Nov. 27, 08 9:40 a.m.
On another morning during a particularity rich devotional time I found myself contemplating, “the lord is my portion: from
La 3:24 I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."
which led to this quick word study
The word “portion” is used 67 times in the NIV to speak of...
an allotment of land
part of an animal used for sacrifice
the expectable consequences of sin
a serving of food
one’s ability or gifting
In this group of 67 verses is a sub-set of 6 verses that speak of God as “my portion”, the God who has granted, bequeathed himself to the believer.
La 3:24 I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."
Jer 51:19 He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the Maker of all things, including the tribe of his inheritance—the LORD Almighty is his name.
Jer 10:16 He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the Maker of all things, including Israel, the tribe of his inheritance—the LORD Almighty is his name.
Ps 142:5 I cry to you, O LORD; I say, "You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living."
Ps 119:57 You are my portion, O LORD; I have promised to obey your words.
Ps 73:26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.
And then this one verse which stands alone…
De 32:9 For the LORD’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted inheritance.
We are not the only ones looking forward to that blessed consummation we will have with him…
Re 19:9 Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!
Jesus anticipates our arrival even more than we anticipate his…
2Co 11:2 I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.
Heb 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Guys. We need to move beyond whatever gynophobia we have with the imagery of the church being the bride of Christ and cultivate a longing for him.
2Ti 4:8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Nov 25, 08 11:58 a.m.
The goal of devoting ourselves to prayer for a specified period of time was to express to God that we treasure the “surpassing greatness of knowing Christ” more than any earthly pleasure and that we are seeking him as our reward.
In praying together I had to confess that there was something about it that I did not like. I tried to define it and the best I could come up with was that I did not like being vulnerable and appearing dependant in front of my wife who knows more about my weaknesses and failings than anyone else.
I openly confessed my pride and pretense, seeking forgiveness and cleansing and maturity in Christ. Theresa and I found the following day a greater freedom to trust one another and an increased joy in partnering toward spiritual growth and service. We are enjoying a deeper sense of friendship and freedom to share the joys in our stumbling toward greatness.
C. S. Lewis
"When I have learned to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now. Insofar as I learn to love my earthly dearest at the expense of God and instead of God, I shall be moving toward the state in which I shall not love my earthly dearest at all. When first things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased."
God granted himself as reward as well. I’ll talk about that tomorrow
The goal of devoting ourselves to prayer for a specified period of time was to express to God that we treasure the “surpassing greatness of knowing Christ” more than any earthly pleasure and that we are seeking him as our reward.
In praying together I had to confess that there was something about it that I did not like. I tried to define it and the best I could come up with was that I did not like being vulnerable and appearing dependant in front of my wife who knows more about my weaknesses and failings than anyone else.
I openly confessed my pride and pretense, seeking forgiveness and cleansing and maturity in Christ. Theresa and I found the following day a greater freedom to trust one another and an increased joy in partnering toward spiritual growth and service. We are enjoying a deeper sense of friendship and freedom to share the joys in our stumbling toward greatness.
C. S. Lewis
"When I have learned to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now. Insofar as I learn to love my earthly dearest at the expense of God and instead of God, I shall be moving toward the state in which I shall not love my earthly dearest at all. When first things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased."
God granted himself as reward as well. I’ll talk about that tomorrow
Monday, November 24, 2008
Nov 24. 08 11:20 a.m.
Theresa and I, in an effort to count our marriage as “rubbish” in comparison to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus…
Php 3:8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
…have embarked on a spiritual experiment that I have termed, “body worship” which is similar to fasting for the purpose of prioritizing and relying on and knowing Jesus experientially. Here is the first installment on this topic; a textual recipe if you will. I will add our goals and lessons learned at a later date.
Body Worship 1
1Co 6:20 nlt for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.
Ro 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.
1Co 7:3 nlt The husband should fulfill his wife’s sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband’s needs. 4 The wife gives authority over her body to her husband, and the husband gives authority over his body to his wife. 5 Do not deprive each other of sexual relations, unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer. Afterward, you should come together again so that Satan won't be able to tempt you because of your lack of self–control.
Php 3:8 nlt Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ
Mt 6:17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,
18 so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Ge 15:1 Do not be afraid… I am your shield, your very great reward.
Tit 2:7 In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness
1Ti 4:12 Set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.
Theresa and I, in an effort to count our marriage as “rubbish” in comparison to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus…
Php 3:8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
…have embarked on a spiritual experiment that I have termed, “body worship” which is similar to fasting for the purpose of prioritizing and relying on and knowing Jesus experientially. Here is the first installment on this topic; a textual recipe if you will. I will add our goals and lessons learned at a later date.
Body Worship 1
1Co 6:20 nlt for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.
Ro 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.
1Co 7:3 nlt The husband should fulfill his wife’s sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband’s needs. 4 The wife gives authority over her body to her husband, and the husband gives authority over his body to his wife. 5 Do not deprive each other of sexual relations, unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer. Afterward, you should come together again so that Satan won't be able to tempt you because of your lack of self–control.
Php 3:8 nlt Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ
Mt 6:17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,
18 so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Ge 15:1 Do not be afraid… I am your shield, your very great reward.
Tit 2:7 In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness
1Ti 4:12 Set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Nov. 22 08 10:35 a.m.
In these experiments I will aim at being factual to the point of being blunt so as to give you data you can consider for your own use. But never assume I am unemotional about what I find.
Emotions are a top priority to God as he uses them to lead to salvation and further sanctification and if our emotions are not directed toward that purpose, they will lead in only one other direction.
2Co 7:10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
So again we are aiming at proving God in our experience of joy (no regret) and knowing that at the same time, to one degree or another, we are avoiding death.
Joy is worth fighting for and the best means of proving God, so, a quote for John Piper…
“When we understand… the fight for joy is mainly a fight too see [Jesus] we grasp… that joy is a gift and a spontaneous experience. The joy that comes from seeing beauty is spontaneous no matter how hard one fought to see.”
We are engaged on a quest to see Jesus any way we can because he is worthy of our longing gaze no matter how, like Zacchaeus, we must strive to put ourselves in the best place to see.
Lu 19:4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore–fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way.
May you strive in your obedience to him today to see him, experience something of him and the joy that this experience brings. Then you will have satisfied your soul and will have excess to satisfy the spiritual thirst of others.
Isa 12:3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
In these experiments I will aim at being factual to the point of being blunt so as to give you data you can consider for your own use. But never assume I am unemotional about what I find.
Emotions are a top priority to God as he uses them to lead to salvation and further sanctification and if our emotions are not directed toward that purpose, they will lead in only one other direction.
2Co 7:10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
So again we are aiming at proving God in our experience of joy (no regret) and knowing that at the same time, to one degree or another, we are avoiding death.
Joy is worth fighting for and the best means of proving God, so, a quote for John Piper…
“When we understand… the fight for joy is mainly a fight too see [Jesus] we grasp… that joy is a gift and a spontaneous experience. The joy that comes from seeing beauty is spontaneous no matter how hard one fought to see.”
We are engaged on a quest to see Jesus any way we can because he is worthy of our longing gaze no matter how, like Zacchaeus, we must strive to put ourselves in the best place to see.
Lu 19:4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore–fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way.
May you strive in your obedience to him today to see him, experience something of him and the joy that this experience brings. Then you will have satisfied your soul and will have excess to satisfy the spiritual thirst of others.
Isa 12:3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Nov. 20, 08 4:50 p.m.
The first point of this blog is to do something other than waiting around hoping that God will create experiences in our lives to prove himself to us. He clearly puts that ball in our court.
Ps 34:8 Taste and see that the LORD is good.
So often we try to set up the parameters in a crisis moments... "God if you are real..." The truth is, He is real and experiencing him the way he outlines will make him seem much more so.
Faith comes by hearing. ..
Ro 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.
… But faith and God are proved in our experiences.
Our own feelings of guilt are overwhelming evidence of him when we disobey his law.
Ps 51:4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.
So how could we prove him right by the joy that accompanies obedience?
Jn 15: 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
In so many ways, the Bible is set up as an experiment in risky obedience, like inching out on unsure ice only to find that it is solid enough to bear our weight as we dance for joy.
The more you risk obeying him, the more you prove him, the more joy we may have confirming the truthfulness of all that he says, most importantly, his love for us. So that is the first and primary purpose of this blog: Spiritual Experiment.
The second purpose is to address topics that are not Sunday-morning-friendly.
I am not a big fan of “shock-jock” preaching and do not think a congregation should be offended for the mere amusement of a preacher, so I would prefer to use this forum to discuss important but sensitive matters of faith. And there are many.
The third purpose is simply the overflow of a devotional life. There are just way too many spiritual theories and discoveries and experiments to ever hope to jam them into a Sunday morning sermon. They come far too randomly and too frequently and generate too much excitement to allow their benefit to sit on a shelf and grow cold while waiting for the right sermon to come along.
So what is here will be fresh, growing edges of faith along with theories waiting to be proved and discussed, all the while expanding the spiritual domain that belongs to God in my soul and hopefully yours as well.
Stay tuned…
The first point of this blog is to do something other than waiting around hoping that God will create experiences in our lives to prove himself to us. He clearly puts that ball in our court.
Ps 34:8 Taste and see that the LORD is good.
So often we try to set up the parameters in a crisis moments... "God if you are real..." The truth is, He is real and experiencing him the way he outlines will make him seem much more so.
Faith comes by hearing. ..
Ro 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.
… But faith and God are proved in our experiences.
Our own feelings of guilt are overwhelming evidence of him when we disobey his law.
Ps 51:4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.
So how could we prove him right by the joy that accompanies obedience?
Jn 15: 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
In so many ways, the Bible is set up as an experiment in risky obedience, like inching out on unsure ice only to find that it is solid enough to bear our weight as we dance for joy.
The more you risk obeying him, the more you prove him, the more joy we may have confirming the truthfulness of all that he says, most importantly, his love for us. So that is the first and primary purpose of this blog: Spiritual Experiment.
The second purpose is to address topics that are not Sunday-morning-friendly.
I am not a big fan of “shock-jock” preaching and do not think a congregation should be offended for the mere amusement of a preacher, so I would prefer to use this forum to discuss important but sensitive matters of faith. And there are many.
The third purpose is simply the overflow of a devotional life. There are just way too many spiritual theories and discoveries and experiments to ever hope to jam them into a Sunday morning sermon. They come far too randomly and too frequently and generate too much excitement to allow their benefit to sit on a shelf and grow cold while waiting for the right sermon to come along.
So what is here will be fresh, growing edges of faith along with theories waiting to be proved and discussed, all the while expanding the spiritual domain that belongs to God in my soul and hopefully yours as well.
Stay tuned…
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