Category: PASSION Reflections

Perseverance Lessons

On By BrianIn Biography/History, Church Life

Last week I attended a pastor’s conference entitled “Don’t Lose Heart” at West Cannon Baptist Church in Grand Rapids, MI.  What an encouraging two days.  One of the speakers, Joel Beeke, shared several keys to perseverance from the lives of John Calvin and John Bunyan.  Here are some of the “keys” I found particularly helpful:

Love your people.

Remember that God has ways to bless us
even when the doors we would have chosen are closed.

Learn from one another.

God can use a God-fearing wife to help us persevere.

Don’t ignore the reality that we have physical limitations.

Have a pilgrim’s mindset.

Remember your hope of glory.

Oliver Twist

On By BrianIn Identity

In Dicken’s tale, Oliver Twist, Oliver’s mother dies far from home while giving birth to him.  Not knowing whose family he belongs to, he is raised in poverty in a work house.  His troubles and the shame of his poverty define him.  Eventually he runs away only to get caught up in a gang of thieves.  He is caught trying to steal something, and now society defines him as a thief – he is defined by his sin and guilt.  But the one he tried to rob turns out, as the story continues, to be his grandfather.  He is more than the sum of his troubles, his shame, his sin, and his guilt.  He is part of a wealthy family.

What is it that defines you?  Maybe it is your troubles.  Your trials are huge, and you have let them define your life.  Maybe it is shame for some past hurt done to you.  Maybe it is guilt for some past sin you committed.  Maybe it a sin that you wrestle with today.  But the one you sin against, it turns out, is your Father.  You are more than your troubles, your shame, your sin, and your guilt.  You are part of God’s family.

You are the beloved child of your Heavenly Father.  As his child you have a new identity.  You no longer have to be defined by your troubles, shame, sin, or guilt.  Your identity is now found in Christ.  Jesus suffered so suffering wouldn’t define you.  He bore your shame, so you wouldn’t have to bear it anymore. He bore your guilt on the cross so you could be called righteous.  And he defeated sin as he rose again so you could overcome it in your life.  God loves you.  You are his child.  Find your identity here.

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” – I John 3:1a

 

 

Even the Waves Obey Him

On By BrianIn God & His Glory

Last night I read with my children how Jesus and the disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee by boat (see Mark 4:35-41).  Jesus was sleeping as a gigantic storm came up.  The wind began to blow.  The waves began to rise.  The boat began to fill.  The disciples began to panic.  And Jesus was still sleeping.  The terrified fisherman woke Jesus.  Jesus spoke to the wind and the waves, “Peace! Be still!”  The wind became still.  The sea became still.  And the fisherman were still terrified – but now for a different reason.  “Who is this who commands the wind and waves?”

I recently wrote about how Lake Superior gives me a glimpse of God’s power.  As I see the powerful waves, I am reminded of God’s greater power.  And yet this story from Jesus’ life reminds me that the powerful waves of Lake Superior are no match for God’s power.  The waves of Lake Superior at their greatest are nothing compared to God.  With just a word, Jesus could instantly calm the waves of Lake Superior.  With just a word, God could calm the wind and waves and water of the hurricane that just soaked the east coast.  Peace!  Be still!  This is real power.  No wonder the disciples were afraid.  No wonder we are told to fear God.  We would be fools not to fear.

Amazingly, this great power comes along side of us.  When we are weak and hurting, God’s great power that calms the wind and waves rests upon us, calming our hearts and giving us strength to endure (II Corinthians 12:9-10).  And that great power that terrified the disciples long ago is now transforming his disciples today, powerfully changing our hearts (Ephesians 1:19).  With such great power at work in our lives, anything is possible.

Glimpses of God’s Power

On By BrianIn God & His Glory

Every summer my family goes camping along Lake Superior.  I love this lake.  It reminds me of God.

It reminds me of God’s power.  There are days when the waves come crashing in ready to knock you over if you choose to wade out into them.  I see the power of the waves, and I think of God’s power.  I think of his power which made those waves, the lake, the earth, the entire universe.  I think of his power of which these waves give only a small glimpse.

I need that glimpse of God’s power.  In my weakness, I need to see his strength.  In my weariness, I need to see his great power that can renew my strength. 

As I see people hurting from great tragedies, I need to see God’s power which is sufficient in our weakness and is greater than anything that can come against us. 

As I see people wounded from their past, I need to see God’s power that can bring healing.

As I see people on the brink of despair, I need to see God’s power that can bring hope.

As I see people in turmoil, I need to see God’s power that can bring peace.

As I see people wrestling with depression, I need to see God’s power that can bring joy.

As I see people caught in the strong bonds of sin, I need to see God’s greater power which can break those bonds and bring freedom.

As I see people morning the loss of a brother or sister in Christ, I need see God’s power that will one day raise the dead. 

I need to see God’s power.  And I get a glimpse in the waves.

Saved to Give Thanks To God

On By BrianIn Church Life, God & His Glory

…so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
– II Corinthians 4:15b

Why does God save us?  This verse tells us at least one reason.  He saves us so that we might give thanks to God.  He saves us for his glory.  As more people are saved, more thanksgiving is offered up to God – and he is glorified.  Here is a radical God-centered view of salvation.

A few questions follow:

Are we giving thanks to God?  Are we reminding ourselves and each other of our great salvation so that, continually amazed by his love, we can’t stop praising God?

Are we sharing the good news so more people can be saved and give thanks to God?

And tying those questions together, are we preaching the gospel in our churches?  The gospel needs to be preached because lost people need to be saved, and because saved people need to be continually reminded of what God has done for them so that they will give thanks to God.

If you are his child, his grace has extended to you.  You don’t deserve it.  You are not worth it.  But he loves you.  He chose you.  He died for you.  He forgave you.  He changed you.  He saved you.  So let us join the the Psalmist and:

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
– Psalm 100:4-5

Where Is My Worth Found?

On By BrianIn Identity

In my last post I asked whether we are really worth dying for.  I concluded that Jesus died for us not because of our own worth, but because of his love.  To go further: Christ didn’t die because of my worth; my worth is found in Christ’s death.  My worth is found not in myself but in Christ. 

Jeremy Pierre addresses this issue of worth in his post on insecurity.  Insecurity is the failure to grasp our worth, but the critical issue is where do we find our worth.  He compares our culture’s view of insecurity with God’s view:

Our cultural instructors disapprove of our insecurity because it is an offense to individual worthiness. God disapproves of our insecurity because it is an offense to his Son’s worthiness.

And it is His Son’s worth that gives us worth.  Pierre goes on to point out four reasons that insecurity is sinful:

  • Insecurity keeps us from loving God and others because we are too distracted with self.
  • Insecurity indicates a dissatisfaction with God.
  • Insecurity reveals a desire for justification from people rather than God.
  • Insecurity shows that we are still seeking justification from works.

So we need to flee insecurity, but not by clinging to some sense of our own self-worth.  Rather we need to “abandon finding our worth in anything other than Christ and his redemptive work on our behalf.” 

You can read Pierre’s entire post here.

Someone Worth Dying For?

On By BrianIn Identity1 Comment

I heard a song on Christian radio recently called “Someone Worth Dying For.”  It had some good lyrics, and even a good purpose of encouraging those who are discouraged.  My purpose here is not to critique the song but rather just this idea that each of us is somebody worth dying for.  Are we?  Really?

Starting at creation, we find that God makes us in his image.  As image-bearers we are higher than the rest of his creation.  It is wrong to kill or hurt another human being.  As people in God’s image, we have great worth.

Then we sinned.  God’s image in us was warped.  We are still valuable as God’s image-bearers, but we are also sinners, depraved, and under God’s judgment.  We deserve to die. 

Which brings us to the cross.  Listen to Paul’s thoughts on this:

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person – though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die – but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans 5:6-8

Does Jesus die for us because we are worth dying for?  No.  According to Paul we are weak, ungodly, sinners.  We don’t deserve to have someone die for us; rather we deserve to die for our sins.  So why does Jesus die for us?  Because God loves us.  We aren’t worth it, but he loves us anyway.

Think of it this way.  If we are worth dying for, then God kind of owes it to us to die for us.  We are worth it after all!  But if God dies for us even though we are not worth it, even though we are weak, ungodly sinners, then this is real love.  And this is Paul’s point.  Jesus died for us because he loves us, not because we are worth it. 

But let’s go further.  Consider Psalm 103.  In this psalm, David celebrates God’s love, and it is found in two ways, both of which are related not to our worth but to our unworthiness. 

First, we see God’s love in his forgiveness of our sins (v6-13).  He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve.  We deserve his judgment, but we get forgiveness.  This is the same thread of thought we saw in Romans 5.

Second, we see God’s love in his care for us though we are like dust (v14-19).  Compared to God we are nothing.  Are we worth God dying for?  Even apart from our sin, we are not worth as much as God.  To suggest that we are worth God dying for is to suggest that we have greater worth than God.  It is essentially to make an idol of ourselves.  And it is to miss the point that God loves not because we are worth it, but despite the fact that we are not worth it, that we are but dust compared to him.

To sum up, we are valuable as God’s image-bearers.  But we are not worth dying for.  Jesus died for us despite our sins and despite our frailty.  He died because he chooses to love us.  We can magnify ourselves by thinking Jesus died for us because we are worth dying for.  Or we can magnify God’s love as we recognize that Jesus died despite the fact that we are not worth dying for. 

Amazing love!  How can it be?  That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me! – Charles Wesley

How To Prepare for Worship

On By BrianIn Church Life

Sunday is coming.  The day when you gather together with other believers to worship God.  Have you ever considered the importance of preparing?  What would it look like to prepare for worship?  A couple of suggestions:

First, get a good night’s sleep.  If you stay up until all hours of the night, it is no wonder you are groggy during the service and struggling to stay awake during the sermon.  God deserves our best.  Get enough sleep so you will be alert and able to give your all.

Second, deal with your sins.  Examine your life.  Are there sins you need to confess to the Lord?  Sin hurts our fellowship with God; deal with them so you can worship God without hindrance.

Third, preview the passage you will be studying together.  If your pastor is working through a book of the Bible, this should be relatively easy.  If not, ask your pastor if he can put the next Sunday’s passage in the bulletin. Reading and pondering the passage ahead of time will prepare you to hear the message.  (It is also a great help for your children, but that is another post.)

Fourth, pray.  Pray that God would speak to you.  Ask God to help you praise him as you should.  Ask him to help you encourage others.  Pray for the pastor, teachers, ushers, musicians, nursery workers, etc.  If possible, meet with some others before the service to pray together for God to work among you.

Fifth, come with expectation.  Come eager to hear the Word.  Come excited to sing praises to God.  Come cheerfully to give your gifts to the Lord.  Come ready to build up others and serve.  Come with expectation of what God might do in you and through you.

Remember that these are suggestions, not laws.  I don’t do all of them every week.  Sometimes some of them just aren’t possible.  But they can help us come ready to worship.  Imagine if we all came ready to worship God together!   Let it begin with you.

How will you prepare for worship this weekend?

God Loves You

On By BrianIn Book of Luke

What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ – Luke 15:4-6

You were that lost sheep.  You had lost your way, were wandering without hope, living in sin, easy prey for the devil.

But God loves you, and he looked for you.  He didn’t leave you lost, he came looking for you.  Maybe it was through a friend or your parents, maybe through VBS, Camp, Sunday School, a sermon, a tract, or some other way.  However he did it, God didn’t leave you lost.  He came looking for you.

And when he found you, he carried you home.  You were too weak to go home, too sinful to go home.  It was not by your own effort or works that you came home.  It was not your own goodness that led you home.  On your own you wouldn’t have made it.  You would still be lost, wandering, hopeless.  But he carried you home.   It was the work of Christ that brought you home.  It was the goodness of Jesus that brought you home.  It was the power of the Spirit that brought you home.  God carried you home.

And then, he rejoiced over you.  When you got saved, there was a celebration in heaven, a party in paradise.  God was excited, thrilled, rejoicing over you.  Have you ever lost something?  Maybe your keys, the remote, or something else.  You looked for it and when you found it, you rejoiced.  In a greater way, God rejoiced over you.  You were lost, but now you are found, and God threw a party.

Why would God come looking for people like us?  Why would he care to carry us home?  Why would he rejoice over the likes of us?  Because somehow, someway, in his incredible mercy and grace, God loves us.  He loves you.  There is a love we can rest in.