naphtali_deer's Xanga

Letter 26 on assurance and fighting for joy (laughing/rejoicing at the days to come)

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 20:42:46 GMT

Continuing on with my series of letters on assurance and fighting for joy,,,

Dear friend in Christ,

I never really quite understood these words in Proverbs 31:

she can laugh at the days to come (NIV)

But now I think I do, well, at least a little bit...I was remembering the NIV version for some reason, but then I opened my NKJV and found this:

She shall rejoice in time to come.

Ha! Yes! Rejoice! I love it! Rejoice!

I was listening to a little Crowder the other day (a Crowder CD a day keeps the doctor away, right? ):

Chorus:
Here is our King
Here is our Love
Here is our God who's come to bring us back to him
He is the one,
He is Jesus

Our King has come! Amen. Immanuel came to earth once. To live the life we couldn't live and die the death we couldn't die. All for His Father's glory and for our salvation! Amen. Then our Savior ascended into heaven where He is seated as King at the right hand of His Father. Amen. And we await His second coming. Amen. No, but wait a minute – He has come again already, has He not? Has He not come into our hearts? Amen. Has our King left us? No. Has He not come to dwell in us as He promised? Yes. Has Jesus left us as orphans? No. Can I hear an Amen out there from you – right now? Go, on, now, friend. We are His! He is our King yesterday, today, tomorrow and forever.

Rejoice the Lord is King...

Is King.
Not might be King, but Is King.
He is King.
The Lord is King.
We can rejoice in Him always for He is always King!

As we are resting in Jesus our King, as we are trusting in our Father's everlasting love for us, as we are looking to the Spirit who sealed us, why can't we laugh at the time to come? Why shouldn't we rejoice like the virtuous woman? No, I don't mean a "Who cares?" kind of laugh, but rather a "Many things about tomorrow I don't seem to understand; But I know who holds tomorrow, and I know who holds my hand" kind of laugh. We know who hold tomorrow. We know who holds our hands. The King! Not just any king, but the King of kings! We can abound in hope as the God of hope fills us with all joy and peace in believing. We can have a settled and firm trust that our King does know tomorrow, that He is going to hold our hands...even when we want to let go of His hand, even then His nail pierced hands are going to keep holding our hands. We will become weary, our hands will begin to loosen their grip on Him, but His hands will never fail to hold ours! His hands were nailed to the cross, they remained steadfast there. He finished all the work His Father gave Him to do. Our Lord boldly proclaimed, "It is finished!" as He hung as an atoning sacrifice in our place. We were reconciled to God by His blood, how much more will we be saved by His life, the power of an endless life, a life that ever lives to intercede for us at the Father's right hand. A life that has entered into the veil. A life that is our anchor, our hope, our surety. Our sins have been washed away and we have been made white as snow, justified freely by God's grace. We are no longer sinners far away from God and without hope, but saints in His presence with a full assurance of hope. "It is finished" also means it's guaranteed His work in us will be finished. All the promises we have from God are yes and Amen in Jesus Christ. God will complete the work He's begun. Look at Paul's words in Philippians 1:

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ

Paul is sure. There's no doubt there. We can be sure. Satan loves the doubting, joyless Christian. He loves to keep us fearful. He loves to keep us so we can't laugh at the time to come. The devil works to snuff out our joy.

Paul boldly proclaims God will complete the work He's begun in us.

But yet consider this: God has already completed it. Look at those wonderful verses in Romans 8, which some call the golden chain of salvation:

29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Golden chain of salvation. Amen. Are God's words to us not infinitely better than gold? Not all the gold in the world can buy us the confidence we have that our glorification is not only certain but in God's eyes we are already glorified. Notice the tense there. In God's eyes, it's done. God works outside time as we know it. He is the author and finisher of our faith! The alpha and omega. The beginning and the end. It is all to the praise of God's glorious grace that He brings us safely through. The grace that called us has already foreknown and predestined us, the grace that has justified us, will finish the deal and will glorify us. We don't see ourselves as being glorified yet (and sometimes it seems so far away, does it not!), but we can trust God's grace to bring to completion the work He's begun in us. We know His will for us is sanctification; Jesus is not only our justifier but also our sanctifier.

I got off there but I so love writing about these things. Is He not wonderful? Is His power not awesome? Impossible with us but possible with God!

Neither you nor I know what the future will bring, what tomorrow will bring, or even later on today. Either of us could be hit by a car or drop over of a heart attack, but we've known the One who knew us before we knew Him (that's a mouthful, isn't it?)...As Paul wrote in II Timothy 1, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me. We know whom we have believed. We know Jesus. We know He is King. Why shouldn't we be convinced like Paul? Or confident like Peter, who writes this in the first chapter of his first epistle:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Can't we trust that God's power which birthed us into the Kingdom will guard us until the very end? Have we not been born again of the incorruptible word of God. From my Oxford American Dictionaries desktop widget: Incorruptible = not subject to death or decay; everlasting. We have not been redeemed with corruptible things but with the precious blood of Christ! We can laugh at the days to come! We can rejoice at the time to come!

A little more now since I know you so love His Gospel and want to proclaim it boldly. We know we both have struggled with that. You know there's more to that verse in II Timothy: But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me. Paul wasn't ashamed of Christ or His Gospel and we can't be either. Paul was specifically talking about the confidence he could have in proclaiming Christ. Paul exhorts Timothy (and us), do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God... When we share the Gospel of the power of God...(yes, it is the power of God, we had no power to save ourselves. We couldn't move a single muscle to walk to Him. Our hearts couldn't seek Him. Our eyes were blinded. Our ears were stopped. No power. Yet what did God do for us? While we were powerless and helpless, Christ died for us – while we were sinners, sinners dead in our sin and transgressions. Dead means dead. The dead have no life or power to raise themselves...I love God and His Gospel. He saved me. I did nothing to save myself...)... as I was saying...when we share the Gospel of the power of God, there will be suffering. Jesus told us as they persecuted him, we also will be persecuted so we shouldn't be surprised at these things. Look at the reactions to the word of God in the Gospels and the book of Acts. Yet we can we laugh, we can rejoice at the time to come in the face of that. Paul gives us these wonderful words earlier in the chapter to remind us to look back and remember God's calling, to rest in the love with which He loved us before time began:

who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began...

Does not the very call of the Gospel give us the confidence to share the Gospel? Not long ago I wrote about Luther's assurance and how assurance makes us bold for the Gospel. Being able to rejoice is a fruit of the Gospel we preach and will strengthen us to carry on with the work God has given us to do. Satan wants to continue to discourage us. Let's not be discouraged. Let's not be fearful as we look at the time to come, but laugh and rejoice and sing knowing we are our Beloved's and He is ours!

You know I've been praying for boldness to replace fear. Well, God has begun to answer that prayer. How? By giving me an assurance of my salvation and filling me with joy I never thought possible. As I look back, that makes perfect sense. I had been praying for assurance and for joy but I never thought about the connection they both have with being bold in witnessing and proclaiming Christ. True boldness and confidence isn't something we can work up, but it comes as we rest in our King and come to rejoice in Him no matter what the circumstances. Proverbs 31 describes the virtuous woman as one who is not afraid of snow for her household...in the same way, as we are resting confidently in Christ our King, because He is our surety, because He is our anchor who holds in the veil, because He is our Rock, because He is our salvation, because He is our King, because He is our ... well, because He is everything! ...then we can also laugh at the time to come, we can also rejoice...we need not be afraid of snow...no matter what snow means for us.

mocking for our faith
persecution for our faith
fruitlessness in ministry
broken relationships
death of a loved one
family tension
broken relationships
career/school/church stress
job loss
peer pressure
unexpected expenses
illness
prodigal children
ailing parents
etc., etc.

You get the idea. We'll all face those "snowy times" as Christians, we are not immune from trial, loss, heartache or tribulation, but if we are in Christ, along with the Proverbs 31 woman we too can laugh and rejoice at the time to come. Like the virtuous woman, we should prepare and do all we can, but we will only be able to stand as we rest in the joy of what Christ is. Hudson Taylor continued to sing and whistle and play on his harmonium the hymn "Jesus, I am Resting, Resting" all the time. Jesus, I am resting, resting, in the joy of what Thou art; I am finding out the greatness of Thy loving heart. Taylor was able to rejoice in the Lord always because He knew the great love of God for him, he had experienced what Paul prayed for the Ephesians in chapter 3:

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Rejoicing in the Lord always is something God wants for all of us. Even when snow comes we can rejoice in Him. Each of us can rejoice in the Lord always as we look to His calling, as we look to the One who holds our hands, as we look to the One on whose hands are names are engraved, as we look to our King, as we learn to rejoice in what He is and find out the greatness of His loving heart. Nothing can separate us from His love. The Lord is King all the time, is He not? Is there a moment He is not King? The Shepherd's goodness and mercy will follow us even in those times of snow as well as the spring thaw, the hot summer days and the cool, crisp autumn nights. No matter our circumstances, our King goes with us. Let us laugh at the time to come, let as rejoice in Him always. May we keep our eyes and hearts and minds fixed on Him. Let us continue to go to Him and His sanctuary (Psalm 73) so we might be carried from strength to strength in the basket of His sovereign grace. O, how He loves us! His love for us never fails. His love doesn't stop in those snowy times, in those times of suffering. Our rejoicing needn't stop then either. Let's ask Him to give us eyes of faith to see His smiling face behind the frown of providence so we might laugh and rejoice in the days to come! O, how He loves us!

Yours in His joy and for your joy, for the Gospel and for His glory,
Karen

More Revival Resources: Life Action Ministries: What Is Revival? | Revival Summit

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:36:43 GMT

*UPDATE: this morning's meeting starts at 10:45 EST.*

I originally posted this on Friday, Nov. 13, but will continue to time stamp it through the coming week. Please see the info. below regarding Life Action Ministries Revival Summit which begins Sunday Nov. 15, with services you can watch live at 10:45 AM and 6:30 PM EST.

O LORD, I have heard the report of you,
and your work, O LORD, do I fear.
In the midst of the years revive it;
in the midst of the years make it known;
in wrath remember mercy.
Habakkuk 3:2

Following up with more revival resources...(Please see my previous two posts here and here as well as my post my theses and a call to prayer for revival.)

WHAT IS REVIVAL?

I've had a few of my readers ask me what revival is and why we need it...

If you've had similar questions, this video from Life Action Revival Ministries may help to answer some of them; it explains what revival is and what it is not...

LIFE ACTION MINISTRIES REVIVAL SUMMIT

Life Action Ministries will be holding a revival summit and you can participate. I want to remind you that such meetings in and of themselves do not make a revival, revival is not something we can orchestrate or plan. BUT GOD may choose to be merciful and gracious and send His Spirit down into the midst of such meetings to spark revival. Here's more information about the summit:

Join us online November 15-22, 2009, for a live Life Action revival summit from the Orlando, FL, area. Together, we'll hear biblical principles that will awaken and revive our hearts. You'll be able to watch the live video feed, participate in live blogs, download the resources, and more. Sign up ... [here] and we'll e-mail you reminders when the live feed is taking place. We hope you'll choose to join the pursuit and take the next step in awakening your heart.

Live Streaming Schedule (all times are EST):

Sunday, November 15: 9:00am & 6:30pm
Monday, November 16: 6:30pm
Tuesday, November 17: 6:30pm
Wednesday, November 18: 6:30pm
Thursday, November 19: 6:30pm
Friday, November 20: 6:30pm
Saturday, November 21: (No Stream Available)
Sunday, November 22: 9:00am & 6:30pm

I do realize many of you have a lot of commitments on your plate, but I would ask you to pray to the Lord about participating in this event and also be praying for the summit. I am praying God would put it on your heart to join the pursuit, but even more importantly to pursue Him with a wholehearted passion.

Paul wrote of God's great love for us while we were dead in sins and trespasses...

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast....

O, how much our heavenly Father still loves us, loves His Church. How can He not? We are His children, we have been adopted into His family, born of His Spirit, covered with the precious blood of the Lamb, united with His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ and sealed with and indwelt by His Holy Spirit.

Yet is our holy Father not grieved when He sees we have left our first Love, that we have a reputation for being alive but we are really dead, that we are lukewarm for Him as we pursue and crave any and all things but Him? . . .

BUT GOD being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us and with the great love with which He still loves us...perhaps He might come and revive us and

breathe His life into our dead bones...
bring His water to our desert places...
shine His light in our dark hearts...
radiate His heat into our lukewarm profession...

That is what I am praying for. O, Church, can we not see we cannot go on without Him? May He lead us to repentance, may break our hearts, humble us and bring us to repentance so He might come down into our midst once again, that His Son might have the preeminence and we might be filled with all His fullness. O, may we not settle for being lukewarm any longer!

Pentecostal Power

Charles H. Gabriel, 1912

Lord, as of old, at Pentecost,
Thou didst Thy power display,
With cleansing, purifying flame,
Descend on us today.

Refrain

Lord, send the old-time power, the Pentecostal power!
Thy floodgates of blessing, on us throw open wide!
Lord, send the old-time power, the Pentecostal power!
That sinners be converted and Thy Name glorified!

For mighty works for Thee, prepare
And strengthen every heart;
Come, take possession of Thine own,
And never more depart.

Refrain

All self consume, all sin destroy!
With earnest zeal endue
Each waiting heart to work for Thee;
O Lord, our faith renew!

Refrain

Speak, Lord! before Thy throne we wait,
Thy promise we believe,
And will not let Thee go until
The blessing we receive.

Refrain

And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
Genesis 32:26b

Brothers and sisters, let's not let Him go, except He blesses His Church!

(PLEASE NOTE: I don't usually time stamp my posts, but I think I will either time stamp this post and/or pulse reminders about the summit through next Sunday.)

If God is calling you to pray for revival, please visit Tent of meeting, my other site devoted to prayer for revival. (I would also love to hear from you...please message me.)

Related posts:

True Calvinism is NOT . . .

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:23:59 GMT

I'm a follower of Christ, yet I subscribe to Calvinism because I believe it is Biblical doctrine. I have fellowship with plenty of Christians who disagree about Calvinism, and I will agree to disagree with them in love. Yet to me, Calvinism is most God-glorifying for this reason: if we can say we can move but a toe on the road to salvation, then we diminish the glory of God. Our salvation is all from Him, through Him and to Him (as are all things). To God alone be glory now and forever.

For years I shunned Calvinism because of many of the misconceptions, especially "once saved, always saved." I'd been saved for over twenty years but one day God showed me how terrible my sin was and how great His forgiveness was for me. He demanded I forgive someone and I all but crossed my arms and stamped my feet and said, "I will not!" Then God's Spirit got hold of my heart, led me to forgive and in the process showed me how great His forgiveness was for me, and that there was no way I could have chosen Him in my total depravity. Up until that time I sang "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me," but I would never have really admitted I was a real wretch since I certainly was not as bad as most people. It was at that time I saw I was bad, totally bad, totally unable to save myself, totally unable to seek God or choose God apart from His grace. Though I'd been saved a long time, I came to see that my salvation was nothing of me and all of Him.

Soon after that God began to show me how His sovereign hand was upon my whole life. Though I would have professed He was sovereign before that time, there came some difficult circumstances, and as I went through those and as I looked back, I continued to see how God was working them all for my good, to refine me into Christ's image – as much as I didn't like them and never would have chosen them. Yet along with William Cowper ("God Moves in a Mysterious Way"), I could see God's smiling face hiding behind a frowning providence many, many times. God's sovereignty has truly become my sanity. In the past few years the doctrines of grace, or Calvinism, all broke open for me. Since then I have a greater love and zeal for God and His Gospel and a greater burden for the lost than I ever have and now a passion to see the Church revived.

I've written this post as a supplement/follow-up to my previous post, "Why I'm a happy Calvinist...," to clear up some common misconceptions about Calvinism. I'm saying many of the same things I said in that post, but from a different perspective.

True Calvinism is NOT

prideful
(we have no reason to boast because we know we have been saved by grace alone)

presumptuous
(we know God chose us only by His mercy, we didn't deserve or merit salvation)

licentious
(we seek to be holy as He is holy as His Spirit works in us)

guilt-laden
(we can rest knowing Christ is our surety, and therefore we are no longer under condemnation)

insecure
(we can have bold assurance and confidence in our relationship with God since we have been sealed with God's Holy Spirit)

restricting
(we are born again by the Spirit and are free to put off sin and to love God as He demands)

without works
(we work out what God is working in us, we seek to bear fruit worthy of repentance)

frightening
(we can rest in the storms of life as we know we can never be separated from Gods' love for us in Jesus Christ)

unevangelistic
(we want the world to know the love of God, and since we do not know whom God has chosen, we preach the Gospel to all)

uncaring
(we grieve as we see men and creation groaning as a result of the fall and seek to bring God's mercy and grace to a fallen world)

merely intellectual
(we love God with all our heart, all our soul, all our strength as well as all our mind)

boring
(we enjoy God as we see how grace and truth met in Jesus Christ)

Why I'm a happy Calvinist! (Resting in the sovereignty of God)

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:17:51 GMT

My response to Revelife's recent post "Why We Fear Calvinism, the Doctrine of Hope."

Please note: This is written from the perspective of a Christian, one who is saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

God has chosen us. We did nothing to be chosen. We couldn't choose Him. We were dead in our sins. We were bound by our sin nature. We couldn't seek Him. We couldn't move toward Him. Yet God moved toward us. He chose to show mercy to us even though we were totally undeserving and totally unworthy. God set His love on us because He loved us. While our minds were hostile to Him, He had already saved us and called us with a holy calling. He sent Jesus Christ to die for us while we were yet sinners, while we were powerless and helpless and unable to love Him. We were condemned to die and be eternally separated from Him but our Lord shed His blood so our sins might be forgiven. There could be no forgiveness for us apart from Christ. We were dead and He breathed life into us by His Spirit. He drew us to Himself. We were incapable of seeing His Kingdom, much less Him. He gave us the faith to believe in Him. Our salvation is all a gift from Him, He is the author and finisher of our faith. It is all of grace. It is all through Christ. It is all to His glory alone so we might boast only in Him and in the cross of Christ.

We do not understand why God has chosen us and not others. Certainly not on our own merits. We bring nothing to Him but our total depravity. We know we deserve nothing but condemnation, we are no better that those He doesn't choose, yet Jesus drank the cup to the dregs, He took God's full wrath in our place. Why? We don't know. A God who loved us while we were unlovely. All we can do is rejoice in Him and adore Him. We weep for those who do not know Him but we know that all are offered the opportunity to come to Him. It is to the grace and glory of God that He saves any of us. We have all fallen short of His glory and are filled with sin from the top of our head to the tip of our toes. We are sin through and through. He is holiness through and through. Yet He found a way to save us by giving His only begotten Son as a sin offering in our place.

Our heavenly Father now loves us and accepts us because all our sins have been covered with the blood of Christ. He credits Christ's perfect righteousness to our account. There is now no condemnation for us. We who have been far away from God, unable to approach God have been reconciled to God all because of His mercy and grace poured out at the cross of Calvary. Christ's blood was shed in our place. His body was punished in our place. The spotless Lamb became sin so we might become the righteousness of God. God loved us so much that He wanted to have fellowship with Him, to know Him. His justice and mercy met perfectly in Jesus Christ. A God who was holy could now welcome sinners like us. When He looks at us, He no longer sees our sin but sees the blood of Christ covering our sin. When we do sin, our Father is ready to welcome us back when we confess our sins to Him. He is no longer ashamed us. We have been accepted in the Beloved. He rejoices over us with singing.

We know our days are all in God's hands. He is sovereign over them all. Is not His sovereignty is our sanity? We can rest safely in His ark, knowing that nothing will harm us there. He will bring us safely through each and every storm. We know that God is working all things for our good even bad things. We can trust He is only allowing trials if necessary and they are all working for His glory and to conform us into the image of His Son Jesus Christ. The fire may get hot, but it is all to refine us and our faith. We sometimes question His will for us, yes, we all have moments of doubt, but let us never be foolish or brutish or ever doubt God's everlasting love for us! Let us never curse Him but sit quietly and rest and wait for Him. He has promised all who wait on Him will not be ashamed. If He is for us for can be against us? He has given us Jesus Christ, therefore will He not freely give us all things? Our judge has become our advocate. Our Savior is seated at the right hand of the Father interceding for us so we might be saved to the uttermost even though we might sin to the uttermost. There is grace greater than our sin. Grace aplenty for the chief of sinners. We are all the chief of sinners. He turned His face away from His Son so He might never turn His face away from us.

We know that God's love for us in Jesus Christ is steadfast and sure. No matter what we do we can never be separated from Him. Jesus Christ is our anchor who holds in the veil. He isn't going anywhere. God has sealed us with His Spirit. He has promised to keep us. His Spirit will work in us to will and to do of His good pleasure. He won't allow us to remain in sin. He gives us the power to overcome sin. Before we were His, we could not defeat sin, but now it no longer has dominion over us. We have Christ's resurrection power working in us to defeat sin so we might truly bear fruits of righteousness to the glory of God. God's Spirit will help us to love Him more and to desire to be holy, and to more and more despise our sin for we will more and more see how our sin grieves our Father. He will complete the work He has begun in us. We never need doubt our salvation. We will persevere to the end by His grace at work in us.

As George Whitefield wrote, we cannot comprehend these things but only adore Him. Only adore Him! O, come let us adore Him! All glory to God alone for His manifold mercies and amazing grace shown to us through His Son Jesus Christ! Amen.

Happy Birthday, Augustine of Hippo

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:24:13 GMT

Following on the heels of Richard Baxter's birthday, we've got another birthday to celebrate, Augustine of Hippo's... (HT: llamalima)

Many of us are familiar with Augustine's words about our hearts being restless until they find their rest in God. Here's the quote in context (from Augustine's Confessions 1.1):

Great art Thou, O Lord, and greatly to be praised; great is Thy power, and Thy wisdom infinite. And Thee would man praise; man, but a particle of Thy creation; man, that bears about him his mortality, the witness of his sin, the witness that Thou resistest the proud: yet would man praise Thee; he, but a particle of Thy creation. Thou awakest us to delight in Thy praise; for Thou madest us for Thyself, and our heart is restless, until it repose in Thee. Grant me, Lord, to know and understand which is first, to call on Thee or to praise Thee? and, again, to know Thee or to call on Thee? for who can call on Thee, not knowing Thee? for he that knoweth Thee not, may call on Thee as other than Thou art. Or, is it rather, that we call on Thee that we may know Thee? but how shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? or how shall they believe without a preacher? and they that seek the Lord shall praise Him: for they that seek shall find Him, and they that find shall praise Him. I will seek Thee, Lord, by calling on Thee; and will call on Thee, believing in Thee; for to us hast Thou been preached. My faith, Lord, shall call on Thee, which Thou hast given me, wherewith Thou hast inspired me, through the Incarnation of Thy Son, through the ministry of the Preacher.

And here's Charles Wesley (most likely Charles, not John) expressing the same sentiment in Wesley's Hymns and Sacred Poems, 1740:

The Same [Looking unto Jesus].

1 God of love, incline thine ear!
Christ my King,
Haste and bring
Thy salvation near.

2 Thee my restless soul requires;
Restless till
Thou fulfill
All its large desires.

3 Only thou to me be given;
Thou be mine,
I resign
All in earth and heaven.

4 Jesus, come, my sickness cure;
Shew thine art,
Cleanse a heart
Full of thoughts impure.

5 Painfully it now aspires
To be free,
Full of thee,
Full of hallow’d fires.

6 Lo, I tread on deaths and snares,
Sinking still
Into ill,
Plung’d in griefs and cares.

7 When, O when wilt thou appear?
O draw nigh!
Say, “’Tis I;”
And I will not fear.

8 Hasten, hasten the glad hour,
Come and be
Unto me
Health, and love, and power.

9 Christ, my life, my inward heaven,
Thro’ the whole
Of my soul
Spread thy little leaven.

10 Make me to the end endure;
Let me feel
Love the seal:
Love shall make it sure.

11 Love, thine image love restore:
Let me love,
Hence remove,
And be seen no more.

Happy Birthday, Richard Baxter: Reforming pastoral ministry

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:12:25 GMT

Continuing on with some posts re: reformation and revival (see the links below this post)...

I've been reading through an abridged/edited version of "The Reformed Pastor" (I read it a couple years ago) and also Frederick J. Powicke's "A Life of the Reverend Richard Baxter 1615-1691" (London: Jonathan Cape, Ltd;, First published in London: 1924). Then I remembered I had tucked away (as a gift for someone, oops!) an older edition of "The Reformed Pastor," with much more material (NY: American Tract Society, 1829), revised and abridged by William Brown. So now the gold mine is far bigger than I'd thought...I can't do Baxter justice at all here...I'll take my pick ax and bring you a few flecks of gold...I hope to do more posts on Baxter but can't guarantee when...So for now, just a little taste to whet your appetite...

If you are considering pastoral ministry of any type or if you are already in pastoral ministry (I'll leave that door open wide...we all do pastoral ministry of some sort, we are all involved in shepherding the flock to some extent...), I would recommend you reading Baxter's "The Reformed Pastor." The title there doesn't refer to Reformed theology, but rather Baxter's desire to reform the ministry, to have pastors take seriously Paul's charge in Acts 20:

28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. 29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.

Baxter's best known book is "The Reformed Pastor," which he wrote in preparation for a Day of Humiliation for ministers at Worcester, December 4, 1655. Baxter took Paul's charge seriously and exhorted other ministers to do likewise. (Baxter definitely had a sense of necessity and urgency as do I...)

"If God would but reform the Ministry, and set them on their Duties zealously and faithfully, the People would certainly be reformed. All Churches either rise of fall as the Ministry doth rise or fall (not in Riches and Worldly Grandeur) but in Knowledge, Zeal and Ability for their Work." (Baxter as quoted by Powicke, 129)

"Christ maketh them [preachers] the chief instruments for the propagating of his truth and kingdom in the world, for the gathering of Churches and preserving and defending contradicted truth. They are the Lights of the world and the salt of the earth. All Christians are bound to teach or help each other in charity, but Christ's ministers are set in the Church (as Parents in Families) to do it by office. And therefore must (they) be qualified above others for it, and be wholly dedicated to it and attend continually on it . . . never yet was the Gospel well propagated nor continued in any country in the world, but by means of the ministers of Christ..." (Baxter in "Compassionate Counsel to all Young Men," as quoted in Powicke, 48-49)

"True Pastors and Bishops of the Church do thirst after the conversion and happiness of sinners and spend their lives in diligent labours to these ends, not thinking it too much to stoop to the poorest for their good, nor regarding worldly wealth and glory in comparison with the winning of one soul, not counting their lives dear if they might finish their course and ministry with joy." (Baxter in "Chap. X in The Reasons for the Christian Religion, 1667," as quoted by Powicke, 49)

Powicke follows Baxter's words with his own assessment:

Such words express what the writer himself felt and believed when he took up his work at Kidderminster. He was there was God's ambassador. Whether the verse on the pillar in front of which stood his pulpit was inscribed by his direction or not it was true of him — 'We preache not ourselves but Jesus Chrsite our Lord. We are not as the moste parte are who, choppe and change with the worde of God, but . . . ' (Powicke, 49, emphasis mine)

Finally, this from Baxter's dedication to "Reformed Pastor" (74-75), which is dated April 15, 1656, added after the main text of the book was written:

"...because our faithful endeavours are of so great necessity to the welfare of the church, and the saving of men's souls, that it will not consist with a love to either, to be negligent ourselves, or silently to connive at negligence in others. If thousands of you were in a leaking ship, and those that should pump out the water, and stop the leaks, should be sporting or asleep, or even but favoring themselves in their labors, to the hazarding of you all, would you not awaken them to their work, and call on them as you labor as for your lives? And if you used some sharpness and importunity with the slothful, would you think that man was in his wits who should take it ill of you, and accuse you of pride, self-conceitedness, or unmannerliness, to presume to talk so saucily to your fellow-workmen, or that should tell you that you wrong them by diminishing their reputation — would you not say, 'The work must be done, or we are all dead men. Is the ship ready to sink, and do you talk of reputation? or had you rather hazard yourself and us, than hear of your slothfulness?'"

This is our case, brethren. The work of God must needs be done. Souls must not perish while you mind your worldly business or worldly pleasure, and take your ease, or quarrel with your brethren. Nor must we be silent while men are hastened by you to perdition, and the church brought into imminent danger, for fear of seeming too uncivil and unmannerly with you, or displeasing your impatient souls. Would you be but as impatient with your sins as with our reproofs, you should hear no more from us, but we should be agreed. But neither God nor good men will let you alone in such sins. Yet, if you had betaken yourselves to another calling, and would sin to yourselves only, and would perish alone, we should not have so much necessity of molesting you as we now have; but if you will never into the office of the ministry, which is for the necessary preservation of us all, so that, by letting you alone in your sin, we must give up the church to loss and hazard, blame us not, if we talk to you more freely than you would have us do. If your own body were sick, and you will despise the remedy, or if your own house were on fire, and you will be singing or quarrelling in the streets, I could possibly bear it, and let you alone — which yet, in charity, I should not easily do — but if you will undertake to be the physician of a hospital, or to a whole town that is infected with the plague, or will undertake to quench all the fires that shall be kindled in the town, there is no bearing with your remissness, how much soever it may displease you: take it as you will, you must be told it; and if that will not serve, you must be told it still more plainly; and if that will not serve, if you be rejected as well as reprehended, you may thank yourselves. I speak all this to none but the guilty."

My brothers and sisters in Christ who are burdened to pray for revival, let's not forget to pray regularly for our pastors...(and their wives and families – HT: roseteacup).

My recent posts on the Reformation & Revival:

never underestimate the prowling lion

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:17:48 GMT

As a follow-up to my last post on battling false teachers in the Church (Combatting the creepy guys...)...

These videos really caught my eye given that my screen name is naphtali_deer,...They're a reminder that on our own we are no match for the devil...WARNING: the second video is pretty graphic...(The deer had to be put down due to injuries she sustained.)

Our liberty is founded on Christ Himself, who sits at the right hand of God and intercedes for us. Therefore our liberty is sure and valid as long as we believe in Christ. As long as we cling to Him with a steadfast faith we possess His priceless gifts. But if we are careless and indifferent we shall lose them. It is not without good reason that Paul urges us to watch and to stand fast. He knew that the devil delights in taking this liberty away from us.

–Martin Luther's Commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians, Chapter 5

8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

–I Peter 5:8-9

Combatting the creepy guys (Sola Scriptura + priesthood of believers)

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:22:43 GMT

I've recently written on the Reformation and the need for revival in the Church today (see the links at the end of this post), so I'm continuing on that theme today...

This summer I wrote about need to be speaking the word to one another (see here, here, here and here). At the time I was reading in II Timothy, I became distressed at the words I found in chapter three verse 6:

6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

That really upset me when I read it. And it still does. Do those words upset you? Can we continue to allow false teachers to come creeping in and capture the weak sheep?

How can we let this go on?
Do we not love the Church?
Do we not love the sheep?
Do we not love Christ and His Gospel?

Let's go back and look at this chapter from the beginning:

1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. 9 But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.

But understand this... What are we to understand? Paul is telling us these things will happen: we will have times of difficulty, or in the KJV, "perilous times." Jesus warned us many will come and deceive.

We're supposed to understand this. Why? Why! So we can do something about it. So we can be prepared and on guard. Sad to say, we've not been on guard and now we are paying the price...

Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter!
Isaiah 5:20

Whom does Paul say we should avoid?

verse 8: men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith.

What do these men look like?

verse 5: having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power... – they look good, on the outside... (more on that here...).

How do they operate?

the creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth – they prey upon the weak and vulnerable sheep of the flock by feeding them false teaching rather than the pure Gospel. The NKJV uses the word gullible for weak. If we aren't rightly rooted in the truth, we're all prone to be weak and gullible. We'll hear something and it will sound good. Satan comes an angel of light. The fruit in the garden looked good and tasty. False gospels, different gospels look good, but they're bad, very bad, wholly bad. Half a Gospel ≠ The Gospel. Only as we know the truth can we know the lie. Only as we have studied the original can we know the counterfeit. We've got to be Bereans. We're to try and test all things. How can we know false doctrine if we've never learned the true doctrine. How can we remain rooted? How can we keep from drifting?

And they creep. They're sneaky. They try to evade us. I remember an incident from several years ago at a church we used to attend. A man came in who was very well dressed and quite well spoken and seemed knowledgeable about doctrine and so forth. After the service he lingered...and lingered. A few of us had noticed that he continued speaking with one of the younger single women in our congregation. Red flags were raised. He finally left the building. As several of us recounted the incident, we dubbed this man "creepy guy." There was something not right about him. People of God, we need to look out for those "creepy guys" in our midst. We've got to keep our radar up else Satan will come in in a stealth bomber and attack before we know he's there. They creep...they sneak...they slither...they prowl...

What will be their end?

verse 9: Thanks be to God we read they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all. God's truth will win out in the end, all who are His will come through safe, but yet in the meantime we will see some sheep being taken advantage of, being captured for a time.

Brothers and sisters, ought we to allow this to go on?! Do we not care about the sheep? Are we not to be guarding the flock?

These are perilous times! No doubt!

What can we do guard all the flock against such false teachers?

Please continue reading in II Timothy 3. Most of you know that portion of Scripture includes those verse about the value of Scripture. But let's look at the context here. The times are difficult and perilous. False teaching is creeping into the church under the guise of godliness. So it makes perfect sense Paul would take Timothy back to the basics, back to the Scripture to fight off these false teachers who oppose the truth and attempt to capture the weak sheep.

That's what Paul was writing about in Ephesians 4. As we are rooted in right doctrine we will not be swayed by false doctrine. Makes sense when we put it that way, doesn't it?

So as we guard the Gospel, as we steward the Gospel, as we speak the Gospel to those in the flock, as we feed and nurture them, we guard and protect the flock from harm, from those false teachers who are creeping in to take advantage of weak, gullible souls.

10 You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, 11 my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me.

12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

Notice Paul is talking about persecutions and so forth. Why is he undergoing those things? Because he is speaking for Christ. He is preaching the Gospel. Are people persecuted merely for doing good deeds for others? For merely telling them God loves them. No. They get arrested for preaching Christ and Him crucified. They're persecuted for proclaiming that apart from Christ they have no hope. That's part of the Gospel. People don't like it. They don't like being told they are totally depraved and unable to save themselves. We pride ourselves on our sufficiency. The Gospel requires us to become as little children, to become as the tax collector, to come with empty hands and admit we are nothing and we have nothing. To tell them that apart from Christ they are already condemned. Look through the Gospels and the book of Acts at how the religious leaders and authorities respond to the Gospel message..it's totally outrageous. That's because there's a spiritual war going on. That's one form of opposition to the Gospel.

But now Paul continues on and reminds us of another way the Gospel is opposed, a much more insidious way:

while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. (KJV)

Impostors.
Truth is at stake.
These men are bringing falsehood.
Satan is a liar and the father of lies, after all.

Seducers.
There's attraction there.
They're trying to draw us away from our first Love.

And it's evil.
Paul calls false gospels evil.
False gospels are opposed to God's glorious Gospel.
Opposed to God and His Gospel = Evil.

That's why Paul was so incensed in Galatians 1. Anyone who preaches another gospel, let him be accursed. Serious stuff there. No 40 lashes with a wet noodle. No time-out in the corner. We're never to give way to false gospels, not for a minute.

Those are the men Paul was talking about earlier in that third chapter of Second Timothy. They come deceiving. And the sad thing is they are deceived. Their eyes are blinded to the truth.

How do we combat these evil men?

The answer is simple:

14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

But as for you...Paul's talking to Timothy, but honestly, he's talking to each one of us. Yes, teachers will be held more accountable, they have sheep for whom they are responsible for, but we are all to continue in the Word of God and we are to uphold one another and encourage one another. If we don't continue in Christ's word, if we don't abide in His word, can we really say we are Christ's disciples? (John 8:31) It's the only true word, for it's the only word that is God-breathed. It's the only word that gives life and sustains our life in Christ. We don't need another program. We don't need big bucks. We need to go back to the basics: to the word of God!

The word of God is profitable. The word of God is necessary. Let's not neglect it. Let's speak it when we have opportunity to one another. Sola Scriptura, my friends in Christ. We must go back to the apostolic doctrine, to what was recovered in the Reformation. We've slipped and slipped badly and now God is drawing us back once again. We have the words breathed out by the living God! Think of it! What are we doing with these words? Do we treasure the words of the latest best seller more? Or the words of our favorite preacher more?

It continues to distress me that I see Christians commenting other Christians' blogs with comments like, "I hope you feel better." Oh, what a wonderful opportunity we have to give out living bread! Not the white fluffy bread, good solid Gospel bread. Anyone can tell someone, "I hope you feel better." I would challenge you who are Christians to open your Bibles and ask God to give you verses. Or to ask Him to give you solid Scripturally sound hymns to encourage your brothers and sisters. We've received life from the true Vine, we're to give out that Life. We're blessed to be a blessing. This is a ministry we've all been called to engage in: the ministry of encouragement and exhortation. What a wonderful way to bring Christ's light and life right here to Xanga and Revelife. Let's claim this blogging community for Christ!

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

–Colossians 3:16

23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

–Hebrews 10:23-25

These words are written to the entire church...not just to pastors. You don't have to be a Bible scholar. We're all ministers. Another Reformation doctrine we've lost is the priesthood of all believers. Go on! Jesus is sending you. Share a verse God has used to encourage you. It's not hard. Use your concordance. Do an internet search if you can't find something. There are plenty of tools out there. As you read your Bible more and more, you'll know where to find words of life who those who are wilting and withering on the vine and need a fresh infusion of living water. And others should be doing the same for you. We're to uphold those who are weak. How can we do so apart from God's word? What a wonderful gift God has given us. Let's us it to His glory and to the building up of the Church!

Some of you may think I'm a Bible scholar. I'm not. I'm a wife and a mom. I've had time to be in the word of God over the past few years. I have no seminary degree. I've had 1 credit in seminary, an Intro. to Ministry/Ministry Assessment course. My undergrad degree was in Educational Research. I went to grad school in cognitive psychology, never got a degree. I know there are plenty of people who are smarter than me. I mean it.

We all come to God and His word knowing nothing. All our earthly knowledge and learning is worthless. The Spirit much teach us all. Apart from the Spirit, our minds are hostile to God. Apart from the Holy Spirit, we know nothing, but He reveals God's truth to us. But not by osmosis. You've got to get into the word and gnaw on it like a bone. You've got to take time with the living God. Not just 5 minutes. Soak in Him. Soak in His word. Are you thirsty for Him? Are you hungry for Him? Know that if you go thirsty and hungry, He will fill you! And if you're not thirsty and hungry, ask Him to make you thirsty and hungry! Ask Him! Have you ever asked Him? How much time do we spend in earthly pursuits but how much time do we take to nurture our souls and meet with our God? But you've got to go there, to go to Him. God provided the manna for the Israelites but they had to gather it up, take it and eat it. Augustine had to take up and read. You do the same and watch how God will use you to bring life to discouraged souls. The early Church was scattered and went preaching the Word everywhere. We're to do the same.

I'm grieved when I see people who are deceived. And I'm not only grieved, I'm mad. We must hold the line here. We must go about speaking the truth because we know the devil is the most diligent prelate and teacher. He is always working and always prowling. He's not resting, even though it may look like it...and therefore we mustn't rest either!

The wolves come in sheep's clothing seeking to take weak and gullible sheep captive. We cannot allow this to continue.

I've had people ask me, "What business is this of yours?" Sometimes I've wondered that myself. God's given me a love for Him and His Gospel. It is my business. If you are Christ's, it should be your business to some extent. Your calling may be different than mine, but if you aren't grieved over false teachers, if you only shrug your shoulders as you read these things, I will ask you: Do you truly see your salvation as all from Christ alone? Do you see Him and His Gospel as worth fighting for? Do you care if sheep continue to be misled? Were would you be if you'd not heard His Gospel of salvation through grace? Why don't you care that the lion is prowling? Why don't you care that sheep are being deceived?

I imagine people asked Martin Luther and many of the other reformers and leaders in revival through the years, "What business is this of yours?" Where would we be if Martin Luther had decided one day, "This isn't my business after all." Where would we be? Ponder it. And then go to your knees in prayer...

It is our business. We are Christ's by grace through faith. We are engaged in a war for souls. The enemy is prowling.

Bear with me here now. Jesus' words in Matthew 25 are to be taken literally but are they not also to be taken spiritually? Read it through and reflect on it. The Church is to address needs of the body, yes indeed we must, but we are also called to address the needs of the soul.

What will you answer to Christ when He returns and asks you, "Were you about my Father's business? What did you do when you saw the false shepherds, the creepy guys going about the flock? Did you pray with Me for an hour? Are you praying for Me to send laborers into the harvest? Were you ashamed of My Gospel, of Me? Whatever you did to the least of these you did for Me. Did you give one of the sheep living water when they were thirsty? Did you give them living bread?"

Today is Veteran's Day. I'm thanking God today for all those who have served in the armed forces. I thank God I can blog here freely and proclaim the Word of God. But fellow Christians, let's not forget we are all in a battle against power and principalities. God needs each one of us to be engaged and be on alert, to be ever vigilant and ever fighting. He's placed each one of us in the Body for His glory. And part of His glory is to uphold His Gospel and proclaim it. Let's all be strong in the grace God has provided and combat the creepy guys together using the word of God and prayer!

May He find us fighting the good fight until the end!
May He embolden us to speak His word with power and authority!
May He keep us returning to His throne to pray for His Church to be revived again!

(If God has also been calling you to pray for revival, I would love to hear from you...please message me. I also invite you to visit tent of meeting, my site dedicated to prayer for revival.)

Related posts

My recent posts on the Reformation & Revival:

Other posts on false teachers & our response to them, the priesthood of believers...

Letter 25 on assurance and fighting for joy (a strong craving ≠ His joy)

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:54:33 GMT

Continuing on with my series of letters on assurance and fighting for joy...

Dear child of our Father,

O, you have known His joy! I have as well! Is He not wonderful to us!

I have been thinking about the Israelites since I've been continuing to read in Numbers. Would you open your Bible to Numbers 11...no, first go back to Numbers 10. The presence of the Lord, the cloud is getting ready to move. They're finally going to be leaving Sinai. Remember: they've been here over a year now. They've got all the instructions. They're anticipating getting into the promised land. You can sense the excitement they must have had at this point. They've celebrated the second passover; they've remembered the great deliverance from Egypt. Everything is looking so wonderful, is it not?

What happens in Numbers 11? I think you know the story, not only in terms of the Israelites but in terms of your own life. The nation of Israel has received all from the hand of God. He chose them and delivered them out of Egypt with His strong arm. They received this free gift of His deliverance. He'd remembered the covenant He'd made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He set His love on them because He loved them. God had heard their groaning and His grace abounded. Their four hundred plus years of bondage were ended with His provision of the lamb's blood. Now they were free to walk with the Lord, to enter the promised land, to enjoy Him. (Sound familiar?...)

Numbers 11, yes, where was I? Sorry, you know how I can so relate to this. The Bible is so in our face about our sin, is it not? Verse 1 smacks us on the side of the head:

And the people complained in the hearing of the LORD about their misfortunes...

What did they have to complain about? (What do we?)

Let's look at the complaining first, then we'll get to God's righteous response to their complaining...

Verse 4: a strong craving, or in the NKJV: they yielded to intense craving. Ok, let's not mince words here. Let's go to the King James: they fell a lusting.

What was happening here?

The end of verse 4: Oh that we had meat to eat!

Oh, my! Didn't they already have meat to eat?

Yes, of course they did! Manna straight from heaven. God's perfect provision.

What were they looking at instead? Starting at verse 5, we read:

We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. 6 But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.

How brutish, foolish and ignorant of them (Psalm 73:22):

We remember...

They had meat to eat. They had the meat that came from heaven. Heavenly manna. Bread rained down from heaven to sustain them. Yet, what are they looking for? The meat they had in Egypt! How do they see this angels' food:

there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.

How pitiful their response is to the free gift of God: nothing at all but this manna to look at...

Were they enjoying God at this point? No. How could they enjoy Him? They weren't satisfied with His provision, they weren't enjoying the food He'd given them?...How could they enjoy Him. nothing at all but this manna to look at. And how often do we do the same thing? (Oh, how much are we like them. See Psalms 78 and 95; Hebrews 3:7-4:10; I Cor. 10. They're an example to us all. We know it, do we not? Ouch! The sword pierces...)

First with Christ Himself, we begin to twist up His Gospel, either add to or subtract from it...You know how I have continued to be distraught over that. I just wrote about that here and here. We are not satisfied with Christ alone; we're craving other gospels, different gospels...

But what I want to really look at right now is this craving regarding our personal walk with God: How can we enjoy God as He has intended if we do not receive His gifts to us with thankfulness. Philippians 4. You know I've written on that regarding joy.

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

There's that thankfulness. Another aspect of our rejoicing. My friend Norm is big into thankfulness. He wrote about it again recently here. I need those reminders! We all do! "I'm forever grateful." Sorry, I'm not forever grateful even though I have every reason to be! Our God has given us everlasting life, life with Him forever. Every reason to be grateful...forever...no matter the circumstances.

Trusting God's provision. Giving thanks in all things. Let's finish the verse, why don't we: give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. I Thes. 5:18. It's God's will for us to give thanks. We have to be told to give thanks! We are too much like those nine lepers, aren't we? How can we give thanks if we are craving something else besides Him? He gives us Himself. Is that not all we need? Can we love Him even if all we have is stripped away, or do we only love Him only for His gifts to us? In all circumstances, in plenty or in want, in good times or bad, in prosperity or depression, can we also worship God along with Job (Job 1):

20 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped.
21 And he said, Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

22 In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.

We can't worship God rightly if we keep looking back at our past blessings and let them consume us. (Let's add here that the Israelites were now looking back at their time in Egypt as desirable. They wanted to go back there. Certainly the father of lies had been at work, had he not? Time in bondage a blessing? Puh-leese...)

Can we honestly say with Paul (from Philippians 4):

11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

The rubber meets the road in our faith walk when the rug is pulled out from under us. Here's the bottom line: in and any all circumstances can we continue to rejoice in the Lord? Even in our disappointments, can we continue to rejoice in the Lord? Even when no fruit comes, can we continue to rejoice in the Lord? When hardship comes, do we respond the way Paul did in II Corinthians 4? When affliction comes, can we say we are not crushed? When perplexed can we avoid being driven to despair? When we are persecuted will we remember we are never forsaken? When we are struck down can we take heart that no one can destroy us for we are safe in the arms of God's love? All these things will come our way at one time or another. How we respond shows how much we are resting In His sure love for us. Are we rejoicing in God regardless of our circumstances? Again, this joy is not intended for only certain people, but for all God's children. It is our birthright as sons and daughters of God. Who are we not to come and rejoice in Him at the feast He is throwing for us? He's happy, He's rejoicing over us, should we not be rejoicing in Him and in our sonship? I am more convinced than ever that Satan despises a joyful Christian, a Christian who is praising God in spite of everything! There is nothing that can bring down the kingdom of darkness quicker than the joy of the Lord resonating throughout Babylon!

Psalm 137:4 How shall we sing the LORD's song
in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand forget its skill!
6 Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
above my highest joy!

The weapons of our warfare include joy and praise! Let's not neglect them!

The other day I wrote about rejoicing in our Father's discipline. A bit more on that. I was craving something (yes, and not unlike the Israelites, it came right on the heels of remembering His grace to me, keeping the passover...), but then the Lord showed me I was putting my own desires ahead of His Kingdom...Satan loves us to continue to demand of God (yes, there's a fine line here between the importunate praying we find in Luke 18 and demanding...but there comes to a point when we know whether we are asking according to God's will...then we here Him saying, as He did to Moses re: his request to go into the promised land, "Stop asking Me this," or we may hear, "I've heard you. Rest in Me now. Wait for My answer and don't be surprised when it comes differently than you expect..."). So often we remake God in our own image. We make Him out to be "the God who will give me everything in the world I want when I want it so I will be happy." Well, God is not here to give us what I want, He's not a cosmic vending machine. Yes, knowing Him will make us happy. But if all we're after is our convenience and comfort, if that's our motive in prayer, then it's more than likely we're not asking according to His will. God's here to give us Himself. Is He not all we should ever want? Is He not all I should ever need? Is not all we should be craving for, panting for? How often do we seek earthly things but put aside heavenly ones? We sing on Sunday about how He is "our all in all." Is He really? Is He? Are we truly happy with Christ and Christ alone? These times test us to see if He truly is our all in all. Are our words only mere profession or are they are very life...is He our life, truly our first and only Love? Or do we love our own loves more than Him?

I scribbled some things down at the time I was struggling (and am fleshing it out a bit more here):

Are you going to give up your rights for the Kingdom?

I Peter 2: Jesus committed Himself to Him who judges righteously...did not revile, did not threaten, went dumb as a lamb before her shearers, gave up His right to be heard...

Philippians 2: Jesus did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, became a servant, obedient unto death, even the ignominious death on the cross...

John 13: Jesus took up the towel and basin and washed feet...(He was fully secure in His sonship. He knew the love of the Father. He trusted His Father...see the verses at the beginning of the chapter.) He came to serve and not to be served.

I Peter 3: Sarah trusted in God...obeyed Abraham...I'm to do good and not fear anything that is frightening. (This is a verse I should always remember: once I do it usually sets me straight. Remember! For more on that see here and here re: the time I heard Piper speak on that verse.)

Nehemiah: Could have taken $ to be governor, but refused it.

Paul: I Cor. 9: He willingly chose to use none of these things...His desire was Christ and His Gospel. "Woe is me if I do not preach the Gospel..."

Abraham: Gave Lot the choice of the best land (we know how that ended up!) *LINK*

We can insist on our own rights and not necessarily be sinning. But the one who is wholly devoted to Christ will give up anything for the Kingdom...anything!

I must weigh personal gain vs. Kingdom glory! When I see it that way there is no choice...

I tell you that I was so stuck in what I wanted.

I kept insisting I must have it. I was like that child pouting and screaming at the grocery store checkout. "I want my candy and I want it now!"

And even then when I came to knew I wasn't right, I still couldn't get out of it. I kept thinking about that Newsboys' song "Landslide of Love":

Opening salvo
Didn't help solve anything
Every time we shout our rights out
We get all grouchy and gray

Satan had laid a trap, a snare for me, he all but had me bound. I was miserable. There was no joy there. I knew the joy was to be had, but I was stuck in the mire of my own wants, my own selfishness. As the Psalmist said, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped....BUT GOD! In His graciousness, the Lord showed me His Kingdom is far greater than my earthly wants, far more wonderful. In Him is fullness of joy and at His right had are pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16). Fullness of joy! How can we have fullness of joy if we keep lusting and craving for what He is not choosing to give us today? How can we have fullness of joy if we are not satisfied in Christ alone? There is no joy or peace so long as we insist on our own way. Once I had that greater vision of His Kingdom...(Thanks be to God that He set me straight, set my feet upon the Rock once more!)...Once I could see His heavenly manna was all I needed...Once I could see His love is better than life...Once I could see a day in His house is better than a thousand elsewhere...Once I began to remember the feast my Father had prepared for me at His house, now my home...How could I keep insisting on anything but HIM...but I was! My vision was clouded!

I was brutish and foolish like the Israelites. I had yielded to that intense and strong craving. But God was drawing me back with His cords of love. Giving me a craving and love for Him and His Kingdom. He will do that for us. But we need to listen for His still small voice. Satan continues to insinuate thoughts into our heads. We need to remember God and His blessings, not Egypt. We've got to gird up the loins of our mind and be sure we have on that belt of truth and wear that helmet of salvation to protect our thoughts. (That's why we've got to add to remain in His Word always. His Spirit will bring His truth to mind when we need it. I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:11. I can't tell you that enough, though I know you know it. We are His disciples if we continue in His Word.)

Right now I am living in Psalm 73 and Psalm 16...

The devil keeps us from getting to the sanctuary (Psalm 73:17), to the place where we see God rightly again. Remember he is a liar. He keeps us from truth. He wants us to think God is against us, that God is a spoilsport. Satan wants us to go ahead and crave that fruit that's not ours to have. Satan wants us to crave any and all things but God. We've got to fight to get back to the sanctuary for it is there we can remember God's great love for us that sent His Son to die for us at Calvary. What else could He have done to show His love for us. God's great love that will freely give us all things. His love that treats us no longer as slaves but sons. He is Abba Father! O, to remember He is our Father who wants to give us good things. He is the God who will not withhold anything good from those who walk uprightly. We are His children. No, we do not always walk uprightly but Christ's righteousness has been credited to us. We can say without a doubt that in any and all circumstances, good and bad, are all ordained by God for our good. Let us remember that God is for us. Let us never be found in the sorry state of the Israelites who were murmuring against God. In fact, look at Numbers 11:20: they despised the Lord. Despised Him! When we despise His gifts to us, we despise Him! Moses writes about this incident (and others) in Deuteronomy 9. He says that Israel provoked the Lord to wrath. Do we want to be known for provoking the Lord to wrath? Does He not have every right to be angry with us when we do not continue to see Him as our chief joy and source of rejoicing? In Numbers 11 we read that His anger was kindled (v. 1) and the anger of the LORD blazed hotly (v. 10). Why not? These were His people. He had done all for Him and want was their response? Complaining, murmuring, provoking Him! O, may He give us grace to continue to bless His Name at all time and have His spirit of contentment. Jeremiah Burroughs wrote:

"Contentment is the inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, freely submitting to and taking pleasure in God's disposal in every condition."

In every condition...Rejoice in the Lord always!

Sorry, I had meant to quote the last portion of Psalm 73. In verse 1 the Psalmist makes a bold declaration about God, Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart, but then he's trying to fit his experience in the world into the absolute truth He knows about God. So he ends up in a tizzy, He's in a major lament, he's distraught, despairing, trying to make sense of things. Nothing is going right for him and everything is going right for his enemies. There seems to be no justice. There's cognitive dissonance here big time. He's saying, "God, I know You are good, but things are not adding up here. Where are you anyhow?" Then we read the turning point...

But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
17 until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their end.
18 Truly you set them in slippery places;
you make them fall to ruin.
19 How they are destroyed in a moment,
swept away utterly by terrors!
20 Like a dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
21 When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
22 I was brutish and ignorant;
I was like a beast toward you.
23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me to glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.
28 But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,
that I may tell of all your works.

until I went into the sanctuary of God...So, my friend, when you begin lamenting like the Psalmist, when you begin whining or complaining or murmuring, I'm going to tell you to go back to the sanctuary and stay there until God gives you that renewed vision of Him and His Kingdom, that His love is better than life. Go and read through Psalm 16. (I may write more about that in my next letter. I would not do it justice here...) And I hope you will tell me to to the same thing!!! That is the way we love one another, by helping each other back to the sanctuary, back to God Himself, when our hands are drooping down and our knees are weak...When we're having trouble running the race set before us. You know the book of Hebrews is full of encouragements for us in that...

So let us go, go, go to the sanctuary! Go nowhere else! And keep going there? Whom else have we but Him? He alone has the words of life! He is our life! He is the true bread from heaven. He is the living water. O, let us no longer crave or lust after earthly things. May He teach us how to be satisfied in Him and to joy in Him. He is our life, our breath, our peace, our joy, our love. He is our everything! O, how He loves us! May we know that love so we might be constrained by it and love Him wholeheartedly and no longer be subject to brutish and foolish cravings. Whom have we in heaven but Him? Is He not wonderful enough for us! Let's crave Him and Him alone! No other will satisfy us! We've experienced the fullness of joy, the pleasures forevermore. Let's not be foolish and brutish and trade Him for anything else...O, let us rejoice in Him always! Craving nothing else but Him alone.

Rejoicing and basking in His love, held by His cords of love, loving Him and His love for me that chases me down even when I yield to strong cravings, even when I am foolish and brutish, all so He might draw me back to feast once again in house, to eat His bread and drink His cup! Fullness of joy, pleasures forevermore are ours, my friend! Let's enjoy Him together and exhort our brothers and sisters to do the same!

Karen

Scripture quotations unless otherwise indicated are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Lyrics are subject to US Copyright Laws and are the property of their respective authors, artists and labels. Commercial use prohibited. "Landslide of Love" by Steve Taylor & Peter Furler/Music by Peter Furler & Jeff Frankenstein/©2004 Artose Music.

Series Links - Thanksgiving 2007 and 2008 posts

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:47:18 GMT

As I've been continuing to write about assurance and fighting for joy, I'm about to put up a post about rejoicing and thanksgiving..

I've gathered together here my posts I did the past two Thanksgivings and put them all here for you to access.

(For more on thanksgiving, please also see my posts tagged thanksgiving.)

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

–I Thessalonians 5:16-18

Here are my posts from Thanksgiving 2007:

Reasons for Thanks Giving, Part 1: You

Reasons for Thanks Giving, Part 2: "It's All Because of Jesus I'm Alive"

Reasons for Thanks Giving, Part 3: "Free Grace" and "The Eye of Sovereign Grace"

Reasons for Thanks Giving, Part 4: The Great Cloud of Witnesses

Reasons for Thanks Giving, Part 5: Unanswered Prayer

Reasons for Thanks Giving, Part 6: Christian Friends

Here are my posts from Thanksgiving 2008:

Thanksgiving/Christmas: Thoughts on Bible Reading/Ruth 2: Thanking the Lord with Naomi

Thanksgiving Eve: How hungry are you for Him?

Thanksgiving: A carton of chocolate milk reminds me to count my blessings

Thanksgiving "Gratefulnesse" then and now

Thanksgiving to God that salvation is all of grace (the gift you can't buy today or any day)