Don’t They Know They Have Been Set Free? – Purity 1174

Don’t They Know They Have Been Set Free? –  Purity 1174

Purity 1174 10/17/2023 Purity 1174 Podcast

Purity 1174 on YouTube:

Good morning,

Today’s photo of a solitary fisherman on a cross-like
fishing pier with the heavens reflected on the surface of the waters that
surround him comes to us from Fred Dimmick who captured this scene during his
visit to Cherokee Lake in Murphy NC on Saturday, October 14^th.  

Well, It’s Tuesday and I guess that’s why I see two
ways this photo can visually represent our walk of faith.  Okay, it is more of a T than a perfect cross
but, first just like this fisherman is safely held out of the water by “clinging”
to this fishing pier, we are held in the ultimate safety of life everlasting in
God’s kingdom by clinging to the cross of Jesus – putting our faith in Jesus
Christ as our Lord and Savior. 

Secondly, from this fisherman’s perspective, he is
probably completely unaware of the glory of the heavens that he is surrounded
by on the surface of the waters, and likewise, this visually represents the
fact that when we put our faith in Jesus we are “seated in the heavenlies with
Christ” and are not aware of the fact that we are “sitting in the splendor of
God’s kingdom” right now!

The reality that Christians are living in God’s
kingdom is often lost on those who it is supposed to benefit the most:
Christians!

Seeing Christians stuck in their negative mind
states, addictions, hurts, habits, or hangups makes me wonder “Don’t they know…
don’t they know what the Lord has done for them? Don’t they realize they have
been given eternal life? Don’t they know that God’s Word and their new life in
Christ give them everything they need to overcome the things of this world? Don’t
they know they have been set free?

Don’t believe me? Believe the words of Jesus.   Jesus said:

John 16:33
(NKJV)
³³  These
things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you
will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

John 8:36 (NKJV)
³⁶  Therefore if the Son
makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

John 10:10
(NKJV)
¹⁰  The
thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have
come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

The word tells us that Jesus never sinned (Hebrews
4:15)  and so His words are true.

 But have you
experienced the truth of His words in your life?

Do you have an idea what its like to overcome the
world?

Do you know what it means to be free in Christ? Have
you experienced life “more abundantly” through your faith in Christ? 

My number one instruction that I give to those I
encourage in Christian Discipleship is to “seek the Lord” because it is within
the process of seeking to know God more, to be in a relationship with Him, and
to apply His will to your life where you discover the experiential reality of
overcoming the world, knowing your freedom in Christ, and a “more abundant”
life!      

I currently lead the Celebrate Freedom Growth Group
at Starpoint Church which I use to encourage people “in the body of Christ”  to overcome their hurts, habits, and hang-ups
by asking the Lord to help them to change how they live by using the materials
from Christian resources and ministries such as Celebrate Recovery, Freedom in
Christ Ministries, and Deeper Walk International to assist them to learn and to
apply what the Bible says about who they are in Christ and how to live in
freedom and victory.

I am blessed to say that in the span of a few months,
I have witnessed some real transformation in some of our group members’ lives,
but at the same time, in the same group, I have witnessed people stumble, fall,
and get back up and others who have seem to have made little or no progress at
all.  But you know what, I am even
encouraged by those who keep showing up and seem to keep struggling, because
there are others who have stopped coming at all, and still others who have
registered for the group and never come to the meetings. 

I am not there to judge anyone’s progress and only
serve the group to encourage people to become overcomers and to experience the
freedom and abundant life that God has for them.  

So what’s the difference between those who have
found a measure of freedom and victory and those who seem to stay stuck – or who
have stumbled and fallen?  

Unfortunately, I’m not involved in the intimate details
of everyone’s lives so I can’t tell you with absolute certainty the reasons why
a particular person hasn’t overcome, but I can tell you one factor that seems
to be a consistent attribute of those who seem to be thriving: attendance.   The ones who thrive and seem to be
transformed have nearly perfect attendance.  
They show up.  They come every
week to receive the benefits of the teaching, support, and fellowship that is
available through our community. 

Those who stay stuck, struggle, or who have fallen
have less-than-perfect attendance in common. 

Beyond their physical presence at our meetings each
week, I have observed that those who have been transformed and given the peace
and joy of the Lord, (and may not even have perfect attendance!) are the ones who
seem to have allowed the truth of God’s word enter into their hearts, minds,
and lives.  They not only “believe”, but
they also seem to be following the Lord – or as I encourage – they seem to be
seeking the Lord.   

While I can’t attest to know all the details of the
group members private lives and know who has a robust life of the private
practice of spiritual disciplines, the ones experiencing freedom, victory and
the abundant life in Christ have at one time or another testified to the fact
of how they have “acted” on their faith – by either engaging in the study of
the Bible, choosing to serve the church in some way, or even simply trusting in
prayer.   They don’t just show up to the
meetings. They are showing up in their relationship with God.   They seem to be renewing their minds with
the truth of God’s word  and seeking the
Lord’s presence and purpose in their lives.  

The ones who have stumbled and fallen or remain
stuck seem to doubt more than believe, focus on their problems more than the
Problem Solver, and by their own testimony (or absence) do little or nothing to
act on their faith.  They may have
expected a quick fix or even worse don’t believe they can be fixed. But even
among the less-than-thriving, I have hope that if they keep coming and start to
act on their faith they too will increase in their experience of the goodness
of God.  

So are you seeking the Lord? Through Bible study,
prayer, meditating, and changing the way we live to agree with God’s word – we seek
God’s guidance, wisdom, and presence.   
If we want the freedom and abundant life that God indicates we can have,
we have to “show up” to receive it.  We
have to form, maintain, and improve our relationship with the Lord by continually
seeking Him.  

So keep walking and talking with God because when
you follow Him, He will lead you to experience your freedom in Christ and know
what it is like to live a life “more abundantly”!

——————————————————————————————–

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

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

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

Galatians 5:19-21 (NIV2011)
¹⁹  The acts of the flesh are
obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;
²⁰  idolatry and witchcraft;
hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions,
factions
²¹  and envy; drunkenness,
orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like
this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

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

 3.  Bitterness
belongs to the sinful nature.

Today’s verses detail the
acts of the flesh of which hatred, dissensions, and discord (aka attitudes and
actions of bitterness) are clearly listed. 
This is NOT THE “TO DO LIST”. This is the “IF I DO these things regularly,
I’m going to hell List”. 

The conviction of this verse,
and verses like 1 Corinthians 6:10, caused me to reconsider my lifestyle of
periodic and regular drunkenness and to go into recovery permanently back in
2015.  If my drunkenness would separate me
from the Lord I knew what had to go: the booze – bye, bye. 

Similarly, these bitterness
attributes – rage, hatred, jealousness, discord, dissensions, and envy – that all
make us bitter – need to be repented of. If we are walking around with bitterness
in our hearts we have to go into “bitterness recovery”.   As stated many times before, the antidote to
anger or bitterness is forgiveness.  What
we have been given by the Lord should be freely given to others and when we
give forgiveness to others, we no longer have the raw materials to build
bitterness.  

So look at your heart and
if you find bitterness there, repent and forgive those who make you bitter. Not
only will forgiveness dispel your bitterness, but it will also draw you closer
to God as you become more like Jesus.  

——————————————————————–

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

31 – The Spirit Endowing

From the graces
which the Spirit works in God’s children, we turn now to consider the gifts which He bestows upon God’s
servants. This brings us to a comprehensive subject, and instead of devoting
two brief papers thereto, a series of lengthy articles might well be written
thereon. We can but here single out one or two aspects of it—those which we
consider most need our attention today. Broadly speaking the fundamental
principle underlying this branch of our theme may be expressed thus: when God
calls any to the performance of special work in His service, He equips them by
the gifts of His Spirit. For example we read, “The LORD hath called by name
Bezaleel … and He hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in
understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship; and to
devise curious works, to work in gold” etc. (Ex. 35:30–32).

Now just as men erred
grievously concerning the being of
God, grossly misrepresenting Him by images; and just as there have been the
most horrible errors respecting the Person
of the Mediator; so there has been fearful confusion upon the gifts of the Spirit, in fact it is at
this point there pertains the most serious mistakes with regards to Him. Men
have failed to distinguish between His extraordinary and His ordinary gifts,
and have sought to generalize what was special and exceptional. Urging the rank
and file of professing Christians to seek
“power from on High,” the “baptism of the Spirit,” or His “filling for
service,” the wildest extravagances have been fostered and the door has been
opened wide for Satan to enter and delude the souls and wreck the bodily health
of thousands of people.^[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