“The most common remedy for most behavioral and mental disorders today is some form of self-worth enhancement. It pervades our educational institutions, the psychotherapeutic and counseling system, the personnel and motivational industry, advertising, and even the church. I think the remedy is flawed. … What is the root of mental health? My answer is, God. Or seeing God as God and enjoying Him as God, which involves being forgiven by God and welcomed with utterly free grace. I personally believe that these truths are hijacked when they are used to make self-esteem the root of mental health.” —John Piper
“Good performance is the road by which one travels toward life. He who travels this road is in quest of life. ‘Take courage and do manfully.’ This road has its reward. As often as we become fatigued by the journey’s labor, we are enlightened by the grace of a solicitude from on high, and we ‘taste and see that the Lord is sweet.’ And thus comes to pass what was said above—what prayer asks, contemplation finds.” —Hugh of St. Victor (1096-1141 AD)
“We were created to glorify God (Isaiah 43:7), and because Paul said, ‘Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God’ (1 Corinthians 10:31). So it is sin to pursue any good deed, or any act of worship, without the intent to glorify God. But God is not glorified where we find Him less pleasing than other things. He is belittled. Knowing this, we cannot be indifferent to whether we find God pleasing in the actions we pursue. In all those actions, if we would glorify God, we must aim to find Him more pleasing than anything else.” —John Piper
“The One who made and counted all the stars—who monitored every action of the Roman Empire and who keeps all the galaxies in the orbits—has His eye fixed on you. And, Jesus asks, ‘Are you not worth much more to Him?’” —David Wilkerson
“If we function according to our ability alone, we get the glory; if we function according to the power of the Spirit within us, God gets the glory.” —Henry Blackaby
Here’s a really simple true-false quiz for you. Anyone who has ever been in church should be able to handle this one simple question. Are you ready? Your one question is—True or False: The Bible contains the Word of God?
The answer is FALSE! The Bible doesn’t contain the Word of God, the Bible IS the Word of God.
It is inerrant = without error.
It is infallible = without mistake.
It is universally applicable regardless of age or culture.
The worldview which dominates today is usually one of pragmatism. That means people do what feels right to them in the moment, and then they determine the rightness or wrongness of their decision based on the outcome. In other words, if they like how things turned out they must have done something right, and if they don’t like the results then they must have done something wrong.
Christians, however, need to see the short-sightedness of this. The Apostle Peter shows the contrast between how accurate God’s Word is and how false teachers want to “exploit you with stories they have made up” (see 2 Peter 1:20-2:3), and how destruction is the end result for those with a pragmatic worldview.
It is by no means an easy thing for Christians to discipline themselves to have a consistent biblical worldview. It’s easy to simply reject something because it doesn’t appear to be “churchy” or receive something because it’s been done in the church for years. The hard work comes in this:
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King David wrote a coronation psalm for his son Solomon as he ascended the throne in Jerusalem. The opening words say, “Endow the king with Your justice, O God, the royal son with Your righteousness. He will judge Your people in righteousness, Your afflicted ones with justice” (Psalm 72:1-2).
David was calling on God’s blessing on his son, but He was also reminding Solomon that he couldn’t rule without God’s help. David’s singular focus was for God to receive all the glory. He closes the coronation psalm like this: “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, Who alone does marvelous deeds. Praise be to His glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen” (vv. 18-19).
Solomon started out well. “Solomon son of David established himself firmly over his kingdom, for the Lord his God was with him and made him exceedingly great” (2 Chronicles 1:1). Even when God gave Solomon the option to ask for anything, he choose wisdom “to govern this great people of Yours” (1 Kings 3:7-9).
David strongly impressed on Solomon that obedience to God was the key to God’s blessing on Solomon and on the nation of Israel. “So be strong, act like a man, and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in obedience to Him, and keep His decrees and commands, His laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go” (1 Kings 2:2-3).
But there is an ominous word that creeps in very early on in Solomon’s reign. Just one word that foreshadows the downfall that is to come—
Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the instructions given him by his father David, EXCEPT… (1 Kings 3:3).
As you’ve probably heard, Solomon’s many foreign wives began to lead him astray from “observing what the Lord your God requires” and eventually became his downfall. But it began right here with the EXCEPT.
It’s all or nothing.
I cannot pick and choose which words from God I’m going to follow and which I’m going to “except.” If God says I must do it, then I must do it!
The EXCEPT will lead to my downfall just as surely as it did for Solomon.
Heavenly Father, may I be so sensitive to the prompting of Your Holy Spirit if I’ve let any EXCEPTs creep into my life. Reveal them to me so that I may repent, show myself a man, and follow You wholeheartedly.
These are links to articles and quotes I found interesting today.
“Obedience brings a blessing on all the provisions which our industry earns for us. … If we live born hand to mouth, getting each day’s supply in the day, we are as well off as Israel; for when the Lord entertained His favored people He only gave them a day’s manna at a time. What more did they need? What more do we need? But if we have a store, how much we need the Lord to bless it! For there is the care of getting, the care of keeping, the care of managing, the care of using; and, unless the Lord bless it, these cares will eat into our hearts till our goods become our gods and our cares prove cankers. O Lord, bless our substance. Enable us to use it for Thy glory. Help us to keep worldly things in their proper places, and never may our savings endanger the saving of our souls.” —Charles Spurgeon
“You will never find Jesus so precious as when the world is one vast howling wilderness. Then He is like a rose blooming in the midst of desolation, a rock rising above the storm.” —Robert Murray McCheyne
On March 4, 1865, Abraham Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address. It is good to remember his words: “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.”
“If I would have my family ennobled, I must honor the Lord in all things. God may allow the wicked to win worldly honors; but the dignity which He Himself gives, even glory, honor, and immortality, He reserves for those who by holy obedience take care to honor Him.” —Charles Spurgeon
We have been working through our series on the Book of Ephesians, and I am so excited to share the speaking responsibilities with Tom Kaastra. Tom pastored a church in the Detroit area for nearly 40 years, and he is bringing such a richness of knowledge to this series!
“If you had one son in whom you found unspeakable delight, would it not be normal as a father to want many more? It is exactly so with the Eternal Father, Who by nature and choice, has desired and purposed to have a vast family of human-divine sons who are just like His Only Begotten Son.” —DeVern Fromke
The opening section of Ephesians 1 is just loaded with words of God’s delight:
What is this thing in which God is so delighted, and for which we should be so filled with praise?
It is quite simply this: God has revealed Himself to us as a loving Father, His Son has made it possible for us to come into God’s family, and the Holy Spirit has given us the assurance that we have been adopted by our Heavenly Father.
That’s right … God’s plan was to adopt you into His family. When did He come up with this idea?
God loves YOU so much that He had a plan frombefore the beginning of time to adopt YOU into His family. That’s what Jesus made possible through His death on the Cross, and what the Holy Spirit is constantly trying to reveal to YOU!! WOW!!
These are links to articles and quotes I found interesting today.
“Once we receive the revelation of God’s glory, we cannot continue in our old ways of treating others. That must all change.” —David Wilkerson
“Do we regularly think ‘WHAT’S RIGHT WITH IT?’ instead of ‘what’s wrong with it?’ Do our opinions, as naive as they may seem to be, lift the spirits of others and promote thankfulness, joy and love? Is this how we approach our relationships, our jobs and our church? Do we look for the negative and annoying? Will we drive away from service tomorrow saying, ‘I didn’t like that song’ … or, ‘I thought that message lacked substance’ … or, ‘_______ was really rude today’ … or … something else unkind or unnecessary? I’m guilty of negative opinions too… I’m not proud of this fact and I’m determined to see it radically change in 2014.” —Chilly Chilton
“No Christian and, indeed, no historian could accept the epigram which defines religion as ‘what a man does with his solitude.’ It was one of the Wesleys, I think, who said that the New Testament knows nothing of solitary religion.” —C.S. Lewis
God told the Levites, “I am giving you the service of the priesthood as a gift” (Numbers 18:7). So, pastor, a simple question: Does serving seem like a gift to you?
The service I get to do for God, and for my congregation, and for my city is a gift from God. May I never, ever feel it a burden, a task, or an obligation. It should always be a joy to serve!
In order to serve God and others in a manner that is God pleasing and God glorifying, I must keep fit spiritually, mentally, physically, and emotionally. “You must present as the Lord’s portion the best and holiest part of everything given to you” (Numbers 18:29).
A good prayer for pastors—
Search me, Holy Spirit, test my heart’s attitude on this: am I giving You the best and the holiest? Am I serving with joy or merely serving out of duty? You have given me this responsibility as a gift. May I accept this gift with overflowing joy!
This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Oswald Chambers. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Oswald” in the search box to read more entries.
The Purpose In Prayer
The battle in prayer is against two things in the earthlies: wandering thoughts, and lack of intimacy with God’s character in His Word.
…The effect of prayer on ourselves is the building up of our character in the understanding of the character of God, that is why we need patience in prayer.
From Christian Disciplines
God hears all of our prayers. Every single one. Yet sometimes we think He doesn’t hear or doesn’t love us because He doesn’t answer in the way or the timing we expected.
We must remember that prayer changes us. Prayer is drawing us into greater intimacy with our Father’s heart, just as Jesus prayed that we would be one with God as He is one with Him. Prayer is fashioning us into the people who can bring God glory on earth. Prayer is shaping our character.
Hang in there! Keep on praying, knowing that God does hear and He is doing something amazing through your prayer times.
