Hungry, Day One (Ps. 18.29-30)

The Psalm reads:

29 For by you I can run against a troop,
and by my God I can leap over a wall.
30 This God—his way is perfect;
the word of the Lord proves true;
he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.

Our calling in life is different from David's.  He was God's chosen King who fight God's enemies and lead God's people theocratically.  He used a real sword and fought real people and ruled a real nation under the explicit rule of God.  Most importantly, David prefigured the REAL KING, David's biological descendant who is also the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

And yet David's Psalm is for us.  It is for you.  And though we better not be using any weapons for the Kingdom of God, there are real battles we fight and enemies to face.  Our own sin is against us (Romans 8.13).  The devil and his minions are against us (1 Peter 5.8).  There are people and circumstances that bring serious challenge (2 Timothy 4.13-18).  What's more, the responsibilities of our life's calling God has given to us can be overwhelming (2 Timothy 2.1-7).

The amazing reality is that through faith in Jesus Christ, with David we can whisper, "With God I can do it.  I can chase the enemy.  I can jump the obstacle."  Listen: God enables that which He calls.  If He calls you to something, He will enable you to do it if you will trust in and rely upon Him.  

Lock and load with these 3 truths:

1. "His ways are perfect."  God has you where you are and who you are.  He's not surprised.  He knows.  It's on purpose - for your joy and His glory.  So you can hope and take courage from Him.

2. "His Word proves true."  God will keep His Word.  Always.  Perfectly.  Completely.  And all of His promises are "Yes" to those who are in Jesus (2 Corinthians 1.20).  Know His promises for you and rely upon them.  Cling to them.  Live by them.  He will keep them.

3. "He is a shield for those who take refuge in Him."  Hide in Him (trust His promises) and He is a shield.  A shield from His wrath - you are saved through Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. A shield from your sin - you have been forgiven and are being changed.  (2 Corinthians 5.17).  A shield from the evil of the world - all things are for your good, nothing can separate you from His love, (Romans 8.28 - end) and there is no one to fear (Psalm 118.6).

His ways are perfect, His Word is true, and He is a shield for those who take refuge in Him.  Hide in Him and be courageous and confident in the truth that God enables that which He calls.  Properly understood, our enemy will be routed, our obstacles overcome, and our victory won.

Quality Rather Than Quantity

Here's an excerpt from a Tozer daily devotional sent to me from a great friend:

Failure and Success: Quantity Rather Than Quality

But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts. For neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak for covetousness - God is witness. -1 Thessalonians 2:4-5

Time may show that one of the greatest weaknesses in our modern civilization has been the acceptance of quantity rather than quality as the goal after which to strive....

Christianity is resting under the blight of degraded values. And it all stems from a too-eager desire to impress, to gain fleeting attention, to appear well in comparison with some world-beater who happens for the time to have the ear or the eye of the public.

This is so foreign to the Scriptures that we wonder how Bible-loving Christians can be deceived by it. The Word of God ignores size and quantity and lays all its stress upon quality. Christ, more than any other man, was followed by the crowds, yet after giving them such help as they were able to receive, He quietly turned from them and deposited His enduring truths in the
breasts of His chosen 12....

Pastors and churches in our hectic times are harassed by the temptation to seek size at any cost and to secure by inflation what they cannot gain by legitimate growth. The mixed multitude cries for quantity and will not forgive a minister who insists upon solid values and permanence. Many a man of God is being subjected to cruel pressure by the ill-taught members of his flock who scorn his slow methods and demand quick results and a popular
following regardless of quality.

"Lord, I'm concerned this morning for pastors who are huge successes in Your eyes-because of their faithful, quality-oriented service-but who see themselves as failures because the 'quantity' doesn't seem to come. Open our eyes, Lord, to evaluate our success or failure by Your standards, and be encouraged. Amen."

"Pastors, Pragmatism, Pleasure, and Pride"

Timely instruction from Pastor John.

He writes in part:

"Pray for us concerning these three P’s: The idolatry of pragmatism that ruins the church; the pleasure in unrighteousness that refuses to love the truth; and the pride of being strong that leads to destruction."

Football Season is Coming...

And that is why it is so important that we remember the eternal importance of our "affections."

Sam Storms, in Signs of the Spirit; An Interpretation of Jonathan Edwards' 'Religious Affections' proclaims,

"...how common it is among men 'that their affections are much more exercised and engaged in other matters, that in [Christ]! In things which concern men's worldly interest, their outward delights, their honor and reputation, and their natural relations, they have their desires eager, their appetites vehement, their love warm and affectionate, their zeal ardent; in these things their hearts are tender and sensible, easily moved, deeply impressed, much concerned, very sensibly affected, and greatly engaged; much depressed with grief at worldly losses, and highly raised with joy at worldly successes and prosperity.

But how insensible and unmoved are most men, about the great things of another world! How dull are their affections! How heavy and hard their hearts in these matters! Here their love is cold, their desires languid, their zeal low, and their gratitude small."

May the Spirit move, may we repent, may God forgive, and may we 'hunger and first for righteousness that we might be filled'! And may we have infinitely more zeal for Jesus than we do for football...

Exhortation

When you love someone you want the best for them. When you love someone, you also fear the worst happening and fight to protect them. So what's the worst? It isn't car wrecks or cancer.

The worst that could happen is that the sinful desires which, as Peter wrote, “wage war against our souls” (1 Peter 2.11) would win that war against our souls. The worst thing ever would be that grace would no longer sound amazing to us, that we would no longer “tremble at God’s word” (Isaiah 66.2), and that Jesus Christ would no longer look beautiful and glorious. The worst that could happen would be that we would lose our faith in Jesus Christ and be satisfied instead with the things of this world.

We have an enemy. It wants to claim our lives and destroy us. And by the way, our ultimate enemy is NOT Satan. The worst thing Satan can do to us is influence us to sin. Our worst enemy resides within us: it is our sinful desires. It is our tendency towards pride, insecurity, distrust of God, selfishness, greed, covetousness, lust, gossip, and the allurements of the world.

Our great battle, our great calling, our great goal, and our great purpose is to fight sin. As Paul insists in Romans 8.13, “…if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Therefore we are mercifully commanded in Colossians 3.5 to, “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” This is the truth about Christians: “…those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 5.24)

The author of the book of Hebrews lovingly reminds us, “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.” (Hebrews 3.12)

He’s warning us! He’s warning us about being content and thinking that we have our sin under control! He’s warning us that we could fall away from God unless we take care; take action, work, fight our sin! As the great theologian John Owen wrote, “We must be about the business of killing sin, or sin will be killing us.”

It is here that you might answer, “But I thought that Christians can’t lose their salvation!”
And you’re right – they can’t. Romans 8.30 insists, “And those whom [God] predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”

Salvation is sure for God’s people from start to finish.

We then ask, “Then why these texts warning us about losing our salvation?” That is a great question – why did God include passages of warning for His people if their salvation is sure? Here is the answer – God’s salvation is not a mathematical equation or a computer program. God’s salvation involves the changed hearts, desires, and lifestyles of real people. God’s salvation involves hearts that are changed to love Him and obey Him and fight against the sin that motivate them to do otherwise. Therein, passages of warning are mercifully included in Scripture because those whose hearts God has changed will respond to them. God’s people, the chosen and the saved, will be moved by such passages of warning to repent of their, to fight sin, and turn to the cross. Passages of warning are a gift from above. They keep us from being lazy and comfortable when we are called to fight.

So how do we fight our sin? Scripture speaks of many ways. But the author of Hebrews has something specific in mind. In verse 13 of chapter 3, immediately following his gracious warning, he writes, “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

This is big. Instead of falling away from our God, we are to exhort one another on a regular basis. To exhort is to “strongly encourage or urge someone to do something.” God is telling us here that an antidote to sin is regular encouragement and urging from other Christians. We see again just how deeply we need one another. In a way, our salvation depends upon our deep involvement in one another’s lives.

Why do we need one another in the fight against sin? We saw it the answer in verse 13. The answer is that sin is deceitful. Our sin lies – it looks good, but isn’t. It looks contained, but rumbles beneath the surface. It is like quicksand; the ground looks fine but sucks you down to your death. We need others because sin is like the ketchup smeared all over your chin. You think you look good out there on the town, but the rest of us know better. We need one another because sin is deceitful. We can’t see it on our own because our sin deceives us. We need others to exhort us, and we need to rightly exhort others. As the Psalmist wrote in 141.5, “Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness; let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head; let my head not refuse it.”

Let's love one another and protect one another. That means fighting sin. That means exhorting others, and it means being exhorted.

Choose To Be a Calvinist

Evidently a radio host recently rebuked a Calvinist by asking, "Can't you choose between Burger King and McDonald's"? The caller apparently was rebuffed because, of course, he was indeed able to choose which fast food chain to enjoy. And for that show, as I heard it, the debate was over.

This kind of thing is so ridiculous and simplistic as to leave me hot and bothered. I'd like to ask the host: "Can you choose to purchase a mini-van for your family that explodes in flames if it goes over 25 mph?" That man will not buy that van. And why not? It is not because he doesn't have the faculty or responsibility of choice. He does. Rather, he cannot choose to buy the family inferno because he does not want to. He loves his family and wants to keep them safe.

Desires determine choice. You choose what you want with every choice every time. I'd love to hear someone prove that assertion wrong. Now, of course, your options in every choice are limited. For instance, you cannot choose to have a condo on Mars, no matter how bad you want it. Only God has this kind of "free will." (Psalm 115.3) But for us there are only so many realistic options in every choice we make. That can make things quite painful at times. But even when the options are bad and worse, the "chooser" will choose the option he most prefers every single time. Desires determine choice.

That's why the Calvinist, with the apostle Paul as I understand him, insists upon the truth that those in the sinful nature cannot choose Christ without the powerful, irresistible, gracious act of God in changing their core desires. When we say the sinner cannot choose Christ it is not because he has not the faculty of choice. O, he does. He chooses against Christ in every moment. The problem is not the ability of making decisions.

The problem is the desires. As the apostle proclaims, "Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires." (Romans 8.5, NIV) And in verse 7, "the sinful mind is hostile to God." The unbeliever has evil desires and is hostile to God. Against God. Rebellious. Therefore, because of his evil desires, his nature "...does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God." (verses 7-8; emphasis mine)

"Without faith it is impossible to please God." (Hebrews 11.6)

"Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God."

Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot have faith in Christ. Not because they can't have faith - they do all the time! They worship sex, status, money, themselves, whatever. But they cannot have faith in Christ because they do not want to! They do not love Him or find Him desirable. The relationship is hostile.

This is so important ultimately because the conclusions on the matter will determine whose glory and praise will echo for all eternity. For if faith is yours, you can boast in something. But if faith is a gift, the song sounds like this:

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2.8-9 NIV)

So choose to be a Calvinist, and give God the glory He deserves!

The All-Important Glory of Jesus

Andrew Murray, in The Holiest of All, writes

"[Jesus] is the outshining of God’s glory, and the express image of His substance. As we only know the sun by the light that shines from it, so is Christ the outshining, the revelation of God’s glory. As the light that shines from the sun is of the same nature with it, so the Son is of one nature with the Father – God of God. And as a son bears the likeness of his father, because he has his life and nature from him, so the Son of God is the express image of His substance. He is of one substance with the Father – its express image – and hath therefore life in Himself, even as the Father hath life in Himself.

Someone may be tempted to think that these are theological mysteries too deep for the ordinary Christian, and not needful for our Christian faith and life. And they are inclined to ask, of what importance it can be to a simple believer to know all this? My brother, think not thus. It is all important that we know the glory of Jesus. The more the soul is filled with that glory, and worships Him in it, the more it will see with what confidence it can count upon Him to do a divine and supernatural work in us, and to lead us to an actual living fellowship with God as our Father."

The Terrible Temptions of Lost Hearts

I'd wager that anyone who ever tackled a big, important job was at some point seriously inclined to give up and quit. To lose heart. Losing heart is when difficulty brings discouragement. Losing heart is when conflict and/ or suffering in all it's variety drives you towards despair. Losing heart is when confrontation or an apparent lack of success makes you want to quit.

I have felt it. My heart has been hard to find at times. And my heart has taken great courage in those moments from realizing that the Apostle Paul himself was seriously inclined to lose heart (you see a good picture of his experience in 2 Corinthians 4).

One of the scary parts of losing heart is the temptations that come when one is feeling low. The apostle confesses this in verse 2: He has been tempted to do something very deceitful and underhanded. What is the great evil that has looked good when he is in danger of losing heart?

Tampering with God's Word.

Yes, when one is facing hostility or a lack of success, it is tempting to tamper with Scripture. It becomes easy to mess with the message. Paul is facing hostility: people want to kill him for his message. Paul is facing an apparent lack of success: many, especially his own ethnic people whom he loves so dearly, are violently rejecting his message. How easy it would be to change the message just a little here and there! How simple it would be to soften this or just ignore that! Maybe then people would be less angry. Maybe he would be better liked. Maybe more would believe a softer, kinder gospel!

But, thanks be to God, Paul refused that temptation. He insisted upon "an open statement of the truth." And the gospel we have in his writings is the real one.

O, I know that temptation when my heart is tired. And I have heard and read the voices of "advice." "Don't talk about the wrath of God." "Don't proclaim the sovereignty of God." "Don't describe substitutionary atonement." "Don't insist on the exclusivity of salvation found only in Jesus Christ."

Like Paul, I want to refuse this kind of tampering with the text of Scripture. I want to proclaim the truth openly! And here's the good news!

- The problem is not Scripture or it's proclamation. It's that people are blinded and cannot see the "light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2 Cor. 4.4)."

- The fix to the problem does not ultimately depend on me. Only God can cause light to shine in hearts; but He is able and will certainly call His people to Himself! (verse 6).

So we proclaim not ourselves, but Christ (verse 5). He is the eternal glory and reward. Being faithful to Him is worth conflict, and knowing Him and bringing Him glory is the ultimate success.

2 Corinthians 4.16-18:

"16So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. 17For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." (ESV)

Beating Addiction

I can't say that I know experientially how to beat an addiction. I don't have any chemical addictions (excepting perhaps caffeine - and I have no plans at this point to fight that one).

However, I do have some experience with something that looks very much like addiction. In fact, it may be the ultimate addiction: I have been addicted to sin.

I am continually bombarded with lusts and desires. I know they are wicked and terrible and bring nothing but death and destruction, but nonetheless I desire them and many times act upon those desires. My friends, this is part of the Christian experience (1 Peter 2.9-12, Romans 7.7-25).

"Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly (Proverbs 26.11)." Such is the experience of the sinner and the addict. In fact, it is an addiction to sin that brings addiction to chemicals, sex, gambling, or whatever else. So how is it beaten?

1. Core desires are changed.

This is what happens at conversion - I am freed from sin and freed to be satisfied in something greater than anything else: Jesus Christ. He is glory, and He is joy (2 Cor. 4.3-6, Psalm 16.11). It is here that the ultimate power of the addiction to sin is broken.

I am told by my friend, a past addict, that something like this happened for him in regard to drugs. The temptation still came around, but by the grace of God, the powerful hold broke, and his core desires were changed.

It is key to realize that a desire like this needs to be replaced with something else. And Jesus is the ultimate replacement. In the light of His glory, all others fade.

2. Practical steps are taken to ensure, as much as possible, that incoming temptations are defeated. This includes:

A. Removal from tempting circumstances and people.

The recovering alcoholic should never be at the corner bar with his drinking buddies. This is part of the reason rehab programs take people out of their normal surroundings. The addict isn't prepared to handle it.

B. Strong accountability from trusted sources.

Those fighting sin and addiction need to be known and confess their sins and habits to those who will confront them, support them, and help them reach a higher standard. We cannot do this alone.

C. Serious prayer and word. Our lives are transformed by the mercy of God through the renewal of our minds (Romans 12.1-2). We are in desperate need of the Spirit of God changing us through His Word. He can and will do it for His people.

Pray for core desire change. Pray for a renewed mind. And take practical steps to make it happen. I don't mean to pretend this is quick, simple, and easy. It isn't. But by God's grace, it is possible.

"I Love Jesus Christ"

The following is from the June 29 Desiring God Blog

(Author: John Piper)

“Lord, you know that I love you.” John 21:15

In the fall of 1968, James Morgan, my professor of theology at Fuller Seminary, who died of stomach cancer the next year, looked me in the eye during a heated debate after class and said, “John, I love Jesus Christ!”

I have never forgotten that testimony. It was one of the most powerful words ever spoken to me.

When was the last time you ever said to anyone—your spouse, your child, your friend, your colleague—“I love Jesus Christ”? May I urge you to do that? What if 10,000 Christians in Minneapolis (or pick your town) said to someone today with eye-to-eye earnestness, “I love Jesus Christ”? This would be a tidal wave of truth and power.

Why would this be so significant? The reason is not because saying you love Jesus makes him true. The reason is that when we are not saying we love him we create the atmosphere one would expect if he is not true. Or to put it positively, when believers are saying with humble joy, “I love Jesus Christ,” they are creating the atmosphere one would expect if Jesus is true.

The function of a testimony about our love for Jesus is not to prove that he is true, but to remove the unhelpful impression that he is not true and not loved.

Let your love be spoken today. Think on what he has done for you. If you were discussing with a neighbor your uncle Joe who gave you one of his kidneys and died a few weeks later because his remaining kidney failed, you would say with tears of joy, “I love my uncle Joe. O how I love uncle Joe.”

May I testify simply today: I love Jesus Christ.

When Anger Is A Mirror

We’ve all had times of being angry. Sometimes the anger rises high in a torrent of rage. Sometimes it is slow-burning; a deep, but hot fire that remains unquenched. So, what’s going on inside when we’re angry?

See what you think about this – anger occurs when something we love is lost, trampled, or diminished. Anger starts with harm to something we love. If we don’t care about the Tampa Bay Devil Rays it won’t bother us much when they lose. O, but when the Red Sox go down, that is painful.

In the same way, hearing about a thievery in a city far away may give you pause, but coming home and finding the house swept clean will cause an explosion of anger. Why? Because you are, obviously, much more in love with your stuff than you are the stuff far away.

Anger starts with harm to something we love. And the intensity of our anger will depend on the measure of our passion for the thing harmed. Break my lamp, no big deal. Hurt my kid, and I’m (rightfully) upset.

Now we can see why some anger is good (righteous) while some isn’t. You love your spouse, and you should be angry if someone tries to harm them. It is good and right to have a high love for your spouse. Jesus’ anger is the ultimate example (John 2.13-17). He was enraged by those who trampled His Father’s glory in the misuse of the temple. Jesus loved the right thing in the right way (the glory of God above all else) and had rightful rage at its demeaning.

It is here that I see the wickedness of my own heart. I can be outraged at someone’s driving or a comment made about me – and it shows me what I love. I love my ego way too much. Moreover, I can see God’s glory and Word trampled in the hearts of people and culture and not care in the least. This shows a lack of love both for God and His glory and a lack of love for others. I love what I shouldn't, don't love what I should, and love many things improperly.

So have a look in the mirror of your anger. What makes you mad? The answer will show you what you love most. Is your consuming passion the glory of God and the welfare of others? Or do you, like me, have a love affair with self and sin?

May God transform our hearts to love the right things in the right way – culminating in a passionate love for God Himself.

Justification By Faith For Marriage

Marriage conversations often resemble a battlefield better than an embrace. The guns are on automatic while each side recounts the great evils the other has committed. No doubt, the shots ring true as each side has sinned against the other grievously. The pain is real; the sin obvious. Each side plants their flag and declares, “I’m not moving until you…(fill in the blank).” In other words, “I’ll change when he changes.” Of course, in this situation, change rarely occurs, except change for the worse.

It is deeply true that our spouses are often undeserving of us treating them well. The thing is, for the Christian, it’s irrelevant. What do I mean?

One of the most precious truths in the world is that of justification by faith. We are declared by God Almighty to be “Righteous! Justified! Perfect in His sight!” by faith in Jesus Christ. How can this be? Through the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, our sins are forgiven and His perfection is accounted to us. We are perfectly righteous in Him. As 2 Corinthians 5.21 proclaims, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Here’s the fabulous realization: In Christ God treats us as if we are perfect – even though we aren’t. What does this mean for marriage?

Everything.

In Ephesians 5 husbands are told to love their wives as Christ loves the church. A husband is to cherish and cultivate his wife as he does his own body. Likewise, a wife is to told to submit to and respect her husband as Christ does the church. These are high callings!

And what about when your husband seems incredibly unrespectable? What about the times when a wife seems unlovable? What then? It is here that justification by faith works its power. We are called to treat our spouse in accordance with how God has treated us and not what they deserve. After all, God has not treated us as we deserve, but as Christ deserves.

When the Christian couple puts the grace of justification by faith into practice in their marriage, everything begins to change. The wife is loved, served, and cherished unconditionally because of God’s grace to the husband. The husband is supported and honored unconditionally because of God’s grace to the wife. God willing, peace, intimacy, and joy begin to sprout in the marriage, and, most importantly, the gospel is glorified.

May the grace of justification by faith transform our marriages, and may our marriages reflect the grace of God to the glory of God.