Christ is my portion

As much as I hate dealing with sin, I am beyond thankful that from the moment it is revealed to me, I have a billion promises to claim. I know that Christ has died for it, it has been forgiven, the bonds are broken, the hold is gone. The victory has been won, satan has been defeated. It has no power over me. I know that I can freely confess my sin to God, who is justified to forgive me. And when one is hidden in Christ, there is nothing left to hide. I know that God is working in my life to make me holy and blameless before him, that he will continue his good work that he started. I can trust that he will never remove his salvation, his blessings, his promises, his adoption based on my merit (or lack thereof).

So thank you, Father, that even in my sin, I can make much of you.

I realized through scripture this week, particularly Ephesians 1:4, "blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" that my heart has not been content in Christ and his riches. I have been craving the things of this world. My heart has been captivated by the wants of material objects and they have begun to consume my thoughts. It makes me think of this song lyric...

Prone to wander, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart Lord, take and seal it, Seal it for thy courts above.

These temporary trinkets have nothing compare to the treasure in heaven that awaits me... namely Christ Himself.

I have found a lot of comfort in the Psalms, as I rejoice with King David that the Lord is our portion, our cup, our inheritance, our lot. Today I spent time in Revelation as John layed out the indescribable glory of the new heaven and new earth, with Christ reigning as Groom over his Church. There is no need for a sun, because the glory of Christ outshines all. The saints all gather together and exalt our Lord with praise and adoration.

Oh what a day that will be.

My King

The Bible says He’s a Seven Way King. He’s the King of the Jews – that’s a racial King. He’s the King of Israel – that’s a National King. He’s the King of righteousness. He’s the King of the ages. He’s the King of Heaven. He’s the King of glory. He’s the King of kings and He is the Lord of lords. Now that’s my King. 


Well I wonder if you know Him. Do you know Him? My King is the only one whom there are no means of measure can define His limitless love. No far seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of His shore of supplies. No barriers can hinder Him from pouring out His blessing. Well, well, He’s enduringly strong. He’s entirely sincere. He’s eternally steadfast. He’s immortally graceful. He’s imperially powerful. He’s impartially merciful. That’s my King. 


He’s God’s Son. He’s the sinner’s saviour. He’s the centrepiece of civilization. He stands alone in Himself. He’s august. He’s unique. He’s unparalleled. He’s unprecedented. He’s supreme. He’s pre-eminent. Well, He’s the loftiest idea in literature. He’s the highest personality in philosophy. He’s the supreme problem in high criticism. He’s the fundamental doctrine of proved theology. He’s the carnal necessity of spiritual religion. That’s my King. 


He’s the miracle of the age. He’s the superlative of everything good that you choose to call Him. Well, He’s the only one able to supply all of our needs simultaneously. He supplies strength for the weak. He’s available for the tempted and the tried. He sympathizes and He saves. He’s strong God and He guides. He heals the sick. He cleanses the lepers. He forgives sinners. He discharged debtors. He delivers the captives. He defends the feeble. He blesses the young. He serves the unfortunate. He regards the aged. He rewards the diligent and He beautifies the meek. Do you know Him?


 Well, my King is the key of knowledge. He’s the wellspring of wisdom. He’s the doorway of deliverance. He’s the pathway of peace. He’s the roadway of righteousness. He’s the highway of holiness. He’s the gateway of glory. He’s the master of the mighty. He’s the captain of the conquerors. He’s the head of the heroes. He’s the leader of the legislatures. He’s the overseer of the overcomers. He’s the governor of governors. He’s the prince of princes. He’s the King of kings and He’s the Lord of lords. 


That’s my King. Yeah. Yeah. That’s my King. My King, yeah. His office is manifold. His promise is sure. His light is matchless. His goodness is limitless. His mercy is everlasting. His love never changes. His Word is enough. His grace is sufficient. His reign is righteous. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Well. I wish I could describe Him to you, but He’s indescribable. He’s indescribable. Yes. He’s incomprehensible. He’s invincible. He’s irresistible. I’m coming to tell you, the heavens of heavens cannot contain Him, let alone a man explaining Him. You can’t get Him out of your mind. You can’t get Him off of your hands. You can’t outlive Him and you can’t live without Him. Well, Pharisees couldn’t stand Him, but they found out they couldn’t stop Him. Pilot couldn’t find any fault in Him. The witnesses couldn’t get their testimonies to agree. Herod couldn’t kill Him. Death couldn’t handle Him and the grave couldn’t hold Him. That’s my King. Yeah. He always has been and He always will be. I’m talking about He had no predecessor and He’ll have no successor. There was nobody before Him and there’ll be nobody after Him. You can’t impeach Him and He’s not going to resign. That’s my King! Jesus.

"Peace with a decision" is not Biblical...

...What do you all think?

The following text is an excerpt from Lies My Pastor Told Me, an eBook written by Pastor Cole Brown. You can download the entire book for free at http://www.liesmypastortoldme.com

“I have peace about this decision!”

Life is filled with decisions. Sometimes making these decisions can be difficult, even frightening. This is especially true when there are several options that appear to be equally viable. In such cases we want God to tell us which decision we should make. But where the Scriptures are not explicit it can sometimes be difficult to discern which direction he is leading us. My pastor had a solution for that: simply make the decision that you feel the most peace about. If you feel peace about a decision, he would say, then that is evidence that you are walking in God’s will. If you don’t feel peace about a decision, he would advise, then that decision is not in line with the will of God.

I have since learned that my pastor’s view is not a unique one. Over the years I have heard Christian after Christian claim that that their decisions are in line with God’s will with the simple words, “I have peace about this decision!” This idea that feeling peace about a decision is evidence that it is God’s will (and that not feeling peace about a decision is evidence that it is not God’s will) is commonly held. Nevertheless, it is a lie.

First, we know it is a lie because it is nowhere taught in the Scriptures. Of course, there are many New Testament passages that promise peace to the believer. These passages, however, are not primarily concerned with an emotional feeling but with an objective fact. As the Apostle Paul explains in Romans 5:1, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” According to the Scriptures, believers experience objective peace as a result of being reconciled to God in Christ and not as a result of making the right decisions.

Second, we know it is a lie because we see multiple stories in the Bible that directly contradict it. For example, consider the story of Moses. God himself audibly spoke to Moses and made his will for Moses known. Yet Moses did not feel peace about the decision God was calling him to make. To the contrary, Moses was using every excuse he could find hoping to get out of it.

“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?”

When God didn’t accept that excuse Moses tried a second.

“Suppose they ask me who sent me? What should I tell them?”

When that excuse didn’t work Moses looked for another.

“What if they do not believe me or listen to me?”

When God refused that excuse Moses tried another.

“But I have never been eloquent. I am slow in speech and tongue.”

Finally, with no plausible excuses remaining, Moses directly asked God for an out.

“Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”

Does that sound like a man who feels peace about his decision? Of course not. Yet there is no question that the decision he was making was entirely consistent with God’s will. Not only did God communicate his will to Moses audibly, he also accompanied that verbal communication with multiple miracles. Yet even that was not enough to give Moses peace about the decision. And this story is not unique to Moses. We find this with many of the Old Testament prophets. God clearly calls them to a specific task and they feel anything but at peace about pursuing it.

The Bible also introduces us to characters who have the opposite experience. Take Jonah for example. As God’s prophet, Jonah knew with certainty that God had called him to go to Nineveh. Yet Jonah did not feel peace about that decision so he fled in the opposite direction. In so doing, Jonah was directly going against God’s revealed will. If my pastor’s claim was true then Jonah should not have been at peace with his decision. But he was. He was so at peace with his decision that he was able to sleep soundly on his get-away ship in the middle of a violent storm. While everyone else on the ship was concerned about their life, Jonah was peacefully sleeping below deck. Jonah knew precisely what God’s will was. Yet he did not feel peace about making that decision. Instead, he felt peace as he fled — in willful rebellion — from the decision God told him to make.

Clearly, the claim that I can know I’m in God’s will because “I have peace about that decision” is a lie that has no basis in Scripture. Nevertheless, many Christians believe it. But we don’t have to. The truth of the matter is that we have been given everything we need to guide us in our decisions: we have been given God’s Word and we have been given God’s Work.

God’s Word often provides explicit instructions about what decisions we should and should not make and, even where it does not, it still supplies us with sufficient information to make a decision with confidence. It does this by revealing to us who God is, what he is like, and what he wills.

There will be times, though, when you have to apply God’s Word to very specific situations in very specific ways and it will be unclear to you which of the two or three options before you is the best option. But this does not mean you need to look to emotions or other signs to confirm God’s will for you. Instead, you can look to God’s Work. Specifically, you look to the work accomplished by Jesus Christ through his perfect life, sacrificial death, and victorious resurrection. It is through faith in this work that we can now be certain that “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). This means that we can have peace in any decision that is consistent with God’s Word because we know – through God’s Work – that in whatever decision we make God will love us, be with us, and use our decision to make us more like his Son.

"Hope which is laid up for you"...Spurgeon...take time to read...it will be a blessing :)

What an honor and a bliss for the younger Brethren to be like the Firstborn! To what higher honor could God Himself exalt us? I know not of anything which could surpass this! Oh, matchless joy to be as holy, harmless and undefiled as our own beloved Lord! How delightful to have no propensity to sin remaining in us nor trace of its ever having been there! How blissful to perceive that our holy desires and aspirations have no weakness or defect remaining in them! Our nature will be perfect and fully developed in all its sinless excellence! We shall love God as we do now, but oh how much more intensely! We shall rejoice in God as we do now, but oh what depth there will be in that joy! We shall delight to serve Him as we do now, but there will, then, be no coldness of heart, no languor of spirit, no temptation to turn aside.

Our service will be as perfect as that of angels! Then shall we say to ourselves without fear of any inward failure, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name.” There will be no recreant affection then! No erring judgment, no straying passion, no rebellious lust! There will remain nothing which can defile, or weaken, or distract! We shall be perfect, altogether perfect. This is our hope—victory over evil and perfection in all that is good! If this were all our hope it would be marvelous, but there is more to be unfolded. We expect to enjoy security, also, from every danger. As there will be no evil in us, so there will be none around us or about us to cause us alarm. No temporal evil such as pain, bereavement, sorrow, labor, or reproach shall come near us!

All will be security, peace, rest, and enjoyment. No mental evil will intrude upon us in Heaven. No doubts, no staggering difficulties, no fears, no bewilderments will cause us distress. Here we see through a glass darkly and we know in part—but there we shall see face to face and know even as we are known! Oh, to be free from mental trouble! What a relief will this be to many a doubting Thomas! This is a marvelous hope! And then no spiritual enemy will assail us. No world, no flesh, no devil will mar our rest above. What will you make out of it, you tried ones? Your Sabbaths are very sweet now on earth, but when they are over, you have to return to yon cold world again. But there your Sabbath shall never end and your separation from the wicked will be complete!

Heaven is a paradise of pleasure and a palace of glory! It is a garden of supreme delights and a mansion of abiding love! It is an everlasting Sabbatismos, a rest which never can be broken, which evermore remains for the people of God! It is a kingdom where all are kings, an inheritance where all are heirs! My soul pants for it! Is not this a charming hope? Did I not say well when I declared it to be marvelous? Nor is this all, Brothers and Sisters, for we expect to enjoy in Heaven a happiness beyond compare! Eye has not seen it, nor ear heard it, nor has the heart conceived it—it surpasses all carnal joy! We know a little of it, for the Lord has revealed it unto us by the Spirit, who searches all things, even the deep things of God. Yet what we know is but a mere taste of the marriage feast—enough to make us long for more, but by no means sufficient to give us a complete idea of the whole banquet! If it is so sweet to preach about Christ, what must it be to see Him and be with Him?

 But to sit at my Lord’s feet and look up into His countenance and hear His voice, and never, never grieve Him, but to participate in all His triumphs and glories forever and forever—what a Heaven will this be! Then shall we have fellowship with all His saints in whom He is glorified and by whom His image is reflected. And thus shall we behold fresh displays of His power and beams of His love. Is not this surpassing bliss? Said I not well when I declared that ours is a marvelous hope? Had I eloquence and could pile on good words—and could a poet assist me with his sweetest song—to tell of the bliss and joy of the eternal world, yet must preacher and poet both confess their inability to describe the Glory to be revealed in us! The noblest intellect and the sweetest speech could not convey to you so much as a thousandth part
of the bliss of Heaven!

How Great Thou Art

What a great song to add to my quiet time with Jesus this morning.

What a great and mighty God we serve. I read awhile back (and I cant remember the book or the author unfortunately) but he was talking about how much security there is in knowing that God is real and is in control. Imagine how much more comfort there is to know that if your house burns down and you lose everything you had, it is not because of a 1 in a million random cosmic chance, with no purpose or answer or reason to it, but rather there is a Sovereign, All Powerful, All Knowing God that not only planned but will use that trial for His glory and Your good.

Electing Love Excerpt

'Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain.'

But I hasten to the third and last point: I have ordained you that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain. Christ not only chooses who are to be saved, but he chooses the way; and he not only chooses the beginning and the end, he chooses the middle also. 

'God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth' (2 Thessalonians 2:13). 

'According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love' (Ephesians 1:4). 

And in Romans 8:30 it is said, 'Whom he did predestinate, them he also called; and whom he called them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he glorified.' 

Salvation is like a golden chain let down from heaven to earth; two links are the hands of God — election and final salvation; but some of the links are on earth — conversion, adoption, etc. Brethren, Christ never chooses a man to believe, and then leap into glory. Ah, my brethren, how this takes away the feet from all objections raised against this holy doctrine of election. Some here perhaps say, If I am elected, I will be saved, live as I like. No; if you live an unholy life, you will not be saved. Some may say, If I am not elected, I will not be saved, do as I like. Whether you are elected or not, I know not, but this I know - if you believe on Christ you will be saved.

http://www.sermonindex.net/modules/articles/index.php?view=article&aid=453

Beauty of Christ

Delighting in numbers

Delighting in Numbers

Numbers are a dangerous thing. They help us measure things, butmeasuring in the spiritual realm isn't always a healthy or holy thing. In one sense, we count people because people count. I get that. But there is a great danger when it comes to churches. Numbers tend to produce pride or jealousy. And both of those things will eat you alive spiritually.

I find it interesting that counting numbers was one of David's downfalls. In II Samuel 24 he tells Joab to number the people. Joab asks an insightful question: "Why does my lord the king delight in this thing?" David wasn't just counting. He was delighting in it. But I don't think it was always that way. When the people sang about David killing his tens of thousands it didn't translate into pride, but something changed over time. David is relying on numbers. David isdelighting in numbers. It's a prideful numbering. David was conscience-stricken after he took the census, but it was too late. The punishment for David adding up? God subtracted 70,000.
The point? Be careful how you count. And if it results in pride or jealousy, stop counting. The Lord will not share his glory!

-Mark Batterson-

Chosen Peoples

God reveals to John that he is going to call forth a people that has been purchased.He is going to call forth a people from every tribe, every tongue, every people and every nation.

Now when we hear that, we have only got a few options theologically and I am going to give them to you.

One, here is the question. Is this prophecy based on God’s foreknowledge of how people would respond to the gospel? Or is it based on his sovereign decree?

Two, did Christ pay a price only and hope that he might gain an uncertain number of people who might choose him? Or did he pay a price for a certain number of people that God had chosen before the foundation of the world?

Three, and this is the kicker. Now listen. I want you to think about this. Was Jesus able to reveal to John that men from every tribe, tongue, people and nation would be redeemed simply because he was able to look forward in time and see that fortunately that is the way things turned out? Or was it because God had ordained it from before the foundation of the world?

I will give you the answer. Psalms two, six and eight, chapter two verse six and eight: But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain. I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ‘Thou art My Son, Today I have begotten Thee. ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Thine inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Thy possession.

“I will give them to you, Son.”

And then in John 6:37, “All that the Father gives me will come to me and the one who comes to me I most certainly will not cast out.”

Now I want to conclude with just saying this. The infinite value of the death of Christ secures for us the right to offer the gospel to every creature on this planet and to do so passionately. That is why one of the first administrative acts of Christ when he had all authority and all power, was to send forth his men to preach to every creature on the face of the earth.

Excerpts from "The Guaranteed Harvest" by Paul Washer

Whether it is one family saved from a deluge in a makeshift boat, granting a baby to an
old man and his barren wife, sending a favored son to prison in Egypt, placing a baby in a basket of reeds and setting him afloat on the Nile, dividing a sea, diverting the spear of a wicked king thrown at a young psalmist who would replace for serving the Messiah’s line from an evil queen when only one male descendant remained on earth, watching over an exiled people and bringing them home again, moving and entire empire to hold a census in order to bring one unknown carpenter to his home town in Bethlehem, whether it involved sending his Son and having him offered up on the cross by the hands of the wicked men, whether it involves resurrecting him from the dead and gathering a people to be his bride, every detail is worked out. And not one thing is left to chance.


I fear for some of the young people who are here tonight. Listen. There is absolutely
nothing more important than Jesus Christ. If you sense boredom, fight against that
boredom and pay attention because your life depends on everything you hear when a
Bible is opened. Seek with all your heart to know him. Hate the fact that you don’t care
to know him. Do whatever is within your means to seek him and to hear his Word.

I always say this. Missions... there is only two ministries in missions. You either go
down in the well or you hold the rope for those who are going down. Either way there
will be scars on your hands. Stand up. Show me your scars. What has it cost you to be a
Christian? What has it cost you to follow him? What has it cost you to take the gospel to the nations? What have you given up?

I know a dear brother and if you walk up to him he is an old man. And you say, “Brother,
tell me something about Jesus.”
He will turn around with his face glowing and tears just flowing down his face. “Let me
tell you about the Lamb.”
I wish we would see him as that precious. 

I don’t need to psych you up for missions. I don’t need to get you like some football player riled up to go do some good deed. What we need is a vision of Christ. And that will compel you.

That is what we need. That is what we need in evangelicalism. That is what we need in

reformed movement and sovereign grace movements and every other kind of movement.
We need an exalted vision of the beauty and power and the unique dignity of the person
of Jesus Christ.

But notice, when he directs John, he does not direct John to himself. He points away from himself and he directs John to the person of Jesus Christ. That is such a good word for those of us who are preachers.

There are two things in which men must be trained. One is to know their God. And the
other is to understand the gospel.

The greatest, most splendid creatures in all of heaven acknowledge him to be front and
center in all things and yet you and I are so quick to forget him and to neglect him. What foolish creatures we are. It is for this reason God has given us the Word of God to renew our mind. It is for this reason God has given us a Church, that we might sharpen each other constantly, constantly prod one another, constantly be moving, motivating, stimulating one another to forget these vain distractions, this Vanity Fair called our world and to focus on everything that is the focus of heaven and that is Jesus Christ.
He is not some 

little accessory to your already wonderful life. He is everything or he is

nothing.


You know, these people moping about us living in a post Christian America. That gives
us an opportunity to live it like first century Christians. We may even get to suffer for
him before we get out of here. What a privilege. What a privilege.

Men hate the cross and if they don’t hate you, you are not preaching the cross.

http://media.sermonaudio.com/mediapdf/33102035272.pdf 

Hosea

Last night in the shower I found myself thinking, "I haven't been in the Word today...and I really don't want to  either..." Then I realized how little I love God and desire to be with Him. And my heart broke. I knew the one thing I needed the most then was God's Word for sure. I journaled a little before and I marveled that I should ever be an object of God's love, that He should ever want to adopt me as a child. I can totally relate with Kellie as she jokingly said a few weeks ago, "God, are you ever sad that you chose me?" 


I reflected on how faithless I am, and how faithful God is. He is daily pursuing me and often times I must confess that I am a rebellious, running child. It made me think of the story of Hosea. I hadn't read it in quite a while so I spent some time last night reading through it. In Chapter 3 God tells Hosea to go purchase his wife [again] out of whoredome... and I stopped and thought... Hosea did not just take that unworthy woman as his own wife... That is amazing in itself. But he sacrificed for her! It cost him money. 15 shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley. Now, I'm not sure exactly how much that is in today's money...but it was something. And then the beauty of it... That is Christ! That is me! Christ did not just take me [and the rest of the Church], in our unworthiness and unfaithfulness as His bride... That alone is an unthinkable measure of love... But he sacrificed his life and gave His all! Infinite, unmeasurable love!! That the holy Lamb, pure white, perfectly spotless and righteous should ever die for a lowly worm such as us, fallen and rebellious, seeking after the idols of our hearts... 






Romans 5:7,8

⁷Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.⁸But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.






Talk about humbling. 


Jesus, Thank You Video

Fruit: Joy

Scripture says the following about joy [and so much more!]


Our joy is to be full in Christ. Can't be taken away. We are to have joy in trials. God's Word is the joy of our heart. Belief in Christ results in joy that is inexpressible and full of glory. God's word is written so that our joy may be complete. In God's presence there is fullness of joy.


Joy in ministry of the Holy Spirit. Joy in the finished work & future coming of Christ. Joy with the saints in worship. Joy of salvation, joy in the works of the Lord, joy in the law of the Lord.


Christ endured the cross for the joy set before Him.


Believers are commanded all across the Psalms to sing for joy, to praise the Lord in joy. Paul says in Phil 4:4, Rejoice. Again I say, rejoice!


What is joy? I came across a neat definition in one commentary... "A constant state of calm-gladness and a thankful, faithful, unwavering, always rejoicing and praising heart." That just about sums it up. 


Happiness is what the world knows... a good feeling that is dependent upon favorable circumstances. It is temporary and fleeting, a mood, an emotion. But joy... it is that permanent gladness of heart, despite the world around you, made possibly only by faith in Christ. 


I think of the sermon by Piper where a man's daughter goes flying through a windshield and lies dead on the street, and through the deepest possible pain he says, "God is enough. God is enough. He is good. He will take care of us. He will satisfy us. He will get us through this. He is our treasure. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth I desire but you."  That is joy. No matter what the storm, to look to heaven and know Christ is your treasure. Your joy. Your love. Your strength. 


And yet I see so often that my joy lies in my performance, my works, my attainments, myself. I see my joy shaken when I lose sight of God's Word and promises. When I see trials as a burden and not as a change to grow in faith and character and intimacy with the Lord. My joy is sucked when I allow desires and expectations to rule my heart rather than Christ. When I fall in love with the world and forsake my bridegroom. 

That Christ would be my treasure. 

Good articles:
http://bible.org/seriespage/true-source-joy-luke-1017-24
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/2003/130_Quest_Joy_Found_Christ/


Pipers Clip

Love

I went through scriptures that talk about love and paraphrased them...

Laying down of rights and wants, putting others first. Deny self. Builds up others, covers transgressions, forgives. Merciful, compassionate, forebearing. Seeks God above all, compelled by Christ, originated by God. Cannot be quenched. To love enemies and one another. Love to be genuine. Is a fruit of, production of, result of the Holy Spirit. Greastest characteristic for a Christian to put on. Proof of our salvation. Is patient, kind, not prideful or rude.

So how can I love more? Or love better?

1. I need to be rooted and built up in Christ, in the Gospel, in the Truths of the Word. Need Scripture actively on my heart and my mind. Need to constantly meditate on the Gospel.
2. I need humble dependence in prayer. Only God can give me the grace and softened heart to love.
3. I need to recognize my unworthiness of God's love and be filled with thanksgiving for the abundance He gives. I nailed Jesus to the tree. I committed the infinitely highest form of treason against the infinitely highest God.
4. Put others first, which should be a natural outflow from the first 3. 

Sometimes I think that Christian Paul surely would not have said he was the chief of sinners if he would have seen my life. There are days that I may as well carry around a little wooden idol of myself, because I can be the most selfish and self-centered person I know. And to think that God calls me Righteous and Beloved in Christ. I am not quick to forgive and forebear. I am not slow to anger or compassion or mercy. I have an awful time giving grace when I am wronged (or think I have been wronged). 

Make my heart loathe the thought of my flesh, Lord, and come running to Christ, bow at His feet, and cling to Him alone. 

Examine Self

So I have started really digging into the Fruits of The Spirit. And wowww! Do I ever need to be sanctified! But before I post the first one, I was thinking about why to even study the Fruits... why even take the time to sit down and read the scripture and make application?....

The other day I went outside and ripped down these vines with both hands that have climbed about 10 feet up our trellis. Even though they sort of looked pretty, they wrapped themselves all around what looked to be a former shrub sort of plant on the ground. Nothing was left but dead husks and twigs. In the process, I managed to get pretty scratched up, a few cuts, and very dirty and sweaty. Any gardener can relate, yeah? 

Scripture makes it clear that as believers, we need to often examine ourselves and test our ways. Sin is like those nasty weed vines. They can root themselves and wrap all around our hearts, even sort of looking good. But in the end, we know they kill everything. The process of ripping out that sin can be tough! Those sins can be rooted deep and wrapped tight. And part of the problem can sometimes be ourselves! We may even help those sins hang on tight with one hand while trying to rip with the other. It can be a messy process. 

"Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the LORD!" -Lam 3:40

"Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!" -2 Corin 13:5

"In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood." Hebrews 12:4

Genesis 4:7b Sin is crouching at the door. It's desire is for you, but you must rule over it. 

 "Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like." -James 1:22-25

Great Quotes

"If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me." -Robert McCheyne


"[God] shows his freedom and lordship by discriminating between sinners, causing some to hear the gospel while others do not hear it, and moving some of those who hear it to repentance while leaving others in their unbelief, thus teaching his saints that he owes mercy to none and that it is entirely of his grace, not at all through their own effort, that they themselves have found life." - J.I. Packer, Knowing God

"Free will without God's grace is not free will at all, but is the permanent prisoner and bondslave of evil, since it
cannot turn itself to good." - Martin Luther

"The question isn't were you challenged. The question is were you changed?"  -Leonard Ravenhill

"As we pass through trials, most of our wounds are self-inflicted. We are scarred by stress and anxiety because we do not believe our God. -Paul Washer

"Praise God that He has not saved us and set us loose. I would be afraid to leave my bed, if it was not for His continuing providence." -Paul Washer

"A lean soul cannot produce the abundance that shall feed the people of God."-Spurgeon

"My worth, especially in ministry, does not pend on man's approval of me, but of Christ's perfect finished work imputed to me." 

 Dan Fisher - "I've heard it said that the most arrogant person on earth is the person who believes that salvation can be lost, but still believes himself to be saved.

Any sin is more or less heinous depending upon the honor and majesty of the one whom we had offended. Since God is of infinite honor, infinite majesty, and infinite holiness, the slightest sin is of infinite consequence. The slightest sin is nothing less than cosmic treason when we realize against whom we have sinned --Jonathan Edwards

An American pastor was visiting the pastor of a Church in a country where Christians are under heavy persecution. The US pastor said, "It must be so very difficult to pastor the church here." The other pastor replied, "Not so, it must be difficult in America. Here we know who the true Christians are."

"This is what we mean when we use terms like sovereign grace or irresistible grace. We mean that the Holy Spirit is God’s Spirit, and therefore he is omnipotent and sovereign. And therefore, he is irresistible and infallibly effective in his regenerating work. Which doesn’t mean that we don’t resist him. We do. The Bible is plain about that (Acts 7:51). What the sovereignty of grace and the sovereignty of the Spirit mean is that when God chooses, he can overcome the rebellion and resistance of our wills. He can make Christ look so compelling that our resistance is broken and we freely come to him and receive him and believe him." - John Piper

Behold, How He Has Loved Us__Spurgeon

There Is A Fountain   [Youtube Video Link]

It was at the grave of Lazarus that Jesus wept, and his grief was so manifest to the onlookers that they said, "Behold how he loved him!" Most of us here, I trust, are not mere onlookers, but we have a share in the special love of Jesus. We see evidences of that love, not in his tears, but in the precious blood that he so freely shed for us; so we ought to marvel even more than those Jews did at the love of Jesus, and to see further into his heart than they did, and to know more of him than they could in the brief interval in which they had become acquainted with him. When we think of his love to us, we may well cry, "Behold how he has loved us!"   

When did Christ's love begin to work for us? It was long before we were born, long before the world was created; far, far back, in eternity, our Saviour gave the first proof of his love to us by espousing our cause.

Remember, too, that in that eternal secret council, the Lord Jesus Christ became the Representative and Surety of his chosen people.

 In the fulness of time, our Lord Jesus Christ left the glories of heaven, and took upon him our nature. We know so little of what the word "heaven" means that we cannot adequately appreciate the tremendous sacrifice that the Son of God must have made in order to become the Som of Mary. 

Then, "being found in fashion as a man," he took upon himself human sickness and suffering.  

But if you want to see the love of Jesus at the highest point it ever reached, you must, by faith, gaze upon him when he took upon himself the sins of all his people, as Peter writes, "who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree." Oh, how could one who was so pure, so absolutely perfect, ever bear so foul a load? Yet he did bear it, and the transfer of his people's sin from them to him was so complete that the inspired prophet wrote, "The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all," and the inspired apostle wrote, "He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." 

Further, than that, Christ has so completely given himself to us that all that he has is ours. He is the glorious Husband, and his Church is his bride, the Lamb's wife; and there is nothing that he has which he is not also hers even now, and which he will not share with her for ever. By a marriage bond which cannot be broken, for he hateth putting away, he hath espoused her unto himself in righteousness and truth, and she shall be one with him throughout eternity. He has gone up to his Father's house to take possession of the many mansions there, not for himself, but for his people; 

I must, however, mention one more proof of Christ's love, and that is this, he has made us long for heaven, and gives us at least a measure of preparation for it. 

Spurgeon  http://www.biblebb.com/files/spurgeon/3228.htm 

Love Gift From The Father To The Son

In Ernie's sermon Sunday he said, "Do you realize you are a love gift from the Father to the Son? [Not that you have done anything to be this gift]..."

This morning I knelt down and really meditated on that in prayer. And I realized I know so little of God's love towards me as His child. My sin looms so large and I know how undeserving I am. I know how infinitely gracious God is towards me. But I have not thought enough about the love of God. How can I pour out love if I am not drinking in the perfect love of my perfect Father?

Lord, would you overwhelm my understanding of how deep and wide and vast your love is towards me in Christ?

How deep the Fathers love for us. How vast beyond all measure. That He should give His

only Son. To make a wretch His treasure.

You're the potter and I'm just the clay

A new favorite of mine, SpitUnity, has a line in one of their songs that says,

"You're the potter and I'm just the clay. And the clay cant say, why you made me this way? And the clay can't say, what you doin today? But Im trustin I'll be finished when He's done And His goal is transformin me into his Son."

I am seeing more and more that God is the potter, not me. And what a wonderful thing that is. In Bible study last week, a lady gave a great example that I have thought about often this week. When you are working with clay, you pull it out this way and that way, you roll it and knead it. You mold it into something you desire, something that pleases you. And just when you think the work is done, the potter smushes it on the table and starts all over again. And when he finally decides it is just right, he glazes it and puts it in the blazing fire. Then he pulls it out. Done? No. He glazes it again. And fires it again. Over and over until the process is complete and He has a beautiful masterpiece.

I know that on this side of glory I will be pulled and smashed and put in the fire. And oh, it hurts. I have already begun to experience it. But I can not wait until I reach heaven and can stand before our Lord with His righteousness and in His image.