Question for everyone

Got a question for you all...

Jesus is described in John 1 as the Word. The Bible is described as the word of God. Previously I had thought it quite ridiculous to say that Jesus and the Bible were the same thing but have recently started wondering if that could be the case. What do you all think? Is the Bible God?

5 Point Meditation

5 things to think about:

1. The greatness of God
2. The perfection of God's initial creation (The initial perfection of man)
3. Man's sin and the fall
4. Christ's atoning work on my behalf
5. The salvation which Christ's death procures for me

These are to be thoughts upon which I base all my actions and words.

Thankfulness Enriched by Relief (Another Gospel Primer Selection)

The more absorbed I am in the gospel, the more grateful I become in the midst of my circumstances, whatever they may be.

Viewing life's blessings as water in a drinking cup, I know that I discontentedly focus on the half of the cup that seems empty, or I could gratefully focus on the half that is full. Certainly, the latter approach is the better of the two, yet the gospel cultivates within me a richer gratitude than this.

The gospel reminds me first that what I actually deserve from God is a full cup churning with the torments of His wrath. This is the cup that would be mine to drink if I were given what I deserve each day. With this understanding in mind, I see that to be handed a completely empty cup from God would be cause enough for infinite gratitude. If there were merely the tiniest drop of blessing contained in that otherwise empty cup, I should be blown away by the unbelievable kindness of God toward me. That God, in fact, has given me a cup that is full of "every spiritual blessing in Christ," and this without the slightest admixture of wrath, leaves me truly dumbfounded with inexpressible joy. As for my specific earthly circumstances of plenty or want, I can see them always as infinite improvements on the hell I deserve.

When I look at any circumstance that God apportions me, I am first grateful for the wrath I am not receiving in that moment. (The empty part of the cup never looked so good!)

Secondly, I am grateful for the blessings that are given to me instead of His wrath. (Life's blessings, however small, always appear exceedingly precious when viewed against the backdrop of the wrath I deserve.) This two-layered gratitude disposes my heart to give thanks in all things and it also lends a certain intensity to my giving of thanks. Such a gospel-generated gratitude glorifies God, contributes to peace of mind, and keeps my foot from the path of foolishness and ruin.

The Power of God (From The Gospel Primer)

"Outside of heaven, the power of God in its highest density is found inside the gospel. This must be so, for the Bible twice describes the gospel as 'the power of God.' Nothing else in all of Scripture is ever described in this way, except for the Person of Jesus Christ. Such a description indicates that the gospel is not only powerful, but that it is the ultimate entity in which God's power resides and does its greatest work.

"Indeed, God's power is seen in erupting volcanos, in the unimaginably hot boil of our massive sun, and in the lightning speed of a recently discovered star seen streaking through the heavens at 1.5 million miles per hour. Yet in Scripture such wonders are never labeled 'the power of God.' How powerful, then, must the gospel be that it would merit such a title! And how great is the salvation it could accomplish in my life, if I would only embrace it by faith and give it a central place in my thoughts each day!"

A Musical Instrument

I read something really sweet and encouraging this morning in Matthew 12 that I thought everyone would be blessed by! In Matthew 12:20 Matthew quotes from Isaiah saying in regard to Jesus, "A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench..." I looked at the footnote for this and it said that shepherds would often use reeds out in the field to make a small musical instrument to play on. The thing was that when they became worn or broken they were useless and so the shepherd would throw them away. You probably already see where this is going! We are like broken musical instruments but Jesus wants to come to us and fix us and play music on us again! It says "A bruised reed He will NOT break..." We are all of us bruised reeds. What sort of music does He want to play? The symphony of His grace and His mercy! And what's even more incredible is that the church at large is composed of these broken musical instruments! Millions of them! Every Christian in the world is a musical instrument! What could Jesus possibly intend to do but to fix all of us and make all of us play the sweet, sweet music of His grace? What will heaven be but a grand symphony with many millions of the musical instruments which God created to bring Him glory? How sweet that music will be! Be blessed, friends!

Thoughts on Commitment

I have a few thoughts that God has been laying on my heart lately. Thought I'd type them out here to share a work that He has been pressing on my heart. I threw a party last night and was able to share this with 3 other people. I pray you will be blessed, convicted, and challenged by this posting.

Questions I want to examine:

1. What does it mean to be committed to Christ?
2. How does commitment affect my perception of the world and my personal life?
3. How seriously does God take commitment?
4. How is commitment generated?
5. How is commitment sustained?

The first question is easy to answer. Commitment to Christ is simply an abandonment of all my own attitudes and aspirations in favor of God's. It means I renounce any so called right I have to manage my own life and to move it in the direction that I see fit. It means presenting all of my mental, emotional, intellectual, and physical faculties to be used by God for His purposes rather than my own. A person who has committed themselves to the purposes of Christ asks his Father in every situation what He would have him to do, say, and think about everything that is going on. It means yielding control of everything I am and have to the One who owns me.

The second question is harder to answer. When a man commits himself to the purposes of God it has many and varied effects on the way he perceives the world and has very drastic effects on his life. The man who has completely committed himself to God looks decidedly different from his fellow brothers and sisters who are wavering in their commitments and, to a greater extent, from those who have absolutely no knowledge of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Life takes on a different color for the one who has yielded themselves to divine authority. Their thought processes change. They are consumed by a singular goal in every situation which is to bring glory to their Father in heaven. They no longer perceive "significant" or "insignificant" moments in their lives; all moments are alike to them in that they can work for God's purposes. Whether laboring in prayer when alone or loving people whom God brings into their path. They renounce selfish thinking, actions, or words and instead labor to bring God pleasure in all that they say, think, and do. "For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s," says Romans 14:8. This is commitment. We were made for His glory and when we commit to Him we agree with that fact.

The third question is a crucial one and I am convicted that I do not take commitment as seriously as the LORD takes it. Matthew 10:37-39 makes God's standard very clear. This is the Word of God. He puts it very clearly in here. Do you agree with Him? If not, you're not headed towards heaven, my friend. There are certain things God requires of His children and this is one of them. He states it very clearly. There is no room for doubt. "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it." If that's too vague for you, there's Luke 14:33. "So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple." That is harsh. That is demanding. But that is God's standard for a Christian life. This is war, people. This is not the time to take it easy and go to parties and rent videos and go to concerts and waste an afternoon watching stupid You Tube videos. We have been called to war! Why are we not fighting?! Our eternities are at stake! We have to HATE our lives! We have to HATE this world! Way too many of us are living comfortable lifestyles, eating, drinking, and being merry and very few of us are fighting sin and the Devil tooth and nail! WE ARE AT WAR! There can be no compromise! And when you really start fighting the devil will try and buy you off at any price! "Everyone can be bought!" he thinks and far, far, far too often HE IS RIGHT! There's a scene in the movie Braveheart where the princess is dispatched with a huge trunk of gold. The king is hoping to bribe William Wallace, the Scottish patriot, to stop burning English cities and making war against England. When offered the trunk of gold, Wallace says "Gold? That I should become a Judas?" The princess replies, "Peace is made in such ways." Wallace's reply is very fast and very angry, "Slaves are made in such ways!" Satan makes it look like he wants peace but he wants slaves and he will try and bribe you as hard as he can! WE CANNOT GIVE IN! When we embrace this truth, that slaves are made by accepting his bribes, we will often lose out on EVERYTHING this world says is important and enjoyable! Paul says that "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men to be most pitied." That means your life should be so hard and painful that everyone feels bad for you from homeless men on the street to Wall St. stockbrokers. Is that true of you? If not, maybe you need to rethink just how committed you are to the cause of Christ. I know these words are harsh and hard to hear but I'm preaching as much to myself as I am to you. To not warn you of these things would be a greater disservice to you because Jesus Christ said that if you're not pursuing Him harder than any other thing in this universe, you are not going to have a part in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 11:12 says "...from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force." Are you taking the kingdom of heaven by force? Are you selling everything you own to purchase the field where the treasure that is the kingdom of God is hidden? Be relentless! Satan is relentlessly striving to throw every weapon he has at you to keep you from the treasure that is Christ! He is using every resource he has under the sun to seduce you! He will never stop trying but will exhaust all the resources in the heavens and the earth to keep you fast asleep in his kingdom of false pleasures! If you are going to succeed in this battle you must be as relentless as he is! Don't ever let up, back up, slow up, or, God forbid, give up your relentless, passionate, abandoned hunt for holy treasure! God will not tolerate anything less than every ounce of your energy, every drop of your sweat and your blood, and every tear you cry in your pursuit to know Christ!

Overwhelmed? Discouraged? Frustrated with yourself? I surely would be were it not for the grace of God. It's all of grace from beginning to end! Praise God! He does not expect us to whip ourselves up into a frenzy of passionate pursuit. Doubtless you have tried this before as I have. The thing that keeps us trying is that it produces effects for a very short period of time. The flesh loves a good challenge and it delights in finding righteousness in itself. And when we try hard enough we can feel righteous for a short period of time. But it never lasts, just as I was saying. The fact of the matter is that when we whip ourselves up into these spiritual frenzies WE are the ones that get the glory. When, by the grace of God, God draws us to deeper commitment, GOD gets the glory. Commitment is begun under the grace of God and that is how it is sustained. Commitment begins at justification which is the work of God. That is why Paul instructs Timothy to pray that God will grant repentance to unbelievers. For what is commitment but repentance from mediocrity and lukewarmness? It is God who grants repentance and draws us to a deeper, more passionate pursuit of Himself. Do you desire deeper commitment? It is God who has placed this desire in you. When was the last time you were able to force yourself to like something (I mean GENUINELY like something) that you hated? It is God who places desires in our heart if they are in any way, shape, or form Godly desires. And when God places the desire in you, it's so much easier to commit yourself to Him. What is it called when God places Godly desire in you? It's called grace. The Christian life is about grace from the beginning to the end, if there ever could be an end. Grace draws us to deeper commitment and grace sustains that commitment. Grace sustains us on the days where we wake up and every thought in our mind seems to be pleading with us to cave in and accept Satan's latest bribe. Grace sustains us when every muscle in our body feels like it's on fire from the persecution we suffer in countries that are opposed to God. Grace is every beat of our heart and every ounce of blood that flows in our veins and arteries. It is grace that keeps our lungs breathing air. We don't deserve grace but God lavishes it on us. Why? Because when His grace sustains us, He gets ALL the glory; every last ounce of it. And He wouldn't have it any other way. If you are committed to Christ, praise God! If you desire to commit yourself to Christ, praise Him! Dedication to the purposes of God can only ever be about grace. You would never desire the things God desires but for His grace. You would never hate the things God hates but for His grace. Your thoughts would be futile and dark and all your motives would be self-centered and filthy but by God's grace. It's the cross. That's the blazing center of God's grace. God's grace will carry you over every stone until He brings you home to Him. There is NOTHING God's grace cannot overcome. God's grace slams the heck out of everything that rises up in opposition to it. If God's grace rests upon you you will make it home no matter what obstacles may arise in your path. When you're in Christ and drunk on God's grace, Satan can do nothing to you. Martin Luther's famous hymn so beautifully captures that. "And though this world with devils filled / Should threaten to undo us / We will not fear for God hath willed / His truth to triumph through us! / The prince of darkness grim / We tremble not for him! / His wrath we can endure! / For lo his doom is sure! / One little word shall fell him!"

So go encouraged. Dedicate yourself to Christ for His purposes cannot fail. We know the end of the story. "Those who endure to the end shall be saved." If you are Christ's you cannot but endure! And the Holy Spirit testifies in our hearts that we are His! Praise God!

On Deciding to Join the National Guard...

Wow. If that's not your reaction to this news, it most certainly is mine. Last week at this point I was drifting rather aimlessly. Today, I have a very definite purpose. My life has a direction now. If you'd told me even 3 weeks ago that I'd make the decision to join the armed forces I'd have trembled a little bit before laughing in your face. Since last Wednesday, my thought patterns have completely changed. I don't spend my days alternating between searching for a job and wasting time anymore. Now I spend my days getting ready for the task ahead. Basic Training is going to tear the skin off of me if I don't get my body and my mind physically toned. Now I spend my days job searching, making arrangements, getting more information, and talking to the recruiter. Care to eat properly and exercise have become much bigger concerns. Tomorrow night I'll be taking the ASFAB and then next week I'll go to Fort Lee to get my physical done. After my physical, I'll officially be in the Virginia National Guard. Then I have up to 360 days to tell them I'm ready to be shipped to Recruit Sustainment Program (RSP) and then, immediately following that, Basic Combat Training (BCT). I'm shooting for getting ready by December. I have an unbelievably difficult path in front of me but my God has brought me through trials before and I'm convinced that the only difference between what is before me and what lies behind me are intensity, uncomfortability, and physical pain. "The horse is prepared for the day of battle, But deliverance is of the LORD." The LORD will remain faithful in this too.