This Sunday’s Sermon Title is:
PREDESTINATION AND THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD
Ask yourself this question based on the following text.
Can the same act be spoken of as initiated both by God and by man?
2 Corinthians 8:16-17
I thank God, who put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you. For Titus not only welcomed our appeal, but he is coming to you with much enthusiasm and on his own initiative.
See also
Acts 2:23 This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.
Genesis 50:20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
How To Love Your Spouse
It took me 22 years of marriage to figure this out (Or rather to have it revealed) but, the only way you will ever properly love (desire and enjoy and please and serve) your spouse is to have your heart so filled with the joy of Jesus’ love that it overflows with excess towards your partner.
I got to practice this for two and a half years and it revolutionized our relationship. It stopped me from demanding that my spouse meet all my needs to feel loved. I had that need fully met to overflowing in Christ. It stopped me from expecting too much from the relationship and the grumbling that could follow.
It proved a safeguard to over-loving (idolizing) which is a real danger when two people trust and enjoy each other for so long. Though I was guilty of both idolizing and grumbling right up to the end, at least I had figured out that these were to be avoided and I figured out how.
It is as I was satisfied first and foremost in Christ that I was able to lead our love into it’s best years where proper expectations and two hearts filled to overflowing with love were freed to love one another.
I got to practice this for two and a half years and it revolutionized our relationship. It stopped me from demanding that my spouse meet all my needs to feel loved. I had that need fully met to overflowing in Christ. It stopped me from expecting too much from the relationship and the grumbling that could follow.
It proved a safeguard to over-loving (idolizing) which is a real danger when two people trust and enjoy each other for so long. Though I was guilty of both idolizing and grumbling right up to the end, at least I had figured out that these were to be avoided and I figured out how.
It is as I was satisfied first and foremost in Christ that I was able to lead our love into it’s best years where proper expectations and two hearts filled to overflowing with love were freed to love one another.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Will I Believe Tomorrow?
Our faith and the fervency of it, depend not on our own strength of character, but on the One who initiated faith in us in the first place. So long as we remain in the word and are seeking out God’s thoughts by which we may order our lives, God will provide the flame that will keep that fuel burning in our souls.
In John 15:7, Jesus assures his followers, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.”
Here is a good prayer to insert at this point… Mark 9:24 "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"
It is good to ask for faith that we might continue to believe, for … “without faith it is impossible to please God” Hebrews 11:6
This is a prayer God is pleased to answer.
Psalms 48:14
For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end.
1 Corinthians 1:8-9
He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.
Philippians 1:20
I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.
Philippians 1:6
And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
In John 15:7, Jesus assures his followers, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.”
Here is a good prayer to insert at this point… Mark 9:24 "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"
It is good to ask for faith that we might continue to believe, for … “without faith it is impossible to please God” Hebrews 11:6
This is a prayer God is pleased to answer.
Psalms 48:14
For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end.
1 Corinthians 1:8-9
He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.
Philippians 1:20
I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.
Philippians 1:6
And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
It Is Up To God To Prove His Trustworthiness
Psalms 138:2-3 NLT
2 I praise your name for your unfailing love and faithfulness; for your promises are backed by all the honor of your name. 3 As soon as I pray, you answer me; you encourage me by giving me strength.
What is at stake in proving of God’s reliability, His sufficiency, His strength, His worth, His all-satisfying presence and joy, in our lives is the honor of his name. God’s honour is his top priority and is therefore something He will unfailingly uphold. He must prove himself, by keeping his promises to us in order to maintain His reputation. If He failed to keep his promises, his name would be besmirched.
It is not up to me or to you to prove anything to anyone. My only aim ought to be to let God be God, in and through me, to prove himself. I may cease striving and let God be God in me.
Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.
If this is true for you, then it only remains for you to let Christ prove his presence in you so you will authentically represent his trustworthy name to others. Look for Him to do this in you and then through you.
Psalms 138:8 The LORD will work out his plans for my life— for your faithful love, O LORD, endures forever.
2 I praise your name for your unfailing love and faithfulness; for your promises are backed by all the honor of your name. 3 As soon as I pray, you answer me; you encourage me by giving me strength.
What is at stake in proving of God’s reliability, His sufficiency, His strength, His worth, His all-satisfying presence and joy, in our lives is the honor of his name. God’s honour is his top priority and is therefore something He will unfailingly uphold. He must prove himself, by keeping his promises to us in order to maintain His reputation. If He failed to keep his promises, his name would be besmirched.
It is not up to me or to you to prove anything to anyone. My only aim ought to be to let God be God, in and through me, to prove himself. I may cease striving and let God be God in me.
Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.
If this is true for you, then it only remains for you to let Christ prove his presence in you so you will authentically represent his trustworthy name to others. Look for Him to do this in you and then through you.
Psalms 138:8 The LORD will work out his plans for my life— for your faithful love, O LORD, endures forever.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Hope for This Life
The ultimate hope that brings the believer unshakeable joy, is the confidence that we will be radiantly happy in the presence of God in an era that will never end.
Psalms 16:11 You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
But experience tells us that temporal hope is of great value also. We need some assurance that God will bless us in the “before life” not just the “after life”. God knows our earthly needs and demonstrates his insight by implanting these words in the heart of the psalmist:
Psalms 51:12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
And
Psalm 27:13 I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
We need to pray this prayer, recognizing our need of his sustaining power and then allow ourselves to be comforted by this confidence. We will see God’s goodness in the here and now.
Psalm 71: 20 You have allowed me to suffer much hardship, but you will restore me to life again… 24 I will tell about your righteous deeds all day long…
And
Psalm 109: 30 With my mouth I will greatly extol the LORD; in the great throng I will praise him. 31 For he stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save his life…
Those who hope are expressing a need. They do not have all that they wish for. When we pour out that need to God, we can begin to watch how he will address our need, most significantly with his own presence “to cheer and to guide” as the old hymn says.
“He stands at the right hand of the needy”
The self-sufficient need not apply.
Psalms 16:11 You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
But experience tells us that temporal hope is of great value also. We need some assurance that God will bless us in the “before life” not just the “after life”. God knows our earthly needs and demonstrates his insight by implanting these words in the heart of the psalmist:
Psalms 51:12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
And
Psalm 27:13 I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
We need to pray this prayer, recognizing our need of his sustaining power and then allow ourselves to be comforted by this confidence. We will see God’s goodness in the here and now.
Psalm 71: 20 You have allowed me to suffer much hardship, but you will restore me to life again… 24 I will tell about your righteous deeds all day long…
And
Psalm 109: 30 With my mouth I will greatly extol the LORD; in the great throng I will praise him. 31 For he stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save his life…
Those who hope are expressing a need. They do not have all that they wish for. When we pour out that need to God, we can begin to watch how he will address our need, most significantly with his own presence “to cheer and to guide” as the old hymn says.
“He stands at the right hand of the needy”
The self-sufficient need not apply.
Monday, December 6, 2010
A TIME TO MOURN AND A TIME TO DANCE
…so Says Ecclesiastes 3:4
Katy (almost 9) consistently prays, “Lord help us move on.” And though this may seem unromantic, she is right.
John Piper in “Desiring God” states, “When Christ calls us to a new act of obedience that will cost us some temporal pleasure, we call to mind the surpassing value of following him, and by faith in his proven worth we forsake the worldly pleasure. The result? More joy! More faith! Deeper than before. And so we go on from joy to joy, and faith to faith.”
I have been finding that in forsaking the worldly pleasure that God has removed from me, there can be an increase in hope and joy. It is only when I am too tired to intentionally stop thinking about loss that I begin to slip into reminiscing which almost instantly produces a poisonous self-pity.
Ecclesiastes 7:10 NLT says, "Don’t long for 'the good old days.' This is not wise."
He’s right!
Randy Alcorn in “Heaven” writes, “ I don’t look back nostalgically at wonderful moments in my life, wistfully thinking the best days are behind me. I look at them as a foretaste of an eternity of better things… the best is yet to come.”
Paul models his faith this way in Philippians 3:12-14, “I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus.”
Katy (almost 9) consistently prays, “Lord help us move on.” And though this may seem unromantic, she is right.
John Piper in “Desiring God” states, “When Christ calls us to a new act of obedience that will cost us some temporal pleasure, we call to mind the surpassing value of following him, and by faith in his proven worth we forsake the worldly pleasure. The result? More joy! More faith! Deeper than before. And so we go on from joy to joy, and faith to faith.”
I have been finding that in forsaking the worldly pleasure that God has removed from me, there can be an increase in hope and joy. It is only when I am too tired to intentionally stop thinking about loss that I begin to slip into reminiscing which almost instantly produces a poisonous self-pity.
Ecclesiastes 7:10 NLT says, "Don’t long for 'the good old days.' This is not wise."
He’s right!
Randy Alcorn in “Heaven” writes, “ I don’t look back nostalgically at wonderful moments in my life, wistfully thinking the best days are behind me. I look at them as a foretaste of an eternity of better things… the best is yet to come.”
Paul models his faith this way in Philippians 3:12-14, “I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus.”
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
The Case for Singleness
This was written by a young woman named Margaret Charlton before she became the wife of puritan pastor Richard Baxter in 1662. They were both chided for marrying because of their mutual appreciation of singleness as the best means of serving God. She writes:
“Let me not forget the time when I seemed near death. What comfort had I then in creatures? What ease from them? Was not all my hope in God? All creatures shewed me that side on which vanity was written, and they had nothing which could satisfy my soul. Though I had as much mercy in means and friends as I could possibly desire, yet all this was nothing to me. The trouble of parting with them was much more than the comfort of enjoying them and so it will be with me still, which should teach me to keep my heart loose from the creature, and not over-love any thing on this side heaven. Why should my heart be fixed where my home is not? Heaven is my home, God in Christ is all my happiness and where my treasure is, there my heart should be. Come away, O my heart, from vanity; mount heavenward, and be not dead, or dull, if thou wouldst be free from trouble, and taste of real joy and pleasure. Hath not experience yet taught thee, that creature-comforts, though they may be roses, have their pricks ? Canst not thou be content to look on them, and smell them at a distance, and covet no other use while thou art in the garden where they grow and be content to leave them there behind thee? If thou must needs have them in thy bosom, thou must scratch thy fingers to get them and when thou hast them, though the smell awhile delight thee, they will quickly wither, and are gone. Away then, O my carnal heart, retire to God, the only satisfying object. There mayest thou love without all danger of excess! Let thy love to God be fixed and transcendent. Amen.”
Paul would add “If you do marry, you have not sinned... But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.” (1 Corinthians 7:28)
“Let me not forget the time when I seemed near death. What comfort had I then in creatures? What ease from them? Was not all my hope in God? All creatures shewed me that side on which vanity was written, and they had nothing which could satisfy my soul. Though I had as much mercy in means and friends as I could possibly desire, yet all this was nothing to me. The trouble of parting with them was much more than the comfort of enjoying them and so it will be with me still, which should teach me to keep my heart loose from the creature, and not over-love any thing on this side heaven. Why should my heart be fixed where my home is not? Heaven is my home, God in Christ is all my happiness and where my treasure is, there my heart should be. Come away, O my heart, from vanity; mount heavenward, and be not dead, or dull, if thou wouldst be free from trouble, and taste of real joy and pleasure. Hath not experience yet taught thee, that creature-comforts, though they may be roses, have their pricks ? Canst not thou be content to look on them, and smell them at a distance, and covet no other use while thou art in the garden where they grow and be content to leave them there behind thee? If thou must needs have them in thy bosom, thou must scratch thy fingers to get them and when thou hast them, though the smell awhile delight thee, they will quickly wither, and are gone. Away then, O my carnal heart, retire to God, the only satisfying object. There mayest thou love without all danger of excess! Let thy love to God be fixed and transcendent. Amen.”
Paul would add “If you do marry, you have not sinned... But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.” (1 Corinthians 7:28)
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