The Victorious Cycle of Life in the Spirit - Purity 1191

The Victorious Cycle of Life in the Spirit  - Purity 1191

Purity 1191 11/06/2023 

Purity 1191 on YouTube: 

Good morning,

Today’s photo of the setting sun lighting up the sky over the Hudson River comes to us from yours truly as I captured this photo on the go while I was passing through Castleton on the Hudson on my way back to River House yesterday afternoon after a fabulous weekend with my wife, TammyLyn in the “real upstate NY” and points considerably further east and north in the Greem Mountains National Forest of Vermont.  

Well, It’s Monday, and if you guys somehow missed it – It’s November with a capital BURR – as any remnant of “Indian Summer”, or whatever it is okay to call the warmer days of Autumn, are gone.  I don’t mean to cause any anguish or dread but “Winter is coming” and even though it won’t be here officially until December 21^st, the cold temperatures and snow, yes snow, that fell in various places of both the “real” and “not real” upstate NY attest to the fact that we are on borrowed time in terms of assuming we can enjoy carefree outdoor excursions in pleasant or bearable temperatures or that our commutes to and fro will be similarly snow free.  

The wife and I do enjoy going out on short hikes to enjoy the beauty, silence, and stillness of God’s creation from time to time so because the weather was agreeable, we set out to the Lye Brook Falls Trailhead near Manchester Vermont to boldly go where we have never gone before to stretch our legs and to enjoy what the Lord has given us in His earth and in our marriage.   

I’m currently, without a doubt, in the best physical shape of my life and while I was “down for whatever” or at least I said I was in terms of going on a hike this weekend, I have to admit that when the Lye Brook Falls Trail was rocky and wet and seemed to be going up, and up, and up, I wondered just how long our hike was going to be! Two point three miles is not that long of a hike, but when you are going up its hard to gauge how far you have gone, and while the hike didn’t defeat me I have to admit that the physical stress of the hike made me determined to push on and “get there already!”   

That’s the thing about a journey, until you get there you really have no “experiential idea” of how close you are to the finish line.  And on Saturday, the trail was pretty well populated, and we encountered many people hiking out while we were hiking in.  There were so many people coming out that I was simultaneously encouraged because “If they could make it, I could make it” and discouraged “How far away is this place!”. After a while it was like, being at a circus with the clowns crammed in a car gag- how many people does this mountain have on it exactly?  And as the going got tough, I was almost tempted to ask one of them “How much further is it?” but I was worried that A. They would think less of me- “Struggling to get up the mountain, are we!?”  or B. Tell me what I didn’t want to know – “Oh man, there is a LONG WAY to go and if you are asking now, you might want to turn around and go back!”   

But I resisted the temptation to make inquiries and just pressed on until we finally reached the Falls at the end of the trail! After arriving I was able to relax and the way out was a whole lot easier than the way in, in part undoubtedly, because I had “been there and done that” or at least had gone that way once before.  

TammyLyn on the other hand, enjoyed the journey on the way in and well as on the way out, by taking her time and going at her own pace. She wasn’t very far behind me but was a long way ahead of me in appreciating the experience.   But that’s me and that’s her, the same but different. We both love the outdoors but – as a “man” maybe – I have to get to where I am going before I can relax – I’m destination-driven and after  a while of walking in the wilderness, “I’m like – okay – I get it – trees, forest, middle of now where – let’s go!” – Whereas my wifey, is taking pictures of mushrooms and rocks…. But we know each other and love one another and let each other go at their own pace.  We walk together but respect each other’s right to go their own way with the understanding that we never get too far away from one another. While I might push on ahead, I would always stop and wait to make sure TammyLyn was still with me. Although I may have stretched it a bit during this hike, I know that we are together no matter the distance. God brought us together and I won’t do anything to mess that up.  

Walking together does take some getting used to – with couples and with the Lord. As I have reflected on the relationship I have with God of walking in the Spirit – I have been challenged to not rush ahead and to stay in step with the Holy Spirit because I have learned I can “get there” sooner than God plans, and often get lost when I go my own way. But I have learned just how good it is in His company and am determined to never walk away from Him for too long.  

In reflecting on my walk in the Spirit, I felt moved to update my “virtuous cycle” model for walking in the Spirit – to visually represent the Holy Spirit and God’s love – and the love of self and others – to better define the walk that brings us to love God, know and love who we are in Christ, and causes us to change the way we live and love others.  

Here’s the original Virtuous Cycle:

 

And Here’s the new and improved “Victorious Cycle” :

 

The Holy Spirit comes to live in our hearts when we put our faith in Jesus. The Holy Spirit gives us God’s love and Truth, which should “illuminate us” – giving us spiritual life – and cause us to love God (1^st thing) – and then the truth of who we are in Christ should cause us to know and love who we are in Christ (2^nd thing) and that love should cause us to live according to God’s truth, changing how we live and causing us to seek to show and share God’s love with others.  The hearts represent God’s love and how it expands outward. The arrows show that this is a continuous cycle of living, that never ends.  It’s a good place to be and stay – as God is at the center of it and the fruit of the Spirit would grow all around it!  

So, if you don’t know which way to go anymore and want a guide for your life that will fill your life with truth, love, and joy – make Jesus Christ the LORD and Savior of your life and follow where the Holy Spirit guides you. And no matter how difficult your path through life may get, just keep walking and talking with God and He will give you an amazing journey that never ends.

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

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

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

This morning’s meditation verse comes from the section on Children.

Acts 2:39 (NIV2011)
³⁹  The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

Today’s verse is the second of two scriptures that fall under the second point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Children.

 2. Children of believers belong to God and are in his covenant.

Today’s verse tells us that God’s promise is for everyone that the Lord calls to life through faith in Jesus.   The call is not for everyone – some won’t be moved to answer it- and so if we hear the Lord’s still quiet voice in our minds or our hearts to follow Him, we need to answer!  

And we need to encourage our children to do the same.  We need to live a Christian life to show them the power of God in the world of the living and to demonstrate that He is real and His good and His ways are wisdom, truth, and love.

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

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

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage you all to purchase A.W. Pink’s books for your own private study and to support his work.  This resource is available online for free as a PDF at many sites, but printed copies of collections of A.W. Pink’s books are available for purchase wherever Christian books are sold. 

The Arthur Pink Anthology – 2

Another Gospel – Part 4 of 5

One night to our joy, the one who had been preaching the Gospel (?) for several years, confessed that he had found Christ only the previous night. He acknowledged (to use his own words) that he had been presenting “the Christ ideal” but not the Christ of the Cross. The writer believes there are thousands like this preacher who, perhaps, have been brought up in Sunday School, taught about the birth, life, and teachings of Jesus Christ, who believe in the historicity of His person, who spasmodically endeavor to practice His precepts, and who think that that is all that is necessary for their salvation. Frequently, this class when they reach manhood go out into the world, encounter the attacks of atheists and infidels and are told that such a person as Jesus of Nazareth never lived. But the impressions of early days cannot be easily erased, and they remain steadfast in their declaration that they “believe in Jesus Christ.” Yet, when their faith is examined, only too often it is found that though they believe many things about Jesus Christ they do not really believe in him. They believe with the head that such a person lived (and, because they believe this imagine that therefore they are saved), but they have never thrown down the weapons of their warfare against Him, yielded themselves to Him, nor truly believed with their heart in Him.

The bare acceptance of an orthodox doctrine about the person of Christ without the heart being won by Him and the life devoted to Him, is another phase of that way “which seemeth right unto a man” but the end thereof are “the ways of death.” A mere intellectual assent to the reality of Christ’s person, and which goes no further, is another phase of the way which “seemeth right unto a man” but of which the end thereof “are the ways of death,” or, in other words, is another aspect of the gospel of Satan.

And now, where do you stand? Are you in the way which “seemeth right,” but which ends in death; or, are you in the Narrow Way which leadeth unto life? Have you truly forsaken the Broad Road which leadeth to death? Has the love of Christ created in your heart a hatred and horror of all that is displeasing to Him? Are you desirous that he should “reign over” you? (Luke 19:14). Are you relying wholly on His righteousness and blood for your acceptance with God?

Those who are trusting to an outward form of godliness, such as baptism or “confirmation!” those who are religious because it is considered a mark of respectability; those who attend some Church or Chapel because it is the fashion to do so; and, those who unite with some Denomination because they suppose that such a step will enable them to become Christians, are in the way which “ends in death”—death spiritual and eternal. However pure our motives, however noble our intentions, however well-meaning our purposes, however sincere our endeavors, God will not acknowledge us as His sons, until we accept His Son.^[1]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship

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^[1] Arthur Walkington Pink, The Arthur Pink Anthology (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2005).

 

The Virtuous Cycle – Hearing and Doing God’s Word - Self-Deception Series 17 – Purity 1106

 The Virtuous Cycle – Hearing and Doing God’s Word - Self-Deception Series 17 – Purity 1106

Purity 1106 07/28/2023 Purity 1106 Podcast

Purity 1106 on YouTube: 

Good morning,

Today’s work of art comes to us from British artist, Sebastian Pether who painted this moonlit “River Scene” back in 1840.  A father of nine children, Pether’s life seems to be that of overeducated but underpaid artist who had a fair share of tragedy in his life, losing their children to consumption before his death at the relatively young age of 51,  due to an inflammatory attack.  But although he may not have prospered financially during his life, he has left behind a legacy of artistic beauty consisting of “firelights, moonlights, and sunsets”.  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastian_Pether).  

Well, It’s Friday, Thank You God, and as the sun sets on another work week and I contemplate that today’s artist was the same age as me when he died, I am thankful for the life God has given me and how He has guided me to discover how beautiful my life has been despite some extended periods spent in darkness. Just like Pether’s painting reveals how soft moonlight can highlight the beauty of a landscape, I have discovered that when you follow the Lord, His Light will shine even in the darkest hours of your life to reveal the beauty even in the midst of your pain.    

So I am rejoicing today because I am still alive, have found my freedom in Christ and will find myself a little “free-er” at the end of the workday because I am on vacation for two weeks! So praise the Lord for all that He has done and will do! Amen? Amen!

As I often recall my journey of faith over the last 13 years, I am continually reminded of the fact that I progressively learned more and more about the Lord from His word and developed the discipline of “taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” when I realized that: 

I was a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17) 

And there really was “no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.  (Romans 8:1).  

It took some renewing of the mind because of God’s word, but I came to understand that the things I thought about myself – that I was evil, cold-hearted, no good, bad, and maybe a little insane weren’t true about me anymore.  I had finally heard the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ and made Him my Lord and Savoir and when you do that you not only receive the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, but you also receive the righteousness of Christ (2 Cor 5:21) and a sound mind to boot (2 Tim 1:7)! 

I was made a brand-new creation by putting my faith in Jesus and what was true about me in the past was no longer true about me now. I was no longer dead in my trespasses and sins, and I was no longer a slave to sin but in order to experience my freedom in Christ – I had to believe it and live it.  And so the process of believing the truth about who I am in Christ and renouncing the lies of the world, the flesh, and the devil began, and it changed the way I thought, the way I felt, and the way I lived.   I had spent my life believing the lies of the world and finally the truth of God was setting me free, and it continues to transform my life and give me peace and joy!  

While I know I have been blessed, I also want to stress that I am “nothing special”. All I did was to believe the Lord and follow Him and I encourage others to do the same by putting your faith in Jesus and starting that process of renouncing the lies you have believed that has left you chained to sin and kept you from the peace that God has for you.

And that brings us to our current series on Self- Deception, where we have decided to investigate some of the ways we deceive ourselves by walking through Step 2, Deception Vs. Truth, of the Steps to Freedom in Christ to see what ways we may have been deceived by “the world” and ourselves and in what ways we have wrongly defended ourselves. 

So we present the first of the  “Ways to Deceive Yourself”:

1. Hearing God’s Word but not doing what it says.

The scripture reference for this point is:

James 1:22 (NLT2)
²²  But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.

 

Or as those familiar with the NKJV know:

James 1:22 (NKJV)
²²  But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

As we move into the section of the Steps to Freedom of Christ that really highlights self-deception,  I marvel over how common and accepted this first way we deceive ourselves is.    

When I lead people through the Steps, I refer to this one as the “free space on the Bingo card”  in the Steps to Freedom in Christ, because EVERYONE, if they are honest, has to admit that they hear God’s word but don’t do what it says.   

While this may seem like a “no brainer” – that of course – we all sin and fall short of the glory of God – and that none of us always does what God’s word says, all the time, perfectly, the big problem that plagues the body of Christ is just how complacent Christians can be regarding the fact that they hear the word of God and don’t do what it says.   Although obedience to God’s word can be difficult for sure, it doesn’t mean that we are to throw our hands in the air and declare that “it’s impossible” and choose to stop trying to grow in our sanctification.  

While we will never reach sinless perfection, it doesn’t mean that we can’t make progress becoming more and more life Jesus in our character. God has given us the power over sin, but we have to exercise it. God has given us the ability to do good works, pray, and renew our minds with His word, but we have to choose to and actually practice those things.  When we believe in the Lord and follow Him obediently we begin the ”virtuous cycle” which is centered on truth and surrounded with motivation, encouragement, confirmation, and good works.  

 

We first believe the truth.  That motivates us to do good works (like acts of kindness or service, or going to church, or reading our Bibles or praying) and this confirms to our hearts and minds that “Yes, I really am a Christian” and that confirmation encourages us to do learn more of God’s truth, to believe it and stand in it, which in turn motivates us to continue into more “good works” and to continue this life giving process of “Living in the Spirit”.   – which all amounts to “Hearing God’s word and doing what it says!” 

So hear that word, and do what it says, continually and progressively until you realize that you are living in the “virtuous cycle” that produces the fruit of the Spirit in your life.

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

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

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

This morning’s meditation verses come from the section on Affliction, Discipline, Chastisement, & Trials.

Psalm 119:67-68 (NASB)
⁶⁷  Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word.
⁶⁸  You are good and do good; Teach me Your statutes.

Today’s verses fall under the fifth point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Affliction, Discipline, Chastisement, & Trials

 5. “The psalmist was thankful for affliction for it taught him to keep God’s precepts. 

Today’s verses are actually the first of a trio of verse couplets from psalm 119 that our reference guide uses to illustrate this point but instead of sharing them all at once we will present them individually and see what the Lord leads us to reflect or meditate on over the next three days.   

Today’s verses testify that hard times – affliction – can really convict our hearts of how we have gone astray and create an opportunity to see how the Lord is good and to produce a desire to repent and learn from Him.  

I love Pastor Bob Costello’s testimony of when he first came to Christ.  His wife was a Christian, but Bob was still on the fence and pretty worldly but because He loved his wife and he agreed in principle that faith was a good thing, he begrudgingly agreed to go to a Christian retreat. At the retreat, Bob was directed to go into a room and to pray to God and to make a list of all the “good things” and all the “bad things” he had done in life.   Bob was able to make a long list of “bad things” he did in his life but when it came time to do the “good list” he couldn’t think of anything he did past the age of  13 that was particularly good. Bob had a hard life growing up in the streets of the Bronx and had learned to fight to survive and to get what he wanted but in that room he recalled how he hadn’t always been like that.  When he was young he was a “good kid” and as he struggled to think of anything good in his life, he lamented in his heart over how he had become “such a bum”.  Saddened by the loss of his innocence and the state of his life, Bob asked for the Lord’s forgiveness, surrendered to the Lordship of Christ, and asked God to help him to be “good again”.    The Lord’s presence filled that room and Bob was overcome by the joy of His salvation.  And although Bob had secretly planned to cut out early on that retreat before going in that room, afterwards He stayed and told everyone about how He met God.  

When Bob went back to work on Monday, his co-workers speculated that Bob must have had a wild weekend since he had given up working the overtime that had been available, but Bob repeated his confession of faith and told those who asked how he had “met God”. 

Later in the afternoon one of his work buddies came up to Bob and asked how he was feeling.  Bob reported that he was feeling great!   To which his friend said, “Oh good because there was a rumor going around the shop that you had a mental breakdown!” To which Bob explained how He had come to faith and that everyone should have what happened to him, happen to them.  

So yes, an honest examination of our lives of affliction can show us that God is good and lead us to surrender to Him and to experience the life He has for us and to continually seek to learn His wisdom.  

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

Today we continue sharing from  The Holy Spirit By A.W. Pink.

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage you all to purchase A.W. Pink’s books for your own private study and to support his work.  This resource is available online for $0.99 (https://www.amazon.com/Holy-Spirit-Arthur-Pink-Collection-ebook/dp/B008CM5292/ref=sr_1_3?crid=AHKAQOM39CTN&keywords=a.w.+pink+the+holy+spirit&qid=1684376225&sprefix=a.w.+pink+the+holy+spirit+%2Caps%2C96&sr=8-3) 

A.W. Pink’s The Holy Spirit

16 - The Spirit Working Faith

What Is “Saving Faith”

It is a great mistake to define Scriptural terms according to the narrow scope and meaning which they have in common speech. In ordinary conversation, “faith” signifies credence or the assent of the mind unto some testimony. But in God’s Word, so far from faith—saving faith, we mean—being merely a natural act of the mind, it includes the concurrence of the will and an action of the affections: it is “with the heart,” and not with the head, “that man believeth unto righteousness” (Rom. 10:10). Saving faith is a cordial approbation of Christ, an acceptance of Him in His entire character as Prophet, Priest, and King; it is entering into covenant with Him, receiving Him as Lord and Savior. When this is understood, it will appear to be a fit instrument for completing our union with Christ, for the union is thus formed by mutual consent.

Were people to perceive more clearly the implications and the precise character of saving faith, they would be the more readily convinced that it is “the gift of God,” an effect or fruit of the Spirit’s operations on the heart. Saving faith is a coming to Christ, and coming to Christ necessarily presupposes a forsaking of all that stands opposed to Him. It has been rightly said that, “true faith includes in it the renunciation of the flesh as well as the reception of the Savior; true faith admires the precepts of holiness as well as the glory of the Savior” (J. H. Thornwell, 1850). Not until these facts are recognized, enlarged upon, and emphasized by present-day preachers is there any real likelihood of the effectual exposure of the utter inadequacy of that natural “faith” which is all that thousands of empty professors possess.^[1]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

For those who require the assistance of a Deeper Walk International Prayer Minister to experience healing or your freedom in Christ, I highly recommend Christy Edge’s Life on the Edge Freedom Prayer Ministry. You can schedule a session by going to : https://cedge216.wixsite.com/life-on-the-edge     

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

Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship

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^[1] Arthur Walkington Pink, The Holy Spirit (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, n.d.).

For His Glory – Captives Set Free – Purity 674

 For His Glory – Captives Set Free – Purity 674

Purity 674 03/09/2022   Purity 674 Podcast

Good morning,

Today’s photo of a sky set ablaze by the setting sun comes to us from a friend who captured this sight somewhere near their home in upstate New York on Christmas Day of 2020.  

Well it’s Wednesday and as we seek to successfully transcend the midway point of the work week our thoughts this morning are on the goodness of God who has not only made things like a spectacular sunset possible but who also allows for His light to shine into people’s lives to drive away the darkness of the past.  

I was sort of at a loss of which photo to share today so I played “iPhone photo roulette” and just dialed it back, at first thinking to grab a photo from March a year ago but as nothing grabbed my attention I just kept going until I saw a few photos that highlighted this sunset that I saved to my phone on Christmas Day in 2020 and now my thoughts recall what was happening at that time.  

I know what you are probably thinking: “Oh 2020, here goes a Covid-19 report…” but as much as I could share a story about how Covid-19 impacted our Christmas that year, my thoughts are more on the here and now and how the things that I decided back then have played a part in the present.  

In November of 2020, I finished my master’s degree in Christian Counseling and immediately decided to become a Community Freedom Ministry Associate through Freedom in Christ Ministries’ CFMU, Community Freedom Ministry University. So no sooner did I finish one college program did I sign up to complete another.   

My exposure to Neil Anderson’s work and experiencing new levels of freedom after going through the Steps to Freedom in Christ inspired me to start a CFM at my local church and to hopefully lead others through the Steps. 

So in December of 2020, I was in the midst of completing my studies at CFMU and would eventually graduate, launch a CFM at my local church, and since then I have been called to facilitate a Men’s Freedom in Christ Course for Freedom in Christ Ministries’ Northeast Region online via Zoom.      

And last night I lead another man through the Steps to Freedom in Christ!

Did I know way back in December of 2020 of all the things that God would do in my life in a couple of years’ time? Absolutely not. When I signed up for CFMU, I had no degree of certainty of whether or not my efforts would be fruitful and, in truth, in many ways you could doubt the effectiveness of my ministerial efforts.

But I have discovered that it is not my efforts alone that produce fruit. Now just so I am clear, for personal maturation, our efforts make a huge difference as the Lord will use our efforts to seek Him to increase our faith.  Our maturation is a cooperative effort between us and the Holy Spirit and we must do our part to grow.  But He helps and guides us in the process too. 

However in terms of helping others, the Holy Spirit is the one that will bring the increase. He will use the things we do to bless others, but it is not because of us that transformation comes .  

In last night’s freedom appointment, I may have led my brother through the Steps to Freedom in Christ, but it was his faith and the presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit that made the process fruitful.

Only the Holy Spirit grants repentance and because this man decided to humbly come before the throne of grace to renounce the lies that he believed, forgive those who had harmed or offended him, and to confess all of the pride, rebellion, and sin in his life was he able to resolve all of the spiritual and personal conflicts of his past and experience the joy and peace that comes from being set free.  

When we decide to humble ourselves and to follow the Lord, He lifts us up and guides us to experience His forgiveness and love that sets us free.   

Just like I didn’t know all the things that would happen as I was doing my studies at CFMU back in December of 2020, my brother who was set free last night didn’t know what would happen when he stepped out in faith to take an online Freedom in Christ Course.

And that’s the thing about walking in faith, we don’t know what will happen, but we decide to trust in the Lord anyway. We agree to our part to follow Him and trust Him to do the rest. When we do that the Lord rewards our faith with blessings we couldn’t imagine when we made that shaky first step forward on His path.

The road that leads to the victory and freedom that the Lord has for us may not always be easy but it a sure path that is paved with our obedience and faith and is guided with His direction.

So keep walking and talking to God, the places He will call you to can not be fully known before hand but I have discovered that if we just keep saying “Yes” to Him, and if we just keep doing what needs to be done before us moment to moment, we will eventually discover that those shaky first steps of faith, and all the ones we make thereafter, are all a part of a magnificent journey that takes us from faith to faith and that leads us from glory to glory.      

 

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

This morning’s meditation verse is :

Romans 5:4 (NLT2)
⁴  And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.

Today’s verse encourages us that our endurance in following the Lord will lead to our character to grow stronger which will in turn make us confident of our redeemed status.   

Our deliverance from death to life, from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light is instantaneous the moment we put our faith in Christ. However, our salvation is merely the beginning point of our life of faith and the transformation that the Lord calls you to.  

Recently, I have been increasing convinced through my study of Charles Stanley’s book “Relying on the Holy Spirit.” (Search Relying on the Holy Spirit:  Experience the joy-filled walk with God under the anointing of the Holy spirit (In Touch study series)) that the most important fruit that we are called to produce as Christians has to do with our character.  

 

Stanley points out that there are two kinds of fruit in our Christian walk:

·       The fruit that is represented by good works that we do

·       The fruit of a changed character, which is associated with our maturation as Christians  

 

I think that one of the major problems with our Christian walk can be when we focus on our good works more than the changing of our character.  

 

Spiritual materialism is “doing good things for God” and expecting blessings in return. While we should do good works, when we do them expecting something in return we are doing them out of an expectation, or out of a perceived obligation, rather than doing them as an expression of our love for the Lord or out of love for our neighbor. 

 

We could do lots of “good works” with our hearts being divorced from the activity.

 

How can we change our hearts?   

 

We change our hearts by coming to the Lord humbly to learn from Him and to apply His wisdom to the ways we think and feel as well as to the ways we behave.   When we ask the Lord to help us with this interior work , and obey whatever call He has on our lives, we are called into situations where we will be tested and will have to endure.   

 

Whether it’s challenging physical work, dealing with difficult people, or just shifting the paradigms of the ways we think,  the Lord will put us through processes that will stretch us and if we endure through these processes, our characters will be changed to align more with God’s word and subsequently our character will be strengthened and we will grow ever more confident in our salvation and our place in God’s family.   

 

I have described the “virtuous cycle” before and it shows how “good works” gives us confirmation of our status of “actually being a Christian!”  which in turn encourages us and motivates us to do more “good works” which keeps us growing in our faith.  

But I would like to also point out that these “good works” are not just physical activities. The “good works” we do as Christians also includes renewing our minds,  learning the ways of the Lord, growing in our heart understanding of who we are in Christ, and knowing the love of God.   

Those “good works” that contribute to our Christian character should not be neglected as they often do more for our relationship with God and contribute to our experiencing our freedom in Christ more that any “good deeds” that we “just do to do” could ever hope to accomplish. 

So endure through the process of walking in the Spirit because that will lead to the strength of your character which will in turn will contribute to your assurance that you truly are a child of God, that has been redeemed because of your faith in Jesus Christ, and who has been called to do some mighty works for the kingdom of God, that may require the stretching of our souls and spirits as well as the things that may cause our brows to sweat.    

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 June Hunt’s Envy & Jealousy: Taming the Terrible Twins.

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

B.  What Is Jealousy?

•     Jealousy is resenting another’s rivalry or unfaithfulness, with a desire to guard or maintain what one possesses.

•     Jealousy is possessiveness.

•     The Greek word for “jealousy” is zeloo, which means “zealous or burning with jealousy.”

“When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with tambourines and lutes. As they danced, they sang: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.’ Saul was very angry; this refrain galled him. ‘They have credited David with tens of thousands,’ he thought, ‘but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?’ And from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David.”

(1 Samuel 18:6–9)

Q   “Why is God called a jealous God?”

Jehovah God initiated a special covenant relationship with the Israelites. Because of His love for Israel, God felt jealous pain when they threatened to destroy the covenant relationship and became disloyal.

“Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” (Exodus 34:14)

Q   “Is jealousy always wrong?”

No. It is natural and normal for feelings of jealousy to surface when a meaningful covenant relationship is threatened by unfaithfulness.

“This, then, is the law of jealousy when a woman goes astray and defiles herself while married to her husband, or when feelings of jealousy come over a man because he suspects his wife. The priest is to have her stand before the Lord and is to apply this entire law to her. The husband will be innocent of any wrongdoing, but the woman will bear the consequences of her sin.” (Numbers 5:29–31)

”I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:2–3)^[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

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Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship

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^[1] June Hunt, Biblical Counseling Keys on Envy & Jealousy: Taming the Terrible Twins (Dallas, TX: Hope For The Heart, 2008), 2.