Discernment

I have been enjoying the Desiring God blog for sometime now. Today's post was, for me, something to get excited about. If the "church" today could grasp this truth there would be true revival. True repentance. True fellowship. The following is from John Piper.

Discernment is not created in God's people by brokenness, humility, reverence, and repentance. It is created by biblical truth and the application of truth by the power of the Holy Spirit to our hearts and minds. When that happens, then the brokenness, humility, reverence, and repentance will have the strong fiber of the full counsel of God in them. They will be profoundly Christian and not merely religious and emotional and psychological.

We see so many "churches" today base their entire belief system on emotions, feelings and works. This just should not be! Pick up those Bibles people! Get into God's word, put Christ first, apply biblical truth by the power of the Holy Spirit! That is what being a Christian is all about! He is the Way the Truth and the Life!

If you get a chance check out today's post at Desiring God. There is a lot of good stuff there! http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1348_test_revival_with_doctrine/. I'm not all that savvy with computers so you will have to either cut and paste the link or just go there yourself! The title of the blog is "Test revival with doctrine".

Lost loved ones

As my friends and family know, I have been divorced for about 6 years now. This is something I often struggle with. From what I have seen in scripture I feel that I did have biblical grounds for the divorce so that I am comfortable with, though I do often second guess that decision. I struggle with knowing that I am a failure. I was the spiritual leader of my family, I let my family slip away. I feel that if I had loved the Lord as I do now things could have been different. If I had loved Nancy the way that I know I should have, maybe she would not have looked for happiness elsewhere. I pray for Nancy all the time. I pray that she will return to Jesus, that she will see that the world has nothing to offer. I pray that she will see that true happiness is only from the Lord. I know that many of you reading this pray the same for her and I thank you. I sometimes pray that the Lord will bring her back to me so that we could be a family again. That would indeed be a miracle. Our relationship is often stressed and I know that my testimony has been tarnished a number of times because I let my feelings get in the way. I know that God can and does use me in spite of my short comings and I praise Him for that as I am often a bumbling idiot! I pray also that Nancy will someday be able to forgive me for not being the man that she deserved. I praise God that He loves me even though I fail. I know that He is control and I praise Him for that too.

Matthew 22:34-40

Today in church we talked a little bit about love. The above passage, though not mentioned this morning, is Christ Himself talking about love. It says "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." All I could think today while I was listening to Pastor Ed was that I sometimes struggle with loving others. As pastor said this morning, many Christians would give their life up for another, but would they inconvenience themselves for that same person? I really think that I would lay my life down for another. The inconvenience is something different. I sometimes have a hard time bring myself to talk to someone different then me let alone love them! Why is it so hard for my flesh to love! Christ loved the unlovable, I have a hard time talking to them! I believe the answer to my condition lies within the greatest commandment. It says to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, and mind. I know that when I am seeking God it is easier to walk in His commandments. I know also that when my walk is not so close I have a much more difficult time doing all of His commandments, not just loving. Father please help me to walk closer to you every day. As I seek to love you, instill your love in me so that I can love others better. Matthew 6:33 says "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." I know that If I do seek Him first I don't have to worry about Him not answering my prayers, as long as they go along with His will! Psalm 51:10 says "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." That is my prayer.

Man to man

Proverbs 27:17 says, "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." I love that. The relationships that men can have with one other in Christ are an incredible blessing. I praise God for the godly men that He has put in my life! I praise him for the accountability, encouragement, trust, love, discipleship, friendship, and fellowship that He has given me in the form of men who love Him. I am so blessed. I have been praying for quite some time that Lord would provide me with godly friends. He has done so to a degree that I surely do not deserve! God is so good! I praise Him. Father please help me never to take these men for granted!

Before I sign off, I would like to share another cool verse that I was reacquainted with today. Isaiah 40:8 "The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever."

Sinner to sinner part 2

How much do you hate sin? I'll bet you all the money in the world that no matter who you are and where you are in life, you don't hate sin nearly enough. I know for sure that I don't. Why? Because I still sin! I can't imagine the pain that my Savior had to go through for my sin! God can't even tolerate to have sin in His holy presence. The same God that sacrificed His son as a payment for our sin so that someday we may able to stand in His presence. Yesterday I listened to a sermon by John Piper about sin. I can't remember the sermon title but he talked quite a bit about how much Christ suffered for you and me. The suffering on the cross, God turning His back on Him. In a nutshell Christ suffered an amount equivalent to what all of the human race would suffer in hell for eternity as payment for our sins. I'm not what you would call an expert on the effects of sin, but scripture is not silent when it comes to hell. Eternal torment, Luke 16:33, eternal separation from God, eternal fire, Matt 5:22, eternal condemnation Matt 23:33. Eternal is forever and ever, that is indeed a high price to pay. I can not even begin to fathom how much Christ suffered in those hours. I can't understand the magnitude of the love that He has for us. I don't think that we will ever understand how much He suffered for our sin, yet we continue to sin! I hate that! Can you see your face in the crowd screaming crucify Him!!!! I sure can see mine. We had communion this past Sunday. It really hit me hard that every time I sin is another blow with the hammer that nailed Christ to that cursed tree. I hate the sin I have in my life. I hate it more and more every day and I still don't hate it enough. Father help me to HATE the sin in my life! Help me to nail my sin on the cross and never look back. I praise You for your suffering. I praise You for the cross. I praise You for your love. I praise You for the gospel, for salvation, for your Son. Thank you.

Anonymous

I have a friend who has a blog that seems to get a lot of attention from anonymous people. These anonymous people rarely have anything nice to say, in fact the attack what we as conservative evangelicals hold most dear too, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These folks call themselves "Christians" and some of the may very well be born again, but actions do speak louder then words. If they are indeed members of Christs family, they are for sure on the left. I have heard mention of civil partners, universalism, feminism, and the list goes on. Posting an anonymous comment is a lot like taking a swing at someone behind their back. It's almost like they are ashamed of the comments they leave. If you can't own up to what you have to say then why say it at all! The more I study God's word the more I see that His church is very exclusive. Matthew 7:13-14 says "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. The liberal and emergent churches seem to think that no matter what you believe as long as you can make scripture say what you want it to say is enough for salvation. Can you bend scripture to say that homosexual relationships are of God? Anyone can take just one verse and make it seem true. Can you make scripture say that living a worldly life is what god wants for us? The true test though is to take scripture and use the rest of the bible to interpret that piece of scripture. Does it fit? Can you take that one verse that you cling to and then look at the rest of what God has to say and make it fit? Chances are that if you are sitting on the left, you can not. We have a God that does not change. He has been, is, and always will be the same. If He hated sin in the old testament, guess what, He hates sin now! Because of original sin, we are all guilty of sin. God hated sin then and he still hates it now. I thank God that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ to die for my sin. My sin that separates me eternaly from Him. My sin, idoltry,adultry, lying, cheating, stealing, coveting, hating, anything that I have done in the past separates me from God. My only way to Him, to a pure relationship with Him is through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the perfect sacrifice for my sin. That is my only hope. Without that I am destined to an eternity in hell. Romans 6:23 says "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." I don't care what your denomination is, the gospel of Jesus Christ is the one and only way to heaven. I thank You Father for your sacrifice! I thank You for my salvation. I thank You Jesus that You are the Way the Truth and the Life, nobody comes to the Father but by You!

Dry Spells

Well, it has been about a week since my last post and at this point I just feel like I don't have too much to say. My Mom has always told me that "if you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything at all." I'm not so sure that this applies to blogging! I have found that it is much easier to write about the Lord and what He is doing in your life when you are either being tested or when you are being blessed or seeing answered prayer. I feel that I have spent the last 6 years of my life being tested or refined (for the most part). The blessings came when Ty moved up here. Please don't misunderstand me here. I know that every day is a blessing. I know that Jesus Christ is a blessing, I know that because He chose to call me to Himself is a blessing. I also know that testing in and of itself is a blessing. I guess that my point is that there seems to be a lot more testing in my life then there is blessing. Now, I am NOT complaining. I am just stating the obvious. I believe that this is true for most Christians. If I am off base let me know!

Now, an after thought. I was listening to Macarther the other day and he said that he was in a room with a bunch of other reputable well known theologians and he said that they could not agree on what was necessary for salvation. This really got me thinking. One very clear picture of salvation is the thief on the cross next to Jesus. First he defended Christ and then he asked Jesus to remember him when He came into His kingdom. Luke 23:40-43 follows. 40But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? 41We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."
42Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.[f]"
43Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." To me that is pretty clear. Faith alone. But, what is faith? Actions speak louder then words. Do you think that if this thief next to Christ were to somehow escape death after this brief interlude with Christ he would have have gone on to lead a luke warm christian life, or would he have been radical for Christ. He would have been radical. There would not have been any doubt that this man was a christian. He would have showed all that looked that he was a christian by what he did, by his works. I have become a very strong advocate of "Lordship Salvation" in the past couple of years. I believe that faith alone is all that is necessary but this faith is in the Lord of the universe and it is giving Him control, making Him Lord, not a bystander. There should be evidence in your life that Christ is your Savior. In the parable of the seeds I believe that the only saved seed is the one that fell on the fertile ground. The others not, seeds may have been planted, but there was never any fruit. If you think you are a christian and there has never been any fruit in your life, it is time to examine your life and figure out just who your lord is. Jesus is not just your ticket to heaven and then go on living however you want. Jesus is the son of the only God, sacrificed for our sin. Accept Him for what He is, Lord. Father help me to live my life in such a way that it is evident to all that You and You alone are Lord of my life.

So much for the dry spell!