The light and warmth of a small camp-fire keeps Jesus and his disciples in close and comforting proximity. Peter with his back supported by the smooth flat side of an olive tree leans noticeably to one side and farts like only Peter can.
James whose head had been tilted back, receiving the stream of wine from a skin, half swallows, chokes and then blasts a spray or red. Now on all fours, coughing, laughing, drooling. A rumble of laughter rolls over the fire-lit faces. A near-state of exhaustion, the late hour and a little wine has made them corporately giddy.
Thaddaeus rolls over and wakes from a slumber and stares in childlike query. Jesus, sitting on the ground by the fire lowers his head, wags it in mock disapproval, able, just, to prevent a smile from becoming a laugh, says to Peter… “Your mother would be proud.”
Did this moment happen? Or a similar one? What we are handed in the pages of scripture is a “paper” Jesus. We are delivered highlights of his mission and ministry, his teaching, his compacted, condensed, agenda-driven moments that the Spirit vivifies and uses to lead and feed his followers.
One thing I learned a long time ago was never to take a paper author at face value and compare my life to what I imagine his life to be, based solely on his writing. I was in the middle of reading “Ordering Your Private World”, one of my all-time favorite books, when the author Gordon McDonald confessed to being involved in an long-term, adulterous affair. It took me 20 years to finally forgive him and start respecting his writing again. Shame on me, perhaps, but I’m only human.
I’m not at all suggesting that Jesus ever sinned or would disappoint, quite the opposite. I’m suggesting that there were non-agenda driven moments that we can only imagine. What tear did he let fall on his mothers shoulder as he comforted her after the death of Joseph? What laughter did he share with James when making smiley faces at the table with a mouth full of fish?
What moments of comfort and joy and acceptance and friendship and love are lost between the pages that we could only imagine and seek to experience as we fill in the gaps of the story. What love and acceptance and compassion and rest must we offer, as we seek to emulate Jesus, with only “What would Jesus do?” to go on?
John tells us that, “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” (John 21:25)
Is it possible that some of the counter productive sternness and argumentativeness that develops in some seasoned saints comes from simply imagining that this “paper Jesus” is the complete Jesus. Was he always on task, always arguing in public, never personally congenial, affable? What did he talk about sitting with tax-collectors and prostitutes around a table? Did he ever just listen and love with his presence? Did he ever simply comfort with a touch and not add a single word. Did he ever forgive, just by pursing his lips and nodding his head to one side? Did he ever show acceptance that changed a life with a smile of his eyes?
We could only (and must) imagine if we are ever to live with more than a paper-Jesus. We must live with and reveal the present, living Christ. We must be disciples of more than paper. We must incarnate, demonstrate… him to the people around us. The people we love, the people in whose presence we fart.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
How Should a Christian Fear the Lord?
This is from John Piper's book “The Pleasures of God”
and is too good not to share.
To summarize, the fear of the lord is not nervousness or anxiety or uncertainty, but confident awe and wonder and amazement from a place of safety, a place you want to stay.
Piper writes:
FEAR AND HOPE AT THE SAME TIME
Does it strike you as strange that we should be encouraged to fear and hope at the same time and in the same person? "The LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love." (Ps 147:11)
Do you hope in the one you fear and fear the one you hope in? It's usually the other way around: if we fear a person, we hope that someone else will come and help us. But here we are supposed to fear the one we hope in and hope in the one we fear. What does this mean?
I think it means that we should let the experience of hope penetrate and transform the experience of fear. In other words, the kind of fear that we should have toward God is whatever is left of fear when we have a sure hope in the midst of it.
GREENLAND GLACIER
Suppose you were exploring an unknown glacier in the north of Green-land in the dead of winter. Just as you reach a sheer cliff with a spectacular view of miles and miles of jagged ice and mountains of snow, a terrible storm breaks in. The wind is so strong that the fear rises in your heart that it might blow you over the cliff. But in the midst of the storm you discover a cleft in the ice where you can hide. Here you feel secure. But, even though secure, the awesome might of the storm rages on, and you watch it with a kind of trembling pleasure as it surges out across the distant glaciers.
At first there was the fear that this terrible storm and awesome terrain might claim your life. But then you found a refuge and gained the hope that you would be safe. But not everything in the feeling called fear vanished from your heart. Only the life-threatening part. There remained the trembling, the awe, the wonder, the feeling that you would never want to tangle with such a storm or be the adversary of such a power.
And so it is with God. In the same Psalm we read, "He gives snow like wool; he scatters hoarfrost like ashes. He casts forth his ice like morsels; who can stand before his cold?" (vv. 16-17). The cold of God is a fearful thing—who can stand against it! And verses 4–5 point to the same power of God in nature: "He determines the number of the stars, he gives to all of them their names. Great is our LORD, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure."
In other words, God's greatness is greater than the universe of stars, and his power is behind the unendurable cold of arctic storms. Yet he cups his hand around us and says, "Take refuge in my love and let the terrors of my power become the awesome fireworks of your happy night-sky."
The fear of God is what is left of the storm when you have a safe place to watch right in the middle of it. And in that place of refuge we say, "This is amazing, this is terrible, this is incredible power; Oh, the thrill of being here in the center of the awful power of God, yet protected by God himself! Oh, what a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God without hope, without a Savior! Better to have a millstone tied around my neck and be thrown into the depths of the sea than to offend against this God! What a wonderful privilege to know the favor of this God in the midst of his power!"
And so we get an idea of how we feel both hope and fear at the same time. Hope turns fear into a trembling and peaceful wonder; and fear takes everything trivial out of hope and makes it earnest and profound. The terrors of God make the pleasures of his people intense. The fireside fellow-ship is all the sweeter when the storm is howling outside the cottage.
Now why does God delight in those who experience him in this way—in people who fear him and hope in his love? Surely it is because our fear reflects the greatness of his power and our hope reflects the bounty of his grace. God delights in those responses which mirror his magnificence.
This is just what we would have expected from a God who is all-sufficient in himself and has no need of us—a God who will never give up the glory of being the fountain of all joy, who will never surrender the honor of being the source of all safety, who will never abdicate the throne of sovereign grace. God has pleasure in those who hope in his love because that hope highlights the freedom of his grace. When I cry out, "God is my only hope, my rock, my refuge!" I am turning from myself and calling all attention to the boundless resources of God.
and is too good not to share.
To summarize, the fear of the lord is not nervousness or anxiety or uncertainty, but confident awe and wonder and amazement from a place of safety, a place you want to stay.
Piper writes:
FEAR AND HOPE AT THE SAME TIME
Does it strike you as strange that we should be encouraged to fear and hope at the same time and in the same person? "The LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love." (Ps 147:11)
Do you hope in the one you fear and fear the one you hope in? It's usually the other way around: if we fear a person, we hope that someone else will come and help us. But here we are supposed to fear the one we hope in and hope in the one we fear. What does this mean?
I think it means that we should let the experience of hope penetrate and transform the experience of fear. In other words, the kind of fear that we should have toward God is whatever is left of fear when we have a sure hope in the midst of it.
GREENLAND GLACIER
Suppose you were exploring an unknown glacier in the north of Green-land in the dead of winter. Just as you reach a sheer cliff with a spectacular view of miles and miles of jagged ice and mountains of snow, a terrible storm breaks in. The wind is so strong that the fear rises in your heart that it might blow you over the cliff. But in the midst of the storm you discover a cleft in the ice where you can hide. Here you feel secure. But, even though secure, the awesome might of the storm rages on, and you watch it with a kind of trembling pleasure as it surges out across the distant glaciers.
At first there was the fear that this terrible storm and awesome terrain might claim your life. But then you found a refuge and gained the hope that you would be safe. But not everything in the feeling called fear vanished from your heart. Only the life-threatening part. There remained the trembling, the awe, the wonder, the feeling that you would never want to tangle with such a storm or be the adversary of such a power.
And so it is with God. In the same Psalm we read, "He gives snow like wool; he scatters hoarfrost like ashes. He casts forth his ice like morsels; who can stand before his cold?" (vv. 16-17). The cold of God is a fearful thing—who can stand against it! And verses 4–5 point to the same power of God in nature: "He determines the number of the stars, he gives to all of them their names. Great is our LORD, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure."
In other words, God's greatness is greater than the universe of stars, and his power is behind the unendurable cold of arctic storms. Yet he cups his hand around us and says, "Take refuge in my love and let the terrors of my power become the awesome fireworks of your happy night-sky."
The fear of God is what is left of the storm when you have a safe place to watch right in the middle of it. And in that place of refuge we say, "This is amazing, this is terrible, this is incredible power; Oh, the thrill of being here in the center of the awful power of God, yet protected by God himself! Oh, what a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God without hope, without a Savior! Better to have a millstone tied around my neck and be thrown into the depths of the sea than to offend against this God! What a wonderful privilege to know the favor of this God in the midst of his power!"
And so we get an idea of how we feel both hope and fear at the same time. Hope turns fear into a trembling and peaceful wonder; and fear takes everything trivial out of hope and makes it earnest and profound. The terrors of God make the pleasures of his people intense. The fireside fellow-ship is all the sweeter when the storm is howling outside the cottage.
Now why does God delight in those who experience him in this way—in people who fear him and hope in his love? Surely it is because our fear reflects the greatness of his power and our hope reflects the bounty of his grace. God delights in those responses which mirror his magnificence.
This is just what we would have expected from a God who is all-sufficient in himself and has no need of us—a God who will never give up the glory of being the fountain of all joy, who will never surrender the honor of being the source of all safety, who will never abdicate the throne of sovereign grace. God has pleasure in those who hope in his love because that hope highlights the freedom of his grace. When I cry out, "God is my only hope, my rock, my refuge!" I am turning from myself and calling all attention to the boundless resources of God.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
How To Kill An Evil Desire
First of all, the rules of fight or flight apply.
You don’t have to kill what you can run from.
2 Timothy 2:22
Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
I had a close encounter with a prostitute this morning at the Salvation Army while dropping off a donation. She was attractive and available.
So long as I do not go back looking for her and refuse to entertain any immoral thought of her…
2 Corinthians 10:5 …bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
…but perhaps even pray for her soul, being willing to be used to present the gospel to her… If I am honest with myself in this respect and accountable if need be, then I have fled any desire aroused by her seductive, though perhaps survivalist, intent.
But if I am unsuccessful and some desire attaches itself to my heart and like a leach begins to thrive off my heart, becomes indistinguishable from the rest of my heart and so begins to define my interior thought and motives, even though I may never fulfill this desire, have no plan to fulfill it, but enjoy the satisfaction of musing what it would be like to enjoy it – then – then I have something, "someone" to kill.
You need 4 things for a “righteous” kill.
1. Compelling Desire
2. Unconditional Permission
3. A Specific Target
4. A List of Methods At Your Disposal
Though I was successful fleeing evil desire this morning, let me use this example as a model to illustrate what I am saying. I will personify this imaginary desire to make this as biblically graphic as possible.
1. Desire
You don’t assonate someone unless you really want to. The only real and compelling reason I would forgo the private pleasure of entertaining an evil desire in my thought-life is for the superior pleasure I find in entertaining God.
If I had to choose between companionship with God or a fantasy, who would it be? If God, then why not fellowship with God now in reality as opposed to any mental dealings I might enjoy with an imaginary prostitute. I cannot do both.
Lust whether acted upon or not is sin. I cannot delight in sin and in God at the same time. If this desire is allowed to live, even if only in desire form… God is displeased and disposed to discipline.
Ephesians 4:30 And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live.
Hebrews 12:10 God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.
James 1:14 Each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. 16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Proverbs 20:30 Blows and wounds cleanse away evil, and beatings purge the inmost being.
John 15:2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
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.
1Co 9:26 So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing.
27 I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.
Do you want the joy of God that comes through obedience, or the pleasure of sinful fantasy that results in grief and anxiety that He will eventually, painfully purge away? Be motivated by what holds the best, long-term, mutual joy for you and God.
2. Permission – A License To Kill
Colossians 3:5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
Romans 8:13 For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
3. A Specified Target
Galatians 5: 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.
25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.
Do what the Bible says. Personify YOUR sinful desire, give it a name and a face if necessary, take it to the cross of Christ and crucify it there. Kill it! You have permission to be absolutely brutal with this target of assassination that lives within you.
With everyone else’s sin, you must be loving and gentle and humble and gracious and forgiving and if necessary, stern and protective and disciplinary,
Luke 17:3 So watch yourselves. "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.
…but with your own sinful passions and desires, with your own covetousness and greed and demandingness… Be merciless!
4. The Method
I suggest you pray, fast and meditate, confess, journal and any other discipline you can engage, but understand that there are a million means and methods to kill a cunning leach, once you have identified it, defined it, disengaged it and even given it a pet name… Once you have reached a point of desperation, the “I’ll do anything!” with tears, “Lord if you will not kill this desire then take my life… moment… Once you have consolidated and focused your desire, then any method will do.
Confess the truth to God that at times you would rather have fellowship with your fantasy than with him and that you want that evil craving to die.
Then set out to analyze it to death. Stop the Mary-go-round and get off and ask, “Are we having fun yet?” Is this really what I want to be doing with my life before God?
Where will it lead me? What are the long-term consequences? Will I be satisfied, joyful to overflowing or will I be left disappointed, disillusioned? If I’m going to repent some day, why not now?
If I wrote down my thoughts what would they look like? If I confessed these thoughts to a friend and maybe I should, what would he/she say? What grace and what warning would be offered?
What desire for God could reside where this evil desire now does? What would it feel like to long for God this way and have him continuously and increasingly, joyfully satisfy that desire?
John 4:10 Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."
John 4:14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
John 7:38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." 39 By this he meant the Spirit.
Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
2 Corinthians 4:15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
Philippians 1:26 so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.
1 Thessalonians 3:12 May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.
Be honest and listen to the justifications you use to permit yourself to engage in mental fantasy and desire, whether it is regarding wealth or food or sex or the companionship of someone God does not permit.
Analyze your pleasure and ask, “With what do I want to overflow? Failure and shame and regret, or the personally satisfying relational joy to be had between me and the Spirit of God living in me?” Decide and then Kill the desire you don’t want to keep. You can't keep both.
As John Owens says in his work, “The Mortification of Sin in Believers”…
“Be killing sin or it will be killing you”
And
“The Holy Spirit is the author of this work in us so that although it is our duty, it is his grace and strength whereby it is preformed.”
And
“Believers who are freed from the condemning power of sin ought to make it their business to kill the indwelling power of sin
And
If we are not always mortifying sin, we are lost creatures.
I’ll stop there.
You can leave an anonymous comment by
1. Clicking on "comments" just below
2. Type something in the box marked “Leave Your Comment”
3. Type in the word you see in “Word Verification”
4. Under “Choose An Identity” click “Anonymous” or some other option
You don’t have to kill what you can run from.
2 Timothy 2:22
Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
I had a close encounter with a prostitute this morning at the Salvation Army while dropping off a donation. She was attractive and available.
So long as I do not go back looking for her and refuse to entertain any immoral thought of her…
2 Corinthians 10:5 …bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
…but perhaps even pray for her soul, being willing to be used to present the gospel to her… If I am honest with myself in this respect and accountable if need be, then I have fled any desire aroused by her seductive, though perhaps survivalist, intent.
But if I am unsuccessful and some desire attaches itself to my heart and like a leach begins to thrive off my heart, becomes indistinguishable from the rest of my heart and so begins to define my interior thought and motives, even though I may never fulfill this desire, have no plan to fulfill it, but enjoy the satisfaction of musing what it would be like to enjoy it – then – then I have something, "someone" to kill.
You need 4 things for a “righteous” kill.
1. Compelling Desire
2. Unconditional Permission
3. A Specific Target
4. A List of Methods At Your Disposal
Though I was successful fleeing evil desire this morning, let me use this example as a model to illustrate what I am saying. I will personify this imaginary desire to make this as biblically graphic as possible.
1. Desire
You don’t assonate someone unless you really want to. The only real and compelling reason I would forgo the private pleasure of entertaining an evil desire in my thought-life is for the superior pleasure I find in entertaining God.
If I had to choose between companionship with God or a fantasy, who would it be? If God, then why not fellowship with God now in reality as opposed to any mental dealings I might enjoy with an imaginary prostitute. I cannot do both.
Lust whether acted upon or not is sin. I cannot delight in sin and in God at the same time. If this desire is allowed to live, even if only in desire form… God is displeased and disposed to discipline.
Ephesians 4:30 And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live.
Hebrews 12:10 God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.
James 1:14 Each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. 16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Proverbs 20:30 Blows and wounds cleanse away evil, and beatings purge the inmost being.
John 15:2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
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.
1Co 9:26 So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing.
27 I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.
Do you want the joy of God that comes through obedience, or the pleasure of sinful fantasy that results in grief and anxiety that He will eventually, painfully purge away? Be motivated by what holds the best, long-term, mutual joy for you and God.
2. Permission – A License To Kill
Colossians 3:5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
Romans 8:13 For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
3. A Specified Target
Galatians 5: 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.
25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.
Do what the Bible says. Personify YOUR sinful desire, give it a name and a face if necessary, take it to the cross of Christ and crucify it there. Kill it! You have permission to be absolutely brutal with this target of assassination that lives within you.
With everyone else’s sin, you must be loving and gentle and humble and gracious and forgiving and if necessary, stern and protective and disciplinary,
Luke 17:3 So watch yourselves. "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.
…but with your own sinful passions and desires, with your own covetousness and greed and demandingness… Be merciless!
4. The Method
I suggest you pray, fast and meditate, confess, journal and any other discipline you can engage, but understand that there are a million means and methods to kill a cunning leach, once you have identified it, defined it, disengaged it and even given it a pet name… Once you have reached a point of desperation, the “I’ll do anything!” with tears, “Lord if you will not kill this desire then take my life… moment… Once you have consolidated and focused your desire, then any method will do.
Confess the truth to God that at times you would rather have fellowship with your fantasy than with him and that you want that evil craving to die.
Then set out to analyze it to death. Stop the Mary-go-round and get off and ask, “Are we having fun yet?” Is this really what I want to be doing with my life before God?
Where will it lead me? What are the long-term consequences? Will I be satisfied, joyful to overflowing or will I be left disappointed, disillusioned? If I’m going to repent some day, why not now?
If I wrote down my thoughts what would they look like? If I confessed these thoughts to a friend and maybe I should, what would he/she say? What grace and what warning would be offered?
What desire for God could reside where this evil desire now does? What would it feel like to long for God this way and have him continuously and increasingly, joyfully satisfy that desire?
John 4:10 Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."
John 4:14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
John 7:38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." 39 By this he meant the Spirit.
Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
2 Corinthians 4:15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
Philippians 1:26 so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.
1 Thessalonians 3:12 May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.
Be honest and listen to the justifications you use to permit yourself to engage in mental fantasy and desire, whether it is regarding wealth or food or sex or the companionship of someone God does not permit.
Analyze your pleasure and ask, “With what do I want to overflow? Failure and shame and regret, or the personally satisfying relational joy to be had between me and the Spirit of God living in me?” Decide and then Kill the desire you don’t want to keep. You can't keep both.
As John Owens says in his work, “The Mortification of Sin in Believers”…
“Be killing sin or it will be killing you”
And
“The Holy Spirit is the author of this work in us so that although it is our duty, it is his grace and strength whereby it is preformed.”
And
“Believers who are freed from the condemning power of sin ought to make it their business to kill the indwelling power of sin
And
If we are not always mortifying sin, we are lost creatures.
I’ll stop there.
You can leave an anonymous comment by
1. Clicking on "comments" just below
2. Type something in the box marked “Leave Your Comment”
3. Type in the word you see in “Word Verification”
4. Under “Choose An Identity” click “Anonymous” or some other option
Saturday, February 14, 2009
3 Reasons Why My Heart Is Smitten
Smitten: thrilled, captivated, consumed, delighted, infatuated, gripped.
1. I am freed by the command to love, delight in, rejoice in, be over-flowingly happy in God, my God, the very one I have longed for since my earliest child-hood memories.
Lu 10:27 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, Love your neighbour as yourself.
Ps 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Php 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
2. To know that in proper, respectful and trusting obedience that He, God… delights in me, is almost too overwhelming to bear contemplation.
1John 3:1 How great is the [kind of] love the Father has lavished on us, that we (sinners) should be called children of God! And that is what we are!
Ps 147:11 the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.
Zep 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."
3. To witness in Scripture the perfect, joyous, love and delight God has for his son, one for whom he has never had, and never will have to apply grace or mercy or forgiveness. Just perfect boundless eternal love. One limitless Divine loving another and another: The Spirit.
And that I am invited into that circle of love, into that family, that clique of friendship. This is staggering, weakening, too good for eternity to ever exhaust the enjoyment of that love. And I enjoy it… today. And He will never let me go.
1Peter 1:17 For he received honour and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
John 17: 20 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one:
23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24 "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25 "Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."
Heb 13:5 God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.”
1. I am freed by the command to love, delight in, rejoice in, be over-flowingly happy in God, my God, the very one I have longed for since my earliest child-hood memories.
Lu 10:27 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, Love your neighbour as yourself.
Ps 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Php 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
2. To know that in proper, respectful and trusting obedience that He, God… delights in me, is almost too overwhelming to bear contemplation.
1John 3:1 How great is the [kind of] love the Father has lavished on us, that we (sinners) should be called children of God! And that is what we are!
Ps 147:11 the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.
Zep 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."
3. To witness in Scripture the perfect, joyous, love and delight God has for his son, one for whom he has never had, and never will have to apply grace or mercy or forgiveness. Just perfect boundless eternal love. One limitless Divine loving another and another: The Spirit.
And that I am invited into that circle of love, into that family, that clique of friendship. This is staggering, weakening, too good for eternity to ever exhaust the enjoyment of that love. And I enjoy it… today. And He will never let me go.
1Peter 1:17 For he received honour and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
John 17: 20 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one:
23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24 "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25 "Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."
Heb 13:5 God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.”
Thursday, February 12, 2009
The "God will kill you" threat.
There is a story of a boy who was saved in the street as he was almost trampled by a run-away horse and wagon. The man who pulled him to safety dusted him off and warned him to be more careful.
Time passed and the boy became rebellious and broke the law to the point that he gained a reputation as a horse thief. In due time he was captured and tried and as he looked up at the judge awaiting sentence he recognized the man from years ago who had rescued him from certain death. The judge also recognized him and raised his hand in response to his pleas for mercy saying, “On that day I was your saviour. Today I must be your judge.”
If Desiring God - loving God – enjoying God as he gives himself to us and then delighting in glorifying in God – by telling him and telling others how great he is and living to prove it– if this does not become life’s greatest pleasure, then when the tests and trials of life come whatever we treasure more will come to the fore as our true “god” and our idolatrous hearts will be exposed.
If we love anything, or anyone more than God who commands us to respond to his love for us by entering into a mutual love relationship with him as our highest and greatest delight… then he will not “make his home with us”.
Luke 10:27 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.
Mt 14:23 Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 He who does not love me will not obey my teaching…
If you do not in holiness and happiness prove that you have experienced his love and thus love him supremely in return as saviour – you will face him as judge. And we cannot work up this joyous love so we must earnestly pray, “God give me the joy of glorifying you. Please create in me a desire for you and then satisfy that desire by your word and by your Spirit as only you can. Make me like a tree planted by a stream producing this fruit at all times, in all circumstances and in this way make me to be always with you, for…
John 15:2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit,
John 15:6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
Finally, here is an example of men who loved bread and logic and religion more than they loved Christ and an example of men who loved him more than anything.
John 6:26 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.
27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."
John 6:66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67 "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
Time passed and the boy became rebellious and broke the law to the point that he gained a reputation as a horse thief. In due time he was captured and tried and as he looked up at the judge awaiting sentence he recognized the man from years ago who had rescued him from certain death. The judge also recognized him and raised his hand in response to his pleas for mercy saying, “On that day I was your saviour. Today I must be your judge.”
If Desiring God - loving God – enjoying God as he gives himself to us and then delighting in glorifying in God – by telling him and telling others how great he is and living to prove it– if this does not become life’s greatest pleasure, then when the tests and trials of life come whatever we treasure more will come to the fore as our true “god” and our idolatrous hearts will be exposed.
If we love anything, or anyone more than God who commands us to respond to his love for us by entering into a mutual love relationship with him as our highest and greatest delight… then he will not “make his home with us”.
Luke 10:27 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.
Mt 14:23 Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 He who does not love me will not obey my teaching…
If you do not in holiness and happiness prove that you have experienced his love and thus love him supremely in return as saviour – you will face him as judge. And we cannot work up this joyous love so we must earnestly pray, “God give me the joy of glorifying you. Please create in me a desire for you and then satisfy that desire by your word and by your Spirit as only you can. Make me like a tree planted by a stream producing this fruit at all times, in all circumstances and in this way make me to be always with you, for…
John 15:2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit,
John 15:6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
Finally, here is an example of men who loved bread and logic and religion more than they loved Christ and an example of men who loved him more than anything.
John 6:26 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.
27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."
John 6:66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67 "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
One more question from John 15
Why does Jesus command people who have been “pruned” and “purified” to “remain” if they can never fall away?
Picture me walking along the Golden Gate Bridge with my squirming 5 year old. I am holding his hand but I point down to the water below and say, “If you were to let go of my hand and fall over the edge, you would hit the water so hard it would kill you instantly. Now, hold my hand!”
I have just uses command and fear of consequences to shape his will to conform to mine, though I have no intention of letting him go.
Jesus does not merely hold us against our will. He uses command and threat and promise, (an appeal to our hedonistic nature – we want to live) to shape our desires so that they conform to his.
Php 2:13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
So Jesus commands his true disciples, “remain in me!” with promise and threat attached to instill in us intelligent desire that honors him, rather than sloth and carelessness and yearning that does not bring him glory and us joy.
Why does Jesus command people who have been “pruned” and “purified” to “remain” if they can never fall away?
Picture me walking along the Golden Gate Bridge with my squirming 5 year old. I am holding his hand but I point down to the water below and say, “If you were to let go of my hand and fall over the edge, you would hit the water so hard it would kill you instantly. Now, hold my hand!”
I have just uses command and fear of consequences to shape his will to conform to mine, though I have no intention of letting him go.
Jesus does not merely hold us against our will. He uses command and threat and promise, (an appeal to our hedonistic nature – we want to live) to shape our desires so that they conform to his.
Php 2:13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
So Jesus commands his true disciples, “remain in me!” with promise and threat attached to instill in us intelligent desire that honors him, rather than sloth and carelessness and yearning that does not bring him glory and us joy.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Questions arising from John 15
Q1. Does the fact that Jesus cuts off branches that bear no fruit mean that a joyless Christian can lose their salvation?
A1. There is no such thing as losing one’s salvation.
If God draws you to himself, he will not turn you away.
John 14:18
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
1 Corinthians 1:9
God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.
Hebrews 13:5
God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
(We will talk more about this, this week.)
Jesus intention in John 15 is to encourage and reinforce participation in, commitment to, and a longing for… growth in godly character – specifically the joy of glorifying God, in his "true disciples: (Jn 15:8)
False disciples or “bread followers” (see the parable of the soils) abound and are often self-assured and self-deceived.
It is important that believers are occasionally called to examine their lives and endure the stress of that exam to ensure that we are indeed “true disciples”
2 Corinthians 13:5
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you— unless, of course, you fail the test?
A good objective test is provided in 1John chapters 4-5
The result of coming through such an exam with a passing grade is confidence in prayer and confidence on judgment day.
1 John 4:17 In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.
1 John 5:14-15
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
Getting a high grade on any exam gives one confidence and joy and removes the self-doubt that is felt by many Christians who do not objectively examine themselves.
Q2 What is pruning in the life of the believer?
A2 Pruning is the painful loss of something we value (good or bad) at the sovereign hand of God who intends to show to us a deeper, more meaningful joy than we could have otherwise enjoyed.
Jesus physical presence was removed from the disciples.
This made them sad.
They received a resurrected Christ.
This made them happy.
The resurrected Christ ascended.
This made them bewildered.
Jesus sent the Holy Spirit.
This filled them with joy unstoppable
It is this same Spirit given to believers today that often we take for granted and de-prioritize in our own search for joy and satisfaction and pleasure and confidence and comfort and strength and courage and hope.
He has been given to produce in us a peace that passes understanding, a supernatural persevering joy, - giving evidence of the unseen - that we do not grieve like unbelievers (1Th 4:13) - displaying the character of God -all to the glory of God and our mutual joy.
Q3 Is every day sweeter than the day before?
A3 No. Some times it hurts… It just hurts, but…
Psalms 30:5 Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.
Q1. Does the fact that Jesus cuts off branches that bear no fruit mean that a joyless Christian can lose their salvation?
A1. There is no such thing as losing one’s salvation.
If God draws you to himself, he will not turn you away.
John 14:18
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
1 Corinthians 1:9
God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.
Hebrews 13:5
God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
(We will talk more about this, this week.)
Jesus intention in John 15 is to encourage and reinforce participation in, commitment to, and a longing for… growth in godly character – specifically the joy of glorifying God, in his "true disciples: (Jn 15:8)
False disciples or “bread followers” (see the parable of the soils) abound and are often self-assured and self-deceived.
It is important that believers are occasionally called to examine their lives and endure the stress of that exam to ensure that we are indeed “true disciples”
2 Corinthians 13:5
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you— unless, of course, you fail the test?
A good objective test is provided in 1John chapters 4-5
The result of coming through such an exam with a passing grade is confidence in prayer and confidence on judgment day.
1 John 4:17 In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.
1 John 5:14-15
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
Getting a high grade on any exam gives one confidence and joy and removes the self-doubt that is felt by many Christians who do not objectively examine themselves.
Q2 What is pruning in the life of the believer?
A2 Pruning is the painful loss of something we value (good or bad) at the sovereign hand of God who intends to show to us a deeper, more meaningful joy than we could have otherwise enjoyed.
Jesus physical presence was removed from the disciples.
This made them sad.
They received a resurrected Christ.
This made them happy.
The resurrected Christ ascended.
This made them bewildered.
Jesus sent the Holy Spirit.
This filled them with joy unstoppable
It is this same Spirit given to believers today that often we take for granted and de-prioritize in our own search for joy and satisfaction and pleasure and confidence and comfort and strength and courage and hope.
He has been given to produce in us a peace that passes understanding, a supernatural persevering joy, - giving evidence of the unseen - that we do not grieve like unbelievers (1Th 4:13) - displaying the character of God -all to the glory of God and our mutual joy.
Q3 Is every day sweeter than the day before?
A3 No. Some times it hurts… It just hurts, but…
Psalms 30:5 Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.
I'm not a "shock-jock" preacher, but I believe that our sin and the struggle for true God-glorifying joy can at times be disturbing, perhaps too personal for the public spectacle of Sunday morning.
This blog, it was hoped, would create a forum for some honest and useful discussion. So far it has generated hundreds of hits but very little dialogue.
I can understand why we would not want to talk about some of these things. What would be helpful to know is if anyone finds this blog valuable in the pursuit of sanctification.
If not, I may discontinue this writing experiment and pour my energies into more interactive investments.
Please let me know by taking the survey on the right... Thanks!
This blog, it was hoped, would create a forum for some honest and useful discussion. So far it has generated hundreds of hits but very little dialogue.
I can understand why we would not want to talk about some of these things. What would be helpful to know is if anyone finds this blog valuable in the pursuit of sanctification.
If not, I may discontinue this writing experiment and pour my energies into more interactive investments.
Please let me know by taking the survey on the right... Thanks!
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