Noel de Luna's Blogspot

Knowledge and Wisdom Part 2 : The Emptiness of Human Wisdom

2012-01-01T20:46:00.000-08:00

All of us want to be wise. Having an education, being able to make the right decisions, and being able to solve problems does make us wiser and may improve our quality of life. However be aware that though it has value, human wisdom does not bring lasting happiness nor answer the meaning of life as we expect. It is very much like chasing after the wind. This was the grim conclusion of a man who endeavored to acquire wisdom and understanding in this world :

For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

- Ecclesiastes 1:18 (ESV)

The irony is the more you know, the more you will ache. For you will see that human progress and advancement is both a blessing and a curse. Even if everyone in this world were smart, hate, prejudice, adultery, murder, deceit, and many other evils will never be eradicated because human wisdom is powerless to transform the heart of man that is by nature morally corrupt.

There are people who put their faith solely in their education and knowledge.They put their hope and trust in being raised well by their parents, attending good schools, receiving high marks, and getting a diploma but in the end, what does that really gain? This same wise man also said,

The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them. Then I said in my heart,“What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool!

-Ecclesiastes 2:14-16 (ESV)

The fate of the fool and the wise is the same, hence human wisdom - this wisdom apart from God - is ultimately empty. This does not mean that we should abandon wisdom altogether. Rather, there is the right wisdom that we ought to recognize and embrace.

The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight.

-Proverbs 4:7 (ESV)

What we need to get is transcendent wisdom and insight. This is not man-made understanding. This wisdom comes from the all-wise, and all-knowing God.

Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts.

- Psalm 119:98-100 (ESV)

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

-Proverbs 1:7 (ESV)

I've written previously that to fear the Lord is NOT to be filled with terror, despair, and dread before him. This kind of fear drives us away from God. Godly fear is best described as "reverence". It is the convergence of awe, adoration, veneration, wonder, honor, worship, confidence, and thankfulness that arises from recognizing God for who he is. It is an acknowledgment of his transcendent qualities, his absolute authority, and his supreme value. David Legge says,

It is a deep-seated humility, humble, poor of spirit, grounded upon an abiding awareness - totally in your mind and in your heart at all times is an awareness of absolute dependence for your very existence on, not just God, but the undeserved mercy of God. And only a heart like that, full of humility and dependence, is prepared to perceive and receive the wisdom that God gives!

The fool is the one who in his pride, has no fear of God, rejects God, and despises God's wisdom and instruction. The fool trusts in his self-sufficiency, self-effort, and self-experience. He relies, according to John Piper, on the "wisdom of the world": the use of the human mind to achieve and maintain a ground for boasting before God and man. He may be wise and understanding in his own eyes and in the eyes of others yet he does not really see.

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good. God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.

-Psalm 53:1-2 (ESV)

Have you invested your life in the pursuit of human wisdom? Realize that it is a vain and empty quest, like chasing after the wind. Listen to the cry of another wise man :

The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The oracle.

The man declares, I am weary, O God;

I am weary, O God, and worn out.

Surely, I am too stupid to be a man.

I have not the understanding of a man.

I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the Holy One.

Who has ascended to heaven and come down?

Who has gathered the wind in his fists?

Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment?

Who has established all the ends of the earth?

What is his name, and what is his son's name?

Surely you know!

-Proverbs 30:1-4 9( ESV)

True wisdom begins with the knowledge of the Holy God who is all-wise and all-knowing. Divine wisdom can only be ours when we become humble, acknowledge our littleness, recognize the limits of our self-wisdom and understanding, and be willing to have our minds turned upside down.

More next time...

Knowledge and Wisdom - Part 1

2011-12-29T08:12:00.000-08:00

    Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones offers a distinction between knowledge and wisdom.

1. The source of knowledge is study. The source of wisdom is discernment.

People get knowledge either by reading, listening to lectures, or by training. Education primarily gives knowledge. Wisdom, on the other hand, is not obtained in this way. Did you ever notice that there are people who study a great deal but not have wisdom for they lack discernment?

2. Knowledge can be obtained by conversation, talk and consideration. Wisdom is more intuitive.

There are some people who are just naturally wise. They may not have a lot of education but we go to them for advise. There are people who are knowledgeable but no one would go to them and ask their opinion because they are lacking in wisdom.

3. Knowledge is generally theoretical. Wisdom is practical.

Knowledge is concerned about knowing things for the sake of knowing them. Wisdom is concerned about life and living.

4. Knowledge has the mind acting apart from the will. In wisdom, the mind is acting in subservience to the will.

It is tragic to be a walking encyclopedia but so lacking in wisdom. All that stored knowledge counts for nothing when it is not applied in life.

    Now, I am not slamming knowledge. It isn't good to be lacking in knowledge. What I am saying is that knowledge alone does not make a wise person. This is how knowledge and wisdom work together : wisdom is the capacity to make use of the knowledge that you have and rightly apply it in life and and in work. Wisdom is knowledge fleshed out in living and in activity. It's "know-how".

    It's helpful to clarify this because God himself is infinitely knowledgeable and wise.

"Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!"

-Romans 11:33 (ESV)

He does not say, "ooops"! "God is too wise to be mistaken," so the song goes. God isn't just the God who knows everything but everything that he does is unfathomably wise. This means that his purposes, his plans, and his works are perfect.

God demonstrates his wisdom and knowledge visibly. His creation manifests his wisdom. He puts the galaxies, stars, and planets in their proper place. He made earth habitable for man and all living things. He designed all kinds of creatures, trees, and plants. His plan of redemption shows that indeed his judgments are inscrutable. How could a holy God reconcile rebellious men to himself? By giving himself through his Son who would take on flesh and dwell among men, live a perfect life, offer himself as the sacrifice of atonement on the cross, and be raised to life to show that he has power over death and is victorious over sin, and would reconcile men to God as they repent and put their faith in his Son.

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

-Isaiah 11:1-2 (ESV)

And because of himyou are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,

-1 Corinthians 1:30 (ESV)

    And more to the point in just how he is infinitely more wise and knowledgeable - though humanity has progressed, the wisdom of this world is foolish by comparison (1 Corinthians 1:20). God is so transcendent that his ways are unlike your ways and his thoughts are unlike your thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). That is why in Proverbs you are urged to "trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your understanding" (Proverbs 3:5).

    God alone is wise and we can trust in him and rejoice in him at all times. Sometimes, it may seem as if he is hiding his hand and his path cannot be discerned. We may experience suffering and have trouble in this world, but in his wisdom, we can have confidence that he makes all things to work together for good (Romans 8:28). Nothing that happens in our lives is outside his purposes and his control. His understanding has no limit (Psalm 147:5) therefore he knows what he is doing. This is what makes him so glorious - because only he can bring good out of evil and turns beauty out of ashes.

    More next time....

God Gave The Greatest Gift of All!

2011-12-24T06:54:00.000-08:00

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son" (John 3:16). This is arguably the most well-known verse in the Bible. These few words capture the reason why the events that we now remember and commemorate during Christmas happened. Yet it is also misunderstood by many. Now God loves you and me, that part is clear. What we may fail to grasp is the condition of the object of his love. Indeed, those who do not understand this nor accept this will find no reason to believe in Jesus Christ.

DA Carson explains,

What is God saying to the world? "World, I love you"? Is he saying, "World, your scintillating personality, your intelligent conversation, your wit, your gift - and you're cute! I love you! I can't imagine heaven without you." Is that what he's saying? In other words, when God says, "I love you," is he declaring the loveable-ness of the world? There are a lot of psychologists who use the love of God in exactly that way. If God says, "I love you," it must be that "I'm okay, you're okay; God says we're okay. He loves us; it must be because we're lovable."

Biblically that is a load of nonsense. The word "world" in John's gospel typically refers not to a big place with a lot of people in it but to a bad place with a lot of bad people in it. The word "world" in John's gospel is this human-centered, created order that God has made and that has rebelled against him in hatefulness and idolatry, resulting in broken relationships, infidelity, and wickedness.

-DA Carson (The God Who Is There)

People who live in this world can never be categorized as naughty or nice. Left to itself, the world is by nature, morally bankrupt. John McArthur said,

The dark and ugly side of Christmas is sin...sin. The heart of Christmas is this, Christ came into the world to save sinners. Christ was manifest to take away sin. "You shall call His name Jesus for He shall save His people from their sin." And the real beauty of Christmas is to understand the ugliness that it cures.

God loved this world not because it was lovable, adorable, and beautiful, but because he is that kind of God. God is holy, meaning, he is morally perfect. Think then about how this morally perfect Being would love. To love perfectly is to love the most unlovable of creatures who "did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened" (Romans 1:21). That's us. He demonstrates his love to us by giving his Son, who through his death on the cross and his resurrection, made the way to save us from eternal wrath and reconcile us to God.

Christmas is the favorite holiday for many because of the decorations, gifts, food, Christmas lights, Christmas trees, family gatherings, and merriment but these are all fleeting pleasures. For the greatest and most excellent pleasure that we can experience this Christmas is being astonished at the fact that God would actually love us! God did not condemn us with our sin but loved us in a wonderful, surprising way by giving us His Son - the greatest Gift of all.

From Here To Eternity

2011-12-11T06:48:00.000-08:00

    It seems like the first 40 years of my life went by so fast. I have now lived half of my expected average lifespan here on earth. This body is aging. Noticeable wisps of white hair, eyes not as good as they once were, and slowing reflexes are among the many signs of normal bodily wear and tear.

    Getting older should be put in a more positive light. After all, God designed our bodies this way. Aging is a gentle reminder from God that life in this earth is temporal. Man is like a mist that appears for a little while and vanishes (James 4:14). In our youth, we lived as though life would go on forever. By middle age, we have an increased awareness of our mortality thus leading us to take stock of what we have accomplished, what we still need to do, and what needs fixing.

    Even more significantly, aging forces us to think about eternity. A very wise man said,

Fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

-Ecclesiastes 12:14 (ESV)

All human beings will account for their thoughts, words, and deeds in judgment before God. The final judgment is something that we do not like to think about, let alone think about everyday. It's an uncomfortable subject and a depressing topic of conversation. Yet Scripture says unambiguously that it will happen. For it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment (Hebrews 9:27) and for each man, there will either be acquittal or condemnation.

He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.

-Romans 2:6-11 (ESV)

Yes, we are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9) but in the final judgment it is our deeds that will be judged. Our deeds will testify to the reality of our faith in Jesus Christ. Pastor John Piper clarifies,

It is by grace we are saved through faith; not of ourselves, it is the gift of God. But the heart that is full of faith will overflow in attitudes and actions very different from those which flow from unbelief. Therefore, our deeds will testify, truly to the genuineness or absence of faith, and it is not inconsistent for God to judge us according to our works. But we must understand that this judgment according to works does not mean we earn our salvation. Our deeds do not earn, they exhibit our salvation. Our deeds are not the merit of our righteousness, they are the mark of our new life in Christ. Our deeds are not sufficient to deserve God's favor, but they do demonstrate our faith. Please keep that distinction clear in your mind regarding our attitudes and actions: they do not earn, they exhibit; they do not merit, they mark; they do not deserve, they demonstrate.

All the self-seeking deeds and striving that we do : our accomplishments, our successes, our diplomas, our wealth are worthless in eternity - they do not earn us anything except death. Only the deeds that are the fruits of faith in Jesus Christ will matter.

If there was no final judment awaiting us, there would be no need for Jesus to come, die on the cross, and be raised to life. Hence, no Christmas and no Easter. It is through the work of Jesus Christ that we are saved from wrath and fury in the final judgment. That is why Jesus came into the world in human flesh because we were sinners in need of saving from certain eternal death and we could not save ourselves.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of lifehas set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law,weakened by the flesh,could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

-Romans 8:1-4 (ESV)

So as this body becomes creaky with age, each ache and pain is a reminder of a judgment that's in store for us. Let's strive make the rest of our life count for eternity. As long as you're still alive and breathing, it's not too late.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you,not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

-2 Peter 3:9 (ESV)

The final judgment is nothing to fear about when you are in Jesus Christ. Do you know Jesus Christ? Respond in faith and repentance by acknowledging your helplessness and believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and that he will wash away your sins and make you right with God. Work out this faith that you profess by living in the power of the Holy Spirit, loving God and loving others, doing good, having the right mind and attitude, and finding satisfaction and pleasure in God.

Noel Piper|Thinking About Santa

2011-12-04T21:27:00.000-08:00

Pastor John Piper's wife, Noel Piper, writes why they chose not to include Santa Claus in their Christmas celebrations.

Noel Piper : Thinking About Santa

Sometimes, we are really far too easily pleased with inferior things. Why be satisfied with having our children place their Christmas hopes on a fictional character? Some may argue that it's just a harmless fantasy. The reality is that it does more harm than good because Santa is a wrong picture of God and His nature. I would not risk having my kids grow up having a distorted knowledge of God.

While we can't avoid Santa Claus - he's in schools, he's seen in the mall, he'll be on TV commercials, and he's sung in Christmas carols, we can engage with our children and point them to the infinitely more superior Person of Jesus Christ. "Joy to the world, the Lord Is Come" is a far better song than "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 19:14)." Let this be our goal this Christmas - that instead of Santa, our children will have in their hearts true joy and delight in Jesus Christ who has come to bring the hope of salvation to mankind. As the hymn says,

Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus' name.

Bytes of Wisdom

2011-12-03T09:15:00.000-08:00

Dave Kraft shared these lessons from his blog, Leadership from the Heart. It was written by a leader and addressed to leaders. However, as I was reading it, I realized that much of the wisdom that was being shared is applicable to everyone. Here are a few nuggets:

1. Tough Decisions Become Tougher

This is true as you get older and have more responsibilities. What do you need to stop doing or start doing? People are sometimes paralyzed to take take action because they are afraid to make big mistakes. Dave Kraft points out that one's destiny isn’t a mystery. Your destiny is determined by the cumulative decisions you make. What tough decision do you need to make? What are you waiting for? Start taking the little steps and you'll get there.

2. Negativity is cancer. Kill it or it will kill you.

Christians ought to be the most positive people in the world. We place our faith in God who is for us, graciously gives us all things, works all things for good, and whose love for us is everlasting and stronger than anything in this world (Romans 8:31-39). We rejoice in the Lord always and give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). Negativity is not of faith but is a symptom of unbelief. Indeed it is a cancer that will kill you. So kill it.

3. No Margin = No Vision.

Dave Kraft warns, "If you don’t control your calendar, your calendar will control you." A doctor once said,

"We must have some room to breathe. We need freedom to think and permission to heal. Our relationships are being starved to death by velocity. No one has time to listen, let alone love. Our children lay wounded on the ground, run over by our high-speed good intentions. Is God now pro-exhaustion? Doesn't He lead people beside the still waters anymore?" - Dr. Richard Swenson

We need to put margin in our lives. In the end, being overloaded and overworked accomplishes nothing. If we make no room for reflection and rest, it kills our creativity.

4. Don’t just dream big. Think long.

Dave Kraft points out :

We tend to overestimate what we can accomplish in 2 years, but we underestimate what we can accomplish in ten years. Zoom out. Your mantra shouldn’t be “as soon as possible.” It should be “as long as it takes.” Your vision isn’t just too small. It’s too short.

5. Work like it depends on you. Pray like it depends on God.

Dave Kraft says it so well :

Failing to plan is planning to fail. So plan away. And loving God with all of your strength = a great work ethic. So work hard. But I believe in prayer-storming more than brainstorming. Prayer is the difference between you fighting for God and God fighting for you. If work is the engine of success, then prayer is the high-octane fuel.

The Parable of the Sports Fan

2011-11-24T00:03:00.000-08:00

I'm an avid sports fan. Baseball, basketball, football, and hockey - I follow them all. I have an app in my smartphone that gives me real-time updates with the scores, gives me instant game recap, and player statistics. All I ever watch on TV is a sporting event - regualr games, playoffs, championships, the World Series, the Super Bowl. I am elated when my team wins. I am deflated when my team loses. I know the players. I know who got traded, who got injured, and who got drafted. I love to look up individual player stats and team stats. I look up college recruiting websites and read about the most coveted high school recruits. I read the articles and op-eds at cnnsi.com and espn.com. I listen to sports talk on the radio while driving. I can talk sports with anyone - either at work or at parties. I am the typical, average sports fan.

Martyn Lloyd -Jones observes,

Compare and contrast the typical average Christian with the typical average person of the world. The Christian claims that he is interested in spiritual things, and in the Kingdom of God and in a knowledge of God and of Christ. This is his claim. He says that he has faith and that is what faith means. Yet compare him with the average person who is interested in various games and the things that happen in the world of sport. You see the difference, there is nothing languid about the person who is interested in these things. Look at their excitement and their energy. Then look at the Christian by contrast, how languid he is, how apparently apologetic he is.

- Martyn Lloyd-Jones in Spiritual Depression

If we are so easily pleased about inferior things in this world, how much more should we be delighted in God - the Creator of all things, the One whose glory is displayed by the skies above and by the creatures below. The God who gives us life. The God of grace. The loving and holy God who sends his Son Jesus Christ as to save us from our sins. The God who sends the Holy Spirit that leads us into all truth and makes us new.

Pursuing pleasure in God is our highest calling. Maximizing our joy in God is what we were created for. We will be glorifying him by enjoying him forever. This is not hardcore Christian living. It's the norm.

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

-Psalm 16:11 (ESV)

John Piper said: "Quit being satisfied with little 2-percent yields of pleasure that get eaten up by the moths of inflation and the rust of death. Invest in the blue-chip, high-yield, divinely insured securities of heaven. Giving your life to material comforts and thrills is like throwing money down a rat hole. But a life invested in the labor of love yields dividends of joy unsurpassed and unending - even if it costs you your property and your life on this earth."

Loving Your Spouse

2011-11-21T23:31:00.000-08:00

    We attended two beautiful weddings this weekend. The first was held in a beautiful garden where a couple, who happen to be our friends, renewed their vows after 10 years of marriage and 2 kids. The next day, a young couple, also our friends, finally tied the knot after years of friendship. So, this post was naturally coming.

    The Biblical description of love in marriage can be defined with one word : sacrificial. "Love is willing self-sacrifice for the good of another that does not require reciprocation or that the person being loved is deserving," according to Paul Tripp.

    Ephesians 5:22-33 affirms this definition :

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

-Ephesians 5:22-33 (ESV)

God designed marriage to be a pointer to Jesus Christ and the church. Jesus died and shed his blood for the church that he might redeem her and form a new covenant with her. That's sacrificial love. The love between a husband and wife in marriage is meant to put this truth on display.

    Naturally, the world rejects this as the purpose for marriage. In fact, the idea of self-sacrificing love in a marriage seems very oppressive. People want to marry the perfect guy or the perfect girl. The perfect spouse is the one who is so compatible with you, loves you, and accepts you for who you are. Hence, it is easy to fall in love and stay married with that person. When you hold your spouse to this ideal, troubles happen. No person can ever hold up to that expectation. This is, in great part, the root of all troubles in a marriage relationship. It's what Tim Keller calls a "consumer relationship" where needs are more important than the relationship itself. It only lasts as long as the vendor meets your needs and delivers the service that you expect at a cost that is acceptable to you. If another vendor offers delivers a better deal or better service, then you have the right to break your relationship with the previous vendor and accept the better offer. So people remain married so long as it is advantageous for them. But when the relationship requires more than what they get in return, they cut their losses through divorce or annulment.

   Sacrificial love demonstrates Christ's love. It is not oppressive nor will it mean a great loss of oneself. Both the husband and wife love sacrificially. It's mutual giving, selflessness, consideration of each other's interest, and putting each other's need above self. As a result, there is mutual satisfaction, happiness, and fulfillment.

    A marriage that is built on sacrificial love lasts a lifetime. How this looks like in practical terms is listed below by Paul Tripp (source: http://www.monergism.com/).

1.   Love is being willing to have your life complicated by the needs and struggles of your husband or wife without impatience or anger.

2. Love is actively fighting the temptation to be critical and judgmental toward your spouse, while looking for ways to encourage and praise.

3.  Love is the daily commitment to resist the needless moments of conflict that come from pointing out and responding to minor offenses.

4.   Love is being lovingly honest and humbly approachable in times of misunderstanding, and being more committed to unity and love than you are to winning, accusing, or being right.

5.   Love is a daily commitment to admit your sin, weakness, and failure and to resist the temptation to offer an excuse or shift the blame.

6.   Love means being willing, when confronted by your spouse, to examine your heart rather than rising to your defense or shifting the focus.

7.   Love is a daily commitment to grow in love so that the love you offer to your husband or wife is increasingly selfless, mature, and patient.

8.   Love is being unwilling to do what is wrong when you have been wronged but to look for concrete and specific ways to overcome evil with good.

9.   Love is being a good student of your spouse, looking for his physical, emotional, and spiritual needs so that in some way you can remove the burden, support him as he carries it, or encourage him along the way.

10.   Love means being willing to invest the time necessary to discuss, examine, and understand the problems that you face as a couple, staying on task until the problem is removed or you have agreed upon a strategy of response.

11.   Love is always being willing to ask for forgiveness and always being committed to grant forgiveness when it is requested.

12.   Love is recognizing the high value of trust in a marriage and being faithful to your promises and true to your word.

13.   Love is speaking kindly and gently, even in moments of disagreement, refusing to attack your spouse’s character or assault his or her intelligence.

14.   Love is being unwilling to flatter, lie, manipulate, or deceive in any way in order to co-opt your spouse into giving you what you want or doing something your way.

15.   Love is being unwilling to ask your spouse to be the source of your identity, meaning and purpose, or inner sense of well-being, while refusing to be the source of his or hers.

16.   Love is the willingness to have less free time, less sleep, and a busier schedule in order to be faithful to what God has called you to be and to do as a husband or a wife.

17.   Love is a commitment to say no to selfish instincts and to do everything that is within your ability to promote real unity, functional understanding, and active love in your marriage.

18.   Love is staying faithful to your commitment to treat your spouse with appreciation, respect, and grace, even in moments when he or she doesn’t seem to deserve it or is unwilling to reciprocate.

19.   Love is the willingness to make regular and costly sacrifices for the sake of your marriage without asking anything in return or using your sacrifices to place your spouse in your debt.

20.   Love is being unwilling to make any personal decision or choice that would harm your marriage, hurt your husband or wife, or weaken the bond of trust between you.

21.   Love is refusing to be self-focused or demanding but instead looking for specific ways to serve, support, and encourage, even when you are busy or tired.

22.   Love is daily admitting to yourself, your spouse, and God that you are not able to love this way without God’s protecting, providing, forgiving, rescuing, and delivering grace.

23.   Love is a specific commitment of the heart to a specific person that causes you to give yourself to a specific lifestyle of care that requires you to be willing to make sacrifices that have that person’s good in view.

May your marriage be according to God's design. Love your spouse according to how Jesus loved you, then the rest will follow.

Holy Affections

2011-11-20T09:02:00.000-08:00

"Though you have not seen him [Jesus], you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls."

-1 Peter 1:8 (ESV)

In my previous post, I wrote about how we experience spiritual misery. This passage from 1 Peter shows how Christianity is meant to be lived. This letter was addressed to the diaspora Jews who were living in Asia Minor and experienced suffering from persecution. According to Peter, the Christian life is filled with love, faith, and joy in Christ even in the midst of suffering, trial, or difficult circumstances. There is no confusion nor dissonance but a presence of joy "inexpressible and filled with glory". It seems so far away from a weak, dull, and lifeless religion that so many people experience today.

Jonathan Edwards wrote, "True religion, in great part, consists in holy affections." And it must be so because a Christian possesses a heart that has been changed and this heart happens to be the seat of affections. What drives our actions depend in great part to where our affections lie. Jonathan Edwards describes it this way:

"We see the world of mankind exceedingly busy and active; and their affections are springs of motion: take away all love and hatred, all hope and fear, all anger, zeal, and affectionate desire, and the world would be, in a great measure, motionless and dead: there would be no such thing as activity amongst mankind, or any earnest pursuit whatsoever."

- Jonathan Edwards in Religious Affections

Reading the Psalms, you will find many expressions of holy affections. Here's a few of them:

Psalm 27:4 (ESV) -

One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD

all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.

Psalm 42:1 (ESV) -

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.

Psalm 63:1-4 (ESV) -

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.

The apostle Paul shows his affections for Jesus Christ in many of his letters :

Philippians 3:8-11 (ESV) :

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith- that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

This is just a small list among countless expressions of desiring, loving, and thirsting after God in Scripture. Our affections are set upon Jesus Christ. We delight in Jesus Christ. We love Jesus Christ. All our Christian duty is happily rooted in this. Good works are the fruit of a heart that finds supreme satisfaction and pleasure in Jesus Christ.

"And as in worldly things, worldly affections are very much the spring of men's motion and action; so in religious matters, the spring of their actions are very much religious affections: he that has doctrinal knowledge and speculation only, without affection, never is engaged in the business of religion."

- Jonathan Edwards in Religious Affections

This is why a weak, dull, boring, and lifeless Christian religion is so un-Christian. The lack of affections for God indicates that something is missing or something is out of whack. Don't be satisfied living in this way. Don't go through the motions. Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. As John Piper said, "God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him."

Cause and Cure For Spiritual Misery

2011-11-15T22:30:00.000-08:00

In his book, Spiritual Depression, Martyn Lloyd-Jones talks about miserable Christians and the reasons for their misery. We have, to varying degrees, experienced spiritual dryness. We continue go to church, pray, and serve but so lacking in passion and joy. What could be the possible causes of this condition?

Take a look at this list and see if any of these hold true in your life:

1. You have no clear understanding of the gospel

You know that Jesus is Lord and Savior but you do not see how he is Lord and Savior. You are not clear about the absolute necessity of the death of Christ. Neither are you clear about the doctrine of spiritual rebirth. You talk about these things yet you find that they are confusing. You are familiar with them yet you cannot truly see the truth about who you are in Jesus Christ.

2. Your heart is not fully engaged.

Though you pray and have read the Bible, you do not find happiness in Christianity and in the Christian position. You are not moved by it. You do not find joy in it. You find joy, if any, somewhere else.

3. Your will is divided.

You renounce the old life and embrace the Christian life in general. Yet you find that Christianity constricting. Why does a Christian have to do certain things and stop doing others? You start arguing whether it is right for a Christian to do this or that. As a result there is no peace in the realm of the will.

The root of all these, according to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, is never fully accepting the teaching and authority of Scriptures. How great a tragedy it is to read the Bible but not knowing the truth contained in it and not applying its teachings in all of life. You embrace some of the Biblical teachings but continue to live portions of your life according to other ideas and philosophies from the world. You are not interested in doctrine and thus miss the truth contained in Scripture. Dr. Lloyd-Jones says,

"It is the doctrine that hurts, it is the doctrine that focuses things. It is one thing to look at pictures and to be interested in words and shades of meaning. That does not disturb, that does not focus attention on sin, nor call for a decision. We can sit back and enjoy that but doctrine speaks to us and insists upon a decision. This is truth, and it examines us and tries us and forces us to examine ourselves. So, if we start by objecting to doctrine as such, it is surprising that we do not see clearly."

A lack of harmony among musical notes turns music to noise that is painful to the ears. In the same way, spiritual misery comes because a tension exists in our lives resulting from the combination of two disharmonious or unsuitable elements.

So surrender yourself to God. Submit fully to the authority of Scriptures. Hold on to its teachings and promises. Believe in the truth contained in it. Don't mix anything to them. Then you will see clearly. Then you will have passion and joy in your spiritual life.

Dr. Lloyd-Jones concludes with this question, "Do you believe that the Son of God came from heaven and lived and did all He did on earth, that He died on a Cross and was buried and rose again, that He ascended into heaven and sent the Holy Spirit, in order to leave us in a state of confusion?" The answer, of course, is no! Jesus did not come to give us misery. He came to save us from our sins and give us life and have it more abundantly.

Repentance is for Christians Too

2011-11-08T22:11:00.000-08:00

    Repentance (metanoia) means "change of mind". This change is more radical than we think. Charles Spurgeon describes, "It is an entire and total change of mind, a turning of the mind right round, so that it hates what once it loved and loves what once it hated—it forms different judgments from what it always did before—and no longer puts bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter, darkness for light and light for darkness."

    Yet the act of repentance is misunderstood today. It's helpful to point out false forms of repentance and what true repentance is according to the Bible. You'll find that the phony kind of repentance is tolerated and even accepted by many people today. Now both John the Baptist (Matthew 3:2) and Jesus (Matthew 4:17) preached repentance saying, "Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand." Jesus also warned, "But unless you repent, you too will all perish (Luke 13:3)." Thus if repentance is a condition for belonging in the kingdom and if the eternal destiny of an individual hinges on it, then it is critical to understand what it really means.

WHAT IT IS NOT

1. Repentance and regret are not the same. Repentance does involve a feeling of regret but repentance is linked to moral deficiency while regret is not. For example, God regrets that he made Saul king (1 Samuel 15:10-11) but David repents of his adultery with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11).

2. Repentance is not being sorry for sin because of the consequences that it brings to us. For example, King Saul repents from disobeying God hoping that his repentance can change God's mind about removing him from as king (1 Samuel 15). Neither is repentance feeling sorry because you got caught or that you failed to live up to your expectations.

3. Repentance is not self-pity nor making excuses. When people make mistakes, they often admit that they're not perfect- thinking that it excuses their behavior. While it is true that no one is perfect, no sin is ever excusable to the God who is holy and perfect. Other excuses that people bring up instead of truly being broken and repentant over sin:

"I was just being honest."

"I'm just saying what I feel."

"I was only kidding."

"I misunderstood you."

"I didn't mean to do it."

"I'm having a bad day."

4. Repentance is not the atonement for sin. Penance and self-flagellation are forms of self-righteousness and that has never saved anybody. Displaying your misery does not earn the forgiveness of sins. Only the blood of Christ is the sacrifice of atonement that takes away God's wrath on us (Romans 3:25-26).

WHAT IT IS (List is excerpted from "The Gospel Powered Life")

1. Repentance is oriented towards God, not me.

King David realized that he had ultimately offended God with his sin. So he writes, "Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight (Psalm 51:4)..."

2. Repentance is motivated by true godly sorrow and not just selfish regret.

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

- 2 Corinthians 7:10 (ESV)

3. Repentance is concerned with the heart, not just external actions.

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me."

-Psalm 51:10 (ESV)

4. Repentance looks to Jesus for deliverance from the penalty and power of sin.

"Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus"

-Acts 3:19-20 (ESV)

Now repentance isn't just a one time act that occurs when we receive Jesus Christ in faith. Repentance is for Christians too. It is the way in which we make progress in the Christian life. If we make an honest self-examination, we find that there are new sins to address. We discover sins beneath sins. There are new enemies that must be defeated. Tim Keller points out,

"The more you see your own flaws and sins, the more precious, electrifying, and amazing God's grace appears to you. But on the other hand, the more aware you are of God's grace and acceptance in Christ, the more you are able to drop your denials and self-defenses and admit the true dimensions of your sin."

When repentance becomes a lifestyle, we live a life of faith as we rest solely on Jesus Christ's work that brings about forgiveness and grace.

Unfashionable Misfits

2011-11-04T23:40:00.000-07:00

Christians are not of the world yet they live in the world. Every moment of the day, we Christians deal with the tension that this brings to our lives. Tension arises because the ideas, fashions, trends, practices, philosophies, and opinions of this world will oftentimes contradict God's law. We do our best to be wise and discerning but we find that it's not easy. Writer and speaker Os Guinness comments,

Of all the cultures the church has lived in, the modern world is the most powerful, the most pervasive, and the most pressurizing.

-Os Guinness in Prophetic Untimeliness

It's hard to resist what the world has to offer today. Hence, we are hard-pressed to either take a stand or capitulate to the world's culture and practice. If we choose the former, we are unfashionable misfits that stand out but if we do the latter, we go astray in our faith and descend into worldliness. My professor in theology defines worldliness this way:

Worldliness is everything in a society that makes righteousness look strange and sin look normal.

    How does a Christian fall into wordliness? Os Guinness outlines four steps in this process and it is worth to look at it carefully:

1. Assumption
It begins when something of the world is assumed to be significant enough to be worth considering and adopting into Christian thought and practice. Oftentimes, these assumptions are made without any careful thought. This is dangerous.

2. Abandonment
When we consider adopting any aspect of the world into our Christian life, a truth that we believe or a practice that we do is bound to go against it or does not seem to be able to co-exist with this new thing. This is where the fork in the road is reached. Either we choose to reject this new thing or we alter, and even worse, abandon our traditional beliefs and practices.

3. Adaptation
The next step of this spiral into worldliness is adaptation. The habit and culture of the world is now accepted without thought and the old is thrown out. In the process, this new thought becomes the authority over the remaining traditional Christian assumptions that were not yet abandoned. When we replace or alter one truth from the Bible with something from the world, eventually the whole authority of the Bible will be questioned. After all, if one truth from the Word of God needs updating then perhaps there are other Scripture-based doctrines, beliefs, and practices that need to be changed as well.

4. Assimilation
In the last step, the culture and habit of the world completely takes over all traditions. Old ideas and practices are updated to align with the new assumptions. As a result, Christians have now fully surrendered to the world's culture and practice. When assimilation happens, a Christian is virtually indistinguishable from a non-Christian.

There are a couple of important things that Christians must always remember about God and his Word.

1. God never changes.

    If God never changes, then his law never changes. He does not adjust the boundary of sexual purity according to the values of the world. Sex will always be meant to be enjoyed within the confines of marriage. He will not move that boundary and later ordain that it is good to engage in pre-marital sex. He invented marriage and ordained it as a union between a man and a woman. He will never broaden the definition to include same-sex union. When Jesus said that no one can come to the Father but only through him, this will always remain true forever. God will not change his mind and say that there is more than one way by which man can be saved. God is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He will always stay true to himself and to his nature.

2. The authority is Scripture, not culture.

    Os Guinness writes:

For all the lofty recent statements on biblical authority, a great part of the evangelical community has made a historic shift. It has transferred authority from Sola Scriptura (by Scripture alone) to Sola Cultura (by culture alone).

-Os Guinness in Prophetic Untimeliness

   Who is the ultimate authority in our lives? Who is the authority in the church? Is it God and his Word or does the culture dictate what we must believe and practice? People who descend into wordliness think that portions of truth in the Bible are outdated and need to be revised in order to keep up with the reality of the modern times. Really? If we submit to the authority of the Bible, then we will not change it's message just because the world is changing. Yet today, the message of the gospel has been revised in order to bring more seekers into church. The unpopular portions of the gospel such as divine wrath and sin are intentionally left out. Emphasis is on God who is good and loving and wants to give you a second chance, fulfill your potential, solve your problems, and bless you by fattening your bank account. Will people really come to genuine faith in Jesus Christ with this kind of message? The world does not decide what Christians believe in and what they do. Culture does not critique Scripture. It's the other way around. Christians engage with the world and its ways through the lens of Scripture.

    Jesus was an unfashionable misfit in a world that wanted him to fit in. And Jesus intentionally called Christians to also be unfashionable misfits. When the world goes downstream, Christians go upstream. Christians don't get swayed by public opinion and don't live by the values of the world. They are faithful to God and hold fast to the teachings of his Word. They don't change God's law in order to fit it around the world's values. Rather, they obey God's law even when the world will ridicule them as behind the times. Christians do not isolate themselves from the world. On the contrary, they engage with the world because Jesus sends them into the world as his witnesses (John 20:21).

    So we are to live int the world but not get sucked into the world's value system and pattern of thinking. Let's embrace our unfashionableness! The reason is because, as witnesses of Jesus, we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Matthew 5:13-14). When we descend into worldliness, we lose our flavor and we extinguish our light. In the epistles, we also identify with Paul that we are “ambassadors for Christ with God making his appeal through us” (2 Cor. 5:20). An ambassador represents his nation in a foreign land. He doesn't switch his citizenship. We are citizens with the saints and members in the household of God (Eph. 2:19). We are a “chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession (1 Peter 2:9)” that we may proclaim the excellencies of Christ who has called us out of darkness. We don't go back and try to fit into the shadows. We stand out!

    The world needs us unfashionable misfits because we bear the good news of the gospel of Christ. We reflect the glory of God through the work of the gospel in our relationships, in our triumphs, in our suffering, in our vocation, in our eating and drinking, in the way we spend our time and money, and in our conversation with others. If we try to fit in with the world, we lose our relevance.

Change Inside Out, Not Outside in

2011-10-30T22:20:00.000-07:00

"He's gotten into some trouble but my boy has a good heart deep inside of him." This is what a father told me one time during a conversation. Another parent explained to me one time, "I know that my son stole your son's video game but that's not him because we didn't raise him up this way."

We have all made this same rationalization in one form or another. It's a way of softening the impact of the sins we do before men and before God. The pattern goes like this : we admit that we're not perfect, that we make mistakes, and we commit sin from time to time but these are mere aberrations because deep down inside, we are basically good and our hearts are in the right place. This view treats sin as committing mistakes, making wrong choices, failing to live up to our potential or engaging in anti-social behavior. If we believe this to be true, then it's possible that we can improve ourselves and attain godly living by learning from our experience. Yet what the Bible says is completely different.

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?"

-Jeremiah 17: 9 (ESV)

"For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander."

-Matthew 15:19 (ESV)

That is the truth about our hearts. We cannot blame external influences such us our upbringing and culture for our wrongdoing. It proceeds from inside of us, not outside in. If we honestly look inside of us, our deepest thoughts, emotions and desires would be something like this:

"A fountain of pollution is deep within my nature. There are chambers of foul images within my being. I have gone from one odious room to another, walked in no-man's-land of dangerous imaginations, pried into the secrets of my fallen nature."

-The Valley of Vision

    Certainly we are capable to do good works and improve our behavior through our own efforts. Men may applaud us for it but God does not. For the righteous deeds from a corrupt heart are nothing but filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). When we deny our sinful condition, we do not see the need for repentance and our minds are blinded from seeing and rethinking our true relationship to God. We also reject the gospel because the gospel says we're not good and consequently we completely miss the grace and mercy of God.

    No human effort, positive thinking, child-rearing techniques, and character building activities can transform the wayward and sinful heart. Many people claim that they have knowledge in how you can become a better you. Bookstores are filled with so many self-improvement books. Ultimately, this kind of "fix" is superficial like polishing up a car but not fixing the broken engine. It looks good on the outside but it's broken inside so it's still dead.

    Only God can change the heart. Godliness proceeds inside out, not outside in.

"But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people."

-Jeremiah 31:33 (ESV)

"And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules."

-Ezekiel 36:26-27 (ESV)

This is how real change happens :

"But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God."

-John 1:12-13 (ESV)

"....We all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ."

-Ephesians 2:3-5 (ESV)

He who is spiritually dead can't help himself. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (John 1:12)." Change comes by believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God who has come to earth to bring the light of the gospel into the hearts of men. Receive Jesus Christ for who he is - Savior and Lord. Nothing is fixed in your life if you believe that Jesus is only a moral teacher, a divine therapist, or an inspirational speaker who came to improve your life. If that is Jesus to you, then you put him on the same plane as the human peddlers of self-improvement. Jesus came to crucify and bury your old life so that you might be raised with him with a new life - a new heart - as a child of God. Change the heart, change the behavior. Regeneration from the inside. This is how radical permanent change happens. This is how real progress happens. Inside out, not outside in.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

-Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV)

If we are able to change ourselves for the better then this passage would be a lie. When we are saved, we are regenerated into this new life brought about by a new heart and new pattern of thinking. And it is all the work of Christ in whom our life is now hidden. Inside out, not outside in.

The Anti-Psalm 23

2011-10-20T07:15:00.000-07:00

One way of getting insight into Scripture is to think of the antithesis of that passage.

Antithesis is a counter-proposition and denotes a direct contrast to the original proposition. In setting the opposite, an individual brings out a contrast in the meaning (e.g., the definition, interpretation, or semantics) by an obvious contrast in the expression.

-Wikipedia

What would the antithesis of a well-loved passage such as Psalm 23 look like? From Justin Taylor's blog :

Antipsalm 23

I’m on my own.

No one looks out for me or protects me.

I experience a continual sense of need. Nothing’s quite right.

I’m always restless. I’m easily frustrated and often disappointed.

It’s a jungle—I feel overwhelmed. It’s a desert—I’m thirsty.

My soul feels broken, twisted, and stuck. I can’t fix myself.

I stumble down some dark paths.

Still, I insist: I want to do what I want, when I want, how I want.

But life’s confusing. Why don’t things ever really work out?

I’m haunted by emptiness and futility—shadows of death.

I fear the big hurt and final loss.

Death is waiting for me at the end of every road,

but I’d rather not think about that.

I spend my life protecting myself. Bad things can happen.

I find no lasting comfort.

I’m alone . . . facing everything that could hurt me.

Are my friends really friends?

Other people use me for their own ends.

I can’t really trust anyone. No one has my back.

No one is really for me—except me.

And I’m so much all about ME, sometimes it’s sickening.

I belong to no one except myself.

My cup is never quite full enough. I’m left empty.

Disappointment follows me all the days of my life.

Will I just be obliterated into nothingness?

Will I be alone forever, homeless, free-falling into void?

Sartre said, “Hell is other people.”

I have to add, “Hell is also myself.”

It’s a living death, and then I die.

Is Christianity a Psychological Crutch?

2011-10-18T23:15:00.000-07:00

    It's a common objection raised against the Christian faith. Christianity is just a psychological crutch for the week, needy, and the fearful. In this view, God is a benevolent father figure for those who do not have the intellectual capacities nor the training to provide comfort and security for themselves. Two apologists point out the flaws behind this charge (links below). Several arguments are put forth so take time to read them carefully.

1. Ravi Zacharias International Ministries : Is Believing God a Psychological Crutch?

2. Bethinking.org : Is Christianity Just a Psychological Crutch?

My take:

    Those who call Christianity a "crutch" are actually using this objection as a crutch so that they are freed from being held accountable for their sinful actions. It's their escape route to self-justification. It's a cover-up excuse for their refusal to accept the absolute sovereignty and moral authority of God over their lives.

     The God in the Bible is inscrutable. His ways are higher than our own. As I ponder about his sovereignty, his love, his holiness, and his justice and how that is fully all expressed in the saving work of Jesus Christ, he is certainly far more than the fatherly, Santa Claus-like caricature. God is not simple. This trinitarian, divine, Being whose name is a phrase ("I AM") cannot be put in a box. That is what makes Christianity a most intellectually and emotionally satisfying faith.

Sinclair Ferguson|God Finishes What He Starts

2011-10-17T20:14:00.000-07:00

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

-Philippians 1:6 (ESV)

   God is at work in the very first nanosecond of your belief in Jesus Christ; God is at work in changing your heart to believe on Jesus Christ, just as He was at work for your salvation from before the foundation of the world.

    God is at work in declaring you to be right with Him in accepting you in the righteousness of His Son, in pardoning and forgiving you of your sins. He’s at work in that. His initiative is involved.

    God is at work in your growing up to maturity in grace. Salvation is not something that starts with you and then continues with the work of God, nor does it start with God and then He says ‘OK, the rest is up to you.’

    Salvation from beginning to end, from start to finish, is the work of the sovereign grace of God, and so He is at work building you up in Christ, and He is at work one day to present you faultless before His throne with exceeding joy and great glory, in Jesus Christ, with all the saints, perfected.

    Conversion, justification, sanctification, glorification…that’s what those words are. They’re just code words so you don’t have to take as long as I just took to say all that you want to say.

- Sinclair Ferguson

Are You Shaped By The Word or By The World?

2011-10-16T16:17:00.000-07:00

"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night."

"He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away."

'Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish."

-Psalm 1: 1-6 (ESV)

We all need instruction in this life. Where do we get it? From whom do we get it? It's important to be discerning about this because wisdom can either come from the wicked or the righteous. Life on earth is full of trials, turmoil and uncertainty. So the last thing we need is listening to bad advice and getting the wrong counsel.

WHAT DO WE DELIGHT IN?

We get our counsel from teachers that please us and from books that we love to read. We choose to be influenced by what we delight in. John Piper observes,

Nobody walks in the way of the wicked out of duty. Nobody stands in the way of sinners out of duty. Nobody sits in the seat of scoffers out of duty. We walk and stand and sit there because we want to. And we want to because we have been watching them so intently that what they do is now attractive.

The counsel of the world is pleasing to our ears and appealing to our eyes. Why? Because the wisdom of this world is centered on us. How can we get rich? How can we find happiness, success, and fulfillment? How can we raise great kids? How do we have a great marriage? We all want this for ourselves and we're willing to spend money and listen to those who can show us how to get there. In short, the world's wisdom is powerfully appealing to our corrupted hearts.

God desires that we walk in holiness and find our enjoyment and delight in Him. The Psalmist proclaims right at the start that blessed (or happy) is the man who delights in God's instruction and regularly meditates on His law. When we do this, we experience a blessedness from God that is not given to those who walk in the way of sinners.

THE BLESSEDNESS OF KEEPING GOD'S LAW

God's Word is so valuable that it is more desirable than fine gold and there is great reward in keeping them (Psalm 19:10-11).

The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul;
the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;
the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;
the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.

-Psalm 19:7-9 (ESV)

The instruction of the Lord is good and perfect. Far from being dry and boring, it is sweeter than honey from the honeycomb (Psalm 19:10). It preserves our lives, it revives our souls, and it uplifts our hearts. Just as water from the great river makes the tree that lie on its banks verdant and fruitful, meditating on God's Word brings fruitfulness and health in our spiritual life. Regular meditation of God's Word firmly establishes our feet, keeps us away from making harmful decisions, and provides the stability that we need in times of struggle and trials.

If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life.

-Psalm 119: 92-93 (ESV)

If it has this much value and importance, then why does our Bible gather dust in the bookshelf? How much worth do we put in reading the Bible? How much effort do we spend in meditating God's Word? Do we look forward to it or is it such a drudgery to read it that we just want to hurry up and finish it? Does it occupy much of our daily thinking and reflection? How barren and thirsty is the Christian who does not constantly draw water from God's Word.

THE FATE OF ONE WHO DELIGHTS IN THE WORLD

The ungodly are not like trees planted by streams of water, rather they are like chaff that the wind drives away. There is no stability, vibrancy, life, nor reward when our thinking is shaped and influenced by the world. The end result is death and judgment. Why is this so?

But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.

-James 3:14-16 (ESV)

The world's wisdom feeds our selfish desires. And when we live like this, we might be temporarily rewarded but the end-result is destruction. For God brings judgment and wrath on the ungodly. Charles Spurgeon describes the situation of the ungodly this way,

The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous. They are like the planted tree. Not so, ye that are ungodly, not so ye; there is no special providence for you. To whom will ye carry your troubles? Where is your shelter in the day of wrath? Where is your shield in the hour of battle? Who shall be your sun when darkness shall gather about you? Who shall comfort you when your troubles shall encompass you round? You have no eternal arm to lean upon. You have no compassionate heart to beat for you. You have no loving eye to watch you. You are left alone! Alone! Alone!

So the question to you is are you shaped and influenced by the world or by the Word of God?

Stories

2011-10-13T09:14:00.000-07:00

I encourage my sons to read books. In the process, I noticed that some of the popular titles such as Big Nate and Diary of a Wimpy Kid may be amusing but they are not at all inspiring.

As parents, it is important that that we guide our children and engage with them as they read. Reading then becomes an opportunity for teaching valuable life-lessons and spiritual insights, not merely for entertainment. Great stories help our children to understand that a spiritual world exists beyond the material world that they live in. It points them to the reality of God, who He is, what He is doing, and what He will do. They learn that the spiritual dimension helps give meaning and purpose to their lives here on earth. Author ND Wilson says:

"Feed your children stories that will keep their eyes wide with wonder when they look out their front windows or wander their yards. Feed them stories of joy and hardship and courage and tragedy and triumph. Give them heroes, real and imagined. Give them a taste for goodness, for truth, for beauty."

Don't simply dismiss the power and wonder of stories. Ponder this: it is how God reveals his nature and his plan of redemption to persons like you and me. Someone said,

"The stories--the facts--give shape to the one we ought to worship. What God does shows who he is."

Read the Bible and you'll realize that it isn't a dry and boring book. Rather, it's full of fantastic and magical stories. Think of Moses rescuing Israel out from Egypt, Samson's amazing strength, Gideon's weaponless army of 300 men defeating the superior enemy, David slaying Goliath with a well-aimed pebble from a slingshot, Jonah in the belly of the whale, Isaiah's vision of God seated on His throne, the miracles and works of Jesus as told in the gospels, and many more stories in the Bible. There is no doubt that these are incredible stories but they were real events in history. They are not myths. These stories have a purpose and that is to demonstrate who God is and point us to his son Jesus Christ who "suffered once for sins, the unrighteous for the righteous, that he might bring us back to God (1 Peter 3:18). These stories are the foundation of New Testament theology. Read Paul's letters as well as the non-Pauline epistles. You will realize that their theology and doctrine largely come from Old Testament stories and the gospel accounts. In turn, these principles guide us in how to live as Christians who by grace are saved through faith in Jesus Christ. Ultimately, these stories greatly influence our practice in the kingdom of God.

By the way, ND Wilson writes children's adventure and fantasy novels. I met him at a conference last year - funny guy and a great writer. I've read a couple of his books. There is the 100 Cupboards trilogy, a story about a boy who discovers mysterious cupboards in his room and they turn out to be portals into other worlds. If you like the Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis then you will also enjoy the 100 Cupboards series. It's a great book for children as well as for grown-ups. And then there's Notes From The Tilt-A-Whirl which he describes as "a narrative nature of the world and the personality of the Poet behind it all." He has this gift of looking this world a little bit differently than we do in order to show how colorful and wonderfully complex our great God is and he writes it all down in this book. He also recently wrote about the relevance of stories in this post from Desiring God : Stories are Soul Food : Don't Let Your Children Hunger.

Skies and Landscapes

2011-10-11T22:43:00.000-07:00

I was reflecting on Psalm 19:1-7 tonight. I also happened to come across this video from a blog and I marvel at how it perfectly captures the reflections of the Psalmist.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

-Psalm 19:1-7 (ESV)

Landscapes: Volume Two from Dustin Farrell on Vimeo.

    This is what the heavens are proclaiming everyday, 24x7, and it never stops declaring the glory of its Creator. This is what they were made for. This is their ministry: to communicate to us that there is a God.

    What about you and me? Perhaps we're preoccupied with building our own glory and kingdom. Hence, we're too busy to notice the infinitely glorious majesty of God that is being spoken out around us at each moment. Stop looking at yourself. Nothing good and glorious is in there. Look around you. Look up to the skies. Notice the blinding light from the sun and feel the heat that it generates. That's the handiwork of God.

    Now join with the heavenly chorus!

KEVIN DEYOUNG|The Villain With A Thousand Faces

2011-10-10T22:21:00.000-07:00

Kevin DeYoung :

"Sin is in every human heart. It is the villain with a thousand faces."

"Even as Christians we find ways to avoid the word sin. We will speak of our imperfections, our flaws, our inadequacies, our dysfunctions, our weaknesses, our insecurities, and our growth edges. But how often do we call sin “sin”?"

"For sin may have a thousand faces, but salvation has only one."

Read more from his blog at the Gospel Coalition.

An Advice From JI Packer

2011-10-09T16:04:00.000-07:00

Theologian JI Packer gives this advice in his book, Knowing God :

"Do I as a Christian, understand myself?
               Do I know my know my own real identity?
                                                               My own real destiny?

I am a child of God.
    God is my father;
         heaven is my home;
               every day is one day nearer.
                        My Savior is my brother too.

Say it over and over to yourself first thing in the morning, last thing at night, as you wait for the bus, any time when your mind is free, and ask that you may be enabled to live as one who knows it is all utterly and completey true.

For this is the Christian's secret of - a happy life? - yes, certainly, but we have something both higher and profounder to say.

This is the Christian's secret of a Christian life, and of a God-honoring life and these are the aspects of the situation that really matter.

May this secret become fully yours, and fully mine.

Good Works in the Christian Life

2011-10-08T09:55:00.000-07:00

Photo by stevendepolo

The theology on good works is clear. We are not saved by our good works.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

-Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV)

All our self-initiated good works are dead works (Hebrews 6:1). It profits us nothing. The good news is that as Christians, we are created to do good works and they count for something!

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

-Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)

Good works prove that our faith in Jesus Christ is authentic.

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

-James 2:14-17 (ESV)

There's more to it. Why were we created in Christ to do good works? What is the purpose? From the book What is the Mission of the Church, authors Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert explain the motivations behind good works in the Christian life.

Here's the summary including notable quotes and related Scripture passages :

1. We Do Good Works to Obey God, Whom We Love (1 John 5:3, 1 John 4:19)

"At the end of the day, God commands us to do good works and live godly lives."

2. We Do Good Works Because We Love Our Neighbors (Matthew 5:43-45, Matthew 22:36-40)

"We as Christians should be marked by a posture of love and generosity toward our neighbors, and that includes everyone, according to Jesus, from our best friends to our worst enemies."

3. We Do Good Works to Show God's Character and God's Work.

"When we approach the world with a posture of love and generosity, our good works provide a powerful confirmation of our declaration that "God is love." They show the world the we really mean what we say, and they make it just that much more plausible the God is really there and that his influence in our lives is real, powerful, and different from anything else in the world."

4. We Do Good Works Because They Are the Fruit of the Spirit's Work In Us (Matthew 7:16-20)

"Simply put, apples grow on apple trees, oranges grow on orange trees, and good works grow on Christians."

"It's not that good works are in the root of the tree; they're not the thing that makes the tree what it is. They're not the ground or the basis of our standing with God. But if we are truly redeemed through the blood of Christ, if the Holy Spirit truly dwells in us, then we will be a people who bear fruit in good works."

5. We Do Good Works to Win a Hearing for the Gospel

"Christians, as we've seen, are to love the whole person, and therefore it makes perfect sense to love someone by giving him food and at the same time to love him in a different, higher way by giving him the gospel."

So don't grow weary in doing well. Keep up the good work!

JOHN PIPER|Thankful for the Love of God! Why?

2011-10-06T21:46:00.000-07:00

From John Piper's sermon on the love of God :

"Have you taken the American definition of love - being made much of - and so twisted God to fit that definition so that now the only way you would feel loved by God is if he makes much of you? When in fact, the love of God is so working as to change you so that you enjoy making much of him forever and ever and ever. And that's the end of your quest. There is not anything beyond it."

"You are being tricked, many of you, into thinking that the satisfying thing in life is to be made much of. If I could just get some people to clap for me, to like me, to approve of me, to give me a raise or to give me an advancement, if I could just get someone to pay attention to me, I would be satisfied. You wouldn't. I promise you. In the name of Jesus Christ Almighty, you wouldn't. You will be satisfied when you forget yourself and are swallowed up in Jesus Christ, and he becomes your treasure and your delight and what you cherish and what you value and what you spend the rest of your eternity growing in your capacity to see and savor - to know and delight in him forever and ever - and it will get better and better and better."

LINK: Thankful for the Love of God! Why?

REVIEW|The Most Important Thing You'll Ever Study

2011-10-04T23:00:00.000-07:00

    For a Christian family it is important that their children be educated in the Bible and trained to grow in knowledge and love for God's Word. Parents must not neglect this duty nor must they leave this responsibility to the local church. Rather, they must be an example for their children in studying Scripture and be competent to teach the very Word of God.

   A great resource for parents is the new, multi-volume set from Crossway titled The Most Important Thing You'll Ever Study by author and teacher, Starr Meade. It's a five-volume survey of the entire Bible designed for middle school and high school age kids. As a former youth ministry leader, I've searched for Bible study material for young teens and I can honestly say that there is nothing out there that is similar in content, breadth, and quality.

    It's a comprehensive, complete, and unique study guide. The treatment of all 66 books in the Bible is as rigorous and careful as typical science or math textbooks. It's the perfect resource for studying the Bible like the way kids study subjects such as Math or History. Yet it doesn't come across as too academic. It is faithful to emphasize the themes or main ideas of the text that is being studied. The questions help the kids to understand what they are reading and the author attempts to connect or fit what they read into the overarching story of the Bible.

    One thing I've found helpful is the answer guide that is provided for parents and teachers so that they can understand the flow and content of each section. There is also a quiz provided at the end of each section with varied formats, i.e. multiple choice, complete the sentence, matching, that helps to evaluate the child's mastery of the subject. The author suggests ways that this set can be used: as a supplemental companion to Scripture reading or as a study guide for reading through the Bible from beginning to end. What I've found out lacking was life application questions so this is something parents or teachers must supplement on their own if needed.

    The apostle Paul says, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17)." When kids love Jesus and are captivated by the Word of God they will be established for life not just in this world but for all eternity. This Bible study guide and survey will help to bring kids in that direction.

God and Our Big Hairy Audacious Goals

2011-09-27T10:23:00.000-07:00

    Phil Vischer was the CEO of Big Idea Productions and the creator of Veggie Tales, a computer animated show that teaches Biblical and moral lessons. The main characters are fruits and vegetables. The show was a hit with parents and kids. My two boys grew up watching, laughing, and singing along with Larry the Cucumber, Bob The Tomato, and 3-2-1 Penguins. We still have Veggie Tales videos in our collection.

    In his blog, Phil said that Big Idea Productions grew by 3300% in revenue, from $1.3 million to $44 million between 1996 and 1999. Dreaming big and bold, Phil had this Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) of becoming the next Walt Disney - a Christian Disney. However, great ambitions often go wrong especially when fueled by self-centered and prideful motivations. By early 2000, the company was in financial trouble and eventually filed for bankruptcy in 2003.

    Phil admits that his decisions as CEO led to the company's difficulties. Phil says in his blog,

I have seen the enemy, and he is me. My strengths built Big Idea, and my weaknesses brought it down. Throughout Big Idea's history, my business instincts were generally quite good. But I had no experience managing people or leading teams to accomplish goals....As VeggieTales took off, I became terrified that my business inexperience and lack of people skills would result in Big Idea's failure. So, in a panic, I brought in others to help, often spending far too little time getting to know them before or after the hire. I then backed down from my own convictions, assuming that an executive with an impressive resume surely knew better than a Bible college dropout. And I launched projects like Jonah before we were really ready to handle them, assuming we'd figure things out on the fly as I had done in the basement and with the very first VeggieTales episode. The result was some amazingly rabid fans, and absolute organizational chaos. The result was the rise – and fall – of Big Idea.

Dreams are powerful but we often confuse our dreams with God's will. As a result, we fail to see that God will lead us in a completely different, but far better, direction. Our dreams therefore can become our god or idol and it's a very cruel taskmaster. It deludes us into thinking that the end justifies the means. We'll do everything we can : sacrifice, compromise our values, neglect our families, and even commit sin, in order to meet our goals. We expect that success will ultimately make everything ok. Yet all that hard work and effort only ends in pain, hurt, and tragedy.

I'm not saying that you should not have dreams, ambitions, and even BHAGs. I am saying that your dreams are never divorced from God's revelation and holiness. Don't make the mistake of making grand plans for God and asking God to join you and bless your quest. The cry of the Christian is always, "Let Your will be done"! Wherever God leads you, that is where you go.

Today, Phil has a new company called Jellyfish Labs and shares what he learned from running Big Idea,

First, our relationships with God are much more important than our work for God. God doesn’t want us to be “busy,” he wants us to be available. He doesn’t want us to focus on “impact,” he wants us to focus on obedience. If we’re walking with Him, we’ll know when He has something specific for us to do. We don’t need to make stuff up. If we’re so wrapped up in the work we’re doing for God that we can’t even make eye contact with the person bagging our groceries, something in our lives is way out of whack.

Second, to be a Christian is to give Christ “lordship” of our lives. That’s what it means. He’s Lord, we’re not. And if we’ve given Christ lordship of our lives, where we are in 20 years is, frankly, none of our business. Where we are in 5 years is none of our business. What is our business, is what God has told us to do today, and whether or not we’re doing it. That’s it.

Even when meant for good, ambitions and dreams that exalt self must die. That's why God whacks us into submission and makes us fall flat on our backs so that we will discover that God Himself, His love, mercy, and grace is far better than what life and opportunities in this world have to offer.

How To Argue With Someone You Love

2011-09-20T22:54:00.000-07:00

The plans of the heart belong to man but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

-Proverbs 16:1 (ESV)

    Here's a fact : disagreements are part of relationships. The problem is that people don't know how to argue. It certainly is true in my marriage. My wife and I agreed that we needed honing in our communication skills so that in resolving everyday issues, we would avoid saying the wrong things that turn small issues into full-blown confrontations. We needed to learn how to speak clearly so that we are not misunderstood. We also needed to learn how to listen to each other so that we understand what the other person is really saying.

    Never underestimate, or worse yet, ignore the power of speech to build or destroy relationships. Arguments can cause so much pain and suffering. James warns about the destructive potential of the tongue and says that everyone has stumbled in what they say (James 3:1-12). It is with the tongue that we communicate our needs, desires, ideas, and feelings. We use it to reprimand, rebuke, exhort, teach, encourage, or inspire others but what good does it bring if we haven't learned how to use speech properly? How do you speak the truth in love if you don't know how to really talk with others? Aristotle said, "It is not sufficient to know what one ought to say, but one must also know how to say it." If we speak so poorly, perhaps it's better to say nothing at all.

    Steve Brown, a professor of preaching at Reformed Theological Seminary, wrote a book on this titled, How To Talk So People Will Listen. He gives sound, Biblical counsel that, had I known earlier, would have spared me from a lot of self-induced heartaches in my relationships.

    When you get into an argument with your spouse, your children, your friends, or even colleagues at work, remember that they are not the enemy. Friends and lovers may have differences but they are not adversaries. So Steve Brown says that in these relationships, the object is not to win the argument, to prove a point, and certainly not to get your way. Instead, when the argument is with someone you care about, the goal is to strengthen and deepen the the relationship.

    He gives 8 rules that helps us to put this principle into practice.

Rule 1: Never characterize the argument made by someone you love.

To characterize means to interpret what the other person is saying through your own lens. You are hearing but you are not listening. You are already making conclusions without taking the time to clarify and repeat what the other person is saying in order to have an accurate understanding of his or her position. That is why James says, "Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger (James 1:19)." We usually do it the other way around when we get into arguments and that gets us into trouble (Proverbs 18:13).

Rule 2 : Keep short accounts. Always clean up the mess promptly lest one argument lead to one another.

This is what Paul means when he admonished, "Don't let the sun go down on your anger (Ephesians 4:26)."

Rule 3 : Keep the "weapons of destruction" in the closet.

My wife and I have favorite "verbal bombs" that we unleash at each other. My favorite is what I call the "right back at you" bomb by accusing her of being a hypocrite. "You're telling me that I shout too much at you, well you're yelling at me now so you have double standards!" And the war is on. "A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger (Proverbs 15:1)." So stow the guns.

RULE 4: Apologize quickly.

Do rule 4 when you violate rules #1,#2, and #3. And do it quickly. Giving an apology is confessing your sin to the one whom you offended (James 5:16). Admitting your wrong leads to healing (Proverbs 12:18) and brings down the defenses that your loved one has put up.

RULE 5: Affirm easily.

    John Piper quotes CS Lewis saying, "I had noticed how the humblest, and at the same time most balanced and capacious minds, praised most, while the cranks, misfits and malcontents praised least." When we are misers in giving affirmation, we are like old Ebenezer Scrooge. To affirm is to call out something in someone that is worth commending. Affirmation is different from manipulation and flattery in that affirmation is others-centered. You commend the other person because you love them and not for your personal gain which is at the heart manipulation and flattery. It is easy to commend someone you love. So when you argue, be generous in your affirmations.

RULE 6: Compromise often.

This is another way of saying this admonition in Philippians:

"Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others."

-Philippians 2:3-4 (ESV

RULE 7: Stick to Issues.

Don't drag on other issues into the argument. Stick to the issues at hand and work to resolve it.

RULE 8: Look for points of agreement and concentrate on them as you branch out to settle the issue.

Steve Brown concludes,

"In an argument or a disagreement with someone with whom you have an important relationship, the only reason for the argument or the disagreement is to reach some kind of accord so that you can work hand in hand with that accord to a particular goal. Winning arguments with people who are important to you is always a losing strategy. Remember, the relationship is always important than any argument."

The Best Version of You Is Jesus

2011-09-18T22:52:00.000-07:00

    Self-evaluations can be helpful in assessing your strengths, weaknesses, your talents and gifts. Paul Tripp, however, points out that the standard of self-evaluation misses the core of your potential as a Christian. If Jesus did an assessment of gifts and talents, would he have selected the twelve disciples (let alone Judas!)? After Peter denied him three times, would Jesus have evaluated Peter and deemed him unqualified as an apostle? Would Paul, who persecuted the early church Christians, have become a missionary to the Gentiles?

    God often called people who felt unprepared and yet were successful in accomplishing what God called them to do. Despite the fact that they were weak, ordinary and could not boast of any talent, the disciples were able to step forward and do extraordinary works as they preached the gospel and ministered to the church.

    So what to do then with our potential? What to do with our talents and gifts? It's important to realize that the gospel, first and foremost, defines who you are as a Christian. Paul says,

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

-Galatians 2:20 (ESV)

A Christian is one that has died to self but made alive in Jesus Christ. The self is sinful, weak, undone, proud, and ill-tempered and is crucified with Christ on the cross. The Christian now lives and says, "Not I, but Christ." Think about this: the one who is the image of the invisible God, the one in whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells, the one who holds creation together in himself, the Savior, Redeemer, the very God of the very God lives in you! One book describes it like this,

"Jesus Christ is like a vast ocean. He is too immense to fully explore, and too rich to fathom. You are like a bottle. The wonder of the gospel is that the bottle is in the ocean, and the ocean is in the bottle."

-Jesus Manifesto

Amazing! Therefore the Christian lives by faith in Jesus Christ. Those who see, hear, and know you will see, hear and know Jesus. Your life manifests Jesus' presence. Paul Tripp says,

It is not enough for Paul to say that the death of Christ made him new. He says that when he died, the old Paul was not replaced with a new and improved version of Paul, but with Christ himself! He's not simply saying that the new Paul is better at controlling the sin in his heart. He is saying that where sin once controlled, Christ now rules! Our hearts, once under the dominion of sin, are now the dwelling place of Christ, the ultimate source of righteousness, wisdom, power, and love.

- Paul Tripp in How People Change

In short, the best version of you is none other than Jesus! That's the gospel of Christian potential.

"We no longer live based on our assessment of what we possess in strength, character, wisdom (from family, education, and experience). We base our lives on the fact that because Jesus lives in us, we can do what is right in desire, thought, word, and action, no matter what specific blessings or sufferings we face."

- Paul Tripp in How People Change

This is why God can use those who are simple and ordinary by the world's standards to shame the wise (1 Corinthians 1: 26-31). That is why he can use people with no extraordinary talents nor gifts because it is Jesus Christ in them who gives them the strength to do all things that they are called to do.

Your life in Jesus Christ defines your potential. The question now is what will your life be if you measure your potential based on this? How would it shape your ambitions and your goals? How does the reality of Jesus living in you determine your agenda? How would success look like as a result? Can you honestly say, "Not I, but Christ"?

Be encouraged by this : our potential in Jesus Christ is not hindered by our weaknesses nor our failures. Our potential in Jesus is not based on what we can do for him, but on what he can do through us.

Rejoicing -The Best Medicine

2011-09-15T23:05:00.000-07:00

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

-Philippians 4:4 (ESV)

The strange thing about this verse is that Paul urges the Philippian Christians to rejoice always, meaning, even if they don't feel like it, still they must rejoice in the Lord. And Paul repeats himself, emphasizing the point so that the readers will not easily forget this command.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones points out that there is a world of a difference between rejoicing and being happy. Happiness is a feeling within yourself. You cannot make yourself happy, but you can make yourself rejoice, in the sense that you will always rejoice in the Lord.

King David preaches to himself,

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation.

-Psalm 42:5 (ESV)

    David wasn't feeling happy inside at all. So he exhorts his troubled soul to hope in God. Why? So he can praise and give glory to God. David did not look for an escape, he did not turn to alcohol, nor did he take pills for his depression. Instead, he believed that the God of his salvation is sufficient and will save him from his despair. He puts his hope in Him. He trusted God to rescue him.

    When you come to love, treasure, and delight in God, you will experience that God is more than enough to carry you through the dark days of your life. Like Paul, you may be afflicted but not crushed, perplexed but not driven to despair, persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed (2 Corinthians 4:4).

    When you find yourself in a bleak situation where you may not yet see God's purposes, you can rejoice, knowing that He is with you and that He is working out all things for your good.

The Christian and His Past

2011-09-12T23:42:00.000-07:00

We have done things in the past that we now regret. The apostle Paul had a big one. Prior to his conversion, Paul zealously persecuted believers in Jerusalem. He could have been burdened by this guilt for the rest of his life. He could have tried to make up for it. Instead, this is what Paul said about his sordid past :

For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect.

- 1 Corinthians 15: 9-10 (ESV)

He didn't run away from his past. Instead, he admitted the shameful things that he had done. He recognized that he didn't deserve to be called an apostle but for the grace of God. "I am what I am," Paul said, in effect saying that what matters is that Jesus saved him from his past and his present identity in Christ now defined who he is. Grace had transformed Paul from zealous persecutor and defender of the Torah to zealous missionary of the gospel to the Gentiles.

In the same way, regrets from the past neither condemn nor burden a true Christian. Jesus Christ took our sins away and paid it in full with His sacrifice on the cross. In Christ, we can confidently say :

'I am what I am' - whatever the past may have been. It is what I am that matters. What am I?

I am forgiven, I am reconciled to God by the Blood of His Son upon the Cross.

I am a child of God.

I am adopted into God's family, and I am an heir with Christ, a joint-heir with Him.

I am going to glory.

This is what matters, not what I was, not what I have been.

-D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones in Spritual Depression It's Causes and Cure

The Red Sea Places of Your Life

2011-09-07T23:04:00.000-07:00

Many are familiar with the story of Moses leading the people of Israel in crossing the Red Sea. However, it's easy to overlook important details. That's what usually happens with spectacular stories like this: we remember details of the climax but miss the whole point of the story.

The narrative is found in Exodus 14. Here's the overlooked details :

1. God deliberately sets up the action.

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, 'They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.' And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD." And they did so.

-Exodus 14:1-4 (ESV)

The context shows the motivations of God. Exodus 13:17-21 tells that there was a shorter way to the promised land but that route would bring them into Philistine territory. That would mean engaging in war and God knew that Israel wasn't ready to wage battle. So God leads them into the wilderness going towards the Red Sea. He led them by day in a pillar of cloud and in a pillar of fire by night.

God specifically tells Moses to encamp at an area by the sea. Why? The Lord wanted to set a trap that would destroy the Egyptian army so that He gets the glory and when the Egyptians will hear of the defeat of their army, they will know that "I AM" is the one true, living God.

2. God sets up Pharaoh for destruction.

When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, "What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?" So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him, and took six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly. The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.

- Exodus 14:5-9 (ESV)

    If God hardened Pharaoh's heart then Pharaoh should not be held responsible for his actions, right? No, he is still held accountable. What Pharaoh did was consistent with his true character. Pharaoh forced Israel into slavery.

    He harbored evil motives right at the beginning of his reign:

Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, "Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land." Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.

-Exodus 1:8-14 (ESV)

Even when God demonstrated His awesome power by bringing the ten plagues, Pharaoh made it clear that He did not fear God. So when God hardened Pharaoh's heart it showed God's wrath and judgment against a cruel, tyrannical ruler.

Theologian Bruce Waltke explains,

"Through hardening Pharaoh's heart, the Moral Governor of the universe shows that he rules creation and history and deals with the creation according to his moral pleasure, determining how long he will extend his grace and varying the degrees and kinds of judgments he inflicts."

Pharaoh was a type of anti-God (or anti-Christ) and the one, true living God would demonstrate his awesome power over the evil king. Going back to the story, we see that God once again hardened Pharaoh's heart so that the king would decide to pursue the fleeing Israelites. Pharaoh gathered the army of Egypt which was superior and was equipped with state-of-the-art weaponry. But they would be no match against God.

3. God sets up Israel so they would see that He is Israel's Champion

God deliberately positioned the people of Israel so that they could see the Egyptian army marching after them. Predictably, they were overcome with fear and blamed Moses for their dire predicament (Exodus 14:11-12). With the sea on one side and the pursuing Egyptian army on the other, there was no way of escape. But Moses said,

"Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent."

-Exodus 14:13-14 (ESV)

God did not command Israel to fight, rather He would fight for them. God would be Israel's champion - the mighty Warrior King. The rest of the chapter (Exodus 14:15-31) tells how God fought and won. God tells Moses to lift up his staff and stretch out his hand over the sea and divide it so Israel could go through the sea on dry ground. Then the angel of God moved the pillar of cloud and stood between the Egyptian army and Israel. This made it possible for Israel to make a nighttime crossing of the sea. The cloud and the darkness slowed down the Egyptian army pursuit. God threw the Egyptian army into confusion by making the wheels of their chariots come off. Finally, the sea was released and drowned the entire Egyptian army.

Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.

-Exodus 14:30-31 (ESV)

God put on display His glory and his power to both the Israelites and the Egyptians in order to accomplish His purposes with them. In recounting the Red Sea crossing, the author of Exodus made God the central character in the story. Readers need to realize this. God was the General. Moses was a lieutenant. This was God vs. Pharaoh and God scored a resounding knock-out!

Israel was rescued from the hands of the Egyptians that day. Then Moses and all of Israel sang a song of praise to the Lord (Exodus 15).

"The LORD is my strength and my song, and has become my salvation". -v.2

"The LORD is a man of war..." -v.3

"Your right hand O LORD shatters the enemy..." v.6

"Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods?" v.11

"The LORD will reign forever and ever." v.18

God fights for His elect. Do you see God this way? God has already triumphed in the greatest "Red Sea place" of your life. Your were delivered from slavery to sin (John 8:34-36) through His Son. No longer will you live in fear again because Jesus triumphed over Satan. He didn't just eke out a win, he shattered the enemy! Jesus is your Champion! For those who believe in Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection, they are no longer condemned but are saved (John 3:16-18).

Trials and tribulations in this life are also Read Sea places. There was a poet who experienced great suffering. She went through the untimely deaths of not just her biological parents but also her foster parents - orphaned twice over. She also had a debilitating condition that became worse through time and made her an invalid. Through it all, her faith and trust in Jesus never wavered.

I am encouraged by this poem that she wrote:

The Red Sea Place
By : Annie Johnson Flint

Have you come to the Red Sea place in your life,
Where, in spite of all you can do,
There is no way out, there is no way back,
There is no other way but through?
Then wait on the Lord with a trust serene
Till the night of your fear is gone;
He will send the wind, He will heap the floods,
When He says to your soul, "Go on."

And His hand will lead you through - clear through -
Ere the watery walls roll down,
No foe can reach you, no wave can touch,
No mightiest sea can drown;
The tossing billows may rear their crests,
Their foam at your feet may break,
But over their bed you shall walk dry shod
In the path that your Lord will make.

In the morning watch, 'neath the lifted cloud,
You shall see but the Lord alone,
When He leads you on from the place of the sea
To a land that you have not known;
And your fears shall pass as your foes have passed,
You shall be no more afraid;
You shall sing His praise in a better place,

A place that His hand has made.

Tullian Tchividjian : It's Okay To Not Be Okay

2011-09-07T22:16:00.000-07:00

Pastor Tullian Tchividjian's reflections on the gospel has helped me through difficult circumstances in the past. In the midst of conflict, I realized that the praise of men did not matter because in Jesus Christ I have everything that I need, I am accepted by God, and I am his son. Even when I was misunderstood, when my motives were questioned, and when I was maligned, I realized that there was no need to retialiate nor defend myself. I had Jesus Christ and my satisfaction was in Him. My reputation did not matter, pleasing God in loving obedience mattered. I was free to lose because the truth was - I didn't lose anything!

He has an upcoming book : Jesus + Nothing = Everything that helps us to remember the good news the we forget - the gospel - and that true Christianity is faith in Jesus and only Jesus.

Here's an excerpt of the book : It's Okay To Not Be Okay

Related posts :

The Good News That We Forget Part 1

The Good News That We Forget Part 2 : I Need The Gospel Daily

The Good News That We Forget Part 3 : What is Cheap Grace

The Good News That We Forget Part 4 : The Gospel-Centered Life

Christianity Explored - including the tough questions

2011-09-06T07:42:00.000-07:00

This is a great website to learn about Christianity. It explores the core message of the Christian faith and answers some of the tough questions that skeptics have raised and believers have struggled with through time. This site also includes stories of how people have come to faith in Christ from different cirumstances in life.

If you've been curious about Christianity then start your investigation from this website. This is also a great resource for those who want to brush up on the basics.

Go to the website : Christianity Explored

Reflections on the Greatest Commandment

2011-09-05T09:46:00.000-07:00

Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." This is the first and greatest commandment.

-Matthew 22:37 (NIV)

Can we be commanded to love God? It would seem that being commanded to love is like being forced to love. We all know from human experience that true love can't be coerced. So why does God command us to love him with our whole being? Shouldn't love be freely given and not demanded?

    The reality is that in our natural state we would choose not to love God. Even if He were to suddenly appear before us we still wouldn't love him. In Romans 1:18-32, Paul says that God has made himself known plainly to man ever since the creation of the world. Man considered God and judged that God is unworthy to be loved.

   We do this in two ways :

1. We do not honor God as God nor worship Him. (Romans 1:21)

2. We exchanged the truth for the lie and worshipped the glory of the creation over the the glory of the Creator (Romans 1:25). We would rather love the world, ourselves, or a god of our own making.

So we have to recognize that this command reveals that human nature is fallen. We cannot just decide one day to flip an inner switch and start loving God. We don't have that capacity in our natural state.

    The thing is God knows this. We can never obey this command unless our nature is radically transformed. The apostle John said that everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God and conversely, whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love (1 John 4:7-8). The work that God makes in the new life that is received through faith in Jesus Christ makes it possible for us to love God (and also love others) with all our our heart, soul, and mind.

    How?

John Piper explains,

"The most immediate and decisive work of God in the new birth is that the new life he creates sees the superior value of Jesus over all else (2 Corinthians 4:4-6). And with no lapse of time at all, this spiritual sight of the superior value of Jesus results in receiving Jesus as the Treasure that he is. That is faith: receiving Jesus for all that he is because our eyes have been opened to see his truth and beauty and worth."

-John Piper in Finally Alive

That's the key. We cannot see the truth about God. We cannot see the infinite value and beauty of Jesus Christ. God has to do something in us so that we will see that loving Jesus is better than loving the world, better than loving ourselves, and better than worshipping our man-made gods. We are able to love God because God first loved us. We cannot love him without his love being poured into our hearts (Romans 5:5) and without his mercy that looked beyond our fault (Ephesians 2:4-5).

So we are not forced to love God, rather because God's love is in us, it is now in our nature to love God. Because now we see Christ as the precious treasure that he is, loving God with all our heart, mind, and soul becomes our passion and our delightful duty.

William Farley : The Number One Destroyer of Marriages

2011-09-03T08:12:00.000-07:00

There are many causes of marriage break-ups : infidelity, abuse, irresponsibility, irreconcilable differences among others. Author William Farley identifies a cause that is "small, insidious, and seldom noticed". It compounds over time if not addressed.

Read more : The Number One Destroyer of Marriages

Ponderings

2011-08-27T23:26:00.000-07:00

Ponder: To reflect or consider with thoroughness and care.

1. Tim Keller : The Acid Test of Being a Christian

How can you tell if you're a Christian or just a moral person?

2. Eric Liddell

His life is an example of offering your body as living sacrifice (Romans 12:1). Pastor Alistair Begg tells the story in his book Made For His Pleasure:

When Liddell went to the 1924 Olympics in Paris, he was thought to have his best chance at a gold in the 100 meter race. But when the schedules were posted, that race was to take place on Sunday. It was well known that Liddell would not break the Sabbath, and great pressure was put on him to make an exception for this one event. He refused. If it meant that he would lose the chance at a medal, so be it. But Liddell was also scheduled to run the 400-meter race, and that race he entered-and won.

Liddell had been born of missionary parents in Tientsin, China, and a year after his Olympic victory he returned to that country to begin missionary service himself....and in 1936 accepted an assignment to do evangelistic work in Siaochang. By this time the Japanese had invaded China, and in 1938 Liddell was captured by the Japanese and placed in an internment camp in China. Conditions were very severe, and on February 21,1945 Liddell died of a brain tumor.

Liddell's experience in the Olympics is told in the movie, Chariots of Fire. May our hearts be totally committed to the kingdom of Christ just like Eric Liddell.

3. Alfred Poirier : The Cross and Criticism

He who doesn't listen to his critics is unwise.

Love Your Enemies Part 2 : God Avenges, You Overcome Evil With Good.

2011-08-27T14:24:00.000-07:00

Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." To the contrary, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

-Romans 12:17-21 (ESV)

Before we get to the main subject, it's important to look at the context. This is found at the beginning of the chapter 12.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

-Romans 12:1-2 (ESV)

We ordinarily think that mercy involves helping the poor or the weak among us. However, mercy shines brightest when it is given to the most undeserving. And who are the most undeserving of our mercy than our enemies? Consider this,

For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

-Romans 5:10 (ESV)

That's who we were before we came to faith in Christ! We were God's enemies and God showed his great mercy towards us. In the Old Testament, there was a propitiatory sacrifice and a dedicatory sacrifice. Propitiation means appeasement. The blood of Jesus is a propitiatory sacrifice that brought forgiveness of sins (Romans 3:25). We were objects of God's wrath but the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross is the propitiation that brought favor with God. A dedicatory sacrifice was a response of thanksgiving for the forgiveness of sins. So Paul says that because we experienced God's mercy through the propitiatory sacrifice of Jesus, we respond by offering our lives in thanksgiving as a sacrifice of dedication.

Paul also says that we should no longer be conformed to the pattern or value system of this world, but be so transformed in our thinking that we are able to discern the will of God. The world says to love only those who love you. Don't love your opponents, critics, and those who are different from you. Jesus says that if you love that way, it is of no profit to you. How are you any different from the world if you follow their values in regards to treating your enemies (Matthew 5:46-48)?

Romans 12:17-21 is an application of the theology in Romans 12:1-2. It's important to understand the connection. We were once enemies of God. We became recipients of God's mercy through Jesus Christ. We treat our enemies in the same way.

1. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all (Romans 12:17)

Mercy responds honorably. One reason why we find the command to love our enemies to be difficult is because it seems terribly unfair and unjust. We want to retaliate because we want punishment and justice meted out. Paul says, don't do that. Rather, we should give careful thought on how we should respond to the evil done against us. Paul says that our response should be honorable such that any reasonable person will agree that it was the right thing to do.

2. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

Let's do all we can to live in peace with everyone and that includes our enemies. What's behind Paul's advice? I believe that Paul recognizes that even if we respond in the right way, it does not guarantee that our enemy will do the right thing. They may keep on hating, criticizing, or slandering us. Paul is encouraging us to continue being peacemakers even if our enemy does not reciprocate.

3. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord."

The word "avenge" here literally means "to punish". Avenging ourselves is repaying in evil. Paul tells us to leave it to God. Why? DA Carson's explanation :

According to Paul, one of the reasons why we are not to respond in kind, even when such response might formally be just, is that at the end of the day God himself will exact justice. In fact, we are to “leave room” for God’s wrath (Rom. 12:19). The theological reason is that all sins are first of all sins against God himself (cf. Ps. 51:4). So the forgiveness of sin, or the punishment of sin, remains first and foremost within his purview. To arrogate such authority to the individual human being is a kind of idolatry: it is to take the place of God.

-DA Carson, Love in Hard Places

Ultimately, it is God whom our enemy has offended. It is the Lord who will save us from the trap of the enemy. It is the Lord who will keep an account of their actions and judge them.

4. To the contrary, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head."

Paul is quoting Proverbs 25:21-22. Even though God will hold them into account, we are not to sit back in passivity. We are to to love through acts of mercy. Jesus said, "Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy (Matthew 5:7)." This is how we are to treat our enemy and by so doing we will "heap burning coals on his head". Little is known about the meaning of this phrase. DA Carson comments,

Many contemporary commentators have argued that the metaphorical use of “you will heap burning coals on his head” means something like “you will drive them to feel ashamed of their actions” or the like....But live coals in the Old Testament invariably symbolize God’s anger (2 Sam. 22:9, 13; Ps. 18:9, 13) or punishment of the wicked (Ps. 140:11) or an evil passion (Prov. 6:27-29). It is therefore intrinsically unlikely that Paul would be using “coals of fire” in a good sense to refer to human conscience.

Our acts of mercy lead to two possible outcomes: either he sees his wrong and makes things right or he continues to do wrong and in so doing, his guilt multiplies condemns him in God's wrath.

5. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

This is how you win against your enemy. John Piper says, "It means either you triumph through the repentance of your enemy or you triumph through the judgment of your enemy." Don't respond in hostility, punishment, and sinful anger. Don't be discouraged, bitter, and resentful. The enemy has no power over your life. Don't be a victim. Jesus is your Lord, King, and Savior. He is the one who has power over you and controls you. John Piper further says, "When someone does evil to you, you should say, “You are not my Lord. I will not be controlled by you. I will not have my attitudes and thoughts and actions dictated by your evil. Christ is my Lord. Christ dictates my attitudes and thoughts and actions."

We have enemies big and small. Either we deal with them according to the world or according to God. Jesus triumphed over his enemies through love, not hostility. Our lives and our souls will be in a better condition if we learn how to live like this.

Love Your Enemies Part 1

Here is Love - a hymn

2011-08-27T00:14:00.000-07:00

God's love is so infinite, words can't do justice to fully describe it. Yet we see divine love in action through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. How can we live if we forget what manner of love the Father has given to us? May this hymn help us remember.

Here is love vast as the ocean,

Loving kindness as the flood,

When the Prince of Life, our ransom

Shed for us his precious blood.

Who his love will not remember,

Who can cease to sing his praise?

He can never be forgotten

Throughout heaven's eternal days.

On the mount of crucifixion

Fountains opened deep and wide,

From the floodgates of God's mercy

Flowed a vast and gracious tide.

Grace and love, like mighty rivers

Poured incessant from above

And heaven's peace and perfect justice

Kissed a guilty world in love.

Tax Free

2011-08-25T07:16:00.000-07:00

A tax assessor is said to have come to a home and asked the man of the house to list his possessions. This was his answer:

First, I have everlasting life.
Second, I have a mansion in heaven.
Third, I have peace that passes understanding.
Fourth, I have joy unspeakable.
Fifth, I have divine love that never fails.
Sixth, I have a faithful wife.
Seventh, I have healthy, happy, obedient children.
Eighth, I have loyal friends.
Ninth, I have songs in the night.
Tenth, I have a crown of life.

The assessor closed his book and said, "Sir, you are a very rich man, but your possessions are not subject to taxation."

The greatest wealth is the gift of salvation and all that comes with it.

- As told by Ajith Fernando in The Call to Joy and Pain

Love Your Enemies Part 1

2011-08-24T09:42:00.000-07:00

You have heard that it was said, "Love your neighborand hate your enemy." But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

-Matthew 5:43-45 (ESV)

This is one of the hardest commands of Jesus to follow. Did Jesus mean to say that as Christians, we have to be chummy with our opponents, critics, and detractors? How do we love people who don't like us?

First, let's begin with what Jesus said. To "love your neighbor" is a command that is found in the Law ( see Leviticus 19:18) but to "love your neighbor and hate your enemy" is not found anywhere in the Old Testament cannon. DA Carson explains,

One cannot be absolutely certain how the slogan “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy” developed, but it is not difficult to make some reasonable guesses. If the text says, “Love your neighbor,” then surely, some might think, there is implicit sanction for not loving those who are not neighbors. That may not be logically sound, but it is understandable enough. And then it is only a small step to the conclusion that it is entirely appropriate to hate certain people, especially certain enemies.

-DA Carson, "Love in Hard Places"

    The social mores of that time allowed some forms of personal hatred as acceptable. It still holds true in today's society. Hatred along ethnic or racial differences is both an ancient and modern day evil. Some harbor hate on those who do not agree with their values or those who possess a different moral compass. Favorite targets of purportedly "Christian" indignation have been : homosexuals, atheists, abortionists, and evolutionists. A "Christian" extremist sect has threatened to hold a public burning of the Koran.

    Jesus, however, mandates something completely different, "But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven." See how radical this is : not only should we love them but we should pray for them also! How very rare it is to find the names of our enemies in our prayer request list. This is not something that we naturally do.

    Why should we obey? Jesus pointed out that this is in keeping with our identity as children of the Father. In the ancient times, and even today to some extent, sons followed in their father's footsteps. For example, Jesus was a carpenter because his father was a carpenter. "Like father, like son,"is a familiar adage to us and this applies to the identity of a true Christian. DA Carson explains,

In a world where most sons ended up doing what their fathers did—bakers’ sons became bakers—the parallels between fathers and sons were often striking. One of the characteristics of the son in this sort of world is that he acts like his father. If you lie and want to kill, the reason must be that your father is the devil himself, for the devil was a liar and a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44). Conversely, since God is the supreme peacemaker, then if you make peace, it is entirely appropriate that you be called a son of God (Matt. 5:9). So also here: if you love your enemies, then you are acting like God, and in this respect you are rightly called a son of God.

-DA Carson, "Love in Hard Places"

Jesus said that the Father shows his example by causing the "sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." In other words, God does not restrict his providence to good people only, he also gives this blessing to the unrighteous. This is God's common grace: blessings that are given to all people, whether they are good or bad, but not part of salvation. Jesus himself loved his enemies and prayed for them while nailed on the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34)."

Jesus continues on to say,

For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers,what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.

-Matthew 5:46-48 (ESV)

    What makes true Christians different from this world is the way they live out the love of God in their lives. They don't love only those who are like them, they also love those who are different and those who don't agree with their views and value system. It's a way of loving that is so radical, it stands out in this twisted and broken world.

    It's the love of the Father that we are showing to our enemies. As sons of God, we must love likewise. In the kingdom of God, no other kind of love exists. Jesus said, "You therefore must be perfect as the your heavenly Father is perfect." The bottomline is that we must aim for perfection with regards to our morality because, as sons of God, we bear the name of the perfect heavenly Father.

    We learned from this passage that one practical way of loving our enemies is to pray for them. And there's more which I will explore in future posts.

    Have a nice day!

John Piper : 5 Ways to Make God Known at Work

2011-08-22T22:27:00.000-07:00

As a Christian, your vocation displays God's glory in many ways. This list by Pastor John Piper is especially significant for Christian believers who work in places where the Christian religion is restricted.

1. First, the excellence of the products or services you render in your job shows the excellence and greatness of God.

2. Second, the standards of integrity you follow at your job show the integrity and holiness of God.

3. Third, the love you show to people in your job shows the love of God.

4. Fourth, the stewardship of the money you make from your job shows the value of God compared to other things.

5. Fifth, the verbal testimony you give to the reality of Christ shows the doorway to all these things in your life and their possibility in the lives of others.

Link to John Piper's sermon.

May the excellence of your work help others see the excellence of Jesus Christ!

HT: Josh Etter

"Crazy Love"

2011-08-21T23:40:00.000-07:00

    I found Francis Chan's book, "Crazy Love", three years ago as I was searching online for Bible study material that I could use for our small group. Up to that time, I've never heard of Francis Chan but I became curious and wanted to find out more about him because he was of Asian descent and because my mother's maiden name was also Chan. At one point, I wondered if he was a distant relative.

    Little did I know that God would use this book to wake me up from religious complacency. Francis Chan wrote like a prophet. He accurately describes a common spiritual malaise experienced by many Christians today - a "half-hearted, distracted, partially committed, lukewarm" kind of Christianity. That was me. I was a regular churchgoer, tither, and ministry leader. I lived a good and moral life. My life outside work revolved around involvement in many church programs and activities. But I did not truly enjoy God nor fully love Him. I thought that I did. My works seemed to show that I did. But when I examined and looked honestly inside me, I knew that I didn't. Don't get me wrong, I believed in Jesus Christ but I found it too hard to live this faith consistently. It was frustrating!

God used the book to show me what I was missing :

1. I had an inaccurate view of God.

   Francis Chan admits that he grew up believing in God without having a clue what He is like.

I called myself a Christian, was pretty involved in church, and tried to stay away from all of the things that ''good Christians" avoid -drinking, drugs, sex, swearing. Christianity was simple: fight your desires in order to please God. Whenever I failed (which was often), I'd walk around feeling guilty and distant from God. In hindsight, I don't think my church's teachings were incorrect, just incomplete. My view of God was narrow and small.

-Crazy Love, p. 20

My experience was the same. The Bible shows us that we have an amazing, awesome, eternal God who loves us with an eternal, outrageous love. God loved us rebels and we are unworthy of his love. But God relentlessly pursued us to reconcile us back to himself through Jesus Christ his Son. I did not fully understand this in my life, hence my awe factor of God was small. I was living a "works righteousness" Christianity by generating a righteousness thru my own strength and effort so that God would approve of me. I thought that's how God loved me. Hence, I missed God's tremendous worth and power in saving me from the very thing that I was doing. I lacked the Biblical understanding of his grace. My inaccurate view of God and his love led me to miss the true meaning of the gospel.

2. I assumed that I was good soil.

The concept comes from the parable of the sower that Jesus told (Mark 4) and also in a simile by the author of Hebrews (Hebrews 6:7-8). In college, I was a student leader with Campus Crusade for Christ. I led Bible studies and organized mission trips. I was actively involved in church. I experienced blessings from God but that did not necessarily prove that my heart was a good soil that produced good fruit. Instead of fruit, I was producing thorns and thistles and I was choking. Thorns are anything that distract us from God and chokes the fruit of righteousness that grows out of faith in Jesus Christ. We're choked by too much of the good life. This is especially true in the Western world where people are able to earn higher income and enjoy the blessings that come with economic prosperity. This comfortable lifestyle ends up becoming toxic by making us complacent. We become the sort of Christians that love and obey God so long as he doesn't impinge on our lifestyle. All this talk about radical Christian living, self-denial, taking your cross, self-sacrifice, and suffering for the gospel are major turn-offs. We'd rather hear preachers and read books that teach us how to be more comfortable, influential, and successful and have God be a benefactor of all these niceties of life.

I was glad that the Holy Spirit had removed the scales in my eyes such that I could see my spiritual condition. Logically, the next question for me was,"What must I do?" It was through this book that I got introduced to John Piper. Francis Chan quotes him,

The critical question for our generation-and for every generation-is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?

-Crazy Love, p. 100

That question penetrated deep down my soul and exposed where my affections lay. The antidote to lukewarm, selfish, comfortable living is love. Francis Chan writes,

And isn't that what God wants of us-to crave this relationship with him, as we crave all genuine love relationships? Isn't that what brings him glory- when believers desire him and are not merely slaves who serve him out of obligation?

There is often a great disparity between how we feel about faith and how we are meant to feel. Why do so few people genuinely find joy and pleasure in their relationship with God? Why do most people feel they have to either pay God back for all he's done (buy his love) or somehow keep making up for all their inadequacies and failures (prove their love)?

-Crazy Love, p. 101

Because it's in our nature to always want to be in control of everything, we try to control even our faith. We try to muster more love for God and end up loving him out of obligation. Living this way, makes Christianity a boring, guilt-ridden chore!

I recall praying something like this :

God I need you to help me to love you. I need your help to love my wife, children, parents, siblings, and my friends genuinely. From now on, I want to pursue loving you and delighting in you. Show me how awesome you are. Open the eyes of my heart to see how wide, how deep, and how great is your love for me.

   Right around that time, I started blogging. My first post was a reflection of his bigness as told by the universe that He created. The second post was my futile attempt at measuring his love that had no bounds. The third post was a listing of who I am in Christ - something I first learned way back in my days with Campus Crusade for Christ and one that I must remind myself daily. These were my first steps to falling in love with Jesus Christ to depths that I have never experienced before.

   Gradually, comfort was no longer living the good life but tasting and seeing that the Lord is good! Delight was no longer just a day at the movies or at an ice cream shop but became meditating on the Word of God regularly, wanting to know more of God and his infinite worth. I became dissatisfied with settling for less on Sundays : sermons that make God seem small and man big, a worship experience that seems to say to God, "Lord watch me worship you, you're gonna like it," rather than exalting God's majesty and greatness. For the past three years, I have seen this law at work : if I replace Jesus with something or someone else of lesser value, I will never be truly satisfied.

   On second thought, I am related to Francis Chan through our faith in Jesus Christ. We're brothers!

Ponderings

2011-08-20T10:57:00.000-07:00

Ponder: To reflect or consider with thoroughness and care.

1. Spiritual poverty :

- Living your life knowing only 10 verses in the Bible. For some, it's John 3:16 and not much else.

-Listening to a sermon where Jesus is hardly mentioned. But you get 10 tips on how to be successful and how to stop worrying.

-Going to church and doing ministry without ever knowing the good news in the Gospel.

2. Found this observation from a blog :

"Theology is practiced in most decision making processes, whether one realizes it or not.”

Everyone has a theology, even an atheist. Either he believes that there is no God, or isn't sure that one exists. That's still theology.

3. The Internet of Things - In 2008, more "things" were connected to the Internet than people. This technology will change the world. And here's a video showing how:

Amazing isn't it? But for all its promise, we need to remember this :

"And though we have the technology for straightening roads and integrating information, it is beyond us to straighten and integrate human character. Man needs God for that." - JI Packer

Tim Keller : On True Love

2011-08-18T22:15:00.000-07:00

In his book, The King's Cross, Tim Keller gives valuable insight on the difference between false and true love, fake and authentic love.

FALSE LOVE

1. False love's aim is to use the other person to fulfill your happiness.

2. Conditional - You give it only as long as the person is affirming you and meeting your needs.

3. Non-vulnerable. You hold back so that you can cut your losses if necessary.

TRUE LOVE

1. In true love your aim is to spend yourself and use yourself for the happiness of the other, because your greatest joy is that person's joy.

2. Unconditional - You give it regardless of whether your loved one is meeting your needs.

3. Radically Vulnerable - You spend everything, hold nothing back, give it all away.

OUR REAL PROBLEM

Nobody is actually fully capable of giving true love. Tim Keller writes,

"All our love is somewhat fake. How so? Because we need to be loved like we need air and water. We can't live without love. That means there is a certain mercenary quality to our relationships. We look for people whose love would really affirm us. We invest our love only where we know we'll get a good return. Of course when we do that, our love is conditional and non-vulnerable because we're not loving the person simply for himself or herself; we're loving the person partly for the love we're getting."

We feel abused or manipulated when we're on the receiving end of fake love. We must also be aware that our love may be motivated by self-interests.

THE SOLUTION

"What we need is someone to love us who doesn't need us at all. Someone who loves us radically, unconditionally, vulnerably. Someone who loves us just for our sake. If we received that kind of love, that would so assure us of our value, it would so fill us up, that we could start to give love like that too. Who can give love with no need? Jesus."

A true Christian remains in the love of Christ. Being loved by Jesus enables us to love friends and family with true love, a love without neediness. All the fakery and manipulativeness of human love fades away and the love of Jesus Christ, the only true love, will be operative in our relationships.

God's Love and Your Obedience

2011-08-17T00:06:00.000-07:00

If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

-John 15:10-11 (ESV)

   Jesus' love precedes our love for him and we know this in Scripture (1 John 4:19). Abiding or remaining in his love is linked to our obedience. Now this connection may not be obvious. The key is in recognizing that a Christian's relationship with God is the same as the Son's relationship with the Father.

    A true Christian enjoys a loving relationship with God with the same kind of affection that the Father and his Son have with each other. God's love creates in us a desire to obey his commandments with the same gladness and willingness as the Son obeys the Father. The by-product of this relationship is joy to the fullest. What kind of joy? The same joy that Jesus has with the Father. This is the nature of our relationship with God. And we have it through faith in Jesus Christ.

    Hard to believe isn't it? Sounds impossible, you may think, as you look at the mess in your life. Maybe not. God's gift of salvation is infinitely lavish in accord with his glory and majesty! God does not give cheap gifts. The apostle Paul says this,

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

-Romans 8:32 (ESV)

Two implications, one is a call to self-examination of your Christianity and the second is a clarification of your Christian identity.

1. God's love is not in you when your Christianity does not culminate in practical righteousness.

And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says "I know him" but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

-1 John 2:3-6 (ESV)

Alexander MacLaren commented, "We are tempted to make too much of the emotions of the religious life and too little of its persistent, dogged obedience." When we only seek the "spiritual high" on Sundays and prefer not to listen to sin-convicting, weighty sermons but only uplifting sermons that make us feel good, how can we learn how to live in righteousness? If we neglect the pursuit of holiness and tolerate the presence of "small, respectable" sins in our daily living, can we truly say that we're Christians? Unless your life backs it up, your public demonstrations of your love for Jesus are in vain.

2. The reality of God's love in you shows in how you live your life.

John Piper says that when you experience God's love in your heart, you will renounce all known attitudes and behaviors that contradict this demonstration of love to you. Righteousness is attained first by faith then by love. We come to know and believe that God loves us, we love him in return, and love is perfected when we keep his commandments. Some Christians are frustrated that they are struggling in sin and hence, wonder about the reality of their faith. Yet this is exactly how the love of God works in us. We will hate the presence of sin in our lives, we will get rid of sin's entanglements, we will resist the enemy, and we will strive to obey the commands of Jesus Christ.

So where do you think you stand? Does your Christian life affirm the love of God or does it confirm the absence of divine romance?

Perspective on Failure Part 4 - Grace That Restores

2011-08-13T11:44:00.000-07:00

Peter was at a crossroads. After denying Jesus three times, he did not quite know what his future held. Did this mean an end to his calling as one of the 12 disciples? We experience this sad refrain even today. Some failures are so bad they kill careers, tarnish reputations, and put permanent shame on the person. Peter's failure belonged in this category. He blew it! He was never going to be a fisher of men now, just an ordinary fisherman. He wasn't Peter the Rock by any stretch, more like a stone that easily crumbles. The Peter who rightly confessed that Jesus is the Christ, had put his foot in his mouth once again and this time the harm was unrepairable.

    But Jesus is greater and stronger than all human weakness. Peter was not chosen as a disciple because he had the talent and gifts that was necessary for the job. It was all solely by the irresistible grace of Jesus. It was Jesus who called Peter to follow him. It was Jesus who called Peter blessed and likened him to a rock. No circumstance, no person, not even Satan, can thwart the purposes of the sovereign God.

    Jesus is able to restore Peter because he had completely paid for Peter's denial on the cross. Satan's accusation against Peter had no power because through Jesus' atoning sacrifice on the cross, Peter stood forgiven before God. That remains true today. There's thousands of ways that we stumble and fall and for each of these we stand guiltless because of the cross. Our failures, driven by sinful desires, condemn us but Jesus took them upon himself so that we are condemned no longer (Romans 8:31-39). That's lavish grace. That's why we call Jesus, Savior!

    The story of Peter's restoration is found in John 21. This was after the crucifixion. Jesus had rose again and appeared at various times with the disciples and other people. Peter and the other disciples went to Galilee as Jesus instructed them to do before Jesus' trial and crucifixion. Peter and the other disciples were fishing all night and had not caught anything. The irony in this is that even in fishing, supposedly Peter's expertise, he still failed (John 21:3)!

Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, "Children, do you have any fish?" They answered him, "No." He said to them, "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.

When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish that you have just caught." So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." Now none of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

-John 21:4-14 (ESV)

Jesus knew where the fish was and commanded them to throw it on the right side of the boat. And they caught fish! Jesus is demonstrating to his disciples that for them to succeed they must totally depend on him even right down to their provision. It is Jesus who has the authority and power that they will need to accomplish their commission to spreading the gospel.

In the midst of failure, we seek redemption, restoration, acceptance, and fellowship with the person we have wronged. Perhaps, that's what drove Peter to jump into the water and swim to shore towards Jesus. As the disciples got out on land, Jesus was preparing a meal for them."Come and have breakfast," Jesus said. Realize the significance of this scene, especially with Peter. Jesus also invited for breakfast the guy who denied knowing him three times. Sharing a meal is sign of fellowship. He didn't give Peter the cold treatment. Jesus did not count Peter's failure against him. Instead, they ate together. That's grace.

After breakfast, Jesus and Peter finally had the talk over what happened that fateful night in the courtyard.

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?"

He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you."

He said to him, "Feed my lambs."

He said to him a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?"

He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you."

He said to him, "Tend my sheep."

He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?"

Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you."

Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep.

-John 21:15-17 (ESV)

There was no recrimination whatsoever with Jesus, only acceptance. Jesus restores Peter three times for the three denials that Peter had done. In each instance, Jesus asks, "Peter, do you love me?" Loving Jesus means to treasure him, to delight in him, and to put our trust in him. Each time Peter says yes and was grieved when Jesus asks him for the third time. "Lord you know everything," Peter said. Peter knew that Jesus could see what's in his heart. Jesus, who had previously discerned his prideful heart, could also see that his love was genuine. When we truly experience God's kindness, it leads to repentance (Romans 2:4) and a right relationship with God. Peter's love for Jesus was borne out of gratefulness of the mercies of God. We love God because God first loved us (1 John 4:19). It isn't the other way around. Indeed that's what Jesus sees and appropriately re-commissions Peter three times. If Peter's failure defined him, he would have remained a fisherman. But because Jesus' forgiveness defined him, he became a fisher of men : a fearless evangelist who played a key role in the founding of the early church and the spread of the gospel.

The guilt of past failures and sins can haunt and inhibit us in many ways. Satan uses it in his accusations against us. But God's grace is greater than our sin. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). We are set free. What a joyful life it is to be forgiven and to be reconciled to God. And when we live under the grace of God, our failures do not destroy us.

Ponderings

2011-08-06T12:03:00.000-07:00

Ponder: To reflect or consider with thoroughness and care.

1. Jesus is my Savior. Is he my Lord?

2. I love Jesus. Under my own terms or under the gospel?

3. I'm all convinced that God is Sovereign. Am I just as convinced that he is good?

4. Sundays: entertainment-oriented or Bible-oriented worship?

5. Paradoxes in Christian living: suffering and comfort, humility and glory.

6. Government leaders : rant or pray?

7. AND LASTLY....

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us."

-2 Corinthians 4:7 (ESV)

Indiana Jones got his theology right. It's the carpenter's cup that is able to bear God's glory. Not the golden chalice of kings. Why? Because God doesn't want you to keep staring at the cup.

Video is in Spanish...can't find the English version but you'll get the story.

A Sign You Are Growing in Grace....

2011-08-04T22:33:00.000-07:00

Compiled by Timmy Brister, these are a series of tweets by Scotty Smith on "signs that you are growing in grace". I've selected a few that made me laugh and repent. For more go to Timmy Brister's blog.

How little we know and how much we still have to learn about living in the grace of God!

A sign you are growing in grace is that you are more disgusted with your critical spirit than offended by others’ sins.

A sign you’re growing in grace: As intriguing as iPhones, iPads and all things “i” are, only Jesus is compelling to you.

A sign you’re growing in grace is a commitment to pray for people you’d really rather gossip about.

A sign your’e growing in grace: If you don’t know, you don’t pretend you do.

A sign you’re growing in grace. The gospel still astonishes and humbles you. It’s not just cliche or the name of your tribe.

A sign you’re growing in grace is praying for our government rather than simply being cynical about our government.

A sign you’re growing in grace: The time span between your foolishness and your repenting has gone from days to hours.

A sign you’re growing in grace: You don’t work as hard at being cool, noticed and appreciated.

A sign you’re growing in grace: The main line you're concerned about is the gospel line; not hair, waist, bust or bottom.

A sign you’re growing in grace is less theological arrogance and greater appreciation for diversity in the Body of Christ.

A sign you’re growing in grace is you work much harder at remembering names and forgetting slights.

A sign you’re growing in grace is movement from destructive cynicism towards redemptive engagement. Anybody can spew.

A sign you’re growing in grace. The more you learn about Jesus and the gospel the more you realize how little YOU know.

A sign you’re growing in grace: It’s getting easier not to retaliate, get even, or even crave God’s vengeance.

A sign you’re growing in grace: Less cynicism about other people’s sins and more tears over your own.

A sign you’re growing in grace: You feel like you’re just beginning to appreciate all the riches and depth of John 3:16.

A sign you’re growing in grace: You can enjoy God’s gifts without reservation and share God’s gifts without hesitation.

A sign you’re growing in grace: Compliments don’t intoxicate you and criticism doesn’t decimate you.

A sign you’re growing in grace: Your theology always leads to doxology, not merely to you being more right than others.

A sign you’re growing in grace: You find yourself choosing to use the phrase, “You don’t get me” less and less.

A sign you’re growing in grace: You stop trying to be an chameleon on scotch plaid… trying to keep everybody happy.

A sign you’re growing in grace: You ask, “What on earth is Jesus doing?”, not, “What would Jesus do if he was here?”

A sign you’re growing in grace: You boast IN your weaknesses but you don’t boast about them. They don’t define you.

A sign you’re growing in grace: You’re intentional about not spending all your time with Christians.

A sign you’re growing in grace: “Rewards” means throwing crowns at Jesus’ feet, not better furniture for your “mansion”.

A sign you’re growing in grace: You define success less by how much you do in a day and more in terms of how well you love.

A sign you’re growing in grace: You don’t condescendingly roll your eyes as often or make as many flippant remarks.

A sign you’re growing in grace: You can tell when you’re starting to manipulate people and you nip it in the bud.

A sign you’re growing in grace: When telling your story, you end up talking about Jesus more than you.

A sign you’re growing in grace: You really believe that the best and most defining thing about you is that you belong to Jesus.

A sign you’re growing in grace: You blame less and forbear more.

A sign you’re growing in grace: You handle your failures with honesty, humility and hope.

A sign you’re growing in grace: You don’t sabotage your repentance with lame excuses or empty promises.

A sign you’re growing in grace: Reformed Theology isn’t doctrine by which you judge others but truth by which you’re prostrate before God.

A sign you’re growing in grace: Your family believes you love them more than your job, ministry, money and sports.

A sign you’re growing in grace: It doesn’t take as long for the Holy Spirit to get your attention.

A sign you’re growing in grace: It’s not about you getting “bitter or better”; it’s about grace exorcising all your bitterness.

A sign you’re growing in grace: You expect to be convicted of your sins and convinced of Jesus’ love ten times over.

A sign you’re growing in grace: It doesn’t take as long to get over bad days, failed expectations, and personal slights.

Perspective on Failure Part 3 - Jesus Turns Failure Into Good

2011-08-03T23:10:00.000-07:00

Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, "You also were with Jesus the Galilean."

But he denied it before them all, saying, "I do not know what you mean."

And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, "This man was with Jesus of Nazareth."

And again he denied it with an oath: "I do not know the man."

After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, "Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you."

Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, "I do not know the man."

And immediately the rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly.

-Matthew 26:69-75 (ESV)

Peter, the loyal, passionate, temperamental, impulsive, and quick-tongued disciple had indeed denied his friend. Jesus turned and looked at Peter (Luke 22:61) and when their eyes met, the disciple immediately remembered Jesus' words. In despair, Peter went out and wept bitterly. The number one ranked disciple had failed!

Previously, I quoted Pastor Dave Harvey,"If God is truly sovereign, there must be a place for our failures in his plan." Truly this is the case for in Luke's version of the story, we see Jesus saying to Peter this:

"Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers."

-Luke 22:31-32 (ESV)

Sean MacEntee

    Peter's failure had a purpose. Satan was going to sift Peter like wheat. Sifting is the process of separating the true wheat from the chaff. In other words, Satan wanted to test Peter in order to prove that this disciple wasn't real about his faith in Christ. He did it by exploiting Peter's weakness,his pride and bravado. Yet Peter's failure wasn't going to accomplish what Satan had hoped. Peter had Jesus on his side, praying for him and assuring him that he was going to survive this test. In fact, this failure didn't end Peter's apostolic call. Rather, he would come out of it stronger in faith and would in turn strengthen the other disciples. I can imagine Peter saying to his brothers, "If Jesus can redeem a failure like me, surely he will redeem you!"

    Our failures have a divine purpose in that they showcase God's power to rescue us from trouble. Jesus can turn failure into good. Only Jesus can transform failure into saving faith. Therefore, experiencing a disaster is not an end for the Christian. No failure is ever big enough to make God say, "Your failure screwed-up my plans!"

    This failure was a watershed moment in Peter's life. To be the apostle that he became later, God had to uproot the pride that entangled his heart through failure. Again, what Satan meant for evil, God meant for good. Dave Harvey points out this truth about pride:

"As a pastor of more than two decades, I've noticed a curious thing. There are certain kinds of entrenched pride that only failure uproots....Sometimes God loves us so much he'll nudge us off the edge of the altar we've erected to ourselves or to our accomplishments. We fail big-time but that failure brings a voice that pierces our pride so we're finally able to hear."

I am so glad that through Jesus Christ, our failures do not chain us. Rather, the Lord uses it to free us from the bondage of sin, to demonstrate his love for us, and to experience his irresistable grace so that we would live a life that is glorifying to Him.

Perspective on Failure Part 2 - Why We Crash and Burn

2011-07-31T14:00:00.000-07:00

    My last blog post was a brief perspective on failure from Dave Harvey's book, Rescuing Ambition. I've been reflecting on this recently because of a recent instance of failure in my life. A paper that I thought would surely be accepted for presentation in a conference was soundly rejected. Now, it's not a moral failure (thank God!) and it's really a minor setback. I've had bigger screw-ups! But I admit that it bruised my ego. Prior to this, I've had a 100% acceptance rate in all the technical papers and abstracts that I've submitted. I've presented in past conferences and even won a "Best Presentor" award at one point. This was my first rejection and it was humbling. My co-authors, who are colleagues at work, also received the notice of rejection so it was an awkward moment for all of us and especially for me because I was the lead author.

    So in times like this, we go to Scripture. How does God use our failure for His glory? Do failures really have a place in his plan? How does Jesus' sacrifice and victory on the cross rescue us from our failures?

   One of the most dramatic instances of failure is Peter's denial of Jesus Christ in the passion narrative. It's worth revisiting and diving into carefully because I believe that it answers these questions.

Then Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.' But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee."

Peter answered him, "Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away."

Jesus said to him, "Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times."

Peter said to him, "Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!" And all the disciples said the same.

-Matthew 26:31-35 (ESV)

That's classic Peter: loyal, passionate, and speaks before he thinks. Peter, arguably is the epitome of a man - strong, good with his hands, fighting spirit, and fearless! Confident in his own resolve, his reply reeks with pride, "Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away." Peter publicly boasts that he is unlike the others. He promised to stand with Jesus even if it means dying in the process. His bravado is driven by self-promotion and self-exaltation. Jesus said that they all would be scattered for a while but will see him after he was raised up. Peter, in effect, refuses to be considered among the scattered disciples. In the disciple rankings, wasn't he #1? He wanted in on the action that only Jesus could accomplish. Perhaps, he thought that he could get for himself a share of the Messiah's glory. Jesus sees Peter's heart and warns him that he would deny Jesus, not just once, but three times by sunrise. Nevertheless, Peter insists that it would never happen. Being full of himself, Peter was going to prove Jesus wrong.

If we examine ourselves honestly, we are very much like Peter. We love to be considered as being the first and the best at whatever we do. We publicly give God the credit and glory for our achievements and successes but it's hollow praise. In reality, we too want the glory and we want to believe that our abilities and talents count for something. The Bible is very clear about the pitfalls of pride.

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

-Proverbs 16:18 (ESV)

Pride slowly builds upon our successes and achievements. Like Peter, we think that we will never be ensared by it. Let's get real. We are not as strong as we think we are and we should never underestimate how vulnerable we are to temptation. Pride is hard to recognize and even more difficult to resist. Jesus warned Peter, "Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41)." Proverbs gives a stark warning - when we live in pride, we're going to crash and burn! When we're on this trajectory of relying in our abilities and thinking how good we are, God brings failure in our lives to make us fall flat on our backs. And as we look up, we will see Him and we will realize that we cannot stand under our own strength. So the next time you fail (count on it happening!), God is teaching you that unless you know your weakness, you will never find where true strength lies.

I'm going to continue to focus on Peter's denial of Jesus and his redemption through Jesus Christ in the next few posts. And I pray that as we understand failures and its place in our life, we will give our lives fully to the lordship of Jesus Christ. Thanks be to Jesus Christ, who bears Peter's sinful pride as well as ours to the cross. Through the cross, we see how far our self-glory falls short of the glory of God. We cannot be a successful disciple of Jesus on our own. We need to be fully dependent in God and not in our abilities.

Perspective on Failure

2011-07-30T07:17:00.000-07:00

Pastor Dave Harvey's perspective on failure :

"...if God is truly sovereign, there must be a place for our failure in his plan. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible declares God's supreme control over events. If he can't work through our screwups, he's guilty of false advertising."

"Failure isn't simply God's nightstick to whack us into submission. It's an experience where we can discover God's love, his irresistible grace, and the true potency of the gospel. But to get to those discoveries, we must see failure as the place where some ambitions go to die so other things might come alive."

-Quoted from the book Rescuing Ambition

The Parable of the Rubber Band

2011-07-26T08:52:00.000-07:00

Dave Kraft, author of Leaders Who Last, tells this story:

"We don't have the same gifts, personality, or capacity. I think people are like rubber bands, which come in all sizes and shapes. Some are small and some are large. A small rubber band can only be stretched so far. It has limits. A rubber band that is larger can obviously be stretched further. Regardless of how big or small the rubber band, it can only be stretched for so long, and then it needs to go back to a resting position. If it is stretched too far and stays there too long, it will snap."

The point of the illustration is that we all have limited capacities. We cannot remain in a prolonged, stretched situation. We need to rest. There is always something that needs to be done. However, living a life of constant busyness with no rest brings about serious problems.

    Rest is simply an emotional or physical pause. Dave Kraft describes the importance of rest this way, "If priorities protect my purpose and passion, then pacing prolongs it." It is often overlooked that God established a day of rest, called the Sabbath (Genesis 2:2-3), and that He commanded the people of Israel to observe it (Exodus 20:8-11). God appointed it for the common benefit of all mankind. According to Jesus, God made the Sabbath for men (Mark 2:27). That it is included in the 10 commandments surely means that modern day Christians ought to still keep it and obey it. Rest is a blessing from God, an outpouring of God's common grace to an undeserving people.

    We all know the benefits of taking time off 1 day a week yet we don't keep it. Like the rubber band, our bodily frame was not made to stand up to incessant work without regular intervals of rest. It needs time to recuperate and heal so it can do productive work once again. In the same way, our mind and our soul needs as much rest as our bodies.

    Pastor JC Ryle gives this warning for Christians,

"It is in the midst of a hurrying, bustling world, in which its interests are constantly in danger of being jostled out of sight. To have those interests properly attended to, there must be a special day set apart; there must be a regularly recurring time for examining the state of our souls; there must be a day to test and prove us, whether we are prepared for an eternal heaven. Take away a man's Sabbath, and his religion soon comes to nothing."

A lack of pacing in our lives leads to an empty faith. "No Sabbath" soon leads to "no God". That's a sobering thought.

So take time off. Pace yourself. It is good for you. Don't live life running on fumes. Enjoy this often overlooked blessing from God. But remember to keep it holy. Sabbath was made for you to drop your work for a day and spend that time recuperating your mind, body and soul with God.

Motives

2011-07-23T02:08:00.000-07:00

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JI Packer once said,

"We need to remember that in God's sight, motivation is an integral element of action, and any motivation that exalts self will render our work rotten to the core."

If there is one thing in our life that must be examined daily, it would be our motives. All works of righteousness such as giving money to the poor, preaching or teaching the Word, praying, even following Jesus and going to church can be done for the wrong reasons. Our actions may create a perception that we are holy and righteous yet what is seen on the outside is inconsistent with what's happening inside the heart. In short, motives reveal our true character and the true state of our heart. The Bible is replete with examples of this and we shall see that all wrong motives come from a heart that ultimately seeks only self-exaltation.

Wrong Motive on Good Works:
"Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven." - Matthew 6:1 (ESV)

Right Motive on Good Works :

"In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." -Matthew 5:16 (ESV)

Wrong Motive on Pastoring and Preaching :

'Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry...." -Philippians 1:15a (ESV)

Right Motive on Pastoring and Preaching :

"...but others from good will. The latter do it out of love...." -Philippians 1:15b-16a (ESV)

Wrong Motive on Giving :

"Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion.."

- 2 Corinthians 9:7a (ESV)

Right Motive on Giving :

"...for God loves a cheerful giver." - 2 Corinthians 9:7b (ESV)

Wrong motive on following Christ and attending church :

Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves." - John 6:26 (ESV)

Right Motive on following Christ and attending church :

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. -Matthew 6:33 (ESV)

I hope that you see the point. How then should we examine our motives? Admittedly, it's difficult to be objective when we have to render judgment about ourselves. We always think we're right and innocent (Proverbs 21:2)!

Prayer

JI Packer further says,

"Because of the self-absorbed habits of our sinful hearts, the only way to anything like pure motives is to pray persistently about the things we do and ask ourselves constantly before the Lord why we are doing them and how they fit in with God's glory and the good of His people."

We examine our hearts and thus our motivations through prayer. King David prayed like this,

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!

And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!

- Psalm 139:23-24 (ESV)

If we think of prayer as a means to ask God for things and make our dreams come true, then we severely limit it's intended purpose. Prayer, more importantly, sanctifies our desires and motivations as the Holy Spirit convicts us to stop thinking about ourselves and what we want. In prayer, we ask God what he wants and thus align our will and desires with our Father (Matthew 6:9-10). So practice self-examination through prayer before embarking to do something. Acknowledge your inability to discern your motives by your own. Seek God who searches the hearts of men, who exposes what is hidden in shame, who purges all self-centeredness, and walk humbly in his ways (Psalm 19:12-14).

Love

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

- 1 John 4:7 (ESV)

The only acceptable motive for obeying God is love. Right motives come from a heart that is passionate to obey the great commandments: to love God and love others (Matthew 22:35-39). Loving God is seeing with our hearts that God is compellingly beautiful. According to John Piper,

"His glory-his beauty-compels your admiration and delight. He becomes your supreme treasure....God is our supreme pleasure. We prefer above all else to know him and see him and be with him and be like him. "

And true love for God brings about true love for people. Notice that Jesus says, "Love your neighbor as yourself." Wrong motives arise from a strong desire to exalt oneself. Think of how powerful this desire is in our lives. In effect, Jesus is saying that we must love our neighbor with the same intensity that we seek our own gratification. John Piper comments,

"In other words make your self-seeking the measure of your self-giving. When Jesus says, "Love your neighbor as yourself," the word "as" is very radical: "Love your neighbor as yourself." That's a BIG word: "As!" It means: If you are energetic in pursuing your own happiness, be energetic in pursuing the happiness of your neighbor. If you are creative in pursuing your own happiness, be creative in pursuing the happiness of your neighbor. If you are persevering in pursuing your own happiness, be persevering in pursuing the happiness of your neighbor. In other words, Jesus is not just saying: seek for your neighbor the same things you seek for yourself, but also seek them in the same way—the same zeal and energy and creativity and perseverance."

This then is how we deal with our motives :

1. Examine them critically through prayer, seeking God to cleanse us from evil desires.
2. Let all our acts of obedience to God be motivated by love.

Hope this helps!

How To Start The Day Right

2011-07-19T08:20:00.000-07:00

Each morning that greets me is full of hope...

    Not because I am successful at what I am doing

    Or because people near me appreciate me,

    Or because circumstances are easy

    But because God is, and He is my Father.

To look at the morning any other way...

    Is to believe a lie

    To live in hope is to live in truth

    To live in truth is to bring Him glory

    To bring God glory in my daily living

    Is the highest form of worship.

-Excerpt from the book How People Change by Timothy S. Lane and Paul Tripp.

When Parents Fear The Lord, Their Children Benefit

2011-07-17T09:16:00.000-07:00

Who is the man who fears the LORD? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose. His soul shall abide in well-being, and his offspring shall inherit the land.

- Psalm 25:12-13 (ESV)

    A man that fears God has a teachable heart. He is the man that is 100% committed to walk in the of the Lord. This is the man whose decisions and actions are not guided by his own wisdom and understanding but instead relies on God's Word. His heart is fully surrendered to the control of the Holy Spirit. God will guide him into a good life for himself and his children. Note the condition by which this result comes: fear the Lord.

    To fear the Lord is NOT to be filled with terror, despair, and dread before him. This kind of fear drives us away from God. Godly fear is best described as "reverence". It is the convergence of awe, adoration, veneration, wonder, honor, worship, confidence, and thankfulness that arises from recognizing God for who he is. It is an acknowledgment of his transcendent qualities, his absolute authority, and his supreme value. This kind of fear draws us near to God.

    Our unrighteousness stems from the absence of the fear of God (Romans 3:18). We do not acknowledge God for who he is, we do not revere him. We exchanged his glory for idols, for things in this world that are of lesser worth. The gospel exposes our wickedness and opens our eyes to see our standing before God- that we are objects of His wrath (Romans 1:18). And we know that his punishment will be awful. But God, in his grace and mercy, reconciles us to himself through faith in Jesus Christ.

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the Spirit.

- 1 Peter 1:18 (ESV)

John Stott said, “Every time we look at the cross, Christ seems to say, ‘I am here because of you. It is your sin I am bearing, your curse I am suffering, your debt I am paying, your death I am dying.’ Nothing cuts us down to size like the cross. All of us have inflated views of ourselves, especially in self-righteousness, until we have visited a place called Calvary. It is there that we shrink to our true size.”

"If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared."

-Psalm 130:3-4 (ESV)

The work of the gospel is to transform us from having no fear in God into a God-fearing child of God. The Spirit turns the heart of stone into a heart of flesh, with the law now written in our hearts, we will have a new spirit causing us to walk in his statutes and carefully obey his laws (Ezekiel 26:26).

But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments.

-Psalm 103:17 (ESV)

With the right understanding of godly fear, this passage now makes sense. The Lord's love is poured out and remains forever on those who fear him. Notice the blessing to the children and grandchildren. They will follow God and live uprightly as they keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments. Again, note the condition by which this comes to fruition: fear the Lord.

Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments! His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.

-Psalm 112:1-2 (ESV)

To fear the Lord is to enjoy God and delight in his commandments. What a great example for children to see their parents living in this way. They can imitate us as we follow Jesus Christ. They will have the correct understanding of the gospel and live accordingly and enjoy the blessing from God.

Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways! You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the LORD.

-Psalm 128:1-4 (ESV)

Indeed, the Bible is very clear that when parents fear the Lord, their children benefit. This is why gospel-centered parenting is so crucial for parents to learn. We want the best for our kids. And that best is Jesus Christ.

Dazzle Your Kids With Grace!

2011-07-15T19:31:00.000-07:00

    Most parenting styles lie between two extremes. At one end is unstructured permissiveness. The other end is oppressive control. A permissive parent prefers to love and nurture but “spares the rod” and kids that are raised in this environment can be out of control, self-centered, and spoiled. An oppressive parent is harsh, abusive, and tyrannical that his children are discouraged, humiliated, provoked to anger, and living in constant fear. Both of these extremes are sinful and damaging to the lives of children (Proverbs 13:24, Colossians 3:21, Ephesians 6:4).

    Christian parents like me, being aware of this, are careful to maintain a balance of love and discipline. However, what passes as “Christian parenting” nowadays is really a syncretism of biblical principles with modern psychology. By and large, they are tips and principles on how to do our job right as parents so that our kids will become "good, law-abiding Christians" that are successful at whatever they do. This approach is limiting, perhaps dangerous, and can be just as damaging to children because they can become religiously obedient but still have spiritually unregenerate hearts. Kids raised this way will find no need of the gospel message, relying instead on self-righteousness and self-effort in living as Christians. And they won’t endure, with most leaving church and abandoning their faith by the time they grow into adulthood. This is all because the gospel message was obscured as they were growing up in a Christian environment.

    That is why I welcome the recent emergence of Christian literature on gospel-powered, gospel-centered parenting. Give Them Grace by authors Elyse Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson stands out by going against the syncretic paradigm found in many Christian parenting books. They show how the gospel radically changes all aspects of our parenting style because it shifts our parenting efforts away from changing our child’s behavior and towards the heart of the matter: the transformation of our child’s heart. We parents, have passed on to our children our idol-making, self-centered hearts and Jesus said that parents cannot will their kids to become Christians (John 1:12-13). Only God, by His grace, can transform their rebellious hearts through faith in Jesus Christ, and then they will obey and walk in the law of the Lord.

    Parents have a crucial role in teaching their children about the gospel. This book equips and trains Moms and Dads on how to go about doing it. The main idea is found in chapter 5, aptly titled ‘Grace That Trains’. The authors explain what it means to “bring up children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” as commanded by Paul in Ephesians 6:4.

“….Parents think about and remember Jesus Christ and then train their children how to understand how everything in their life – their joys and sorrows, their trials and labors, their doubts, sin, and shame – is to be understood and approached in the light of Jesus Christ….This is the best news any child could hear. Distinctly Christian parenting must be accomplished in the environment of the good news about Jesus Christ or it is not Christian parenting. It may work for a while, it may make your life manageable, and God may use it, but it is not ‘of the Lord’.”

They identified 5 facets of discipline and instruction in the Lord. And several sections in the book discuss how these may be applied in various situations that parents get into with their kids.

1. Management – Parents are to manage their child’s behavior. Children need basic instructions for daily living such as, “Do your homework and get ready for bed.” “Say thank you”. “Don’t talk too loud.” Note that this does not get to the heart but one of our God-ordained roles as Christian parents is to manage our household well.

2. Nurturing – Feed their soul with the gospel truth that Jesus cares for them. Teach them about God’s grace and that even in the midst of their suffering God always works everything for their good. Children need to know that they can put their hope on God who loves them and provides for their needs.

3. Training – Children need to learn how the gospel applies to the circumstance they’re facing and what an appropriate response should be. In light of what Jesus has done for them, they can obey and walk in the law of the Lord. Here’s one example: because Jesus has forgiven us while we were still sinners, we can forgive those who offend us. This is radical! Oftentimes, our approach is to tell them that they have to forgive or otherwise God will not be pleased.

4. Correction – God’s grace brings salvation and teaches us to turn away from ungodliness and into godly living. Therefore, correction must be done in the context of what Jesus has already done for them and his great love for them. In other words, God is a perfect, loving Father and his way of bringing correction to his children sets the pattern for us earthly parents. Think of how physical discipline and correction is administered when it is shaped by grace – it becomes a restraint to do evil and training for righteousness. Moreover, the gospel helps parents to overcome sinful tendencies to do discipline out of frustration and anger.

5. Promises – Our children need to be assured of the promises of Jesus to love and care for them no matter how they fail. This is important because Christian children feel guilt and believe that they are going to hell when they sin or make mistakes. Parents must continually remind them that they are God’s sons and daughters and nothing can take them away from the love of Christ. We also need to warn them that unbelief brings failure and shame.

Our ultimate goal as parents is to point them to Jesus Christ because the one thing that our children absolutely need is the gospel of grace. Though their salvation is not in our control, we obey God and raise them in the Lord. For what profit is it to them if they are successful in the world but lose their soul? The authors conclude,

“They need to be absolutely dazzled by the kind of love that would suffer the way Christ suffered, forgive the way he forgives, and bless the way he blesses….Freely dazzle your babies with the cross of Christ. Give them grace when they succeed and grace when they fail.”

Get this book!

Effective and Productive Faith Part 2

2011-06-26T23:27:00.000-07:00

   When you are born again (John 3:1-8, 2 Corinthians 5:17-18), you will change. Though we don't know the mechanics of this transformation, the change is significant and radical. Your heart now longs to be with God and your desire is now to obey him and walk in His law. Jesus is now indeed the king of your heart.

   Transformation does not occur only in the dramatic events of your life. The proof this transformation is borne out over time, in each moment that you live. Paul Tripp says this :

    The little moments of life are profoundly important precisely because they’re the little moments that you live in and that form you. This is where I think that "Big Drama Christianity" gets us into trouble. It can cause us to devalue the significance of the little moments of life and the "small-change" grace that meets us there. And because we devalue the little moments where we live, we tend to not notice the sin that gets exposed there and don't seek the grace that’s offered us there. You see, the character of a life is not set in two or three dramatic moments, but in 10,000 little moments. The character that was formed in those little moments is what shapes how you respond to the big moments of life.

What leads to significant personal change? 10,000 moments of personal insight and conviction, 10,000 moments of humble submission, 10,000 moments of foolishness exposed and wisdom gained, 10,000 moments of sin confessed and sin forsaken, 10,000 moments of courageous faith, 10,000 choice points of obedience, 10,000 times of forsaking the kingdom of self and running toward the kingdom of God, 10,000 moments when we abandon worship of the creation and give ourselves to worship of the Creator. And what makes all of this possible? Relentless, transforming, little-moment grace. You see, Jesus is Emmanuel not just because he came to earth, but because he makes you the place where he dwells. This means he’s present and active in all the mundane moments of your daily life. And what is he doing? In these small moments he’s delivering every redemptive promise he’s made to you. In these unremarkable moments, he’s working to rescue you from you and transform you into his likeness. By sovereign grace he places you in daily little moments that are designed to take you beyond your character, wisdom and grace so that you’ll seek the help and hope that can only be found in him. In a lifelong process of change, he’s undoing you and rebuilding you again; exactly what each one of us needs!

   This is how your salvation is worked out. This is how your character is conformed to the image of Christ.

Effective and Productive Faith Part 1

2011-06-12T09:00:00.000-07:00

"For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faithwith virtue,and virtuewith knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-controlwith steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godlinesswith brotherly affection, and brotherly affectionwith love. For if these qualitiesare yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective orunfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that heis blind, having forgotten that he wascleansed from his former sins."

- 2 Peter 1:5-9 (ESV)

God provides infinite resources for us to grow in our faith. Yet for many Christians, spiritual growth is a struggle. Habitual sins are difficult to overcome, they lack self-control, they don't understand the Bible, their relationship with God goes hot and cold, and their relationships with others are still mired in conflict and unforgiveness.

Does this describe your spiritual life? If so,it should be immensely helpful for you to know that the root-cause of ineffective and unproductive faith is a lack of understanding of the gospel. When you do not comprehend the meaning of the gospel, you fail to grasp your identity in Christ and the work that God does in your life. As a result, your spiritual life fails to produce the expected fruit of faith. The Apostle Peter declares that whoever lacks Christ-like qualities is "so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from former sins". Spiritual growth is lacking is because you may have underestimated the presence and power of indwelling sin. You may be surprised to find how so easily swayed you are by the world and its ways. Your heart is prone to wander from the God you love, as the hymn says.

So how can the spiritual blindness be removed?

"For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard..."

-Colossians 1:19-23 (ESV)

Stick to the gospel! True Christians are not sinless but they sin less because their hearts are transformed such that they loathe themselves because of their sins but look to the cross where the blood of Jesus has brought them peace and reconciliation with God. They don't try harder to be good through their self-effort but the Holy Spirit that dwells in them gives them the desire to follow Jesus and causes them to walk in obedience to God's laws (Ezekiel 36:26-27). Remember that the gospel is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes (Romans 1:16). God is stronger than the power of sin! He not only gets us saved but also keeps us saved. Jesus does not lose any of His sheep (John 10:27-30)!

So remember the gospel by looking to the cross daily. Thank Jesus that his blood covers your sins, even those that you commit after you were saved. That's the first key to effective and productive faith.

More in the next post....

Book Review : ESV Seek and Find Bible

2011-05-16T21:40:00.000-07:00

   Finally, a high-quality study Bible for kids! Think of the ESV Seek and Find Bible as the ESV Study Bible, kid version.

    In the ESV Seek and Find Bible, the well-regarded ESV text is combined with Bible stories, illustrations, and discussion questions that help children dig deeper into God’s Word. Over 130 Bible stories can be found throughout the book and, thankfully, are placed close to its original book chapter and verse so that they can be easily found. They were written with young readers in mind and they’re great for family devotions. Last Easter, my two sons took turns reading aloud the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That served as a springboard for priceless spiritual conversation with my children. They asked a lot of questions. What did the thieves do? How painful was it to be crucified? Why did Jesus die in the cross? Is he God? How did he rise again? Is Jesus really a king? A lot of theology was taught within that hour!

    Not only are the stories great for devotions, I was also pleasantly surprised that they are fully packed with solid Biblical theology. The writers made sure to connect the Old Testament stories to Jesus Christ. The story about Adam and Eve, for instance, ends with this explanation:

“Adam and Eve were the very first people to sin. They brought sin into the world. But God still loved them very much, and so He gave them the promise that one day a Savior would come. Many years later, God sent His Son, Jesus, to earth. Satan came to Jesus too, and tempted Him to disobey God, but Jesus did not listen to Satan. Jesus lived His whole life without sin. Then He suffered and died on the cross for the sins of the world and rose from the dead to give us eternal life.”

Nowadays, parents are challenged to explain the gospel to their children. The ESV Seek and Find Bible will help to explain it in a language that children will understand. They’re never too young to know that they are sinful, to know the grace of God, and that by faith believe in Jesus Christ who saves them and transforms their hearts! I definitely recommend this to be the Bible that your kids should own and read as they grow in their faith.

For more information about this book and other Crossway titles, go to : www.crossway.org/blog.

Like Father, Like Son

2011-03-05T23:44:00.000-08:00

By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

- 1 John 3:10 (ESV)

True Christians are children of God. It is a relationship that has been made possible through the finished work of Jesus Christ (John 1:12-13). Now, being a child is more than just having a relationship with a father. Yes, to be able to call the almighty, everlasting God our Father is the greatest blessing we can ever receive. But the authenticity of sonship is evidenced by living a life that is led by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:14-16), by practicing righteousness, by loving others, and by sinning less over time (1 John 3:4-10). It means that the son takes on the nature of the father. Hence, a child of God takes on the nature of God the Father. Likewise, a man that is separated from or living independent of God, takes on the nature of his father who is the devil.

This does not mean that Christians become omnipresent or omniscient like God. Rather, as children of God and having been made new, our lives will show imprints of God's character. This is how we are able to follow this command that, at first glance, seems impossible to follow:

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.

-Ephesians 5:1 (ESV)

So how do we become like our Father? How does having God's character show in our works?

In our loving:

A new commandmentI give to you,that you love one another:just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. -John 13:34 (ESV)

In forgiving:

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.-Colossians 3:13 (ESV)

In pursuing of holiness:

As obedient children,do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy."-1 Peter 1:14-16 (ESV)

In working for unity:

I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. -John 17:22-23 (ESV)

In humility:

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! -Philippians 2:3-8 (NIV)

In being generous:

Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written, "He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever." - 2 Corinthians 9:7-9 (ESV)

So, whose your daddy?

Your Salvation Is Secure

2011-03-03T00:20:00.000-08:00

Now to him who is ableto keep you from stumbling andto present youblameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, tothe 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 (ESV)

If salvation can be lost, then Jesus Christ's finished work on the cross is not strong enough to sustain you to the end. It implies that the sinful desires of the heart can overcome the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. That makes God less glorious, less sovereign, and less powerful because other forces can turn His children's hearts against Himself.

God's glory, majesty, and authority is demonstrated in his power to keep you from falling back into slavery to sin. No one, not even Satan, can snatch away His sheep (John 10:27-29). The gift of eternal life is secured to those who come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:3-5). Christ finishes the regeneration that He starts in you so that He can present you blameless before God in the day of judgment. Now that is awesome!

A Faith That Saves

2011-02-23T22:55:00.000-08:00

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

-Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV)

According to Charles Spurgeon, the grace of God is the fountain-head of salvation. Remember that salvation is a gift from God that is given freely (Romans 6:23). It cannot be earned, rather, it is offered to sinners out of the grace of God who is compassionate, abounding in love, merciful, and full of goodness. If grace is the fountain, then faith is the channel by which the flood of grace flows down like a stream that refreshes thirsty men.

Spurgeon further explains how grace and faith operate in salvation:

By faith all things become possible to us; yet the power is not in the faith, but in the God upon whom faith relies. Grace is the powerful engine, and faith is the chain by which the carriage of the soul is attached to the great motive power.

We do not muster saving faith by our own efforts. Faith is not visualizing that we are saved, restored, and healed. Faith is wholly leaning to the all-powerful, mighty God and His promises. It takes hold of the righteousness of Jesus Christ so that we are made righteous. It appropriates the sacrifice of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. It touches the Great Physician for healing. Spurgeon writes,"Faith is believing that Christ is what He said to be, and that He will do what He has promised to do, then to expect this of Him." The power is not in our faith, but comes from the object of our faith which is God! Therefore, we can never boast that our human effort is needed in our salvation.

How Can God Be Loving and Just at the Same Time?

2011-02-20T10:14:00.000-08:00

For many people, the gospel is summarized in this famous verse :

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16 (ESV)

Without a doubt, the gospel is a testimony of God's immeasurable love for us. However, our understanding of the gospel is incomplete if we stop here. Is God's love such that, through Jesus, He takes away our guilt by sweeping our sins under the rug and remembering them no more? Is this the kind of love that lets bygones be bygones? Surely God knows that we're not perfect. If He truly loved us, He must forgive us and accept us for who we are. After all, wasn't it Jesus who said to forgive seventy times seven (Matthew 18:21-22)?

Most people prefer to believe God in this way, but we know that something isn't right with this argument. God is love (1 John 4:8) but it does not mean that in His loving, He waves away the sins that men have committed. Genocide, racism, rape, murder, sexual immorality, child abuse, covetousness, and deceit cannot just be simply swept under the rug. It would be unfair and unjust, most especially if these sins were committed against us or against people that we love. I will never simply forgive a man who would molest my children. Instead, I would pursue justice and life imprisonment for that criminal. I'd cry out to God that I have been offended and pray that God would punish that man.

In the shocking scandal with Bathsheba, King David committed adultery and murder. He used his authority to conceal his affair by having Bathsheba's husband, Uriah, set up to be killed in battle. He got outed by the prophet Nathan. David repented and his confession to God is recorded in Psalm 51.

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.

- Psalm 51:3-4 (ESV)

When we sin, it is God that is offended ultimately. Now, not only is God the offended party, He is also the judge. David correctly confesses that God is right to mete out justice, declare a guilty verdict, and sentence us according to what we deserve.

So how then does the God of justice love? Can God be just and loving at the same time or are they mutually exclusive? The answer is found in Romans.

For there is no distinction: forall have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justifiedby his grace as a gift,through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom Godput forward asa propitiationby his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because inhis divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. - Romans 3: 22b-26 (ESV)

    First of all, this passage clearly declares that all of us are guilty because of our sins. None of us can justify ourselves before God. We can argue our case before the Judge by listing out all the good works that we have done in this life for surely they must be worth rewarding and they must certainly outweigh all our bad deeds. The verdict is still guilty (James 2:10). Christianity is realistic in describing the human nature. All men are sinners.

    But remember that the gospel is good news! It addresses this problem. In this same verse, we see that God, in His grace, makes us right with Him through faith in Jesus Christ. The shedding of His blood is the sacrifice that atones our guilt and redeems us from slavery to sin. Propitiation is the act that renders God propitious or favorable to us. It the act that appeases God's wrath that is directed at us because we are sinners. We cannot turn away God's wrath through our good works. There is nothing in us that we can offer as a propitiation. Only God can. This is all God's doing. The righteous and holy Judge sent His Son to be the propitiation for sinners. Through the cross, our sins are cancelled and the wrath of God is turned aside at the same time.

    Why would God do this? The latter part of this verse reveals the answer. God has been patient by holding back judgment on the sins of men who had lived before He set in motion the events of Jesus birth, death on the cross, and resurrection. By holding back the punishment that their sins so deserved, it does not mean that He overlooked them nor that He swept them under the rug. He held them accountable to their sins just as we are held accountable today. The blood that Jesus shed also paid for their sins. Through the cross, God showed that He is just and is the One who justifies those who have faith in Jesus Christ. This is how a just God loves! In his loving, he demonstrates that He is just. Likewise, His perfect righteousness demonstrates that He is love.

    In conclusion, when we mash up John 3:16 and Romans 3:22-26, we see that God is both just and loving at the same time. It is demonstrated in the gospel. Thank you God, for loving us by giving your Son Jesus Christ. The blood that Jesus shed on the cross is the perfect sacrifice which turns away Your wrath from us. Through the cross, we are made righteous in Your eyes. God is just. Through the cross, You demonstrate Your love. God is love.

What is the gospel?

2011-02-15T09:01:00.000-08:00

    It's good to be able to find time to write again. My 2 month hiatus from blogging was due to a variety of reasons, mainly personal and work circumstances that needed my full attention. But I missed writing! It was the means by which I could fully internalize the wonderfuls truths in the Bible.

    For several weeks now, I've been meeting regularly with friends to answer a basic question about the Christian faith. What is the gospel? As it turned out, we still had a lot to learn! I've blogged about the gospel in the past and made these sweeping statements :

1. All our problems in life stem from our failure to apply the gospel.

2. Spiritual poverty in so much of our Christian experience is the result of inadequate understanding of the gospel’s depths.

   I believe in these statements even more so now! If we do not understand what God has done for us then we will live the Christian life always working to get God's approval when, in fact, we already have God's favor through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. If we do not understand the significance of Jesus Christ's death on the cross, His resurrection, and His ascension, then we miss the message of the gospel and our confession of faith becomes questionable. For how can we live like Christians if we do not know the object of our faith and the substance of what we believe?

   First of all, the gospel means "good news". At the core of the Christian faith is this "good news" about what God has done for us through Jesus Christ. The gospel is not about getting enlightenment, wisdom, knowledge, purpose, and meaning in life. It is not about learning the secret to healthy, successful, prosperous, and stress-free living. The gospel is first of all, the announcing of an event that happened 2,000 years ago. God became flesh and dwelled among human beings. His name is Jesus and He lived, preached, healed, and taught about the coming of the kingdom of God. He ate with sinners and rebuked the religious elite who were moralists and insisted on having a legalistic approach to religion.These religious elite arrested Jesus and brought him to trial, eventually leading to his death on the cross. On the third day, Jesus rose again and over 500 witnessess testified to seeing and fellowshipping with Him. His ascension into heaven was witnessed by many and He promised that He would return and reign over the new heaven and the new earth. The historical events surrounding Jesus were all determined by God since the beginning of time. He left pointers for us in the Old Testament,through the Law of Moses and through the foretelling of many prophets. He brought it to pass just like He said He would.

   This good news addresses our biggest problem:sin. Our sin separates us from God who is Holy and Righteous.The gospel is God's grace to sinners by granting them righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ. God loved us so much that He gave His Son Jesus Christ to save us from our sins. As Jesus hung on the cross, He took upon the sins of men and paid the price that we could never pay on our own. He took upon Himself the punishment that we deserved. The righteousness of Christ becomes the righteousness of those who believe so that the guilty are now declared just. And there's more. When we receive the gospel, we are transformed by the Holy Spirit, so that now we are no longer enslaved to sin but now enslaved to righteousness.We are able to live a life that is holy and pleasing to God.

   This is the essence of the gospel. It is big! It is radical change that only God is able to do!

A Bitter Harvest?

2010-12-15T06:31:00.000-08:00

Forgiving is what we are specifically commanded to do by King Jesus. It is an act of faith. A forgiving heart is evidence of your election (2 Peter 3:1-11), of living a life that is worthy of the gospel (Philippians 1:27), and of being filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:29-30). In short, it is the hallmark of Christian living.

For more of this, see Paul Tripp's blog at Desiring God : A Bitter Harvest?. It is helpful and full of practical advice.

I Asked The Lord That I Might Grow

2010-12-11T01:39:00.000-08:00

A poem by John Newton, author of "Amazing Grace" :

I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith, and love, and every grace;
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek, more earnestly, His face.

’Twas He who taught me thus to pray,
And He, I trust, has answered prayer!
But it has been in such a way,
As almost drove me to despair.

I hoped that in some favored hour,
At once He’d answer my request;
And by His love’s constraining pow’r,
Subdue my sins, and give me rest.

Instead of this, He made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart;
And let the angry pow’rs of hell
Assault my soul in every part.

Yea more, with His own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe;
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Blasted my gourds, and laid me low.

Lord, why is this, I trembling cried,
Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death?
“’Tis in this way, the Lord replied,
I answer prayer for grace and faith.

These inward trials I employ,
From self, and pride, to set thee free;
And break thy schemes of earthly joy,
That thou may’st find thy all in Me.”

What You Celebrate as a Church Is Just as Important as What You Believe

2010-12-10T08:49:00.000-08:00

Churches, more often than not, emphasize distinctives. Differences in doctrinal positions, worship style, leadership structure, cultural engagement, and many others are often cited and celebrated. Because this is emphasized so much today, we look for these things in churches and use it as a basis for making judgment on whether a church is good or not. Meanwhile, we forget that the church is called to celebrate and preach the gospel. This is the unique call of the church, commissioned by Jesus Christ Himself (Matthew 28:18-20). No other institution on this planet is called to do this, except for the church.

What would happen if the preaching of the gospel and the living-out the gospel is what is celebrated and emphasized above all in churches? Think how this eliminates preferences that arise from self-interests. Think of how many worthless arguments and "church wars" would be avoided. Think about how it makes the church centered on Jesus Christ. Think of how faith, goodness, discipleship, fellowship, brotherly kindness, and love, would strongly manifest in all church activities. Think of a time when all Christians would boast of nothing of themselves but only on the cross.

This blog post from the Gospel Coalition is an excellent reminder on the calling of the church : What You Celebrate as a Church Is Just as Important as What You Believe.

What are you celebrating this Christmas - looking for pageantry and cool Christmas worship services? What are you celebrating in your church? Celebrate the gospel above all.

Diet and Exercise for the Glory of God

2010-12-07T22:41:00.000-08:00

    I finally did something that I'd delayed doing for very a long time. I started meeting with a health coach! A healthy lifestyle has been an off and on again commitment for me. I realized that in order to succeed this time, I needed somebody to hold me accountable. He would work with me in setting attainable goals, meet with me regularly to see how I'm doing with meeting those goals, give me the tough message if I do not make the necessary effort to achieve what I committed myself to do, affirm me when I do accomplish them, and help me to raise the bar higher over time.

    So what got me to this point? Several reasons : mid-life, waistline, not liking what I saw in the mirror but ultimately, that Christ would be exalted in my body whether in life or in death (Philippians 1:20). God gave us this physical body that is useful for doing His will here on earth. So maintain it well. I also asked myself, "Would Christ be exalted in my dying if the reason for my death were heart and cardiovascular diseases that could have been prevented if I had paid attention to my health?"

    I will therefore go on a diet and exercise for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31), as a means by which I will have the necessary energy and strength to obey him for His pleasure. On the other hand, health and exercise becomes unprofitable if it replaces Jesus Christ as my highest treasure and the foremost affection in my heart. According to Paul, "For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come (1 Timothy 4:8)."

     My health coach became excited for me when I explained my reasons for meeting with him. "That is a very strong motivation!" he said. And I pray that he will be receptive to the gospel as a result.

    The first goal is to lose weight. For the next two weeks, I will keep a food journal, walk 15-30 minutes a day, and go to the gym once a week. So far, I've been faithful. Enjoyed walking with my son last weekend and we discovered a pond about a mile and a half away from home. Tonight, I enjoyed walking with my wife around the neighborhood and got to see impressive Christmas lights put up in some homes.

    Live for Christ!

What steals your joy?

2010-11-29T23:45:00.000-08:00

John MacArthur's commentary on Philippians 1:12-18 is valuable for personal reflection and assessment of the condition our faith in Christ. He says this,

Now I have always believed that the measure of a person's spiritual character, the measure of their spiritual strength and the measure of their spiritual maturity is what it takes to steal their joy. At whatever point your joy breaks down, that's the level of your spiritual strength. You can find out how mature you are, how Spirit-controlled you are, how spiritually virtuous you are by finding the breaking point where joy is lost and bitterness and negativism, critical spirit, sullenness begins to creep in and take over your life. The measure of your joy is how you react not to things the way you'd like them to be but the things the way you wouldn't like them to be.

A brief background on this letter to the Philippians helps us to understand it better. The apostle Paul is under prolonged house arrest in Rome and is chained to a Roman guard 24 hours a day (see Acts 28) while awaiting trial. There was the possibility of being sentenced to death but it did not break his joy in the Lord. Clearly, Paul's joy did not rest upon his present circumstances which is more dire than what many of us will ever experience in our lifetime. John MacArthur continues with the following point,

There should be no point in the life of a believer where joy is forfeited to sullenness, bitterness, negativism because of some things that aren't the way we'd like them to be. There's only one justification for the loss of joy and that is sin. And when you have fallen into sin, you will need to cry out with the psalmist, "Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation." But nothing short of sin should steal our joy, certainly not circumstances. And yet typically, I mean typically for everyone, a sudden change in conditions, a sudden change in circumstances in our lives, great difficulties, confusion, trials, hard times, attacks, disagreements, unfulfilled ambitions, unmet desires, conflicts, strained relationships, unrealistic expectations unmet, all of these things can throw us off balance and joy is forfeited and bitterness takes its place.

So how did Paul possess such an unbreakable joy? The answer might surprise you but it's clear in Philippians 1. It was because of his life's purpose which is the advancement of the gospel. Again, John MacArthur beautifully writes,

So, here is a man who has negative circumstances beyond our ability to understand them, chained to a Roman soldier. And yet he's a model of joy. Why? Because his joy isn't related to his comfort. His joy isn't related to his self-indulgence. His joy isn't related to his freedoms. His joy isn't related to his success. We'll find out it isn't even related to his reputation. It isn't related to any of those things. His joy is strictly tied to the advance of the gospel, so he has joy in his ministry, in spite of trouble, as long as the gospel is advanced, as long as Christ's cause is extended. His chains, in a sense, became an effective line of communication to these elite soldiers of the Roman empire. And if they were converted, they would carry the message to the rest of the city and for that matter, the rest of the world. And so he was rejoicing in the progress of the gospel.

Is that where you are? That's really the question. As you look at your own life, is your joy that sort of ebbing and flowing tide of earthly things? Does your joy rise and fall on your pleasure? On your possessions? On your prominence, your prestige, your reputation, your comfort, your fulfilled ambitions? Your almost unrealistic fantasies being realized? Is that where your joy is? If it is, you're going to ride the crest and sink to the depths. You're going to ebb and flow with the times of life, the changing times, the shifting sands. But if your joy is tied to the progress of the gospel and your life is committed to that end, then your joy is ever ever undiminished.

Paul's desire was to honor Christ with his body by courageously sharing the gospel. When we live to honor Christ, then our joy rests on a firm foundation and nothing can ever take it away.

For more on this : Joy in Spite of Trouble by John MacArthur.

Image: Simon Howden / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A Prayer For Thanksgiving

2010-11-24T09:51:00.000-08:00

    Almighty Father, we thank you that all that we have and all that we are comes from You (Acts 17:28). Our health, our lives, our intelligence, and our abilities were knit together by You even before we were born (Psalm 139:13-16). Thank you, Heavenly Father, that You watch over us and care for us (Matthew 6:26-31). You are our peace and You make us dwell in safety so that we can rest (Psalm 4:8). Your word is powerful! In You, the universe is upheld, all things are sustained, and all things endure (Hebrews 1:3, Colossians 1:17). This world is not spiraling out of control for You accomplish all things according to Your will (Ephesians 1:11). Fire, hail, snow, frost, lightning, thunder, rain, and stormy wind are at your beckon (Psalm 148:8, Job 37:6-13). You use all things to fulfill your purpose - yes, even evil and suffering - for Your glory, and for our good (Romans 8:28, Proverbs 16:4). Human knowledge cannot fathom Your mind. We cannot counsel You about what's best for us nor can we blame You for our circumstances, because you are God from everlasting to everlasting, you are omnipotent, and you are the only All-Powerful, Almighty, Sovereign Lord.

    Yet, we easily forget your works and your abundant kindness (Nehemiah 9:26, Psalm 106:7,13). As we become satisfied, our hearts become proud and we forget You (Hosea 13:6). Forgive our forgetfulness and our ingratitude. We are not self-made people. What we have did not come from our own strength nor from the power of our own hands. It is by your power, Lord God, that we have this ability to create wealth (Deutoronomy 8:10-18). For what do we have that we did not receive from You?

    When things are going our way, we acknowledge your provision and care. Thank you, Lord, for your benefits. Yet, take them away when our pleasure and satisfaction rests on them. Teach us to be content with the wonderful things that we have already received in Jesus Christ. Remove our eyes from focusing on what we do not possess. We die from being dissatisfied of Your love and care and from these harmful desires for more riches. Godliness with contentment is great gain (1 Timothy 6:6-10). Our pleasure and our satisfaction rests in You because You will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). You are most glorified when we are most satisfied in You.

    When we experience loss and setback, spare us from the temptation to murmur and grumble. You have the right determine our circumstances even if it means taking us down to nothing. As you give and as you take away, blessed be Your Name (Job 1:21). Like Paul, sanctify us so that we will be content in whatever circumstances we are in by knowing how to live along with humble means and how to live in prosperity (Philippians 4:11-12). For even in times of wanting and suffering, your grace is sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9) and we can do all things by Your strength (Philippians 4:13).

    In You, we have everything we need pertaining to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). We are not adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from You (2 Corinthians 3:5). So on this Thanksgiving Day, we rejoice in you Lord! And we do so endlessly, not just once a year. For it is your will that we give thanks in everything and in all our circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

Amen!

A Most Lopsided Exchange

2010-11-22T23:44:00.000-08:00

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.

- Luke 9:23 (NIV)

What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

-Philippians 3:8-12 (NIV)

The choice is on the table : gain what you can in this world or follow Jesus Christ. Both cannot be attained, just as you cannot have two masters. Trading the good life for Jesus Christ is the most lopsided exchange ever. It's like trading in garbage for gold.

Follow Me

2010-11-22T10:12:00.000-08:00

As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.

-Mark 2:14 (NIV)

I'm reading through Dietrich Bonhoeffer's classic book, Discipleship . While doing so, it is bringing me back to the simplicity of the command by Jesus Christ to every Christian, "Follow me." The simplicity eludes us. Nowadays, discipleship is treated as a program or as a curriculum. This practice, unfortunately, obscures the very essence of the call. The manner by which we follow is explained by Jesus Christ further in the gospels.

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. - Luke 9:23 (NIV)

Following Jesus Christ is a call to self-denial. It is not a self-centered, self-satisfying, self-enhancing, self-helping, self-enriching, and self-fulfilling call. Jesus continues on to say, "For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he's the one who will save it (Luke 9:24)." Would I truly abandon everything good about this life for the sake of following Jesus Christ? That's the question for you and me.

When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”-Matthew 8:18-22 (NIV)

Following Jesus is a call to give up comforts in this life. Would I stop following Christ if it means that I have to give up a comfortable lifestyle? That's the question for you and me.

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple." -Luke 14:26 (NIV)

Following Jesus is a call to give up relationships in this life. For a disciple, the Lordship of Jesus Christ in his heart is far above his human relationships. Would I stop following Christ if it means that I have to put my family second behind obeying and living for Jesus Christ? That's the question for you and me.

Finishing the race and keeping the FAITH

2010-11-19T17:40:00.000-08:00

¹Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, andsin which clings so closely, andlet us runwith endurance the race that isset before us, ²looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith,who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despisingthe shame, andis seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

- Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV)

This is a post from my friend and brother, Jojo Carpio. These are his reflections on Hebrews 12:1-2. I realize is how easy it is for my eyes to wander. Faith is believing in the invisible, Almighty God and the temptation is always there to believe what is visible. Thanks Jojo, for the reminder.

    We have so many 'witnesses' that have gone on before us. So many men and women of faith (Hebrews 11) that are the examples the Lord has given us to follow. We are to lay aside every weight. Now, what are these weights? They are the things that bring about stress and worries. They are the things Jesus wants to carry for us! We also need to lay aside our sin. Sin is inevitable. Even the lives of the very witnesses spoken of in Hebrews 11 are fraught with sins and the remorse of sin! Even though we cannot be perfect by ourselves, we must lay aside our wants and desires and choose to follow the Lord (Romans 6:15). This is a hard thing to do, but we must run with patience.

    Jesus has given each of us a race to run. Each of our races are different, this means that we cannot compare our race with others. At times, our race is difficult. We become tired and worn out, but then God reminds us of how much we need Him! We are not running alone! We have the Creator of the world running beside us and He is willing to carry us when we cannot go on! In order to run and run well, we need to fix our eyes on Jesus.

    There are so many things that can take our gaze off Jesus! People. Circumstances. Difficult struggles. Self-pity. But as Peter learned, it is when you take you eyes off Jesus that you sink! In all that we do, no matter the circumstances, we need to keep our eyes focused on Him for He knows all things (Proverbs 4:25-27)! If we fix our eyes on Jesus, our paths are made straight.

     Jesus has endured the cross for us! We are the joy set before Him! He went through so much pain and shame, for us! Think about it, Jesus, the SON of GOD came to EARTH as a MAN and was crucified as a CRIMINAL!! What a humbling experience! We often do not recognize how much shame He went through for us! But now! Now He is seated at God's right hand! And He continually intercedes on our behalf!

A Perspective on Perspective

2010-11-13T08:04:00.000-08:00

   This is my reflection from an interesting blog post by author and minister Tim Keller. In it, he refers to the concept of 'tri-perspectivalism'. This simply means that there are threefold distinctions or triads, found in the Bible, that help give us both knowledge and perspective about God and certain Biblical truth. One example is the doctrine of Trinity : God eternally exists as three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and each person is fully God, and there is one God.

    Let me make this clear that there is nothing mystical about the number 3 as if it has good luck or sacredness associated with it. 'Tri-perspectivalism' is simply a tool to help us to understand certain truths. Certainly, we can look at both sides of the coin (bi-perspectivalism) or sometimes even 4 or more (multi-perspectivalism). The bottomline is that Scripture often describes truth from multiple, inter-dependent, and complementary perspectives.

   Jesus describes his kingdom using several different parables (Matthew 13). Here's another example that, at first glance, may seem like contradictory perspectives :

Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him. Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes.

-Proverbs 26:4-5 (NIV)

Actually, they complement one another. There are situations where we should not stoop down to any foolish pattern of thinking. There are also times when it is appropriate to tell someone that they're being stupid.

Having perspective can be very valuable. Only God is infinite in knowledge and wisdom. We are finite and limited. Therefore we cannot know everything at a glance and our knowledge is limited to one perspective or another. Here is how theologian John Frame describes the benefits of looking at the perspective of others:

One way to increase our knowledge and our level of certainty is by supplementing our own perspectives with those of others. When our own resources fail us, we can consult friends, authorities, books, etc. We can travel to other places, visit people of other cultures. Even to get a good understanding of a tree, we need to walk around it, look at it from many angles.

It often happens that someone’s idea will seem ridiculous when we first encounter it; but when we try to understand where that person is coming from, what considerations have led him to his idea, then our evaluation of it changes. In such a case, we are trying to see the issue from his perspective, and that perspective enriches our own.

In one sense, of course, it is impossible to transcend one’s own perspective. Even when we move around a tree, or consult a friend, or travel to another culture, we are still viewing reality through our own senses and brains. Yet it is possible for the perspectives of others to change our perspective, to make us see differently.

I must clarify that I am not promoting relativism. I believe that there is one absolute Truth that exists outside of us and we must find and understand this Truth. The only true perspective is God's perspective. God reveals his perspective in his Word. And his Word uses multiple perspectives as a tool that helps us comprehend this absolute Truth.

John Frame puts it this way :

God’s perspective is independent in a way that ours are not, for God governs all perspectives. But even his knowledge, as we have seen, includes a knowledge of all finite perspectives. And all finite perspectives must, to attain truth, “think God’s thoughts after him.” So in one sense, all perspectives coincide. Each, when fully informed, includes all the knowledge found in every other. There is one truth, and each perspective is merely an angle from which that truth can be viewed.

For more on this : A Primer on Perspectivalism

The Good News That We Forget Part 4 : the gospel-centered life

2010-11-11T21:41:00.000-08:00

Most people’s problems are just a failure to be oriented to the gospel–a failure to grasp and believe it through and through.

-Tullian Tchividjian

The small group study titled the Gospel-Centered Life describes a common misconception about the gospel :

“Many Christians live with a truncated view of the gospel. We see the gospel as the “door,” the way in, the entrance point into God’s kingdom. But the gospel is so much more! It is not just the door, but the path we are to walk every day of the Christian life. It is not just the means of our salvation, but the means of our transformation. It is not simply deliverance from sin’s penalty, but release from sin’s power. The gospel is what makes us right with God (justification) and it is also what frees us to delight in God (sanctification).”

    Real change cannot come apart from the gospel. God intended for the good news to mold us and shape us in every way. The way we think, feel and live must be defined by the gospel. There's two ways that we live out a Christian life that is not centered on the gospel :

1. License –right or wrong is all relative. This is someone who does not recognize that there is an absolute moral truth that comes from God. This person downplays sin and moral depravity. Such a man emphasizes a forgiving, loving God yet does not repent from his sins. He minimizes sin and it’s effect in life. "I may not be perfect, but I’m basically a good person." he says.

It’s a hokey way to live to say the least. According to DA Carson, it’s like committing murder and you stand in trial and this is what you say :

Members of the jury, I am not asking for mercy or pardon. I want justice. I am demanding a full acquittal. Yes, I committed murder of which I am accused. But I am not guilty. Members of the jury, you must consider all my good deeds – not merely as mitigating circumstances but as reason for exonerating me. The goodness of my other deeds outweighs the crime that I committed. My good deeds require a not guilty verdict. If justice is to be done, you must find me innocent.

In Romans 6:1-14, Paul says that grace is not a license to keep on sinning. We are dead to sin but alive in Christ Jesus. So sin no longer reigns in this mortal body, rather the body is now an instrument for righteousness.

2. Legalism or moralism – a legalist is someone who does all good works in order to be approved by God. This is the Christian who tries hard to be good by his own strength. His relationship with Christ is performance driven. The error of this approach to Christian living is that it is based on ignorance of the finished work of Christ. A Christian, who is saved by grace through faith, continues to live under the grace of God and walks in obedience because he loves God and therefore now wants to live for God's glory.

    Remember that our acceptance by Christ is based on what Christ has done for us – not on what we can do for Christ. By grace you have been saved through faith – not as a result of works – that remains true even when you are a believer in Christ. I think that sometimes our problem is that we are not used to “living under grace”. Our main problem is that we have not really comprehended the deep implications of the message of the gospel. We do not realize what we have in Christ. Some of us live in spiritual poverty simply because we do not know what we have in Christ- we try our best to live the Christian life and we fail miserably. We go straight to the how to’s (works) without thinking much about the basis of why we must live that way.

    The gospel-centered life is a life of daily dependence on God to have the strength to do good works and bear fruit (John 15:1-11). Thanks be to the God who began the good work in us and will be faithful to complete it until the day of Christ's return (Philippians 1:6). This is the gospel-centered life!

The Good News That We Forget Part 3 : What is cheap grace?

2010-11-08T21:55:00.000-08:00

From Ed Stetzer's interview with Jon Walker :

Cheap grace is when we attempt to lower the standards of the gospel by ignoring the cost of the cross and down-playing the need for repentance. Cheap grace embraces an easy discipleship that requires little commitment. It assumes you can live in God's sanctuary, where Jesus fulfills the law, yet remain independent of the commands and desires of Jesus. Cheap grace justifies our sin. It is the thought that my sins are forgiven, so God will wink at me when I sin.

Costly grace justifies the sinner. It demands that forgiveness be followed by obedience, that grace remain tethered to truth. When Jesus forgives the woman caught in adultery (John 8), he says, "Neither do I condemn you ... Go now and leave your life of sin." His grace, which is freely given, offers forgiveness for her sins, but it includes an expectation that her life will radically change.

Costly grace means we change our habits, thoughts, behaviors, attitudes, and relationships according to the will of Jesus. Nothing can remain the same because we are no longer the same: 'It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me' (Galatians 2:20). Bonhoeffer says grace is "costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life."We are uniquely connected to the divine nature through Jesus and we no longer "live under law but under God's grace" (Romans 6:14 TEV; consider also Colossians 2:9-10).

Cheap grace, on the other hand, denies the incarnation and leaves the gospel abstract and impersonal. It allows us to give intellectual assent to the teachings of Jesus. Yet, the bloody death and resurrection of Christ is nothing but real and personal and it forces us to continually make the intimate choice of following the person, Jesus Christ, or following our own path.

The Good News That We Forget Part 2 : I Need The Gospel Daily

2010-10-31T07:38:00.000-07:00

   The gospel really does define the Christian life. There is no alternative way to live in Christ. The Christian life that is lived without the imprint of the gospel is mere religion. The life that is soaked by the gospel is the abundant life that Jesus promised (John 10:10) In my previous post, I posed this question to help us think through how the gospel is applied to daily living.

How does the finished work of Christ (the gospel) satisfy my deepest daily needs so that I can experience the liberating power of the gospel every day and in every way?

   Here's a few examples,

1. A major theme in the gospel is forgiveness. Forgiveness satisfies my deepest longings for reconciliation with God and liberates my heart from bitterness that comes from unforgiveness. I am still being sanctified by Jesus Christ while I live this life here on earth. The fullness of my sanctification comes when Jesus Christ returns. This means that I can still commit sin.  Hence, I need to come to Jesus everyday to confess and ask that my trespasses be forgiven. Jesus Christ is faithful and just to forgive us (1 John 1:9). The gospel's offer of forgiveness liberates me to forgive others. Everyday someone will offend me in some way or fashion. Because I am forgiven by Jesus Christ, I can choose to freely forgive (Colossians 3:13) or overlook the offense.

2. Because of the gospel, I am able to comprehend how to love my wife as Jesus Christ loved the church (Ephesians 5:25). In a wedding last week, I was reminded of the famous saying, "Happy wife, happy life". Well, the key to my wife's happiness is to love her like how Jesus Christ demonstrated his love for me.

3. Though Christ's finished work, I can count myself dead to sin and alive to God (Romans 6:11). This is a profound change! It is arguably one of the Christian indicatives that I deliberately remind myself daily. Everyday, I am faced with temptations. The gospel spares me from falling into sin. The gospel beats down desires that lead to sinful acts.The finished work of Christ means that I have an escape hatch (1 Corinthians 10:13).
4. The gospel says that it is by the grace of God that I am saved as I come to Jesus Christ in faith (Ephesians 2:8-9) and repentance (2 Peter 3:9). I stop being a moralist. A moralist is someone who relies on good works and moral living in order to be accepted by God. Many people fear living in grace. Grace is misunderstood. It is not a license to continue sinning. Rather, grace leads to true repentance which is a complete turning around from sin. Now I keep my eyes on Jesus Christ the author and perfecter of my faith (Hebrews 12:1-2).

The Good News That We Forget - Part 1

2010-10-25T07:20:00.000-07:00

The centrality of the gospel has been in my mind for a couple of weeks now. The gospel is the good news that we often forget. But the gospel has to be for every day living. Without it, we don't truly live and we have no hope.Tullian Tchividjian points out that the gospel is not just salvation for sinners. It is also necessary for spiritual maturity. I've extracted and made some slight edits on portions of his blog post that help to explain this further :

All our problems in life stem from our failure to apply the gospel. This means I can’t really move forward unless I learn more thoroughly the gospel’s content and how to apply it to all of life. Real change does not and cannot come independently of the gospel. God intends his Good News in Christ to mold and shape us at every point and in every way. It increasingly defines the way we think, feel, and live.

Spiritual poverty in so much of our Christian experience is the result of inadequate understanding of the gospel’s depths. The answer isn’t to try harder in the Christian life but to comprehend more fully and clearly Christ’s finished work for sinners and then to live in more vital awareness of that grace day by day. The main problem in the Christian life, in other words, is not that we don’t try hard enough to be good. It’s that we haven’t accepted the deep implications of the gospel and applied its powerful reality to all parts of our life.

He asks this great question that we should take time to reflect on :
How does the finished work of Christ satisfy my deepest daily needs so that I can experience the liberating power of the gospel every day and in every way?

I've come up with several answers in head already. Will write them in the next posts. How about you, what is your answer? Feel free to reply in the comments.

Faith Vs. Unbelief

2010-10-19T09:35:00.000-07:00

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

- Hebrews 11:6 (ESV)

Why is this so? I found this list to be helpful in making Hebrews 11:6 clearer.

From The Purple Cellar Blog by Lydia Brownback :

1. Faith believes the Word of God; unbelief questions it.

2. Faith sees God's promise to help; unbelief says, "How can that possibly be?"

3. Faith makes you see love in Christ's reproofs; unbelief imagines only wrath.

4. Faith helps the soul to wait; unbelief gives up if made to wait.

5. Faith gives comfort in the midst of fears; unbelief causes fears in the midst of comforts.

6. Faith finds sweetness in God's discipline; unbelief finds no comfort in mercy.

7. Faith makes great burdens light; unbelief makes light burdens heavy.

8. Faith helps us when we are down; unbelief throws us down when we are up.

9. Faith brings us near to God when we are far from him; unbelief puts us far from God when we are near to him.

10. Faith sees friendship with God; unbelief sees a hard taskmaster.

11. Faith puts man under grace; unbelief holds him under wrath.

12. Faith purifies the heart; unbelief keeps the heart polluted

13. Faith rests in Christ's righteousness; unbelief clings to the law.

14. Faith makes all our work acceptable to God; without faith it is impossible to please him.

15. Faith gives peace and comfort; unbelief gives trouble and tossing

16. Faith shows Christ precious; unbelief sees no beauty in him.

17. Faith gives life in Christ's fullness; unbelief causes spiritual starvation

18. Faith gives freedom from the law of sin and death; unbelief shackles us to them.

19. Faith shows us excellence in things unseen; unbelief sees only this world.

20. Faith makes all God's ways pleasant; unbelief makes them heavy and hard.

The Lord's Prayer Part 15: Warfare

2010-10-17T07:51:00.000-07:00

“And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.”

- Matthew 6:13 (ESV)

The last petition in the Lord’s Prayer is two-fold. The second part clarifies the first with the word “but” giving us an idea on how they are connected. A better translation is “deliver us from the evil one”. This, of course, is Satan. Together, this petition recognizes human weakness to sin and the strength of an enemy that entices us to sin. It is a prayer for God to deliver us from satanic attacks that we are not able to withstand.

There are two dangers when dealing with the evil one. First, we minimize Satan’s importance by failing to recognize that he has real spiritual power. Second, we overstate his importance by becoming very afraid of his power. There is no doubt that he is a powerful enemy. His tactics include domination (Acts 10:38, 2 Timothy 2:26), temptation, accusation (Revelation 12:10), and deception (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10). Jesus, however, has already won against him through his death and resurrection. We are dealing with a defeated enemy.

"He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son..."

-Colossians 1:13 (ESV)

"Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery."

- Hebrews 2:14-15 (ESV)

Until Jesus Christ returns to take his rightful throne here on earth and Satan will be finally thrown into the abyss, we will be dealing against this enemy daily. Thus we pray for our Savior to continue to keep us from falling into the enemy's schemes. We cannot have victory over Satan on our own. The battle is won through Jesus Christ.

"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 1:24-25 (ESV)

The Lord's Prayer Part 14: How to Pray About Temptation

2010-10-13T23:31:00.000-07:00

“And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” - Matthew 6:13 (ESV)

The Lord’s Prayer truly covers all our needs. First, it covers our physical and material needs as we ask the Father to give us this day our daily bread. Our spiritual needs are addressed as we ask the Father to forgive our debts. As you recall, we incurred this debt through our sinfulness. The next petition also addresses our sinfulness but this time we ask the Father for protection from future sins. The phrase “lead us not into” can be understood as a plea for God to keep us from falling into the hand, power, and influence of sin as we are tempted.

The word temptation can mean either testing or trial. Trials are part of the Christian life. God sometimes allows trials to come to our lives as a means to developing persevering faith that leads to spiritual maturity and godly character.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

– James 1:2-4 (NIV)

It can also mean as an enticement to sin. Now one thing must be made clear, this petition does not imply that God will tempt us and cause us to sin.

When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

– James 1:13-15 (NIV)

Notice the progression, temptation arises from our evil desire which leads us to commit acts of sin. Temptation abounds in many situations. The temptation to be proud and feel self-sufficient arises from success. Lustful desires can be aroused while browsing the Internet in the privacy of our homes and the urge to peek at an adult website pops up. The temptation of unbelief will come during times of great suffering. The temptation of self-righteousness arises as we point out other people’s flaws.

This is why we must pray this petition every day. We must acknowledge our human weakness. We must recognize this daily battle against the sinful nature. We must realize that sin is not yet completely eradicated from our lives (Romans 7:13-25). By praying, we recognize that it is Jesus Christ who rescues us from giving in to temptation. He knows our weakness for he himself was tempted.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.

– Hebrews 4:15 (NIV)

And indeed the Father will answer this prayer. The Bible assures us that there is a way out of temptation and that God will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear.

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

– 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV)

The last thing to point out is that the heart of the one praying this petition must hate sin. The person who prays this also be doing all he can to avoid a situation whereby he is tempted. (Romans 6:1-2, Matthew 26:41). RT Kendall says, “You prove how strong you are not by how you cope when being tempted, but by seeing how far you can get from temptation.”

Let this prayer of David be our prayer :

Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

-Psalm 19:12-14 (NIV)