What is God Saying in Your Adversity? – Purity 1404
Purity 1404 07/18/2024 Purity 1404 Audio Podcast
Purity 1404 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of a gravel road bordered by seas of green meadows underneath a clear blue sky comes to us from yours truly as I took a moment to capture the view of the return trek to my countryside home down “Freedom” Road this past Saturday.
Well, It’s Thursday and I am sharing this pathway photo, as is my habit on Thursdays, as a visual reminder and encouragement to get on or to stay on the path of Christian Discipleship because it really is the best way to walk through life and it just happens to be the pathway to peace and joy.
Well, since that clear Saturday and a heat index warning in the beginning of the week, thunderstorms came rolling into upstate NY causing the heat to drop along with a fair share of trees across the countryside, including one in my own backyard. I spoke yesterday about dealing with it and considered taking on the herculean task of cleaning it up all by myself in bite-size bits but thankfully my wife, TammyLyn stood in the gap for me and made appeals for help from some of our “church friends” and I am happy to report that Scott Salvadore. the two time defending, back to back, mullet champ of these United States of America, heard the cry for help and graciously offered to use his lumber know-how and resources from his landscaping business, Salvadore Services LLC (https://www.facebook.com/p/Salvadore-Services-LLC-100092398179891/) and his men’s ministry at our church to help me “get ‘er done” as a “fellowship event” on Friday. While I’m skeptical about seeing how many people he will be able to enlist on a “workday”, I didn’t hesitate to say “Yes and Amen” to his generous offer for a second.
Unlike times in the past when out of pride or fear of rejection, I hadn’t asked for help with my problems, I am asking and accepting help from others more and more these days as I understand that we are not supposed to “go it alone” if we don’t have to and that we are supposed to learn and grow from the trials that we face.
Ironically after I had the solution to this current problem in place, I received insights and revelations of other “messes” in my life that I had to clean up. As I have testified before on the blog, the first half of 2024 was jammed packed with activity and even though I can look back and marvel over all that occurred, yesterday I realized that in the midst of all that activity I was leaving something undone that caused me to be convicted and to repent in dust and ashes yesterday.
One of the duties of a Christian is to support his house of worship with regular tithes and offerings. While I have tithed in the past, my track record is inconsistent and would my contributions to my local church shift in various directions with changes in my financial status along with a “good argument” supporting rationalizations to defend my lack of faithfulness in this area. I won’t give any of those to you now and would only put forth that whatever way we would like to slice it, Christians are supposed to tithe to God what is His. So yesterday, I surrendered all of my rationalizations and asked God to forgive me and decided to arrange for a regular “tithe” to my church that would meet the requirements of making regular offering and keeping me within the criteria of being a “cheerful giver”.
While I understand that this area can be a big bone of contention and debate, can be used to sow division, and can be abused as a performance-based measure of legalism, my heart is not surrendered to please my local congregation or my pastor but is something that I want to do for God and God alone and like most of those pulls of the Spirit that come upon us, it is admittedly taking me out of my comfort zone and causing me to make adjustments to how I think and how I spend my money, rather haphazardly if I am to be honest. Buying things I don’t need is an issue – it is actually the subject of a ”stronghold buster” that has been neglected and it was through this recent tree calamity that God brought me to repentance.
I was listening to an audiobook about walking in the Spirit and thanking God for my good fortune when I reached out to God to thank Him, and the subject of the audiobook talked about tithing. Sovereign God arranges things to wake us up and in the midst of rejoicing over a solution to a problem, the Lord revealed to me an area where I was missing the mark. So as much as it pained me to admit it, I confessed that I was wrong, I asked for God’s forgiveness, and committed myself to “do what was right” going forward.
Why do we have to suffer sometimes to hear God speak? Because we tend to not seek His presence or try to listen to His voice otherwise, or at least not as much as we do when we really need His help.
Yesterday’s In Touch devotional touched on the subject. Dr. Charles Stanly wrote:
“… Suffering aids in the development of faithful Christians. If we all had a life without trials or pain, we’d never really know God, because we’d never need Him. Adversity teaches us more about the Lord than simply reading the Bible ever will. If what we believe is never tested by adversity, it remains head knowledge. The Lord gives us opportunities to apply scriptural truths to the difficulties facing us, in the process, we find Him faithful. For example, how would Paul ever have known the strength of Christ if he had never been weakened by persecution, pain, and adversity?
Trials can either build our faith or lead to discouragement. If you’ll believe what scripture says and apply its principles to your situation, your trust in God will grow. And that way your faith will be strengthened through adversity.”
Our trials and the adversity we face can help us to hear God because it will cause us to ask Him for help. Sometimes help comes quickly but we may also be called to walk through a long period of suffering that will challenge us to rely on God’s strength and presence to survive. “Why is this happening to me?” is a question we often ask and while I am not suggesting that we did something wrong to cause our suffering, although that is often the case, I am suggesting that we can’t go wrong by choosing to follow Jesus and His ways to lead us through the fire.
So take your adversity, pain, suffering, and hard questions to the Lord, and ask Him for the wisdom, strength, comfort, guidance, and peace that only He can give to help you on your walk through life.
Keep walking and talking with God and He will see you through good times and bad.
————————————————————————
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 False Prophets, Teachers.
Note: Our counseling resource lists all of 2 Corinthians 11 for this point, but highlights:
2 Corinthians 11:13-15 (ESV)
13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.
14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
15 So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.
Today’s verses fall under the eighth point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on False Prophets, Teachers.
8. False teachers masquerade also as angels of light.
Today’s verses remind us that even the evil one can appear to be an “angel of light” and so we should be very discerning in who we receive teaching from and to be diligent in comparing what they say to the truth of scripture but should also examine their lives to see if they are producing fruit springing from the Holy spirit or from a foul spirit.
A word of “angels of light” – it is very difficult to see the truth when we are being deceived and so that is why a regular study and commitment to knowing what the Bible says and what it means is SO very important.
We can’t spot a counterfeit unless we know the real thing. So we shouldn’t be lazy and we should listen carefully to what is being said and how the truth of scripture is being applied. Are the things taught a little off base? Does the word really mean that? What do other Bible scholars say? What does the Holy Spirit reveal to you about what is being said? Are these teachers using the word to exact control or financial benefits beyond that of a good shepherd?
Ask the questions, examine the fruit, and rejoice when you find your leaders are faithful and true to God’s word.
———————————————————–
As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.com 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: GALATIANS 1
“I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood.”
– Galatians 1:16
Paul was not a man who was easily persuaded by man. In fact, he would never be influenced at the expense of right. Notice verse 10: “If I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.”
When God revealed Christ in him and his eyes were opened, he did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, but went exactly where God led him. Surely, here lay the great power of the apostle. He was not dependent on the support of others, but was entirely dependent on God from the very beginning of his ministry. He was not one to pander to the flesh or popularity of others. He took all his orders from God.
Thank You for reminding me that it is You I serve,
and not those who seek to influence me
with position or power.[1]
—————————more tomorrow————————
The MT4Christ247 audio podcast is available on YouTube, Apple, Amazon, Spotify, iHeartradio, Podbean, Audible, and many more podcast platforms!
Subscribe to The MT4Christ247 Channel on YouTube!
Email me at m.t.clark@mt4christ.com with any questions, or comments, or to inquire about our Christian Life Coaching or Prayer Ministry Services.
“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).
Leave a Reply