A partial definition of the urgent command to “delight yourself in the lord” is to delight yourself in the Bible.
Psalm 37:3 Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this:
6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
There is safety and satisfaction and joy to be found in his word.
Ps 119:16 I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.
Very practically let me say how this works: If I am not, on a regular basis, finding truth that satisfies and fortifies my soul so much that I cannot help but share that truth when I am in conversation with friends and family, then I need to be engaging one question and one prayer…
What is wrong with my soul and how can I fix it?
God, would you retrain my eyes on your word and satisfy my soul with things so good that I hear myself sharing them in conversation and pondering them when alone with my thoughts.
This is a measure of how much joy I have “in the lord” and it is a more important diagnostic tool than any test administered at the hospital.
Pr 18:14 The human spirit can endure a sick body, but who can bear a crushed spirit?
Friday, October 16, 2009
Saturday, October 10, 2009
The Sovereignty of Satan
Two extremes to be avoided
1. That Satan is an equal to God able to frustrate and foil God’s plan.
2. That God is directly blameworthy for the evil that we suffer.
When we ask, “What is going on?!”, we need to know, we have a real enemy, with real power and should not be surprised.
1Pe 4:12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering,
Satan is afforded a degree of limited freedom to carry out his predictable malicious intent which is designed to destroy the work of God, specifically the sanctifying work of the Spirit.
Jesus Prayer is John 17:17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
Satan’s prayer is Job 1:11 But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face."
God’s response to Satan is Job 1:12 The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger."
Every human being suffers from this freedom that Satan enjoys, but His time is limited.
Re 12:12 Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short."
Job was technically right in his response, but hugely, woefully, inadequate, when he said, Job 1:21 and said: “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away…"
God does not hide behind Satan’s skirts, letting Satan take the blame. God claims over-all sovereignty but the rest of the book of Job is necessary to point out the huge hole in Job’s simple view of direct sovereignty. Though Job’s simple answer was technically correct, its insufficiency leads to questioning God’s goodness and justice and blaming God for evil.
It is necessary to understand that God allows his believer to experience the malice of Satan for a time in a limited way in order to produce the saints of heaven. Satan is a hateful bastard whom we are free to abhor with all our hearts, but God is a good loving heavenly father whom we are rightly commanded to love with all our hearts.
God allows Satan a limited degree of sovereignty, letting him to do as he wishes that evil and good may be known. God is perfectly able to predict the results in our lives which are pain and purity.
We may respond this way to Satan Ge 50:20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of [my soul]
Our sanctification is the ongoing work of God saving of our souls and is brought about as we suffer the malice of Satan that God allows for our good.
2Co 12:7 There was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
2Co 12: 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.
9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
Ro 8:28 and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
There is much more to say here concerning the sovereignty of man in all of this; how we fit in, what our freedom is and what we are responsible for. I am tempted to preach on this in 2 weeks. The response to this blog will determine that decision for me.
1. That Satan is an equal to God able to frustrate and foil God’s plan.
2. That God is directly blameworthy for the evil that we suffer.
When we ask, “What is going on?!”, we need to know, we have a real enemy, with real power and should not be surprised.
1Pe 4:12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering,
Satan is afforded a degree of limited freedom to carry out his predictable malicious intent which is designed to destroy the work of God, specifically the sanctifying work of the Spirit.
Jesus Prayer is John 17:17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
Satan’s prayer is Job 1:11 But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face."
God’s response to Satan is Job 1:12 The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger."
Every human being suffers from this freedom that Satan enjoys, but His time is limited.
Re 12:12 Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short."
Job was technically right in his response, but hugely, woefully, inadequate, when he said, Job 1:21 and said: “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away…"
God does not hide behind Satan’s skirts, letting Satan take the blame. God claims over-all sovereignty but the rest of the book of Job is necessary to point out the huge hole in Job’s simple view of direct sovereignty. Though Job’s simple answer was technically correct, its insufficiency leads to questioning God’s goodness and justice and blaming God for evil.
It is necessary to understand that God allows his believer to experience the malice of Satan for a time in a limited way in order to produce the saints of heaven. Satan is a hateful bastard whom we are free to abhor with all our hearts, but God is a good loving heavenly father whom we are rightly commanded to love with all our hearts.
God allows Satan a limited degree of sovereignty, letting him to do as he wishes that evil and good may be known. God is perfectly able to predict the results in our lives which are pain and purity.
We may respond this way to Satan Ge 50:20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of [my soul]
Our sanctification is the ongoing work of God saving of our souls and is brought about as we suffer the malice of Satan that God allows for our good.
2Co 12:7 There was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
2Co 12: 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.
9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
Ro 8:28 and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
There is much more to say here concerning the sovereignty of man in all of this; how we fit in, what our freedom is and what we are responsible for. I am tempted to preach on this in 2 weeks. The response to this blog will determine that decision for me.
Monday, October 5, 2009
What is my life producing this very moment?
Matthew 21:19 and he noticed a fig tree beside the road. He went over to see if there were any figs, but there were only leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” And immediately the fig tree withered up.
Matthew 13:22 The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.
"unfruitful." Thomas Magister says, Trees, which are "eukarpa of good fruit," are those, the fruit of which is useful to men for food; those akarpa, "without fruit" on the other hand, are those, the fruit of which men do not use for food: but akarpon never means "having no fruit at all," in any ancient writer. Bengel 1.187
Ephesians 5:11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.
Galatians 5:19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control.
What our lives are producing can be monitored moment by moment. A meditation on scriptural truth and hope in the life to come produces the fruit of joy in all its various forms which is useful and good. Obsessing about the concerns of this life and putting our hope in money produces only leaves that are useless and worthy of condemnation. What our lives are producing will tell us where our thoughts are focused and this can be adjusted.
Matthew 13:22 The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.
"unfruitful." Thomas Magister says, Trees, which are "eukarpa of good fruit," are those, the fruit of which is useful to men for food; those akarpa, "without fruit" on the other hand, are those, the fruit of which men do not use for food: but akarpon never means "having no fruit at all," in any ancient writer. Bengel 1.187
Ephesians 5:11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.
Galatians 5:19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control.
What our lives are producing can be monitored moment by moment. A meditation on scriptural truth and hope in the life to come produces the fruit of joy in all its various forms which is useful and good. Obsessing about the concerns of this life and putting our hope in money produces only leaves that are useless and worthy of condemnation. What our lives are producing will tell us where our thoughts are focused and this can be adjusted.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Plan for Holiness
Proverbs 4
23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.
24 Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
25 Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you.
26 Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm.
27 Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.
The bottom line here is that protecting the heart in order to benefit your life means planning for righteousness and sticking to that plan for the day. During morning devotions we can ask, “What work needs to be addressed? What social engagements are planned? What leisure opportunities are available to me?" and then, "How will I pursue purity in all these things? How will I avoid the temptation towards evil that lies in every good?"
As I plan my work I can imagine it without anger but filled with thanksgiving to the one who has blessed me with ability.
1Th 5:18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Jas 1:20 for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.
As I imagine my social conduct, I can picture myself saying only those things that build others up.
1Th 5:11 therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
2Co 12:20b I fear that there may be quarrelling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.
I can imagine myself patient and attentive while driving, wholesome in my entertainment and loving toward my family and then carry that picture with me all day.
Planning and executing righteousness can imitate the same thinking process that accompanies any project that calls upon our efforts in areas where we are not experts. We imagine the process and refine it in our heads long before we head out to the hardware store to buy materials and tools.
Holiness requires planning an intentional course for the day.
How will you start tomorrow?
23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.
24 Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
25 Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you.
26 Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm.
27 Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.
The bottom line here is that protecting the heart in order to benefit your life means planning for righteousness and sticking to that plan for the day. During morning devotions we can ask, “What work needs to be addressed? What social engagements are planned? What leisure opportunities are available to me?" and then, "How will I pursue purity in all these things? How will I avoid the temptation towards evil that lies in every good?"
As I plan my work I can imagine it without anger but filled with thanksgiving to the one who has blessed me with ability.
1Th 5:18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Jas 1:20 for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.
As I imagine my social conduct, I can picture myself saying only those things that build others up.
1Th 5:11 therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
2Co 12:20b I fear that there may be quarrelling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.
I can imagine myself patient and attentive while driving, wholesome in my entertainment and loving toward my family and then carry that picture with me all day.
Planning and executing righteousness can imitate the same thinking process that accompanies any project that calls upon our efforts in areas where we are not experts. We imagine the process and refine it in our heads long before we head out to the hardware store to buy materials and tools.
Holiness requires planning an intentional course for the day.
How will you start tomorrow?
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