Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
I hope and pray that I never forget these words.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
A Reflection on the Necessity of Grace for Victorious Living
Before you run away scared that this is going to be theologically infused reading, take a breather. It's a fancy title for a simple revelation. As I ponder the grace of Jesus, I often wonder what he was thinking. I look at my life. I look at his. I look at mine again. I look at his again. Then I scratch my head. Why would God ever want me? I constantly fail him. There is no one righteous. No, not one.1 That includes me. And you. I look at the past year and all of the struggles that I have encountered. I look at friends of mine that have had profoundly more difficulty struggles than I. I look at the world in disarray and wonder how could God be present in the midst of all of the strife, anger, deceit, anxiety, lust, greed, pride, and idolatry. Specifically I look at my life before I was a Christian. I wonder where I would be now if not for the grace of God. I wonder how far my sin would have carried me before I woke up...if he ever woke me up. When God ran me down four years ago, I was not looking for him. I was going to lunch with a high school friend because I had a crush on her. I thought it was a date. She knew it was ministry. God also knew. I was the only one in the dark at the time. She shared the gospel with me and for the first time it was real to me. She didn't really even share the story of Jesus with me. She asked if she could pray for me. No one had ever done that before. For the first time I felt genuinely loved. And not in the way that your family loves you. It was a deep concern for the well being of my soul.
Somehow, over the past four years I drifted, or rather God ordained that I follow a path that led to a lot of heartache. I cried out to him for healing and never really experienced healing in the way that was purchased for me on Calvary. I started to doubt God and his promises. I screamed at him in anger to heal me of my sin. His grace has recently shown me that in the middle of those tears I was seeking healing for selfish reasons. I didn't want anything to do with him. I didn't want the guilt and the shame that came with whatever sin I was dabbling in (or practicing depending on your definition) at the time. I just wanted to feel whole, but not whole in the sense that God wanted me to be whole. He wanted to heal my heart and give me himself. I wanted him to heal my heart and leave me alone.
Over the course of the past year, I have seen God in way that I never have before. The promises of God no longer are vague and amorphous generalizations that apply to the church universal. They apply to me. They apply to my life. They apply to my situation. They apply to every facet of my daily musings. And for some strange reason, despite my awkwardness, he loves me. On a regular basis I find it hard to believe. I still try to convince myself that my sin is too great for him to handle, and that he is better off without me. It brings me to tears when he restores me and gently pushes me in the right direction again. Kicking and screaming most of the time, I try to fight against his will. When I'm out of breath with scraped knees from when he tripped me to make feel again and start walking in the life that he bought for me, I think about how gracious he is to keep me in my sin so I continue to chase after him.2 The pain is not enjoyable, but without it I would not fall on my face in repentance and pursue him. Grace is necessary for my progressive sanctification. It gives me great hope that no matter the circumstances we worship a big God that is very interested in the intimate details of our lives.
Somehow, over the past four years I drifted, or rather God ordained that I follow a path that led to a lot of heartache. I cried out to him for healing and never really experienced healing in the way that was purchased for me on Calvary. I started to doubt God and his promises. I screamed at him in anger to heal me of my sin. His grace has recently shown me that in the middle of those tears I was seeking healing for selfish reasons. I didn't want anything to do with him. I didn't want the guilt and the shame that came with whatever sin I was dabbling in (or practicing depending on your definition) at the time. I just wanted to feel whole, but not whole in the sense that God wanted me to be whole. He wanted to heal my heart and give me himself. I wanted him to heal my heart and leave me alone.
Over the course of the past year, I have seen God in way that I never have before. The promises of God no longer are vague and amorphous generalizations that apply to the church universal. They apply to me. They apply to my life. They apply to my situation. They apply to every facet of my daily musings. And for some strange reason, despite my awkwardness, he loves me. On a regular basis I find it hard to believe. I still try to convince myself that my sin is too great for him to handle, and that he is better off without me. It brings me to tears when he restores me and gently pushes me in the right direction again. Kicking and screaming most of the time, I try to fight against his will. When I'm out of breath with scraped knees from when he tripped me to make feel again and start walking in the life that he bought for me, I think about how gracious he is to keep me in my sin so I continue to chase after him.2 The pain is not enjoyable, but without it I would not fall on my face in repentance and pursue him. Grace is necessary for my progressive sanctification. It gives me great hope that no matter the circumstances we worship a big God that is very interested in the intimate details of our lives.
To him they shall flee, as one who is abroad, and sees a terrible storm arising, makes haste to some shelter to secure himself; so that however furious is the tempest, yet he is safe within, and the wind and rain, though they beat never so impetuously upon the roof and walls, are no annoyance unto him. 3
Footnotes
1 Psalm 14:1-3
2 2 Corinthians 12:9
3 Safety, Fullness, and Sweet Refreshment in Christ. Jonathan Edwards.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Cliche Comeback Post
It's been awhile since I have posted. I have wanted to get back in the habit of updating my blog, but other pressing matters (read useless wastes of time) have prevented me. If you want the long update, that's too bad because I'm going to give the short and sweet one. I work with a great group of people and have many things to be thankful for in my current situation. There are always things to complain about in corporate America, but I'm not going to vent here about it. It's the best possible situtation for me. I see God's hands all over it. It's really pretty amazing seeing him work and squash my plans.
I picked up cycling this summer. I bought a bike and after my first tour this weekend, I'm addicted to racing. I'm definitely going to schedule a portion of my vacation time next year around some of the races that I want to partipate in.
Keep an eye out for my thoughts on Romans. I'm trekking through the book with the Pipe. It's deep and convicting and freeing all at the same time. Somehow I think God knew what he was doing...
I picked up cycling this summer. I bought a bike and after my first tour this weekend, I'm addicted to racing. I'm definitely going to schedule a portion of my vacation time next year around some of the races that I want to partipate in.
Keep an eye out for my thoughts on Romans. I'm trekking through the book with the Pipe. It's deep and convicting and freeing all at the same time. Somehow I think God knew what he was doing...
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Are You a Tour Guide or a Local? Part 3
Running to the edge of the cliff, the roaring increased. Paul had jumped into the waterfall. The commercial was right: This is going to change my life forever. Shawn took a gander at the multitudes of people enjoying the waterfall. There were thousands of people all in the pool at the bottom of the falls. There were people laughing and playing in the water. There were people on the shore cooking up some steaks. There were people playing music and singing about the waterfall. It was almost cult-like, but there was something intriguing about it. Well, when in Rome! Shawn jumped. He free fell for about six seconds before hitting the water and being doused in the cool blue waves. He swam to the top and took a deep breath. This truly is the best water I have ever been in. Oh yeah! Taste and see! He took a big gulp. And another. "Good God Almighty! This is the best tasting water I have ever had!"
Shawn swam to the side and crawled out. He started talking with the people around the falls. Paul had disappeared, so he thought he would try to get to know some people while he was here for the week. Shawn made the rounds, got a steak, made some new friends, and laid down to take a nap. When he woke up, Paul was sitting next to him.
"Gorgeous ain't it?"
"Sure is", Shawn confirmed. "How often do you come here?"
"All's I do is git people to come here. It's my job." Paul replied as if he had the most important job in the world.
"What do you mean?"
"Every week I bring someone new out heres. People see the ads about the beauty of this place, and I bring 'em out."
"So you're a tour guide?"
"Nosir. I used to live here. I'm a local", Paul corrected gently.
"Are all of these people locals?"
"Nope. You can tell the ones who are tour guides. The locals have set up camp. They’re here for until that day. They are dedicated to this place above all else in life. They have tasted and seen. They ain't going nowheres." Paul went on, "The tour guides, they have all the right clothes on, they know the lingo, they bring all the right people here, but they never get in the water. They just sit around and talk to their friends about how great it is, but they have only experienced that first jump. They know all about the secret caves underneath the falls and the depth of the water. They can tell you how long it's been here and all of the interesting people that have come by to see 'em. It's almost creepy. If you just visit, you'd never be able to tell. If you stay here long enough though, you'll see 'em."
"Why would anyone ever leave this place? Or, and I'm going to one-up you with this one, why not get in and just stay in?" Shawn queried.
"Oh, everyone has their own excuse. No matter how much you tell them about the life these falls give, they just won't git in." Paul grew agitated. "I've tried persaudin' 'em many times, they just don't listen. Some of 'em do though. There are certain times when the man that created these falls comes down and changes them. That's when they git in and really taste and see. On those days, we have a huge party. Lots of dancing and singing. We drink wine and eat bread and remember the day that these falls were created. We also celebrate the day when we all get to go home.”
Shawn swam to the side and crawled out. He started talking with the people around the falls. Paul had disappeared, so he thought he would try to get to know some people while he was here for the week. Shawn made the rounds, got a steak, made some new friends, and laid down to take a nap. When he woke up, Paul was sitting next to him.
"Gorgeous ain't it?"
"Sure is", Shawn confirmed. "How often do you come here?"
"All's I do is git people to come here. It's my job." Paul replied as if he had the most important job in the world.
"What do you mean?"
"Every week I bring someone new out heres. People see the ads about the beauty of this place, and I bring 'em out."
"So you're a tour guide?"
"Nosir. I used to live here. I'm a local", Paul corrected gently.
"Are all of these people locals?"
"Nope. You can tell the ones who are tour guides. The locals have set up camp. They’re here for until that day. They are dedicated to this place above all else in life. They have tasted and seen. They ain't going nowheres." Paul went on, "The tour guides, they have all the right clothes on, they know the lingo, they bring all the right people here, but they never get in the water. They just sit around and talk to their friends about how great it is, but they have only experienced that first jump. They know all about the secret caves underneath the falls and the depth of the water. They can tell you how long it's been here and all of the interesting people that have come by to see 'em. It's almost creepy. If you just visit, you'd never be able to tell. If you stay here long enough though, you'll see 'em."
"Why would anyone ever leave this place? Or, and I'm going to one-up you with this one, why not get in and just stay in?" Shawn queried.
"Oh, everyone has their own excuse. No matter how much you tell them about the life these falls give, they just won't git in." Paul grew agitated. "I've tried persaudin' 'em many times, they just don't listen. Some of 'em do though. There are certain times when the man that created these falls comes down and changes them. That's when they git in and really taste and see. On those days, we have a huge party. Lots of dancing and singing. We drink wine and eat bread and remember the day that these falls were created. We also celebrate the day when we all get to go home.”
The End
So here's my question: Are you a tour guide or a local? Do you get in the water and taste and see that the Lord is good and gracious and mighty? Or are you content to sit on the side with your hamburger and reminisce about the one day you took the plunge? Are you content with only being able to describe Jesus? Why not really know him?
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