Today I have had some time to read back in many of my old journals. If you aren't a journaler, I would highly encourage it. I have found that journaling is a beautiful way to write out my thoughts and prayers to the Lord. I like to keep track of the things that He is teaching me each day and what He is doing in my life.
I have kept a journal since before high school, so I have quite a few. It has been interesting to see how much I have grown over the years and see what God was doing at particular times in my life.
I want to share a poem that I found in an entry at the end of 2003. I believe that my knowledge of God at the time was mainly head knowledge. I understood a lot of the Bible having been raised in a Christian home, as well as having attended 2 years of Bible college, but my heart wasn't yet completely His.
journal entry 12/28/03:
I can write on these pages so easily and freely. I can't talk to anyone this way. I don't know if I ever will.
I feel as if I'm just existing.
EXISTING AM I
Existing am I
Here on this earth
Knowing how little
My life has been worth
Not much was accomplished
As years have flown by
And that's just it
Existing am I
Only God can prove to me
Why I'm on earth
Only God can truly show
How much I am worth
He did in fact already
By sending His Son
That I could exist
May His will be done
At the time of writing this I can remember just being "stuck" in habitual sinful patterns and feeling depressed.
We are here on earth more than just to exist. It has taken me years to understand what this really means...and I am still learning every day. I thank God that there is more to life than merely "existing" or just surviving from one day to the next. I also thank Him for saving me and giving me eternal life. To think that Jesus Christ came to die that I might be saved truly does show me how much I am worth to God! Now, by His grace and with His strength, I am able (among many other things) to love Him, live for Him, serve Him, praise His name, and give Him glory!
The old has gone, the new has come.(2 Cor. 5:17)
"One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead."(Phil. 3:13b)
If you don't yet know Him,
come to Jesus Christ. He is everything and all you will ever need.
Today is the day of salvation!(2 Cor. 6:2)
"That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." Romans 10:9
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
Bless the LORD, O my soul!
The Lord used this Psalm to encourage my heart this morning. As you read it, think about what it means to you personally as you are reminded of what the Lord has done for you.
PSALM 103
A Psalm of David.
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul,
And forget none of His benefits;
3 Who pardons all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases;
4 Who redeems your life from the pit,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
5 Who satisfies your years with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.
6 The LORD performs righteous deeds
And judgments for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the sons of Israel.
8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.
9 He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.
12 As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
13 Just as a father has compassion on his children,
So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.
14 For He Himself knows our frame;
He is mindful that we are but dust.
15 As for man, his days are like grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
16 When the wind has passed over it, it is no more,
And its place acknowledges it no longer.
17 But the lovingkindness of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him,
And His righteousness to children’s children,
18 To those who keep His covenant
And remember His precepts to do them.
19 The LORD has established His throne in the heavens,
And His sovereignty rules over all.
20 Bless the LORD, you His angels,
Mighty in strength, who perform His word,
Obeying the voice of His word!
21 Bless the LORD, all you His hosts,
You who serve Him, doing His will.
22 Bless the LORD, all you works of His,
In all places of His dominion;
Bless the LORD, O my soul!
Verse 2 says to “forget none of His benefits.” The following verse begins with the “benefit” of His forgiveness of sins. I love how David starts out with this because forgiveness of sins is of greatest importance. If we had everything but God’s forgiveness, we would have nothing worthwhile. But if we DO have God’s forgiveness then everything else is promised (as we also find in Romans 8:32). All of these undeserved gifts are from the Lord and we see His character in verse 8 which we also find in Exodus 34, "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin…” It is especially beautiful to me to think of the Lord’s forgiveness. I love verse 10 which talks about how He hasn’t dealt with us according to our sins nor rewarded us according to our iniquity. He doesn’t give us what we actually deserve! As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us (vs 12). Thank you Father!
How sweet to think about God as our Father having compassion on His children (vs 13). He knows our frame, He knows we are but dust and that our days are like grass (vs 14,15). But His lovingkindness is from everlasting to everlasting (vs 17)! So for those of us who FEAR HIM it says that God’s lovingkindness is forever. He is sovereignly ruling from His throne on high(vs 19) and is faithful to all of His promises.
Oh Lord that I may fear You and tell of Your wondrous works. Thank You for such promises in Your Word. Bless the LORD, O my soul!
Thursday, April 8, 2010
What do we deserve?
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." Ephesians 1:3
I wanted to share something from Milton Vincent's book, "A Gospel Primer."
"A Gospel Primer" is a book that focuses 100% on the Gospel reminding us how we need to preach the Gospel to ourselves every day to be centered on what Christ has done for us that we may experience the life-transforming power that comes from the work of the Gospel in our own hearts as Christians.
We NEED to meditate on the Gospel and preach it to ourselves. We never outgrow our need for it! We cannot be strong in our own strength. The only strength that will be there when we need it is the strength that comes from the Gospel.
What I wanted to share here reminds us of what we actually deserve from God, and in remembering this we can only be grateful for what we do have even if it doesn't seem to be fair to us at the time. We are told to give thanks in all circumstances(1 Thess. 5:18), and how can we not when we are focusing on the Gospel and being reminded of what we actually deserve and would be receiving had it not been for God's love for us in sending Christ Jesus to die on the cross for us to bear upon Himself the wrath that we deserve.
Thank you Lord Jesus!
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with Him." 1 Thess. 5:9,10
"and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come." 1 Thess. 1:10
I pray that this encourages us all in the Lord as we face the difficulties and the blessings of our day.
"A Gospel Primer" by Milton Vincent
-Thankfulness Enriched by Relief
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 could 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 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 of 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!). Second, I am grateful for the blessings that are given 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 my peace of mind, and keeps my foot from the path of foolishness and ruin.
I wanted to share something from Milton Vincent's book, "A Gospel Primer."
"A Gospel Primer" is a book that focuses 100% on the Gospel reminding us how we need to preach the Gospel to ourselves every day to be centered on what Christ has done for us that we may experience the life-transforming power that comes from the work of the Gospel in our own hearts as Christians.
We NEED to meditate on the Gospel and preach it to ourselves. We never outgrow our need for it! We cannot be strong in our own strength. The only strength that will be there when we need it is the strength that comes from the Gospel.
What I wanted to share here reminds us of what we actually deserve from God, and in remembering this we can only be grateful for what we do have even if it doesn't seem to be fair to us at the time. We are told to give thanks in all circumstances(1 Thess. 5:18), and how can we not when we are focusing on the Gospel and being reminded of what we actually deserve and would be receiving had it not been for God's love for us in sending Christ Jesus to die on the cross for us to bear upon Himself the wrath that we deserve.
Thank you Lord Jesus!
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with Him." 1 Thess. 5:9,10
"and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come." 1 Thess. 1:10
I pray that this encourages us all in the Lord as we face the difficulties and the blessings of our day.
"A Gospel Primer" by Milton Vincent
-Thankfulness Enriched by Relief
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 could 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 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 of 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!). Second, I am grateful for the blessings that are given 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 my peace of mind, and keeps my foot from the path of foolishness and ruin.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
The mark of a Godly person
UNGODLINESS
In his book “Respectable Sins”, Jerry Bridges talks about how he believes that ungodliness is the root cause of our other sins.
I would like to share just some of what he speaks about in this particular chapter on “the sin of ungodliness” in his book.
He says that we’re all guilty to some degree of being ungodly.
As a Christian, we don’t normally think of ourselves as being ungodly.
Ungodliness describes an attitude towards God.
Ungodliness may be defined as living one’s everyday life with little or no thought of God, or God’s will, or of God’s glory, or of one’s dependence on God.
The sad fact is that many of us who are believers tend to live our daily lives with little or no thought of God. We may even read our Bibles and pray for a few minutes at the beginning of each day, but then we go out into the day’s activities and basically live as though God doesn’t exist. We seldom think of our dependence on God or our responsibility to Him. We might go for hours with little or no thought of God at all.
We make our plans without recognizing our utter dependence on God to carry them out. That is one expression of ungodliness.
All of life is to be lived out in the presence of God with an eye pleasing to Him.
Everything we do is to be done to the glory of God. That is the mark of a Godly person.
1 Cor. 10:31 “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
What, then, does it mean to do all to the glory of God? It means that I eat and drive and shop and engage in my social relationships with a twofold goal. First, I desire that all that I do be pleasing to God. I want God to be pleased with the way I go about ordinary activities of my day. So I pray prospectively over the day before me, asking that the Holy Spirit will so direct my thoughts, words, and actions that they will be pleasing to God. Second, to do all to the glory of God means that I desire that all my activities of an ordinary day will honor God before other people.
Matthew 5:16 “"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
If everyone you interact with in the course of an ordinary day knows that you trust in Christ as Savior and Lord, would your words and actions glorify God before them?
How far do we go in a positive direction to seek to glorify God before others? Do we consciously and prayerfully seek His glory in all we say and do in our most ordinary activities of the day? Or do we actually go about those activities with little or no thought of God?
For the Godly person, God is the center and focal point of his or her life. Every circumstance and every activity of life, whether in the temporal or spiritual realms, is viewed through the lens of this God-centeredness. However, such a God-centeredness can be developed only in the context of an ever-growing intimate relationship with God. No one can genuinely desire to please God or glorify Him apart from such a relationship.
1 Timothy 4:7b “…discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.”
Our goal in the pursuit of Godliness should be to grow more in our conscious awareness that every moment of our lives is lived in the presence of God; that we are responsible to Him and dependent on Him. This goal would include a growing desire to please Him and glorify Him in the most ordinary activities of life.
In his book “Respectable Sins”, Jerry Bridges talks about how he believes that ungodliness is the root cause of our other sins.
I would like to share just some of what he speaks about in this particular chapter on “the sin of ungodliness” in his book.
He says that we’re all guilty to some degree of being ungodly.
As a Christian, we don’t normally think of ourselves as being ungodly.
Ungodliness describes an attitude towards God.
Ungodliness may be defined as living one’s everyday life with little or no thought of God, or God’s will, or of God’s glory, or of one’s dependence on God.
The sad fact is that many of us who are believers tend to live our daily lives with little or no thought of God. We may even read our Bibles and pray for a few minutes at the beginning of each day, but then we go out into the day’s activities and basically live as though God doesn’t exist. We seldom think of our dependence on God or our responsibility to Him. We might go for hours with little or no thought of God at all.
We make our plans without recognizing our utter dependence on God to carry them out. That is one expression of ungodliness.
All of life is to be lived out in the presence of God with an eye pleasing to Him.
Everything we do is to be done to the glory of God. That is the mark of a Godly person.
1 Cor. 10:31 “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
What, then, does it mean to do all to the glory of God? It means that I eat and drive and shop and engage in my social relationships with a twofold goal. First, I desire that all that I do be pleasing to God. I want God to be pleased with the way I go about ordinary activities of my day. So I pray prospectively over the day before me, asking that the Holy Spirit will so direct my thoughts, words, and actions that they will be pleasing to God. Second, to do all to the glory of God means that I desire that all my activities of an ordinary day will honor God before other people.
Matthew 5:16 “"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
If everyone you interact with in the course of an ordinary day knows that you trust in Christ as Savior and Lord, would your words and actions glorify God before them?
How far do we go in a positive direction to seek to glorify God before others? Do we consciously and prayerfully seek His glory in all we say and do in our most ordinary activities of the day? Or do we actually go about those activities with little or no thought of God?
For the Godly person, God is the center and focal point of his or her life. Every circumstance and every activity of life, whether in the temporal or spiritual realms, is viewed through the lens of this God-centeredness. However, such a God-centeredness can be developed only in the context of an ever-growing intimate relationship with God. No one can genuinely desire to please God or glorify Him apart from such a relationship.
1 Timothy 4:7b “…discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.”
Our goal in the pursuit of Godliness should be to grow more in our conscious awareness that every moment of our lives is lived in the presence of God; that we are responsible to Him and dependent on Him. This goal would include a growing desire to please Him and glorify Him in the most ordinary activities of life.
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