Lake Superior off the Keweenaw Peninsula
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
– Psalm 19:1
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature,
have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,
in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
– Romans 1:20
Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:
Medicine for Motivation – Kevin DeYoung (via Crossway)
Here are just some of the ways in which the Bible motivates us to pursue holiness….
A Mighty Army of Deeply Spiritual Men – John Piper (via Jared Wilson)
Where are the men with a moral vision for their families, a zeal for the house of the Lord, a magnificent commitment to the advancement of the kingdom, an articulate dream for the mission of the church and a tenderhearted tenacity to make it real?
That All The World Might Rejoice – Matthew Wynne
Open your ears O’ Church that you might hear Jesus’ call,
The call to go unto all the nations that all the world might rejoice!
Hope you have a great Lord’s Day worshipping our great God!
How can we grow up in Jesus? Part of the answer is that we need to preach the gospel to ourselves. We need to constantly remind ourselves of what God has done for us, of the many blessings of salvation that should change the way we live. In Romans 12:1 we read, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God….” These words mark a huge transition in the book. Everything before these words deals with God’s mercy in giving us a great salvation. Everything after these words deals with how we should live in response. It is because of the gospel that we should now live differently. And so we need to preach the gospel to ourselves. Let me take just two elements of the gospel to illustrate this point.
Remember the cross so you don’t want to sin. Part of the God’s mercy is that he became a man and took the judgment we deserved for our sins upon himself on the cross. Consider all that our Savior endured because of our sins. The whipping. The beatings. The mockings. The crown of thorns pressed into his head. The nails piercing his hands and feet. The agony hanging on the cross. As we consider what he endured to pay for our sin, how could we have any desire to sin? When the temptation to sin looks so alluring, place the picture of Jesus hanging on the cross next to the temptation, and the temptation will lose much of its tempting power. As we consider the cross, it motivates us to live for him. We remember the cross so we don’t want to sin.
Consider your new life that means you don’t have to sin. In Romans 6, Paul talks about the reality that we have died to sin and been raised to a new life in Christ. We are no longer slaves to sin. And so he tells us in verse 11 to “consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” He has already established that we have a new life. In verse 11 he wants us to consider this reality. To think about it. To remember it. He wants us to preach the gospel to ourselves. We have a new life. God has enabled us to say no to sin. We don’t have to sin anymore. Too often we hear people say (and we might say ourselves) after sinning, “Well, I just couldn’t help it.” But if we are true Christians, we have been given a new life. We can help it. In the face of temptation, remind yourself that you are no longer a slave to sin, and you don’t want to act like a slave anymore. You can say no. We consider our new life to remind us that we don’t have to sin.
Remember the cross so you don’t want to sin. Consider your new life that means you don’t have to sin. Preach the gospel to yourself.
The difference between believing that God is gracious
and tasting that God is gracious is as different as
having a rational belief that honey is sweet
and having the actual sense of its sweetness.
– Jonathan Edwards
God is love (I John 4:8) and God is holy (I Peter 1:16).
He is neither more loving than he is holy, nor more holy than loving.
God’s love is holy, and his holiness is love. He is holy love and loving holiness.
– Michael Wittmer
Those who do not fear God do not live in the reality of God.
– Gary Thomas
God’s chief gift to those who seek him is himself.
— E.B. Pusey
Sunset on Lake Superior in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
– Psalm 19:1
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature,
have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,
in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
– Romans 1:20
Well, it’s time for my annual break from blogging. I’ll be back in 3-4 weeks….
Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:
How To Watch the Olympic Games – David Mathis (via Desiring God)
Why would the Christian Scriptures mention the games? To help us upgrade our two weeks of Olympic watching by opening our eyes to what they have to say about God, the gospel, and the Christian life.
You might also be interested in this interview video of Olympian Gabby Douglas at Valley Church in Des Moines. (via Chris Brauns)
And then, how do we deal with conflict? Here is a helpful trilogy of posts:
3 Ways We Must Handle Conflict, Conflict: When Desires Become Demands,
Conflict: Recognize, Repent, Refocus, Replace – Robert D. Jones (via Crossway)
While my initial desire might be legitimate, it becomes sinful when it grows into a demand. And when it becomes a demand and you don’t meet it—and of course you can never meet every demand of my selfish heart—I then judge you in my heart and condemn you. In the final step, my internal judgment produces some outward expression of punishment toward you. I might yell at you, speak sarcastically about you, gossip about you, or avoid you.
Prayerlessness – Nancy Leigh DeMoss (via Tim Challies)
As God opened my eyes to this matter of prayerlessness, I asked Him to let me see it from His point of view. Here is what I wrote in my journal one day when God first began to deal with my heart. Convicting stuff!
Hope you have a great Lord’s Day!
The Puritans (and their admirers, past and present) actually maintained that only one who has come thoroughly to hate sin can turn wholeheartedly from it to Christ. Contrition is necessitated not by the terms of the gospel, which calls us to Christ directly, but by the state of the fallen human heart. God uses the law to pave the way for the gospel by making us see not our only guilt but also the ugliness, nastiness, and repulsiveness of our previous ways, so that we cease to love them; and that sets us free to love Christ when he calls us to follow him into different ways.
– David Wells in Turning To God
In Acts 3, Peter gives us an incredible description of Jesus from many angles. He is the Rejected and Suffering Servant. He is the Holy and Righteous One. He is the Author of Life. Today, I want to briefly consider two more descriptions of Jesus and our response.
First, Jesus is the Prophet Moses Foretold in v22-23. Back in Deuteronomy 18:15-19, Moses spoke of another prophet who was to come to whom the people must listen. Peter declares Jesus is the one Moses spoke of. And so we must, as Moses warned, listen to him. Are you listening?
Second, Jesus is the Offspring Who Brings Blessing in v25-26. Back in Genesis 22:18, God had promised Abraham that in his offspring all the families of the world would be blessed. And in Jesus indeed have the nations found great blessing. Peter mentions just some of them in Acts 3:
Jesus is the Prophet to whom we must listen. And he is the source of many blessings for us to enjoy!
Here are a few posts worth considering:
Can Cities Really Block Chick-fil-A? -Michael Foust (via Christianity Today)
Attempts by Chicago and Boston politicians to block the opening of Chick-fil-A restaurants because of the company president’s views on marriage would be unconstitutional and also set a dangerous precedent for other businesses, say several attorneys.
Defining Religious Liberty Down – Ross Douthat (via NY Times)
If you want to fine Catholic hospitals for following Catholic teaching, or prevent Jewish parents from circumcising their sons, or ban Chick-fil-A in Boston, then don’t tell religious people that you respect our freedoms. Say what you really think: that the exercise of our religion threatens all that’s good and decent, and that you’re going to use the levers of power to bend us to your will.
