God is great

The kids sometimes get into pretty deep conversations about God.... who He is and what exactly He can do. Carly was going into a long explanation about what all God could do if He really wanted to. Isaac, of course, was her audience, taking it all in.

Normally, when an explanation is understood, the listener repeats what was just explained. This case was no different.

Isaac answered Carly with all seriousness: "Yeah. If God wanted a weed to grow out of the top of my head, He could do that. And then He could cut it off if He wanted to."

Carly continues her talk.

Isaac answers, "Yep, and He could even make my head be made out of dirt."

Deep.

Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him. He measures the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span. He weighed the mountains in scales. Do you now know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers. Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable (Isaiah 40).

"Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created" (Revelation 4:11).

psalm 139

¹ O LORD, you have searched me and known me!

² You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
³ You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
⁴ Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
⁵ You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.

⁷ Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
⁹ If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
¹¹ If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,"
¹² even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.

¹³ For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸ If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.

¹⁹ Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
O men of blood, depart from me!
²⁰ They speak against you with malicious intent;
your enemies take your name in vain!
²¹ Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
²² I hate them with complete hatred;
I count them my enemies.

²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
²⁴ And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!

have you ever wondered...

...about the prayer in Gethsemane? Before Jesus was arrested to be crucified, he prayed.

"[Jesus] began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to [his disciples], 'My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.' And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said 'Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.'" (Mark 14:32-36, ESV)

Quite perplexing how Jesus was so horrified and dismayed and so sorrowful. Until yesterday, I figured that he was distressed because of the physical anguish he was about to go through. Being God, Jesus knew the outcome; he knew he was about to be beaten and crucified. And he knew he would rise again. I thought that surely this was distressing to him. But the book Knowing God poses a different perspective, which makes much more sense.

J.I. Packer writes, "It was because Jesus was to be made sin, and bear God's judgment on sin, that he trembled in the garden, and because he was actually bearing that judgment that he declared himself forsaken of God on the cross. . . . the unique dreadfulness of his death lies in the fact that he tasted on Calvary the wrath of God which was our due, so making propitiation* for our sins."

So, why was he distressed? Because of SO MUCH sin placed on him? Sin is bad. BAD! A perfect and holy God would not be just if He allowed it. Sin brings about the wrath of God, His perfect wrath. That's what sin deserves. Was Jesus so distressed because of the amount of terrible sin put on his shoulders? Or was he distressed because he realized the magnitude of God's wrath toward that great amount of sin? Clearly, the horror Jesus displayed was not only due to the physical pain he would go through. Packer writes, "The physical pain, though great (for crucifixion remains the cruelest form of judicial execution that the world has ever known), was yet only a small part of the story; Jesus' chief sufferings were mental and spiritual, and what was packed into less than four hundred minutes was an eternity of agony...."

Do we realize just how awesome it is that Jesus died on the cross for our sins? Or do we throw that idea around and not really grasp the magnitude and seriousness of it? Jesus became a curse for us. Justice has been done. Sins that will ever be pardoned were judged and punished in Jesus, and that pardon is now offered to us offenders.

But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation* in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." (Romans 3:21-26, NASB)

See also Isaiah 53.

Praise God!

*Propitiation (pr-psh-shn) n. Appeasement of God's wrath. Covering, putting away, passing over, rubbing out sin so it doesn't create a barrier between man and God, thus pacifying God's wrath.

2011...carefree

Here is one of the best messages we've heard on the subject of worry.

Grace Bible Church

Pastor Casey McNerney

January 2, 2011

shining face of Moses

Have you ever stopped to ponder the glory of God? For someone like me, it's hard to consider how BIG God is!

Last night, Carly's story-bible covered sections of Exodus. The children of Israel had [literally] been led out of Egypt by a pillar of cloud from God. In Chapter 19, God commanded the Israelites to come to the foot of Mount Sinai, for He was going to come down on the mountain in the sight of everyone. The special instructions for the Israelites were: "Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death." (Read more from Chapter 19 for more details.) I wonder if someone tried it. And died. God came down onto the mountain, and there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast and fire. Did the people think it was just a good light show? No, they were afraid. They trembled. Even the mountain trembled.

In Chapter 34, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai, "the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God." Because of this, the Israelites were even afraid of Moses! So Moses put a veil over his face.

For a six-year-old listening to this story, many questions arise. What's a veil? Why did his face shine? Because God's glory is so great that even talking to God made it shine, and Moses didn't even look directly at God! Why were the people afraid? Because you die if you look at the fullness of God. Why? Because that's how holy God is. That's how perfect He is. I'm no good at answering 'why' questions. Coincidentally, Daddy came walking into the bedroom and answered them for me.

Do we realize how GREAT God is? This is a very feeble attempt at explaining it. God is SO great!

food for thought

My personal convictions don't typically make it onto paper, but this one's been brewing for a while. I am convinced that we are numb to what rubbish we feed our minds. The filth we allow to permeate and cloud our brains....we have no clue how detrimental it is! Do I dare stick a verse onto this conviction? Yes. Colossians 3:2 instructs us to set our minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

Accomplishing Colossians 3:2 is impossible in our own strength, and as long as we live in this world, we can only improve in merely striving for that goal...but still, not in our own strength. As a Christian, we are promised the Holy Spirit as a Counselor to open our blinded eyes, restore our spiritual vision and enable us to see the Truth of the gospel of Christ. We Christians will fail. We will sin. We are not perfect. But still, there are conscious decisions we can make that may enable us to stand firm and "do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him" (Colossians 3:17).

What difference would it make in our daily thought process if we started the day with real spiritual food? Are we feeding our minds with the media's trash when reading a book would be much more nourishing?

My fingers are pointing to myself. A while back, I checked out the movie Gladiator from the library. We've seen it several times. It's rated R for violence. If you've ever seen this movie, you'd probably recognize my favorite part. The corrupt emperor demands that the leading gladiator tells him his true name. Maximus turns around and says, "My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next." The awful emperor trembles, just like we want him to.

We call this entertainment. Entertainment that we watch when the kids are in bed, or entertainment that we PAUSE if our children walk into the room. This is just one example. What about most cable TV shows? What about our Facebook habits? What about the novel we're reading? What about feeding our minds with our own selfish inner-mind rantings for 3+ hours at a time? How nourishing is that?

Really, what is feeding our minds? How does entertaining myself with Gladiator fit in with the command to "do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor. 10:31)? Not sure. Check out John Piper's interesting post on how to drink orange juice to the glory of God. A practical solution to Gladiator: don't check it out...or (m)any movies for that matter. A practical solution to inner-mind rantings: feed myself with God's truth...such as..."take every thought captive to obey Christ" (2 Cor. 10:5).

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 12:2 ESV). Christians should be different, living IN but not according to the world. There are good and bad choices we can make. Which ones are fruitful?

constancy

\ˈkän(t)-stən(t)-sē\

noun

the state of being constant; changelessness

steadfastness, as in purpose or affection; faithfulness.

God is immutable. Sounds like a simple, easy-to-understand sentence, yet how can one contain God to a sentence? In Knowing God, Packer is right when he says that God's life doesn't change. Neither does His character, His truth, His ways, His purposes, and His Son. The earth and the heavens "will perish, but you [God] will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end." (Psalm 102:26-27).

We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,

And wither and perish - but naught changeth Thee.

(from the Immortal, Invisible God Only Wise Hymn)

Do you ever think about this...how CONSTANT God is? We're all busy. We've got places to go and people to see. You might read this blog post quickly and get on with your day. And that's fine. I do it too. But how often do I honestly sit still, and know that He is God? Turn off that blasted cell phone. Shut that to-do-list notebook for a second. Get up even 15 minutes earlier to be still and acknowledge who God is! Right now, there are so many things occupying my mind and yours. My natural tendency would not be to ponder God's constancy in the midst of my busy-busy attitude, but He has reminded me of it lately.

If God is steadfast, why worry? If God is unchanging, why set our minds on any earthly thing? If God is who He says He is, why must we wallow in discontent and sorrow? God's constancy provides us such comfort and HOPE. The hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ IS "big enough to cover the whole area of our need." (Packer) That's what this life is about.

"Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,

who was and is and is to come!"

(Revelation 4:8b)

Here's a good related song.

And an even better version of it by Maggie Rose Amini.

what must i do...

...to be saved?

It's quite perplexing that the Bible never mentions the term asking Jesus into your heart. It never says accept Christ. Walk down the aisle. Raise your hand. Sign the card. Talk to the pastor/elder. It doesn't say ANY of those things as a recipe for being saved. In Mark 1:15, Jesus proclaimed the good news of God. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" Now, because we (society and me) are task-oriented people, we take these two items and turn them into checklist-items.

• repent
• believe

Paul Washer describes it like this: "You were saved because you repented of your sins and you believed, and not only did you do that in the past, you continued to do it even until now . . . . A proper translation of that verse He gave is this: The Kingdom of God is come. The time is fulfilled. Now, spend the rest of your lives repenting of your sins and believing in Me. Conversion is not like a flu shot. "Oh, I did that. I repented. I believed." The question is my friend––are you continuing to repent of sin? Are you continuing to believe? Because He who began a good work in you will finish it. He will finish it." (Here's the rest of the sermon.)

At the end of this quote, Washer refers to God beginning a good work in us (Philippians 1:6), which brings up another crucial point. Our wise and sovereign Creator is the One who turns us to repentance and belief. This is what transforming grace is all about. When we deserve hell, He chose us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will (Ephesians 1:5). For many years, I believed that I was saved because I had asked Jesus into my heart and life. Wrong. I am saved because God loved me and God called me to repentance and believing in Him. Wow, that is humbling. (Charles Spurgeon talks more about election here, a really good sermon.)

THEREFORE, we Christians, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28), go on a lifelong journey of being progressively sanctified with the help of the Holy Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 say, "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass." Does that mean I will never again mess up? No. But I will spend the rest of my life repenting and believing Him. 2 Corinthians 13:5 warns us to examine ourselves. We are to test ourselves in the light of Scripture to see if we’re in the path, because a true Christian will be different.

holding people high

We all have our favorite people: authors, Bible figures, publishers, etc. We could all list them, and we'd probably start judging each other based on that list. Some of my favorite authors and theologians are Elisabeth Elliot, C.S. Lewis, Martha Peace, John Piper, R.C. Sproul, John MacArthur, Elizabeth George, Jerry Bridges, Frances Chan, and Francine Rivers, just to name a few.

Maybe it's my personality or my own mere humanness, but I've been finding myself holding these people high. Doesn't sound that bad, does it? But yep, it is. Do I dare call it idolatry? Yes, I do. There are even people within a 10-mile radius of our home whom I'd consider as favorite people.

The truth is...people are people. Human. Sinful. Fallen. Just like me. Anything good coming out of these people isn't from them at all. Anything good, righteous, or true is from God. "Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?" (Psalm 15:1) Obviously, we don't measure up. And neither do these authors and theologians. If we did measure up, there'd be no need for a Savior. We never will meet that standard.

But Christ does. We are to clothe ourselves with Christ. He is our righteousness. It does me no good to hold people or ideas high. It only does me good to look away from myself and this world and rest in Jesus Christ. Hebrews 12:1-2 challenged me this morning. "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."

Click here for more comments on Psalm 15 by Paul Tripp.

the Holy One

Like a prize at the end of a race, this song "Glory to the Holy One" is at the end of R.C. Sproul's The Holiness of God. This is the next book I want to read and own. Here are Sproul's lyrics:

~~~

Seated on the ether throne,

Above all mortal view;

The King supreme in glory sat,

Bathed in refulgent hue;

Holy, holy, holy,

cried the seraph throng;

Glory to the Holy One,

Is the angel's song.

All around the mercy seat

The winged creatures sang;

Glory to our God on high,

Their poignant anthem rang;

Holy, holy, holy,

cried the seraph throng;

Glory to the Holy One

Is the angel's song.

With shielded eyes and covered feet,

The angels hovered high,

While glory shook the portal walls,

And smoke rose to the sky.

Holy, holy, holy,

cried the seraph throng;

Glory to the Holy One

Is the angel's song.

Woe is me, the creature wailed,

His face upon the floor,

dirty lips and loathsome tongue

His heart could stand no more.

Holy, holy, holy,

cried the seraph throng;

Glory to the Holy One

Is the angel's song.

Come, angel quick and purge my lips,

Make pure my soul anew;

And I shall rise and stand again,

And I will go for You.

Holy, holy, holy,

cried the seraph throng;

Glory to the Holy One

Is the angel's song.

~~~

Every knee will bow.

sowing seed

A farmer went out to sow his seed...
Some fell on the path;

the birds ate them.

Some fell on rocky places;

it quickly sprang up but was scorched

and withered from having no roots.

Some fell among thorns;

these grew and choked the plants

Some fell on good soil;

it produced a crop.

Jesus explains this parable in Matthew 13:18-23. In Crazy Love, Francis Chan writes, "My caution to you is this: Do not assume you are good soil."

As I finished up making mounds of cucumbers and zucchini and squash and melons, I thought to myself, Okay, these seeds better grow now. We've planted about 15 packets of "premium" seeds in this garden of good soil. What if it's all for nothing?! What if they don't come up? What if the seeds don't grow? What a WASTE that would be. Not just a waste of money, but a waste of time. We planted 1,800 tiny pink corn seeds all by hand. How frustrated we would be if they don't produce a crop.

What does God think when seed does not produce fruit? What does He think when it is choked out?

I cannot assume that I am good soil.

truth: God is good

Do you believe that God is good?

The new book on my nightstand is Lies Women Believe by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. Nancy discusses 40 common lies that many women tend to believe. Lie #1: God is not really good. The real truth is: God IS good. Before starting this section I thought, Oh, this one should be easy. I know that God is good. As a kid, I prayed the "God is great, God is good, and we thank you for the food..." prayer at mealtime. Of COURSE I know that God is good. I grew up with that baseline truth.

What tempts me to question God's goodness? In my relatively easy life, it's hard to find an answer. After all, my struggles, disappointments, and pain are pretty minute compared to some. Even if I claim to know that God is good, there are many times that my attitude of worry, stress, selfishness, etc. is not indicative of believing that truth.

HOW do I know that God is good? The Bible teaches it, and God proves it. Everything He made is good (1 Tim. 4:4). His love endures forever (2 Ch. 7:3). God is good and what He does is good (Ps. 119:68). His Name is good (Ps. 52:9). He gives good gifts (Matt. 7:11). ...just to name a few... And if that isn't proof enough, read Ephesians 1:3-14. Do what Nancy suggests: make a list of all the blessings God has given to us from this passage.

• He has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
• He chose us to be holy and blameless.
• He adopted us.
• He gives us grace freely - Jesus, His Son!
• And through Jesus, we have redemption, forgiveness, grace with wisdom and understanding.
• He revealed the mystery of His will to us.
• He works things out for us according to His will.
• He marked us with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.

And WHAT ARE WE COMPLAINING ABOUT?!?! Why IN THE WORLD would my attitude be bad?!?! TASTE and SEE that He is GOOD! (Psalm 34:8) It's TRUE! God is good! And I can't just say that flippantly. I want to live with that in the forefront of my mind.

Conclusion...

Joe Eaton, a man with spina bifida writes: "Both pain and pleasure are meant to point us to the same reality; namely, that Jesus Christ is infinitely beautiful and so much more than enough for our every need. Living for Him, even suffering for Him, is worth every moment of affliction! Why? Because Jesus shows you such beauty in pain, because He is there and He is carrying us through."

It's not about me.

Hannah Whitall Smith writes: "A great many things in God's divine providences do not look to the eye like goodness. But faith sits down before mysteries such as these, and says, 'The Lord is good, therefore all that He does must be good no matter how it looks. I can wait for His explanations.'"

our Maker

Psalm 121

I lift up my eyes to the hills-

where does my help come from?

My help comes from the LORD,

the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip-

he who watches over you will not slumber;

indeed, he who watches over Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD watches over you-

the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

the sun will not harm you by day,

nor the moon by night.

The LORD will keep you from all harm-

he will watch over your life;

The LORD will watch over your coming and going

both now and forevermore.

forgetting the fire

Do you remember how it was at first, when you made that decision to make Jesus Lord of your life? When you felt the Holy Spirit's real presence? When this indescribable fire and passion burned in your heart to serve God?

I was convicted this morning when I read Hebrews 10. Verse 32 reminded me: "Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering." Years ago, I had circled the word "remember." But I so easily forget that fire that burns so hot at first. And I'm not even experiencing "the face of suffering" and the insult and persecution these people were. That may be the problem. These Christians had been imprisoned for their faith; their stuff had been taken. In fact, they "joyfully accepted the confiscation of [their] property, because [they] knew that [they themselves] had better and lasting possessions" (v. 34).

It's been 10 days since I finished this book Safely Home with a fire burning in my heart. This is a fiction book describing the experiences of the Christian Li Quan in China. Quan's whole attitude was summed up in one question he asked daily: "Is this the day I die?" Sounds morbid, but it's not. Quan lived for Yesu. He and his family risked their lives by worshiping in secret house churches. They risked their safety, their property, their lives by owning a Bible...not to mention how risky it was to spread the Good News to other people.

Toward the end of the book, Quan's American friend visits Quan in prison. He asks Quan, "When you pray for me, what do you ask?"

Quan answers, "That you will face persecution....and that through it you will grow. That you will learn to stand strong. That you will know you are in a war, and that you will put on your armor and learn to use the sword of the Spirit, God's Word."

The American responds, "So, while I'm praying you will suffer less, you're praying that I will suffer more?"

Quan answers again, "We both should pray that the other will live in a way pleasing to Yesu. I do not wish to see my friend suffer. But I believe it may be the only way for you to learn how to serve. In house churches we have little to hope in but our God. In America, you have much to hope in besides God. None but he can bear the weight of your hope. But that is often forgotten. The test of prosperity is not easily passed."

That's precisely the problem. We're too comfortable here in America, and it's hurting us spiritually. No, I don't wish to suffer, but it would sure help me remember my first love. How easily I forget. The Church of Ephesus was judged for this in Revelation 2:4-5. "Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first."

So, what can I do? Repent and stuff myself with the Word daily, actually every hour of the day - instead of merely strawberry shortcake and whipped cream. Saturate myself with "things above, not on earthly things" (Col. 3:1-2). Humble myself and have that attitude of Christ Jesus (Phil. 2:5-11). Suffering may come, and if it does, I pray that I stand the test.

vertical view

"Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless!"

I've spent the last few days disgusted with the world. Disgusted at how people, believers and non-believers alike, can be consumed with idols of the heart. Materialism. Pleasure. Entertainment. Food. Fame. Self. More and more lately, I am realizing how corrupted this world really is. Even the true message of the gospel is skewed. Oh, I could go on and on... and that's precisely my problem. Can you call me judgmental? Probably. But God's Word calls this worldly corruption "sin".

I looked through the book of Ecclesiastes. The side-notes say that "all of life is meaningless, useless, hollow, futile and vain if it is not rightly related to God. Only when based on God and his word is life worthwhile." Humanistic wisdom is meaningless. Pleasures are meaningless. Work apart from God is meaningless. Achievement without God's blessing is meaningless. Advancement is meaningless. Money is meaningless. All this is true, BUT the interesting thing about these passages is that the author wasn't looking only at everybody else. He was evaluating his own heart.

Second Corinthians 13:5 reminds me: "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? - unless indeed you are disqualified." Yes, discernment is good, BUT have I been examining others instead of myself? I need to stop looking horizontally. Instead, I need to assess my heart only, looking vertically, so that I may live a purposeful, meaningful life centered on God.

Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down,

that the mountains would tremble before you!

As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil,

come down to make your name known to your enemies

and cause the nations to quake before you!

You come to the help of those who gladly do right,

who remember your ways,

But when we continued to sin against them,

you were angry.

How then can we be saved?

All of us have become like one who is unclean,

and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;

we all shrivel up like a leaf,

and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you;

for you have hidden your face from us

and made us waste away because of our sins.

Yet, O LORD, you are our Father.

We are the clay, you are the potter;

we are all the work of your hand.

Isaiah 64:1-2, 5-8

Holiness of God

I wanted to sleep in this Saturday morning. Something kept me awake, though. It was the gnawing feeling of shame. Shame on me, and shame on the world. We don't even realize just how puffed up we make ourselves.

A few months ago, I listened to R.C. Sproul talk about the Holiness of God. You can read a recap of it here in one of R.C. Sproul's messages. After acknowledging and grasping the truth of this message, we should feel little. Because we are little. It had been a while since I had listened to this message, and I was starting to puff myself up again, considering myself better than I really was.

Do we even realize what HOLY means? It is moral blamelessness. Jerry Bridges calls it "separated from sin and, therefore, consecrated to God. The word signifies 'separation to God, and the conduct befitting those so separated.'" Bridges titles his book The Pursuit of Holiness because of the biblical command, "'Pursue holiness, for without holiness no one will see the Lord' (Hebrews 12:14, author's paraphrase)." He goes on to say that this takes diligence and effort through Christ, and yes, this will be a lifelong task, which won't be attained in this life.

So if this post goes as it should, you and I will read Sproul's message on God's holiness. We should be humbled knowing just how holy, holy, holy God is. God is not Someone we will ever fully understand, but the more we know, the more we are put in our place. The fewer times we try to fully grasp God's holiness, the more puffed up we become. Coming face-to-face with God's glory would drive us to our knees, our faces to the ground. Why don't we do that now? Because it's not proper? If we fully understood the holiness of God, we would.

crazy love, pt3

the hardest chapter: serving leftovers to a holy God

Chan said this chapter was the hardest one for him to write. It was hard to swallow, too. He writes, "As I see it, a lukewarm Christian is an oxymoron; there's no such thing. To put it plainly, churchgoers who are 'lukewarm' are not Christians. We will not see them in heaven." And he goes on to give his reasoning (Revelation 3:15-18, John 14:15, James 2:19, 1 John 2:3-4, Matthew 16:24-25, Luke 14:33), which accurately backs up what he claims. I look at myself as this: either I'm growing or I'm not; I don't see how becoming a Christian and then sitting still can really exist. "Habitual sin" is a term Jim used in Sunday School once this past year. We all have lukewarm tendencies, and we all sin, but are our sinful tendencies habits without repentance?

Jerry Bridges writes a chapter on the proof of love in his Transforming Grace book that went well with Chan's leftovers chapter. The section on Law and Grace had a good explanation of obedience, failing, grace, legalism, etc. His question: Under the reign of grace, is the moral will of God, considered as a whole, a request or a command? And his answer: The word request connotes desire; whereas the word command connotes authority to require. We are commanded to obey. Obedience is not optional, rather a response to our salvation. And lukewarm partial-obedience doesn't sound like it can still be called obedience either.

Chunks of text from Chan:

God wants our best, deserves our best, and demands our best. From the beginning of time, He has been clear that some offerings are acceptable to Him and others are not.

It's easy to fill ourselves up with other things and then give God whatever is left.... God gets a scrap or two only because we feel guilty for giving Him nothing. A mumbled three-minute prayer at the end of the day, when we are already half asleep... [The priests of Malachi's day] assumed God was pleased because they had sacrificed something. God described this practice as evil. Leftovers are not merely inadequate; from God's point of view (and lest we forget, His is the only one who matters), they're evil. Let's stop calling it "a busy schedule" or "bills" or "forgetfulness." It's called evil. God is holy. In heaven exists a Being who decides whether or not I take another breath. This holy God deserves excellence, the very best I have. "But something is better than nothing!" some protest. Really, is it? Does anyone enjoy token praise? I sure don't. I'd rather you not say anything than compliment me out of obligation or guilt. Why would we think God is any different?

God wants to saturate us with Himself. Am I allowing Him to saturate me? Am I giving Him every part of my day, my mind, my life, or just the leftovers?