Identify Evidences of Grace

Excerpt from C. J. Mahaney recorded in Perceiving God's Work by Tony Reinke at Sovereign Grace Ministries Blog

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See, Paul’s correction of the Corinthian church is effective because he has faith for this church. When we correct people, they can tell whether we have affection for them and faith for them. I sadly know what it’s like to correct somebody where I neither had affection for nor faith for—as if the correction alone was sufficient and most important. That is not true. This is not an expression of the character of God and that is not biblical leadership.

I would encourage all of us to restrain ourselves from correcting someone until we have developed, to some degree, affection for them and faith for them.

So how do we identify evidences of grace?

Here is the “starter’s kit” I recommend for recognizing evidences of grace. (It’s a “starter’s kit” but you will never outgrow or exhaust it.) Just take two categories, the fruit of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit. Work from those two categories and lists, study those lists in the Bible, look up from studying those lists, and look at Christians around you. You will see God at work everywhere you look.

God is working. God is very busy. God, give us the eyes to see how you are at work so we can identify that, draw people’s attention to it, celebrate it, and assign all glory to God for that work!

Loneliness

Christian Working Woman Transcript

Thursday, January 31, 2008 - Dealing With Loneliness

It's amazing how many people are very lonely. Psalm 68:6 says, God makes a home for the lonely; He leads out the prisoners into prosperity. Only the rebellious dwell in a parched land. I have found this verse to be exactly true in my life. As I have allowed God to make a home for me and to accept His presence as sufficient in my life, I have been set free from the awful heaviness of loneliness.

That verse says only the rebellious dwell in a parched land. When we refuse to allow God to be our cure for loneliness, when we continue to try to do it our way and fill the empty void with people and activities, we'll continue to find loneliness our companion. Your feelings of loneliness may be because you are still rebelling against God's answers. You don't like the idea of learning to let Him fill up your empty time and change your lonely feelings. As long as you continue to rebel, you will continue to live in that parched land of loneliness.

But there’s no doubt that God created us for fellowship and companionship, and we need people in our lives, too. When Jesus was facing crucifixion, He took His three closest companions with Him while He prayed. He needed God’s presence and He needed their presence and support. The Apostle Paul spoke of his need to be with his companions and his encouragers.

If you are lonely because you don’t have a good friend or friends, or they’re not nearby, I would remind you that in order to have friends, we have to reach out to others and be a friend. So, ask yourself what you could do for someone else to be their friend, to meet their need, instead of waiting for someone to be your friend. We reap what we sow–that’s a biblical principle. So, if you want friendships, sow friendships; become a friend to others.

I’ve just read a wonderful booklet on loneliness by Elizabeth Skoglund, and she gives some practical steps you can take to combat loneliness. First, she says, live in a way that gives you good feelings about yourself. Do the things you know you should do to be a more productive, a more loving, a more Christ-like person. And then she says to reach out to help others who are in need.

Loneliness can be very crippling, but you can take positive steps–by God’s grace–to overcome those depressing feelings of loneliness. Of course, the most important step to take is to spend time developing your relationship with Jesus through Bible study and prayer. He is a friend who sticks closer than a brother, and believe me, He is capable of filling that lonely space inside of you.

Model Growth

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

MODELING GROWTH

James 1:22
Prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves

I am learning about pastors and missionaries across the country who are preaching against the very sins they are committing themselves. Nationally known Christian personalities who vehemently condemn immorality have themselves been found to be hiding an immoral lifestyle. Those of us who are called to preach or teach God's Word must put it on first. We must get on our knees before God as we prepare the message and say, "God, is this Scripture true in my life?" If not, we had better be honest enough to say to those who hear us, "I wish I were a better example of this passage than I am, but I'm still growing in this area." To proclaim the Word of God as if it were true in your life when it's not is a lie.

Those of us who receive the Word are also vulnerable to self-deception if we fail to put it into practice. We hear a sermon or a lesson and say, "Wow! What a great truth!! and hurry off to share it with someone else without processing it ourselves and applying it to our own lives. James said that hearers of the Word who are not also doers of the Word deceive themselves.

Why are we afraid to admit it when our lives don't completely match up to Scripture? I believe it's because many of us have a perfection complex. We think we have to model perfection and not admit to something less. But we can't model perfection, because we're not perfect; we can only model growth. The people around us need to know that we are real people in the process of maturing. They need to see how we handle failure as well as how we handle success. When we model this kind of honesty in the Christian community, we greatly reduce the possibility of the deceiver gaining a foothold.

Prayer:

Lord, forgive me for the times I have placed the quest for earthly perfection ahead of growth in You and Your Word. Help me model growth in my life today.

Discipleship

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

THE DEFINITION OF DISCIPLESHIP

1 Thessalonians 5:11
Encourage one another, and build up one another, just as you also are doing

Jesus' primary call to His disciples is seen in His words "Come to Me" (Matthew 11:28) and "Follow Me" (Matthew 4:19). Mark records: "He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him, and that He might send them out to preach, and to have authority to cast out the demons" (Mark 3:14, 15). Notice that Jesus' relationship with His disciples preceded His assignment to them. Discipleship is the intensely personal activity of two or more persons helping each other experience a growing relationship with God. Discipleship is being before doing, maturity before ministry, character before career.

Every Christian, including you, is both a disciple and a discipler in the context of his Christian relationships. You have the awesome privilege and responsibility both to be a teacher and a learner of what it means to be in Christ, walk in the spirit and live by faith. You may have a role in your family, church or Christian community which gives you specific responsibility for discipling others, such as husband/father, pastor, Sunday school teacher, discipleship group leader, etc. But even as an appointed discipler, you are never not a disciple who is learning and growing in Christ through your relationships. Conversely, you may not have an "official" responsibility to disciple anyone, but you are never not a discipler. You have the opportunity to help your children, your friend, and other believers grow in Christ through your caring and committed relationship with them.

Similarly, every Christian is both a counselor and counselee in the context of his Christian relationships. A good counselor should be a good discipler, and a good discipler should be a good counselor. Biblically, they are the same role. Your level of maturity may dictate that you do a lot of Christian counseling. But there will still be times when you need to seek or receive the counsel of other Christians. There will never be a day when we don't need each other.

Prayer:

Father, help me remember that I will never be so mature that I need not receive godly counsel from my brothers and sisters in Christ.

Our Competence

Excerpt from post by Mark Batterson at Evotional

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One of my fall-back verses has always been II Corinthians 3:4-6:

Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant--not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

I've always loved the phrase: our competence comes from God.

In my experience, God often uses us at our point of incompetence. I had no pastoral experience, except for a summer internship, before becoming lead pastor of NCC. No one on our staff had even worked at a coffeehouse when we started building Ebenezers. We were totally unqualified. But calling is more important than qualification.

Noah wasn't qualified to build the ark. Nehemiah wasn't qualified to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. David wasn't qualified to fight Goliath. Moses wasn't qualified to lead the Israelites. And Peter certainly wasn't qualified to walk on water.

It is our incompetence that keeps us humble and keeps us dependent upon God. But that awareness of our own incompetence needs to be coupled with the awareness that our competence comes from God. So the locus of our confidence isn't in our ability. The locus of confidence is God's ability. It's not self-confidence. It's God-confidence! It is the faithfulness of God that fuels our faith!

Gospel

Excerpt from "An Efficient Gospel?" by Tim Keel, Leadership Journal (Winter 2008)

"In the modern world, we tend to reduce the complexity and diversity of the Scriptures to simple systems, even when our systems flatten the diversity and integrity of the biblical witness. We reduce our sermons to consumer messages that reduce God to a resource that helps the individual secure a reduced version of the 'abundant life' Jesus promised. And the gospel itself gets reduced to a simplified framework of a few easily memorized steps."

Teaching

Blog entry from at Awaken by Scott Aughtman entitled Teaching Christ or Christianity

"I’m thinking again about an idea that I began thinking about last year.

There’s a dangerous flaw in the way some of us Christ-followers teach others about Jesus. It’s in the difference between teaching Christ and teaching Christianity.

What’s the difference?

Roland Allen revealed the difference in an old book from 1927 called, “The Spontaneous Expansion Of The Church.”

In the book, Roland says this, “Christianity, the doctrine, is a system of thought and practice: preaching Christ, the Gospel, is a Revelation of a Person.”

He later says…

“To make converts to a doctrine is to make proselytes. The proselyte abandons one system of thought and practice for another; and to adopt a new system of thought and practice is not the way of salvation.

“The Christian convert is a convert not to a system of doctrine but to Christ. It is in Christ that he trusts, not in any system of doctrine or of morals.”

We need to all ask ourselves this question: Which am I teaching? Christ or Christianity?"

Walk in Freedom

Daily in Christ by Neil Anderson

THE LAWS OF GOD

Luke 11:39
Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness

The Talmud , a collection of ancient rabbinic writings, relates the story of Rabbi Akiba, who was imprisoned. Rabbi Joshua brought him some water, but the guard spilled half of the container. There was too little water to both wash and drink, and Rabbi Akiba faced the possibility of death for lack of water if he chose to use the water for ceremonial washing. He reasoned, "He who eats with unwashed hands perpetuates a crime that ought to be punished by death. Better for me to die of thirst than to transgress the traditions of my ancestors!"

Jesus responded harshly to such reasoning: "You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!" (Matthew 23:24). The Lord cautions that the weightier matters of the law (such as justice and mercy) are overlooked when attention focuses on strict observances of religious practices. This leads to a corresponding negligence of the eternal laws of God. Jesus told people to pay more attention to cleansing their hearts and not be like their leaders who cleanse only their hands.

The laws of God are liberating and protective. They are restrictive only when they protect us from the evil one. The rules of any institution should ensure the freedom of each individual to reach his or her God-given potential. They should serve as a guide so we don't stray from our purpose, and they should protect us from those who abuse the system.

The principle that Jesus modeled could be stated as follows: If people are commanded to follow a traditional practice that makes life more difficult and no longer contributes to the purpose of the organization, then we must not participate as a matter of religious conscience. Jesus simply didn't observe such traditions, and He defended His disciples for not observing them as well.

Prayer:

Thank You for reminding me, Lord, that the law kills but the Spirit gives life. Help me walk in that freedom today.

Time

Excerpt from Redeeming Time By Writing Truth by John Piper

The clock never stops ticking. Nothing but God is more persistent than the passing of time. You can't stop it or slow it. It is sovereign over all human resistance. It will not be hindered or altered or made to cease. It is utterly oblivious to young and old, pain and pleasure, crying and laughing. Nothing, absolutely nothing, makes a difference to the unstoppable, unchangeable tick, tick, ticking of time. Anna Akhmatova the Russian poet, said that war and plague pass, but no one can cope with "the terror that is named the flight of time."

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Time is precious. We are fragile. Life is short. Eternity is long. ... O, to be a faithful steward of the breath God has given me. Three texts resound in my ears: 1) "Redeem the time" (Ephesians 5:16); 2) "It is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy" (1 Corinthians 4:2); 3) "His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me" (1 Corinthians 15:10).

Surely God means for our minutes on earth to count for something significant. Paul said, "In the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain" (Philippians 2:16). In the same way, I have good hope from the Lord that my "labor is not in vain in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 15:58).

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Love

Excerpt from Love and the Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World by D.A. Carson in The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World, John Piper and Justin Taylor, general editors.

"These truths enable us to understand that the cross itself, the very foundation of all redemption, is first and foremost the result of the love of the Father for the Son and the love of the Son for the Father. ... We so often think that the ultimate motivation behind the cross is God's love for us. I do not want to downplay the importance of that love; indeed, I shall return to it in a minute. But we must see that in John's Gospel the motivating power behind the entire plan of redemption was the Father's love for his Son and the Son's love for his Father. When Jesus found himself in an agony in Gethsemane, he did not finally resolve to go through with the plan of redemption by saying, "This is awful, but I love those sinners so much I'll go to the cross for them" (though in a sense he might have said that), but "Not my will but yours be done." In other words, the dominating motive that drove him onward to perfect obedience was his resolution, out of love for his Father, to be at one with the Father's will. Though we poor sinners are the unfathomably rich beneficiaries of God's plan of redemption, we are not at the center of everything. At the center was the love of the Father for the Son and the love of the Son for the Father."

Saying No

Christian Working Woman Transcript

Wednesday, January 23, 2008 - Saying No Without Guilt

Why would I choose such a topic about learning to say “no”? Well, because many of us have a lot of trouble knowing how and when to set boundaries, and we end up trying to be super-people and find ourselves exhausted, discouraged, depressed and ready to quit!

Ephesians 2:10 says we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God ordained in advance for us to do. We are here to work; we are created to bring glory to God through completing the good works He has planned for us to do. So, laziness or indifference is never acceptable for a disciple of Jesus Christ. But by the same token, we are in human bodies which have limitations and when we start trying to do things that are not on God’s to-do list for us, that’s when we are in trouble.

In a very helpful booklet entitled “Too Busy? Saying No Without Guilt,” Alice Fryling makes some important observations: “Jesus does not intend for us to carry the heavy burden of ill-fitting good works. If we were to join Him at the dinner table, where He did much of His teaching during His life on earth, He might remind us that we do not need to do everything, that burnout is not His idea of obedience and that by God’s grace even a little bit goes a long way.”

I like her term “ill-fitting good works.” I find that I am often self-deceived into taking on too much because what I’m taking on is good. Someone needs to do it; it is not a trivial pursuit. But is it an “ill-fitting good work,” meaning it doesn’t fit me? Ms. Fryling goes on to say, “In fact, as we take on Jesus’ yoke, we find that the work we are yoked to do has been custom-made for us.” When I am doing those good works, I may get tired, but I won’t be overwhelmed. Jesus does not call me to do more than He will equip me to do under an easy yoke. When my “doing” gets to the stage of being a burden, no matter how good it may be, then I have to stop and ask, “Where and when should I say ‘no’?”

I would encourage you to think about areas in your life where you have not yet learned to say “no.” Perhaps it is on your job. Certainly we have obligations to our employers and we definitely want to work with excellence and diligence, but have you carried that too far so that now your job is a heavy yoke around your neck? Or maybe it’s with your family, where you think you have to say yes to every request because it’s family! If you’ve allowed yourself to come under a heavy yoke, I urge you to begin the process of saying “no” where you need to.

This Week's Memory/Prayer Verse

Know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself;
the Lord will hear when I call to him.

Psalm 4:3

What's Left?

Excerpt from Brad Abare, How Far Is Too Far?

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If the electricity went out, and your walls fell down, and your biggest givers died, what would you have left? Would you have a community of people still seeking after the heart of God? Would you still worship even without a band? Would you still be able to learn about God even though you can’t show a video or a PowerPoint slide? In other words, what you have when everything else goes away is what your church is really all about.

I recall the words of Brennan Manning in his book The Importance of Being Foolish:

Consider how our churches have explored and exploited our need to replace the numbness in our lives with a passion for something, anything. We’ve created worship in which music is meant to stir the emotions but the soul is left unmoved, in which the words spoken are little more than manipulations of the heart. We have created cathartic experiences filled with weeping and dancing in the Spirit that leaves us with the sense that we have touched God but that fail to give us the sense that God has touched us. We run to churches where the message feels good and where we feel energized and uplifted–but never challenged or convicted. “It is not surprising that spiritual experiences are mushrooming all over the place and have become highly sought-after commercial items,” writes Henri Nouwen. “Many people flock to places and persons who promise intensive experiences of togetherness, cathartic emotions of exhilaration and sweetness, and liberating sensations of rapture and ecstasy. In our desperate need for fulfillment and our restless search for the experience of divine intimacy, we are all too prone to construct our own spiritual events.”

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As We Forgive Those

Elisabeth Elliot Daily Devotional

A young minister leading a Bible study recently cited a reference in the Psalms to sin.

"I don't care what you say!" a middle-aged woman blurted out. "I'm not going to forgive my mother-in-law! What she did to me I could never forgive."

The minister had not mentioned forgiveness, or any specific sin, but the Word of God, sharper than any two-edged sword, had pierced the woman's heart. Her outburst was a dead giveaway of the resentment that smoldered beneath the surface.

A girl I'll call Sandra phoned several months ago to tell me that she had just been asked to be godmother to her friend Vicky's child. It was impossible, Sandra said, to consider such a thing since Vicky, once a close friend, had hurt her very deeply. The two couples had vacationed together and their friendship disintegrated over a series of trivial but unforgivable hurts. They had hardly seen each other since, and now here was Vicky expecting Sandra to be her child's godmother. What was Sandra to do?

"Forgive her," I said.

"Forgive her! But she isn't even sorry. I don't think she even remembers how she hurt me!"

Nevertheless, I told her, if it was her Christian duty she was asking me about, there was no question as to what it was.

"You mean I'm the one who has to make the move?"

"Do you expect God to forgive you for your sins?"

"Well, certainly."

"Then you must forgive Vicky."

"Is there someplace in the Bible that actually says that?"

"Remember the Lord's Prayer? 'Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.' That's followed by a pretty plain statement: 'If you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses."'

I could almost hear Sandra catch her breath on the telephone. There was a pause.

"I never thought of that. And I said that prayer just this morning. So . . . I can't expect to be forgiven unless I forgive?"

She didn't see how she could do that. I agreed most emphatically that she could not--not without God's grace. Everything in human nature goes against that idea. But the gospel is the message of reconciliation. Reconciliation not only to God, but to his purposes in the world, and to all our fellow human beings. We talked for a little while about the absolute necessity of forgiveness. It is a command. It is the road to restoration of ruptured friendships. It releases us from ourselves. I promised Sandra I would pray for the grace of God to work in her and in Vicky, and that she would be enabled freely and completely to forgive.

"But what if she still isn't sorry?"

"We don't pray, 'Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who ask us to.' We say 'as we forgive those who trespass against us.' It's not a matter of ignoring what's been done. When God forgives he doesn't merely overlook our trespasses. He doesn't ask us to overlook others' trespasses either--he asks us to forgive them. So that means our Christian obligation is to forgive anybody who has invaded our rights, our territory, our comfort, our self-image, whether they acknowledge the invasion or not."

A week later I learned that Sandra's and my prayers had been answered far beyond what either of us had had faith to expect. Not only did Sandra forgive, but Vicky even apologized, and the two were reconciled.

To forgive is to die. It is to give up one's right to self, which is precisely what Jesus requires of anyone who wants to be his disciple.

"If anyone wants to follow in my footsteps, he must give up all right to himself, carry his cross every day and keep close behind me. For the man who wants to save his life will lose it, but the man who loses his life for my sake will save it."

Following Christ means walking the road he walked, and in order to forgive us he had to die. His follower may not refuse to relinquish his own right, his own territory, his own comfort, or anything that he regards as his. Forgiveness is relinquishment. It is a laying down. No one can take it from us, any more than anyone could take the life of Jesus if he had not laid it down of his own will. But we can do as he did. We can offer it up, writing off whatever loss it may entail, in the sure knowledge that the man who loses his life or his reputation or his "face" or anything else for the sake of Christ will save it.

The woman who hates her mother-in-law is wallowing in offenses. Her resentment has grown and festered over twenty-seven years, and it is "fierce in proportion as it is futile," as John Oman wrote. Her bitterness, the minister tells me, has poisoned her own life and that of the church of which she is a member.

The Bible tells a story about a man who, being forgiven by the king a debt of millions of pounds, went immediately to one who owed him a few shillings, grabbed him by the throat and demanded payment. We react to a story like that. "Nobody acts like that!" we say, and then, grabbed, as it were, by the truth of the story ourselves, we realize, "Nobody but us!"

When Jesus, nailed to a Roman cross, prayed, "Father, forgive them," he wielded a weapon against which Caesar himself had no power. The helpless, dying Son of God, a picture of defeat, proclaimed the victory of Inexorable Love. Who can stand up to the force of forgiveness?

Several times people have come to me to confess bitterness which they have felt toward me about which I had known nothing at all. They knew I had known nothing. Were they then taking occasion to air a grievance which ought to have been a matter between them and God? Was this a pious method of expressing sinful feelings which they should have asked God to cleanse? The Bible does not tell us to go to one against whom we have a grievance. It tells us to go to one who has a grievance against us: "If you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift" (Matthew 5:2-24). We are commanded to forgive anyone who has trespassed. We are not told to call his attention to the offense. We are to ask the forgiveness of anyone against whom we have trespassed. This may be a long journey for us, geographically or emotionally and spiritually. But if we mean to be disciples of the Crucified we must make that journey and slay the dragon of self-interest. We thereby align ourselves with God, acting no longer independently of him or for our own "rights."

Those who bear the Cross must also bear others' burdens. This includes the burden of responsibility for sin as well as the sharing of suffering. What room can there possibly be for touchiness or a self-regarding fastidiousness in the true burden-bearer? Forgiveness is a clear-eyed and cool-headed acceptance of the burden of responsibility.

The life of St. Francis of Assisi exemplified his own profound understanding that "it is in pardoning that we are pardoned."

If we too intend to take up the Cross we commit ourselves to the same quality of life. Then we can with truthfulness sing

I take, O Cross, thy shadow for my abiding place.
I ask no other sunshine than the sunshine of thy face,
Content to let the world go by, to know no gain or loss,
My sinful self, my only shame; my glory all the Cross.

Revelation of God's Glory

Excerpt from Glorification: Conformed to Christ for the Supremacy of Christ by John Piper

Romans 8:28-30

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. ²⁹For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; ³⁰and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

Ponder with me one of the implications of the "for" ("because") at the beginning of verse 29. This word means that verse 29 and the following verses are a support, or an argument, or a foundation, or ground, or basis for the promise in verse 28. In other words, Paul writes verse 29 so that you will be more confident in the promise of verse 28. I promise you, God says, that all the hard things in your life will work together for your good, because I foreknew you and predestined you and called you and justified you and glorified you. So be strong and take risks and go to the hard places of need and show the world by your love that you trust God and his promises more than wealth or weapons of police or alarm systems or good neighborhoods or available medical care.

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Now here's the connection with Romans 8:29. Paul wants us to have faith in the promise of Romans 8:28 — that God will work all things for your good — so that we will be radical, risk-taking, loving, sacrificial, Christians with a wartime mentality. But he knows that faith is based not on raw authority of mere statements. It rises in response to the revelation of God's glory. This is why he does what he does in verses 29-30, he shows us some of the ways of God. He gives us a spectacular glimpse into the sovereign, saving work of God from eternity to eternity — from the foreknowing-foreloving-forechoosing of eternity past, to the final glorifying of his people in eternity future. Seeing the glorious work of God in Christ in verses 29 is not just incidental information; it is the revelation of who God is, how God acts, how God loves and saves and keeps. The point of it is to display the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in Christ. And to make our faith in the promise of Romans 8:28 something it could never be without it. So rivet your gaze on the glory of God in the acts of Romans 8:29-30.

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Growing

Excerpt from "Growing the Church", posted Jan 18 by Scott Aughtmon at Awaken2008

I’ve been thinking about something recently. When we talk about “growing the church” we’re usually talking about growing the number of people at a Sunday gathering.

It’s a good thing to desire more people to be a part of your church, but what if we changed what we meant by “growing the church?”

What if, instead of focusing on growing the number of people, we focused on growing the people (the church) that God has given us?

Isn’t that what Paul is telling us that a leader’s purpose is in Eph 4:11-12?

^“11It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, ¹²to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.” (NIV)

• I wonder how that would change our churches?
• I wonder how that would change what we do as pastors/leaders?
• I wonder how much our churches would still grow numerically as well as spiritually?

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Priorities

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

A HIGHER PRIORITY

Romans 8:14
For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God

Two significant events in my life brought into clear focus the priority of relationship over achievement. Before being called into the ministry, I worked as an aerospace engineer on the Apollo program. I will never forget the day the lunar lander touched down on the moon. This bold headline dominated the front page of the Minneapolis Star : "Neil Armstrong Lands on the Moon." It was an achievement I was proud to be part of.

But the really big news came months earlier on page 7 in the third section: "Heidi Jo Anderson, born to Mr. and Mrs. Neil Anderson, Northwestern Hospital, March 12, 1969." That may not sound like big news to you, but it was to her mother and me. Heidi totally took over my den and captured an entire shelf in the refrigerator. She altered our sleeping pattern and restricted our social calendar. But she was ours to hold, to hug and to care for.

What does God care about moon shots? They are deeds to be outdone. Somebody will always come along and do it better, faster and higher. What God cares about is little people like Heidi Jo Anderson because they will be with Him forever.

The second significant event in my life was receiving my first doctoral degree. But it turned out to be one of the most anticlimactic days of my life. I heard no applause from heaven, and I don't believe my achievement added so much as an asterisk to my name in the Lamb's Book of Life. I was a child of God before that day and I was still a child of God afterward.

But what happens in heaven when one sinner repents? Applause! Why? Because a relationship with God is eternal, while earthly achievements last only for time. Have you sacrificed the eternal to gain the temporal? Have you ignored personal and spiritual relationships in your pursuit of human achievements? Relationships must always have a higher priority than temporal achievements.

Prayer:

Lord, amidst the busyness of my schedule and clutter of my possessions, help me cherish and nurture my relationships today.

Unintentional Barriers

Excerpt from Dan Kimball's blog Vintage Faith talking about his upcoming weekend as part of the Rethink Conference:

I will be talking about the gospel and how Christian sub-culture and Christians can unintentionally create barriers for people hearing the gospel. Yes, I know that it is the Spirit of God who does all the convicting and drawing people to Jesus. But we do have our part, and often our part has been either staying in our non-missional Christian world and hanging out only with our Christian friends..... or it has been losing our witness by non-credible testimony and conforming too much to the world..... or that our approach to evangelism is not effective in our current culture and can even be detrimental. So I hope to give positive examples of churches across America who are seeing great fruit from their missional Spirit-empowered efforts.

Life

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

THE EFFECTS OF THE FALL

Romans 5:12
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned

Unfortunately, the idyllic setting in the Garden of Eden was shattered. Genesis 3 tells the sad story of Adam and Eve's lost relationship with God through sin. The effects of man's fall were dramatic, immediate and far-reaching, infecting every subsequent member of the human race.

What happened to Adam and Eve spiritually because of the Fall? They died. Their union with God was severed and they were separated from God. God had specifically said: "You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die" (Genesis 2:17 NIV ). They ate and they died.

Did they die physically? No. The process of physical death was set in motion, but they were alive physically for several hundred more years. They died spiritually; their souls were separated from God. They were banished from God's presence. They were cast out of the Garden of Eden and guarding the entrance were cherubim waving a flaming sword (Genesis 3:23, 24).

After Adam, everyone who comes into the world is born physically alive but spiritually dead, separated from God. Paul wrote, "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live" (Ephesians 2:1 NIV ).

How did Jesus remedy this problem? In two dramatic, life-changing ways. First, He died on the cross to cure the disease that caused us to die: sin. Romans 6:23 begins, "The wages of sin is death." Then He rose from the dead to give us spiritual life. The verse continues, "But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Jesus Himself said, "I came that they might have life" (John 10:10).

The bad news is that , as a child of Adam, you inherited spiritual death. But the eternally good news is that, as a child of God through faith in Christ, you will live forever because of the life He has provided for you.

Prayer:

Thank You, heavenly Father, for sending Jesus to die on the cross for my sins and then raising Him from the dead so I may have life.

Jonah Principle

Excerpt from The Gospel and Supremacy of Christ by Tim Keller in The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World, John Piper and Justin Taylor, General Editors.

"In Sinclair Ferguson's little book on Jonah he comments on the broken, humbled prophet who hears the second call to Nineveh and answers it. He says:

God intends to bring life out of death. We may well think of this as the principle behind all evangelism. Indeed we may even call it the Jonah principle, as Jesus seems to have done. ... [I]t is out of Christ's weakness that the sufficiency of his saving power will be born. ... [So] fruitful evangelism is a result of this death-producing principle. It is when we come to share spiritually -- and on occasions physically -- in Christ's death (cf. Phil. 3:10) that his power is demonstrated in our weakness and others are drawn to him. This is exactly what was happening to Jonah.

Totally Trustworthy

Christian Working Woman Transcript

Thursday, January 17, 2008 - The Fear of Trusting God

Why is it we can't easily let go and trust God? Well, between our three enemies, the world, the flesh and the devil, we get all kinds of conflicting signals. The world tells us to "do our own thing," "find ourselves," "do what feels good," "go for it!" The flesh says to us, "You deserve happiness and you have a right to run your life the way you want to." The devil says, "If you trust God, you most surely will be left to some terrible life. You'll be miserable and alone."

And we listen to these voices and fear takes over, and we're convinced that totally trusting God is too risky. It is meant only for those few people who somehow have the courage to go into "full time Christian service." And we decide that we can trust ourselves better than we can trust God.

Oh how foolish we are to allow the world to shove us into its mold, for it robs us of our trust in God, and that's the only place we'll ever find freedom and peace and relief from fear. It begins with a recognition of who God is, with a true understanding that He is much smarter than we are, that He cares about us and loves us and desires to give us good gifts. And that leads us to understand that the only sensible thing to do is to abandon ourselves to His care and trust Him completely in every area of our life.

God does not negotiate with us. We come His way–through the blood of Jesus Christ–or we don't come at all. He owes us no explanations, no pity, no reward for following Him and trusting Him. Rather, we owe everything to Him, and we come without reservations, if we come to Him.

But once you really comprehend how totally trustworthy God is, you will be glad to yield to His lordship. It takes the monkey off your back. You are no longer responsible for managing your own destiny. Someone far more qualified is now in charge–the God of all ages–and you can be absolutely sure that His plan for your life will be better than your own.

Post-Evangelical

Excerpt from Five Streams of the Emerging Church by Scot McKnight, ChristianityToday, 1/19/2007

A fourth stream flowing into the emerging lake is characterized by the term post-evangelical. The emerging movement is a protest against much of evangelicalism as currently practiced. It is post-evangelical in the way that neo-evangelicalism (in the 1950s) was post-fundamentalist. It would not be unfair to call it postmodern evangelicalism. This stream flows from the conviction that the church must always be reforming itself.

The vast majority of emerging Christians are evangelical theologically. But they are post-evangelical in at least two ways.

Post-systematic theology: The emerging movement tends to be suspicious of systematic theology. Why? Not because we don't read systematics, but because the diversity of theologies alarms us, no genuine consensus has been achieved, God didn't reveal a systematic theology but a storied narrative, and no language is capable of capturing the Absolute Truth who alone is God. Frankly, the emerging movement loves ideas and theology. It just doesn't have an airtight system or statement of faith. We believe the Great Tradition offers various ways for telling the truth about God's redemption in Christ, but we don't believe any one theology gets it absolutely right.

Hence, a trademark feature of the emerging movement is that we believe all theology will remain a conversation about the Truth who is God in Christ through the Spirit, and about God's story of redemption at work in the church. No systematic theology can be final. In this sense, the emerging movement is radically Reformed. It turns its chastened epistemology against itself, saying, "This is what I believe, but I could be wrong. What do you think? Let's talk."

...

Trust

Christian Working Woman Transcript

Wednesday, January 16, 2008 - The Fear of Trusting God

Do you believe that the God we Christians worship, the God of the Bible, is the only true God, that He has all power and authority, that He has all wisdom and knowledge, that He is holy and perfect and does not make mistakes? Certainly He is presented like this in Scripture, but what I'm asking you is, do you truly believe God is like that?

I think many of us give intellectual consent to the Bible's teaching about God, but that belief has never become a gripping reality in our everyday lives.

If you are convinced that God's character, power and personality are as stated, the next important issue to understand is how this God feels about you and me. After all, we are but specs in this great mass of humanity. Do we make any difference to God?

Let me just remind you of a few Scriptures which tell us how God feels about us. Matthew 10:30 tells us, ...the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Every time you brush your hair and see the hairs in your brush or on the floor, you should be reminded that God has just recomputed all those lost hairs, and He's keeping a running total at all times! Who else would care how many hairs are on your head? We read that He cares about worthless, colorless sparrows and knows each one that falls to the ground. Can you not believe God also cares even much more about you?

We read in Zephaniah 3:17: The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing. Did you know that God delights in you and sings over you? Isn't that incredible?

There are many passages in the Bible that tell us clearly that the God of all the universe cares about each of us individually, knows us intimately, and wants for us only His highest and best. His plans for us are good plans.

Now, if you're with me this far–if you believe that God has all power, wisdom, knowledge and authority, and in addition, He loves you and cares about your good–here's the next logical conclusion that those two principles and beliefs lead to: God’s plans for us are always superior to any other plans.

You can trust Him and His plans for your life without any hesitation. Not only can you trust Him, but it is the only logical thing to do. Why would you want to trust anyone less–even yourself? If your trust is in anyone besides God, you're settling for so much less than is necessary.

If you're afraid to trust God, as so many are, then something must be wrong in either your understanding of who God is or how He feels about you. Or else your belief is only in words, not reality.

New Birth

Excerpt from Born Again Through the Living and Abiding Word by John Piper

...

One of the unsettling things about the new birth, which Jesus says we all must experience in order to see the kingdom of God (John 3:3), is that we don’t control it. We don’t decide to make it happen any more than a baby decides to make his birth happen. Or more accurately: We don’t decide to make it happen any more than dead men decide to give themselves life. The reason we need to be born again is that we are dead in our trespasses and sins. That’s why we need new birth, and that’s why we can’t make it happen. This is one reason why we speak of the sovereign grace of God. Or better: This is one reason why we love the sovereign grace of God.

Our condition before the new birth is that we treasure sin and self-exaltation so much that that we cannot treasure Christ supremely. In other words, we are so rebellious at the root of our fallen human nature that we can’t find it in ourselves to humbly see and savor Jesus Christ above all things. And we are guilty for this. This is real evil in us. We are blameworthy for this spiritual hardness and deadness. Our consciences do not excuse us that we are so resistant to Christ we can’t see him as supremely attractive.

Something has to happen to us. Jesus said we must be born again (John 3:3). The Holy Spirit has to work a miracle in our hearts and give us new spiritual life. We were dead and we need to be made alive. We need ears that can hear truth as supremely desirable, and we need eyes than see Christ and his way of salvation as supremely beautiful. We need hearts that are soft and receptive to the word of God. In short, we need new life. We need to be born again.

...

... Now we are turning to the third question: How are we born again? or What is the way we are born again? Here I am asking the question from God’s side and from our side. What is the way God does it? And what is the way we do it? How does God regenerate us? How do we take part in it?

You might think I would say that we don’t take part in it, because we are spiritually dead. But the dead do take part in their resurrection. Here is an example of what I mean. When Jesus stood before the grave of Lazarus who had been dead for four days, Lazarus had no part in imparting his new life. He was dead. Jesus, not Lazarus, created the new life. In John 11:43, Jesus says to the dead Lazarus, “Lazarus, come out.” And the next verse says, “The man who had died came out.” So Lazarus takes part in this resurrection. He comes out. Christ causes it. Lazarus does it. Christ brings about the resurrection. Lazarus acts out the resurrection. The instant Christ commands Lazarus to rise, Lazarus does the rising. The instant God gives new life, we do the living.

...

Identity

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

OUR ESSENTIAL IDENTITY

Genesis 1:26
Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness"

Adam was created physically and spiritually alive. He possessed eternal life from his first breath and enjoyed God's abiding presence in the Garden of Eden.

Furthermore, unlike the animal kingdom that operated by divine instinct, Adam was created in the likeness of God with a mind, emotions and will, giving him the ability to think, feel and choose. No other created being can make that claim.

After creating Adam, God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone" (Genesis 2:18). So He created a suitable helper for him: Eve. They both enjoyed a sense of belonging to God and each other. Not only that, God gave them a purpose: to "rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth" (Genesis 1:26). Adam and Eve didn't have to search for significance; they had it in their relationship with God. And because God was present with them, they lived in perpetual safety and security.

Eternal life, identity, purpose, significance, security and a sense of belonging are all attributes of mankind created in the image of God. Adam and Eve experienced these attributes in full measure, and we were destined to enjoy them too. But when Adam sinned, he died spiritually and forfeited everything God had provided. Being separated from God, Adam's glowing attributes became glaring needs.

As children of Adam born separated from God, we come into the world with these same glaring needs. We wander though life striving to make a name of ourselves, looking for security in temporal things, and searching for significance apart from God. Is it a hopeless quest? No! We are able to fulfill these needs by establishing a personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. Everything Adam enjoyed in the garden before he sinned is now at our disposal.

Prayer:

Loving heavenly Father, thank You for sending Jesus to die for my sin so I may have eternal life. And thank You that in Christ my need for identity, significance, security and a sense of belonging can be met.

Decisive Keeper

Excerpt from Learning to Pray in the Spirit and the Word, Part 1 by John Piper

[Jude]

...

Over and over in the Bible we see this: God's action is decisive; our action is dependent. And both actions are essential. So I urge you again to resist the mindset that cynically says, "If God is the decisive keeper of my soul for eternal life (verses 1, 24), then I don't need to 'keep myself in the love of God'" (verse 20). That would be like saying, since God is the decisive giver of life, then I don't need to breathe.

No. No. Breathing is the means that God uses to sustain life. So the command to breathe is the command to fall in with the purposes and patterns of God to give and sustain life. This is what I mean by the term, "means of grace." "Grace" is the free keeping-work of God to sustain our spiritual life that leads to everlasting joy. The "means of grace" is our "keeping ourselves in the love of God." God's "keeping" inspires and sustains our "keeping." His keeping is decisive and our keeping is dependent on his.

Trust

The Christian Working Woman Transcript

Monday, January 14, 2008 - The Fear of Trusting God

What do you think is the underlying predominant reason that so many Christians today are not living victorious lives, are not effective for Jesus Christ? Why are so many of us consumed with fear and anxiety, with doubt and despair? Think about it for a minute.

As I look back over my life, and observe many others, I've come to this conclusion: The basic problem we Christians have is that we're afraid to trust God. Oh, true, we've accepted Christ and His salvation, but to trust God with every aspect of our lives strikes fear in our hearts. And because of this, we never know the triumphant joy-filled life God has intended for us.

For ten years in my own life, I fought the Lordship of Jesus Christ, ran my own show, and wasted precious opportunities for God because I was consumed by this fear of trusting God. Oh, I didn't recognize it for that at the time, but later I realized that underneath my rebellion against God's control in my life was a basic fear that I couldn't trust Him.

I am more and more convinced that many Christians are right where I was: Scared to death to really totally trust God. We hang on to the controls of our lives as if to say that we think we can engineer the circumstances and events of our lives better than God can.

What I finally had to face was that my fear of trusting God was a result of my misconceptions of God's character and nature and of His intentions and motivation. I was operating under the fear that God would punish me for past failures by depriving me of future happiness, and I was afraid He would direct me in paths that I did not want to take!

I've also come to understand that fear of trusting God is simply sin–the sin of unbelief. There really is no greater sin against the Holy God than to treat Him as though He cannot be trusted.

Through various events God began to break through to me. And in the years since, I've begun to learn to trust God. What changes! What a transformation has occurred in my life.

I look back and say, "Why did I not trust Him sooner?"

Examples

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

CHILDREN NEED MODELS

Luke 6:40
A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher

Your children need to see how you handle failure even more than how you handle success. If you make a mistake, you need to own up to it and ask forgiveness if the situation calls for it. If you don't model how to deal with your own fleshly responses, how are they going to learn how to own up to their mistakes and resolve them biblically?

One Sunday morning my daughter wasn't ready when I wanted to leave for church. I fumed about it until I exploded with anger. After the service I was about to say grace before a meal when I felt the convicting hand of God weighing heavily upon me. I stopped and asked my family to forgive me for my outburst of anger. I didn't confess my daughter's tardiness because it wasn't my responsibility. Nor did I ask their forgiveness in hopes that my daughter would own up to her tardiness. I asked their forgiveness because my outburst of anger was a deed of the flesh. I had to ask forgiveness to be right with God myself.

You never lose esteem in your child's eyes when you do what God requires you to do. You gain esteem because you are an honest person, and in the process you are modeling what they need to do when they blow it. Children need models, not critics. Modeling is what establishes our credibility to "bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4).

Prayer:

Lord, help me model a life of obedience and honesty before my children and others who look to me as an example. And when I fail, give me grace to admit my mistakes and resolve my conflicts.

Glory

Excerpt from All Things Are From God, Through God and To God. The Glory Is All His. by John Piper

...
And in response to all this revelation of the ways and judgments of God, Paul breaks into explicit wonder and praise in Romans 11:33-36:

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! 34 ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?’ 35 ‘Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?’ 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”

This is where God wants us to be when we have heard Romans 1-11. Amazed at mercy, and worshipping God through Jesus Christ. This is the response that will make us able to live out the practical moral demands of Romans 12-15.

Morality in the Christian life is not simply the willpower to do right things, because God has the authority to command them. Christian morality is the overflow of worshipping the sovereign, merciful God. Christian life is the fruit of a mind and heart transformed by seeing and savoring the all-sufficiency and sovereignty and mercy of God revealed in Jesus Christ. That will become plain as soon as we turn to chapter 12.

...

Do you love the thought that you exist to make God look glorious? Do you love the thought that all creation exists to display the glory of God? Do you love the truth that all of history is designed by God to one day be a completed canvas that displays in the best way possible the greatness and beauty of God? Do you love the fact that Jesus Christ came into the world to vindicate the righteousness of God and repair the injury that we had done to the reputation of the glory of God? Do you love the truth you personally exist to make God look like what he really is—glorious? I ask again: Do you love the fact that your salvation is meant to put the glory of God’s grace on display? Do you love seeing and showing the glory of God?

This is why God created the universe. This is why he ordained history. This is why he sent his Son. This is why you exist. Forever to see and savor and show the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. The question at the end of Romans 1-11 is. Do you embrace this calling as your treasure and your joy?

Walk by the Spirit

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

SPRING-LOADED TOWARD THE SPIRIT

Galatians 5:16
Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh

When we first became Christians, we were like one-third horsepower lawn mower engines. We could accomplish something, but not very much because we weren't very mature. Our ambition as Christians is to become engines that can power earth-moving machinery--real powerhouses for the Lord. But neither a lawn mower nor a bulldozer can accomplish anything without gas. And neither can we accomplish anything apart from Christ (John 15:5). No matter how mature you are, you can never be productive unless you are walking in the Spirit.

When it comes to the choice between walking according to the flesh and walking according to the Spirit, our will is like a toggle switch. The new Christian's will seems to be spring-loaded toward fleshly behavior. He is still the unwitting victim of a thoroughly trained flesh which only knows how to operate independently of God. The mature Christian's will is spring-loaded toward the Spirit. He makes occasional poor choices, but he is learning to crucify the flesh and walk in the Spirit on a daily basis.

If you re hoping for a magic formula or a list of foolproof steps for walking in the Spirit, you will be disappointed. The moment you reduce the Spirit-filled walk to a formula or an intellectual exercise, you probably won't be Spirit-filled anymore.

The Holy Spirit is a "He," not an "it." Our walk with God is a personal experience, not a mechanical or legalistic formula. We see the immorality of fleshly indulgence everywhere, but simply preaching against it and telling people to shape up is not God's answer. The law is powerless to give life (Galatians 3:21). Reintroducing the law to believers won't work. But if we learn to walk by the Spirit, we won't carry out the desires of the flesh. Let's encourage others to do the same.

Prayer:

Lord, I desire to be patient with others in their walk of faith as You are patient with me. Help me have a gracious response and a gentle answer to others today.

Sharing the Good News

Beginning of post in New Wineskins

Rethinking Evangelism by Michael Gose
January - February, 2008

“Evangel” means “bringing good news” but being “evangelistic” often seems more like recruiting for a fraternity or sorority rush.

The clock is ticking and you must persuade your neighbors to join your organization. After rush week, presumably, you need not concern yourself with anyone who has not taken the opportunity to pledge. The decision time to join has passed. Time to start working on new people for next year’s pledge class.

My perception that we evangelists sometimes confuse sharing the good news and “rushing” potential recruits is based on personal experiences. Here’s one example.

A very good friend of mine once asked me about the agenda Christians have. He had had a Christian couple in his neighborhood who seemed to enjoy his company, and they visited regularly to see him at his house. He enjoyed their visits and looked forward to them. Thus he was dismayed when these visits suddenly ended.

My friend had the strong impression the visits had stopped because he had not joined their church. I believe that this was probably the case. If so, there’s something quite wrong with that scenario, and I have a strong suspicion that his experience is not all that uncommon. Doesn’t this sudden lack of interest in him suggest that my friend was seen as only a “means” (increased church membership) instead of an “ends” (someone to be valued regardless of their decisions about joining up)? If so, how truly Christian does this seem?

...

Salvation is of the Lord

Excerpt from Tim Keller, The Gospel and the Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World in The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World, John Piper and Justin Taylor, general editors.

"When God called Jonah to go to Nineveh the first time, Jonah ran in the other direction. Why? The reader assumes it was just fear, but chapter 4 reveals that there was also a lot of hostility in Jonah toward the Assyrians and Ninevites. I believe the reason he did not have pity on them was that he did not sufficiently realize that he was nothing but a sinner saved by sheer grace. So he ran away from God -- and you know the rest of the story. He was cast into the deep and saved by God from drowning by being swallowed by a great fish. In the second chapter we see Jonah praying, and his prayer ends with the phrase "Salvation is of the Lord!" (2:9). My teacher Ed Clowney used to say that this was the central verse of the Bible. It is an expression of the gospel. Salvation is from and of the Lord and no one else. Period."

His Power

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

OUR DYNAMIC POWER SOURCE

Ephesians 1:19
. . . the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might . . .

In Ephesians 1:19-21, Paul gives us a peek at the dynamic source of our authority in Christ. He explains that the authority at our disposal flows from the reservoir of power which raised Jesus Christ from the dead and seated Him at the Father's right hand. That power source is so dynamic that Paul used four different Greek words in verse 19 to describe it: power (dunameos), working (energeian), strength (kratous), and might (ischuos) . Behind the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ lies the mightiest work of power recorded in the Word of God. And the same power which raised Christ from the dead and defeated Satan is the power available to us to overcome the works of Satan in our daily lives.

Paul opens our eyes to the expansive scope of Christ's authority which is "far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come" (Ephesians 1:21). Think about the most powerful and influential political or military leaders in the world. Imagine the most feared terrorists, crime kingpins and drug barons. Think about Satan and all the power of darkness marshaled under his command. Jesus' authority is not only above all these human and spiritual authorities past, present and future, but He is far above them. We share the same position because we are seated with Christ in the heavenlies, which enable us to live in freedom and victory over demonic intrusion and influence.

Don't be deceived. You are not under Satan's power or subject to his authority. You are in Christ above all demonic rule, authority and power.

Prayer:

Reigning with You, Lord--what a liberating thought! I praise You today for the power You share with me.

Our Feet in the Basin

He poured water into a bowl and began to wash the followers' feet.
John 13:5

"To place our feet in the basin of Jesus is to place the filthiest parts of our lives into his hands. ... He will wash the grimiest part of your life. If you let him. The water of the Servant comes only when we confess that we are dirty. ... And we will never be able to wash the feet of those who have hurt us until we allow Jesus, the one we have hurt, to wash ours."

Excerpt from "A Gentle Thunder" by Max Lucado in Grace for the Moment Inspirational Thoughts for Each Day of the Year.

Go To Them

"What is Missional? A Short Answer" by Rick Meigs at Friend of Missional

"Jesus told us to go into all the world and be his ambassadors, but many churches today have inadvertently changed the "go and be" command to a "come and see" appeal. We have grown attached to buildings, programs, staff and a wide variety of goods and services designed to attract and entertain people.

"Missional is a helpful term used to describe what happens when you and I replace the "come to us" invitations with a "go to them" life. A life where "the way of Jesus" informs and radically transforms our existence to one wholly focused on sacrificially living for him and others and where we adopt a missionary stance in relation to our culture. It speaks of the very nature of the Jesus follower."

---Rick Meigs

A Workplace Encourager

The Christian Working Woman Transcript

Monday, January 07, 2008 - Becoming a Workplace Encourager

I wonder, have you noticed that most working environments are flooded with discouragement? As Christians, we are called to be encouragers. Isaiah 35:3-4 tells us to Encourage the exhausted and strengthen the feeble. Say to those with anxious heart, Take courage, fear not. In 1 Thessalonians 5:11 we are told: Therefore encourage one another and build up one another...

I’ve come across a wonderful booklet called “Pass-Along Promises: Inspiration for the Workplace.” It’s a very helpful tool that can teach us to pass along some inspiration to our coworkers; to become very intentional about becoming a workplace encourager. In this booklet are 46 tear-out cards, very beautifully designed, each with a different message. So, you can choose the appropriate card for a coworker, and pass it along to that person in order to encourage her or him.

We’ve been able to purchase a quantity of these booklets, and I want to send one to you–but there’s a catch! No, you don’t have to pay for it, but I would ask you to promise that you will give away five cards every week. It should take you about six to seven weeks to give them all away. Obviously I won’t be able to check up on you, but I will trust that if you request this booklet, you are agreeing to give away these cards–five per week for the next six weeks.

Each day this week I am going to give you some examples of the cards and how you can use them. Each card has a quote or saying on one side, and a coordinating scripture verse on the other. One says “God created a marvelous, incredibly detailed work in you, and He’ll help you discover what to do with it.” The verse on the other side is Psalm 139:14: I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful. I know that full well.

If you work with someone who is struggling with their significance, or who is feeling under-valued and unappreciated, don’t you think this card would brighten their day? You would need to pray for the right opening and the best way to present the card, but that means we’d be praying more for our coworkers. What an idea! At lunch you might say, “I know what it’s like to have bad days–or even bad weeks!–when everything seems dark. I thought of you when I read this card, and thought it might cheer you up.” You could even add that you’re praying for that person, if appropriate and if true.

I have a vision of hundreds of you becoming intentional about passing along encouragement where you work through the use of these cards, and watching how God will use it to improve relationships and change environments. God’s Word never returns void, so I challenge you to become a workplace encourager. If you’re willing to give it an honest effort, then contact us today for your copy of this helpful booklet, “Pass-Along Promises.”

Who You Are

Daily in Christ by Neil Anderson

UNDERSTANDING WHO YOU ARE

Romans 8:14

For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God

I enjoy asking people, "Who are you?" It sounds like a simple question requiring a simple answer, but it really isn't. For example, if someone asked me, "Who are you?" I might answer, "Neil Anderson."

"No, that's your name. Who are you?"

"I'm an American."

"No, that's where you live."

I could also say that I'm five feet nine inches tall and a little over 150 pounds--actually quite a little over 150 pounds! But my physical dimensions and appearance aren't me either. If you chopped off my arms and legs, would I still be me? If you transplanted my heart, kidneys or liver, would I still be me? Of course! Now if you keep chopping, you'll get to me eventually because I'm in here somewhere. But who I am is far more than what you see on the outside.

We may say with the apostle Paul that we "recognize no man according to the flesh." But we tend to identify ourselves and each other primarily by physical appearance (tall, short, stocky, slender) or by what we do (plumber, carpenter, nurse, engineer, clerk). Furthermore, when asked to identify ourselves in relation to our faith, we usually talk about our doctrinal position (Protestant, evangelical, Calvinist, charismatic), our denominational preference (Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Independent), or our role in the church (Sunday school teacher, choir member, deacon, usher).

But is who you are determined by what you do, or is what you do determined by who you are? That's an important question, especially as it relates to Christian maturity. I subscribe to the latter. I believe wholeheartedly that your hope for growth, meaning and fulfillment as a Christian is based on understanding who you are--specifically your identity in Christ as a child of God. Your understanding of who you are in Christ will greatly determine how you live your life.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, I know I am complete in You. Don't allow me to fall back into fleshly attributes today in an attempt to impress others or You.

We Want a Spiritual Body

DesiringGod Blog Post by John Piper on 1/4/08

James Henley Thornwell, the Southern Presbyterian theologian who died in 1862, got somethings very wrong, like slavery. But this he got right and it is amazingly up to date:

Our whole system of operations gives an undue influence to money. Where money is the great want, numbers must be sought; and where an ambition for numbers prevails, doctrinal purity must be sacrificed. The root of the evil is the secular spirit of our ecclesiastical institutions. What we want is a spiritual body; a Church whose power lies in the truth, and the presence of the Holy Ghost. (B. M. Palmer, Life and Letters of J. H. Thornwell, p. 291).

Maturity

Excerpt from So Many Christian Infants by Gordon MacDonald | Out of Ur

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I have concluded that our branch of the Christian movement (sometimes called Evangelical) is pretty good at wooing people across the line into faith in Jesus. And we’re also not bad at helping new-believers become acquainted with the rudiments of a life of faith: devotional exercise, church involvement, and basic Bible information—something you could call Christian infancy.

But what our tradition lacks of late—my opinion anyway—is knowing how to prod and poke people past the “infancy” and into Christian maturity.

A definition of a mature Christian is lacking. Best to say that you know a mature Christian when you see one. They’re in the New Testament. Barnabas is one. Aquila and Priscilla are others. Onesiphorous impresses me. And so is the mother of Rufus of whom Paul said, “she has been a mother to me.” That’s a short list.

The marks of maturity? Self-sustaining in spiritual devotions. Wise in human relationships. Humble and serving. Comfortable and functional in the everyday world where people of faith can be in short supply. Substantial in conversation; prudent in acquisition; respectful in conflict; faithful in commitments.

Take a few minutes and ask how many people you know who would fit such a description. How many? Apparently, Paul, pondered the question when he thought about Corinthian Christians and said, “I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ.”

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Goals

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

BLOCKED GOALS

Ephesians 5:9
The fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth

One morning I rose early, had my devotions and started making a special breakfast for my family. I was stirring the muffin mix, singing and feeling great when my sleepy-eyed son, Karl, wandered into the kitchen. He grabbed a box of cereal and an empty bowl and headed for the table.

"Hey, Karl, just a second. We're not having cereal this morning. We're going to sit around the table together and have a big breakfast with muffins."

"I don't like muffins, Dad," he mumbled, opening the cereal box.

"Wait, Karl,: I insisted, starting to get annoyed. "We're going to sit around the table together and have a big breakfast with muffins."

"But I don't like muffins, Dad," he repeated.

I lost it . "Karl, we're going to sit around the table together and have a big breakfast with muffins!" I barked. Karl closed the cereal box, threw it in the cupboard, and stomped back to his room. My great idea had suddenly turned to shambles. I had to spend the next several minutes apologizing to Karl for my outburst.

Like me, I'm sure you have suffered your share of blocked goals. You had this great plan to do something wonderful for God, your church, your family, or a friend. Then your plan was thrown into disarray by hectic daily events over which you had no control. You didn't get your way at the board meeting. Your child decided to be the lead guitarist in a rock band instead of becoming a doctor like you planned.

When you base your life on the success of plans that are subject to people and circumstances, your life will be one long, emotional roller coaster ride. And the only way to get off the roller coaster is to walk by faith according to the truth of God's Word. Who you are must not be dependent on the cooperation of others or favorable circumstances. Decide to become the spouse, parent, leader or worker God wants you to be. No one can block that goal except you.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, show me today where I have allowed people or circumstances, instead of You, to determine what You want me to be.

Passionately

Excerpt from Boiling for Christ by John Piper

Romans 12:11

Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.

Now, at last, we go back to verse 11. We have been pondering verse 12 for a long time: “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” I tried to show that Christ has come into the world of sin and sickness and Satan and sabotage and taken all this on himself and died to deliver us from it partly now and completely at the resurrection. This is the foundation of our hope. In this we rejoice. In this joy we endure tribulation. With this endurance we love when it is hard to love, and with this love we glorify God.

Then we posed the question: if hope is that foundational to all of Christian life, how do you waken and sustain hope? We answered: “Be constant in prayer” (Ephesians 1:18) and meditate on the Scriptures (Romans 15:4). Now we go back to verse 11, and we will find that these two strategies of spiritual warfare are foundational for this verse as well. Verse 11 says, “Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit,serve the Lord.” He has already struck this note once in this chapter. Remember verse 8: “Let the one who leads, lead with zeal.” Now he says to all of us: “Don’t be slothful in zeal.”

So one way to think of the relationship between the command to rejoice and endure and pray in verse 12 and the commands in verse 11 is that verse 11 simply says: Do it all passionately. Verse 11 gives intensity and focus. The intensity is: Not slothful but fervent. And the focus is the Lord, Jesus Christ. Let it all be in service of him.

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Pursuit

Heartlight Daily Verse by Phil Ware

Titus 2:11-12
The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age.

Thoughts on today's verse

In a world that has no absolutes, in a world in search of moral standards, salvation by the costly grace of God beckons us to change our lifestyle in response to God's grace. Anyone who receives grace and refuses to pursue righteousness demonstrates his/her ignorance or hardness of heart. In our day, in our time, to be saved means to pursue righteousness -- not so that we may earn our salvation, but so that God's saving grace will not be fruitless in us.

Prayer:

Holy Father, I confess that I live in a confusing time. Satan is always distorting the distinction between right and wrong, good and evil, moral and immoral. Because you have been so gracious with me, may my life today reflect the righteousness you gave me through Jesus. "May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart, be pleasing in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer." Through Jesus, my atoning sacrifice I pray. Amen.

Gathered To Be Sent

Excerpt from The Temple of God by Joshua Graves at New Wineskins

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We are gathered to be sent. We come to our sacred gathering as an actor comes to rehearsal. We receive our script (the Gospel) and we return back into the unfolding drama to play our parts as actors who represent the more excellent way of Lord Jesus.

N.T. Wright points to this truth in a story about a Mozart music mystery.

One day, rummaging through a dusty old attic in a small Austrian town, a collector comes across a faded manuscript containing many pages of music. It is written for the piano. Curious, he takes it to a dealer. The dealer phones a friend, who appears half an hour later. When he sees the music he becomes excited, then puzzled. This looks like the handwriting of Mozart himself, but it isn’t a well-known piece. In fact, he’s never heard it. More phone calls. More excitement. More consultations. It really does seem to be Mozart. And, though some parts seem distantly familiar, it doesn’t correspond to anything already known in his works.

. . . What they are looking as it is indeed by Mozart. It is indeed beautiful. But it’s the piano part of a piece that involves another instrument, or perhaps other instruments. By itself it is frustratingly incomplete. A further search of the attic reveals nothing else that would provide a clue. The piano music is all there is, a signpost to something that was there once and might still turn up one day. (~ N.T. Wright, Simply Christian, pg. 39-40.)

We live under the guise of an urban myth. This myth convinces Christians that God is most interested in church attendance. The myth needs to be slain and exposed for being what it is: a counterfeit impostor of God’s message to God’s people.

Christians are not pew-sitters. Christians have been empowered to continue to live out God’s story, a story that is incomplete actors to practice spirit-filled improvisation. A story that begs improv actors, men and women courageous to imagine what Christianity might look like in our complex world today.

While many run from poverty, immigration, AIDS, the homosexual community, and debt relief—the church runs towards them all. It is a dangerous mission to be sure. But it is the mission to which God has called us. In our baptism, he calls us to a life of search-and-rescue.

To paraphrase Annie Dillard, “Anyone who wants to follow Jesus must wear a helmet.” Maybe, next Sunday, all of us who wear the name Christian should show up to church with our fatigues and helmets! Then we might remember that we are not going to church, for we are the church.

Each time we gather, we do so with full knowledge that we are being sent.

I Can Do Nothing

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

APART FROM CHRIST I CAN DO NOTHING

John 15:5
I am the vine, you are the branches . . . apart form Me you can do nothing

Add the following statements of doctrinal affirmation to those you began reading yesterday. Allow the truth of God's Word to saturate your heart and guide your steps in the coming year.

I believe that Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18), and that He is the head over all rule and authority (Colossians 2:10). I believe that Satan and his demons are subject to me in Christ because I am a member of Christ's body (Ephesians 1:19-23). I therefore obey the command to resist the devil (James 47), and I command him in the name of Christ to leave my presence.

I believe that apart form Christ I can do nothing (John 15:5), so I declare my dependence on Him. I choose to abide in Christ in order to bear much fruit and glorify the Lord (John 15:8). I announce to Satan that Jesus is my Lord (1corinthians 12:3), and I reject any counterfeit gifts or works of Satan in my life.

I believe that the truth will set me free (John 8:32), and that walking in the light is the only path of fellowship (1 John1::7). Therefore, I stand against Satan's deception by taking every thought captive in obedience to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). I declare that the Bible is the only authoritative standard (2 Timothy 3:15-17). I choose to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).

I choose to present my body as an instrument of righteousness, a living and holy sacrifice, and I renew my mind by the living Word of God in order that I may prove that the will of God is good, acceptable and perfect (Romans 6:13; 12:1, 2).

Prayer:

Father God, I affirm that my life and sustenance come from You, and apart from You I can do nothing.

We Have to Decide What to Do

"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.

"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

Intentionally Conveying a Message to God

Excerpt from Pray Like This: Hallowed Be Your Name by John Piper

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By prayer, I mean intentionally conveying a message to God. It’s frustrating—isn’t it?—how unclear language can be if we are not careful. Why do I say “intentionally conveying a message to God? Why don’t I just say that prayer is talking to God? Well, because Romans 8:26 says, “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” I take this to mean that there are groans of our hearts that the Spirit inspires that are sometimes wordless. So prayer us usually talking to God, but there are times when you can’t talk and can still pray, that is, convey a message to God.
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So I chose the words: Prayer is intentionally conveying a message to God. And that prayer can be at least five different kinds of message:

• You can ask for something—this is the most basic meaning of prayer, and God delights for his children to ask him for help. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7).
• You can praise him or marvel at him or give expression to your adoration of him. “Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable” (Psalm 145:2-3).
• You can thank him for his gifts and his acts (which is not the same as praising him for his nature). “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign” (Revelation 11:17).
• You can confess your sins and tell the Lord that you are sorry. “I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin” (Psalm 32:5).
• And finally, you can complain to the Lord. “With my voice I cry out to the Lord. . . . I pour out my complaint before him; I tell my trouble before him” (Psalm 142:1-2). Now here, again, language frustrates. So are you saying, Pastor John, that it is good to have a complaining heart toward God? No. Philippians 2:14: “Do all things without grumbling or questioning.” It’s not good to have a complaining heart. The heart should trust God in all his sweet and bitter providences. So why then do you say we should complain to the Lord? Because sometimes our hearts do complain about the circumstances God has given us, even though our hearts shouldn’t do this, and it is better to consciously direct it toward the Lord than to think he doesn’t see it. Acting like you are not complaining is hypocrisy and will make you a very phony, shallow, plastic person in the end.

So prayer is intentionally conveying a message to God. And that message may be asking for something, praising God for something about him, thanking him for some gift, confessing your sins to him, or complaining to him.

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