Bookends Ch 3: Enemies of the Gospel: Self-Righteousness

To review, we learned that (using the analogy of our lives being like a bookshelf with many books on it) our first bookend which holds up all of our "books" must be the righteousness of Christ which is given to us through the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross in which God credits us with Christ's perfect righteousness. We learned that this good news is what motivates us to love Christ and to desire to be like Him; to grow in holiness.

Now this week, in the third chapter we are discussing an enemy of the gospel: self-righteousness. Self-righteousness is when we depend upon our own performance to merit (or earn) God's approval, access to God (or fellowship with Him), acceptance into God's family, admittance into heaven (eternal life), daily provision of our needs or wants, and/or the ability to live the Christian life.

Paul says that self-righteousness nullifies God's grace in Galatians 2:21. "I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose". We learned that this doesn't mean that we lose our salvific grace, but rather that we lose the ability to experience God's grace. When we have a self-righteous attitude we do not have the assurance that based soley on the righteousness of Christ, we have all of those blessings that were mentioned earlier. So this nullifies the grace of God because we treat the gospel as unimportant or ineffective, when we act as though God's blessings are dependent upon us.

This is a subtle sin and can disguise itself in many ways in our lives. Certainly, there are those who think that if they are good enough they'll get into heaven; but I think it is more deceptive in the hearts of believers who do ultimately trust in Christ's righteousness for salvation, but who fall into the temptation to live like they must essentially do the rest.. as if our salvation was purchased by Christ but the rest is up to us. One example that they used in the book really hit home with me. They spoke of whether we expect an answer to prayer when we are being obedient more than when we're being less faithful. Do we figure that God owes us blessings based upon our faithfulness? The danger of this type of thinking is that it causes us to stop pointing to the glories of Christ and the cross and instead point at ourselves and our "accomplishments". When we do this in our minds we can start to model this to the world and as such, we change the good news that we are preaching. So we need to be on guard to see whether we are trusting in the glories of Christ as imparted to us on the cross, or whether we are resting on our works of "righteousness".

Here are some questions from the book that can help us to assess ourselves:

Do you think of the cross often? Do you think of it as one rescued or as one judging all those others who "just need Jesus"?

Do you find it difficult to respect those whose standards aren't as high as yours?

Do you feel like God owes you a good life? How about when life is difficult: do you get angry and feel like you deserve better?

Do you recognize your own sins as quickly as you recognize others? Do you resent it when people point out your weaknesses or do you become defensive?

Do you find it difficult to identify specific sins that you commit each day and are you in the habit of repenting of specific sins on a moment by moment basis? Do you rationalize your sin?

Do you assume that practicing spiritual disciplines should result in God's blessing: especially day by day? Do you tend to think that things will work out according to your plans because you read your bible or prayed, etc. on any given day?

I chose this chapter to write about because I know this struggle is a big part of my life and so I hoped this chapter would challenge and stretch me. I was not disappointed. I hope that you all enjoyed the chapter and yet were also wonderously convicted and moved (as I was) to press on toward the goal of resting in Christ's righteousness every second of every day, for His glory!

Thankfulness

Happy Thursday! My mom wrote a guest post for your enjoyment and encouragement today! :)


It is amazing what a couple of days "up North" did for me. It was nice just to have time to think. These are my thoughts. My hope is that they will encourage you.

I accepted an old family friend on Facebook last week. As I thought about how his life turned out for him I began to feel sorry for myself. He is a musician in a band that was nominated for a Grammy award (or is it Emmy? I don't keep track of these things). The band is Spyro Gyra. I've looked at their website and they travel EVERYWHERE. Not just Europe but other cool places like Dubai and Russia. My brother and I tried to get together with him last summer but he was "out of the country." I began thinking how it must be nice to be "out of the country." I have always loved to travel. I would go anywhere if the opportunity presented itself. When Nichole and Rebekah went to Germany, I thought that it was just not right that my kids got to go before I did. Again, I had the same thought when Matty went to Cameroon. So, the more I thought about Scott and his life the more I began to feel like life was passing me by. I'll be 50 this year and with the economy the way that it is I wondered if I would ever get to go anywhere. I've been to Canada. That's it, not even Mexico.

It didn't help that that day's activities for me had been washing an elderly lady's clothing and cooking for the next day! Exciting stuff. :( Not! So now, I was really feeling sorry for myself. And then I remembered our Lord. I don't know if Scott is a Christian. I do know that he believes in God but I did too before I was a Christian. I remembered that someday I will take a trip that will be infinitely better than any trip that he has taken or anyone for that matter! Seeing our Lord and Savior at last and through eyes that aren't sinful, fully seeing His glory! Well, it will be better than I, or any of us, can imagine. And if I see him or others in heaven when I get there that I have told about the Lord it will add to my joy. My joy will be infinitely immense. Better than any trip here could possibly produce.

I think of Matt's sermon a few Sundays ago and how our Lord gives us the Word of God and then life to apply it to very faithfully each Sunday. He is so good to us. The jealousy that could easily have turned to bitterness was stopped in its tracks as I remembered our Father and His love in sending His beloved Son so that I could be called His beloved child. And that someday I could be with Him FOREVER! His lovingkindness is truly better than life and traveling!

Julie Ganschow Interview - Part 1

Hello Ladies! As you all know, the Strengthening Women conference is fast approaching and this year our speaker is Julie Ganschow, a biblical counselor. She will be speaking on biblical communication, which is a hugely important subject in any Christian's life. I personally am very excited about the conference and I hope you all are too!

In order to get to know Julie a little better, the girls and I came up with some 'interview' questions and Julie was extremely gracious to reply to them. We wanted to share her answers with you. So here you are, ladies, the first of four posts devoted to getting to know Julie!


"Julie, we are very excited to get to know you here at the True Women blog. Our church is greatly anticipating the upcoming conference in October. Thank you so much for being willing to come and speak on such an important subject as communication.

We would like to take some time to let those who read the blog get to know a little bit about what makes you, you!


I (Jaz), though born in Missouri, was raised here in good old K-town. Most of the women here on the blog spent most of their lives here as well.

We know you were in Milwaukee for a while at least, but where did you grow up? We would love to hear some fun stories from your childhood!

I was born and raised in Wisconsin. I lived in Greenfield until I was an adult and married. Being the youngest of 4 children I was raised as an only child because everyone else was gone already!
Being the "caboose" had great benefit :) Vacations, material things, I lacked nothing. Probably the best thing was the look on my sister's face when my parents bought a dishwasher- right after she moved out! ;)

Nichole is presently in college at UW-Parkside going for a degree in finance. I have seen how much this decision has influenced her life.

Where did you go to school and what did you study?

My first goal was to be a nurse. When I blew up the chemistry lab (true!!) I thought maybe I should consider a different career. My next thought was to be an actress. I intended to go to New York and be on the stage, but planned to try and get into daytime television too. Many of my classes back then were theater oriented.
Then I realized all I really wanted to be was a wife and mommy. I ditched school entirely until I started homeschooling our children.
These days, I am trying to finish my Bachelor's in Biblical Counseling.

We know from your blog that you are a happily married woman.


How did you meet your spouse and how long have you been married?

Larry and I have known each other since the 7th grade. We tried dating a while in High School, but it did not work out. Life took us both in different directions but in 1989 we reconnected as adults and picked up our friendship where we left off, only better. We had remained friends throughout the years and had a once a year "date" at the July 4 celebration for our city.

In the early days of our adult relationship, we spoke a lot by phone because of the geography and time restraints involved. We discussed our faith and beliefs and what we wanted out of life in our adulthood. Our first date was on New Years Eve and we had our first fight that night too.... I could not imagine what we would fight about, I thought we were having a great time! He went to a deserted part of the parking lot, and reached behind my seat and came out with 2 cans of Silly String. We got out of the car, stood back to back, counted 10 paces and turned and shot this stuff at each other!

When he brought me home at the end of the night I realized my face actually hurt from laughing!

That would be an indication of our life together. My husband is the joy of my life and even after a few decades together we still enjoy each others company more than anything else. He is my best friend, and the love of my life.

I'm guessing that you are a very busy woman between loving your husband and family and counseling, but when you have some spare time, what do you enjoy doing?

Because we now live in a condo, I am able to spend more time doing what I really love as a pass time - writing. There is something wonderfully comforting to me about pouring thoughts into words on a page. I am always amazed at what comes out and even more amazed at how I see God using it. I never thought my words would have an impact on anyone's life...it is incredibly humbling to me to hear women talk about using my books as Bible studies.

I also love to watch old movies and read historical fiction. If I am going to "waste" time, that is what you will find me doing!

This next question is not just out of curiosity. Some of us ladies have toyed with the idea of taking some biblical counseling courses. I have personally benefited from books on counseling women in my own ministry here at TBC. Right now, the women at our church are reading through your book, Seeing Depression Through the Eyes of Grace.

We would like to know how you came to the decision to be a biblical counselor?

Well, that is a question that has a long answer...I was interested in counseling in my early 20's and thought about becoming a social worker. I believed what I heard about psychology and thought it would be a good way to help people. The problem was I saw so many people who went to counseling who were no different than before they started! I also really believed that the Bible was sufficient for life and godliness and could not understand why Christians I knew were in such bad shape and being diagnosed with all sorts of mental illnesses and in therapy for years.

In my 30's I was teaching woman's Bible study and the head of the Woman's Ministry at our church. Those positions caused women to naturally gravitate towards me looking for help with life's problems. I found that too often the women preferred to believe they had an illness rather than a spiritual problem. Our Pastor counseled from an integrated position, mixing the Bible with psychology. He once counseled a couple for 20 years-before they got divorced! I knew there had to be a better way.

I had heard about John MacArthur's Shepherds Conference and the Associate Pastor at my church let me listen to some of the sessions on tape about Biblical Counseling and psychology. Listening to those few tapes turned my world on its head. I investigated NANC (National Association of Nouthetic Counselors) and enrolled in a distance learning course. From there, I began reading every book I could get my hands on and attending conferences and seminars presented by the people whose books I read.

I am more convinced than ever that God's Word is completely sufficient to meet all the problems of mankind. I have honestly never come up against something the Bible does not address. He is enough!

Those with a desire to serve should follow that desire and get some good training. I strongly encourage women to disciple other women. Biblical counseling is really intensive discipleship and we need to be equipped to understand how to minister to one another."


In order to see more information regarding the upcoming conference, please visit the Strengthening Women Website!

Prayer

I am reading a book called "A Gospel Primer for Christians" by Milton Vincent.  Its a great book and I am learning a lot.   One chapter is on prayer.  It brought out some excellent points and I'd like to share them with you.  The author points out that when God chose me in Christ before the foundation of the world, He didn't just choose me to be holy and blameless before Him, He also chose me to be before Him in love  (Eph 1:4).  Prayer is actually me doing just that.  God enjoys it when I come before Him in prayer.  One of the reasons that Christ died on the cross was to make it possible for us to pray to God. That is an amazing thought!   In the book of Hebrews, God says multiple times to draw near to Him.  In 1 Thessalonians 5:17 God says to pray without ceasing.  God desires believers to come before Him in praise and worship and also in prayer.  He wants us to cast our burdens on Him, thank Him for working in our lives, and anything else that comes up in our lives.  Sometimes I don't pray about things that are on my mind because I'm afraid to let God know what they are.  But He is intimately aware of everything that is going on and how I feel about them, so it is foolishness to try and "keep it from Him".   Sometimes I feel like God isn't listening when I pray.  I pray and pray for or about something but, nothing seems to be happening.  But the Bible says we can be sure as believers that He hears our prayers.  Someone once told me that God always answers our prayers with a yes, no, or wait.  I know I have prayed for things in the past that I'm glad now He didn't grant.  I've also been told that sometimes God wants to give us something but, He wants us to ask for it first.  Its just like an earthy father who maybe wants to take his kids to a movie or other special thing but, he desires his kids to ask him so that he can make them happy and tell them yes.  The Bible says that God desires to give good gifts to His children.  Jesus said that if a child asks his earthly father for bread, he won't give him a rock. And since God is without sin, how much more will He give us good things when we ask.    I guess it all comes down to trust and keeping our eyes on the Lord. Someday all believers will be eternally with the Lord and He will wipe every tear from our eyes and there will be no more sin.  No more running the "rat race" or experiencing pain.  I think about Heaven a lot and I tell myself that this life is like a vapor, and soon I will be with the Lord.  All that really matters is that we are saved from the power of death by Jesus' payment on the cross for our sins.  Eternity in Heaven is a lot longer than even 70 or 80 years on earth.  One of the verses to the song Amazing Grace says it well:  "when we've been there 10,000 years bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise then when we first begun"

Encouragement

Have you ever had a spiritual "battle" that you were fighting? Perhaps it was or is a sin in your life that is an ongoing battle... one of those ones that seems to tempt you more than any other sin. For me that sin is overeating: gluttony. The habit of eating food in excess of what my body needs to live and minister according to God's word is what I am defining as overeating and gluttony. I have had times in my life when I have been in the battle, fighting to glorify God and bring my sinful desires under the control of the Holy Spirit and for the glory of God (times of victory). More often though, my life has been one of giving in to my sinful desire to overeat and enjoy food more than God, to glut myself on the gift and stop worshiping the Giver.

Well, I am back in the battle. God is faithful and will not let me wander far without using His shepherd hook to grab me around the neck and bring me back to following Him. (Indeed, He's been swatting me with it this whole time; I am apparently a glutton for punishment as well!) So now I'm getting around to the point of this post. I know the truths of scripture: that I am to hunger and thirst for righteousness more than mere food or drink. I know that I am to desire God's glory more than I desire my own way. I know that I am to do all to the glory of God, whether eating or drinking or whatever I am doing. But as I look back over my life and see how I have sometimes obeyed God and then eventually wandered away in disobedience (specifically regarding this issue), I can become very discouraged. I can begin to think that it is a hopeless fight. If I look backwards at my track record, all I can see is inconsistency and eventual failure. I look to my future and judge it by my past, and as such, I lose all hope for victory. And therein lies the problem... I am not looking at this rightly.

God does not intend for me to look at myself, my past or to assess my own strengths when predicting the potential for victory in my future. If I am depending upon myself, my strength to accomplish victory; then I should despair. Why would I think that I can do anything on my own? Why should I even think that I can manage to trust in God and "let" Him do the work in me on my own? I need God in everything and for everything. (Romans 11:36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.) I absolutely can't do it on my own. I can't start the work, sustain the work or finish the work. Christ has to do it in me. Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Christ started the work - He has saved me. He sustains the work in His mysterious ways, through the Holy Spirit as He leads me, convicts me, gives me heavenward affections and calls me to follow Him. And I can rest assured that He will finish the work in me, though I will have to participate in the battle until the day of my death unless Christ returns sooner. However, it is God's call to not look at myself or trust in myself, but to look to Christ and to trust in Him to provide me with everything I need to have victory. So here is the greatest encouragement that I have been given and can give to you who are also in a battle of your own (whatever that battle might be): God's promises. He is faithful and able to keep them.

2 Peter 1:2-4 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Isaiah 40:31 Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.

Colossians 3:1-3 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Psalm 9:9-10 The LORD also will be a stronghold for the oppressed, A stronghold in times of trouble; And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, For You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.

Bookends Ch. 2: The Motivation of the Gospel

Chapter 1 ended with these questions: If it is true that God's acceptance of me and His blessing on my life is based entirely on the righteousness of Christ, what difference does it make on how I live? Why should I make any effort? Why should I put myself through the pain of dealing with sin and seeking to grow in Christlike character if it doesn't effect my standing with God? This chapter answers these questions.

We are pointed to the miracle, the vastness and the glory of the gospel-forgiveness! The very fact that we are accepted by God as sinful enemies should cause us to worship not only with our words but with our lives. The authors take us on a journey through lives of three different characters in the bible and gives us their reaction to the good news of forgiveness.

They start with a prostitute, then a respected Jew and finally to Paul who, if anyone had a reason to boast, it would be him. From the lowly prostitute to the self-righteous Pharisee of Pharisees, we see an awe and love for the Savior that worked itself out in action. when they were forgiven. Each one realized they were forgiven much at a great cost.

This knowledge led them to radical worship rather then complacency!

We are motivated to act when we are overwhelmed with gratefulness and love for Jesus.


A point that stood out to me was on page 34: Genuine love for Christ comes through (1) an ever-growing consciousness of our own sinfulness and unworthiness, coupled with (2) the assurance that our sins, however great, have been forgiven through His death on the cross. Only love that is founded on both these foundations can be authentic and permanent. If we lack love for the Savior, both of these prerequisites are deficient.

As we realize how much we have been forgiven , our love with grow. Our love is weak when we do not see how great our need was and is.

I pray that the Lord will grow me in genuine affection as I become more and more aware of my own unworthiness and His great forgiveness. This chapter has caused me to think about the way I measure my growth as a disciple. Often it is based on my behavior rather then how grateful I have become and how much my affections for the savior have grown.

YOUR TURN

What stood out to you?

Did you identify with any of the three people described in this chapter? How?

Would you say that you have become more aware of your sin the longer you have been a believer?

How do you generally measure your spiritual growth?

We are looking forward to hearing from you.

Remember that Betsy will be doing chapter 3 next Friday.

Give God our fears

 

 

 

I read Psalm 34 recently and it seemed like God was speaking just to me.  I have realized lately that I allow many fears into my heart.  I'm afraid of what is going on in the US right now and I also fear that although I can walk now, that I will always be in pain.  Verse 4 of this Psalm says "I sought the Lord and He answered me and delivered me from all of my fears".  So, God is saying to tell Him about anything that makes me afraid and He will deliver me from it.  I think that sometimes God takes away what I fear and sometimes He gives me the strength to endure it.  God wants His people to perservere thru trials.  Like Paul said, we are to fight the good fight, stay the course and keep the faith.

 

Verse 7 says "the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and rescues them".  This is also encouraging to me.  God says that He will protect me and rescue me.  I think about how Peter was led out of jail by an angel and I think of an experience I had as a kid when our family was driving through the mountains in Colorado.  It was night and we were in the middle of a big snow storm.  My Dad was driving in almost white out conditions and the road, when he could actually make it out, was windy.  There were no tracks in the snow from a prior car.  We all prayed that the Lord would get us down the mountain safely.  Then we saw some taillights in the distance and my Dad followed them all of the way down.  As we got into civilization again, we noticed that there was no vehicle ahead of us anymore.  I have always believed that those taillights were provided by God to rescue us. 

 

Since that experience, I have often thought about the many times that God protects me that I am not even aware of.  I have had many experiences where I see accidents along the road where if I had been just a few seconds farther down the road, I would have probably been involved.  Did God allow something to happen that caused me to be a bit late so that I wouldn't be in the wrong place at the wrong time?  Did I have to stop for a red light which made me frustrated, just to keep me from the danger?  I try to remember this when I run into frustrating things that make me late or have to take an alternate route.  

 

So, please read through this Psalm and remember that God will never leave you nor forsake you and that He is soverignly in control.  As Christians we have nothing to fear. 

Food for thought...

This got me thinking alot yesterday and really turned my bible study into a time of prayer and repentence. May it bless you too!

Psalm 15

Description of a Citizen of Zion

A Psalm of David.

O LORD, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill?

2 He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, And speaks truth in his heart.

3 He does not slander with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor takes up a reproach against his friend;

4 In whose eyes a reprobate is despised, But who honors those who fear the LORD; He swears to his own hurt and does not change;

5 He does not put out his money at interest, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.

Bookends of the Christian Life

The introduction to The Bookends of the Christian Life argues that without properly understanding the reality and the role of 1. The righteousness of Christ and 2. The power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, then we will always be in a constant struggle in our pursuit of holiness and the glorification of God. Chapter 1 begins to deal with their arguments involving the righteousness of Christ.
Most of the chapter is spent explaining that we are not righteous, that Jesus Christ was righteous, that God expects perfect righteousness from us and that without perfect righteousness we cannot enter heaven, and that through Jesus' death on the cross, His righteousness was credited to believers.
So what does this mean practically? They begin to address this near the end of the chapter and this is where I would like most of the discussion to take place. This book is meant to be extremely practical in how it works out in our lives. The first point they make that I would like to discuss is found on page 27, "When...we depend on our own performance, whether good or bad in our estimate, as the basis of God's approval, our assurance that we stand before God as justified sinners inevitably fades."
If you are anything like me, you can think of a hundred ways that you act like God's approval of you is based on your actions. Obviously God is pleased and displeased with us based on our actions, but always as a loving Father would be towards his children. Our salvation is never in jeopardy. Now, I realize that this notion can be taken too far. For the sake of profitable and edifying conversation, lets assume that none of us are going to adopt a 'eat, drink, and be merry' lifestyle because of this truth. Lets instead look for the ways that fully coming to grips with its implications frees us from our sin. What are some ways in your own lives that this truth has affected you? Do you see any areas in your life where you are still working to earn God's approval? Have you ever experienced a time when remembering this truth gave you the courage and power to fight a particular sin in your life?
The second point is slightly different and found on page 28, "Second, we must place our reliance entirely on the perfect obedience and sin-bearing death of Christ as the sole basis of our standing before God - on our best days as well as our worst." How does this truth work out on our good days? On the days where obedience is easy, God's blessings our evident, we remembered to read our bible and pray, we didn't yell at our kids once, and we were respectful and submissive to our husbands. How do we remind ourselves of this truth on these days? Do you remind yourself? Just as it is vitally important for us to remember our justification on the bad days, the days where every time you turn around you see more sin in your life, it is just as important for us to remember our justification on our good days. It is so easy to forget the massive price that Jesus paid for us in His death on the cross when we view ourselves as 'having it together.' We must always remind ourselves that we would have nothing without Jesus' blood spilled on our behalf.

Okay then! Lets discuss...what part of the chapter did you find particularly helpful? Did you have any questions? concerns? disagreements? Please don't feel like you have to answer every question I asked here; I know there were a lot. Pick the ones you liked. :) Also, feel free to interact with what others have said. This should really feel more like a discussion rather than a bunch of people listing off their own opinions. I know its going to take some getting used to and be a little bit weird in the beginning but I'm very excited to see how this goes!

Don't forget that Jasmine has chapter 2 next week on Tuesday!

Contentment

I have recently begun to go through a devotional by Lydia Brownback called, Contentment: a Godly Woman's Adornment. Contentment can only be attained if our delight is in God alone rather then the futility of fleeting pleasures here on earth. And much to my shame I am in a constant battle with my flesh to be content, which reveals to me that too often I am distracted by and attracted to this world and what it has to offer - hence the reason I need to go through a devotional on contentment!

I should be content in all circumstances just like Paul said he had learned to be. Whether I am experiencing a time of great prosperity or a time of great need and trouble God is with me and with that should come great joy and contentment. Which means I need not feel guilty in a time of plenty but can instead rejoice in the God who has given it and allow others to share in it. It also means that when times are tough I should never have a pity party and be angry, but rejoice in the God who supplies all my needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

I want to be a women whose total delight be in God, not a finished home, a husband with a secure job, perfect health, well behaved children or flourishing ministry.

Lydia Brownback says: if we will trust God in whichever place we find ourselves, we will know contentment whether the season is easy or hard. We will know contentment whether the season is easy or hard. We will find peace in the hard times because a good Father is controlling them, and we will not be anxious in good times because our happiness is not bound up in having to maintain them. Good times are designed to come and go, but contentment is designed to be constant for all who are in Christ.


So I cry out with the Psalmist:
One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the LORD
And to meditate in His temple. (Psalm 27:4)

Oh, to be content with this!

God is so good

 

I have to tell you about yesterday.  It was my first official day to walk and I have been anxious to do some things to keep house better than I have been able to.  One thing I could do now was go grocery shopping.  Since we just gotten back from Daniel's, we had very empty shelves and a very empty refrigerator.  I decided to go get groceries myself so Dan wouldn't have to have extra work when he came home.

 

I decided to go to Woodmans.  When I got in the car to leave, I prayed that there would be a handicapped parking spot available for me and also that there would be a motorized cart available for me.  This seemed to me to be a tall order since rarely are handicapped spots available and I have tried to go shopping there in the past and when I got there, all of the motorized carts were either being used or had dead batteries.  I tried to think about how Peter was let out of jail by an angel of the Lord.  He walked right by the guards, his chains just fell off, and doors opened by themselves.  If He can do that, I figured that if He wanted to He would answer my prayer.

 

When I got to the store I was amazed!  There was a parking spot right near the door and it seemed like the entire fleet of motorized carts was just waiting there for me to pick one.  God did answer my prayer and abundantly more than I had imagined.  I was thanking Him and praising Him the entire day.

 

I have been wrestling with praying and then believing that God will answer my prayer.  I know He can, but will He?  In an earlier post I mentioned that I think God answers our prayers based on our believing that He will answer.  Afterall, why would He answer if we really were not even looking for His work in our life? 

 

I plan to start looking at my life differently.  I will be watching for God's work in my life and giving Him praise and thanks for what He does.  In the past, I would attribute all of the bad things in my life to God's doing. And when good things did happen, I figured God was not the culpret.  Now I know better and I understand that God gives and God takes away.  He also delights in giving good gifts to His children.  So, no matter what happens in my life, I know it is from the hand of a loving God. I need to be content no matter what. During trials, I need to look for the good, and during good times I need to give all of the credit to God.

Psalm of Praise

Psalm 150:1-6

1 Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty expanse.

2 Praise Him for His mighty deeds; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness.

3 Praise Him with trumpet sound; Praise Him with harp and lyre.

4 Praise Him with timbrel and dancing; Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe.

5 Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with resounding cymbals.

6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!

Here's a timely reminder for myself that in all things, I am to be praising the LORD with my whole heart for His excellent greatness! And one day we will all praise God together, no longer hindered by our sin or our selves. Have a great day, everyone!

Witty Wednesday

Get Sweeter As You Get Older

"And let the Spirit's gift of joy color all your life. As you mature remain a happy person in Christ. Get even sweeter as you get older. Sour old people are a pain." These words captured my attention as I read the letter that the late Ray Ortlund wrote to his family. I recommend you read this short and simple letter from a godly husband and father. It was very kind of his family to share it.

Like I said, this statement popped out at me. We have all probably seen what he is talking about when he says that sour old people are a pain. We all have seen and have probably experienced the effects of pride and bitterness as it saps the life - the joy - right out of us. We forget, at least I forget, that mature God loving people are filled with an abundant joy. This joy ought to result in a sweet spirit.

If I have indeed tasted the goodness of the Lord through His great gospel, how can that goodness, that savory grace not have a joyful affect on my life? Is that obvious in my speech and demeanor?

Oh how I should rejoice in my Lord Who gave Himself for me.

Ephesians 2:

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,

²in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.

³Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

⁴But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

⁵even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

⁶and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

⁷so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;

⁹not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Amen, Hallelujah!

May I never forget the grace granted me and may I grow sweeter as I grow older in the Lord; may I never turn sour!

God's lovingkindness

I read Psalm 33:22 recently and it meant alot to me.  This verse is:  "Let Your lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us according as we have hoped in You."

 

This verse stuck out to me that day because I was having a bad day and I was worried about a certain family situation.  I had prayed about it but I realized that I didn't really believe that He would help me.  I felt so bad that I often times call out to Jesus, but in my heart I doubt that He will show me His lovingkindness.  Why had I lost my hope in Jesus? 

 

 I had to go back and remember all of the ways God has taken care of me in the past.  I think about the last few years of physical trials and how He has helped me to endure and perservere.  He provided good health insurance for us and it appears right now that He has healed my leg.

 

I had stopped seeing God's blessings in my life.  I needed to repent of this sin and change my thinking.  I needed to trust that God was working in my life and He indeed did hear my prayer and would help me. 

 

I'm glad that the Lord used this verse to show me sin in my life so I could  repent and change.   

Do I love God more for God or for His gifts?

I heard a sermon recently where the pastor was going to speak about prayer. However before he started the main point of his sermon he quoted John Piper from his book "God is the Gospel". In his book John Piper asks the question that if we could have all of Heaven with all of it's benefits, blessings and good things...but without God, would we be happy? Would we agree to that? Then the pastor went on to give an example. He spoke of a scenario where he comes home to find that the house is all immaculately clean. It smells wonderful. There is a plate of freshly baked cookies on the kitchen table with a fresh pot of coffee. Everything is just perfect in the house. He walks through and admires the completion of all things that were out of place or unfinished in the past. He enters his bedroom and his bed is made and smells of fresh linens and all of his dress shirts are pressed and hung neatly in the closet. There are lovely flowers on the dresser with a loving note from his wife. However his wife isn't there. She's not home and she's never going to be there again. She's disappeared. He asked how we thought he would feel. Would he shrug and carry on enjoying the cookies and the coffee? No - of course not. He would be filled with sorrow and would not be able to enjoy any of the blessings that his wife left behind because he could not enjoy her with them.

This morning while I was driving I got to thinking about this again. Would I be content to enjoy the gifts of God if I could no longer have God? Would I give a shrug to my loss of relationship with God so long as I could continue on living a happy healthy care-free life? Honestly, what if I could live with the assurance that everything would be pleasant and wonderful for the rest of my life here on earth and I would still get to go to heaven and enjoy all of the peace and joy that it holds, but without God...would I be okay with that? Is God my lover or just my provider and problem solver? Why do I love God? Is it because He is so amazing and wonderful or it is because He meets my needs (both spiritually and physically). The things that God does are not merely what makes God wonderful but rather God is wonderful and so he does those things: whether it is sending Jesus to die on the cross or healing our child or providing for us when money is tight. Those acts of love and faithfulness are the overflow of who God is and they are meant to draw us in a circle right back to God to see and know Him; they are not meant to sweep us away from Him in the tidal wave of His generous gifts.

I can say that after thinking about all of this for awhile that I have a lot more thinking to do. But this I know: I want to love God for who He is, not just for what He does for me. I am praying that He will help me to love Him more because He is worthy and I am confident that He will help me, because He has drawn me faithfully to Himself thus far. To that end I think I am going to go back and read John Piper's book "God is the Gospel" again.

To God be the glory!

Respectable Sins - Part 5

Today I am going to briefly discuss doctrinal judgmentalism. It is very easy for us to get so caught up in having correct doctrine that we can find ourselves becoming judgmental towards others who either disagree with us or who are maybe not as well taught as we are. I do not at all want you to take away from this that having and defending good doctrine is anything less than very important. However, we must be able to do this with humility knowing that however much we 'know' there will always be people out there who know more. We must have humility knowing that apart from God's grace we would know much less than we do. We must have humility knowing that it is possible for us to be wrong. We must show love to our brothers and sisters and not risk sinning by becoming prideful of our better doctrine.

I believe that this is particularly relevent to members at our church. We have been so very blessed by a pastor and elders and Sunday School teachers who take their jobs very seriously. We have been well taught. We know the Scriptures. We know our doctrine. We have taken theology classes and biblical decision making classes and parenting classes and prayer classes. It is easy for us to believe that we have arrived. It is easy for us to look down on others who are not as knowledgeable as we are.

Sisters, we do not know the Bible as well as we think we do. We do not know our doctrines as well as we should. We have taken all the right classes, but may I suggest that perhaps we have not perfectly retained every lesson taught?

Having correct doctrine matters little if we are unable to live out that doctrine. When asked, Jesus said that the most important commandments in all the Bible were to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves. We cannot believe that we love othes as ourselves if we are lookind down on them in pride over our superior knowledge.

I would like to end with a quote from John Piper in his book God is the Gospel: "Gospel doctrine matters because the good news is so full and rich and wonderful that it must be opened like a treasure chest, and all the treasures brought out for the enjoyment of the world. Doctrine is the description of these treasures. Doctrine describes their true value and why they are so valuable...And all the while, doctrine does this with its head bowed in wonder that it should be allowed to touch the things of God. It whisperes praise and thanks as it deals with the diamonds of the King. Its fingers tremble at the cost of what it handles. Prayers ascend for help, lest any stone be minimized or misplaced. And on its knees gospel doctrine knows it serves the herald."

Witty Wednesday

This one came from Betsy...it made me laugh!