"Not to care about truth is not to care about God. To love God passionately is to love truth passionately. Being God-centered in life means being truth-driven in ministry. What is not true is not of God. What is false is anti-God. Indifference to the truth is indifference to the mind of God. Pretense is rebellion against reality and what makes reality is God. Our concern with truth is simply an echo of our concern with God."
John Piper
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Thabiti Anyabwile On The Elephant Room
Thabiti Anyabwile writes an important post about the "Collateral Damage in the Invitation of T.D. Jakes to the Elephant Room". You can read the entire article here.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Discernment
"Discernment is not a matter of simply telling the difference between right and wrong; rather it is telling the difference between right and almost right."
C.H. Spurgeon
C.H. Spurgeon
Friday, January 27, 2012
A Fire That Fortifies Faith
"Suffering strengthens resolve and increases the value of Christ for those who, in response to the presence of the Spirit in their lives, genuinely trust God's love and power. Rather than destroying faith-induced hope, suffering spurs it on. It is the fire that fortifies faith, stripping away the illusion of the world's glamour and gold and unmasking our powerlessness to solve our own problems, or provide for our own security (Luke 12:16-21). Suffering therefore teaches us to esteem God's promises as our only hope."
Scott Hafemann - The God of Promise and the Life of Faith p. 151
Scott Hafemann - The God of Promise and the Life of Faith p. 151
Spurgeon Devotional - Morning, May 26
“Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee.”
Psalm 55:22
Care, even though exercised upon legitimate objects, if carried to excess, has in it the nature of sin. The precept to avoid anxious care is earnestly inculcated by our Saviour, again and again; it is reiterated by the apostles; and it is one which cannot be neglected without involving transgression: for the very essence of anxious care is the imagining that we are wiser than God, and the thrusting ourselves into his place to do for him that which he has undertaken to do for us. We attempt to think of that which we fancy he will forget; we labour to take upon ourselves our weary burden, as if he were unable or unwilling to take it for us. Now this disobedience to his plain precept, this unbelief in his Word, this presumption in intruding upon his province, is all sinful. Yet more than this, anxious care often leads to acts of sin. He who cannot calmly leave his affairs in God’s hand, but will carry his own burden, is very likely to be tempted to use wrong means to help himself. This sin leads to a forsaking of God as our counsellor, and resorting instead to human wisdom. This is going to the “broken cistern” instead of to the “fountain;” a sin which was laid against Israel of old. Anxiety makes us doubt God’s lovingkindness, and thus our love to him grows cold; we feel mistrust, and thus grieve the Spirit of God, so that our prayers become hindered, our consistent example marred, and our life one of self-seeking. Thus want of confidence in God leads us to wander far from him; but if through simple faith in his promise, we cast each burden as it comes upon him, and are “careful for nothing” because he undertakes to care for us, it will keep us close to him, and strengthen us against much temptation. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee.”
Psalm 55:22
Care, even though exercised upon legitimate objects, if carried to excess, has in it the nature of sin. The precept to avoid anxious care is earnestly inculcated by our Saviour, again and again; it is reiterated by the apostles; and it is one which cannot be neglected without involving transgression: for the very essence of anxious care is the imagining that we are wiser than God, and the thrusting ourselves into his place to do for him that which he has undertaken to do for us. We attempt to think of that which we fancy he will forget; we labour to take upon ourselves our weary burden, as if he were unable or unwilling to take it for us. Now this disobedience to his plain precept, this unbelief in his Word, this presumption in intruding upon his province, is all sinful. Yet more than this, anxious care often leads to acts of sin. He who cannot calmly leave his affairs in God’s hand, but will carry his own burden, is very likely to be tempted to use wrong means to help himself. This sin leads to a forsaking of God as our counsellor, and resorting instead to human wisdom. This is going to the “broken cistern” instead of to the “fountain;” a sin which was laid against Israel of old. Anxiety makes us doubt God’s lovingkindness, and thus our love to him grows cold; we feel mistrust, and thus grieve the Spirit of God, so that our prayers become hindered, our consistent example marred, and our life one of self-seeking. Thus want of confidence in God leads us to wander far from him; but if through simple faith in his promise, we cast each burden as it comes upon him, and are “careful for nothing” because he undertakes to care for us, it will keep us close to him, and strengthen us against much temptation. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee.”
Monday, January 23, 2012
Psalm 91
My Refuge and My Fortress
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say[a] to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
5 You will not fear the terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only look with your eyes
and see the recompense of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place—
the Most High, who is my refuge[b]—
10 no evil shall be allowed to befall you,
no plague come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
12 On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the adder;
the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.
14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
I will protect him, because he knows my name.
15 When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say[a] to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
5 You will not fear the terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only look with your eyes
and see the recompense of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place—
the Most High, who is my refuge[b]—
10 no evil shall be allowed to befall you,
no plague come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
12 On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the adder;
the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.
14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
I will protect him, because he knows my name.
15 When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Sanctification
What is meant by the expression, being sanctified? The essential part of sanctification means being set apart for holy uses. That which was meant to be used for God alone was sanctified, set apart, regarded as holy. The vessels of the sanctuary were sanctified when they were used only by the priests in the service of God. Of course; there arose out of this fact, which is the essence of sanctification, the further quality of purity, for that which is dedicated to God must be pure, that which is reserved for his service must not be defiled, it must be clean. We cannot imagine the holy God using unholy vessels in his sanctuary; so that sanctification comes to
mean purification, the making of that to be holy which was first of all set apart for holy uses. Holiness of character follows upon holiness of design. First are we set apart for God’s use, and then afterwards we are made pure that we may be fit for God’s use.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Sunday, January 08, 2012
God Is In Control Of Our Trials
"Paul and James both say that we should rejoice in our trials because of their beneficial results. It is not the adversity considered in itself that is to be the ground of our joy. Rather, it is the expectation of the results, the development of our character that should cause us to rejoice in adversity. God does not ask us to rejoice because we have lost our job, or a loved one has been stricken with cancer, or a child has been born with an incurable birth defect. But He does tell us to rejoice because we believe He is in control of those circumstances and is at work through them for our ultimate good."
Jerry Bridges - Trusting God, p. 175.
Jerry Bridges - Trusting God, p. 175.
Saturday, January 07, 2012
Friday, January 06, 2012
Thursday, January 05, 2012
Tuesday, January 03, 2012
Believing What God Says To Us
From Do You Understand What You Are Reading?:
It's the first post of the new year. Here we go again and this year many of us are on the journey together to read through the Bible this year. Reading three or four chapters a day, six days a week, equals too many details for me to discuss. So, I'll try to comment on some big-picture issues in the chapters. For instance, in Genesis the phrase, "God said," occurs 30 times, about half of them in Genesis 1-3 (10 of them in chapter 1). Then, after seeing the King's speech create all of life, including ours, it is God's speech that is questioned and ultimately rejected in favor of another speech--that of the Serpent. That's basically the drama being played out in our lives every single day. Whose speech will you honor as reality this year?
It's the first post of the new year. Here we go again and this year many of us are on the journey together to read through the Bible this year. Reading three or four chapters a day, six days a week, equals too many details for me to discuss. So, I'll try to comment on some big-picture issues in the chapters. For instance, in Genesis the phrase, "God said," occurs 30 times, about half of them in Genesis 1-3 (10 of them in chapter 1). Then, after seeing the King's speech create all of life, including ours, it is God's speech that is questioned and ultimately rejected in favor of another speech--that of the Serpent. That's basically the drama being played out in our lives every single day. Whose speech will you honor as reality this year?
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