Grace Abounding

The night before

2010-04-13T12:05:00.001-04:00

Last Wednesday Morning I had my fourth brain surgery to remove a recurrent brain tumor. I've come to realize that walking through trials in a faithful way is a way that we can serve others in the body of Christ as fellow believers (2 Cor 1:4) and to be salt and light to the world . I wanted to post something on suffering, yet as we were coming up to the day of surgery nothing new was given me.

I had absolute peace and confidence in God's work in my life. I did feel confident that what was happening was for His glory, was for good, for a reason, and in His control. The Friday before I did have a short struggle and time of fear and doubt, but some good friends came and prayed for me on Sunday. In that moment of powerful prayer, I felt equipped for going forward to whatever end. God works through people, and I have learned to lean heavily on those around me for help.

In preparation Tuesday night, in his kindness God's Spirit brought an passage to my mind. The Spirit speaks through His Word. He will use it to strengthen and encourage you.

Joshua 6:13-15
When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, "Are you for us, or for our adversaries?" And he said, "No; but I am the commander of the army of the LORD. Now I have come." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, "What does my lord say to his servant?" And the commander of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, "Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so.

This passage doesn't exhort the church body as a whole, but it met my heart Tuesday night, because in it I saw God giving His plan to take over Jericho to Joshua. That victory then would be His victory. His victory in His way. Joshua was along for the ride. In a like way, His Spirit communicated to my heart that I could lean on Him for this victory. By God's grace, I was sitting up in bed, talking a mere three hours after the surgery. And although I have a significant headache from typing this, I am sitting at this keyboard six days later, at home having typed this out. Thanks be to the Lord. We still await the results of the biopsy and appreciate your prayers, but are confident in the Lord's grace no matter the outcome.

Matt

The true "Christmas spirit" (quote from JI Packer)

2009-12-13T23:47:00.004-05:00

It is our shame and disgrace today that so many Christians - I will be more specific: so many of the soundest and most orthodox Christians - go through this world in the spirit of the priest and the Levite in our Lord's parable, seeing human needs all around them, but (after a pious wish, and perhaps a prayer, that the Lord might meet those needs) averting their eyes and passing by on the other side. That is not the Christmas spirit. Nor is it the spirit of those Christians - alas, they are many - whose ambition in life seems limited to building a nice middle-class Christian home, and making nice middle-class Christian friends, and bringing up their children in nice-middle class Christian ways, and who leave the submiddle-class sections of the community, Christian and non-Christian, to get on by themselves.

The Christmas spirit does not shine out in the Christian snob. For the Christian spirit is the spirit of those who, like their Master, live their whole lives on the principle of making themselves poor - spending and being spent - to enrich their fellow humans, giving time, trouble, care and concern, to do good to others - and not just their own friends - in whatever way there seems need.

-- J.I. Packer, Knowing God, pp. 63-64

2 Cor 8:9 - For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

Phillipians 2:5 - Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus

Grace Through Others

2009-12-11T12:29:00.008-05:00

It is amazing how the realities in life can cause us to pause. Where we turn at those times IS important. We’re told to:

Cast all your anxiety on Him (1 Peter 5:7, Ps. 55:22)
Carry each others burdens (Gal. 6:2)
Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn (Rom. 12:15).

Identifying with our brothers and sisters is only part of helping them. I often resist growing. I wanted to use this opportunity to show how in my weakness God has used others to help me grow. The outpouring of responses to a simple request for help was an amazing thing.

Here's God at work through a few of the notes from my dear friends... I was amazed as I read Romans 12 this morning and saw how God has designed the body to work and then compared how these emails came together in a harmony of members. Some people were bringing Scripture to bear in real, thought provoking ways; some "I'm there with you;" some identifying and exhorting; but all were members working together for edification. It was truly God at work. I close with my response to my dear friends. Realize that this is all to show my true weakness and God's true greatness at work...

--

Guys,

Wanted to request your prayers in a specific way and especially during the next few weeks. As I approach my quarterly scan and MRI, I've internally noticed tension mounting. We've noticed that my large seizures have "tended" to occur at two to three month cycles and Helen, I, and the Dr.'s feel that stress associated with the MRI may have a part to play in this. Even though I've always been fairly mild in temperament, I've noticed that inside I'm carrying a lot of tension. I can't seem to let it go. I would appreciate prayer in casting my cares... Any Scriptures or thoughts that the Spirit brings to mind would be appreciated.

--

One Scripture that comes to mind is Rom. 5:1-2 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

[...] May the Lord fill you with joy in the work that God is doing in your children and the grace that is in your wife’s life that she would serve another while she is in need!

I will pray that the Holy Spirit would fill you with peace in the knowledge of the Father’s Love and the gift of His Son Jesus Christ.

--

Thank you for asking...we love to pray for you and your family.

I was praying for you this morning, as my devotions led me through Psalm 6:3, “My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O LORD,--how long?”...David goes on to write, “The LORD has heard the sound of my weeping. The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer.”

I will be praying for you, that you find grace to cast your cares on the Lord. It is no small challenge to bear what you are bearing, so pour out your heart to God...daily. And we’ll pray for that peace which transcends understanding to come and to guard your heart and mind. That Philippians 4 passage commands us to pray “supplications with thanksgiving”. As I was praying for you this morning, I was also thanking God for the salvation you have, the doctors he’s given you, the godliness in your kids, the support of your wife...

Keep pouring out your heart to God, with thanksgiving, comforting your mind with his consistent faithfulness.

Small reminder, but I hope it encourages you. Love ya brother and I am praying.

--

We feel the same, bro - and specific requests like this help us to direct our prayers, so thanks for that!

A few verses that came to mind for you---though familiar, I trust they are no less encouraging:

From Isaiah 40:27-31 [He placed emphasis on the first two lines of 31]

From Philippians 4:6-9 [He placed emphasis on 6 and the end of 9]

God Himself renews our strength, guards our hearts and minds, and is with us. What a faithful high priest we have, who is able to sympathize with us in our weaknesses (Heb 4:14-16) and has compassion on us, for He knows how we are made, and remembers that we are dust (Psalm 103:13-14).

Praying for you with faith and joy, my friend.

--

I’m praying for you brother...it pains me to hear the burden you and Helen are carrying and I so wish there was more I could do to bear it with you. You’d let me know, right?

Isaiah 26:3-4 has always been a place where I find strength and grace to continue to trust when anxious or fearful. Our God, Jehovah, is our Rock and will keep us in perfect peace as we keep our minds fixed on Him. It’s understandable that you find yourself anxious about circumstances but as you keep your gaze fixed on your Heavenly Father you’ll find yourself less inclined to worry.

It’s good to worship a God who is greater than everything...love you brother and haven’t stopped praying for you.

--

I'll be praying for you my friend. For me, I find I can be anxious about everything and know that it is only the grace of God that He protects my mind from going down trails. I'll pray that for you - that you'll experience extended times of not thinking about it!

--

Not the quickest response to your email but my family and I have been regularly praying for you. In fact, I read your prayer request to my family at the end of our dinner the night I first received it and we all took the opportunity to pray for you at that time. My whole family just loves you and your family. [...] In any case, as one who has had his share of various scans, I have a pretty good idea as to how you are processing your upcoming scan. The battle for me was right between my ears and basically it was a trust issue as to whether God will really supply the grace needed to get me through. Your upcoming scan is not outside of the circle of God's Grace. Now a couple of verses that I found helpful. Luke 12:22-31. What I got from this, is that my needs had always been met in the past and that I had enough for today. But there was always that uneasy dread that tomorrow my well may run dry. However my imagined thirst of tomorrow, even though my well is full today, was one thirst that was unquenchable. The imaginary need of tomorrow is one need that God can not meet. However, his Grace will be sufficient to meet you in your time of need. (Heb 4:16). Two other verses that were comforting to me are; Isaiah 26:3 and Psalm 62:5-8. I am sure you are familiar with these verses but I encourage you to continue preaching them to yourself so when Satan comes to try to tell you that God is not enough, you can proclaim the word of God and take away his sting. I won't kid you Matt, you are not in an easy battle. Some days I fought a good fight and others days I gave into Satan’s lies and wallowed in worry and anxiety. I will continue to be fervently praying for you. God bless you brother. I am here for you and your family so please do keep me posted on how you are doing.

--

This is a favorite of mine from Calvin on Psalm 12:6, a psalm by David written in the fires of adversity:

“There is no truth which is more generally received among men than that God is true; but there are a few who frankly give him credit for this when they are in adversity. It is, therefore, highly necessary for us to cut off the occasion of our distrust; and whenever any doubt respecting the faithfulness of God’s promises steal in upon us, we ought immediately to lift up against it this shield, that the words of the Lord are pure.”

Thank you for being among the few who give God credit in adversity. In moments of temptation today, may you find grace “cut off the occasion (reason/cause) of your distrust” and to lift up the shield of faith. All of your God and Savior’s words are pure, all of his promises are true for you.

--

Guys,

Want to update all who've uplifted Helen and I through the last couple of weeks (and I KNOW year or two in reality). The scan was clean for which we are grateful, of course. But had it not been our hearts were prepared and ready to go forward in the knowledge that God is on the throne and "every square inch" is under His control. The purposes for some of these things are now cloudy and hard to understand, but in the end they will be demonstrated to have been for His glory. As we had some precious time talking yesterday, we both realized that walking through this has been for our good. 1 Peter 4:12 says that we are not to "be surprised..." if our faith is tested, the end result is that we are grown. Hebrews tells us that Jesus is the Author and Perfecter of our faith. Well the Author that started the work determined that Matt was a weak Christian that needed to grow through the use of trial. :) That is the blunt fact of the matter. I consider this small trial a true gift as it is a faith strengthening exercise that I would NOT GROW in specific ways without.

Anyway, the real update I want to send is that your prayers were incredibly effective! There was no stress or tension the last two weeks leading up to this MRI. Some of the side effects that I was carrying dropped away. I was considering calling the Dr. to get a prescription for a medication for something to help and by God's grace through your prayer did not have to.

Thanks so much,

Matt

What is Thy Only Comfort?

2009-12-07T13:49:00.005-05:00

Question 1. What is thy only comfort in life and death?

Answer: That I with body and soul, both in life and death, (a) am not my own, (b) but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ; (c) who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins, (d) and delivered me from all the power of the devil; (e) and so preserves me (f) that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; (g) yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, (h) and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, (i) and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him. (j)

(a) Rom.14:7 For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. Rom.14:8 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.

(b) 1 Cor.6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

(c) 1 Cor.3:23 And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's. Tit.2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

(d) 1 Pet.1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 1 Pet.1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 1 John 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:12 I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.

(e) Heb.2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 1 John 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. John 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. John 8:35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. John 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

(f) John 6:39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 2 Thess.3:3 But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil. 1 Pet.1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

(g) Matt.10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. Matt.10:30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Matt.10:31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. Luke 21:18 But there shall not an hair of your head perish.

(h) Rom.8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

(i) 2 Cor.1:20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. 2 Cor.1:21 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; 2 Cor.1:22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. 2 Cor.5:5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Eph.1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Eph.1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. Rom.8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

(j) Rom.8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 1 John 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

http://www.reformed.org/documents/index.html?mainframe=http://www.reformed.org/documents/heidelberg.html

Jesus' example in the middle of the Greatest Trial

2009-12-03T15:43:00.005-05:00

Psalm 22:22 - I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you.

I have been HUGELY encouraged by studying Hebrews the last few weeks. There is a verse in chapter two that talks of the immense privilege we are given as our Perfect High Priest becomes a Brother that fully identifies with our weakness.

He says,
"I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises." Heb. 2:22

The footnote tells us that this is from Psalm 22.

Both Matthew 27 and Mark 15 tell us that in the midst of Jesus work on the cross he cried out "My God, My God why have you forsaken me." Jesus was not the first person to say this, He was actually quoting from the Psalm 22. Christ was thinking on this psalm. Hebrews 12:2 also tells us that he was looking past the cross toward another joy.

Hebrews 12:2 - "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame..."

Reading this Psalm with these thoughts in mind gives a new depth to experiencing the 22 Psalm, but even more importantly it gives an example for us to follow in trial. The Example to follow is that of Christ.

Look to God's Word, His promises, and a future joy. Even at the the darkest time, call out to Him.

Psalm 22 doesn't end in darkness. The darkness opens to beautiful light. I encourage you to read it and see one of the Scriptures in Jesus' mind on the Cross as He anticipated His completed work.

Highly, highly recommended...

2009-09-09T18:56:00.003-04:00

Very few books have caused me to stop and question myself like this one! I needed to. Very appreciated and corrective.

One chapter preview from WTSbooks

Finished a thought

2009-09-08T10:31:00.001-04:00

Here...

My search for a calling

2009-09-05T13:13:00.002-04:00

Finding a calling has always been a particular struggle for me. I know of many who can identify but a few who don't... I am trying to learn from those who are walking faithful to their call.

When I use the word call, I realize of course that some people have no idea what I'm talking about, whereas some understand immediately. "Call" to me has a couple of facets. First a call always identifies a life purpose. To get to the end and have lived with meaning. A second layer to that is that is that it often can be attached to a career or vocation.

When I was 5 I wanted to be a NFL player and at 15 a missionary pilot and I knew without a doubt what I vocationally wanted to do with life. Of course, I was a terrible athlete, and God had other ideas. When I was 30, I knew again... But God again has other plans or timing.

What I've realized is that it is often in my pride that I assume I know the best plan for my life. We are created for one purpose. That is to be beacons of light, salt of the earth, God glorifiers now and through eternity. When I decide what the best plan for my life is and am unwilling to let it go, I show my self to be proud. I classify myself with those in Jas. 4:13-17.

Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.

I guess the hard part for me to deal with came in when life seems to start falling apart. Dreams get pried away one at a time. Abilities begin eroding (or at least temporarily fading).

How are we to find a calling at this point? Simply put, this calls for a return to the basics. What is the calling of all Christians? To be salt, light, glorifiers, and worshipers. Perhaps you're in a time of "calling confusion". We can find joy and calling in returning to these basics.

My hope for this time God has our family in is that as each door that I would love to pursue closes, I have found peace in one immediate calling:

I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. - Rev. 4:8

And because of this, I can say with Job...

I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God;
I myself will see him
with my own eyes—I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me! - Job 19:25-27

I found peace in walking through extended life suffering BECAUSE God is the One who ordains and ordered my path. He opened and closed the doors ahead of me. My calling for this season is to glorify Him through all possible means at my disposal. This calling will last through the rest of my time here on earth which is as James says "a mist." I'm in my calling and at peace. Now to be faithful...

When life is easy and all goes along as you planned it's seems easy to "go along" with "God's calling." Perhaps it is truly God's calling, I'm not criticizing those who find themselves on a "easy path."

God may call us to a path that is not the one we would naturally choose. In fact, He has as Mark 8:34b-35 says so well,

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.

Chan observes, "Something is wrong when our lives make sense to unbelievers."

My challenge to you folks is that following God's call will be harder than mine as it entails more discernment and care not to stumble over the many temptations that can entangle you on the race.

2 Peter 1:5-9

2009-06-19T12:19:00.003-04:00

Tough times are not the time that you want to be developing a robust theology. 2 Peter 1:5-9 says "...[M]ake every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins." I would encourage anybody I interact with who has a love for theology or desire to study, to grow while you can, as you don't know what lies ahead. I know that I am grateful for the truths on which I now stand and for those one whose shoulders I depend.

Faith, virtue, knowledge, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, love.

I know that weeks and months like the past few show my faith to be weak, yet show our Savior to be strong, and show the body (His church) to be His instrument of love - primarily through my wife, lastly I'm so grateful that if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself (1 Tim 2:13).

I've debated the helpfulness in journaling over the last

2009-06-16T21:43:00.006-04:00

Six months and have deliberately not written as I have had significant struggles. Have you ever had trouble pushing through something? No, not just something hard, but something simple. Everybody is supposed to struggle when running a marathon. But were you supposed to struggle writing that last sentence? Not everybody gets to go through this one.

I was reading from my favorite series The Chronicles of Narnia to the kiddos last Saturday night... We're in the Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I like the book, not in my top three, but I like it a lot. Well, chapter 12 The Dark Island now has a special place in all our hearts.

Oddly enough, this is the verse that the family guide to Narnia had as the beginning of that chapter...

Job 4:12-14 "A word was secretly brought to me, my ears caught a whisper of it. Amid disquieting dreams in the night, when deep sleep falls on men, fear and trembling seized me and made all my bones shake."

Lucy is fearful as they enter into a dark and mysterious misty island, which they find to be an island where nightmares come true. When they try to escape, they row in vain. At the point when all seems lost,

Lucy whispered, "Aslan, Aslan, If you ever loved us at all, send us help now." The darkness did not grow any less, but she began to feel a little - a very, very little better.

At this point an albatross comes and lights the ship with radient lights, whispers words of comfort to her alone, and leads them from the darkness.

Also, at this point, I go into an episode which effectively ends my reading for the night and traumatizes my three and four year old for a day. They get over stuff so fast (I'm so grateful for that!) My son Hudson and daughter Emma were regular EMT staff and took care of the rest by getting the help necessary. We are blessed by great neighbors and friends. Thanks to Dave and Jen, Brian and Kristin, Isaac, Ed, Mike, Ken, and the Laytonsville FD.

We were able to put these connections together between the story in the book and Christ and his nearness to all of us who are going through suffering in whatever form it may take. For my kids, it may just be a bad dream at night, or a mean neighbor. For me, it may be a time of physical pain, dreading an upcoming medical test, or pushing through another week of medication. For my dearest wife she has to put up with all of us(which is by far the hardest job) and exhort through it all! We thought it cool enough to share with anyone else who might want to read it.

Matt

Common Grace

2008-10-21T23:47:00.006-04:00

Not trying to lean toward the fringe here, but I have truly enjoyed many of God's kind graces toward me since the surgery and ongoing trials. Takes rough times to refocus perspective. I know how much I've enjoyed putting my kids to bed, getting kisses from the little guys, spending time with my wife doing seemingly meaningless stuff, feeling the new baby move in her stomach, playing cards with my friends, and - yes - even having a pint every now and again. Perhaps I'll be able to elaborate more on this another post, but... The truth IS that this post is about beer. Not having a profound beer knowledge, I can't review them in any meaningful way but to say that these all fall into different beer type categories, have a lot of good flavor, and most importantly are enjoyable.

In no particular order:

Redhook's ESB - an American version of the British ESB (Extra Special / Strong Bitter).

Clipper City's Loose Cannon

Dogfish Head's 90 minute IPA (60 is good, too)
Hefeweizen - Harpoon's Unfiltered Offering (UFO)

Christian Behavior

2008-09-25T10:50:00.004-04:00

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Eph 4:30

In the middle of his instructions on our renewed (by the Holy Spirit's work) lifestyle, Paul throws this comment in. I had to pause here because it seems so out of place. Why did he throw this in just after talking about speech and just before talking about bitterness and rage and anger? I wish I could expound the deep theological truth or give the greek hermeneutics or something, but I can't.

I can only say that God stopped my mind on this passage. These words bring a reality to what happens when I sin. Yes, my sins are forgiven in Christ. And yes, there is no condemnation... BUT God is saddened and grieves when his children don't live in the new life He HAS given them. I live in light of what was accomplished (in the death and resurrection of Christ) and in continuity with what is yet to be realized.

This passage demonstrates to me how actively God is involved in our lives. Excepting large sins, I don't usually grieve when my children sin (which demonstrates my wrong view of sin - because all sin is SIN). But God is so aware of what has been accomplished and the loss I experience that He is saddened by my sin (for my sake - I think).

Why did Jesus die for us?

2008-03-10T10:26:00.002-04:00

Why did Jesus die for us? What was Jesus getting out of it? Remember, he already had a community of joy, glory, and love. He didn't need us. So what benefit did he derive from this? Not a thing. And that means that when he came into the world and died on the cross to deal with our sins, he was circling and serving us. "I have given them the glory that you gave me" (John 17). He began to do with us what he had been doing with the Father and the Spirit from all eternity. He centers upon us, loving us without benefit to himself. (emphasis mine)
Tim Keller in The Reason for God

When I read this it hit home. In my limited understanding, I've always pictured God getting some benefit out of us. For instance, the Westminster catechism describes the main purpose for human existence is to glorify God. In my mind that means that God's benefit is being glorified by us. Or the fact that the biblical story is about God redeeming a people for himself. In my mind that means that God's benefit is getting a people for his own possession (this is, in part, very biblical by the way).

The problem with these statements is that I have been finding an intrinsic value in myself and other Christians. How is this a problem? In a subtle way I've been believing that God's love is, in part, a self serving love. As if He's getting something out of the deal. Oh, the arrogance of that statement!

The realization that Jesus already had the perfect community of joy, glory, and love means that he needed nothing. This also means that His sacrifice was one of pure love and in no way self serving.

Committed

2008-02-26T13:22:00.002-05:00

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. (Col. 2:6-7)

About this verse Dr. M. Lloyd-Jones says, "... if you think that you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ without realizing that He is your Lord, I would not hesitate to say that your belief is of no value. You cannot take Him as Saviour only, because He saves you by buying you with His precious blood. And if you believe that, you must know at once that He is your Lord."

How often do we forget this! The gospel commits us as those purchased to follow in our Lord's steps. We are saved from sin, but must never forget that we are saved to righteousness (Rom. 6:18). Right and holy living are our calling.

Jesus is able

2007-11-13T10:24:00.000-05:00

Recently, I was thanking God for his salvation and reminding myself of my need for a savior. Part of my prayer went something like this: "Father, thank you for your Son who I need as much today as I did the day I was converted." At this I paused and started thinking... Did I just pray correctly? I would hate to be praying heresy... My justification (standing before God) was realized at a point in time (conversion). I am no longer condemned before a holy God, so how do I need a savior as much today as I did at that point? God brought these verses to mind:

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 24-25)

The word "able" jumped out at me... I am not able to keep from stumbling. I will continue to sin if left to my own way. Sin is still present with me. While I am blameless before God based on the finished work of Christ, I also have a need to keep from stumbling. It is in this truth that I realize my daily need for a savior as actively as the day I was converted. Jesus is able to keep me from stumbling!

To Tatoo or Not to Tatoo, that is the question...

2007-08-03T13:23:00.001-04:00

Ok, so I'd like to get a tattoo, I've picked out what it would look like:

Faith Alone - Grace Alone - Scripture Alone - Christ Alone - To the Glory of God Alone

I'd get it in a band around my calf, so it would only be visible when I wear shorts in the summer. In this way it wouldn't interfere with a professional appearance in regard to work.

These were the five "solas" of the Reformation. For me they represent five points or stakes that I've put down in my life. They are not open for debate.

I want to get some feedback (i.e. pros and cons) that you may think of... I've already asked a couple of guys what they thought and the range of responses has been from enthusiastic to tepid. My wife is all for it, in case you were curious!

My concerns in this are that:
A) I don't want to do anything that would damage Christ's name.
B) I want this to further future ministry opportunities rather than affect them detrimentally (i.e. I hope it would open more doors to share the Gospel rather than close them
C) I want it to look cool, but not to be a vain pursuit. (Just like when I choose the clothes I wear)
D) I don't want it to be a reaction toward the legalism of my childhood... (I don't think it is, but am just putting it out there)

To those who would say, "You going to ruin the beauty of your Atlas-like body..." You obviously don't know me! And how 2 Cor. 5:4 has become one of my favorite verses

For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

Is my trial a loaf or a stone?

2007-07-31T12:47:00.000-04:00

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:7-11)

Recently, I was praying and during my prayer I asked the Lord to remove my problem with seizures. The above verses came to mind. My prayer was, "Lord, I'm just tired of dealing with this. I don't doubt your sovereignty, but I'm still tired of it." And I felt that God said, "Do you think this is a stone? Well, you've asked me for bread. I will not give you a stone, however if you do continue to have seizures, it's not that I don't hear prayer. But that they are bread for you."

What comfort we can draw in adversity when we realize that our Father cares enough to be concerned not only for our short term well being, but for our long term (eternal) well being. These things that we know as "trials" in this life are in fact "a light momentary affliction [that] is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison." (2 Cor. 4:17)

Psalm 23

2007-07-26T08:47:00.000-04:00

Psalm 23 is one of those oft quoted Psalms as it is a comfort Psalm. That is, the pictures given in Psalm 23 are of the Lord as our shepherd caring for us. This can give comfort in hard times. I've recently been using this Psalm as a fall back when I get nervous about my seizures. I'll quote the whole Psalm quickly in my mind, and God rarely fails to bring some different point of emphasis out of the Psalm. I want to write down a couple of thoughts from Psalm 23:1-3.

1. He is the restorer of my soul, no other thing on earth will bring me comfort. It is God alone who restores the soul.
2. He leads me in "paths of righteousness, for His name's sake". The paths we walk are ordained by our Father. They are not meaningless paths, but by our walking them, His name is glorified.

A little "Christmas spirit" from J.I. Packer

2007-05-15T08:56:00.000-04:00

We talk glibly of the "Christmas spirit," rarely meaning more by this than sentimental jollity on a family basis. But what we have said makes it clear that the phrase should in fact carry a tremendous weight of meaning. It ought to mean the reproducing in human lives of the temper of him who for our sakes became poor at the first Christmas. And the Christmas spirit itself ought to be the mark of every Christian all the year round.

It is our shame and disgrace today that so many Christians - I will be more specific: so many of the soundest and most orthodox Christians - go through this world in the spirit of the priest and the Levite in our Lord's parable, seeing human needs all around them, but (after a pious wish, and perhaps a prayer, that the Lord might meet those needs) averting their eyes and passing by on the other side. That is not the Christmas spirit. Nor is it the spirit of those Christians - alas, they are many - whose ambition in life seems limited to building a nice middle-class Christian home, and making nice middle-class Christian friends, and bringing up their children in nice-middle class Christian ways, and who leave the submiddle-class sections of the community, Christian and non-Christian, to get on by themselves.

The Christmas spirit does not shine out in the Christian snob. For the Christian spirit is the spirit of those who, like their Master, live their whole lives on the principle of making themselves poor - spending and being spent - to enrich their fellow humans, giving time, trouble, care and concern, to do good to others - and not just their own friends - in whatever way there seems need.
-- J.I. Packer, Knowing God, pp. 63-64

2 Cor 8:9 - For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

Phillipians 2:5 - Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus

Sawdust?

2007-05-13T09:41:00.000-04:00

OK, I'm reading through the Bible this year and I must admit that reading large portions of the Levitical law is like eating sawdust. Yes, I know this sounds so immature to say, but I'm being honest. I intersperse my reading of the law with the NT.
However, on this day reading Deut. 28 brought tears to my eyes as I read the curses God had for his chosen people. Here's a few examples:

Your carcasses will be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away.
[You will be afflicted] with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured...with madness, blindness and confusion of mind. At midday you will grope about like a blind man in the dark.
You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue you.
You will be pledged to be married to a woman, but another will take her and ravish her.
You will build a house, but you will not live in it.
You will plant a vineyard, but you will not even begin to enjoy its fruit.
Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will eat none of it.
Your donkey will be forcibly taken from you and will not be returned.
Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and no one will rescue them.
Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, and you will wear out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand.
You will have nothing but cruel oppression all your days. The sights you see will drive you mad. [You will] will be afflict[ed] ... with painful boils that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.

Now I doubt you'd read that whole list, but as I did (and it goes on for much, much longer) I thought, "I doubt that anyone ever received all of those curses." Then God brought Gal. 3:13 to my mind, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us."

Those curses were only partially fulfilled toward the nation of Israel, and they displayed God's utter abhorence for sin. And this abhorence was poured out in full on Christ. So as I continued reading through these curses,

the LORD will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses.
He will bring upon you all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they will cling to you.
The LORD will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed.
You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left but few in number, because you did not obey the LORD your God.
Just as it pleased the LORD to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please him to ruin and destroy you.
You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess.

How can you not celebrate the thought of God cursing man, but in reality cursing His Son for our sake?

Guilty, vile, and helpless we;

Spotless Lamb of God was He;

“Full atonement!” can it be?

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Resolution Three

2007-03-14T09:28:00.004-04:00

Resolved, to see myself as I truly am, a beggar before God, and to live as if this were true in my interactions with others.

Washington, D.C. is not known as the cleanest of cities. I suppose every large city has "beggars" (not a politically correct word!), but there seems to be a lot of them around D.C. I personally walk by four to five regulars every day. Too often we have a high perception of ourselves. Truth is, however, before God we are far less than beggars! At least the homeless guy that I pass on the street shares many commonalities with me, while I share none with God.

I am indeed a beggar before God. I stand with nothing in my hands. If you're like me, I've even found my times of worship and prayer can be tainted with sin!

Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift! (2 Cor. 9:15)

Resolution Two

2007-02-16T08:55:00.001-05:00

Resolved, to place value on and pursue only activities which bring God glory.

There is an old Reebok commercial that says, "Life is short, Play hard!" Well, I agree with the first statement. Life is short. Also true is the statement, "You only go around once." If we put those together, we get one shot with a short life. How can we make it count for something? The world would have us enjoy our one shot at a short life. "Play hard!"

My own life is often filled with enjoyable things. And God did create us to enjoy life. The often quoted verse of 1 Tim. 6:17 says,

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.

But it is interesting to note that the emphasis of this verse is not toward enjoying life, but placing our hope in the right place. It is not combatting those who are aesthetics and ignoring the secular for the spiritual; but those who, like us, are materialists and are placing their hope in their things. Even though God did create us to enjoy life, enjoyment of life is NEVER found in the things of life; instead as we place our hope in Christ, we are able to enjoy life. And when our hope FOR life is set beyond the things OF life we can find true enjoyment. No matter what our life situation is.

The best way to enjoy and to have a fulfilling and meaningful life is to fix our hope on Christ; as we do this it practically impacts the way we live. We will find ourselves pursuing only those things that have significance. I'm still trying to work out the ramifications of this. What actually has significance? My tendency in the past has been to ignore the secular for the spiritual, but I am not trying to say that we can only enjoy and pursue spiritual things in life. When God created the world, He took delight in His creation. One of His creations was mankind. As men and women, we can image Creator God and create many different things with our lives. In his book on common grace, He Shines in All That's Fair, Richard Mouw says,

Let me be concrete: I think God takes delight in Benjamin Franklin's wit and in Tiger Woods's putts and in some well-crafted narrative paragraphs in a Salman Rushdie novel, even if these accomplishments are in fact achieved by non-Christian people. And I am convinced that God's delight in these phenomena does not come because they bring the elect to glory and the non-elect to eternal separation from the divine presence. I think God enjoys these things for their own sakes.

I am inclined to agree, yet realize the danger of overemphasizing this truth would be placing too high a value on man's creations. So, God is glorified as we use our creative energies and image Him in this world, yet I don't find the pictures given us in Revelation have too many man made creations around the throne praising God. I think this area calls for much discernment, probably more than I have.

In the end, I am convinced of one thing - that God's greatest glory can be pursued in those activities which make much of Christ. When Christ is uplifted, God is glorified. If Christ is debased or marginalized, God is not glorified. It is my resolution to make each activity in my life a part of the pursuit of making much of Jesus.

Resolution One

2007-02-15T09:26:00.000-05:00

Resolved, that my life would be about finding my joy in going after God's glory and not my own.
Our lives need purpose. A life without purpose is an empty one. For the the Christian, our purpose must be both based on and found in God. This resolution states my intent of basing my life on God and living for His glory.

Originally, I wrote "Resolved, that my life would be about pursuing God's glory and not my own." As I reflected on it, something seemed to be lacking. God's glory is, of course, the chief end of man according to the Westminster Shorter Catechism. But I realized that I had left out the other side of the coin; that which John Piper so vividly illustrates in Desiring God. It was Blaise Pascal who wrote:

All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves.

Pascal is saying that happiness (or the pursuit of it) is at the very core of a person. And Piper's driving point is that God has designed us to find our ultimate joy and happiness in the pursuit of God's glory. If (as a person) I cannot help but pursue joy; then I am deciding to pursue joy in God, for it is only here that true joy may be found. This is easy to say, but not so easy to live. But it provides a foundation for the rest of the resolutions and is my overarching theme.

By way of scriptural backing, Romans 11:36 is a great place to start, "For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen." The scripture that explicitly says this best is probably Revelation 4:11...

You are worthy, our Lord and God,

to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.

Resolutions (Heading)

2007-02-02T10:30:00.000-05:00

I want to write a series of posts detailing (primarily for myself) what each of these mean, why I put it in this list, the scriptural backing, and the practical application. But first I need to address the heading...

Relying solely on the righteousness of Jesus Christ who by his life and death has become my justification and sanctification, I do purpose the following:

It is critical to recognize that anything we do that is pleasing in God's sight, is not because of our own goodness (Is. 64:6), but exclusively because of Jesus. Righteousness is not something that we can achieve, but something we are given. (2 Cor. 5:21) Would I never make a resolution, my standing before God would not be different in the slightest.
Christ's death appeased the wrath of God and payed for the penalty of our sins, but his life gave us our righteousness. His 33 years of sinless life are counted as mine!
Based on this understanding, these resolutions are written as my attempt to state my convictions. Imperfectly lived, but still convictions. Or one may say convicting convictions.

Reflections on Resolutions (Day 3)

2007-01-17T22:26:00.001-05:00

Well, just wanted to write down what is running through my head three days after writing those hard core resolutions down! I'd love to say that I'm now a different person, but guess what? The same sinner woke up the next morning! I do have a couple of high level observations, though.

Convictions unstated are rarely lived out.
When we don't write our or state our convictions, it is very easy for them to disappear. There was something in the writing down and "publishing" of those resolutions that I can look back to and remember. By reading them again, my dedication is renewed. It reminds me that, "Yes, that's the way I want to live."

Resolutions help us evaluate how we spend our time.
It may sound a little overboard, but as I check my activities against these resolutions, I have been more efficient and intentional with my time.

Resolutions should be generic enough to have room for added depth.
What does living life pursuing God's glory look like? Can this include watching football? Does God delight in acts we might classify as common grace? If so, to what degree should they be pursued? If the resolutions have too much detail they would cease to have effectivity as my life changes. Keeping them generic will help them have continuing effect down the road.

Resolutions must be Biblical.
It can be easy to make resolutions without firmly grounding them in the Word. One of my future endeavors is to take each point and back it with God's Word. Otherwise, I am drifting in a sea of Matt's thought. Scary!

Now the real question - have I kept them? Maybe you've missed my drift - NO! The point is not to keep them perfectly but to give guidance.

May God give more grace!

Resolutions

2007-01-13T20:48:00.000-05:00

Ok, finally got around to compiling some of my own thoughts... I pulled from JE's format because I liked the force of conviction with which he listed his resolutions. I know that these are not something to be kept perfectly, but hope that by God's grace they will form a reminder to me on a consistent basis of what my life is about. This week God had to grapple with my heart as He revealed to me my lack of true dedication to Him. I realized Lewis' quote in The Weight of Glory described me when he said:

We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

I tend to fool around with tv, computers, reading, fun, etc... when infinite and eternal joy is offered. It is to be found in life lived to God's glory. If you don't get what I mean, go read Desiring God.

So, here they are...

Relying solely on the righteousness of Jesus Christ who by his life and death has become my justification and sanctification, I do purpose the following:

Resolved, that my life would be about pursuing God’s glory and not my own.
Resolved, to place value on and pursue only activities which bring God glory.
Resolved, to see myself as I truly am – a beggar before God – and to live as if this were true in my interactions with others.
Resolved, to never live lackadaisically, but to live with all my might.
Resolved, to make the Gospel my meta-narrative.
Resolved, to love my wife and give up myself as Christ did for the church.
Resolved, to never accept lazy spirituality.
Resolved, to always place others above myself and to regard myself as nothing.
Resolved; to lead my wife, family, and in any other sphere God may place before me.
Resolved; to repent from my failures, plead the righteousness of Christ, and make reconciliation with those I hurt.

Resolutions and The New Year

2007-01-03T08:59:00.000-05:00

By God's grace we have entered 2007. The changing of the calendar is, along with the birthday, one of those days that God has placed in our lives that can cause us to pause for a little reflection. In this way, New Year's resolutions are a positive thing. How do I want to be different at this time next year? The old saying, " If you aim at nothing, you are sure to hit your target" is true. Being intentional is important. I haven't sat down and really given the thought I want to to this year's goals, but to help me to that end, I wanted to put out the first eight resolutions of Jonathan Edwards (written at age 20)... These are not as my resolutions, but are helping me begin to think deeply about life and the end to which we are living. Numbers 6,7, and 8 hit me like a ton of bricks.

Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God' s glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriads of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many soever, and how great soever.
Resolved, to be continually endeavoring to find out some new contrivance and invention to promote the aforementioned things.
Resolved, if ever I shall fall and grow dull, so as to neglect to keep any part of these Resolutions, to repent of all I can remember, when I come to myself again.
Resolved, never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God; nor be, nor suffer it, if I can avoid it.
Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can.
Resolved, to live with all my might, while I do live.
Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life.
Resolved, to act, in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I had committed the same sins, or had the same infirmities or failings as others; and that I will let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself, and prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins and misery to God.

Making Much of Christ from 8 to 5

2006-12-12T08:55:00.000-05:00

"Eventually I want to serve God full time..." When you hear this statement, usually the person has in mind being a missionary, pastor, or the like. It is a broadly accepted misnomer in the evangelical church today. Abraham Kuyper made the statement, " There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: 'Mine!' " This call rings as true today as ever, but the question that remains for me is "What does that look like? Great, idea, but what does that really mean?"

Well, Dr. John Piper has written a book called "Don't Waste Your Life". After the first few chapters you will be ready to run off into the jungle or to jump in seminary; however as you progress through the book, you will find that this is not his intent. Yes, there are those who are called to this, but what about the rest? Chapter eight is entitled "Making Much of Christ from 8 to 5" and includes the following pointers:

1. We can make much of God in our secular job through fellowship that we enjoy with him throughout the day in all our work.

2. We make much of Christ in our secular work by the joyful, trusting, God-exalting design of our creativity and industry.

3. We make much of Christ in our secular work when it confirms and enhances the portrait of Christ's glory that people hear in the spoken Gospel.

4. We make much of Christ in our secular work by earning enough money to keep us from depending on others, while focusing on the helpfulness of our work rather than financial rewards.

5. We make much of Christ in our secular work by earning money with the desire to use our money to make others glad in God.

6. We make much of Christ in our secular work by treating the web of relationships it creates as a gift of God to be loved by sharing the Gospel and by practical deeds of help.

These above points are as true for the stay-at-home mom as for the stockbroker, or in my case an Oracle DBA. I think especially for the mom, the temptation can be to see children as the end all of her ministry. Adding these other aspects makes it a well rounded, God glorifying job - capable of transforming even the most inane drivel into something pleasing to our Father.

The Audience of One

2006-11-30T07:29:00.000-05:00

Only madmen, geniuses, and supreme egotists do things purely for themselves. It is easy to buck a crowd, not too hard to march to a different drummer. But it is truly difficult - perhaps impossible - to march only to your own drumbeat. Most of us, whether we are aware of it or not, do things with an eye to the approval of some audience or other. The question is not whether we have an audience but which audience we have.
This observation underscores another vital feature of the truth of calling. A life lived listening to the decisive call of God is a life lived before an one audience that trumps all other - the Audience of One. -- Os Guinness, The Call, p. 70

This passage really hit me as I thought about how much of my life is geared around audiences. Okay, so I'm not a theatrical actor, but it in one sense I am an actor. Much of who I am is because I think others will think more of me if I appear a certain way. After reading this, I realized that there is no person in the world (including my wonderful wife) whose opinion really counts. This is not to say that others cannot help us see ourselves more accurately, but rather that there is only one Supreme Opinion that in the end truly matters. He is the one that I must be striving please. All other opinions of me are mere window dressing. If I am living my life to please God, whether or not I please another living being on this earth doesn't matter. If they are pleased with me as well, great; if not, only One opinion truly counts.

The necessity of a split personality

2006-11-27T09:24:00.001-05:00

Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.

Psalm 43:5

It struck me, in reading the Psalms this morning how often David talks to himself. It is one thing to know the truth; yet when it comes to real life, it is another to actually live that truth out. Our need is not simply to learn more, read another book, explore another truth; it is to live the truth that we know. One of the ways that these truths will come to rest in our hearts and lives is to stop and truly examine our souls. Examining ourselves truly in this way will expose our hearts. And then, the exposed heart needs to be reminded of our Savior. I love the idea of preaching the gospel to ourselves daily, but in addition we need to be accurately assessing our soul. If I am struggling with fear or doubt, I want God's truth to illuminate that area. Unless I truly evaluate my soul it's easy to simply go through another exercise and not bring the truth to bear in the area of my struggle. So get the split personality going as we speak truth to ourselves.

The Approachable God

2006-11-15T08:23:00.001-05:00

You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, because they could not bear what was commanded: "If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned." The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, "I am trembling with fear."

But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. (Hebrews 12:18-24)

Imagine you are a first century Hebrew believer in a first century church... What would your concept of God be? Well, you had followed the Torah (or Law) all your life. It was through this Law that you knew of God. The God you know is the same one that the Israelites knew in the wilderness. You know of the holiness, sovereign reign, and complete otherness of God; much is said in the old covenant about God's holiness. As demonstrated by Mount Sinai (the mountain referred to in verse 18), God was - for the most part - unapproachable. With the coming of Jesus, your concept of God is expanding.

Now forward to today... Often we, like the old covenant believer, can teach / preach / and relate to God as the Holy and fearsome God. This is good; but only good in the sense that the law was good. Matthew Henry states, "The gospel state is mild, and kind, and condescending, suited to our weak frame." Through gospel of Jesus Christ, we need not say with Moses, "I am trembling with fear." Why? Because we no longer relate to God through Mount Sinai and through the law. We are made part of a better covenant, a grace and joy filled covenant; we come to God - yes, God the judge - but as a "church of the firstborn" (all the rights of His firstborn) and mediated through the sprinkled blood of Jesus Christ. John Calvin writes, "God's glory displays itself more illustriously in the Gospel than in the Law."

God is indeed approachable.

Explicit proclamation

2006-11-02T08:24:00.000-05:00

From John Piper's book Don't Waste Your Life

Since September 11, 2001, I have seen more clearly than ever how essential it is to exult explicitly in the excellence of Christ crucified for sinners and risen from the dead. Christ must be explicit in all our God-talk. It will not do, in this day of pluralism, to talk about the glory of God in vague ways. God without Christ is no God. And a no-God cannot save or satisfy the soul. Following a no-God - whatever his name or whatever his religion - will be a wasted life. God-in-Christ is the only true God and the only path to joy. [emphasis mine] p. 38

How easy it is to slip into god-talk without Christ being present. As Dr. Piper says this is a no-God. (I would say this is talk of god, not God). If we don't make and effort to speak specifically and explicitly of Christ, how will it happen? Both Muslim, Hindi, Jew, and Christian can subscribe to the adage, "In God We Trust." Each, however, brings a different understanding of that god/God. Our challenge in our pluralistic world is to "declare the praises of him [Christ, the crucified God] who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." What practical steps will you take to make that happen today?

Grace found!

2006-10-30T19:10:00.000-05:00

To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Cor 12:7-10)

Well every journey has twists and turns. Imagine you're driving along a familiar road, but are driving a new section in it; you knew where it started and know where it ends. Suddenly a sharp turn appears that makes you wonder if you're on the right road. So it is with this past week for me. In keeping with the spirit of this blog, I am sharing a little bit more of my journey - including the twists and turns. Yesterday I had a grand mal seizure, now this is nothing new and suprising to me, but part of my history. Almost ten years ago I had a tumor removed, seven years later it grew back and was removed a second time. In both cases seizure activity were symptomatic of the tumor. God in his goodness allowed the tumor to be successfully removed again the second time. Doctors have said that the possibility of regrowth is remote. After healing from this second surgery, I had been seizure free for a couple of years. Until I physically ran myself into the ground and had a seizure this past August. The neurologist chalked it up to sleep deprevation. Then yesterday another one hit, for no apparent reason.

My trials are very, very small when compared with what many other people are walking through. However, they are some of the circumstances and events that God has chosen in my spiritual formation. So this posting is meant to be a little introspection about this past event and a way to share what God is teaching me through it.

In talking with a guy here at church, I was sharing my struggle with fear over this issue, he encouraged me to look to God's word for a verse to stand on. The above verses are my platform. The reason I boast in my seizures is that it gives me a reliance on God that I would not have. And this draws me closer to Him. Self reliance so easily creeps into my life and this is a constant reminder of the fact that I am not in control. May my weakness accentuate the greatness of God as I continue to find his grace at work.

How the gospel transforms my journey

2006-10-24T11:47:00.000-04:00

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. ( Hebrews 12:1-4)

I've only run in one official race (a wimpy 5k), since becoming an adult. When the race started, I was toward the front and began running along with all the others. What I didn't realize was that all the good runners go to the front and the rest of us need to be at the back. After getting to the halfway point, I realized that I was gassed and couldn't keep up the pace through the whole thing, so I had a bit of a breather and walked for a couple hundred yards before running again. Ran for a while, walked again, then began slowly running again. But then, rounding a corner, I saw the finish line. At that I felt a spurt of energy and finished off my race at a much faster pace than I had been running just seconds before.

This reminds me of the above words from Hebrews. The Scriptures and church history have given us a great group of runners who are setting an example of running the race at a strong pace. The motivating factor, however, is not the examples of those who are running in front and around us. It is found in fixing our eyes on the One who has crossed the finish line and set the ultimate example. Not only has he set the ultimate example, but he also is the prize. Our calling today is to fix our eyes on Him, throwing off all the distractions that the world will try to heap on and which we in our sinful short sightedness embrace. Our endurance (sanctification) is intricately linked with our comprehension of the gospel. The better we internalize and understand the gospel, the greater our endurance in this race. Unlike my 5k, this race is one of tremendous significance.

Hebrews 2:10

2006-10-11T13:22:00.000-04:00

In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.

"There are many who are ready to tell us confidently what would and what would not be worthy of God; but in fact the only way to discover what is a worthy thing for God to do is to consider what God has actually done. The person who says, 'I could not have a high opinion of a God who would (or would not) do this or that,' is not adding anything to our knowledge of God; he is simply telling us something about himself. We may be sure that all that God does is worthy of himself, but here [the author of Hebrews] singles out one of God's actions and tells us that it was a fitting thing for him to do. And what was that? It was making Jesus, through his sufferings, perfectly qualified to be the Saviour of his people. It is in the passion [the death] of our Lord that we see the very heart of God laid bare; nowhere is God more fully or more worthily revealed as God than when we see him 'in Christ reconciling the world to himself' (2 Cor. 5:19)." - The Epistle to the Hebrews, F.F. Bruce, p. 80

The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more - Rom 5:20

2006-10-07T21:58:00.000-04:00

Most of my journal/blog entries have been positive and exhortational moments. Right now, however, I am feeling less than spiritual. It's that feeling you get (or I get) when you feel like every responsibility that God has given you is overwhelming you. It's that feeling you get when your life situations reveal what your heart is really like and the view is somewhat like looking at roadkill that's been dead by the side of the road for a week!

Preaching only to myself here... The more I see of God and the more that His Word and Spirit reveal my true nature (sin increases), the more the wonderful grace of Christ increase. Indeed, it is only of His grace that I see my sin. It is by His grace that I am be delivered from the bonds of sin in this life. And it is by His grace that I will someday be fully and beautifully changed into His image.

A godly man is a zealous man

2006-09-30T08:42:00.000-04:00

I am reading Thomas Watsons' The Godly Man's Picture - Drawn with a Scripture Pencil and am giving a short summary / devotional from this weeks reading for my invest group.

What is zeal?

Webster's 1828 Dictionary reads, "Passionate ardor [enthusiasm] in the pursuit of any thing. In general, zeal is an eagerness of desire to accomplish or obtain some object, and it may be manifested either in favor of any person or thing, or in opposition to it, and in a good or bad cause." Watson's definition? "Zeal is a mixed affection [emotion], a compound of love and anger. It carries forth our love to God and anger against sin in the most intense manner."

Using Webster and Watson's definitions, we can see zeal as that which places God in His rightful place as the primary pursuit in our lives and is expressed through our love to God and anger against sin.

Using a dialectical form of writing, Watson poses the question, "What about moderation?"

"Though moderation in things of indifference is commendable, and doubtless it would greatly tend to settling the peace of the church, yet in the main articles of faith, wherein God's glory and our salvation lie at stake, here moderation is nothing but sinful neutrality." In other words being a peacemaker should only extend to the nonessentials, when God's glory or salvation (the gospel) come into the picture, they should be defended zealously.

The challenge he leaves us with is, "Christians, what do you reserve your zeal for? Is it for your gold that perishes? Can you bestow your zeal better than upon God?... Was not Jesus Christ zealous for you?...How zealous he was for your redemption, and you have no zeal for him?"

Lastly, we need to think about what this really looks like. I know that I have often zealously pursued things other than God. Sports has been an zealous pursuit in the past, as has work. We are called to be zealous for God. The temptation is to think of zeal as that which is exhibited on Sunday morning. True zeal, however, should be displayed in each area of life. What does this look like in each role that God has given us? What does it mean to me to be a father who is zealous for God? A zealous husband? A zealous church member? A zealous employee?

Great Quote on Justification

2006-09-14T09:39:00.000-04:00

Question: How art thou righteous before God?
Answer: Only by true faith in Jesus Christ; that is, although my conscience accuse me that I have grievously sinned against all the commandments of God, and have never kept any of them, and that I am still prone always to all evil, yet God, without merit of mine, of mere grace, grants and imputes to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ, as if I had never committed nor had any sin, and had myself accomplished all the obedience which Christ has fulfilled for me, if only I accept such benefit with a believing heart. -- from the Heidelberg Confession (1563) Question 60.

Two types of faith

2006-08-25T10:33:00.000-04:00

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? ... fath by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. James 2:14, 17

I've been reading in the Books of James lately... One verse in particular jumped out at me today. James is not comparing faith and works, but (as Douglas Moo puts it): "He is, rather, contrasting a faith that, because it is inherently defective, produces no works and a faith that, because it is genuine, does result in action."

In looking at my own life, I don't often find myself interacting with those who are lacking in basic necessities. The whole "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled..." isn't really a position I find myself in. But I do on a regular basis interact with other believers. When I do, does my faith express itself through a true concern for their needs? Often a cursory "I'll be praying for you..." is the the response I'll give. Sure, I may fire off a prayer or even spend time in my morning devotions praying for that person, but a faith that acts will look to go BEYOND this. How can I help the physical needs of that brother or sister for whom Christ died? It may be giving an ear to someone that I really don't want to, or giving my time to help move a piece of furniture. To leave the application of this passage in the extreme situation of someone without food is to shortchange the message James is trying to get across. My faith MUST result in acts of love to my brothers and sisters OR ELSE IT IS DEFECTIVE FAITH.

What's my mission today?

2006-06-20T07:39:00.000-04:00

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9

We have in this verse a mission and a message. After reminding us of who we are, Peter continues with a purpose statement, "that you may declare the praises of him." Of course this "him" is none other than Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. We are reminded that our calling and privilege is to declare his praises. The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever says the Westminster Catchecism. This verse is proof of this claim. Our calling is to praise Christ. A thought that should be on our minds every day is "How shall I declare His praise today?"

This mission is rooted in a message. The message is none other than the simple and glorious truth of the gospel "called you out of darkeness into his wonderful light." This is is the motivation of my declaration of his praise today.

Developing a love for Christ in my kids

2006-06-14T09:11:00.000-04:00

"Love to Christ is the point which we ought specially to dwell upon in teaching religion to children. Election, imputed righteousness, original sin, justification, sanctification, and even faith itself, are matters which sometimes puzzle a child of tender years. But love to Jesus seems far more within reach of their understanding. That He loved them even to His death, and that they ought to love Him in return, is a creed which meets the span of their minds. How true it is that "out of the mouths of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise!" (Matt. xxi. 16.) There are myriads of Christians who know every article of the Athanasian, Nicene, and Apostolic Creeds, and yet know less of real Christianity than a little child who only knows that he loves Christ." [Holiness, Chapter 15, Point I, Section c]

I've puzzled over the best way to encourage my children to develop a personal love for God. This paragraph just jumped out at me because of its simplicity. A love for Christ can be encouraged in my kids by pointing them toward the gospel as the demonstration of His love for them. It's that simple.

Christ is All

2006-06-07T09:39:00.000-04:00

I have been reading through J.C. Ryle's book called Holiness. It has had a profound impact on me. I wish I could relate all of it, but as I cannot. I must simply highly, highly recommend it. I've viewed an active pursuit of holiness negatively for many years. This book has opened my eyes to the nature of a true pursuit of holiness. It is not simply a change in the way we act, but runs through the very core of the Christian. It begins in our justification by Christ and is continued by Him in our sanctification. I am including a link to the last chapter of the book called Christ is All.

http://home.comcast.net/~matthew.t.lowe/ryle/christ_is_all.htm

2006-05-17T08:54:00.000-04:00

Revelation 21:5-7 He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son."

The gig is up! What confidence we can have... The end of the story is disclosed. The book of Revelation is such an encouraging book! God's kingdom is permanantly established and everything is made new (all creation has been corrupted by sin and requires God to create it anew - from us being new creations in Christ to the earth being renewed or remade). How much suspense is there in watching a football game on video tape when you've seen the final score on the internet? Not a lot. In the same way, there is no suspense as to who will win and who will lose in the final conflict. This gives us great confidence in life. Evil and wrong will NOT ulitimately prevail - although this is easy to forget. We have here the definitive good ending to the supreme story.

2006-05-08T07:49:00.000-04:00

What makes me happy? I found myself this morning (on the way to work, of course!) thinking about a weekend gone and another work week starting and found myself slipping into subtle depression. God in his goodness reminded me of the necessity of finding my joy in God. The conversation went something like this...

"So, your job is not your dream job. Very few people's jobs are. Where do you find your joy?"

"Well, I guess I am supposed to find it in You."

"If you're unhappy now, where would you find joy in the middle of a trial?"

Whether this was a Biblically informed subconscious conversation with myself or God's spirit talking with me, I don't know. I do know that the idea that was impressed on me was that wherever I am in my life, I can and must find my joy in Christ. That means if I am walking through trial, I can be joyful. If I am experiencing abundance, my joy must still be found in Christ. Then, if all the things I am blessed with disappear, I have lost nothing. If (for me) I struggle with my day to day job, I must find my joy in Christ. The thought that another job might bring me joy is simply a wrong and sinful thought. If Christ is not my joy now, he will not be my joy even if my job were to become that elusive "dream job." Not profound thoughts, but a necessary rediretion for my soul.

2006-05-01T07:55:00.000-04:00

1 Peter 1:5-9 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
The process of growing to become more like Jesus Christ includes adding all the above attributes into our lives. From the moment of salvation we are a new person that is being changed to be more like our Saviour. The last verse really jumped out at me. If anyone doesn't have these attributes, are they Christians? Yes, but they have forgotten thing that should be motivating their transformation into Christ's image. Namely, the gospel. So we find that the gospel is more than the gospel of salvation, it works transformation. If we don't have the above works of the Spirit in our lives we may be saved from hell, but we rob ourselves of the privilege of having and effective and productive life on earth.

2006-04-24T09:05:00.000-04:00

I John 3:1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
One of the attributes of God is holiness. God the Father is Holy, Jesus the Son is Holy, and the Spirit is Holy (hence "Holy Spirit"). The holiness of God is not excusive to the Father and the Spirit, but Jesus is just as Holy. In the mystery of the Incarnation this Holy Son made himself into a man.
The love of God is similar. Although shown by Jesus through of life as a human and death on the cross; it is also shown by the Father as he sent his son and poured out his wrath on Jesus. Stop and think about that! Here we have this triune God pouring out wrath on another member of the trinity. A person who throughout eternity past was in inconceivably close relationship with him. This is completely uncomprehensible. No wonder John says, "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us..." The Holy Spirit displays his love for us through his active presence in our lives today. The mystery of the trinity and love of God are united. To think of the love of Jesus and not to think about the love of the Father and the love of the Spirit is to sell short the concept of God's love. God's love must be developed within the framework of the Trinity. In worship and prayer remember that the death of our Saviour was a trinune display of love! Thanks be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

2006-04-21T08:23:00.000-04:00

Hebrews 10:26-29, 12:3-4 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? ...Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

My sin was so great that the majestic, holy, awesome Creator and King sacrificed His life in payment for them. Jesus' death for sin shows how seriously God views sin. How serious am I about my sin? I am to put on the same attitude that God has about my sin. When I treat sin (however small) lightly by ignoring or justifying it, I am spurning His death. A scary place to be!

In our fight against sin, we are to imitate the Savior who fought to the point of shedding his blood. I must fight against sin with all my might; but not by my own strength, rather, it is through His gracious power. How different would my life be if I passionately pursued holiness? Considering the magnitude of the death of Christ for sin gives me power to fight against sin in my daily life. It pushes me forward when I want to coast and just allow for a little bit of "me" time. This attitude is not optional from a biblical perspective. Jesus' faithful endurance in the fight against sin is a source of encouragement in my fight against sin. I, too, am to fight to the death against my sin.

2006-04-18T07:36:00.000-04:00

Hebrews 6:19-20 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

Often life can be like the sea. As I look at my life now, it appears to be fairly calm. Of course there are the occasional ups and downs of daily life, but no major turmoil. At past times in my life I have experienced some storms that really rocked me. In those times, the anchor of my soul has held me fast. A boat doesn't just rely on its anchor during a storm, though, even in times of calm we can drift. Because of Jesus Christ who stands in the most holy place in our behalf, we have an anchor for our souls. When the stormyness of life seems to overwhelm or I find myself drifting in the calm, I must always look beyond the immediate circumstances. During rough times or calm times I need to be reminded of who my anchor is. How good it is to be steadfastly anchored in the sea of life unafraid of the storms that may hit me, because I know that my soul is anchored by Jesus Christ.

2006-04-13T07:23:00.000-04:00

2 Cor. 10:5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
In meditating on this passage today, I realized that I have misunderstood what is being said in this verse. I have thought of this capturing of the thoughts as being a sort of filter. That our thoughts should be captivated by Christ BEFORE they enter our minds. While I don't want to downplay the importance of being transformed in our thoughts to think with the mind of Christ (as Paul puts it - 1 Cor. 2:16), we also live with something that Jesus never did - namely a sin nature. It is impossible for us to be completely transformed in our thought life before being completely free of the sin nature. This will come someday, but for now we must learn what it means to live out the battle between the Spirit and the flesh.
Instead, this verse demands that we capture every thought and "make it obedient to Christ." In order for something to be made captive, it must first be free. How those thoughts get into our mind is somewhat irrelevant. Whether it was the world, the flesh, or the devil caused that thought to be there is not important. All three are warring for supremecy in our minds. But we have a King who has purchased us. It is not our perrogative to allow those thoughts to be running loose. Therefore we are to take them captive. This practically means that we must become disciplined in our minds. To allow thoughts to run loose without examining them is to disobey this passage.
Ok, so much for the theory - now, what does this look like? For me and I think most people, we think about a lot of different things on any given day. Many of them good and God glorifying and many of them sinful, some of them are somewhat neutral (i.e. "Should I wear a green, red, or blue shirt", etc.). All three of these categories need to be examined.

In the thoughts that I think are God glorifying, am I tainting those thoughts with my sin nature (am I thinking wrongly of who God is as revealed by His Word)?
In the thoughts that are sinful, they must be captured, but it doesn't end there. C.S. Lewis said, "What springs from myself and not from God is evil: It is a perversion of something of God's." All sinful thoughts should first be killed. Next, identifying how we are wrongly thinking and seeing God's thoughts on the matter allows us to "redeem" these thoughts. Making these evil thoughts obedient to Christ often includes correcting the wrong orientation of our fleshly minds. Example: Suppose I find myself coveting a nicer car. Clearly I am stepping out of the boundries defined by Scripture by coveting. My thoughts are sinful. Instead of allowing these thoughts to run, they must be taken captive and made obedient to Christ. In this particular case, I might remind myself from God's Word what true blessings are. God has given me so much to be grateful for!
In the thoughts that we think are neutral, make sure they are! As I looked back on my example of the red, green, and blue shirt - I realized that even there, in my drawer, I have the potential of this neutral decision becoming not so neutral! My green shirt has a Guiness logo on it, so obviously, I must allow wisdom and love be my guides in when to wear this shirt and when to not. The blue and red shirts are both unoffensive so I would conclude that the decision is primarily neutral (I think). In this example I find that even the "neutral" decisions I can make often are not completely neutral and must be examined to see if I have allowed room for sin.

2006-04-10T07:47:00.000-04:00

1 Thessalonians 2:8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.
In the day that mankind rallies our utmost challenge to God's supremacy, we get his response. Whether this response is yet in the future or past history makes little difference. God's responds to man's challenge of his sovereignty by destroying and overthrowing the wicked, not by a mighty act of power, but simply with the breath of his mouth. How great is our God!

2006-04-06T08:24:00.000-04:00

Spurgeon on sanctification

Thus I have reminded you that the prayer for sanctification is offered to the divine Father, and this leads us to look out of ourselves and wholly, to our God. Do not set about the work of sanctification yourselves, as if you could perform it alone. Do not imagine that holiness will necessarily follow because you listen to an earnest preacher, or unite in sacred worship. My brethren, God himself must work within you; the Holy Ghost must inhabit you; and this can only come to you by faith in the Lord Jesus. Believe in him for your sanctification, even as you have believed for your pardon and justification. He alone can bestow sanctification upon you; for this is the gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

2006-04-05T07:16:00.000-04:00

Philippians 3:12b ...but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
One sign of Christian maturity is balance. This verse in a few words gives me hope that one day I will live out this balance. On the one hand, the life of the Christian is founded completely on the finished and perfect work of our Saviour. We are accepted before our God on the basis of the righteousness of Jesus Christ, not any work that we do. Yet the life we live NOW is compared to a race, we are to press on toward the goal, work out our salvation, to live in our experience as closely as possible to the reality of our position in Christ. I find myself often drifting between the two, yet a balanced approach to sanctification finds God's good grace at work in our works. It finds that he who began the good work is the one that is completing it. Even though I am the one who has to swing my feet out of the bed in the morning, behind it all is God at work. All is done through His power.

2006-03-31T07:21:00.000-05:00

Ephesians 2:1-10 ...you were dead in your transgressions and sins...we were...objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God...made us alive...raised us up with Christ... seated us with him... that... he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith...it is the gift of God... so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Notice how Paul preaches the gospel to the Ephesian believers. The emphasis is not on their faith or acceptance of Christ, but in God's work. As a matter of fact, the act of faith is not even mentioned except briefly in verse 8. To me this is the difference in preaching the gospel to unbelievers and preaching the gospel to myself. I need to remember God's work first and foremost. It is because He first made me alive that I was able by faith, to trust in Him. To an unbeliever, I would stress the "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ." To the believer, see who you were, what he has done, and out of a heart overflowing with gratitude for his grace - live the life to which you are called (vs. 10).

2006-03-30T08:32:00.000-05:00

A short prayer

It is amazing, Father, that the One Holy God has chosen to reveal himself to sinful man. Help me to overcome my sinful nature and to see you more clearly. It is only in this that I will find true joy in life. I ask that the desires of my heart would be turned to love you above all that I am immersed in. That the way you want me to live would become as a second nature. Thank you for your gift of salvation in which I stand today. Amen.

2006-03-28T08:16:00.000-05:00

Col. 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
What does it mean for Christ to have supremacy (first place)? First, Christ is God's display of His glory to fallen man. In Jesus we have all of God in a human body. Yet, He is king over all mankind and creation. And it is through Him that fallen mankind can be restored to a right relationship with God. His preeminence is in this sense part of his nature. Second, Christ's supremacy is over the church. He's the boss. Although He is the Sovereign over all creation, the church is special in that we are his redeemed people who are living out the kingdom of God in the world today. Christ is head of this body. I am a part of this body, therefore, all areas of my life should reflect my King's priorities. Today, I want to place Jesus in his rightful place as King by reordering my priorities around Him and His priorities.

2006-03-22T07:30:00.000-05:00

2 Cor. 4:17-18 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Notice where Paul has fixed his gaze... not simply into eternity, but on an object that stands in eternity. The promise of God, the person of Christ, the kingdom of our God - all these are unseen and stand beyond the "temporary." If our hope is fixated on Christ, the troubles and cares of life will not shake us. When we fix our hope on this life, troubles will overwhelm us. We can have confidence in the circumstances around us because the sovereignty of God is working towards an end. It is not the end in itself. Take confidence today. If our eyes are fixed on the things around us, we must readjust our focus and place our hope for this life and the next in Christ.

2006-03-21T08:13:00.000-05:00

2 Cor 1:21, 3:18 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ...And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
My salvation will always be because of Christ. My salvation experience in the past, the living out of my salvation in the present, and my future completed salvation in a life that goes on forever with God. It is a temptation to think that my present experience of salvation (sanctification) will be caused in part by my obedience, my spiritual disciplines, my love for God. Yet Scripture is definite when it states "God makes...us...stand firm in Christ." This is God's work, not mine. The result of His work is that day by day we are transformed into his image allowing us to see more and more of his glory. Delight in the glory of God is to begin in our present experience of salvation and will only grow until the consumation of our salvation when we will "see Him as He is."

2006-03-20T08:12:00.000-05:00

Phil. 4:19 And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
What are needs? So often I make my wants, my needs. God has promised to provide abundantly for us as his children. Our deepest needs are not physical. Yes, God will provide our physical needs (see Matthew 6:25-34), but here he speaks of providing our needs "according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." Perhaps this refers to my daily needs, but it also speaks to my spiritual needs. The riches I have in Christ are far beyond any riches we can gain on earth. They are not worth comparison. It is my tendency to focus on the temporal rather than the eternal. There are very few things that will last forever. Relationships may be one of the things that we will last into eternity future. Even if they do, all relationships are secondary to the primary relationship (with God). All other relationships exist because of that one. In this sense, the relationship I have with God on this side of eternity is the only thing I will carry past the grave. My primary business, then, must be this relationship. All other relationships and life events (the things I enjoy or suffer through) must all be held in light of my eternal relationship with my Father in Heaven, through His Son, made real today in my life by the power of the Holy Spirit.

2006-03-16T08:06:00.000-05:00

1 Cor 8:1b-3 Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God.

In this passage, Paul turns his attention to a problem in the Corinithian church. Some of the Corinithian believers were exercising their Christian liberty by eating meat offered to idols. However, other believers (having been saved out of the pagan environment) viewed this as sin. The first comment Paul makes is regarding knowledge and love. He isolates love as a governing principle for the Christian life. Verse 3 is interesting because Paul does not immediately go where I would think he would. He ends up there in verse 13 when he declares that if his eating meat will cause a brother to fall into sin (by partaking in eating meat and violating his conscience), "I will never eat meat again." But it's not where he starts. He starts with love for God (vs. 3).

All relationships we have with others must flow from a love for God. Unless we love God, our love for others will be self gratifying. If I do not first love God but attempt to love others, I find my love to be contingent on their actions. It is as I love God and am known by Him that I am able to truly love. Because my focus is Godward, not toward people, their actions have no impact on my love. It is in this way that we can love those that are "unlovable." Not only the unlovable, though, for even those we love most (for me, my wife) will let me down. It is of vital importance that we develop first a love for God before venturing into the realm of loving others. It is then that we can truly love with God's love.

2006-03-15T07:41:00.000-05:00

1 Cor. 4:4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent.

The conscience is a God given thing, I thank the Lord for my conscience; however, because of the deceitfulness of sin, my conscience will deceive me. The apostle Paul lived with a clear conscience, but realized that sin can very easily still creep in. I look to my wife and other believers who would know me well (unfortunately they are few and far away, at this point...) to help me in this area. As depressing as it can be to see our sin, it is always important to remember grace. As we come to God's Word, and become more sensitive to the Spirit's conviction, our sin becomes more and more visible. Yet, never forgetting, that this is part of God's grace in our lives ...where sin increased, grace increased all the more. (Rom 5:20)

2006-03-14T07:49:00.000-05:00

Romans 13:14 ...clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

Each day I feel that I am realizing (more and more vividly) how far I have yet to go! And how often I put on masks to make myself look better than I am. Putting sin to death in our lives needs to begin with our thoughts. We need to guard our patterns of thought (...do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature). Guarding our thought life, however, is only one side of the coin. We must also actively clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus. Just as I put clothes on in the morning, so too must I be actively placing my mind and spirit under the covering and control of my Lord.

2006-03-13T07:36:00.000-05:00

Romans 8:6b ...the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace...

How often do our minds fit into this description? One of the signs of a Spirit empowered life is a mind that is controlled by life and peace. In this passage, Paul contrasts life in the Spirit with death in sin. We as believers have One who overcame sin on our behalf, this is why we now are controlled by life. So often, however, we think that sin is still in control. The truth of it is that the Spirit is control. Lord, I ask to be changed so that I live out this truth! The second sign of a Spirit empowered life (by this I mean a truly Christian life - not a mystical experience) is that our minds will be controlled by peace. As Phillipians 4:7 says, "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." What does it mean to have a mind controlled by the Spirit? Our lives will be lives of peace. Even in conflict. There is a peace that comes in the midst our daily busyness as we realize that even then, God is at work. His Spirit will accomplish his purpose of sanctification through the daily events (trials, temptations, and successes).

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. - Romans 10:33-36

2006-03-09T21:01:00.001-05:00

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

I read a definition of theology that I really liked. "Theology is faith seeking understanding." I like this for a few reasons. First, it is grounded in faith. There have been many "theologians" who have no true faith in God. Under this definition, they may be psychologists, but not theologians. Theology must begin in and flow from our faith. If our theology is merely based on facts, it becomes stale; theology based on faith is alive and must find practical expression. Second, the definition emphasizes the ongoing nature of theology. To arrive at an end point in theology is to arrive at a completed understanding of our faith, including it’s object – God. Of course this is impossible! Our theology must always be being refined by the Word of God, the Spirit of God, and lastly our experience of the Word and the Spirit (in subjection to the first two). Finally, the definition is simple. It’s easy one to remember.

As the verse in Hebrews emphasizes, faith is being sure of our hope. Blending this verse and the above definition, hope becomes an orientation for theology. What do you hope for? My hope is often misplaced. My hope must always be looking forward to that day when the consumation of all things occurs. Revelation gives us this:

Then I saw "a new heaven and a new earth," for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 'He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death' or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

What would it mean for me to orient myself around this? Well for starters it puts a correct perspective on life. Theology must be practical, if it is not, it is of no benefit.

2006-03-08T08:36:00.001-05:00

1 John 3:1a How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

I am a father of five children. Last night was not a restful night. On my way in to work this morning, God in his goodness reminded me of all I have to be thankful for. It started with seeing the sun coming up, breathing, walking, my family, etc. It was precisely what I needed. It reminds me of an old hymn called "Count your blessings". But I find that for me, blessings very quickly become expectations. This is why the gospel is for today. The verse above is exactly the blessing I need to remember. Not the "I'm a great guy and no wonder God wants for his child" attitude but "I, as a hater of God, have been given this BLESSING of childhood."

2006-03-07T07:27:00.001-05:00

Phillipians 2:5-8 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
In this passage our Saviour gives us a model for relating to those around us. It says that he "did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped." I would then ask this...

If divinity is not something to be grasped, what is? My petty clutching on to things such as being noticed for my work, being appreciated for what I do, my finances, my aspirations... this is getting pathetic!

Today in my workplace, how can I be like Christ? Whatever I am grasping is so far beneath what he released that it is not worthy of comment.

Thank you for giving me an example, Lord. Help me to follow this in the relationships that surround me today.