God First

"Wherever there are competing concerns in your life, be sure you always put your relationship to God first" - Oswald Chambers.

Or as Jesus has taught - "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." (Matthew 6:33).

I can't believe what a propensity I have to think that food, clothing, money, or other concerns should take precedence over my relationship to the Lord.  "Oh Lord, grant me a heart that longs for You first!"

Active Christians

But prove yourselves doers of the word, 
and not merely hearers who delude themselves.
James 1:22

Let us be wary of being merely "intellectual" Christians rather than pursing the course of also being "active" Christians.  The more we come to know about Christ, the more our lives should be lived in Christlikeness.

Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, 
but in deed and truth.

1 John 3:18

Full of Christ

Those that are so full of Christ...are ready to think that others should be so too. (Matthew Henry)

Grace at Work

Ephesians 2:8-10
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

These are familiar verses, sometimes too familiar as we can be prone to neglect their significance for everyday living.  There is no doubt we are taught here that salvation is "by grace"; by God's undeserved, unmerited and most benevolent favor.  But we might forget to see that verse 10, being "His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works," is also then by grace.  We need God's enabling grace, His divine power at work in us to change us, to conform us and to cause us to live according to His ways of good and righteousness rather than in our ways of selfishness and pride.

Through the prophet Ezekiel, the Lord describes how it is His grace, His doing that we are now enabled to live for Him, to be "His workmanship", that is, His masterpiece saying in Ezekiel 36:26-27;
 

26 Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and [I will] cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.

[emphasis mine]

Let us never forget that God's grace working in us is a both a delight [for we do not deserve it] but also a duty [as we then become responsible to see this grace at work in us].  As the apostle Paul said in Philippians 2:12-13;

12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. 

This is grace, God's working in us His will and good pleasure and our enabling by God to do those things that reveal His grace at work in us.  Bob Kauflin captures this idea in song;

Grace abounding, strong and true
That makes me long to be like You
That turns me from my selfish pride
To love the cross on which You died

Bob Kauflin / © 2005 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI)

Grace "makes me long to be like" Jesus.  Grace "turns me form my selfish pride".  And grace causes me "to love the cross on which" Jesus died. 

I asked the youth group last night how they can know if this grace of God is at work in them.  We noted in singing the words above that one means is by noting how we are turned from our own selfish pride, turned from wanting our own ways, from reacting according to our own desires (which often results in anger, frustration, impatience, lust and the like) and by grace carefully considering how Jesus would have us give of ourselves.  I asked them to carefully take pause when they thought about something they wanted, good or bad, and then to prayerfully asked the Lord how they might turn that moment into an opportunity to do something for someone else to the glory of God.

How about you, will you take pause today and in your moment of reacting to something according to your desire, prayerfully ask the Lord to turn you from any selfish pride to respond to the good or benefit of another to the glory of God.? This is grace abounding.  This is grace at work in you and this is working out your salvation with fear and trembling.  I believe it was John MacArthur who wrote, "Grace that does not affect one's behavior is not the grace of God."  

Oh, Lord, may Your grace affect both our affections and our actions to live our lives wholly to You.

SDG,

Ed

Right Measurements!

God's measure of what is right must surely not be brought down to the measure of man: man's measure should rather be brought up to the measure of God. (J.C. Ryle)

Beware
Beware of the inclination to dictate to God what consequences you would allow as a condition of your obedience to Him. (OC)

Christianity is Discipleship

If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, 

and take up his cross daily and follow Me. (Luke 9:23)

There can be no doubt from reading the New Testament that definition of Christianity is "discipleship" - a submitting to and following after Jesus Christ as Lord.  While we will all struggle with following Jesus perfectly due to our sin nature, the genuine desire and overall characteristic of the Christian life is a seeking and striving to be like Jesus.  Any profession of being a Christian without an ongoing practice of being a Christian is deficient mutation of genuine, biblical Christianity.

James M. Boice articulated this well when he wrote:

There is a fatal defect in the life of Christ’s church in the twentieth century: a lack of true discipleship. Discipleship means forsaking everything to follow Christ. But for many of today’s supposed Christians—perhaps the majority—it is the case that while there is much talk about Christ and even much furious activity, there is actually very little following of Christ Himself. And that means in some circles there is very little genuine Christianity. Many who fervently call Him ‘Lord, Lord’ are not Christians (Matthew 7:21)...There are several reasons that the situation I have described is common in today’s church. The first is a defective theology that has crept over us like a deadening fog. This theology separates faith from discipleship and grace from obedience. It teaches that Jesus can be received as one’s Savior without being received as one’s Lord...Discipleship in not a supposed second step in Christianity, as if one first became a believer in Jesus and then, if he chooses, a disciple. From the beginning, discipleship is involved in what it means to be a Christian....Is ‘faith’ minus commitment a true biblical faith?...If faith without works is dead—how much truer is it that faith without commitment is dead...True faith involves these elements: knowledge...heart response...and commitment, without which ‘faith’ is no different from the assent of the demons who ‘believe...and shudder’ (James 2:19) (James Montgomery Boice, Christ’s Call to Discipleship (Chicago: Moody, 1986), pp. 13, 14, 16, 21).

The Word of God teaches us that Christianity is discipleship, a learning and following the precepts and practices of our Lord Jesus Christ.  May we apply the great desire of the Psalmist who wrote in Psalm 119:34-38:

34 Give me understanding, that I may observe Your law And keep it with all my heart. 35 Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it. 36 Incline my heart to Your testimonies And not to dishonest gain. 37 Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity, And revive me in Your ways. 38 Establish Your word to Your servant, As that which produces reverence for You.

Blessings!

Ed

Cold!

Notice the temp. One degree!

Ice

Ice

Surviving the Cold

Sorry for the lack of any posts the past couple of days.  We have enjoyed an incredible cold streak here in NW Arkansas along with snow and ice.  That coupled with several meetings and extra counseling have slowed some of my "extra" activities such as blogging.

As a family, we have begun our new Bible reading schedule for 2010 and I stand amazed that passages I have read so many times come to life with new insights and fresh thoughts of our great God.  I am grateful that the Lord sees fit to constantly reveal Himself to us in His Word.  I pray that I might be able to translate these insights in some meaningful ways to this blog.

In addition to this, our family is also reading together Pilgrim's Progress (John Buynan's great allegory of the Christian journey).  I praise the Lord for my children (now in their mid-teens) who provide great questions and insights as we read along.  I suspect that some Buynan-like or Buynan-inspired thoughts will make their way into the blog as well.

1 Corinthians 10:31
Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.


SDG
Ed

Let me not forget to tremble. Our God is an awesome God!

A Unique Definition for Man's Sinful Condtion

Here is a unique definition for man's radical depravity and therefore his need for the grace of God to mend him:

...and Heaven have mercy on us all - Presbyterians and Pagans alike - for we are all dreadfully cracked about the head and desperately in need of mending.

Herman Melville Moby Dick

Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?

Ezekiel 36:26-27
Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. 

Thank You, Lord for saving my soul from my own "dreadfully cracked" condition!

SDG

Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, And Nobody

This is a short quip that many of you may have read before.  May it be that this would NEVER be descriptive of our church!

- - - - - - -

This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody.

 

There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.

Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody's job.

Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it.

It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

SDG

God Knows!

I may often be at a loss as to what I am doing or am going to do, but I always know that God knows exactly what He is doing.

SDG

Give Preference To One Another (Romans 12:10)

...give preference to one another in honor...

This exhortation has been on my heart and mind quite a bit lately. It is a constant battle to regard others first and to put their cares and needs above our own - and yet it is the call of every believer not only to show preference to one another, but to do so with the intent to honor others.

How often do we desire to be recognized, to be applauded, to have some kind of acknowledgment? How easily do we find our feelings hurt because we think we should be noticed or served? And yet the truth is, we should be going out of our way to acknowledge, encourage and honor others. This is the very thrust behind the phrase “give preference” – it is a word that carries the idea of rushing forward to do something for another. Even the marginal reading of the NASB reads, “outdo one another in showing honor.” If you have ever rushed to a door in order to open it for someone you have exercised giving preference. When you allow someone to go before you in a line, you are exercising preference. And when you daily consider how to put the cares and needs of your brothers and sisters in Christ, you are giving preference. Of course this means you know of the cares and needs of those around you.

As you go about your week, who might you do something for? Consider giving preference to someone at work, at school, at home and even at church. You might begin with a simple phone call or email, asking someone about their own week and from this listen for opportunities to rush forward to do something special for that person. Let us not be slow in doing good to one another for the glory of God.

SDG –

Ed