Tag: Discipleship

Our Prevailing Purpose

On By BrianIn PASSION ReflectionsLeave a comment

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. 
– I John 2:1a (ESV)

John is the patriarch of the church, the last remaining apostle.  He writes to the church with the affection of a father for his little children, and he has a purpose in his writing – that we may not sin.

Is that your purpose?  To not sin? 

Is that your goal?  Your desire?  Your ambition?  To not sin?  To stop sinning?

Our world, of course, has other goals: to be comfortable, to be healthy, to be happy.  And comfort, health, and happiness are wonderful blessings.  I like those things too, but they are not our purpose, our goal.

Our purpose here is that we would not sin.

Is that your purpose? 

When you are uncomfortable, is your prevailing purpose to pursue comfort, or to not sin in your discomfort?

When you are unhealthy, is your prevailing purpose to get healthy, or to not sin in your unhealthiness?

When you are unhappy, is your prevailing purpose to get happy, or to not sin in your unhappiness?

Our trials and struggles are not an excuse for sin, but rather opportunities to overcome temptation and not sin.

Is that your goal in whatever you face today? 

Is that your prevailing purpose? 

Devoted Goals

On By BrianIn Habit Miscellaneous, Holidays

This past Fall our church looked at five habit of growth to which we should be devoted. Then during advent, we looked at being devoted to the gospel. Below is my attempt to pull it all together with the goal of applying our study to our lives during the coming year. I believe these would be good questions for any Christian to ponder as we look at a new year, a new month, and a new week.

Annual Goals (Review at least monthly)

Gospel: What habit will I begin this year to better remember, focus on, and live out the hope, peace, joy, and love found in Jesus?

Worship: What habit will I begin to better prepare my heart to come into God’s presence for corporate worship each Sunday? 

Prayer: What is one way I would like to grow in prayer this year? 

Word: What portion of Scripture (Old Testament, New Testament, Book(s) of the Bible, etc.) will I commit to read and meditate on throughout this year? 

Fellowship: In what ways will I partner with my church family this year in serving, giving, and prayer?

Outreach: What habit will I begin to become more watchful for opportunities to share the gospel this year? What will I do to become better prepared to share the gospel this year?  Who might I specifically pray for to receive salvation this year?

What might distract me from these goals, and how can I overcome that?
How can I live out these goals as expressions of love instead of pride?

Monthly Goals (Review at least weekly)

Gospel: What might I do to better grasp some aspect of the gospel this month, and let that aspect of the gospel better grasp me?

Worship: Is there an area in my life that I need to start submitting to God this month, and what will I do about it?

Prayer: What promise or attribute of God will I incorporate into my prayers this month?

Word: What passage of Scripture will I memorize this month?

Fellowship: What practical need in my church family will I seek to help with this month?  Who can I get together with this month around a meal?

Outreach: What practical need do I see in my workplace, neighborhood, or community that I could seek to meet this month?  How might God lead me to help with this month’s church outreach activity and/or outreach/missions project? How do I specifically need to pray for my missionaries this month? 

Weekly Goals (Review daily)

Gospel: What aspect of the gospel from my Bible reading or Sunday’s sermon will I meditate on this week?

Worship: In the midst of my current trials and temptations, what attribute of God or aspect of the gospel will I cling to this week to tune my heart to praise Him? 

Prayer: Who and what do I specifically need to pray for this week?

Word: What Biblical truth from my personal reading or Sunday’s sermon do I need to very specifically apply to my life this week?

Fellowship: Who in my church family might God be leading me to care for and/or seek to encourage this week, and how will I do it?

Outreach: How might I better shine as a light with integrity, hope, and love this week? What is one way I might purposefully seek to share the gospel this week?

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

The Many Ways God Changes Us – David Powlison (Crossway)
We live with a God who has many, many, many ways of meeting us, and it’s good to become aware of them all.

I Am the Center of the Universe – Jared Wilson
Either I am the center of the universe and you all don’t know, or — I am not the center of the universe and I am upset that you all know.

Get Outside Yourself in Suffering – Stacy Reaoch (DG)
As Christians we’re not exempt from serving others because we’re going through a difficult season of life, but instead we’re called to lift our eyes heavenward and trust our sovereign God to give us the needed grace to keep going.

A Spiritual Barometer Check – Jason Helopoulos (TCC)
One of the easiest ways to assess ourselves is to examine our love for all the saints. Do I love God’s people more today? If so, it is assuredly true that I also love Christ more. It is a good barometer of our spiritual health. One that I must seek to employ regularly for it does not lie. If I love God, I will love His people.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day with your Lord and local church!

Reflections on Judges 13-16

On By BrianIn OT Reflections

Our passage today focuses on Samson.  He was a man used mightily by God despite his many moral flaws.  Note:

  • Disobedience – The list of Samson’s sins is long. God told Israel not to intermarry with the inhabitants of the land, but Samson did anyway.  As a Nazirite, he was not to go near a dead body (Numbers 6), yet he scraped honey from the carcass of a lion and ate it.  He slept with a prostitute.  He acts out of anger and vengefulness.  He often seems to have a complete disregard for the commands of God.  What about you?
  • Wisdom – Samson often seems to lack in wisdom. He fails to see the potential problems of marrying a Philistine.  He foolishly tells his wife the riddle.  Later, he foolishly tells Delilah the secret of his strength.  Are you making wise choices?
  • Faith – Despite his failings, Hebrews 11 includes him as an example of faith. Samson apparently trusted God to help him as he fought the Philistines.  He looked to God to help him bring the house down upon the Philistines even though it meant his own death.  Are you walking by faith?
  • God’s Sovereignty – Samson’s life points clearly to the truth that God can make use of even our shortcomings for his purposes. Though it was wrong for Samson to marry a Philistine, God used it as an opportunity for Samson to fight them (see 14:4).  God used Samson flaws and all, and he can use us flaws and all.  That is not an excuse for us to be complacent – who knows how much more God might have used Samson if he had been given over completely to God.  But it should encourage us to know that God can bring good even out of our moral failures, and that God can use imperfect people like us.

Reflections on Judges 11-12

On By BrianIn OT Reflections

Our passage today focuses on Jephthah. Consider:

  • Lack of peace –Jephthah delivers Israel from the Ammonites, but then we see him leading some of God’s people to fight against another tribe of God’s people. As a result, 42,000 people die.  How sad when God’s people fight among themselves.  Are you fighting with another of God’s people?  Is there strife, conflict, bitterness, anger between you and another?  What will you do to seek peace?
  • Rash words – Before Jephthah goes to fight the battle, he utters rash foolish words that cost him the life of his only child. Our words may not usually have such dire consequences, but we too speak words without thinking that hurt others.  When have you spoken such rash words?  How might you be more careful to guard your tongue?

Judges 11-16: Learning From Samson

On By BrianIn OT Studies

(13) A whole chapter is given to Samson’s parents. What details are given, and what do those details tell us about their relationship with God?  Be specific.

In what ways should we follow their example?

What does Manoah want to know about their child (v8)?  How is this a good example for us?  Where would we find the answers?

(14) Describe Samson’s attitude in v1-3.  How does this compare to our culture’s attitude?  Be specific.

What does v4 teach us about human choices and God’s sovereignty?  How might this encourage you as you look around the world today?

(14-16) Many details of Samson’s life are given in these chapters.  From those details, what character flaws do you see in Samson?

How do these character flaws lead Samson into trouble?

In what ways do you see these same character flaws in our culture today?

(14-16) From the details given about Samson, what good character traits do you find in him?

In what ways should we follow his example?

(13-16) What part does the Spirit play in Samson’s life (13:25, 14:6, 14:19, 15:14)?

Despite Samson’s many imperfections, God still used him.  How does that encourage you?

At the same time, Samson’s end is tragic.  What warning do you find here for your life?

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points2 Comments

Here are some really good posts for your weekend reading:

Stop Having Quiet Times– David Powlison (TGC)
In the verbal actions of the psalms—rejoicing in who God is, asking for needed help, expressing heartfelt thanks—we’re talking to someone. It’s fair to say that having a “quiet time” is a misnomer. It’s more of an out loud, “noisy” time.  When you talk aloud you express the reality that you’re talking with someone else, not simply talking to yourself inside your own head.

Lay Aside the Weight of Irritability– Jon Bloom (DG)
Our irritability never has its roots in the soils of righteousness. It springs out of the soil of selfishness and springs up fast, like the sin-weed that it is. We get irritated or easily provoked, not when God’s righteousness or justice is scorned, but when something we want is being denied, delayed, or disrupted.

Gospel Weariness – Tim Challies
Trials do us good in at least one more way: Trials develop a gospel weariness, a weariness with this world….  Gospel weariness elevates our perspective from our feet to the horizon, from the trials of this world to the hope of the world to come. It stirs within us a holy longing to be done with this life and to enter into the life to come. It fixates on God’s promises, promises of deliverance, of restitution, of eternal peace. It is a weariness that rests on the promises of the gospel, that finds its hope in the God of the gospel. It does not wallow in despair but gazes with confidence to the future. It is a weariness that cries with the saints of all the ages, “Come, Lord Jesus!”

How My Parents Taught Me To Love The Church – Ricky Alcantar (TBC)
When you’ve had a busy weekend and you make it to church, your kids notice. When you rearrange athletic obligations to get to church, your kids notice. When you get in late from a trip Saturday night and make it to church, your kids notice. When you are willing to slog through traffic after work to make it to a small group meeting where the snacks aren’t amazing and the fellowship is a little forced but you do it anyway, your kids notice.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day with your local church!