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

 

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

Purity 991 03/15/2023 Purity 991 Podcast

Purity 991 on YouTube: 

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

Good morning,

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

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

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

So in terms of the latest winter occurrence of snow I say “This too shall pass”, and speaking of “passing” another day of Lent is upon us, so let us turn back to, or spring ahead to our current series as we enter into Day 19 of the 40 Day Journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer

As a reminder, and as we will say each day of this journey, we take this path to mark the season of Lent and to draw closer to God in anticipation for the celebration of Easter, knowing that if we take this journey of repentance seriously, we will not only see the days and seasons change, the Lord will use it to change us too. 

You can sign up to get this devotional yourself by going to the Biblegateway link on the blog ((https://www.biblegateway.com/devotionals/40-Day-Journey-Dietrich-Bonhoeffer/today)) . 

Day 19

Bonhoeffer writes:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Biblical Wisdom

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

Questions to Ponder

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

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

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

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

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

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

Psalm Fragment

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

Journal Reflections

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

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

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

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

Intercessions

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

M.T. Clark: Lord,

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

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Prayer for Today

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

M.T. Clark: In Jesus Name, I pray, Amen.

 

(40-Day Journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Copyright © 2007 Augsburg Books, imprint of Augsburg Fortress.)

***As we are being provided with Bible verses from the 40 Day Journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, we will are taking a break from sharing a verse of the day from “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”. We plan on resuming that normal installment of the blog following Easter.*** 

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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 A.W. Pink’s “The Sovereignty of God.”

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

THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD

By  ARTHUR W. PINK

CHAPTER NINE

GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY AND PRAYER concludes

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship

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^[1] Arthur W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God (Swengel, PA: Bible Truth Depot, 1949), 187–188.

Alarm Clocks, A Sovereign God, and the Power of Perspective and Practice- Purity 927

Alarm Clocks, A Sovereign God, and the Power of Perspective and Practice-   Purity 927

Purity 927 12/29/2022 Purity 927 Podcast

Purity 927 on YouTube: 

Not sure why YouTube set things upside down! 

Good morning,

Today’s photo of a headlight illuminated highway pathway that runs alongside the silhouette of trees, while moving towards a cross like shadow of a utility pole with the outline of the Castleton on the Hudson Bridge in the distance, comes to us from yours truly as I captured this scene during my commute home from work back on December 12^th.  I took a bunch of shots during that drive and am not really sure of what to do with them. Some are better than others, some are blurry, but all of them capture the magic of twilight time and each document another step in the journey of one man’s simple drive home from work that testifies to the continuous beauty and mystery of our lives.  

Well, It’s Thursday and as is my old habit I am sharing this photo that features a pathway of sorts to encourage all who read or hear this message to get on our stay on the path of Christian Discipleship: to discover who you are in Christ, to experience your freedom in Christ, and to seek the Lord and to pursue the purpose that He has for your life.  

However, while I do wholeheartedly make this recommendation and believe that it’s pursuit is God’s purpose for all of our lives, I have to warn you that it comes with a cost and it is a path that is meant to be travelled continuously, meaning that it is a path that you must choose for yourself, because of the cost, but it is a path that once chosen should not be forsaken.   Verses like

Hebrews 6:4-8 (NKJV) indicate that we may not be able to come back to faith if we walk away, the text says
⁴  For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit,
⁵  and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,
⁶  if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.
⁷  For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God;
⁸  but if it bears thorns and briars, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.

This parallels the “sowing of the seed parable” where Jesus in explaining the parable to His disciples indicates that some receive the word but “become unfruitful”:

In Matthew 13:20-22 (NKJV), Jesus says:  
²⁰  But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;
²¹  yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.
²²  Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.

So does our “falling away” of “stumbling”, lead to destruction or just an unfruitful testimony?  Christ’s teachings even warn us about maintaining our freedom and victory over the spiritual forces of darkness.  Describing a unclean spirit that has been cast out, Christ taught:

In Matthew 12:43-45 (NKJV) that  
⁴³  "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.
⁴⁴  Then he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order.
⁴⁵  Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation."

When I taught at and later led Celebrate Freedom, a Christian recovery ministry, I would use these verses to warn about “giving into the demons of temptation” and falling into relapse and sin, and pointed to the fact that addicts often fall lower or harder, and sometimes into an early death, when they try to recover and then relapse.   The state of a person who once decided to walk with God but then for whatever reason decides to not follow or not believe in the Lord always seems to be worse. Instead of “finding their freedom again”, when people walk away from God they often go further into their former darkness, bondage, or hopelessness and sometimes with immediate tragic results.  

Ask me how I know…   

Well, I have seen it time and time again in others as my progressive walk of discipleship has seen many traveling companions come to a certain point where they decided to abandon their faith walk for other worldly pursuits, to remain in their spiritual infancy, or to go running back to their sin, or just to walk away without ceremony. I never thought I would get “ghosted” by someone who was supposedly walking in the Spirit but it happens.

Some of these “ghosts” actually go into eternity as victims of their poor choices and others remain a mystery.  In some cases, I honestly don’t know if these people who I had seen experience a measure of freedom or victory in their lives have gone on to enjoy it or if they doubted and went back to their lives of quiet desperation of depression and addiction or were revisited by their demonic “friends in low places” and are currently afflicted with condemnation and oppression. 

This is why Christ emphasized obedience and endurance to His disciples.  The Apostle Paul doesn’t encourage the church to seek out their salvation with fear and trembling or warn us to put on the full armor of God because we are safe. Our faith will be tested and only those who endure and decide to follow the Lord in Spirit and in truth on a continual basis will have the assurance that they will be “in that number, when the saints go marching in” to God’s kingdom.  

Our faith is to be practiced as well as preached and it is a journey of constant adjustments as the Lord will continually reveal to us the errors of our ways and the things that He would have us do.    It is a journey of both correction and accomplishment. The Lord has things for us to fix and He has things for us to build.  

When we seek the Lord and His will for our lives, our personal lives change and the direction we follow takes us ever towards Him and His purpose for our lives.  

Of course we don’t do this perfectly, and that’s okay, when we put our faith in Jesus, we have already been forgiven of everything we will ever do and are accepted into God’s kingdom.  Our journey is not about perfection, it’s about being faithful to the calling and about learning from our mistakes, it’s about experiencing peace and joy while we make progress.    

This morning I awoke from a “work anxiety” dream.  Although I am on vacation until January 4^th, I was back at work early this morning in my dreams. Nothing horrific mind you, but the dream of me at work was anxious because I was given a task that I wasn’t going to complete and would have to refer to someone else, but in the dream I desperately “wanted to do a good job” and I was struggling with the fact that I wasn’t going to “get ‘er done”.   Even after I woke up from the dream, I was considering other possible solutions to the problem at hand, that didn’t exist.  

After putting the brakes on my thoughts of problem solving, I wondered just how long it would be before my alarm would go off. You know how this is right?

Quite often I awaken anywhere from 30 to 15 minutes before the alarm goes off and spend that time trying get those last few minutes of sleep, with or without success.  But this morning, I got the feeling that something was wrong and rather than trying to go back to sleep I checked my phone/alarm clock to discover I never set the alarm and was 2 hours past when I normally would get up. 

So all my plans for my normal morning routine have been altered.  I had plans to work out before Bible study, prayer, and blogging and was upset for a few moments before I “practiced” my faith.  

Just like a karate expert who knows how to defend himself from enemy attacks, I went into action by combatting the reactivity and beginnings of condemnation with a one two punch of the truth.  

I am on vacation, I can do whatever I want, in the order I want, any time today.  

I can work out later.  I can take a “rest day”. 

As for my spiritual practices, they are somewhat non-negotiable but because I am not a perfect person who has made similar mistakes in the past or been distracted and not managed my time wisely at all times, I knew that it wasn’t the end of the world and I would do what I could, because I know from my previous experiences at being less than perfect that “we can only do what we can do”.    

So although I felt the urgency to start blogging, I decided that my Bible Study had to come first.  There is nothing like the word of God to cool your jets and to make you realize what is important.  When you read the word, you can rest assured that no matter what else transpires that day, at least you did something of value and usually it will help us to remind us that as compelling as this world and our problems can be there is a Sovereign God above it all who has called us to be at peace with Him and He knows how everything will turn out.  

So was my forgetting to set my alarm on my phone God’s will?  

Well, it happened, so if nothing else it was “allowed” and who knows maybe it was intended to disrupt my regular routine… maybe He wanted to get my attention, maybe He wanted to remind me that I am not perfect, that I am weak while He is strong…  or maybe this was just a lesson to myself to be diligent to set the alarm!  

Well, I’m not sure about that stuff but as I “practiced” shifting my perspective and prioritizing my tasks I experienced the peace that comes from knowing that I am already accepted by God, I am positively blessed with where I am right now in life, I have an incredible past to marvel over, and I anticipate more of God’s wonder sand love in the days ahead.  

My morning Bible study was in Jerimiah 5 and 2 Kings 22 which just so happen to teach about harsh warnings to follow the Lord and rediscovering faith. They taught that there are negative consequences for those who don’t follow the Lord and that, for some, it is not too late to rediscover the word of God and to be blessed by the Lord when we answer His call to repentance.   

It's the end of the year, and I noticed once again, (has it always been this way?), the messages of mourning the “very bad” year we have had and other messages that are welcoming 2023 with fear, suspicion, and trepidation.   

I have seen friends suffer loss this year so I get it, some of us are hurting and I suppose it is “compassionate” to share these well intentioned messages of doom and fear, but honestly because I have learned to walk in the Spirit and have learned to keep things in perspective, it positively puzzles me why the basic practices of gratitude and shifting our perspective to consider the plights of those even worse off than “lil’ of me” haven’t been widely disseminated to the masses.  

But then I remember, why the prophets of old, like Jerimiah, had to speak of impending judgement. People don’t believe in the Lord. People don’t follow the Lord. They don’t know if there is anything to believe in and they don’t know if there is anything beyond the circumstances of their immediate lives.  And they certainly don’t know about the mental, physical, and spiritual consequences for their decision to live independently form God.  

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and if we disregard what His word says and fail to believe and follow Him our lives will be a progression or tragedy and woe as we age and continue to lose the things of this world that passing away as we march ever closer to eternity.  Without an eternal perspective, we will lament over every bump in the road or negative circumstance that we suffer because we have chosen to worship our personal happiness and the things that we can manipulate to produce it.  

So forgive me for seeming harsh and suggesting that people “get over it” when I see these well intentioned but sorry laments over the “very bad year it has been”. 

From someone who has been through the crucible of a life lived in the errors of atheism, addiction, false worship, and sexual immorality and who has suffered the pain of loss of loved ones to death and from broken relationships and who has seen the national tragedies of 9/11 and the recent paradigm shifting world changing waves of a global pandemic,  I don’t see how 2022 was a particularly bad year. 

Of course, I understand the personal tragedies I have suffered didn’t fall within the last 365 days, but I would continue to object to any messages that would encourage people to focus on the pain of the year past and actuallyfear the new year, instead of a giving a message of hope that is based on the reality of God, His Creation, and His plan for humanity and that encourages us to consider others more than ourselves and to thank the Lord for all that He has done, even in the storms of life, and all that He will do in the future.  

Without God, life is a bitter shame. So if you have suffered and have had a bad year, let me encourage you to make Christ your Lord and Savior, or to recommit yourself to Him,  and make the decision to never walk alone again, to make to make the decision to keep on walking and talking with God, forever and always.   

There might be a cost for the new life in Christ but the dividends for investing yourself into His kingdom are the peace that goes beyond all understanding and joy that comes from knowing you are accepted, secure, and significant with God.

 

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Well, I’m short on time this morning because I overslept so I’m taking a vacation from sharing the “Bible Verse of the Day from the “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”, or  from the “Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling” By John G. Krus but I do encourage you to read the Bible every day, for yourself.

I am including a link to Ligonier Ministries: “Bible Reading Plans for 2023” ( https://www.ligonier.org/posts/bible-reading-plans?fbclid=IwAR0aVs0a31ebdwexS1-N9i-dwV5v45fVTH5zoKCHsnmCPJnDks9fY9AjWsQ) as an encouragement to read the word this year - to have a plan, if you need one, to draw close to God through His word to experience the power that He wants to unleash into your life.  

___________________________________________

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

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

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

The Church of Jesus Christ and Discipleship

 

Chapter Thirteen

The Image of Christ, concludes

The form of Christ on earth is the form of the death [Todesgestalt] of the crucified one. The image of God is the image of Jesus Christ on the cross. It is into this image that the disciple’s life must be transformed. It is a life in the image and likeness of Christ’s death (Phil. 3:10; Rom. 6:4f.). It is a crucified life (Gal. 2:19). In baptism Christ engraves the form of death on his own. Having died to the flesh and to sin, Christians are now dead to this world, and the world is dead for them (Gal. 6:14). Those who live out of their baptism live out of their death. Christ marks the life of his own with their daily dying in the struggle of the spirit against the flesh, and with their daily suffering the pains of death which the devil inflicts on Christians. It is the suffering of none other than Jesus Christ that all of his disciples on earth have to endure. Christ honors only a few of his followers with being in the most intimate community with his suffering, that is, with martyrdom. It is here that the life of the disciple is most profoundly identical with the likeness of Jesus Christ’s form of death.

¶ It is by Christians’ being publicly disgraced, having to suffer and being put to death for the sake of Christ, that Christ himself attains visible form within his community. However, from baptism all the way to martyrdom, it is the same suffering and the same death. It is the new creation of the image of God through the crucified one.

All those who remain in community with the incarnate and crucified one and in whom he gained his form will also become like the glorified and risen one. “We will bear the image of the heavenly human being” (1 Cor. 15:49). “We will be like him, for we will behold him as he is” (1 John 3:2). The image of the risen one will transform those who look at it in the same way as the image of the crucified one. Those who behold Christ are being drawn into Christ’s image, changed into the likeness of Christ’s form. Indeed, they become mirrors of the divine image. Already on this earth we will reflect the glory of Jesus Christ. The brilliant light and the life of the risen one will already shine forth from the form of death of the crucified one in which we live, in the form of sorrow and cross. The transformation into the divine image will become ever more profound, and the image of Christ in us will continue to increase in clarity. This is a progression in us from one level of understanding to another and from one degree of clarity to another, toward an ever-increasing perfection in the form of likeness to the image of the Son of God. “And all of us, who with unveiled faces let the glory of the Lord be reflected in us, are thereby transformed into his image from glory to glory” (2 Cor. 3:18).

This is the indwelling of Jesus Christ in our hearts. The life of Jesus Christ here on earth has not yet concluded. Christ continues to live it in the lives of his followers. To describe this reality we must not speak about our Christian life but about the true life of Jesus Christ in us. “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). The incarnate, crucified, and transfigured one has entered into me and lives my life. “Christ is my life” (Phil. 1:21). But together with Christ, the Father also dwells in me; and both Father and Son dwell in me through the Holy Spirit. It is indeed the holy Trinity who dwells within Christians, who permeates them and changes them into the very image of the triune God. The incarnate, the crucified, and the transfigured Christ takes on form in individuals because they are members of his body, the church. The church bears the incarnate, crucified, and risen form of Jesus Christ. The church is, first of all, Christ’s image (Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10), and through the church so too are all its members the image of Christ. Within the body of Christ we have become “like Christ.”

It now becomes understandable that the New Testament calls us again and again to be “like Christ” (καθὼς Χριστός). We are to be like Christ because we have already been shaped into the image of Christ. Only because we bear Christ’s image already can Christ be the “example” whom we follow. Only because he himself already lives his true life in us can we “walk just as he walked” (1 John 2:6), “act as he acted” (John 13:15), “love as he loved” (Eph. 5:2; John 13:34; 15:12), “forgive as he forgave” (Col. 3:13), “have the same mind that was in Jesus Christ” (Phil. 2:5), follow the example he left for us (1 Peter 2:21), and lose our lives for the sake of our brothers and sisters, just as he lost his life for our sake (1 John 3:16). Only because he was as we are can we be as he was. Only because we already are made like him can we be “like Christ.” Since we have been formed in the image of Christ, we can live following his example. On this basis, we are now actually able to do those deeds, and in the simplicity of discipleship, to live life in the likeness of Christ. Here simple obedience to the word takes place. I no longer cast even a single glance on my own life, on the new image I bear. For in the same moment that I would desire to see it, I would lose it. For it is, of course, merely the mirror reflection of the image of Jesus Christ upon which I look without ceasing. The followers look only to the one whom they follow. But now the final word about those who as disciples bear the image of the incarnate, crucified, and risen Jesus Christ, and who have been transformed into the image of God, is that they are called to be “imitators of God.” The follower [Nachfolger] of Jesus is the imitator [Nachahmer] of God. “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children” (Eph. 5:1).^[1]

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

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

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

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

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

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

My wife, TammyLyn, also offers Christian encouragement via her 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

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^[1] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Discipleship, ed. Martin Kuske et al., trans. Barbara Green and Reinhard Krauss, vol. 4, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2003), 285–288.

The End of a Season - Purity 926

The End of a Season -   Purity 926

Purity 926 12/28/2022 Purity 926 Podcast

Purity 926 on YouTube: 

Good morning,

Today’s photo of sunset from the shores of Oak Island North Carolina comes to us from a friend who made a post-Christmas exodus from the chilly weather in upstate New York with his family and shared this view yesterday reiterate his previous message that he is “loving beach life.” 

As one of the “frozen chosen” who has been left behind and is looking forward to high temperatures in the 40’s today, I will choose to share in my friend’s joy because I know he is a faithful man of God and has earned his moments in the sun.  If he should happen to see this, I wish him a belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. 

Well, it’s Wednesday again and just like that my “staycation” at my countryside home in  chilly yet beautiful Easton NY has quickly reached it’s summit as today will be my 6^th day off with 6^th days off remaining.  Even though somewhere today I will pass the midway point of my vacation, I won’t count the hours and minutes but will seek to enjoy them all in the moment.  And quite frankly, the prospect of going back to work doesn’t really depress me or give me anxiety.  I am content with my life and realize that it is defined by various times and seasons, 

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (NKJV) tells us
¹  To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:
²  A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted;
³  A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up;
⁴  A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance;
⁵  A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;
⁶  A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away;
⁷  A time to tear, And a time to sew; A time to keep silence, And a time to speak;
⁸  A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace.

So right now, while on vacation in the company of my wife, it is officially a time to love, a time of peace, a time to embrace, a time to laugh, and perhaps a time to heal.  

After Christmas, I have been getting my fair share of rest. I have spent my days reading, spending time with TammyLyn, taking the dog for brisk walks down Waite Rd, listening to “The Insanity of God”, and sleeping! Apparently, I owe the Sand Man quite a debt and he has been collecting as I have found that “naps happen” somewhat frequently here out in the country.   But that’s a good thing, after another adventurous year of walking in the Spirit I believe this week is a great time to decide what to “keep” and what to “throw away” as well.   

That’s the thing about our “faith walk” on the path of Christian Discipleship, the further we go the more we leave behind what was once familiar as we progress into the “new things” that God has for us in our new lives.  

A couple of times this year I made decisions with my time and finances that seemed appropriate at the time but have either proven to be a waste of my resources or as a final confirmation that “those days” are over. The decisions I made were based on who I once was and proved to be foolish because the things I invested in appear to be less and less a part of where I am going.  

One silly example of this is watching NFL football games.  Earlier in the year I purchased a streaming subscription so I could watch the NFL where ever I was but I failed to remember just how much of the NFL I watched last year.  I barely watched any games last year. Since giving up drinking and gambling years ago, and since increasingly growing in my faith, I have become less and less interested in “who wins the game”.  While the sports action can be exciting at times, I discovered that I don’t really care anymore and the games take too long.  I still take a look at the scores out of curiosity but this season, I have watched even less football this season as I did last year. So the money spent on the subscription service was a waste, I guess.  But at the same time I think it’s good that I spent it, this last season I swear, because the flesh, the world and the devil love to tempt and accuse us with the things we abstain from.   

Whenever a Christian tells others that they don’t do a certain activity, whatever it is, this world of the flesh and the devil, likes to accuse our faith and our God of being a kill joy or as someone who limits our freedom.  

When I have admitted that I choose other leisurely pursuits rather than watching football, my NFL watching friends seem to either seem to be mildly annoyed or saddened that I no longer am a rabid football fan and don’t even know who is coaching or quarterbacking the teams anymore or have any idea about what is happening in the world of football.   I believe they suspect that my faith has “stolen my freedom” but from my point a view,  I remember the emotional ups and downs and hours upon hours spent in front of the television getting excited or upset over a game and know that I have been set free of that circumstantial reactivity and the “need to feed” on hours of sports programming.  

Don’t get me wrong, to each their own. There is nothing wrong with the game itself but there is quite a bit wrong with the things that surround the game, like substance abuse and gambling, and the swinging moods of those who are emotionally subject to its outcomes. But if that’s not you, enjoy your game.  

But as for me, while I may have access to some sports programming due to the streaming subscriptions that I have, I won’t be purchasing sports exclusive content, I just don’t watch enough anymore to justify the expense. So that’s one thing we are going to “throw away” this year.  

For me the end of the year has always been a time of repentance and reflection, what to keep, what to throw away, and what to be healed from.  

Philippians 4:8-9 (NKJV) encourages us -
⁸  Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things.
⁹  The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.  

I think the key here in Paul’s letter to the Phillipians is verse 9.  While we could make a case for many things of this world to be somewhat  “true” “noble”, “just” and etc., we want to follow what Christ and His apostles DID.  The peace of God that we want to be with us is contingent on learning from what we have received and heard from Jesus and the word of God and DOING it. 

These things include meditating on the word of God, praying, giving thanks, rejoicing, and doing the good works that God has prepared for us to walk into.   These are the activities of walking in the Spirit and this is where we grow. 

Sports trivia and the thrills of victory and the agony of defeat that we vicariously receive from talented athletes can teach us some things but their value is limited.

However, the things of God infuse the fruit of the spirit into our lives and prepare us for our future in His kingdom.  Our peace comes from knowing Him and being in His presence and knowing that we are investing our lives in something that matters, something that will last forever.

So as we go over the last “hump” of 2022, let’s remember the things that gave us peace and joy this year and reflect on the things that we should just throw away.  Every day is a new day and the days we spend pursuing the Lord and His will for our lives are days well spent.  Time in His presence gives us peace, right now, and prepares us for the days ahead.  So keep walking and talking with God and walk into the New Year with the commitment to learn from the years past and to go further down the path that He has for us.

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I’m taking a vacation from sharing the “Bible Verse of the Day from the “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”, again, well frankly because I think I left that book back at Riverhouse! But I did grab the “Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling” By John G. Krus and will share the second Bible verse listed, right in the introduction, to impress upon you the importance of reading God’s word: 

Hebrews 4:12 (NKJV)
¹²  For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Today’s verse tells us that the word of God is LIVING! And POWERFUL! And cuts us to the bone!  That division between the “soul” and “spirit” is supposed to separate us from our “soulish” darkness and convict us to live in the spirit.  

When we study the word, agree with it, and apply it to our lives by the way we live, that we obey it experientially – that’s when we understand it’s POWER – the power to redirect our lives and to transform us into the people God created us to be.   

I don’t want to sound quasi-mystical here, but the process of reading the word of God, when done in spirit and in truth, with a humble attitude of surrender to it’s authority, is a conversation with God. He is speaking to us from His word and when we listen to it and obey it, it reveals to us what needs to change and it demonstrates that God knows our thoughts and the intentions of our hearts.  When we read the word of God, we discover that God is reading us!

So, just as we pointed out in the first part of todays message, let’s learn from what we have received –  God’s word-  and let’s put it into practice.   

But first let’s read it, so we can know, for ourselves, what the word actually says.  

I am including a link to Ligonier Ministries: “Bible Reading Plans for 2023” ( https://www.ligonier.org/posts/bible-reading-plans?fbclid=IwAR0aVs0a31ebdwexS1-N9i-dwV5v45fVTH5zoKCHsnmCPJnDks9fY9AjWsQ) as an encouragement to read the word this year - to have a plan, if you need one, to draw close to God through His word to experience the power that He wants to unleash into your life.  

I also recommend getting Logos Bible software for your laptop, PC, tablet, or phone (https://www.logos.com/) .  There are free versions of the software available and it gives you a means to have the word of God with you no matter where you go.   Of course there are other Bible apps and actual paper copies of the Bible out there, I have all of the above, so how you get the word doesn’t matter as much as your commitment to seek the Lord in His word does.  

Hey it’s a new year in just a few days, so why not make a commitment to grow in the power that the living word of God can bring to your life?

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

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

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

The Church of Jesus Christ and Discipleship

 

Chapter Thirteen

The Image of Christ, continues

Since fallen human beings cannot recover and assume the form of God, there is only one way to find help. It is none other than God, who assumes human form and comes to us. The Son of God who, in the form of God, lived with the Father, empties himself of this divine form and comes to human beings in the form of a servant (Phil. 2:5ff.). Changing one’s form, something which was not possible for human beings, now takes place within God. God’s own image, which had remained with God through eternity, now assumes the image of the fallen, sinful human being. God sends the divine Son in the likeness of sinful flesh (Rom. 8:2f.).

God sends God’s Son—that is the only way to find help. Neither a new idea nor a better religion would suffice to accomplish this goal. A human being comes to us human beings. Every human being bears an image. Our bodies and lives manifest themselves visibly. As a human being we are not merely word, thought, or will. Rather, before and in all of these, we are a human being, a form, an image, a brother or sister. A human being thus develops not only a new way of thinking, willing, and doing things, but a new image, a new form. In Jesus Christ, God’s own image has come into our midst in the form of our lost human life, in the likeness of sinful flesh. God’s own image becomes revealed in Jesus’ teaching and in his deeds, in his life and in his death. In him God has created anew the divine image on earth. The incarnation, Jesus’ word and deed, and his death on the cross are integral elements of this image. It is an image different from the image of Adam in the original glory of paradise. It is the image of one who places himself in the very midst of the world of sin and death, who takes on the needs of human flesh, who humbly submits to God’s wrath and judgment over sinners, who remains obedient to God’s will in suffering and death; the one born in poverty, who befriended and sat at table to eat with tax collectors and sinners, and who, on the cross, was rejected and abandoned by God and human beings—this is God in human form, this is the human being who is the new image of God!

We know, however, that the marks of suffering, the wounds of the cross, have now become the signs of grace on the body of the risen and transfigured Christ; and we are aware that the image of the crucified will forever live in the glory of the eternal high priest, who in heaven intercedes for us before God.^[12] On Easter morning Jesus’ form of a servant was changed into a new body of heavenly form and radiance. But whoever, according to God’s promise, seeks to participate in the radiance and glory of Jesus must first be conformed to the image of the obedient, suffering servant of God on the cross. Whoever seeks to bear the transfigured image of Jesus must first have borne the image of the crucified one, defiled in the world. No one is able to recover the lost image of God unless they come to participate in the image of the incarnate and crucified Jesus Christ. It is with this image alone that God is well-pleased. Only those who allow themselves to be found before God in the likeness of this image live as those with whom God is well pleased.

To be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ is not an ideal of realizing some kind of similarity with Christ which we are asked to attain. It is not we who change ourselves into the image of God. Rather, it is the very image of God, the form of Christ, which seeks to take shape within us (Gal. 4:19). It is Christ’s own form which seeks to manifest itself in us. Christ does not cease working in us until he has changed us into Christ’s own image. Our goal is to be shaped into the entire form of the incarnate, the crucified, and the risen one.

Christ has taken on this human form. He became a human being like us. In his humanity and lowliness we recognize our own form. He became like human beings, so that we would be like him. In Christ’s incarnation all of humanity regains the dignity of bearing the image of God. Whoever from now on attacks the least of the people attacks Christ, who took on human form and who in himself has restored the image of God for all who bear a human countenance. In community with the incarnate one, we are once again given our true humanity. With it, we are delivered from the isolation caused by sin, and at the same time restored to the whole of humanity. Inasmuch as we participate in Christ, the incarnate one, we also have a part in all of humanity, which is borne by him. Since we know ourselves to be accepted and borne within the humanity of Jesus, our new humanity now also consists in bearing the troubles and the sins of all others. The incarnate one transforms his disciples into brothers and sisters of all human beings. The “philanthropy” (Titus 3:4) of God that became evident in the incarnation of Christ is the reason for Christians to love every human being on earth as a brother or sister. The form of the incarnate one transforms the church-community into the body of Christ upon which all of humanity’s sin and trouble fall, and by which alone these troubles and sins are borne.^[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)

“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

 

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^[1] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Discipleship, ed. Martin Kuske et al., trans. Barbara Green and Reinhard Krauss, vol. 4, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2003), 283–285.