So Much More than “Church Life” – 40 Day Journey with
Martin Luther – Day 24 – Purity 1297
Purity 1297 03/12/2024 Purity 1297 Podcast
Purity 1297 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of the first light of day reflected in
the surface of forest puddles of melting snow comes to us from an unknown FB friend
who shared this upstate New York Springtime transition scene on social media on
or around the morning of March 29th, 2021. Yup, I’m continuing to clean out my iPhone’s
photo archive closet and am often impressed by the simple beauty that is
present in our everyday lives. For instance
let’s face it, today’s photo is of a springtime muddy swamp that I would rather
not have to walk through because it would not only threaten to challenge even
the most enthusiastic hiker’s fortitude it would also prove to challenge the
integrity of your boots as they would become caked with mud and tested for their
insulation against the cold and their ability to keep the water away from your
toes. But if you’re wise and watch your step, you could make your way and find
the benefits of the peace and silence of the wilderness even when the conditions
are less than ideal.
Well, Its Tuesday and I met with the guys from the
Freedom in Christ course last night to talk about stronghold busting and was
reminded that the situations that surround us when we are seeking to make our
way to freedom are never ideal but if we are diligent in remembering who we are
in Christ there is no swampy mess of a life that the Lord won’t be able to help
you navigate out of, and He can often teach us to make our way with the peace
that goes beyond our understanding and a joy that can’t be contained when we
come to the realization that we are actually making progress.
I love how the Lord is using the Freedom in Christ
course material to make these men take a look at their lives in new ways and
how God has revealed to them that there is more to their faith than the
trappings of “church life” or cultural Christianity. One participant talked
about how he had discovered a whole new world in his faith as he realized that Christianity
was meant to be more than just going to church on Sunday as he realized that
God was present in His life and was actively guiding and encouraging him as he
began to seek God’s will for His life.
Frankly, he was a little upset that no one had told him that a deep relationship
with God that affected every aspect of his life was available to him, but he
simultaneously realized that no one told him because they didn’t know it
themselves.
As I recall what he said I realize that there are
only two problems that keep us from knowing what we have come to know about. Those
two things: everything we think and everything we do…that are based on those
lies and false beliefs that reinforce the world’s view of life and the lies we
have been told. Lies like:
“God won’t help you.” “God can’t help you.” “You
will have to do everything yourself.” “You can’t trust anyone.” “No one is
going to help you”. “You die, and that’s it.” “Church is good for Sunday, but
this is the real world.”
This is the real world – and filled with lies and half-truths
sown by the spiritual forces of darkness, the world system, and the flesh that
will keep you separated from the truth that God is present, caring, loving, and
willing to help you. We are not alone.
God is with us, but we have to seek Him, find Him, and make the decision to follow
Him to know who we are in Christ and to experience the fruit of the Spirit in
our lives.
And what better time to seek God and Find Him than
in the season of Lent…. And speaking of Lent…
It’s the twenty-fourth day of Lent and so we
continue my personal walkthrough of Gracia Grindal’s 40 Day Journey with
Martin Luther to observe and celebrate the Lenten season. In this walkthrough of Grindal’s
devotional, it is our hope that we will
get to know Martin Luther a little better as we seek to draw closer to the Lord
on our journey to Resurrection Sunday – Easter.
And so we continue.
“Journey
Day 24
Before
we explain the Lord’s Prayer part by part, the most necessary thing is to
exhort and encourage people to pray, as Christ and the apostles also did. The
first thing to know is this: It is our duty to pray because of God’s command.
For we heard in the Second Commandment, “You are not to take God’s name in vain”.
Thereby we are required to praise the holy name and to pray or call upon it in
every need. For calling upon it is nothing else than praying. Prayer, therefore,
is as strictly and solemnly commanded as all the other commandments… lest
anyone thinks it makes no difference whether I pray or not…
Biblical Wisdom
Ask,
and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be
opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds,
and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you
who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? Or if the child asks for
a fish, will give a snake? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good
gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things
to those who ask him! Matthew 7:7-11.
Silence for Meditation.
Questions to Ponder
· Why
is our prayer so important to God? What is the good news in the duty or command
to pray?
Prayer is the means of communication with God, so it
is important to God because He wants us to have a relationship with Him. The
good news in the duty or command to pray is that the Lord will hear us, and we
can hear Him. God blesses a devout prayer life with His presence, care, wisdom,
love, and favor. We receive far more from our efforts in prayer than we could
ever ask for, although it may not be what we expect. We are blessed to pray and
so we should.
· Read
these places in scripture that exhort and encourage people to pray: Matthew 7:
7, Luke 18:1, 21:36, Romans 12:12, Philippians 4:4-7, Colossians 4: 2, 1 Thessalonians
5: 16-19. What do they all have in common? What are the implications for an
individual’s life of faith and for life together in the community of faith?
All of the passages encourage us to continually pray. The implication for our lives is that as Christians
we will spend time in prayer, in talking to God, and we should practice prayer
together in our communities of faith.
· What
picture does Jesus give us of prayer in the Matthew passage above? Does it fit
with the Luther reading? How or how not?
Jesus
indicates that God will bless our prayers by answering them. It does fit with
the Luther passage in that Luther is pointing out Jesus’s parables or lessons
on prayer are to be taken seriously as commands to pray.
Psalm Fragment
Hear
my cry, O God; Listen to my prayer. From the end of the earth I call to you,
when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I; for you are
my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy. Psalm 61:1-3
Journal Reflections
· Journal
about your understanding of prayer and its place in your life.
I
understand prayer to be our conversation and communication with God and I take
it seriously. I need the Lord’s help, love, and guidance and so I pray every
day.
· What
do you pray about? Have you ever kept a prayer list to remind you of who and
what to pray for? If yes, how has it worked for you? If not, why not start one
now?
I pray about my day, the things I have done, that I’m
doing, and that I want to do. I pray about the situations in people’s lives around
me. I have kept lists in the past but have gotten away from that habit as I
have grown in my faith and trust God to do what is right. I will persist in
prayer if a situation is on my heart, but having a list that covers everyone I
know to be saved or to be blessed was revealed to me to not be trusting God and
seemed to not be what God was calling me to do.
But if I know you or knew you from my past chances are that I have prayed
for you at one time or another.
· Reflect
on when and how you pray. Are you happy with the way you pray? If yes, why? If
not, why not?
I’m happy with the way I pray. While I would love
more hours in the day to just sit and read and pray – like every day of my life
– all day would be nice – just send money please – I am content with taking my
prayer life and conversation with God on the road with me as I walk through
life.
Prayers for the Life of Faith
Pray
that You can come to relish your time of prayer and learn to approach God with
everything, as Christ instructs us to.
Lord, I pray that you would cause me to relish my time
in prayer and learn to approach you with everything, as Jesus instructs us to.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Prayer For Today
Gracious
God, come now to me as I cry out to you and seek your presence. Fill me with
your Holy Spirit and give me life and salvation.
Amen.
(Gracia M. Grindal. 40-day
Journey With Martin Luther. Kindle Edition.
(We encourage you to purchase Grindal’s book and
take the 40 Day Journey with Martin Luther for yourself by purchasing Grindal’s
book wherever books are sold. You can find it online at many different sites
and purchase it new, used – paper or electronic for less than $15.00).
——————————————————————————————–
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 verses come 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 Contentment, Coveting
& and Priorities.
Matthew 6:24 (ESV)
24 “No
one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other,
or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God
and money.
Today’s
verse falls under the eleventh point of our counseling reference guide
resource’s section on Contentment, Coveting, and Priorities.
11. You can’t serve two masters at one time.
Today’s
verse points to the fact that in some fundamental ways, we can’t have it all.
We must choose who we will serve – God or money – and what we choose will be
reflected with the way we live our lives.
For the vast multitudes of people on the earth, there is little or no
question who they serve – themselves – me included. As much as I try to follow
the Lord and serve His kingdom, there is more I could do… but haven’t done
yet. To do what is right and to not do it
is sin, and thus we all need a Savior and when we come into faith in Jesus, we
should realize that we agree to follow Him and serve His kingdom.
So
don’t love the world, love the Lord and ask Him to help you to serve Him with
the way you live.
———————————————————–
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 “According to Your
Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament” By Stephen F. Olford – A
Collection of Devotional Journals: 1940-1941.
As always, I share this information for educational
purposes and encourage you all to purchase Olford’s books for your own
private study and to support his work. This resource is available online
for less than $10 at many sites.
MORNING READING: LUKE 13
“Strive to enter through the narrow
gate.”
– Luke 13:24
The word “strive” means “agonize” or “contend.”
The gate to eternal life is not one into which men simply
drift. On the contrary, no one will ever gain entrance without personally
striving or agonizing. The picture presented by the word “agonize” is that of a
woman in travail. She agonizes before new life is brought into the world. In
like manner, it is only he who travails in soul agony who enters that narrow
gate to life everlasting. It requires personal effort and striving to be a
possessor of new life.
Moreover, striving does not end until the ultimate goal is
reached. It is true that He gives grace and His yoke is easy, but it means real
contending for the faith right to the end.
“May I contend for the faith
and strive according to Your working in me.”
– Colossians 1:29[1]
—————————more
tomorrow————————
Join our “Victory over the Darkness”, “The Bondage
Breaker”, “Freedom in Christ” series of Discipleship Classes via the
mt4christ247 podcast!
at https://mt4christ247.podbean.com, You can also find it on Apple podcasts
(https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mt4christ247s-podcast/id1551615154). The mt4christ247 podcast is also available
on Google Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartradio, and
Audible.com.
These teachings are also available on the
MT4Christ247 YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MT4Christ247
Email me at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and
to be encouraged.
My wife, TammyLyn, also offers Christian
encouragement via her Ask Seek Knock blog (https://tammylynask.blogspot.com/ ), her
Facebook Group: Ask, Seek, Knock (https://www.facebook.com/groups/529047851449098 ) and her podcast Ask, Seek, and Knock on
Podbean (https://feed.podbean.com/tammalyn78/feed.xml)
“The views, opinions, and commentary of this
publication are those of the author, M.T. Clark, only, and do not purport to
reflect the opinions or views of any of the photographers, artists, ministries,
or other authors of the other works that may be included in this publication,
and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities the
author may represent.”
Encouragement
for the Path of Christian Discipleship
[1]
Stephen Olford and Heather Olford, According to Your
Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament, A Collection of Devotional
Journals 1940-1941 (Nashville, TN: B&H Books, 2008).
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