Irrepressibly Present and Irresistibly Beautiful

Scotty Smith:  A Prayer for the Power of Grace to Be Unleashed

     All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all. Acts 4:32-33

     Dear Jesus, why not now and why not us? As I read these words, “God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all”, I get a holy hunger and insatiable thirst for you to do this same work again in my heart and our church family. In our day and in this hour, bring the power of your resurrection to bear so we, even us, will be “one in heart and mind.” What more could we want? Why would we settle for anything less?
      Come with humbling and gladdening muscle. Come with reinvigorating and transforming power. Come with freedom-inducing and generosity-generating influence. Simply come, and make yourself large and beautiful in our midst, Lord Jesus. That’s all we need. That’s all we really need.
     I praise you for memories that make this scene in Acts jump off the page at me with great encouragement and blessed anticipation. For I’ve seen what you can do in the hearts of proud men and women, like me. I’ve experienced the outpouring of your Spirit on dry and barren worshippers. I’ve watched as you’ve rescued congregations, like ours, from seasons of cold hearts, theological arrogance, broken relationships and ingrown navel-gazing. Do it again, Lord, for your name sake and your glory.  We don’t care who gets the credit, Jesus, just make yourself irrepressibly present and irresistibly beautiful in our midst.
     This is no unrealized ideal, for I’ve personally seen believers “share everything they have”—homes, hearts, time and talents. I’ve lived in seasons when people were being converted left and right; when healings, of all varieties, were anticipated and experienced; when gossip gave way to praise, bitterness gave way to reconciliation, cynicism gave way to hope; when harsh criticism got trumped by gospel affirmation; when the leaders were the chief repenters and the gospel pace-setters. Do it again, Jesus, do it again soon. So very Amen, we pray with anticipation, in your powerful and praise-worthy name.

Seeking Distinction and Singularity

Excerpts from Kevin DeYoung post:  True Boldness for Christ

Here’s a paragraph from Jonathan Edwards that I’ve been reading and rereading. ... Let me give you the paragraph and then make a couple comments:

There is a pretended boldness for Christ that arises from no better principle than pride. A man may be forward to expose himself to the dislike of the world, and even to provoke their displeasure, out of pride. For ’tis the nature of spiritual pride to cause men to seek distinction and singularity; and so oftentimes to set themselves at war with those that they call carnal, that they may be more highly exalted among their party. True boldness for Christ is universal and overcomes all, and carries ‘em above the displeasure of friends and foes; so that they will forsake all rather than Christ and will rather offend all parties, and be thought meanly of by all, than offend Christ. And that duty tries whether a man is willing to be despised by them that are of his own party, and thought the least worthy to be regarded by them, is a much more proper trial of his boldness for Christ, than his being forward to expose himself to the reproach of opposers. (Religious Affections, 352)

I have two comments.

1. ... It takes some courage to say something you know will be unpopular. It takes extraordinary courage to say something you know will be unpopular with those you respect most and those who like you best.

... Opposing the opposers is one thing. Being bold for Christ when it might alienate your friends is a whole other level of courage. We are all tempted to play to our crowd, which is why we must constantly test everything against God’s word.

2. Meditate on this line: “For ’tis the nature of spiritual pride to cause men to seek distinction and singularity.” I believe this diagnoses one major source of our trouble in the evangelical church. The desire for singularity fuels doctrinal deviation. People want to say something new. In our hipster age, many Christians are wary of any labels. They don’t want to be a part of a movement. They want off the bandwagon if people are jumping on it. They don’t want to agree with what’s already been said. They don’t want to be mainstream.

This is a problem for liberals who are tempted to jettison core doctrines in an effort to distance themselves from their evangelical roots. This is also a problem for conservatives who are tempted to splinter themselves into smaller and smaller groups so they can have the distinction of being the true whatever. Of course, some parts of heritage should be abandoned and some circle-drawing is necessary. But Edwards’ line is a good warning for all of us. It’s all too easy to despise a popular teacher because everyone else likes him, or to get jaded against a particular movement because it’s becoming an institution, or stumble into bad doctrine, or fixate on less important doctrines because all these things give us room for distinction and singularity.

True boldness in Christ champions the truth and walks in the truth, no matter if everyone–or anyone at all–hates that truth, loves that truth, or something in between.

First Things First

Ray Ortlund post:  Coming to him

As you come to him, . . . .  1 Peter 2:4

Peter introduces his teaching about the church by saying, “As you come to him, . . . .”  We don’t come to church, to be a church.  We come to Christ, and then we are built up as a church.

If we come to church just to be with one another, one another is all we’ll get.  And it isn’t enough.  Inevitably, our hearts will grow empty, and then angry.  If we put community first, we will destroy community.  But if we come to Christ first and submit ourselves to him and draw life from him, community gets traction.

C. S. Lewis: “When first things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased.”

His Resources and Power

Excerpts from Wendy Alsup post:  Confessions of a Conflicted Complementarian

I was raised in conservative Christianity and had visions of what my life would look like if I made the good Christian choices that good Christian girls were supposed to make. I thought a lot about the Proverbs 31 wife and didn't chafe against the expectations.

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Some of my friends appear to be able to keep the law on their own, and they admit to me that their problem is awful pride. However, I couldn't do it on my own. Scripture's ideals haunted me. They hung over my head, and I felt condemned by the way they were presented to me by well meaning teachers.

Apart from the gospel.

Christ paid my debt to God, but he didn't just bring my spiritual bank account to zero. Christ's righteous life was then credited to my account. I went from being a prisoner with a sentence against them they could never pay off to a child of the king with all the resources that come with that position in God's household. 

In Christ, instead of feeling condemned by the law's standard, I can lift my head. I can look at Scripture's words to women, even the annoying Proverbs 31 wife, not with condemnation, but with hope and inspiration. Her children rise up and call her blessed. Yes, that is a great ideal. No, I can't make it happen myself. Instead of hiding from God in condemnation or despising her as an unattainable standard, I turn to God in my need and find grace and mercy. In Christ, I can boldly access my Father in heaven and avail myself of his resources. My friends at other stages of life and those experiencing painful circumstances different from mine give testimony of the same hope in the gospel. 

I am learning to personalize Paul's prayer at the end of Ephesians 1, “God, open my eyes to the hope of my calling, my inheritance in you, and the power at work in me—the very same power that rose Christ from the dead. I can't do this on my own, and any virtue that blesses my friends or family is purely by your grace. Help me. Apart from you, I can do nothing.” Then, when I go to bed that night and actually note some way I did bless my family or my friends, I know exactly who accomplished this thing for me, and I can praise him for his glorious grace, not myself for my self discipline or innate wisdom.

It's only meditation on the gospel and then availing myself of my access to the throne of grace it provides that I move from condemnation to hope on any issue.

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Outcome of Persevering Dependence

From What's Best Next post:  What is the Fruit in John 15:5?

In John 15:5, Jesus says “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

What is the “fruit” that Jesus has in view here? Here is a helpful exposition of the text from DA Carson, from his The Gospel according to John:

There has been considerable dispute over the nature of the “fruit” that is envisaged [in this text]: the fruit, we are told, is obedience, or new converts, or love, or Christian character.

These interpretations are reductionistic. The branch’s purpose is to bear much fruit (v. 5), but the next verses show that this fruit is the consequence of prayer in Jesus’ name, and is to the Father’s glory (vv. 7, 8, 16).

This suggests that the “fruit” in the vine imagery represents everything that is the product of effective prayer in Jesus’ name, including obedience to Jesus’ commands (v. 10), experience of Jesus’ joy (v. 11 – as earlier his peace, 14:27), love for one another (v. 12), and witness to the world (vv. 16, 27).

This fruit is nothing less than the outcome of persevering dependence on the vine, driven by faith, embracing all of the believer’s life and the product of his witness.

No Plan B Needed

Scotty Smith:  A Prayer of Hope for Weary Servants of God

     When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh, my lord, what shall we do?” the servant asked. “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, “O LORD, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 2 Kings 6:15-17

     Gracious Father, there are times when the “odds” feel quite stacked against us, as your people. With the naked eye, the enemies of justice, truth and the gospel seem to greatly outnumber your “troops.” Serving you is stressful, overwhelming, and at times it feels futile.
     But just when we begin to retreat into a basement of fear, or question your concern and faithfulness, you open our eyes and show us the way things really are. We praise you for the gift of perspective. You haven’t and you will not abandoned us. Things are not as they appear. Because the gospel is true, “those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (2 Kings 6:16).
     But the way of the gospel will always be strength in weakness—the transforming treasure of the gospel in fragile jars of clay, like us. You sent 300 poorly armed soldiers with Gideon, not 34,000 fighting men, to defeat the entire Midianite army. You chose Jesse’s youngest son, David—a young shepherd, to be the king of Israel—a most unlikely candidate. Most profoundly, it was the crucifixion of Jesus, not an insurrection of zealots or the religion of Pharisees, which won our salvation.
     Father, the “odds” are never really stacked against your covenant purposes and your transforming kingdom. You’re not “trying” to do anything. You never have to resort to plan B or hedge your bets. You are God, and there is no other god. Strengthen us, and your servants throughout the world, when we grow weary in preaching and applying the gospel; planting and maturing churches; and in doing justice and loving mercy. We will reap a harvest at the proper time, if we do not give up (Gal. 6:9).
     You don’t need to show us herds of horses or chariots of fire, just show us more and more of the resurrected and reigning Jesus. Our labors in Him are often exhausting and discouraging, but they are never in vain (1 Cor. 15:58). So very Amen, we pray, in Jesus’ trustworthy and triumphant name.

Honor of the King of Kings

Excerpt from Tim Keller article "The Honors of the King" in March 2011 Redeemer Newsletter: 

In his unpublished biography of his brother C. S. Lewis, W. H. “Warnie” Lewis related how in late 1951 his brother received a letter from Prime Minister Winston Churchill. In it, Churchill offered to recommend him for a C.B.E. (Commander of the British Empire)

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Christianity is filled with many truth claims. Some of those claims and principles may align well with a certain political party. It is a great temptation for those within the party to identify those themes and aspects of Christianity that are agreeable to its own goals and seek to enhance its own credibility by hinting (or overtly claiming) that voting for their party is God’s will. And if the party offers the religious leaders the perks of power and recognition, the offer can be irresistible. Onlookers have the right to be cynical about the religious institutions that strike this bargain. They do not have the right to assume that’s all there is to Christianity—but that is what they conclude. 

 

C. S.Lewis refused to be a part of that. He was far-sighted.  In our country over the last 60 years, alliances between churches and politics have resulted in many people dismissing Christianity as only “the Conservative (or) Liberal party at prayer.” The results have been destructive (as we discussed in last month’s newsletter article on ‘Civility.’) 

 

At Redeemer we believe that the gospel shapes all areas of life. Christians can and should be involved in government, and their Christian faith will be the driving force behind how they engage in politics as well as how they evaluate many policy issues. Also, Redeemer teaches God’s word and often what the Bible says will have public policy implications that are direct and/or indirect. But Christians must not implicitly or explicitly identify their Christianity with political figures and parties.  That has always been the balance we have tried to strike in our ministry in the city. It is tempting of course, when the honours of earthly kings are offered to us for doing Christian ministry. C. S. Lewis allowed the honor of the King of Kings to be enough for him. 

On Purpose

Excerpt from Perry Noble post:  Today We Are Rich

In the fall of 2003 I had the privilege of seeing Tim Sanders speak at Catalyst and was blown away by his passion and challenged by what the Lord has put on his hear to challenge young leaders with.  (I also bought and devoured this book as a result of his talk…I highly recommend it!)

Tim has recently written a brand new book entitled, “Today We Are Rich, Harnessing The Power Of Total Confidence.”  (Here is the website with a FREE downloadable EBook…check it out!!!)

Recently I had the privilege of asking Tim some questions about his new book…and loved what he had to say about it…

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#2 – Why do you think it is important for us to focus on our purpose in life and not just our passions?

Passion is the pursuit of self: Fun, mastery, actualization and personal rewards.  We should encourage our children to chase their passions like butterflies – it gives them dimension and helps them find their voice and skills.

But as they grow into adults and physically mature, we must challenge them to live a life of service and follow a worthwhile purpose.  If they continue to follow their passions into adulthood or parenthood, everyone suffers and energy comes and goes along with windfalls and challenges.  To tell your kids “just do what you love,” is like telling them “love yourself at the expense of everyone else.”

When you decide to make the leap from serving passions to serving a purpose, you are spiritually coming of age.  You can know pursue significance.

From a performance point of view, it’s important to be purpose driven because a sense of meaning can give us unlimited energy and unbreakable resilience.  Nazi war camp survivor Viktor Frankl once said that “when there’s purpose in a thing, there is no suffering.”  Purpose is also important to find the sweet spot between self-confidence and humility.  When you are on-purpose, you follow and repot to a higher power, God’s will.  This helps you, as Pastor Steven Furtick likes to say, “deflect all the glory to God.”

In my case, my purpose comes from a Scripture in Hebrews that I paraphrase: “Provoke good works in people and outbursts of love, not forsaking as we gather in public.” Gives me a clear compass in my life for knowing which direction to go.  And that’s important, because Billye taught me that “success is not a destination, but a direction – true North.”

#3 – What is your biggest hope that your readers will take away from the book? 

If I had to choose a single piece of advice from the book, here it is: Stick with your rock, never forsake your foundation of positive thinking, faith, gratitude and the burning desire to participate in the end of suffering.

If you feel like you are moving Sideways in your life, as I have in mine, ask yourself the following question.  “What are you not doing today that you were doing back when things were better?” Often, you’ll find out that you aren’t reading good stuff, like your Bible.  You aren’t talking to your parents or respecting your elders – trusting your Facebook friends more than the Rocks in your life.  If you are lost, to quote Pastor Heck from the small church I grew up in, “the only way back to Eden is to go back home and admit you aren’t keeping it between the ditches.”

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Priest, Advocate, Intercessor and King

Miscellanies post:  Happy Birthday Thomas Boston

Puritan minister and author Thomas Boston was born on this day (March 17) 335 years ago [ht: Nathan Sasser]. Just about everything Boston wrote is worth reading, but especially the personal covenant that he wrote at the outset of his pastorate:

A Personal Covenant
by Thomas Boston
August 14, 1699

I, MR. THOMAS BOSTON, preacher of the gospel of Christ, being by nature an apostate from God, an enemy to the great JEHOVAH and so an heir of hell and wrath, in myself utterly lost and undone, because of my original and actual sins, and misery thereby; and being, in some measure, made sensible of this my lost and undone state, and sensible of my need, my absolute need of a Savior, without whom I must perish eternally; and believing that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of the eternal God, is not only able to save me, by virtue of his death and sufferings, but willing also to have me (though most vile and ugly, and one who has given him many repulses), both from my sins, and from the load of wrath due to me for them, upon condition that I believe, come to him for salvation, and cordially receive him in all his offices; consenting to the terms of the covenant.

Therefore, as I have at several opportunities before given an express and solemn consent to the terms of the covenant, and have entered into a personal covenant with Christ; so now, being called to undertake the great and weighty work of the ministry of the gospel, for which I am altogether insufficient, I do by this declare, That I stand to and own all my former engagements, whether sacramental, or any other way whatsoever; and now again do RENEW my covenant with God; and hereby, at this present time, do solemnly COVENANT and ENGAGE to be the Lord’s and MAKE a solemn resignation and upgiving of myself, my soul, body, spiritual and temporal concerns, unto the Lord Jesus Christ, without any reservation whatsoever; and do hereby give my voluntary consent to the terms of the covenant laid down in the holy scriptures, the word of truth; and with my heart and soul I TAKE and RECEIVE Christ in all his offices, as my PROPHET to teach me, resolving and engaging in his strength to follow, that is, to endeavor to follow his instructions.

I TAKE him as my PRIEST, to be saved by his death and merits alone; and renouncing my own righteousness as filthy rags, I am content to be clothed with his righteousness alone; and live entirely upon free grace; likewise I TAKE him for my ADVOCATE and INTERCESSOR with the Father: and finally, I TAKE him as my KING, to reign in me, and to rule over me, renouncing all other lords, whether sin or self, and in particular my predominant idol; and in the strength of the Lord, do resolve and hereby engage, to cleave to Christ as my Sovereign Lord and King, in death and in life, in prosperity and in adversity, even for ever, and to strive and wrestle in his strength against all known sin; protesting, that whatever sin may be lying hid in my heart out of my view, I disown it, and abhor it, and shall in the Lord’s strength, endeavor the mortification of it, when the Lord shall be pleased to let me see it. And this solemn covenant I make as in the presence of the ever-living, heart-searching God, and subscribe it with my hand, in my chamber, at Dunse, about one o’clock in the afternoon, the fourteenth day of August, one thousand six hundred and ninety-nine years.

T. BOSTON

Energy of Life

I am the path, the truth, and the energy of life.
John 14:6, The Voice

Hitting the Refresh Button

Excerpts from Tullian Tchividjian post:  What To Preach To Yourself Everyday

Because we are so naturally prone to look at ourselves and our performance more than we do to Christ and his performance, we need constant reminders of the gospel.

If we’re supposed to preach the gospel to ourselves everyday—what’s the actual content of that message? What is it exactly that I need to keep reminding myself of?

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It’s been widely accepted that in the original language of Greek, Ephesians 1:3-14 is one long sentence. Paul becomes so overwhelmed by the sheer greatness and immensity and size and sweetness of God’s amazing grace, that he doesn’t even take a breath. He writes in a state of controlled ecstasy. And at the heart of his elation is the idea of “union with Christ.” We have been blessed, he writes, “in Christ with every spiritual blessing” (1:3): we’ve been chosen (v. 4), graced (v. 6), redeemed (v. 7), reconciled (v. 10), destined (v. 11), and sealed forever (v. 13). The everything we need and long for, Paul says, we already possess if we are in Christ. He has already sweepingly secured all that our hearts deeply crave.

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The hard work of Christian growth, therefore, is to think less of me and my performance and more of Jesus and his performance for me. Ironically, when we focus mostly on our need to get better we actually get worse. We become neurotic and self-absorbed. Preoccupation with my effort over God’s effort for me makes me increasingly self-centered and morbidly introspective.

You could state it this way: Sanctification is the daily hard work of going back to the reality of our justification–receiving Christ’s words, “It is finished” into new and deeper parts of our being every day, into our rebellious regions of unbelief.  It’s going back to the certainty of our objectively secured pardon in Christ and hitting the refresh button a thousand times a day. Or, as Martin Luther so aptly put it in his Lectures on Romans, “To progress is always to begin again.” Real spiritual progress,  in other words, requires a daily going backwards.

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Christian growth, in other words, does not happen first by behaving better, but believing better–believing in bigger, deeper, brighter ways what Christ has already secured for sinners.

Preach that to yourself everyday and you’ll increasingly experience the scandalous freedom that Jesus paid so dearly to secure for you.

With Us and For Us

Scotty Smith: A Prayer in Praise of God’s Irrepressible Generosity

     May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus. Romans 15:5
     May the God of hope fill you with all you and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13
     The God of peace be with you all. Amen. Romans 15:33

     Gracious Father, your Word never ceases to astonish, nourish, and cause our hearts to flourish. The more we marinate and mediate on the Scriptures, the more we find your heart to be a bottomless ocean of mercy and grace. You are much more loving, kind and generous than our dull hearts usually grasp. In this one chapter alone (Romans 15), out of nearly 1200 in the Bible, you come to us this very day as…
     The God who gives endurance and encouragement: O Father, you know how much we need both of these grace-gifts. Many of us are physically pooped, mentally taxed and emotionally spent. Why can’t crises and crucibles be spread out a little more evenly in life? Please grant us strength, Father, and encourage our tired hearts. Give us fresh gospel-bread that we might feast, then feed the many needy people you have woven into our lives.
     The God of hope: It’s an increasingly complex world, Father. Life feels more uncertain and fragile than ever. Fill our hearts with an undistilled vision of your finished story. Quicken our senses with the jaw-dropping sights and soul-stirring sounds of the new heaven and new earth; the aromatic smells of that Garden City; the unimaginable beauty of this world made new by Jesus. May this living and sure hope give us courage to serve you sacrificially and joyfully, through the power of the Holy Spirit. We want to overflow with hope, not just be slow drips.
     The God of peace. Father, you are the consummate peace-maker—reconciling enemies and restoring broken things. We only have peace with you because you have made your peace with us through the work of Jesus. May this profound assurance free us today to live as conduits of your shalom-making love and power. To know that you are with us and for us is all we really need today, Father. So very Amen, we pray, in Jesus’ matchless and merciful name.

Faith and Action

Steven Furtick post:  Bonus Tracks -- God's Power, Your Strength

We kicked off a new series this past weekend called Grapes and Giants where we’re looking at four different promises that God has made to every believer in Jesus Christ in the book of Ephesians. For our first week, we focused on the promise of power from Ephesians 1:17-23.

At one point in my sermon I briefly mentioned the difference between power and strength and why so many Christians live powerless lives. I didn’t get to fully flesh it out, so I thought I’d elaborate on it here for everyone.

The tragic truth of our time is that countless Christians are living without strength when their God is full of power. And I firmly believe that one of the main reasons this happens is that we don’t understand the difference between power and strength.

It seems like semantics, but this is actually what separates the ordinary believer from the great men and women of faith in the Bible and throughout history.

Every Christian believes God is powerful. But not every Christian understands that God’s power is not just an abstract proposition. It’s a tangible, practical reality that you have to seize and appropriate to your life.



In other words, God’s power isn’t an automatic trump card.

It’s possible for God to have all the power but for you to live in total weakness.

Think of it like this:
God is still all-powerful when you’re continuing to live in slavery to sin.
God is still all-powerful when you’re letting yourself be a victim of your circumstances.
God is still all-powerful when you’re living a life of mediocrity.
God is still all-powerful when you’re living as if He isn’t.

God already has all the power He’ll ever need to do everything He’ll ever want to do. In the world and in your life. But God’s power is only potential until you convert it into strength by faith and action.

Strength is where you seize God’s power and walk it out.
To leave the slavery of your sin.
To rise above your circumstances.
To break out of the monotony of mediocrity.
To live a life that can only be explained by an infinitely powerful God.

Don’t waste another second praying that God would be powerful. He’s already powerful. And don’t waste another second praying that you would have more power. The power of the resurrection is inside of you. That’s more than enough power for anything you’ll ever face in your life.

You already have what you’re praying for. Take God’s power. Appropriate it. And let it become strength in every area your life.

No Other Option

Ray Ortlund post:  Depending solely on God

“It is a dreadful truth that the state of (as you say) ‘having to depend solely on God’ is what we all dread most.  And of course that just shows how very much, how almost exclusively, we have been depending on things.  But trouble goes so far back in our lives and is now so deeply ingrained, we will not turn to him as long as he leaves us anything else to turn to.  I suppose all one can say is that it was bound to come.  In the hour of death and the day of judgment, what else shall we have?  Perhaps when those moments come, they will feel happiest who have been forced (however unwittingly) to begin practicing it here on earth.  It is good of him to force us; but dear me, how hard to feel that it is good at the time.”

C. S. Lewis, Letters to an American Lady (Grand Rapids, 1967), page 47.  Italics original.

Covenant Faithfulness

Scotty Smith:  A Prayer about Why God Loves Us

     The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers. Deuteronomy 7:7-8

     Most holy and gracious Father, you’d think these amazing words of your sovereign grace would slay the performance-based beast within. But I’m still foolish enough to look for something in me to explain why you love me. I still default to my “inner-legalist” way too often. Where does this madness come from?
     Isn’t it because I want to manipulate and control you? Isn’t it because I want less mystery and more predictability in my walk with you? Isn’t it because I’d rather spend the Monopoly money of self-salvation than declare my real bankruptcy?
     Isn’t it because I’d rather work my way out of guilt than be shut up to sheer grace? Isn’t it because I want to make you responsible for my bad days and hard circumstances? Isn’t because I want some credit for generating my good days and blessing? Isn’t it because I want to justify my critical attitude towards other people? Oh, how much I need the gospel, today and every day.
   Father, you haven’t set your affection on me because of anything in me—not because of anything I’ve done, do or have ceased doing. You’ve didn’t chose me because I’m choice, but simply because you chose me—to redeem and restore me for your glory.
     Indeed, it’s only because of your covenant faithfulness that I have the absolute assurance that I’m loved with your everlasting, unwavering and irrepressible love. It’s only because Jesus is your “Yes!” to every promise you’ve made that I have this unparalleled peace. This humbles me. This makes me profoundly glad, Father. So very Amen, I pray, in Jesus’ matchless and merciful name.

Inexhaustible Love Wins

Excerpts from Kevin DeYoung post:  Heaven Is a World of Love

Most people know Jonathan Edwards as the guy who preached hellfire and brimstone sermons like “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” But fewer realize that the pastor from Northampton, Massachusetts also preached sermons like this one, called “Heaven is a World of Love.”

The Apostle tells us that God is love, 1 John 4:8. And therefore seeing he is an infinite Being, it follows that he is an infinite fountain of love, Seeing he is an all-sufficient Being, it follows that he is a full and overflowing and an inexhaustible fountain of love. Seeing he is an unchangeable and eternal Being, he is an unchangeable and eternal source of love. There even in heaven dwells that God from whom every stream of holy love, yea, every drop that is or ever was proceeds.

There dwells God the Father, and so the Son, who are united in infinitely dear and incomprehensible mutual love. There dwells God the Father, who is the Father of mercies, and so the Father of love, who so loved that world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life [John 3:16].

There dwells Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, the Prince of peace and love, who so loved the world that he shed his blood, and poured out his soul unto death for it. There dwells the Mediator, by whom all God’s love is expressed to the saints, by whom the fruits of it have been purchased, and through whom they are communicated, and through whom love is imparted to the hearts of all the church. There Christ dwells in both his natures, his human and divine, sitting with the Father in the same throne.

There is the Holy Spirit, the spirit of divine love, in whom the very essence of God, as it were, all flows out or is shed abroad in the hearts of all the church [cf. Rom. 5:5].

There in heaven this fountain of love, this eternal three in one, is set open without any obstacle to hinder access to it. There this glorious God is manifested and shines forth in full glory, in beams of love; there the fountain overflows in streams and rivers of love and delight, enough for all to drink at, and to swim in, yea, so as to overflow the world as it were with a deluge of love. (The Sermons of Jonathan Edwards, 245)

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One of the striking things in reading the excerpt above is to see just how much his heaven of love rises out from the most foundational elements of Christian theology. When some contemporary preachers try to exult in the love of God it sounds more like a paean to the Love that is God. And that love gets reduced to sentiment, sympathy, and Oprahfied versions of acceptance and affirmation.

By contrast, the love Edwards extols is rich with theological reflection on the Trinity, the two natures of Christ, substitutionary atonement, Christ as Mediator, the importance of the church, and the immutability of God. Edwards’ heaven is full of a love that only makes sense in the world of thought shaped by the whole counsel of God. Cheap imitations of biblical love never plumb the depths of the Christian tradition. Instead they plunder the booty of traditional Christian vocabulary and employ in such a way that everyone from Dolly Parton to the Dali Lama will nod in agreement. Edwards tells a different story, reminding us that heaven is a world where Trinitarian wrought, cross bought, sorrow easing, wrath appeasing, Christ-centered, church focused, overflowing, inexhaustible love wins.

Single Passion

God created us to live with a single passion: to joyfully display his supreme excellence in all the spheres of life. The wasted life is the life without this passion.

God calls us to pray and think and dream and plan and work not to be made much of, but to make much of him in every part of our lives.

 John Piper, Don't Waste Your Life, Matt Perman post, What is the Wasted Life?

Way We Talk

Excerpt from Josh Etter post:  The Importance of Being Under the Ministry of the Word

At our 2008 National Conference, Sinclair Ferguson connects the way we talk to the ministry of the Word in our lives:

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Here's an excerpt:

The most important single aid to my ability to use my tongue for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ is allowing the word of God to dwell in me so richly that I cannot speak in any other accent.

Dear brothers and sisters, that's why it is so important for you at the practical level to be under a ministry of the Word where the Word of God is really preached, and preached in the grace and truth of the Holy Spirit.

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Exceeding Joy

Ray Ortlund post:  "As soon as we were recovered a little ..."

“Mr. Hall, Kinchin, Ingham, Whitefield, Hutchins and my brother Charles were present at our love-feast in Fetter Lane, with about sixty of our brethren.  About three in the morning, as we were continuing instant in prayer, the power of God came mightily upon us, insomuch that many cried out for exceeding joy, and many fell to the ground.  As soon as we were recovered a little from that awe and amazement at the presence of his Majesty, we broke out with one voice, ‘We praise thee, O God, we acknowledge thee to be the Lord.’”

John Wesley, Journal, January 1, 1739.

Go Home All the Way

Christine Wyrtzen Devotional post:  After All Is Said and Done – It's Beautiful!

AFTER ALL IS SAID AND DONE – IT’S BEAUTIFUL!

Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.  Romans 7:4

Let’s not miss the forest for the trees!  After all the delicate study of law, works, grace, abundant life, sanctification and justification, it boils down to this ~ I belong to someone else now and the effect of that is changing my life everyday, forever.

Ever feel like an orphan?  You wonder where you belong.  Who will fully embrace you?  Even in families where there were mother and father figureheads, kids can feel like orphans.  For the rest of their lives, they’re looking for someone to invite them into a place of belonging.  Driven, having stretched out their arms indiscriminately, others ‘owned’ them and hurt them.  There are no safe masters except Jesus.

The decision to marry Him, to give myself completely to Him, is something I will never regret.  He is the perfect bridegroom and never disappoints.  In that marriage of complete contentment, I am changed by His love and the influence born of proximity.

What is marriage?  Love. Chemistry. Commitment. Intimacy. Partnership. Respect. Encouragement. Often knowing each other’s thoughts. I can’t really enter into marriage if I marry an author, live in another state, and simply read his books.  Yet, that’s the experience of most Christians.  Isn’t that sad?

Let the marriage begin.  The Christian life starts with a decision to enter into the kingdom through the door of Christ.  But most get just inside the door and freeze.  Afraid to trust.  Afraid to commit.  Afraid of intimacy.  Afraid of change.  How shall we be free to worship, glorify God, know ourselves, and bear fruit if we never enjoy marriage!  Jesus is the ever patient bridegroom who waits for us timid ones with arms outstretched.  Let’s go home all the way.

I am not technically married to you.  I’m fully married.  I’m deeply in love and will never look back at another master.  Amen