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Archive for the ‘Jesus’ Category

trust in His sovereignty

Posted in Jesus, tagged , on April 12, 2012 | 1 Comment »

I didn’t get the promotion that ash & I were hoping for.

We were frustrated and confused, but if you asked anybody else, they would have likely said they are so strong and peaceful…

We knew intellectually that somewhere in the Bible, God promises good for His people, and so we knew that if we were to be good Christians, we were to be peaceful and even rejoice in the “disappointing” news.

We didn’t want people to know that we were questioning ourselves and God because Christians don’t do that.

And then we ended up in Louisville, KY at Southern Seminary, where God worked in and through our lives more powerfully and certainly than ever before.

And we looked back and said (with honesty this time), isn’t God so good?

He protected us by not giving me the promotion that we were longing for.  Had He given me the promotion, I probably would not have surrendered to the longing to go to seminary.

He used life circumstance to overcome my skeptical thoughts and seemingly endless list of what-if’s.

So we rejoiced.

As we should have.

Sort of.

What this scenario also revealed is a self-centered, self-exalting, self-promoting worldview masked by submitting to God’s sovereignty in all things.

We weren’t rejoicing in God’s sovereignty in all things and His inherent goodness.  We were rejoicing in ourselves.  We were rejoicing that there was still hope that we were the center of the universe.

Ash would likely say at this point, you are being too hard on yourself.  And maybe I am, but maybe I’m not being hard enough.

I know (intellectually at least) that apart from the work of Jesus applied by the Spirit, every intention of my heart is only evil, always.

Should we have rejoiced when God granted us a peak into His great plan for us?  Absolutely, yes.  What a kind and generous God.

“God often doesn’t explain his providence to us, past or future.  He asks us to trust him, to endure, and to know, in the words of the old gospel song, that we’ll ‘understand it better by and by.’  Sometimes, though, he grants us a glimpse in the middle of it all of how he’s silently working toward something joyous” (Russell Moore, “Adopted for Life”, p. 113).

But the rejoicing should have been from day one; from the moment that I did not get the promotion.

Why?

Because God works all things for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes.

The same passage that we were submitting to intellectually and using as a mask to all who would ask and probably reciting in some form or fashion to our friends and family so that they would think we are really Christian…

Simply intellectual agreement and the result is self-exalting pride.

Application and washing of your soul with that truth results in the renewal of your heart and mind, which results in Christlikeness.

The rejoicing should not have been a response to seeing, evaluating, and agreeing with God’s perfect plan being laid out for my life.

The rejoicing should have been a response to knowing that God is good and God is sovereign, regardless of whether I saw, understood, or agreed with what He was doing in my life.

“I can also tell you he’s good to you, even when – maybe especially when – he’s up to things you can’t understand” (113).

I will close with a story about a close friend:

He and his wife had been trying to conceive for a few months, and the next “waiting period” was almost up; she would be able to take a pregnancy test soon.

She woke up early the next morning unable to sleep and in the middle of trying to navigate all of the emotions, thoughts, and feelings that come with the setting, she took another test.

She re-entered the room where my friend was still in bed half-asleep, and with a long face, heavy shoulders, and a voice laden with uncertainty, disappointment, and concern, reported the news: a single line, not pregnant.

Without skipping a beat, my friend went from half-asleep to fully-awake, and exclaimed with genuine excitement, trust, and glee, “yes! It is the Lord’s good will that we are not pregnant this month!  Isn’t it great that because of Jesus we can rejoice in every situation?”

His wife was caught so off guard that she even laughed a little, considered what her husband was not only telling her but living out himself, and the deep peace (not the peace that comes with covering up the surface), found only in Christ, began to guard her heart and mind that moment.

I’m not necessarily encouraging you to try this tactic if you are struggling with infertility.

I am encouraging you to reflect and meditate on Romans 8:28 that you might be transformed by the renewal of your mind into the image of Jesus for His glory and every person in the world’s good.

Where are you having a hard time trusting in God’s sovereignty and goodness?

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just look at your grass

Posted in Jesus, tagged on March 30, 2012 | 2 Comments »

the grass is not greener on the other side of the fence; don’t fall into the lie.

we have had the opportunity this week to celebrate the life of my grandfather, wally.

he was an amazing man who gave great hope and meaning to many in this world.

as many of us have reflected back on all that he accomplished in his life, we quickly have experienced feelings of inadequacy and awe with all that he endured, forgave, and achieved.

some sort of divine tension is likely in order: how to strive to be all that you can be and do all that you can do in imitation of our heavenly Father who does all and is all (parable of the talents) and be content with what you have and who you are (phil. 4:10-12).

it is easy to fall into one of these camps:

be and do everything you can, and never be content with anything.

or

be lazy, pursuing nothing that is difficult or uncomfortable, and convince yourself and others that it really is rest in contentment.

finally, there are some who do neither, but if you are doing neither, you will have a harder time rationalizing your wasted life: not doing anything and discontent.

as you consider which camp you are more prone to falling into, let me leave you with the words of paul from 1 cor. 7:17 and the only hope we have to walk this line in this life:

“Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him.”

live as you were called.

stop wasting your time looking over the fence to see if the grass is greener.

be faithful to the life that God has called you to.

when you realize that you are struggling with envy, jealousy, or discontentment on the one hand or laziness on the other, look to Jesus, our only hope.

Jesus is our only hope, the model and the means by which we can live fully, the life that we were called to live for the glory of God and our good.

do you struggle more with laziness, unfaithfulness or envy, discontentment?  how do you respond?

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in a manger

Posted in Christmas, Jesus, tagged , , , on December 22, 2011 | 1 Comment »

do you understand that Jesus was a man?

fully, 100% man.

Jesus suffered just like we, human beings, suffer.

Hebrews 2:14-18 (NIV)

14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

this passage tells us that Jesus, fully God, became a man for at least the following reasons:

  1. so that He might break the power that Satan had over us
  2. to free us
  3. to help us in a general way
  4. because He is merciful and to be merciful
  5. to be the faithful High Priest
  6. to make atonement for us
  7. to be our mediator
  8. to fulfill God’s original purpose for man
  9. to help those who are tempted
  10. to give us an example

i encourage you to pray through all of these over the next few days and search the Scriptures (especially Hebrews 2:5-18, 1 John 2:1-2, Romans 6 and 1 John 4:1-3).

i am going to focus on one: to encourage those who are tempted.

God the Father sent God the Son to redeem and restore His people.

Jesus became His creation for the sake of His creation.

Jesus knew exactly what it felt like to be tempted in every way before He became a man, He was omniscient…

and yet, the Holy Spirit speaks through the writer of Hebrews saying something like, “Jesus became a man and suffered in every way that every man will suffer so that his redeemed people could trust that He could relate in every way and be merciful as such.”

do you see the humility of our Creator here?

He could have told us, “I know what it feels like to be tempted.”

instead, He leaves the perfection of heaven and puts on flesh and is tempted and tried and eventually murdered…

He did this for a number of reasons, but at least one of them we see in Hebrews is to give His people assurance that He can relate to us in every way.

Jesus was fully man.

He was born just like babies are born.

mary still had contractions and dilation and effacing.

Jesus still came into this world bloody and screaming.

this Christmas, i encourage you to reflect on this reality: Jesus was fully man, and struggled in every way that you struggle…but He never failed.  He never submitted once to sin.  He lived the perfect life.

and now, for those who trust in Christ, your flawed record is nailed to the cross and His perfect life is credited to your account so that you might live as God intended you to live now and forever – in relation with Him, full of the hope that will be made fully yours when you die or Jesus returns.

in every struggle you have and every temptation you face this holiday season, take heart for He has over come the world…

and all of this started in a manger.

what reason for or reality related to Christ’s humanity (listed or not) is impacting you the most this Christmas season?

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in Christ, you are…

Posted in freedom, Jesus, tagged , , , , on November 10, 2011 | 4 Comments »

  1. Dead to sin (Rom 6:11)
  2. Spiritually alive (Rom 6:11)
  3. Forgiven (Col 2:13)
  4. Declared Righteous (1 Cor 1:30)
  5. A child of God (Rom 8:16)
  6. God’s possession (Titus 2:14)
  7. Heir of God (Rom 8:17)
  8. Blessed with all Spiritual blessing (Eph 1:3)
  9. Citizen of Heaven (Phil 3:20)
  10. Set free from power of sin (Col 2:11-15)
  11. Free from the law (Rom 8:2)
  12. Crucified with Christ (Gal 2:20)
  13. Light in the World (Matt 5:14)
  14. Victorious over Satan (Lk 10:19)
  15. Cleansed from sin (1 Jo 1:7)
  16. Declared Blameless (Phil 2:15)
  17. Set free from the desires of flesh (Gal 5:24)
  18. Secure in Christ (1 Pet 1:3-5)
  19. Granted peace (Rom 5:1)
  20. Loved by God (1 Jn 4:10)

we still live in a broken world, and thus, you will face battles today.

you will be tempted to forget.

you will struggle with spiritual amnesia.

you will be given an opportunity to prove yourself because you fear man more than God.

  • you might get cut off on the highway, and instead of dropping an expletive and grinding your teeth, if you are in Jesus, you can smile and say with confidence, “I am an heir of God”
  • you might want to take an “innocent” second look at that girl that just walked by, and instead, you can rejoice in the power of God that raised Jesus from the dead that lives in you and say, “I am set free from the desires of the flesh”
  • you might have an opportunity to appear humble by prefacing a statement with, “we need to pray for ____” and then continue to gossip in order to lift yourself high at the expense of another or justify or clarify yourself, and instead you can look like the fool and convict in the eyes of the world with humility and peace, not feel the need to justify yourself, not feel the need to make sure everybody understood exactly what you meant, and not be affected because you are “crucified with Christ (who was misunderstood to the cross)” and “light in the world”
  • you might want to feel condemned because just before you read this post, you did take a second look at that girl or you did defend yourself with unwholesome speech (and even defended it with “it’s just the truth”), and instead you can rejoice by remembering that you are “declared righteous” and “secure in Christ”
  • you might be tempted to be bitter and quick to anger with your brother or sister because of their selfishness, shortsightedness, nauseating false humility, constant gossiping, and desire to drag you into the mud, and instead, you can see them as hurting and bless them because you have been “blessed with all spiritual blessing”

i encourage you to memorize just one or two of these truths right now so that you can remind yourself, your friends, your spouse, etc. who they are in Christ when you (or they) encounter a battle today.

for those who are in Christ Jesus, this is what and who we ARE,

not what we need to work for or pay for with our good deeds or should be,

this is true of who we are.

so we just need to put on that clothing of grace and life that He purchased for us (described in at least those 20 ways above – borrowed from gospel coach training).

the pressure’s off.

because of what Christ has done, i am a “citizen of heaven” and “set free from the power of sin”…

does that mean i never struggle?

no… we’re still sinners in need of grace, but ultimately and eternally, we are righteous, justified, free to radically obey, pick up our cross, and follow Him.

we forget that we are “citizens of heaven” and “set free from the power of sin” so we live as if we are citizens of this world, submit to our flesh and call God a liar.

this is not just an intellectual exercise.

if you read those 20 things above and are not deeply moved with a desire to love God and love others by obeying God with all that you are, those things might not apply to you.

until Jesus returns or we die, we will need to remind ourselves hourly if not minutely of the gospel of Jesus … who we ARE because of what He’s done …

the pressure’s off.

freedom’s on.

that’s the gospel – that’s grace.

which truth especially hits home for you?

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passing away

Posted in Bible, filching friday, Jesus, tagged , , , , on August 19, 2011 | 1 Comment »

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”

-Jesus (Matt. 24.35; Mk. 13.31; Lk 21.33)

do you believe this? intellectually? practically? what are you investing in today that is not eternal? that is eternal?

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