To God Alone be the Glory
Thursday, November 10, 2011
The Paradox of God
Let us therefore strive to enter that rest (Heb 4:11)
There are so many things about God that are paradoxical. For example
I will not delve into the nuances of the word strive. Rather, I would like us each of us to consider how we (each of us personally today) should be striving to enter God's rest? Will it be different for each of us? Sure, since the things that cause us unrest, the sins that so easily entangle and distract and allow us to drift away from our Savior are different. But the reality is that the author of Hebrews loved is church so much that in the power of the Spirit he commanded them (and us) to strive to enter God's rest.
Can we do that today? Can we begin to see and respond to the reality that God's economy is multi-dimensional and that we each have roles and responsibilities and expectations that go way beyond simply praying a prayer, acknowledging and creed and coasting for 50-60 years waiting for our eventual rest? The author of Hebrews sees this as a recipe for disaster.
To God Alone be the Glory
There are so many things about God that are paradoxical. For example
- God is the creator and sustainer of all things, yet He calls us to be stewards of His creation
- God is the holy and perfect judge, yet is gracious and merciful
- To God, the nations are dust on His scales, yet he cares about the smallest insect and the least of his children
- God's grace is free, yet it must be clung to tenaciously
I will not delve into the nuances of the word strive. Rather, I would like us each of us to consider how we (each of us personally today) should be striving to enter God's rest? Will it be different for each of us? Sure, since the things that cause us unrest, the sins that so easily entangle and distract and allow us to drift away from our Savior are different. But the reality is that the author of Hebrews loved is church so much that in the power of the Spirit he commanded them (and us) to strive to enter God's rest.
Can we do that today? Can we begin to see and respond to the reality that God's economy is multi-dimensional and that we each have roles and responsibilities and expectations that go way beyond simply praying a prayer, acknowledging and creed and coasting for 50-60 years waiting for our eventual rest? The author of Hebrews sees this as a recipe for disaster.
To God Alone be the Glory
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
The Edge of a Knife
Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. Heb 2:1
I imagine most of us, if we're honest, would admit that there are times, spiritually speaking, when we feel like we are standing on the edge of a knife.
I am confident the list could go on, just based on my own experience. But my point is not to beat myself to a pulp or to have anyone reading this beat themselves up either. Instead, it is my meager attempt to take Heb 3:13 seriously. The author of the book of Hebrews challenges his church to exhort one another each day so that none them will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
I plead with you, as a fellow pilgrim on the journey to the Celestial City, do not be afraid to examine your lives in light of God's holy Word. The reason sin has so much power, the reason Satan has so much success is that we somehow think we can live the Christian life on our own. God has given us His Word and His Spirit to go before us, to come behind us and to walk along side of us on this very perilous journey of faith.
As an encouragement, there are two verses the press into my soul, whenever I find myself on the edge of the knife. The first is in John 10 where Jesus emphatically states that nothing can snatch his sheep out of his hands (Jn 10:28) Since Jesus gave us the salvation we are resting in, doesn't it make sense that he will complete what he started?
The second verse is really a set of verses from Rom 8. Rom 8:1 bookended with Rom 8:38-39, communicate an amazing truth. Since there is now no (zero, zilch, nada) condemnation for those who are in Jesus, I am convinced that nothing (no one, no event, no power) can ever separate us from the love of God that is in Jesus.
To God Alone be the Glory
I imagine most of us, if we're honest, would admit that there are times, spiritually speaking, when we feel like we are standing on the edge of a knife.
- It could be the allure of a new job with the increased pay and prestige but yet will cost ministry opportunities and family & marital time.
- It could be the young man (or woman) at the gym who really listens to you and genuinely cares about your opinions and feelings yet could cost you the devotion and love you've pledged to your husband (or wife).
- It could be the praise and gratitude offered to you for a service rendered to God which causes you to rejoice in praise but may also draw you down the path of pride and may subvert the very service you intended to render to God
I am confident the list could go on, just based on my own experience. But my point is not to beat myself to a pulp or to have anyone reading this beat themselves up either. Instead, it is my meager attempt to take Heb 3:13 seriously. The author of the book of Hebrews challenges his church to exhort one another each day so that none them will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
I plead with you, as a fellow pilgrim on the journey to the Celestial City, do not be afraid to examine your lives in light of God's holy Word. The reason sin has so much power, the reason Satan has so much success is that we somehow think we can live the Christian life on our own. God has given us His Word and His Spirit to go before us, to come behind us and to walk along side of us on this very perilous journey of faith.
As an encouragement, there are two verses the press into my soul, whenever I find myself on the edge of the knife. The first is in John 10 where Jesus emphatically states that nothing can snatch his sheep out of his hands (Jn 10:28) Since Jesus gave us the salvation we are resting in, doesn't it make sense that he will complete what he started?
The second verse is really a set of verses from Rom 8. Rom 8:1 bookended with Rom 8:38-39, communicate an amazing truth. Since there is now no (zero, zilch, nada) condemnation for those who are in Jesus, I am convinced that nothing (no one, no event, no power) can ever separate us from the love of God that is in Jesus.
To God Alone be the Glory
Monday, November 7, 2011
The Desolate Agony of the Cross
“My God , my God, why have you forsaken me?” Mt 27:34, Ps 22:1
Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied. Isa 53:10, 11
Last week I posted a quote by John Stott (read it here). I used this same quote this weekend to close out a sermon. But as I read it out loud, one phrase stuck hard in my mind: the desolate agony of the cross. What hit me is that in one simple phrase Stott captured the real scandal, the real tragedy and the real beauty of the cross.
Think about it. Sure Christ had to go through intense physical suffering. It was part of bearing our griefs and our sorrows. And yes He had to endure humiliation and rejection, since those are exactly the crimes we are most guilty of before God's holy throne. But neither the physical torture nor the psychological abuse solved our ultimate dilemma. We are a sinful, rebellious people. We are broken to the very core of who we are. We are the servant who owes his master over 5,000 lifetime salaries.(Mt 18:23-27)
Think about the garden of Gethsemane. What could possibly cause the Son of God, the one who could raise the dead, heal the sick and feed the multitudes to sweat drops of blood? What was it about the upcoming 24 hours that caused the eternal second person of the Trinity, the one who created and sustains all things, the one who was infinitely loved by the Father to say "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death"? (Mk 14:34)
The simple yet astounding reality is this. As Jesus bore our sins, God, who dwells in unapproachable light, could no longer look upon Him. The desolate agony of the cross is that in the majesty and mystery of the Trinity, the Father and the Son were ripped apart. Christ needed to endure the effects of hell, the despair, the total isolation, the unquenchable anguish and the absolute separation from God. Trust me when I say as alone as any of us may feel, we have never been as alone as Jesus was on the cross.
So today, can we bow (or kneel, or lay prostrate) before the savior who humbled himself to endure the desolate agony of the cross for us? Remember, Jesus did not do this for the fun of it or because he had to. He willingly and purposefully endured all of God's just wrath to rescue and redeem save you and me specifically. We have been on His mind and in his heart a long, long time.
To God Alone be the Glory
Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied. Isa 53:10, 11
Last week I posted a quote by John Stott (read it here). I used this same quote this weekend to close out a sermon. But as I read it out loud, one phrase stuck hard in my mind: the desolate agony of the cross. What hit me is that in one simple phrase Stott captured the real scandal, the real tragedy and the real beauty of the cross.
Think about it. Sure Christ had to go through intense physical suffering. It was part of bearing our griefs and our sorrows. And yes He had to endure humiliation and rejection, since those are exactly the crimes we are most guilty of before God's holy throne. But neither the physical torture nor the psychological abuse solved our ultimate dilemma. We are a sinful, rebellious people. We are broken to the very core of who we are. We are the servant who owes his master over 5,000 lifetime salaries.(Mt 18:23-27)
Think about the garden of Gethsemane. What could possibly cause the Son of God, the one who could raise the dead, heal the sick and feed the multitudes to sweat drops of blood? What was it about the upcoming 24 hours that caused the eternal second person of the Trinity, the one who created and sustains all things, the one who was infinitely loved by the Father to say "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death"? (Mk 14:34)
The simple yet astounding reality is this. As Jesus bore our sins, God, who dwells in unapproachable light, could no longer look upon Him. The desolate agony of the cross is that in the majesty and mystery of the Trinity, the Father and the Son were ripped apart. Christ needed to endure the effects of hell, the despair, the total isolation, the unquenchable anguish and the absolute separation from God. Trust me when I say as alone as any of us may feel, we have never been as alone as Jesus was on the cross.
So today, can we bow (or kneel, or lay prostrate) before the savior who humbled himself to endure the desolate agony of the cross for us? Remember, Jesus did not do this for the fun of it or because he had to. He willingly and purposefully endured all of God's just wrath to rescue and redeem save you and me specifically. We have been on His mind and in his heart a long, long time.
To God Alone be the Glory
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Let my words be filled with His grace
As I step before God's people today, I re-posting these song lyrics. My desperate prayer is that "if I can speak, let my words be filled with His grace"
SDG
This song was released by Steven Curtis Chapman in 2004. Download here.
What can I do?
How can I live?
To show my world
The treasure of Jesus
What will it take?
What could I give?
So they can know
The treasure He is
Chorus:
And if I can sing
Let my songs be full of His glory
If I can speak
Let my words be full of His grace
And if I should live or die
Let me be found pursuing this prize
The One that alone satisfies
The treasure of Jesus
To God Alone be the Glory
SDG
This song was released by Steven Curtis Chapman in 2004. Download here.
What can I do?
How can I live?
To show my world
The treasure of Jesus
What will it take?
What could I give?
So they can know
The treasure He is
Chorus:
And if I can sing
Let my songs be full of His glory
If I can speak
Let my words be full of His grace
And if I should live or die
Let me be found pursuing this prize
The One that alone satisfies
The treasure of Jesus
To God Alone be the Glory
Friday, November 4, 2011
A desperate prayer
(Author's note: What follows is simply a compilation of various prayers that I have offered to God this week. My goal is not to engender your pity or your sympathy or even your empathy. Instead, my hope is that we can all be real with God and abandon ourselves in our desperate need of Him)
Father, Abba, Daddy,
Why do I so often come to you wearing a mask? You know all things. You've created all things. You control all things. You know me. You've created me. You are sovereignly at work in my life. Who do I think I am to try to hide from you or pretend that I am someone other than who I am? Perhaps this is just another reminder of how deep my rebellion and arrogance go. And it reveals how desperately bankrupt I am.
But, I need to thank you for the infinite grace and mercy that you have shown me in Christ. I am only now, 20 years into this journey with you, beginning to realize the immensity of the ocean of the love of Christ. I am incredibly grateful for all that Christ has accomplished on the Cross and that you have applied his finished work to my traitorous, treacherous life. And yet I am still standing on the shore holding all I know about you and your Son and the Spirit in a thimble. I desperately need to dive into the ocean of your grace and majesty, power and holiness. I desperately need to drink deeply from your fountain of patience, humility, compassion and forgiveness.
As I consider Christ's promise on your behalf that you would give good things to your children, I want so much to ask and seek and knock in childlike faith not childish pride or selfishness. I regret that too many of my prayers are one dimensional and treat you as a genie or a vending machine and have a view that this life is our ultimate objective. Forgive me, please. How often do I forget Jesus' very words "Your Father knows that we need them all (life's necessities). But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added onto you"?
So here I am, open and exposed. The more I look at myself, the more I see leprosy and gangrene, rotting teeth and cancer to the bone. There is nothing I have to offer you and nothing I can do on your behalf without you. Quite frankly, I'm desperate. If you will, take this rebellious, traitorous, willful, arrogant coward and use him in a way that brings you the most glory and impacts Christ's kingdom in a way that only you can. And empower me to turn any success or setback into an opportunity for your praise and testimony of your great grace and mercy and love and power. Please take my values, my priorities, everything that drives me and reorient them in way that is radically aligned with your values, priorities and what drove (and drives) Christ.
I can only lay this before your throne humbly and with tears because of and through and in alignment with your Son, my savior, Jesus. Amen.
To God Alone be the Glory
Father, Abba, Daddy,
Why do I so often come to you wearing a mask? You know all things. You've created all things. You control all things. You know me. You've created me. You are sovereignly at work in my life. Who do I think I am to try to hide from you or pretend that I am someone other than who I am? Perhaps this is just another reminder of how deep my rebellion and arrogance go. And it reveals how desperately bankrupt I am.
But, I need to thank you for the infinite grace and mercy that you have shown me in Christ. I am only now, 20 years into this journey with you, beginning to realize the immensity of the ocean of the love of Christ. I am incredibly grateful for all that Christ has accomplished on the Cross and that you have applied his finished work to my traitorous, treacherous life. And yet I am still standing on the shore holding all I know about you and your Son and the Spirit in a thimble. I desperately need to dive into the ocean of your grace and majesty, power and holiness. I desperately need to drink deeply from your fountain of patience, humility, compassion and forgiveness.
As I consider Christ's promise on your behalf that you would give good things to your children, I want so much to ask and seek and knock in childlike faith not childish pride or selfishness. I regret that too many of my prayers are one dimensional and treat you as a genie or a vending machine and have a view that this life is our ultimate objective. Forgive me, please. How often do I forget Jesus' very words "Your Father knows that we need them all (life's necessities). But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added onto you"?
So here I am, open and exposed. The more I look at myself, the more I see leprosy and gangrene, rotting teeth and cancer to the bone. There is nothing I have to offer you and nothing I can do on your behalf without you. Quite frankly, I'm desperate. If you will, take this rebellious, traitorous, willful, arrogant coward and use him in a way that brings you the most glory and impacts Christ's kingdom in a way that only you can. And empower me to turn any success or setback into an opportunity for your praise and testimony of your great grace and mercy and love and power. Please take my values, my priorities, everything that drives me and reorient them in way that is radically aligned with your values, priorities and what drove (and drives) Christ.
I can only lay this before your throne humbly and with tears because of and through and in alignment with your Son, my savior, Jesus. Amen.
To God Alone be the Glory
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
How desperate are you?
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” Jn 6:68-69
Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 2 Cor 3::5-6
Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” Mk 9:24
I could easily add a dozen verses to the list above, but I think these are sufficient to make the point: Our christian life, beginning to end, must be built on desperation.
There is only one antidote for this malaise and it comes in three parts. First, we must see God for who is He is. Loving Father? Yes. Sovereign King? Absolutely. Holy! Holy! Holy! ? What do we do with that? The One who holds the nations as dust on the scales? How do we approach Him? The one who cannot stand sin and abhors those who commit it? (Ps 5:6) Not pretty. And it leaves us...desperate.
But, we must also see Christ for who He is. Sustainer of the creator and universe. The author and perfecter of our salvation. The only begotten of the Father.The one, true Israel. Our great High Priest All true. But, the only giver of faith? The only one who draws us to salvation? The one in whom all our spiritual nourishment will always flow? The only one worthy to stand in the immediate presence of God the Father? The one who, even now is interceding for us? These thoughts simply leave me...desperate.
Finally, we cannot neglect the Holy Spirit. Where would our salvation be without Him? Where would our growth in Christ be without Him? Where would our family or our church be without Him? How much of the Bible would make sense, much less connect at a heart level without the Spirit. Which talent or gift would bring glory to God and further the kingdom of Christ apart from the Spirit? All this buries me and drives me to a deeper sense of desperation.
I'm writing, as usual, with twin motives. First, I am simply sharing what God is pressing upon my heart. And, it is becoming clearer to me, that my confidence is more in me than it should be and that my desperation for God is way too low. Second, what I see in myself, I see around me. Maybe not with the same clarity or in the same degree. But, if we are honest, most of us are not desperate enough.
To God Alone be the Glory
Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 2 Cor 3::5-6
Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” Mk 9:24
I could easily add a dozen verses to the list above, but I think these are sufficient to make the point: Our christian life, beginning to end, must be built on desperation.
- Desperation over our sin.
- Desperation over our growth in Christ
- Desperation over the depth and the breadth of our prayers
- Desperation over our attempts at true worship
- Desperation over out abilities to serve Christ and glorify God
- Desperation over the state of our hearts, and by extension, our churches
- Desperation over our lack of zeal and the ever present lure of lukewarmness
There is only one antidote for this malaise and it comes in three parts. First, we must see God for who is He is. Loving Father? Yes. Sovereign King? Absolutely. Holy! Holy! Holy! ? What do we do with that? The One who holds the nations as dust on the scales? How do we approach Him? The one who cannot stand sin and abhors those who commit it? (Ps 5:6) Not pretty. And it leaves us...desperate.
But, we must also see Christ for who He is. Sustainer of the creator and universe. The author and perfecter of our salvation. The only begotten of the Father.The one, true Israel. Our great High Priest All true. But, the only giver of faith? The only one who draws us to salvation? The one in whom all our spiritual nourishment will always flow? The only one worthy to stand in the immediate presence of God the Father? The one who, even now is interceding for us? These thoughts simply leave me...desperate.
Finally, we cannot neglect the Holy Spirit. Where would our salvation be without Him? Where would our growth in Christ be without Him? Where would our family or our church be without Him? How much of the Bible would make sense, much less connect at a heart level without the Spirit. Which talent or gift would bring glory to God and further the kingdom of Christ apart from the Spirit? All this buries me and drives me to a deeper sense of desperation.
I'm writing, as usual, with twin motives. First, I am simply sharing what God is pressing upon my heart. And, it is becoming clearer to me, that my confidence is more in me than it should be and that my desperation for God is way too low. Second, what I see in myself, I see around me. Maybe not with the same clarity or in the same degree. But, if we are honest, most of us are not desperate enough.
To God Alone be the Glory
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