Yo-Yo Life – Are We Done Yet?- 40 Day Journey with
Martin Luther – Day 28 – Purity 1301
Purity 1301 03/16/2024 Purity 1301 Podcast
Purity 1301 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of the sun descending into the
darkened forest off of Waite Road in Easton NY comes to us from yours truly as
I captured this scene while out walking with my canine friend, Harley on the
last Friday before daylight savings time, on March 8th, 2024.
Well, It’s Saturday and I may have a little darkness
in my mood this morning because I have to work today, and I am frustrated with
my “Yo-Yo Life” when it comes to the battle with the flesh that is food addiction.
Food addiction is without a doubt the most difficult
of addictions to overcome, yup I am sorry to all of you who struggle with other
things I said it, but as someone who has overcome addictions to alcohol, drugs,
and sex – I feel your pain believe me – but the insidious but subtle evil that surrounds
man’s relationship with food can be the most difficult thing to find victory,
freedom, and balance in.
Not only does food addiction cause you to face that
you are your own worst enemy – it is me who betrays myself! – but we also are
under siege by a demonically led world system that seems hell-bent on dragging
us into error when it comes to food. Man-made
processed foods are manufactured to make us crave them. Businesses profit from
our inability to say no to their addictive delicacies. Take on food addiction
in earnest and your family and friends will speak their fears that you are
getting “too skinny” or “too obsessed” and discourage you from achieving your
goals for optimal health. And the enemy is ready to push you to that extreme if
you’re not too careful. If food addiction is your struggle, I can guess that
your upbringing included lots of cooking, “comfort food”, “finish your food” shaming,
family or cultural traditions that were heavy on the food that makes you heavy,
and “recreational snacking”.
If you ever doubted what scripture says about the
world, flesh, and the devil being our enemy, just talk to a food addict and unlike
other addictions where you get a wealth of support from your family, friends,
and society at large, the food addict falls in the no-mans land between those fighting
for their right to feast and those who seem driven to perfection who seem just
as pleased with your failure as your success.
Fatties aren’t welcomed by the fit and the obese don’t like the idea
that people they know leave their ranks because of what it implies about their
own food situation. So it’s rough.
But in all honesty, all struggles are like this and
in the end, the buck stops with you. We
can overcome but we have to come to a place where “we are done” and where we
can stay “done.” And I know most of us
have felt “done” many times in our walk through life with all kinds of things –
bad habits, bad relationships, bad jobs, and bad situations – but the truth of our actions will tell us whether
we are “done” or not. The concept of freedom indicates that we can choose to
walk away and be “done” with any of those things – and we can, but our actions
must demonstrate that are “for real” with being done.
After my recent yo-yoing with my health goal’s
progress, I’m frustrated with myself and as much as I have pointed out how it
seems “everyone is against” the food addict, at the end of the day it is the food
addict that gives into the pressures or temptations around them or gives up the
fight. In the other instances of my
freedom and victory, I came to a place where I was “done” and I am getting the
feeling that I am “done” when it comes to food addiction and am ready to press
in even more to achieve the “impossible” and I am going to call on the Lord to
help me go these last miles and to never look back.
Are we done yet?
Oh, I pray that I am. I feel so much better when I don’t have to carry
the extra physical weight and the weight of the shame and guilt of having to
win back what I gave away to self-indulgence of relapses that never satisfy. It’s
a strange beast this “food thing” and I realize that to some extent there will
always be a battle to maintain my health when I achieve my goals and I am
willing to accept that, but I want to get there all the same. I want to see
what the Lord can do when I trust in Him to help me. I want to see and feel what
it looks like to not be “overweight.” Honestly,
I don’t think it will be much different from where I am right now but I’m going
to pursue it all the same. And I’m going
to renew my mind, exercise my body, and lean on the Lord to do it.
And speaking of leaning on the Lord, it just happens
to be the season for that… Lent. And speaking of Lent…
It’s the twenty-eighth 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 28
May
your kingdom come.
What
does this mean?
In
fact, God’s Kingdom comes on its own without our prayer, but we ask in this
prayer that it may also come to us.
What
is the kingdom of God? Answer: Simply what we heard above in The Creed, namely,
that God sent his Son, Christ our Lord, into the world to redeem and deliver us
from the power of the devil, to bring us to himself, and to rule us as a king
of righteousness, life, and salvation against sin, death and an evil conscience.
To this end, he also gave his Holy Spirit to deliver this to us through his
holy Word and to enlighten and strengthen us in faith by his power. We ask here
at the outset that all this may be realized in us and that his name may be
praised through God’s holy Word and Christian living. This we ask, both in
order that we who have accepted it may remain faithful and grow daily in it and
also in order that it may find approval and gain followers among other people
and advance with power through the world.
Biblical Wisdom
He
put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed
that someone took and sowed into his field; it is the smallest of all the
seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree,
so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches. Matthew 13:
31-32.
Silence for Meditation.
Questions to Ponder
· What
does it mean to say that God’s Kingdom is invisible, or at least difficult to
see, like the tiny mustard seed in Jesus’ parables?
Well, the kingdom of God is invisible in the mere
fact that we don’t see Jesus sitting at the right hand of the Father on His
thrown. There is a spiritual realm that
we can’t see with our eyes. Jesus literally rose to the ground and ascended in
the sky until he was no longer visible. Where did He go? Some theologians hypothesize that God’s
kingdom is in the “north of the universe”. I think there was even a Stark Trek
episode or movie where the crew of the enterprise came to a place in the deep
reaches of outer space and encounter a powerful being that claimed to be God..
he or it wasn’t, of course, but is God’s kingdom like that, somewhere out
there? Or is God’s kingdom like another dimension, where Jesus just rose up and
passed through an unseen veil to enter into the place where God is? You got me!
But I look forward to finding out someday. In the meantime through our interactions
with the Lord, we can feel His kingdom come through instances of His manifest
presence – something invisible seemed present in my car when I got “baptized in
the Spirit” and while I couldn’t see God I have no doubts that He came to visit
me back in 2015 and in various times since then in “Infilling or the Spirit”
moments. But God also reaches through the veil into our lives in more subtle
ways with the moves of our hearts and minds when we seek Him in the spiritual
disciplines of prayer, Bible study and worship.
So God’s kingdom has come when Jesus showed up on earth in in our lives
and will come when He fulfills His promise to come back. And as for the mustard
seed, God’s kingdom grows in us when we surrender to His will and let Him move
us to be more and more like Jesus.
· How
do we “remain faithful and grow daily” in God’s kingdom?
We remain
faithful and grow daily through the spiritual disciplines and by living for
God.
· If
God’s Kingdom is the redemptive work of Christ culminating in his “rule (over)
us as a kingdom of righteousness, life, and salvation against sin, death, and
evil,” what does this mean for the mission of the church and the world?
This means that we are to be progressively sanctified
personally and that we are to encourage others to put their faith in Jesus and
to become His disciples as well.
Psalm Fragment
They
shall speak of the glory of your kingdom, and tell of your power, to make known
to all people your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. Psalm
145:11-12.
Journal Reflections
· Journal
on what it means to you to live under the rule or in the kingdom of God?
It means to obey Him by living according to God’s wisdom
and ways found in the Bible – to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves.
· Write
about the ways in which you sense the Holy Spirit advancing the reign and rule
of God in your life and in the world?
I
feel the Holy Spirit advancing the reign and rule of God in my life through the
compulsions to be holy and healthy and to serve God in ministry.
· Make
a list of the ways in which you might be a part of the Spirit’s work in
advancing God’s rule in the world.
I might be a part of the Spirit’s work through these
messages on the podcast and blog but probably am used more by the Lord with the
personal interactions I have in my life and through recovery/freedom ministry
work that I do where I encourage others to follow Jesus and to be set free. Either way, I don’t think I’m doing enough
for the one who saved my life and gives me joy.
Prayers for the Life of Faith
Pray
for someone you know who seems not to be among those who believe. Pray that you
can speak the right word, and sow the seed in them.
Lord, you know the person’s I am thinking of right
now, and I pray that I or someone else can speak the right word and sow a seed
in them that will grow into them putting their faith in Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Prayer For Today
Gracious
God, I pray that you will give me the courage to speak your word and live
according to your word where it is needed, and the patience to wait for your
harvest.
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.
Proverbs 17:1 (NKJV)
1 Better is a dry
morsel with quietness, Than a house full of feasting with strife.
Today’s
verses are the second of two passages of scripture that fall under the fourteenth
point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Contentment, Coveting, and
Priorities.
14. It’s better to have a simple lifestyle than to have wealth
with a lot of conflict in the home.
Today’s
verse shares the wisdom that quietness is more important than filling one’s
belly and having strife in your life. As
I contemplate my food addiction, the demand for certain foods or indulgences
seems to be “strife” as I stand on my personal right to please myself. I’ve
fasted before and found great peace in the process. So although a house full of
feasting may sound like a good thing, I think there is some truth to the fact
that strife often accompanies it…
We
can’t find peace through substance, but we could find it in quiet moments with
the Lord… just some “food” for thought.
———————————————————–
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 17
“If your brother sins against you,
rebuke him;
and if he repents, forgive him.” – Luke 17:3
The Lord leaves no excuse for compromise in His teaching.
Here He lays down a principle: rebuking sin and forgiving the repentant.
Rebuking Sin. He who does not rebuke sin is a compromiser
with sin. The Lord Jesus exposed and rebuked sin continually during His
ministry. He did not even spare His own disciples. Jesus said to Peter, “Get
behind me, Satan [Peter]” (Matt. 16:23). The apostle Paul, in writing to the
young man Timothy, exhorted him thus: “Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence
of all, that the rest also may fear” (1 Tim. 5:20).
Forgiving the Repentant. This is the outward or public
forgiveness. That is to say, after rebuking a brother before the Lord, he
should be forgiven; but the public expression of this must follow the
trespasser’s outward repentance. “Forgiving one another, just as God in Christ
forgave you” (Eph. 4:32).
Lord, give me the courage to rebuke
sin
and the love to forgive the sinner.[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
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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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