Tag: God

Passion Points

On By BrianIn Idolatry, PASSION Points

I was gone the past week to attend the RHMA Small Town Pastor/Wife Conference with my wife.  I hope to share some highlights next week.  In the meantime, here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

When I Am God – Tim Challies
How life changes when we try to make ourselves God instead of acknowledging the one true God.

Praying Past Our Preferred Outcomes – Nancy Guthrie (via Gospel Coalition)
Related to the post before, am I willing to pray for God’s will in my concerns?

Christ-Centered Accountability – Jared Wilson
A good consideration of helpful and not-so-helpful accountability.

Keep Looking Unto Jesus – J. C. Ryle Quotes
Keep on looking unto Jesus. Faith shall soon be changed to sight, and hope to certainty.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day with your local church celebrating the one true God!

All of God

On By BrianIn PASSION Quotes

God is the beginning, the middle, and the end of all things.  Nothing exists without his creating it.  Nothing stays in being without his sustaining word.  Everything has its reason for existing from him.  Therefore nothing can be understood apart from him, and all understandings of all things that leave him out are superficial understandings, since they leave out the most important reality in the universe.  We can scarcely begin to feel today how God-ignoring we have become, because it is the very air we breathe.
– John Piper
in A God Entranced Vision of All Things

Declaring the Glory

On By BrianIn Declaring the Glory1 Comment

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Upper Peninsula, MI

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

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.

Passion Quotes

On By BrianIn PASSION Quotes1 Comment

I am “friends” with John Piper and Desiring God on Facebook, and I get a steady stream of short quotes that are well worth sharing.  If you are on FB and want to “friend” these two pages, see links below.  Either way, here are some good quotes to ponder:

About God

John Piper: The purpose of the knowledge of God is the enjoyment of God.

J.I. Packer: What is the eternal life that Jesus gives? Knowledge of God.

Robert Murray M’Cheyne: Live near to God, and all things will appear little to you in comparison with eternal realities.

About Creation 

DA Carson: God made everything that is non-God. This introduces an irreducible distinction between Creator and creature.

DA Carson: The first responsibility of human beings is to acknowledge our creatureliness.

Thomas Manton: If we could make ourselves, then we could live for ourselves.

Links:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/DesiringGod

 http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/johnpiper

Swagger Wagon

On By BrianIn Virtue of Humility1 Comment

Toyota has a hilarious series of “swagger wagon” commercials that in their words feature “two self-absorbed parents and the only vehicle that matches their awesomeness.”  The entire series is done tongue-in-cheek, but captures a real attitude in our world today.  While the commercials are funny, what is not so funny is our tendency toward a self-absorbed “look-at-me” attitude.

I remember when I first got my current car (which I have now nick-named the swagger sedan).  When I first drove it, I had a bit of a swagger attitude.  For some it might be a new set of clothes, the newest gadget, or some accomplishment that brings out the swagger attitude.  What is certain is that my swagger sedan after several years no longer has a swagger affect, and if we take an honest look at ourselves, we are not as awesome as we sometimes think.

The Bible calls us to humility.  Humility is not an “I am scum” attitude.  Humility is seeing ourselves rightly.  We are made in God’s image and so of great value.  But we are also sinners, rebels against God.  We are broken, not what we were made to be.  We are far short of awesome.

At the same time, humility calls us to look at ourselves in comparison to God.  God is awesome – the only one who deserves this adjective.  In comparison to him, we are small.  No one can honestly swagger in front of God.  Rather humility calls us to exalt the one who is truly awesome.

Though we are small compared to God and rebels against God, God still loves us.  He came to earth and actually became one of us.  He died on a cross to pay for our sins.  He rose from the dead to remake us into the people we were made to be.  This too humbles us.  He did this not because we are awesome, but because he is.  Not because we are great, but because he is.

At the same time, God’s love lifts us up.  Though we are broken and small, he loves us.  In him our sins are forgiven and we can be who he made us to be.  We can have a relationship with him.  We can spend all of eternity with him.  But this should not lead us to swagger.  We don’t deserve any of this.  Instead we ought to praise him for all that he has done for us.

I will continue to enjoy these commercials.  But they also now serve as a reminder to me of the folly of self-absorbed pride and swagger, a reminder to get off the swagger bandwagon, and humbly praise the one who is truly awesome.

Examples of Grace 05

On By BrianIn Miscellaneous1 Comment

The second half of Exodus is filled with laws and instructions for building the tabernacle.  One might not expect to find much grace here, but there are numerous examples.

The laws themselves graciously provide protection for the people – a great blessing indeed.  Thank God we live in a country with laws that (for the most part) protect us.

God confirms his covenant with the people.  Thank God for his grace – that he would enter into a covenant with us and make us his people.

In an incredible passage, the elders of Israel saw God and ate in his presence.  The eating in his presence speaks of fellowship and peace.  What a glorious thing that we can have peace and fellowship with God, and one day we will see him!

After the golden calf, God threatens to wipe the people out.  But instead he graciously spares them and even renews the covenant with them.  How many times have we sinned, yet God graciously spares us and faithfully keeps his covenant with us.

Perhaps the greatest theme in the second half of the book is God’s presence.  That is why they are building the tabernacle – that God might dwell in their midst.  As the tabernacle is completed, the manifest presence of God descends upon the tabernacle.  God is with Israel.  God graciously chooses to dwell among them – and among us.  He is with us as we gather together as his people.  His Spirit actually dwells in each of his people.  He will never leave us nor forsake us.  He is with us always to the end of the age.  He is with us to enable us for ministry and strengthen us in trials.  God’s presence with us is an incredible example of his grace.

Grace upon grace.  Praise the Lord for his grace in our lives!

(Taken from Exodus 21-40)

Serving Other Gods

On By BrianIn Idolatry, PASSION Quotes1 Comment

John Frame in his forward for the new book, You Are The Treasure That I Seek: *But there’s a lot of cool stuff out there, Lord by Greg Dutcher writes these words:

“So when we find ourselves going against God’s Word, it is helpful to ask the question: “What idol am I worshipping?”  That is a powerful question, because it exposes the heart.  It asks us to inspect our motives.  When I am unkind to my wife, for example, it’s not a mere slip.  It shows that my heart is not right with God, that I love myself more than my wife….  My own convenience, my own preferences, my own comfort have become my idol.”

Behind every sin is an idol.  Too often behind every good act there is an idol too.  I might serve in ministry for my reputation or another’s praise rather than for Christ.  I might work hard at my job longing for a raise or promotion rather than in service to Christ.  Again and again the Scriptures call us to serve God with all of our hearts (I Samuel 12:24, etc.) , but our hearts are too often divided.  Our hearts are bent on serving other things – other gods.  Here are a few thoughts to begin fighting idols.

1. Prayerfully examine your heart. Ask God to search your heart (Psalm 139:23-24).  Evaluate why you do what you do.  Is it for Christ or is there an idol in your life?  Begin to identify your gods.

2. Confess your sin of idolatry to God.  As you identify your gods, confess these idols to God.  The first commandment tells us to not have any gods before the one true God.  We are all guilty of breaking this command – confess your sins.

3. Celebrate the gospel.  John Frame again writes: “Thinking about idolatry helps us measure ourselves accurately, to see how far we fall below God’s standards.”  We could easily get depressed by how sinful we are.  But we come to cross.  We claim his forgiveness.  We celebrate the glorious truth that Jesus died FOR EVERY TIME we sin.  In Christ, we are clean and pure in God’s sight.

4. Seek to serve God with all your heart.  The truth of the gospel – what Christ did for us, should motivate us to press forward to serve God alone.  Turn away from the gods you identified.  Ask God for help to serve him alone.

May God help us overcome our idols and serve him alone!

More thoughts on idols and fighting them in future posts….

Heart of Faith

On By BrianIn Heart

Foundational to having a heart for God is to simply believe in God and his way of salvation in Jesus Christ.  Hebrews 11:6 reminds us that those who draw near to God and would please him must believe that he exists.  And Romans 10:9-10 tells us we must believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead – which implies that we believe he died too.  As I Corinthians 15:3-4 tells us the summary of the gospel is that Jesus died for sins, was buried, and rose on the third day.  Believing in God and in Jesus as our Savior is the first step to having a heart for him.