Category: PASSION Reflections

Behold Our God In 2015

On By BrianIn Book of Isaiah, God & His Glory

Perhaps our greatest need as we begin a new year is to behold our God – to be reminded of who he is. Isaiah 41 gives us just the glimpse we need:

Our God Rules Over All (v1-7) – God raised up Cyrus to end the Babylonian empire and usher in the Persian empire so the people of Israel could return to their land. Indeed he rules over each generation that comes along – he is the first and the last. And our God will rule over this year. God has a plan for 2015, and he will fulfill his plan. He has a purpose for your life this year.

Our God Cares About Us and Helps Us (v8-20) – God has chosen his people to be his servants, and he will be with us in 2015. He will strengthen us in our weakness. He will help us in our trials. He will uphold us in our need.

Our God Knows The Future (v21-29) – The gods of the nations cannot tell the future – they are nothing, a delusion, empty wind. But our God predicted the coming of Cyrus about 200 years before he came onto the scene. Our God knows the future. He knows what will happen in 2015. Nothing this year will take him by surprise.

Our God rules over the coming year. He knows what the coming year will bring. He cares about us and will help us this year. So let us set our gaze upon him, and trust him with the 2015.

The God of the Weak

On By BrianIn Book of Isaiah

Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the LORD,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?
– Isaiah 40:27

Have you ever felt like that? Thought that? Said that?
My way is hidden from God. He doesn’t know what is going on? He doesn’t see?
Or worse – my right is disregarded. He doesn’t care.
Ever felt abandoned by God?

Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted.
– Isaiah 40:30

Ever been faint? Weary? Exhausted?
Physically exhausted by sickness or disease or injury or just old age?
Mentally exhausted with all the things you are trying to keep track of?
Emotionally exhausted by grief or fear or anxiety – distressed, discouraged, depressed?
Or spiritually exhausted by temptations?

God has a word for us who are weak, weary, in need of strength, in need of God.
He calls us to behold our God (v28).
He is the everlasting God. He is the Creator God.
He is the never-tiring God. He is the all-wise God.
He is a great God, and this great God is the God of the weak.

He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
– Isaiah 40:29

He gives power to the weak so that we might renew our strength,
and mount up with wings as eagles, and run and not be weary.
God gives us strength to do what is otherwise humanly impossible,
to overcome giants in our lives by his power,
to press on and endure great hardships in a supernatural way.
Our great God is the God of the weak who stoops down to help us,
to give us a power beyond ourselves.

And this power comes as we wait upon the Lord (v31).
We wait for the Lord with patience, trust, and expectation
that he will give his power to help us in our weakness.
We wait upon the Lord for strength in our sickness, disease, injury, or old age.
We wait upon the Lord for strength when we are overwhelmed.
We wait upon the Lord for strength in our grief, fears, anxieties, and discouragement.
We wait upon the Lord for strength in our temptations.

They who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.
Our great God is the God of the weak who gives power to those who wait upon him.
Will you wait upon the Lord today?

Our Shepherd

On By BrianIn Book of Isaiah

He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms;
he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young.
– Isaiah 40:11

God cares for us like a shepherd.

He tends his sheep. He takes care of us. He feeds us – both physically and spiritually. He provides for us – like a parent provides for their child. He prepares a table before us.

He gathers his sheep in his arms and carries us close to him. When we can’t walk on our own, he carries us – close to his heart. He loves us.

And he leads his sheep. Not harshly, but gently. He leads us at the right pace, and to the right place. He leads us beside still waters that we might be refreshed. He leads us in the paths of righteousness – a good path to tread! At times he leads us through valleys, but he is always with us to help us. His rod and staff comfort us.

No matter what you may be facing this Christmas, remember that the Lord is your shepherd, and he will take care of you.

Jesus and Human Sexuality

On By BrianIn Ten Commandments2 Comments

TenCommandsIt is often said that Jesus didn’t say anything about homosexuality. This is wrong on at least two accounts. First, such a statement fails to recognize that Jesus is God, and as God spoke the entire Bible which addresses homosexuality in several places. Second, such a statement misses Jesus’ clear teaching on human sexuality in Matthew 19:

First, God determines our gender. Jesus clearly says that God made us male and female (v4). Our gender is determined by God, and not by our thoughts, feelings, desires, or whims. God, by his act of creation, determines reality, and he creates us genetically and biologically as male or female. To reject his determination is to abandon reality. My gender is not for me to decide. God determines our gender.

Second, God determines the definition of marriage. Jesus takes us back to Genesis, and tells us that marriage is between a man and a woman (v5). Marriage is determined by God, and not by our thoughts, feelings, desires, or whims. Again, God as the Creator determines reality, and he has determined that marriage is between a man and a woman. To reject his determination is to abandon reality. The definition of marriage is not for me to decide. God determines the definition of marriage.

Third, God determines the right context for sex. Jesus teaches that it is within marriage that a man and woman are to have a one flesh sexual relationship (v5). The right context for sex is determined by God, and not by our thoughts, feelings, desires, or whims. God as our Creator determines not only reality, but also morality, and he has determined that sexual activity is to take place within marriage. And so a man and woman who sleep together before marriage, live together, shack up together for a night, or have an affair are committing sexual immorality and sinning against God. Two men or two women who engage in homosexual activity are committing sexual immorality and sinning against God. The right context for sex is not for me to decide. God determines the right context for sex.

Jesus teaches that God determines our gender, the definition of marriage, and the right context for sex. Which leave us with a stark choice: We can reject Jesus’ teaching and God’s determination, and join the rest of our culture in its mass sexual confusion. Or we can follow the teachings of Jesus, embracing both reality and morality. We can throw out the teachings of Jesus and go our own way, or we can follow him. The choice is ours, but we must choose. Let’s not have any nonsense about following Jesus while rejecting his teaching. We must choose.

What will you do with Jesus’ teaching on human sexuality?

Comfort My People

On By BrianIn Book of Isaiah

We all need comfort – comfort in tragedy, crisis, loss, and sickness. Comfort in weariness, sorrow, and depression. Comfort in guilt and punishment. In Isaiah 40:1 we read, “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.” He is speaking to the Judah exiles in Babylon, but there is application for us. And in these first eight verses we see where we can find the comfort we need.

We find comfort in God’s love (v1-2). He calls us his people. He is our God. We have a relationship together. He wants to minister comfort to us. In verse 2, he speaks tenderly to us. He cares about us. He loves us. Despite our past sins and failures, we are his people. In the struggles of life, we need to know that God loves us.

We find comfort in God’s salvation (v2). One day our trials – our warfare or hard service – will be over. Our sins are pardoned in Jesus Christ. In our trials and in sins, we need to know that God saves us.

We find comfort in God’s coming (v3-5). God’s salvation doesn’t come from a distance, but as God comes to us. And so God came to rescue the remnant out of exile. And as the gospel writers make clear by quoting these verses, God came to earth as a man to save us by dying on a cross for our sins. And God comes to us as we repent and believe, and he causes us to be born again and applies the work of Jesus on the cross to our lives. And God will come one day to usher in a new heaven and earth. In our sin and our guilt, we need to know that God comes to save us.

Finally, we find comfort in God’s promises (v6-8). The words of men will fail, for men are like grass that fades away. But God’s Word will stand forever, and so we can trust in his promises to us – promises to be a refuge and strength in our suffering, promises to forgive us of our sins, promises that one day he will wipe away our tears and put an end to all suffering, sickness, sin, and death. In our suffering and sin, we need to know that we can trust God promises to help us.

We all need comfort. And that comfort is found in God – in his love, his salvation, his coming, and his promises. May God comfort you today!

Thanking God for Himself

On By BrianIn Book of Isaiah, Habit Miscellaneous, Virtue Miscellaneous

Today I want to thank God that he is:

A Saving God – Isaiah 1:18

Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.

A Soon and Coming King – Isaiah 9:6-7

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

A Sovereign Lord – Isaiah 14:24

The LORD of hosts has sworn:
“As I have planned, so shall it be,
and as I have purposed, so shall it stand.

A Solid Rock – Isaiah 26:4

Trust in the LORD forever,
for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.

Why We Pursue Purity

On By BrianIn Ten Commandments1 Comment

TenCommandsA few days ago we considered how to pursue purity. Today, we want to consider why we should pursue purity. I Corinthians 6 gives us several reasons:

First, those who practice sexually immorality will not inherit the kingdom of God (v9-10). These words ought to startle us awake. Living in sexual sin is simply incompatible to a relationship with the Lord. Those who are living together, sleeping around, or practicing homosexual acts have no reason to think they are saved – they are outside the kingdom of God.

Second, sexual immorality belongs to our old way of life (v11). “Such were some of you,” but not anymore. Now we have been washed from that dirty behavior. Now we have been set apart from those sins. Now we are declared righteous in Jesus. We have a new life, and sexual immorality can have no part in it. In other words, we must live out who we now are in Christ.

Third, our bodies are meant for the Lord (v13-18). We are to use our bodies in service to Jesus, not in service to sin. How could we join our bodies to another in sexual sin, when we are joined to Christ?

Fourth, our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit (v19). How could we desecrate his temple by involving it in sexual sin? God is holy, and as his temples, we must strive to be holy.

Fifth, our bodies belong to God (v19-20). When Jesus died to pay for our sins, he purchased us out of our slavery to sin. We now belong to him. And so we must use our bodies to glorify him. Our actions must honor him.

Sexual immorality of all kinds is a characteristic of the old sinful way of life that is destined for hell. But in Christ, we have been washed and justified; we have a new life. Our bodies are set apart unto God. They are meant for the Lord. They are temples of the Holy Spirit. They belong to Him.

And so we must flee sexual immorality.

Pursuing Purity

On By BrianIn Ten Commandments

TenCommandsAs a young person, the slogan for purity was “Just Say No.” Which I suppose was good as far it went. The problem was that it simply didn’t go far enough. Purity is much more than simply avoiding sex outside of marriage. If we are going to pursue purity, we must guard our eyes, guard our minds, and guard our actions.

Guard Our Eyes – We need to guard our eyes from those things which would encourage impure or lustful thoughts (Job 31:1, Psalm 101:3). This of course includes pornography of all kinds. But it also includes certain movies, TV shows, pictures on Facebook, magazines, and books. It includes how we look at another person; we must not look at them with lustful intent (Matthew 5:28). Indeed to drive this point home, Jesus goes on to speak of gouging out our eyes. His point is not that we should injure ourselves, but that we must get serious about this. We need to guard our eyes.

Guard Your Mind – In Colossians 3:5, Paul tells us to put to death sexual immorality, and then works backwards showing how one gets to that point. And it begins with covetousness – desiring to possess that other person to use them for our own gratification. His point is clear – unless you are married to that person, he/she doesn’t belong to you, so don’t think (and then act) as if he/she does. Another root of sexual immorality that he points to is evil desire or lust. We are not to think of others with sexual desire. We are not to fantasize about others in this way. We need to guard our minds.

Guard Our Actions – Paul continues in Colossians 3:5 from coveting and evil desire to passion and impurity. Those are actions that flow from evil desire and lead to sexual immorality. So the Bible is not just teaching us to say no to sexual immorality, but also to those actions that would lead to sexual immorality. Song of Solomon warns us not to awaken love until it pleases (2:7, 3.5). That is, don’t do those things that will awaken desires within you that you can’t lawfully fulfill outside of marriage. We need to guard our actions.

Sexual immorality doesn’t just happen. It occurs when we fail to guard our eyes, guard our minds, and guard our actions. So let’s be on our guard. Pursue purity.

We Need A Savior

On By BrianIn Book of Isaiah

In II Kings 18, we are told that Hezekiah did what was right in the sight of the Lord. According to his own words in Isaiah 38, he walked before God in faithfulness and with a whole heart…

…Except when he was trusting Egypt instead of God to save them from Assyia (Isaiah 31).

…Except when he proudly showed off all his treasure to the Babylonians (Isaiah 39).

…Except when he cared only for his safety, treating his kingdom and his own family with disdain (Isaiah 39).

He did what was right…except when he didn’t. And Hezekiah needed a Savior.

As Christians, we seek to do what is right in God’s sight. We strive to walk before God in faithfulness and with a whole heart…

…Except for days when we fail to trust God in the midst of the trial.

…Except for situations when we seek our own glory instead of God’s glory.

…Except for times when we are self-centered instead of loving others.

We do what is right…except when we don’t. And we need a Savior.

Walking Before God

On By BrianIn Book of Isaiah

In Isaiah 38:3, Hezekiah mentions three characteristics about his walk before God:

First, he walked before God in faithfulness. He was faithful to God. He was faithful to God’s commands. He was loyal; he was obedient. What about us? In a world that ignores God and his commands, are we faithful to God? Are we faithfully seeking to obey God’s commands no matter how we feel or what the culture thinks? Are we walking before God in faithfulness?

Second, he walked before God with his whole heart. His heart was not divided between the one true God and other gods of the nations. What about us? Are we serving God with our whole heart? Or are there other gods that compete for our hearts? Jesus said that our hearts will be where our treasure is. So what do we treasure? God most of all? Or the things of this world? Are we walking before God with a whole heart?

Third, he walked before God doing what was good in God’s sight. His actions were righteous. His works were good. What about us? Are we doing what is good in God’s sight? Are we doing the good works God has prepared for us to do? What good things would God have us do today? Are we walking before God doing what is good?

How is our walk before God today? How do we need to grow?