Christianity

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“If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all.

For everything that Christ taught, everything that makes the New Testament new, and better than the Old, everything that is distinctively Christian as opposed to merely Jewish, is summed up in the knowledge of the Fatherhood of God. “Father” is the Christian name for God. Our understanding of Christianity cannot be better than our grasp of adoption.”

—J.I. Packer, Knowing God (Downers Grove, IL: 1993), 201-202

HT:  Between Two Worlds

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"We know that all things work together for good to them that love God."
--Romans 8:28

Upon some points a believer is absolutely sure. He knows, for instance,
that God sits in the stern-sheets of the vessel when it rocks most. He
believes that an invisible hand is always on the world's tiller, and that
wherever providence may drift, Jehovah steers it. That re-assuring
knowledge prepares him for everything. He looks over the raging waters and
sees the spirit of Jesus treading the billows, and he hears a voice
saying,  "It is I, be not afraid." He knows too that God is always wise,
and, knowing this, he is confident that there can be no accidents, no
mistakes; that nothing can occur which ought not to arise. He can say, "If
I should lose all I have, it is better that I should lose than have, if
God so wills: the worst calamity is the wisest and the kindest thing that
could befall to me if God ordains it."

If we allow it, it is a great comfort to know that we belong to a God who is in control of the universe.  We see this life; God sees into eternity.

In the midst of pain and trial, it can be so hard to see that, yet it is true...there is nothing that happens that God does not have a hand in - and He will use it to bring us closer to Him.

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My daily reading was in 1 Chronicles, and then Psalm 1.

Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

Those who mock the Law of the Lord...they are not good counsel.  I sin...and I sin daily.  I am forgiven much.

But theLaw...is the Law, whether I follow it perfectly or not.

It is not a good thing to call "evil" good...or to call "good" evil.

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Quietly contemplate the Lamb as the light of heaven. Light in Scripture is
the emblem of joy. The joy of the saints in heaven is comprised in this:
Jesus chose us, loved us, bought us, cleansed us, robed us, kept us,
glorified us: we are here entirely through the Lord Jesus.

And the quote of the day (Spurgeon)

Let us draw nigh to Him, and in Him find joy and peace in believing.  Let us wrap ourselves in the warm garments of His promises, and go forth to labors which befit the season, for it were ill to be as the sluggard who will not plough by reason of the cold; for he shall beg in summer and have nothing.

What comfort it is to dwell in God's promises!

A promise is only as good as the one who makes it...and yet, when we are brought to Christ, when we are called, we are also called to a mission.  To fail to do that mission is to misuse the grace of Christ.

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We sang this in service yesterday morning and Jeremiah (worship leader) said that when we surrender all to Jesus, we can have the comfort and faith of knowing that we have every part of Him...on the cross, He withheld nothing.

All to Jesus I surrender;
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.

I surrender all,
I surrender all;
All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.

All to Jesus I surrender;
Humbly at His feet I bow,
Worldly pleasures all forsaken;
Take me, Jesus, take me now.

I surrender all,
I surrender all;
All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.

All to Jesus I surrender;
Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
Let me feel the Holy Spirit,
Truly know that Thou art mine.

I surrender all,
I surrender all;
All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.

All to Jesus I surrender;
Lord, I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love and power;
Let Thy blessing fall on me.

I surrender all,
I surrender all;
All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.

All to Jesus I surrender;
Now I feel the sacred flame.
Oh, the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory, to His Name!

I surrender all,
I surrender all;
All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.

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I would like complementarianism.

I'd like different preaching.

I'd like proclaiming.

But I love the worship.

Every song (except one) so resonated with me today.

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

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This relatively short book tells a story of faithfulness.

In one day, his livestock were stolen, his sheep and his servants were all killed.

While he was still hearing this news...another messenger arrived.

All of his sons and daughters were killed.

At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said,
"Naked I came from my mother's womb,
and naked I will depart.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
may the name of the LORD be praised."(Job 1:20-21)

In the midst of everything...Job grieved for a time...and then praised God.

And we can too.  There is a time for grieving, but if we praise God through it all, we learn and grow.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

We know that our suffering is for a reason and a season

“Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Romans 5:3-4,

And nobody can snatch us out of His hand

Romans 8:35-39, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: ‘For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

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Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands. -Deut 7:9

...continue reading →

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"True contemplation (of the cross) is that in which the heart is crushed and the conscience smitten.  You must be overwhelmed by the frightful wrath of God who so hated sin that he spared not his only begotten Son.  What can the siner expect if the beloved Son was so afflicted?  It must be an inexpressible and unendurable yearning that causes God's Son himself so to suffer.  Ponder this and you will tremble, and the more you ponder, the deeper you will tremble.

"Take this to heart and doubt not that you are the one who killed Christ.  Your sins certainly did, and when you see the nanils driven through his hands, be sure that you are pounding, and when the thorns pierce his brow, know that they are your evil thoughts.  Consider that if one thorn pierced Christ you deserve on hundred thousand." (Martin Luther's Easter Book)

...looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? (Hebrews 12:2-3)

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I'm reading in Hebrews 4...

God's Sabbath rest.

1Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. 2For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.

some manuscripts say because it did not meet with faith in the hearers.

It is not that we lose our salvation, it's that the promise of rest did not join with our faith in the first place.  We are united by faith with those who listened to the gospel and believe.

This is also cross referenced to Romans 3:3

Even though there are those who do not listen and there are those who do not believe, that does not mean that the promises of God are not true.  God is faithful to His promises, even when we are not faithful to Him.

3For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,

"As I swore in my wrath,'They shall not enter my rest,'"

That's a direct quote from Psa. 95.  Matthew Henry says, "Let us be aware of the evils of our hearts, which lead us to wander from the Lord. There is a rest ordained for believers, the rest of everlasting refreshment, begun in this life, and perfected in the life to come. This is the rest which God calls his rest."

although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: "And God rested on the seventh day from all his works."

Exodus31:17, "It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.'"

We long for that rest.

I long for that rest.

Humans are designed for a Sabbath and I feel as though I have not had one for a long time.