A Great Devotional!

I have been using "For the Love of God" by DA Carson in my morning devotionals for some time. It is a devotional commentary that follows the Robert Murray M'Cheyne bible reading plan. It is a fantastic way to let the word of God abide in you. I recommend the two-year plan that follows two of the four readings per day. If you are ambitious try the four readings a day plan.

Check out this excerpt from today's commentary on Ezekiel 14:

"To set up idols in the heart is to seperate oneself from the living God (14:7). ... That danger is no less treacherous today than in Ezekiel's time. Somehow we manage to adhere to our creedal profession, but if anything goes wrong our undisciplined rage shows tha we maintain little real trust in the living God; our secret idol is comfort and physical well-being. We attend church, but rarely do we pray in private or thoughfully read the Word of God. We sing lustily at missionary conventions, but have not shared the Gospel with anyone for years. And deep down we are more interested in our reputation, or in sex, or in holidays, than we are in basking in the awesome radiance and majesty of God. Meditate on 14:8, and ask for forgiveness adn grace to become more consistent."

Wow! This meditation convicted me and caused me to run to Christ for forgiveness and fresh power to love Him first.

I think you will find many other insights to spur you on in this excellent devotional commentary. If you are interested read the excerpt below from the Christway Media site and subscribe to or purchase "For the Love of God".

Enjoy!

Now more than ever, the need to read the Bible, to understand the big picture of its storyline, and to grasp the relevance this has for your life is critical. Join with us as we follow Donald Carson's Bible-reading plan one day at a time though email. (We hope you'll be enticed to purchase the two volumes.)

"For the Love of God" Used by permission of the publisher, Crossway Books, a division of Good New Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187.

To subscribe send an empty email to: christwaymedia-join@associate.com

Desperate for Grace

Another good one from Jeff:

There is enough within your soul, O Christian, though you are one of the best of saints, to destroy you in an hour unless the grace of God guards you and keeps your passions in check, and prevents your stubborn will from asserting its own rebellious determinations.

Taken from the book God Loves You by Charles Spurgeon 1834-1892

Grieving the Holy Spirit and GameCube

I was reviewing my notes from Communion with God and came across this quote:

“We can also grieve the Holy Spirit in his work as Comforter. As Comforter, the Spirit seals us, anoints us, establishes us and gives us peace and joy. We grieve the Holy Spirit, firstly by placing our comforts and joys in other things and not being filled with joy in the Holy Spirit.” John Owen¹

I was challenged to consider how I recreate and relax and whether some of my pursuits may grieve the Spirit, not because they are high-handed sin, but because I pursue them apart from fellowship with the Spirit. The extra time on GameCube last night didn't seem to be fellowship with God but trying to get to the next level in the game. Oh God, help me to always walk close to you in all things - even GameCube!

May you know joyful fellowship with the Holy Spirit in all your pursuits today!

God Bless,
Paul




1. John Owen, Communion with God, The Banner of Truth Trust, 1991, p. 114

The Flaw of the Excluded Middle

    I have been recently reading a book given to me by a friend on evangelism. In it the author points to an article by the late missiologist Paul Hiebert entitled “The Flaw of the Excluded Middle”. The article is about how people live life at three levels.

    The bottom level involves those aspects of life directly encountered with the senses. At this level we plant and harvest crops, build homes, take out the garbage, fix broken stuff and other seemingly simple things.

    The top level deals with those things which are beyond what the mere senses can grasp, the things that are transcendant such as the meaning of life, destiny, true beauty and the infinite nature of God.

    The middle level is that between the bottom and the top where we deal with more immediate yet still profound questions to do with the past, the present and the near future. Things like accidents, tragedies, serendipitous discoveries and unexpected turns of events occupy the middle and it is here that much of life is interpreted and experienced.

    Many people experience their Christianity in the top level but not in the middle or bottom level. Heibert himself found this to be a challenge in his work in missions in India. He found that professing believers would often turn to shamans and luck charms when it came to dealing with life in "the excluded middle." I have found it a challenge at times in my own life to experience God in "the excluded middle." "Can I really trust God to provide for my children's college education?" "Will I be able to perform well in my vocation over the long haul?" "Will I have to endure this arthritic knee and locking shoulder for the rest of my life?" "Why do I feel depressed in the morning so often and how can I change?" Do you identify? I don't think I'm alone.

    Yet, the testimony of scripture is that God is present in the bottom, the top and the middle and calls us to invite him to bring the experience of salvation and the truth of the gospel into every level of life. His word is replete with this invitation both implicitly and explicitly.

Psalm 139 says,
“ ⁸ If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
⁹ If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
¹² even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.”

And Mt. 28:20 - “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age!” .

And the cry of the Seraphim in Isaiah 6:3 -
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
(note - the whole earth, not just the transcendent!)

    So much of the exhortations in scripture that flow from the context of the grace of God have all three tiers in mind. Take a look at Ephesians and watch how Paul masterfully blends the transcendent with the seemingly mundane and everything in between. The celebration of the glorious grace of God, his eternal decree in election and the revealing of his great mystery in Christ flows into the call to practically love and enjoy our church, our families, our spouse, our employees in every aspect of life. All of life is to be worship and the experience of God.

    I have found two things to be very helpful in this – remembering the gospel & prayer. In every situation and challenge I am learning to ask “What does the gospel say about this?” "Do I need to apply the forgiveness purchased by Christ's atonement?" "Is their a promise inherent in the gospel that I must cling to?" "Is their a truth about God and myself from the gospel which I must understand?" There are a number of these sort of “gospel questions” we can ask. I recommend Mike Bullmore’s article and teaching entitled, “Applying the Gospel to All of Life” to get a more complete picture of this.

    And the other thing is prayer – learning to take all things – whether issues at the bottom, middle or top of life and bringing them before our ever near God in prayer, crying out to him and depending on him, seeking his presence. As I have been able to do these two practices, with the help of the Holy Spirit and those around me, I have been able to avoid living life without God in the normally, “excluded middle.”

Hope this helps!

God Bless,
Paul

The Core of Contentment and the Secret of Sanctification

Have you ever been in a funk? Do you know what I mean - one of those periods of inexplicable discontent, despair and confusion? I recently found myself in such a state - once again. I had been aware of a number of things around me that weren't going the way I wanted - a $6,000 tuition bill, a broken furnace, not enough money for Christmas gifts, various overwhelming parenting challenges and some household maintenance we couldn't afford. - I found myself in a "funk".

My rotten attitude reached a peak when I was trying to pull out of the local gas station in our 6000 lb. Chevy Conversion van. Despite the well known Boston-driving maneuver of pulling halfway out into traffic, no one was letting me in. When I finally saw some daylight I gave the 5.7 liter engine all the gas we had and laid rubber as I fish-tailed my way into traffic - more out of frustration and sin than necessity. I knew my attitude was poor but I felt trapped in my funk.

After praying, reading the word and journaling in a desperate but confused effort to get out of my self-made mire, I got alone with God and cried out for help. The answer came not so much in a clear statement but in a fresh impression and reminder of what life in Christ is all about - my death, his life. And when I remembered this fundamental gospel message, it seemed that all my problems and unfulfilled desires miraculously turned from temptations to sin into opportunities to trust, enjoy and honor Christ - death to my selfish cravings and empty pride and life in Him and for Him by faith - I could feel the funk lifting!

Then the thought came to me - isn't this the very core of my contentment and the secret of my sanctification - my death, his life. Isn't this what the gospel is all about - my death, his life? Isn't this what maturity in Christ all about - my death, his life? Isn't this to be my joy and glory - my death, his life? I no longer dreaded my undesirable circumstances but was now trusting Christ to use them as he was pleased, even working death for me (that is my sinful self) but life in Him - death to my sinful demands but life in Him and His glory shining through his sovereign plan. I found myself content in Him and a good bit more pleasant!

I memorized two verses very early in my Christian life. They are sort of my life verses - in theory at least - and they well describe what I am talking about. Listen to God's word -

"I have been crucified in Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Gal. 2:20 (ESV) - and

"For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this; that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised." 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 (ESV)

God freed me from my funk by a simple yet powerful reapplication of gospel truth. Thank God!! All our trials turn from despair to joy when the truth of the gospel applied to our life reorients our world from self to Christ. May you find life and freedom from your funk through the wonderfully good news of the gospel! May the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ be the worst news for your pride and selfishness but the very best news for your joy and life in Christ!

God Bless - Paul