attend the memorial service this afternoon, but I did lift “Ms. Linda’s” grieving “family” up in prayer this morning because I know she was greatly loved and will be dearly missed.  

Out of curiosity, I checked out her obituary this morning to learn a little  more about this “nice lady” who meant so much to so many to see what it would say and to see if there  was anything I could learn from her life.   It says: 

Linda was an extraordinary mother, wife, and caregiver. She dedicated herself to helping those in the world who needed it most through her work with special education, elderly care, the Girl Scouts, Sunday school, and other various youth organizations. She travelled just about every road in this country, welcomed foreign exchange students into her home, and loved bringing her family together around the dinner table. One of her many creative talents was playing the accordion. Linda was intelligent, had a strong moral compass, and her compassion extended not just to humans but to all creatures of the Earth. Linda exemplified selfless and unconditional love. She was an expression of God that will radiate his light even in the darkest shadows.” 

She passed away on Tuesday, somewhat suddenly. I had seen her at my stepdaughter’s birthday party back in September and now she’s gone, but obviously not forgotten, and because she knew the Lord we know she lives today although we can’t see her, yet.

While serving the community and our fellow man is admirable, I think the best thing anyone can say about us is what was said about Linda: that she “was an expression of God that will radiate his light even in the darkest shadows.” What a testimony!

As much as we try to make our way in the world and leave a legacy behind, Linda’s life shows us that the love we have to give is the most valuable thing we possess and that our life is best spent giving it away.      

So pray for the family and friends of our departed sister, and let’s thank the Lord for being able to know His love and to know people like, “Ms. Linda” Henle whose life was a living expression of His light.  

So as we get back to business as usual this Monday morning, let’s remember our friends and family that show us the love of the Lord and let’s remember to not be so busy and to try to reflect the light of the Lord in our lives, as we keep on walking and talking with God.

--------------------------------------------------------

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

This morning’s meditation verse are:

Romans 8:5-6 (NLT2)
5  Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.
6  So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.

Today’s verses encourage us to be controlled by the Holy Spirit and to guide us to repent of our sinful nature and to think upon things that please the Spirit and that will give us a life of peace.  

Hey what’s wrong, according to the word of God, is wrong, and a life lived following the “moral compass” of the Holy Spirit is a life that may not always be easy but will have an enduring peace.  

Like I have admitted, I didn’t know “Ms. Linda” Henle very well but she was known for being an expression of God’s light, not just His love.  I wouldn’t really know this to be true myself, except for my wife’s testimony of her words of encouragement to TammyLyn’s daughters.  

As we talked about her passing this past weekend, TammyLyn told me about how Ms. Linda recently told her daughters “to do what was right” with the way they lived their lives, stating that “Ms. Linda” would remind them that they are “Christian girls” after all.  

In this age of moral relativism and situational ethics, I just love that testimony of Ms. Linda’s moral compass, that although she expressed God’s love to all within her “oikos” ( her surroundings – or dwelling place – her household, who she made everyone feel welcomed in) she also reflected the light of God in the darkness, that meant more than just hope.

Her encouragements to live as “Christian girls” was literally the advice that is most desperately needed in these dark times of loose sexuality and rampant substance abuse that plagues our society. Ms. Linda’s words were telling TammyLyn’s daughters the pathway they should follow that would lead to peace.

While we all have free will….

and believe me as someone who abused it for most of his life before deciding to follow Christ, I know the depths of depravity that “freedom” can lead to, personally,

the word of God and faithful saints, like Ms. Linda, tell us, quite clearly, the way we should go.  

So walk in the Spirit, repent of your sinful nature, and think on, and do, the things that pleases the Spirit of God and leads to a life of peace.  

___________________________________________

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

Today we continue sharing from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s “Discipleship”, also known as “The Cost of Discipleship”

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase Bonhoeffer’s books for your own private study and to support his work.  This resource is available on many websites for less than $20.00.

The Messengers

(An Interpretation of Matthew 10)

The Work

“These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: ‘Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel’ ” (Matt. 10:5–6).

As Jesus’ helpers, the effectiveness of the disciples is grounded in the clear commandment of their Lord. It is not left up to them to decide how to undertake and understand their work. The work of Christ they are to do forces the messengers completely into the will of Jesus. Blessed are they who have such an authority given them for their office [Amt] and who are freed from their own discretion and calculations!

The very first word limits the messengers’ work in a way which must have seemed strange and difficult to them. They were not allowed to choose where they were to work. What was decisive was not where their hearts led them, but where they were sent. This makes quite clear that they are not to do their own work, but God’s work. Would it not have seemed obvious to go to the Gentiles and the Samaritans, because they had special need of the good news? That may be, but they were given no such commission. God’s works cannot be done without God’s commission; otherwise, they would be done without God’s promise. But does this promise and commission to preach the gospel not apply everywhere? Both apply only where God has given the commission. But is it not precisely the love of Christ which urges us to proclaim the gospel without limits? The love of Christ differs from the enthusiasm and zeal of our own hearts in that it holds to the commission. We do not bring the salvation of the gospel to our sisters and brothers who belong to our own people or to the Gentiles in foreign countries, for the sake of our own love for them, no matter how great that love is. Instead, we do it at the Lord’s command, which he gave in the Great Commission.[18] Only the commission shows us the place on which God’s promise rests. If Christ does not want me to preach the gospel here or there, then I should let everything go and obey Christ’s will and word. So the apostles are bound to the word and to the commission. The apostles should be found only where the word of Christ, where the commission may be found. “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

We, who came from the Gentiles, were once excluded from the good news. First, Israel had to hear and reject the message of Christ, so that it could be brought to the Gentiles, and so that a congregation of Gentile Christians could be built according to the commission of Jesus Christ. It is only after he is resurrected that Jesus gives the Great Commission. In this way the limitation of the commission, which the disciples surely could not understand, became an instrument of grace for the Gentiles, who received the good news of the crucified and risen one. That is God’s way and wisdom. For us, only the commission remains.

“As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Cure the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment” (Matt. 10:7–8). The message and the effectiveness of the messengers are exactly the same as Jesus Christ’s own message and work. They participate in his power. Jesus commands that they proclaim the coming of the kingdom of heaven, and he commands the signs which authenticate the message. Jesus commands them to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, and cast out demons! Proclamation becomes an event, and the event gives witness to the proclamation. The kingdom of God, Jesus Christ, forgiveness of sins, justification of the sinner by faith: all this is nothing other than the destruction of demonic power, healing, and raising the dead. As the word of the almighty God, it is deed, event, miracle. The one Jesus Christ goes out through the country in his twelve messengers and does his work. The royal grace with which the disciples are equipped is the creative and redemptive word of God.

“Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for laborers deserve their food” (Matt. 10:9–10). Because the command and the power of the messengers are given by the word of Jesus alone, nothing should be seen on Jesus’ messengers which would make their royal mission unclear or incredible. In royal poverty the messengers are to witness to the riches of their Lord. What they have received from Jesus is no property of their own, with which they could bargain for other goods. “You received without payment!” Being a messenger of Jesus does not grant any personal rights; it does not entitle one to respect or power. That does not change even when the free messenger of Jesus has turned into an official pastor. The rights of a man with a university education and the privileges of social standing are no longer valid for anyone who has become a messenger of Jesus. “You received without payment!” Or was there something else which attracted us besides the call of Jesus which took us, who did not deserve it, into his service? “Give without payment.” Let it become clear that with all the riches you have to give, you covet nothing for yourselves: no property, but also no respect or acknowledgment, not even gratitude! From where would you get such expectations? Any honors we claim for ourselves are stolen from him to whom they rightfully belong, the Lord who sent us out. The freedom of Jesus’ messengers should show in their poverty. We cannot draw conclusions from the fact that Mark and Luke vary somewhat from Matthew in their lists of what the disciples are allowed or forbidden to take along. Jesus prescribes poverty to those who set out in the authority of his word. We should not overlook the fact that this is a commandment of Jesus. The disciples’ personal property is prescribed down to the smallest details. They should not be conspicuous as beggars with torn clothing and become burdensome parasites to other people. But they should go around in the working clothes of poverty. They should carry with them no more than a hiker in the country who is certain that at night he will find a house with friends who will shelter him and give him the food he needs. They are not to invest that kind of trust in people, but in him who sent them, and in their heavenly Father, who will take care of them. In doing so they will give credibility to the message they proclaim, namely, the coming reign of God on earth. In the same freedom in which they do their ministry they should accept lodging and food, not as alms for beggars, but as the food laborers deserve. Jesus calls his messengers “laborers.” Sloth, to be sure, does not deserve food.[24] But what is work, if not this struggle with the powers of Satan, this struggle for the hearts of the people, this renunciation of their own reputation, possessions, and joys of the world, for the sake of serving the poor, the mistreated, and the miserable? God was burdened and wearied by work for human beings (Isa. 43:24). The soul of Jesus worked until death on the cross for our salvation (Isa. 53:11). The messengers participate in this work: in proclamation, in overcoming Satan, and in intercessory prayer. Anyone who does not acknowledge this work has not yet understood what the service of a faithful messenger of Jesus is like. They may receive their daily wages without shame, and without shame they should remain poor for the sake of their ministry.

“Whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave. As you enter the house, greet it. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town” (Matt. 10:11–15). Work in the faith-community will start with the houses “which are worthy” of lodging Jesus’ messengers. God still has communities praying and waiting everywhere. The disciples will be received there in the name of their Lord humbly and willingly. There their work will be assisted by prayer; there a small group exists, which stands in for the whole community. To prevent conflict in the community and false aspirations or concessions in the disciples, Jesus commands the apostles to remain in the same house as long as they are in the same town. The moment the messengers enter a house and a city, they get down to business. Time is valuable and short. Many are still waiting for the good news. Even the first word of greeting they speak, as their Lord does, “Peace be with this house!” (Luke 10:5), is not an empty phrase. Instead, it immediately brings the power of God’s peace to those “who are worthy.” The messengers’ proclamation is brief and clear. They proclaim the dawning of the reign of God; they call for repentance and for faith. They come in the authority of Jesus of Nazareth. A command is being delivered and an offer is being made under the highest authorization.[28] That took care of everything. Because everything has the utmost simplicity and clarity, and because the matter cannot be postponed, it needs no further preparation, discussion, or advertising. A king is standing outside the door; he can come at any minute: do you want to bow down and receive him humbly, or do you want him to destroy and kill you in his wrath? Those who are willing to hear now have heard all there is to say. They will not want to delay the messenger, who must go on to the next city. But for those who do not want to hear, the grace period is over. They have pronounced their own judgment. “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts!” (Heb. 4:7). That is gospel preaching. Is it unmerciful haste? Nothing is more unmerciful than pretending to the people that they still have a lot of time to repent. Nothing is more merciful; nothing is better news than the message to hurry, because the kingdom is very near. The messenger cannot wait until it is repeated over and over to everyone, and repeated to everyone in his or her own language. God’s language is clear enough. The messenger does not control who will hear and who will not. God alone knows “who are worthy.” They will hear the word, just as it is spoken by the disciples. Woe to the city and the house which does not receive the messenger of Jesus! It will undergo a terrible judgment. Sodom and Gomorrah, the cities of licentiousness and decadence, may expect a more merciful judgment than the cities of Israel that reject the word of Jesus. Vices and sins can be forgiven by the word of Jesus, but those who reject the word of salvation itself cannot be saved. There is no worse sin than unbelief toward the gospel. Then there is nothing left for the messengers to do but leave that place. They go, because the word cannot remain there. In fear and astonishment they have to recognize the simultaneous power and weakness of the word of God. The disciples can only stay where the word of God stays,[31] because they cannot and should not force anything against the word or beyond the word. Their commission is not to wage a heroic struggle or fanatically enforce a great idea or a “good thing.” If the word of God is rejected, then they are rejected with it. But they should shake the dust from their feet as a sign of the curse which will come to that place but will not harm them. The peace they brought to that place, however, will revert to them. “This is a consolation to the servants of the church, who think they are not accomplishing anything. You should not get upset; what other people do not want will become an even greater blessing for you yourselves. Thus says the Lord to them: They have despised it, so keep it for yourselves” (Bengel).[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 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] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Discipleship, ed. Martin Kuske et al., trans. Barbara Green and Reinhard Krauss, vol. 4, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2003), 187–192.

Wednesday, November 23, 2022

“Thanksgiving Eve” - May The Light of The Lord Shine Upon You - Purity 896


“Thanksgiving Eve” - May The Light of The Lord Shine Upon You - Purity 896     

Purity 896 11/23/2022 Purity 896 Podcast

Purity 896 on YouTube: 



Good morning,

Today’s photo of light of the sun reflecting off the windows of a house on to the waters of the Champlain Canal comes to us from my beloved wife, TammyLyn Clark, who captured the beauty of this reflection while out for an impromptu stroll at Hudson Crossing Park in Schuylerville back on November 11th.   

Well, it’s the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, so “Happy Friday” to the vast majority of us that will have the day off tomorrow to gather with family and friends to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, watch football, feast on mass quantities of food, and, oh yeah, to GIVE THANKS….

I point this out because sometimes in the preparation for the holiday we forget what its original purpose of the Thanksgiving holiday is.  Anyone referring to tomorrow as “Turkey Day”, I’m talking to you!

And since we are pointing things out, I would also point out that our “Thanks”, just like our “Faith” has to have an object.  And whether you have “Great Faith” or “little faith” in the Lord, you should recognize that ultimately whatever “Thanks” we would like to give tomorrow should eventually be humbly left before the throne of grace.  

I know, you may be truly thankful for the food, for your family, for you job, for your friends, for the day off, for your health, for football, for the universe, and for the host that put together your holiday feast but above and beyond all these things is the Lord God Almighty, the maker of heaven and earth and the author of all life, and the sovereign King who shapes its history.   So ultimately, while we should express our appreciation for all of these other things that the Lord made possible, we should only give our “Thanks” to God.  

So really Thanksgiving, in essence should be one of worshiping the Lord, a true holiday, in the sense of a “holy-day”.  But you know what’s great about “worshiping the Lord”. It doesn’t have to be weird.  We don’t have to put on special out fits or go to a designated site with holy relics or trappings to worship God.  We can give thanks to the Lord, praise His Holy Name, and worship Him in the most mundane trappings and the humblest clothes.  That includes your living room Lazy Boy with your feet up as you enjoy the company of many or just by yourself.  Our “Thanks”, our worship, to the Lord only requires our hearts and minds set on Him. You can meditate upon, worship, or give thanks to the Lord for hours or just a few moments but He is to be the object of them all.   

I like to point out the obvious in this day and age because our holidays have increasingly become secular celebrations of general good tidings and well wishes that increasing fail to honor the Lord.   This is even more expressed in the anticipation of tomorrows holiday and how it will play out this evening.  

As solemn or relaxed as our Thanksgiving gathering may be tomorrow, for many the “true celebration” of Thanksgiving will be tonight as scores of people will be returning home and will be gathering with friends to catch up over mass quantities of alcohol or drugs before having to suffer through another forced family event.   The restrictive duty of honoring  father and mother or gathering with family close and not so close can cause us to really want to kick loose and the night before Thanksgiving can be one of the wildest nights of partying of the year.   Or at least it used to be in my pre Christ, pre-recovery experience.

Add to the contemplation of another repressive family gathering, the fact that many will be taking to the skies, the highways and byways to travel a considerable distance to arrive at their Thanksgiving destination,  and its no wonder people may want to blow off some steam tonight. 

So it is my prayer that the Lord protect all of us and that we allow Him to guide us in His ways and peace tonight. There is nothing wrong with meeting with friends this evening, but the emphasis should be placed on the joy of the gathering and the safety of ourselves and those we love; And let’s keep it real, in not doing anything that will cause us guilt, shame, pain, or regrets.   I wish I could say that hangovers were the only pain I experienced from Thanksgiving Eve’s of old so I speak from experience and what may seem like a good idea tonight may not look so good in the light of day on Thanksgiving morning.  Road rage, drunk drivers, shameful liaisons, and old vendettas reignited into verbal and physical altercations are all possible scenarios tonight, so let’s be careful out there.  

I am thankful to God for keeping me safe thus far and for leading me into a life that is guided by His light rather than my darkness.   So let me encourage you to either start or to continue to keep walking and talking with God. His way is the best way to live and placing your faith in Jesus Christ really is the only way to live, so put your trust in Him and follow Him to where He wants to take you.   When you walk in His light, it shines in your life.

The light reflected off of that house in today’s photo is shining as bright as the sun itself.  I had to look twice to realize that this wasn’t just a sunset photo. My wife captured a scene highlighting a reflection of the sun on the waters of Chaplain Canal off of a reflection of the sun on the windows of a house.  The sun is not even in this photo, just its reflection.  So just like today’s photo, let’s allow the Lord’s light in us shine for all the world to see this Thanksgiving by expressing wisdom, peace, and love.  

All these shining reflections, made me think of the Old Testament Prayer of Blessing in

Numbers 6:22-26 (NKJV) where
22  … the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:
23  "Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, 'This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them:
24  "The LORD bless you and keep you;
25  The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you;
26  The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace." '

 

And so it is my prayer that all who read or hear this message, have the Lord shine His face upon you and your families this Thanksgiving, and that you receive His grace and peace.  God bless you and keep you, Amen.

 

 

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

This morning’s meditation verses is:

Colossians 1:20-22 (NLT2)
20  and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.
21  This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions.
22  Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.

Today’s verses teach us that Christ reconciles us to God, no matter how far away we once were from God. We who because of our evil thoughts and actions were once His enemies, have been brought into His presence and have been made holy and blameless because of Jesus.    

I would say a parallel to these verses or a nice conclusion would be my life verse:

Romans 8:1 (NKJV) which says: 
1  There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus because we have been reconciled to the Father, because all our sins have been forgiven, and we have been made holy and blameless. We can walk in the Spirit because when we put our faith in Christ we were reconciled to God, and He gave us anew life and the indwelling Holy Spirit to keep us forever in His presence.  

That’s good news. And even though the holiday is tomorrow, we should be “Thanksgiving” to the Lord every single day, from here to eternity, for what He has done for us through Jesus Christ.  

This is life changing spectacular news that never gets old.  So if you get a few minutes of quiet time with a family member or friend who doesn’t know the Truth of Jesus or hasn’t fully realized who they are in Christ, take the time to tell them and to encourage them to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior or to claim the wonders of their new life by making the decision to follow Him,  in Spirit and in truth.

___________________________________________

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

Today we continue sharing from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s “Discipleship”, also known as “The Cost of Discipleship”

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase Bonhoeffer’s books for your own private study and to support his work.  This resource is available on many websites for less than $20.00.

The Sermon on the Mount

Matthew 7

The Community of Disciples Is Set Apart

The Conclusion

“ ‘Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!’

¶ “Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes” (Matt. 7:24–29).

We have heard the Sermon on the Mount; perhaps we have understood it. But who has heard it correctly? Jesus answers this question last. Jesus does not permit his listeners to simply walk away, making whatever they like of his discourse, extracting what seems to them to be useful in their lives, testing how this teaching compares to “reality.” Jesus does not deliver his word up to his listeners, so that it is misused in their rummaging hands. Instead, he gives it to them in a way that it alone retains power over them. From the human point of view there are countless possibilities of understanding and interpreting the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus knows only one possibility: simply go and obey. Do not interpret or apply, but do it and obey. That is the only way Jesus’ word is really heard. But again, doing something is not to be understood as an ideal possibility; instead, we are simply to begin acting.

This word, which I accept as valid for myself; this word, which arises from “I have known you,” which immediately draws me into acting, into obedience, is the rock on which I can build a house. This word of Jesus coming from eternity can only be answered by simply doing it. Jesus has spoken; the word is his; our part is to obey. The word of Jesus keeps its honor, its strength, and power among us only by our acting on it. Then a storm can sweep over the house, but it cannot tear apart the unity with Jesus created by his word.

The only thing which exists besides action is inaction. There is no such thing as intending to act and not doing it. Those who treat the word of Jesus any other way except by acting on it assert that Jesus is wrong; they say no to the Sermon on the Mount; they do not do his word. All our questions, complications, and interpretations are inaction. The rich young man and the scribe in Luke 10 are examples. I can insist on my faith and my fundamental recognition of this word as much as I want; Jesus calls it inaction. The word that I do not want to do is no rock for me on which I can build a house. I have no unity with Jesus. He has never known me. Hence, when the storm comes, I will lose the word quickly and I will learn that in truth I never really had faith. I did not have the word of Christ. Instead, I had a word I wrested away from him and made my own by reflecting on it, but not doing it. Then my house falls down with a great fall, because it does not rest on the word of Christ.

“And the crowds were astonished …” What had happened? The Son of God had spoken. He took the judgment of the world into his hands. And his disciples stood beside him.[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 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] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Discipleship, ed. Martin Kuske et al., trans. Barbara Green and Reinhard Krauss, vol. 4, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2003), 181–182.

Saturday, November 19, 2022

To Be With Jesus – The Chosen Season 3 Purity 893

 

To Be With Jesus – The Chosen Season 3  Purity 893         

Purity 893 11/19/2022 Purity 893 Podcast

Purity 893 on YouTube:  



Good morning,

Today’s photo of the silhouettes of an Autumn Stripped tree line against the backdrop of ethereal sunset sky comes to us from my beloved wife, TammyLyn Clark, who captured this heavenly scene back on November 11th when she decided to take her youngest children and our canine pal, Harley, to Hudson Crossing Park in Schuylerville for an impromptu walk.  When we get to see scenes like this, I think we get a small idea of the beauty of heaven, and it makes me yearn for the days when we get to see God’s kingdom and Jesus face to face.  

Well, it is the weekend, and it is my prayer that all who hear or see this message have a wonderful weekend and will consider my recommendation to go and see The Chosen, Season Three Episodes 1 & 2 in a theatre near you. 

The only thing I was disappointed in at last night’s viewing of The Chosen, Season 3’s premier was my decision to fall in my patterned behavior of getting that large popcorn and soda. I know “say it isn’t so….” As I have said in the past, there is grace for our weaknesses and ours is a walk of progress and not perfection. 

Paradoxically,  part of my failure in the decision to indulge in the popcorn and soda (zero sugar – okay) was the result of a decision to get serious about my health goal. Say what?   

Yesterday, I was either the victim of click bait or genuinely resolved to get help by seeking the advice of experts in the field of fitness, as I purchased a fitness plan that is bold in its claims to help people transform their bodies.

After the bliss of my courtship and wedding to TammyLyn, I had let my health goal slip in 2022 but recently made steps to right the ship and have made progress. But after Halloween’s Harvest Fest candy indulgences and other slips, I have seen my progress stall.  Mercifully, I have more or less plateaued, with only gaining a pound or two back from my recent progress to reclaim the ground I had lost. So with the knowledge that I had to do something to start heading in the right direction again, I was open to suggestions. 

So I signed up for V-Shred, yup the “swipe up and take my fitness quiz”-guy, Vince Sant, that you have most likely seen on YouTube or Instagram plugging his Fat Loss Extreme Program.  So I intend to change my normal workout routine on Monday and trust this program and my personal trainer’s recommendations to “get shredded” or at least get headed in the right direction to accomplish my health goal of being in the normal BMI range for my height. 

So last night due to the excitement of going out on a Friday night, and like the alcoholic who gets drunk one last time before going to rehab, I gave into my patterned behavior of getting a large popcorn and soda, and of course had to get the refills, AND also got Cookie Dough Pieces! So, I look forward to my first V-Shred workouts Monday morning so I can atone for this latest failure.  

But, hey, speaking of atonement, I have been forgiven, right? Because of Jesus Christ, I have been forgiven of all my sins and have been delivered from condemnation, so I acknowledge my weaknesses, am seeking help and accountability, and will not beat myself up about failure 1,999.643 or whatever number this one was, and instead will repent and will press into my health goal with a new resolve on Monday.  

And that’s something I think that we should all remember,  just because we fail in achieving our goals in life doesn’t mean we should just abandon them.

This is a tough thing to discern of course because sometimes our goals can seem unrealistic, or they may indeed be impossible, and sometimes we have to give them up.

But in this area, our physical health, I believe that the Lord would encourage us to seek to be good steward of our bodies, the temples of the Holy Spirit, and would prefer that we didn’t suffer because our lack of discipline.

Gluttony is not a virtue and Obesity is its bad fruit.  Scripture doesn’t have good things to say about gluttony and there are verses to tell us to take care of our bodies. If you don’t believe me or need some verses to build a stronghold buster for you health goal, I am including links to openbible.ifo’s 100 Bible verses about gluttony (https://www.openbible.info/topics/gluttony)   and physical fitness (https://www.openbible.info/topics/physical_fitness) on the blog today.  

You see my health goal is not about vanity. I’m not looking to impress other people; I’m looking to be as healthy as I can be as I move into the last years of my life because I want to live as I can to continue to encourage other people to see what the Lord can do with your life when you follow Him. And in this latest chapter of the battle of the bulge, which has admittedly been a lifelong struggle, I hope to utilize the self-control that the Holy Spirit has brought to my life to accomplish what just about everyone says is impossible: to be a healthy, or “normal”, weight; to be strong, in the body as well as in the mind and spirit.

Guys like Vince Sant know that, with proper diet, exercise, motivation, and discipline people can transform their bodies to be healthy.  So why not me?  I have already made great strides in my physical health so why not keep going until “it is finished”?  I have already renewed my mind about my eating habits and altered my diet to have success, so why not be focused to strengthen my body and further undo the excesses of the past?  That’s what I hope to do, and I know that the Lord will be with me.  

And speaking of the Lord being with me, I have to tell you that the first two episodes of The Chosen Season Three were fantastic!  I won’t give you any spoilers, but I positively loved the interactions of Christ and His Apostles and the supporting characters in these first two episodes.  Forgiveness, the determination of Discipleship and the acceptance of some hard truths were major themes in last night’s drama, and they cause me to appreciate The Chosen with new zeal.  

Previously, I watched the show with a love/hate mentality born from my love for the Bible and the Lord. The Chosen builds a drama based on scripture and sometimes I have liked what they have done and other times I have cringed over certain moments where I thought their artistic license went too far, didn’t go far enough, or took me in a direction I didn’t expect. Admittedly, I still carry a bit of theological baggage from my long road to freedom in Christ, and sometimes my objections are born more from my personal history than what the creators of The Chosen have done.  I have issues… 

But, except for a couple of minor moments of critical scrutiny in the beginning moments of last night’s premiere, I didn’t have any issues with what the creators of The Chosen did with episodes one and two of Season 3.   Quite the contrary, I was moved to tears more than once at the unfolding drama. I was particularly moved by a realization that I, like the Apostles, would one day SEE JESUS, and just that simple thought set my heart ablaze with love and a yearning to continue to be faithful to follow Him, as I had the absurd but accurate thought that “Jesus was a really cool guy.”   

Please don’t misunderstand me. I don’t mean any disrespect by that statement. I have deep love, awe and reverence for Jesus and understand that He is fully God and Man, but The Chosen gives us an opportunity to imagine what it would be like to be with Him, to be in His physical presence, to talk with Him face to face, and to hear His voice. 

I think as Christians, we don’t think about Jesus as a Man that we could hang out with and The Chosen Season Three episodes one and two made me desire the contact that the Apostles enjoyed.  

So as we keep stumbling along in life, don’t give up on your dreams and don’t forget that Jesus walked on this earth and showed His love to others personally and as strange as it may sound He knows us and one day we will see Him. 

 

 

 

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

This morning’s meditation verse are:

Romans 6:6-8 (NLT2)
6  We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.
7  For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.
8  And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him.

Today’s verses remind us that when we put our faith in Him, we died with Christ and were free from the power of sin, and now live with Him.  

When we know that Christ is for us, it doesn’t matter who comes against us. 

In terms of Spiritual warfare, when our Big Brother, Jesus, is with us, we receive all His power and Authority to cast out the spiritual forces of darkness.   We can utilize his authority to set ourselves and others free from demonic oppression.  

And in today’s verse, Paul reminds us that Christ also gives us power to say no to our personal demons of temptation and sin but the key point that Paul makes here is that we live with Christ, that we follow Him.  

If we just continue in our worldly ways, resting on the forgiveness we have received, we may be relieved and find comfort from knowing God won’t hold our sins against us.   But that doesn’t make us free.  And even worse, our continued sins will cause disharmony in our relationship with God as we will persist in living against His word and apart from His wisdom. When we willfully persist in sin, we deny our identity in Christ and reject the truth of what God has done in our lives.  

Through Christ we have been made new creations, but when we choose to sin we deny that we have been made new and our decisions reveal that we either don’t believe that God’s ways are best or that we have not een given the power that the word of God tells us we have.  

“You are always going to sin!” is a phrase that is true, but the Lord gives us power to decrease the number and to change the quality of our sins if we ask the Lord for the ability to repent and to overcome the sins that beset us.   You might need the help of others. You need to renew you mind with the word of God.   And you might need to try, try, try again but if we lean on the Lord’s strength and power, we can make a change. We may never be sin ess, but we can sin less, and the quality of our sins can change.

But first we need to believe it. Believe these verses, have faith in the word, and show your faith by demonstrating you believe with the way you live.  Victory, peace, and joy come from living with Christ, so never leave His side.

 

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

Today we continue sharing from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s “Discipleship”, also known as “The Cost of Discipleship”

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase Bonhoeffer’s books for your own private study and to support his work.  This resource is available on many websites for less than $20.00.

The Sermon on the Mount

Matthew 7

The Community of Disciples Is Set Apart

The Great Separation

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

¶ “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits.

¶ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evil-doers’ ” (Matt. 7:13–23).

The faith-community of Jesus cannot arbitrarily separate itself from the community of those who do not hear Jesus’ call. The faith community is called to discipleship by their Lord’s promise and commandment. That must suffice for them. They submit every judgment and separation to the one who has chosen them in predestination, not by the merits of their deeds, but by grace. It is not the faith community which separates itself from others, yet this separation necessarily takes place in the call by the Word.

The call separates a small group, those who follow, from the great mass of the people. The disciples are few and will always be only a few. This word of Jesus cuts off any false hope of their effectiveness. Disciples should never invest their trust in numbers. “There are few of them …,” but there are, and always will be, many others who go to their destruction. What can console disciples experiencing this, except the fact that life is promised to them, the eternal communion with Jesus?[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 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] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Discipleship, ed. Martin Kuske et al., trans. Barbara Green and Reinhard Krauss, vol. 4, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2003), 175–176.