Category: PASSION Reflections

Where Is Your Heart?

On By BrianIn Book of Isaiah, Heart1 Comment

And the Lord said:
“Because this people draw near with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
while their hearts are far from me,
and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men….
– Isaiah 29:13 (ESV)

We see here a spiritual deadness. Judah was just going through the religious motions. They were just following the religious traditions. And the problem was not that the traditions were dead. The problem was them. The problem was their hearts.

Our church celebrates the Lord’s Supper once a month. We have a Worship Service every Sunday at 11 a.m. Those are traditions. The issue is not the traditions, but the heart of the people as they come.

So where is your heart? Why do you gather with your church? Why do you minister? Is it just a habit (albeit a good one)? Is it just a tradition (again a good one)? Are you just going through the religious motions? Or do you gather with your church and serve others out of heart for God? Does your heart beat to worship God and serve others for Him?

Where is your heart?

What Will We Build Our Lives On?

On By BrianIn Book of Isaiah1 Comment

Isaiah 28 raises an important question: What will we build our lives on? Will we build our lives on the shifting sands of self and the ways of our world, or on the sure foundation of God? He is our sure foundation in at least four ways:

He is our crown of glory (v1-6). The Northern Kingdom was building their lives on the glory of man. They were living for themselves, for pleasure, for beauty, for riches. Sounds much like today. But all those things will be cast down, trampled on, swallowed up. In contrast, the remnant will find the Lord of Hosts to be their crown of glory. God is truly glorious, and his glory will never fade away. And he makes us glorious as we become his people and build our lives on Him. So will you seek glory in yourself and the world or in our glorious God? He is our sure foundation. So seek him.

He is our rest for the weary (v7-13). God offered rest to Judah, but they would not listen. They sought their rest in drinking. And so it is today. Many seek their rest in alcohol, food, pleasure, entertainment, drugs, any place but God. But these are only distractions – they can’t provide true rest for the weary. So come to the Lord, and he will provide rest for your soul. He is a rest from the futile chasing after the things of the world because he is our glory, our satisfaction. He is a rest in the midst of the fears and trials of life because he is bigger and stronger. What is your fear? What trials are you facing? He invites you to rest in Him. He is our sure foundation. So rest in Him.

He is our stone of security (v14-22). Judah sought security from Assyria through an alliance with Egypt. But it was a covenant of death, a refuge of lies. Egypt was a bed too small to rest in, a blanket too small to comfort. Egypt could not provide security against Assyria. Still today people seek security in all the wrong places. They look for security in their wealth, their success, their job, their friends, their government. But like Egypt, all of these things can fail. Only God is big enough, powerful enough, to provide true security. Where Egypt failed, God succeeded. He is the one we should put our faith in. He is our sure foundation. So trust in Him.

Finally, he is our source of wisdom (v23-29). The farmer knows how to plow, sow, and harvest because God gives him wisdom. The Lord is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom. And so we ought to listen to Him. But many other voices are chattering in our culture calling us to reject God, do our own thing, and find wisdom in ourselves. And many people follow these other voices to their own destruction. But God is the source of wisdom. He is our sure foundation. So listen to him.

God is our sure foundation so look to Him.

Refocus

On By BrianIn All About Love1 Comment

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
– Matthew 22:37-40 (ESV)

Love God and love people. This is the sum of the Old Testament. This is what God expects of us, what he calls us to do. This is what life is all about. But it is so easy to get distracted, and we need to regularly refocus.

Life is not about amassing wealth. It is not about consuming. It is not about power or control. It is not about fame or popularity. It is not about comfort or ease. It is not about pleasure. It is not about defining ourselves, but rather denying ourselves to love God and people.

Life is not even about the myriad of things we do on any given day. Not that those things are necessarily wrong, but they are only the settings in which we are to love. They are the contexts of love. In our families and friendships, at our job or school, in our recreation or sports – these are all contexts for us to express our love for God and our love for people. Love is central.

And so we need to regularly refocus. We need to ask questions: How can I show love to God today in my family, my job, my school, my play, my church? How can I show love today to my spouse, my children, my co-workers, my classmates, my neighbors?

And we need to constantly be looking for opportunities to love throughout the day – in our daily routines and in the interruptions to our routines.

We need to refocus on what is really important: loving God and loving people. May God help us to grow in this love this week.

Consider Our Smallness Before God

On By BrianIn Virtue of Humility

Back in July, I wrote a post on growing in humility. In it, I looked at two general principles for growing in humility: renewing our minds with Biblical truth and training ourselves for godliness. My plan was to then begin a weekly look at some specific applications of those two principles. Needless to say, between a busy July and my blogging break in August, I never got back to it. So now finally, here we go:

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?
– Psalm 8:1, 3-4 (ESV)

To grow in humility, we need to consider our smallness before God. He is big, majestic, full of glory. We are small even in comparison to the heavens, let alone God. He is the Creator; we are the creatures. There are billions of people scattered around the world – and God made every one. He is big. We are small. This is a truth that humbles us.

So let’s train ourselves in this truth by going outside. Look at the stars. Watch a sunset. Sit on the beach and watch the crashing waves. Observe creation and wonder at our Creator. Many of us spend so much time indoors where everything is made by people, and arranged around us. No wonder we struggle with pride. But go outside where everything is made and arranged by God for his glory, and we’ll see how small we really are. This is a practice that can humble us.

Go outside and consider our smallness before God – and so grow in humility.

Full of Grace and Truth

On By BrianIn Miscellaneous1 Comment

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory,
glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
– John 1:14 (ESV)

Jesus was full of grace and truth, but we tend to lean in one direction or another.

We may lean toward a graceless truth: We look with disgust at sinners. We are quick to condemn someone who fails to live up to the truth – we become the judge, jury, and executioner. Somehow we lose sight of our own failure to live out the truth, our own need of grace.

Or we may lean toward a truthless grace. We treat sin as if it were no big deal. We are quick to excuse sin. It doesn’t matter what anyone does. We easily compromise truth in the name of freedom. Somehow we lose sight of God’s commands, and his expectation of obedience.

But Jesus was full of grace and truth. He confronts our graceless truth and our truthless grace. He graciously reaches out to sinners with forgiveness, even as he calls them to live out the truth.

The world doesn’t need our self-righteous condemnation nor our irrelevant affirmation.

The world needs grace and truth. The world needs Jesus. Just like us.

The Discipline of Giving

On By BrianIn Book Look, Habit of Stewardship

The Men’s Discipleship Group at my church went through R. Kent Hughes book, Disciplines of a Godly Man this past year. It was a good study. One discipline Hughes focused on was giving. He calls for a disciplined understanding of giving and a disciplined act of giving.

Disciplined Understanding of Giving

  • Giving is not a meritorious work.
  • Giving does bring blessing.
  • Giving which pleases God is generous and sacrificial.
  • Giving should never be decided casually or flippantly, but through serious prayer.

Disciplined Act of Giving

  • The act of giving should be accompanied by offering oneself to the Lord.
  • Everyone should at least consider the first 10 percent as a starting point in giving – a minimum.
  • Your giving ought to be regular.
  • You must begin giving now.
  • Giving should not only be regular, but responsive to need, spontaneous.
  • Your giving should be joyous.

Growing in Humility

On By BrianIn Virtue of Humility

Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you. – 1 Peter 5:5-6 (ESV)

Peter tells us to clothe ourselves with humility. We are to humble ourselves toward others and before God. How do we do that? Today, I want to look at two general principles for growing in humility. Then once a week for the next several weeks, we will look at a specific application of those principles. Here are the two principles:

First, we need to renew our minds with Biblical truth (Romans 12:2). Our cultural is full of proud lies seeking to conform us into its way: “Life is all about me.” “You need to get yours.” “It doesn’t matter what God thinks; do your own thing.” “Buy this product so you can impress others with your superiority.” And so it goes. In midst of all this pride, we need to renew our minds in Biblical truth. We need to soak in the Bible that we might develop minds of humility.

Second, we need to train ourselves for godliness (I Timothy 4:7). There are certain habits or disciplines that we can practice to train ourselves in humility. We might call them habits of humility that not only flow out of humility, but also reinforce humility in our lives.

Two principles to help us grow in humility. Next week we will begin looking at some specific applications of those principles. In the meantime, perhaps you can think of your own applications of these principles for your own life.

The Proud Ways of Man

On By BrianIn Book of Isaiah, Virtue of Humility

For you have rejected your people, the house of Jacob,
because they are full of things from the east
and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines,
and they strike hands with the children of foreigners.
Their land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures;
their land is filled with horses, and there is no end to their chariots.
Their land is filled with idols; they bow down to the work of their hands,
to what their own fingers have made. (Isaiah 2:6-8, ESV)

In this passage, we see the proud ways of man. These verses could be summed up with the words sung by Frank Sinatra, “I did it my way.” While the nations will one day gather to hear the Word of God (v2-4), Jacob proudly goes to the nations for their worldly wisdom (v6). While the nations will one day pursue and trust in God’s Word (v2-4), Jacob proudly pursues and trusts in material wealth and military power (v7). While the nations will one day own God as the one true God (v2-4), Jacob proudly worships idols, no-gods – the work of their own hands.

Jacob proudly refused to walk in the light of the Lord (v5), instead choosing to walk in the way of the nations. They proudly disobeyed God’s law which specifically forbid them to do the very things they were doing (see Deuteronomy 17:14-17, 18:9-14, etc.). They proudly chose to do it their own way.

Jacob’s proud ways were a proud declaration: “I am god. I am going to do whatever I want to do. I won’t bend the knee to God. I’m going to do it my way.” And so they sought to exalt themselves above God, above their Creator, above their King. They committed treason, rebellion against God.

Are there areas in our lives where we are proudly choosing to do it our own way? Are we doing life our way or God’s way? May God help us to forsake the proud ways of man, and boldly choose to do life God’s way.

Walk in Light of the Future

On By BrianIn Book of Isaiah

In Isaiah 2:1-4, we get an incredible vision of the future. Then in v5, he tells us to come and walk in the light of the Lord. Walk in light of what he is going to do.  The Lord has given us this future vision so that we might live differently. What God is doing in the future should impact how we live today. And so we ought to walk in the light of:

His Priority – In a world all about me, we say no, it is all about Him. I’m not the highest – God is. He is first; he is the priority in all things. I am to live my life seeking his honor, seeking his kingdom, seeking his will. Is God’s honor your highest priority? Is God’s kingdom your highest priority? Is God’s will your highest priority? Or are you living for your own honor, your own kingdom, your own will?

His Presence – His manifest presence isn’t here now as it will be then, but God is with us. In a world of trials and sorrow, we can walk in the light of his presence. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). In the midst of the struggles of life, are you holding onto the One who is with you every step of the way?

His Paths – In a world of many paths, religions, worldviews, and ideologies, we follow the path of the one true God. Our hearts should burn to learn God’s Word. Does yours? And we ought to strive to obey God’s Word, to walk in his paths. Do you?

His Peace – In a world filled with strife, we are to pursue peace. We ought to put down our swords and spears, our proud insistence that things go our own way. Instead we ought to pick up humility and gentleness and patience and love, striving for peaceful unity in Christ’s church (Ephesians 4:1-3). Are you?

As we consider the glorious future that awaits us, may God graciously help us to live in light of that future today.

Glimpses of the Future

On By BrianIn Book of Isaiah1 Comment

In Isaiah 2:1-4, we get four glimpses into the future.

First, we see the Lord’s Priority. The mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills (v2). The gods of the nations were thought to live in mountains, so to say that the mountain of the Lord would be highest, is to say that the Lord is the highest. He is lifted up above all the gods and religions of this world. The Lord will be recognized and exalted as the one true God. He will be first over all. He will have the priority. Imagine a world where God is lifted up as the number one priority in every heart, in every life, every day!

Second, we see God’s Presence. Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob (v3). The mountain of God and the house of God is where God dwells. It was understood that God dwelt in his temple, that his manifest presence was there. And we will one day dwell in this presence. We will dwell in the presence of God who is the Holy One of Israel, the Lord of Hosts, the Mighty One of Israel. In his presence we will stand in awe of him. We will worship him as we see God’s people doing throughout the book of Revelation. Imagine a world where we are in the manifest presence of God worshiping in wonder and awe!

Third, we see the Lord’s Paths. And all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem (v2-3). The nations will flow like a stream to Jerusalem to hear the Word of the Lord. People will want to hear His Word, and they will invite others to join them. There will be a hunger, a desire, to be taught by the Lord, and then to follow his teaching, to walk in his paths. Imagine a world where every heart burns to hear God’s Word and obey it faithfully, a world with no more sin!

Finally, we see the Lord’s Peace. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore (v4). God will judge and decide disputes, and both parties will hear and follow his decrees. There will be no more war. Indeed the instruments of war will be turned into instruments of farming, suggesting prosperity, blessing, and plenty. Imagine a world with no wars, no civil wars, no hungry people displaced by wars, no tyranny, no terrorism, no crimes, no fear, no strife in the home or workplace – imagine true peace on earth!