Pureness of Heart

“Purity must not only be woven into the heart, but engraved upon the life ! Grace is most beautiful when it shines abroad with its golden beams. The clock has not only its motion within, but the hand moves outside upon the dial. Just so, pureness of heart shows itself upon the dial of the life.”

- Thomas Watson (1620-1686)

Different ?

“Too many Christian people today have been very anxious that everybody recognize they are as different as chalk from cheese in matters of doctrine, but they apparently are eager to impress upon the world that they are not a bit different in matters of practice.”

- Alan Redpath, from Victorious Christian Service: Studies in the Book of Nehemiah, p. 115

He Is Such A Friend

“It is our heaven to lay many weights and burdens upon Christ. Let him find much employment in his calling with you; for he is such a Friend as delighteth to be burdened with suits and employments; and the more homely ye be with him, the more welcome.”

- Samuel Rutherford, from The Loveliness of Christ, p. 22

A Thanksgiving Prayer

“Without him all things external call for my condemnation;
in him they minister to my comfort,
and are to be enjoyed with thanksgiving.
Praise be to thee for grace,
and for the unspeakable gift of Jesus.”

-from ‘The Valley of Vision’

Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. Over the next several days, many of us will reflect on what we have to be thankful for. Although I’m forgetting much more than I am remembering here, these are some of Your blessings that come to mind on this day:

• Salvation – as Paul explained, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” What can we possibly say to that ? “Thank you” ? But I am eternally thankful Father.
• My wife – I have been greatly blessed with a wonderful, caring, selfless and giving wife. I take more than I give to her sadly. Thank you Father for bringing Amy into my life.
• My family – Many will spend Thanksgiving Day alone. I’m thankful that I will have the opportunity to see family and friends over the next several days and enjoy time together with them.
• My job – last year the company I work for was sold and most of my co-workers were let go. I’ve been fortunate to have my employment extended throughout this year and now into 2010. Many are still looking for work. Many are unable to work due to illness or family circumstances. Many are struggling financially. I’m thankful for Your provision now and always.
• My health – Every day many struggle with aches, pains, disability and other medical issues. Those of us who are healthy should remember what a gift it is each day to see, hear, taste, touch and smell, to walk around freely, to drive, to play and exercise, and to do the things we need to do every day. We take it for granted as a given that these things are ours each day.
• Freedom to worship – We have great freedoms in this country. Many Christians around the world however are persecuted for their faith. How often we forget Father what a privilege it is to wake up on Sunday morning and travel freely to our local church or to gather freely with other believers and friends.
• Wealth beyond belief – Many of us in America have a false notion of what it means to be truly wealthy, and many of us do not realize how wealthy we really are in this country. So we “struggle” with whether or not to buy that new car or big-screen TV. For some families, however, the decisions are much more difficult each day and much more critical: where is our next meal or clean water going to come from ? At this time of year, those decisions also expand: how can we buy gifts for our children ? Many of us will ask “why me ?” when the smallest trouble or irritation comes our way, yet few of us will ask “why me ?” while wondering why God has blessed us with what in reality is wealth beyond belief.
• My Bible – Many of us have 5, 10 or even 15 Bibles in our home. We have countless translations, different styles, shapes, and sizes. Yet many do not have even one Bible translated into their own language. How grateful we should be for the gift of the Word of God each and every day !

Dear Father in Heaven, as you can see in this feeble prayer I’ve forgotten much and remembered little here. But I am truly thankful for these and all of Your blessings each day – our daily bread. I am blessed beyond belief Father. Please give strength and healing to those who are hurting today and provide for them. Let us carry a true spirit of thankfulness as we enter into the season that celebrates the birth of Your Son.

Thank you Father. I love you and pray these things in Jesus’ name.

Amen.

Book Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to Russ from Humanitas Remedium, who is the winner of the book giveaway. I also want to thank everyone who took the time to visit and comment with your own book recommendations. My bookshelves are still pretty full, but I’ll keep an eye out for the books you suggested and add them to my list down the road.

Thanks again everyone !

Book Giveaway

I recently won a book giveaway from the good folks at Devotional Christian and due to the large volume of books they sent me, I have to make some room on my bookshelves to fit them all (plus I already owned two of the books they sent me). So I’ve decided to do a book giveaway of my own here. I’ll keep it open until this Thursday, November 19 at 11:00 pm EST. To enter, just leave a comment below with the title of a Christian book that’s really had an impact on you and why. I’ll be mailing the books via UPS Ground and can only send to the continental U.S.A.

Here are the books included in the giveaway:

1) Jonathan Edwards: Representative Selections- edited by Clarence H. Faust and Thomas H. Johnson
2) The Attributes of God – A.W. Pink
3) Prayer – John Bunyan
4) The Holy Spirit – John Owen
5) Revolution in World Missions – K.P. Yohannan
6) Daily Readings from the Life of Christ, Vol. I – John MacArthur
7) The King Has Come – James Montgomery Boice
8 ) How to Find God in the Bible: A Personal Plan for the Encounter of Your Life – Woodrow Kroll
9) A Faith Worth Sharing – C. John Miller
10) Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die – John Piper
11) The Night of Weeping and the Morning of Joy – Horatius Bonar
12) Our God Is Awesome – Tony Evans
13) Truth & Power: The Place of Scripture in the Christian Life – J.I. Packer
14) The Heart of the Bible – John MacArthur
15) Taste and See – John Piper
16) In Christ Alone – Sinclair Ferguson

In addition, I’ll throw in some sample issues of Tabletalk magazine, some tracts and sermons from J.C. Ryle and others, and a couple of pocket-sized books from Greg Laurie and John Piper.

I’ll draw the winner at random and will email him or her for their shipping address on Friday, November 20.

The Magnitude of the Claim

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.” - John 14:1 (ESV)

Next time you’re flipping through the newspaper or a magazine, take a look at how many “claims” you find in them. We see all kinds of claims each day from all sorts of products, devices, and even people – “reduces the risk of …by 50 percent”, “will increase your earning power by 75%”, and on and on. Many of these claims are worth investigating, as they may help us make sound health decisions or lead us in investing wisely for ourselves and our families. Even so, we spend an awful lot of time focusing on these claims and the impact they will have on our lives.

This week I was listening to a sermon from Tim Keller that was titled “Who Is This Jesus ?”. Dr. Keller took these examples a step further and asked his audience what they would do if they received a letter stating that they were entitled to a large inheritance ? Or on the other hand, what would they do if they received a stern letter from the I.R.S. claiming they now owed $400,000 in back taxes ? Regardless of how improbable you feel each of these letters might be, wouldn’t you at least investigate them ? Wouldn’t you at least make a phone call to find out instead of outright ignoring them ?

In the Gospel of John, Jesus makes some tremendous and monumental claims to those around Him:

• “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” – John 8:12
• “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” - John 8:58
• “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” – John 10:11
• “I and the Father are one.” – John 10:30

And of course, many others…

I think what Dr. Keller was getting at is that people will investigate all sorts of claims that may affect their lives – some worthwhile, some not – but Jesus makes claims that bear the greatest possible impact of all. And yet many spend no time at all looking into them. Many feel no need to, many simply don’t feel they have the time. But when you consider “the magnitude of the claim”, as Dr. Keller says, that Jesus brings, you really need to put everything else on hold and find out if He is really who He claims to be !

In the short time I’ve been a Christian, I’ve had the opportunity to speak with family members about Jesus and have tried to answer questions they have had. But after a while, I realize that the best thing to do is just keep pointing them to Jesus Himself. “Don’t take my word for it,” I tell them. “Read the Gospels for yourself and see.” I feel that anyone who comes to God and is a true seeker can count on God revealing Himself, if they are sincere about it. I also feel a bit of sadness and frustration about it, knowing that family and friends will investigate and pursue other claims that they are bombarded with each day, and not devote the same time to studying the claims of Jesus Himself.

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

The magnitude of the claim of Jesus – is there really anything else that compares ?

A Word From Luther

“Now when you have Christ as the foundation and chief blessing of your salvation, then the other part follows: that you take him as your example, giving yourself in service to your neighbor just as you see that Christ has given himself for you. See, there faith and love move forward, God’s commandment is fulfilled, and a person is happy and fearless to do and to suffer all things.”

- Martin Luther, from Basic Theological Writings, p. 95

A Word From Spurgeon

I normally would not post a quote this long, but I read this in Spurgeon’s Morning & Evening the other night and have been thinking about his words since. I printed the quote out also to put on the fridge so I don’t forget. This is one to think about:

“Dear friend, are you already saved? Then keep not back from union with the Lord’s people. Neglect not the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. You may be of a timid disposition, but you must strive against it, lest it lead you into disobedience. There is a sweet promise made to those who confess Christ-by no means miss it, lest you come under the condemnation of those who deny him.

If you have talents keep not back from using them. Hoard not your wealth, waste not your time; let not your abilities rust or your influence be unused. Jesus kept not back, imitate him by being foremost in self-denials and self-sacrifices. Keep not back from close communion with God, from boldly appropriating covenant blessings, from advancing in the divine life, from prying into the precious mysteries of the love of Christ. Neither, beloved friend, be guilty of keeping others back by your coldness, harshness, or suspicions.

For Jesus’ sake go forward yourself, and encourage others to do the like. Hell and the leaguered bands of superstition and infidelity are forward to the fight. O soldiers of the cross, keep not back.”

Book Giveaway from Devotional Christian

Check out a great giveaway from Devotional Christian (you can see the full list of 22 titles at their site):

To celebrate the relaunch of Devotional Christian, we are doing a special giveaway for bloggers & church websites. Just write a new post about our site (or add a link to your church website). Then enter your information here. I will use random.org to select the winner on Sunday 8 November 2009. We will ship the following 22 books directly to you.

Emily from A Sacrifice of Praise is one of the contributors to Devotional Christian and also writes a great blog of her own. Check these sites out today !

The Great Privilege

“You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” – John 15:14-15 (ESV)

This month I’ve been camped out in the Gospel of John and just finished it tonight. I’ve been thinking for the last few days about the above verses from John 15 and how little I’ve truly grasped the implications of what they really mean. Jesus here is explaining something wonderful to His disciples. We can now call on Him as a Friend, as well as Lord and Savior. There is no problem too small or too large for Him to handle, nothing that’s too private to share with Him. We can lean on Him in good times and bad. And whatever front we put up for others – in church, in the office, within our families – is wide open before Him. This in reality should be a great joy to us. He has granted us all a great privilege !

In many cases, though, what happens when the bad times hit or good times come that are worth celebrating ? Is it possible that we feel that friends and family understand us better – in person or online – and so we head straight to them first to share our news ? And Jesus instead is left to the side and becomes an alternate contact – you know, in case no one else is around ?

This has been written to myself primarily, as I feel that in these cases, Jesus sometimes gets whatever energy I have left over in my day, rather than my best. There are times that I can’t wait to tell others of my great news (or even the bad) rather than going to Him first – my Rock and my Redeemer. How strange that is….

Don’t get me wrong – I love sharing my news with friends and family. I also enjoy the interactions I have with others online and have been blessed by the wisdom of so many “friends” out in cyberspace (blogs, Twitter, etc.). Iron sharpens iron, as someone once said This is just more of a confession that Jesus so often does not get my best as the true Friend that He is.

These verses from John have hammered that home.

The Idolatry Syndrome

“Cursed is the man who carves an image or casts an idol- a thing detestable to the LORD, the work of the craftsman’s hands – and sets it up in secret. Then all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’”

- Deuteronomy 27:15 (ESV)

…………………………………………………………….

“I wonder how things might radically change in our churches if we became convinced that idolatry was our greatest problem.”

- Greg Dutcher

What do you think of when you hear the term “idol” ? The TV show ‘American Idol’ ? The golden calf that Moses was horrified to find in the book of Exodus ? In his new book, Greg Dutcher sets out to explain exactly what idols really are and why they are so harmful to who we are in Christ. He is the Pastor at Christ Fellowship Church in Fallston, MD and the book is titled You Are the Treasure That I Seek…But There’s a Lot of Cool Stuff Out There, Lord and from that title on, Pastor Greg helps us see idolatry for what it really is.

R.C. Sproul said once that, “The only reason the gospel comes to me as good news is because I’ve already heard the bad news !” Pastor Greg takes a similar stance as he opens his book with the underlying cause of why we are so prone to idolatry: “What is true of the human body proves true of the human spirit as well. Despite a healthy outward appearance, our hearts are slowly dying as a spiritual sickness works to bring about our demise” (p.23). That sickness began in Genesis 3 and is fully detailed in Romans 1:22-23 – “Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.” And it is that exchange that brings about what Pastor Greg calls the “idolatry syndrome”. In short, this syndrome occurs when we prize anything over the glory of God. What we’re left with is one inadequate substitute for God after another.

Pastor Greg gives some examples of how we can test this in our own lives. Do we drag ourselves through the day just by knowing that we can come home and down a pint of ice cream while watching TV all night ? In my own case I know I’ve been guilty of it, particularly at this time of year – looking forward to the weekend just so I can settle in for hours to watch football. Are those things our true treasures ? Then we are placing our trust in something else to sustain us rather than God. And this is a key argument of the book – idolatry doesn’t necessarily show itself as a golden calf or a wooden statue. It’s often much more subtle than that. Pastor Greg calls it a “stealthy hunter”. We’re then more prone to think that our exchange is far less evil, since food or TV or football doesn’t sound as blatant as bowing to a statue. But compare what we have exchanged to what Christ exchanged for us at the cross, as Paul explains in Philippians 2:5-8:

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

How much more foolish does our daily exchange for lesser things look in light of these verses from Philippians ?

Pastor Greg is a gifted writer and does a wonderful job of showing idolatry syndrome for what it really is, and what it costs us each day that we are filled with it. I love that his book is packed with Scripture references and he takes great pains to continually show the reader the beauty that idols can never provide, which is found only in Christ. I also like that he spends a good deal of time focusing on the Cross. He also gives us practical ways to fight off this syndrome each day, by using prayers from saints of the past and present and quotations from other authors and church fathers as well. Recommendations of books that will help us cherish Christ are given in an appendix, and his “case studies” at the end of the book are terrific.

I hope this is the first in a long line of books from Pastor Greg. If you’re convinced you already have a good handle on what idolatry really is, you might want to think again and pick up this book. I recommend it highly.

Who Can Listen To It ?

“When many of his disciples heard it, they said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?’” - John 6:60 (ESV)

John chapter 6 gives us one of the great “I am” statements of Jesus in this gospel – “I am the bread of life” (v. 35). It is during this section that the disciples are listening to Jesus describe what that all means. Many are troubled by what He is saying here and realize that being a disciple of Jesus demands a lot more from them then they perhaps had bargained for. Jesus gave His disciples another discourse on this in Luke’s gospel - “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?” (14:28). We start to see some disciples drift away at this point in John’s gospel – in verse 66, John tells us, “After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.” I think there is a tendency (on my part anyway) to look at these wayward disciples as cowardly at this point. I feel myself judging them and wondering how they could wander away and do such a thing.

But doesn’t this happen in more subtle ways in our own lives ? In Luke 6, Jesus gives us a string of commands that we don’t often find easy to swallow. What if we don’t get the proper thanks for a job well done or feel slighted by a friend’s lack of generosity ? Jesus tells us in Luke 6:35 to “lend, expecting nothing in return”. And as hard as it can be for us to believe at times, not everyone likes us Isn’t easier just to write those folks off and focus more on our own personal fan clubs ? “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” (Luke 6:27-28). At some point, the whole counsel of God becomes something less than what it should be. The easier commands ? Sure, we can follow those, no problem. But these statements in Luke 6 ? After letting these sink in for a while, we can hear the voice inside our head saying the very same words we heard from the disciples – “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it ?”

The wayward disciples in John 6 probably would have sympathized with Thomas Jefferson – the President once created a Bible of his own that was a cut-and-paste from the Gospels, to one that was more suitable to his liking. We need to be careful we don’t do the same. The hard sayings, the “easy” sayings – all of these are commands from our Lord.

We’d do well to listen closely.

For The Sake of Your Name

“For the sake of your name do not despise us;
do not dishonor your glorious throne.
Remember your covenant with us
and do not break it.”

- Jeremiah 14:21 (NIV)

Reading through Jeremiah today and thinking about two verses in chapter 14. Jeremiah is praying to God on behalf of his fellow countrymen and women and twice in this chapter (verses 7 & 21), he uses the phrase “for the sake of your name”…

Lately I’ve been struggling with how lacking my own prayer life can be at times. Jeremiah’s plea here that God’s Name would be glorified is something that I realize I don’t focus on enough…that a family member would be cured of sickness so that glory would be given to Him as the ultimate Healer…that friends’ needs would be taken cared of so that others would see that God is the ultimate Provider…and on and on. A great mystery to me is why I struggle so much in prayer when there are so many wonderful examples and models of it in the very pages of the Bible. Jeremiah’s examples here in chapter 14 add another layer that I had glossed over in the past, but have reminded me of what being earnest in prayer really looks like.

A good reminder from a great prophet today.

All Their Flock Is Scattered

“For the shepherds are stupid
and do not inquire of the Lord;
therefore they have not prospered,
and all their flock is scattered.”
- Jeremiah 10:21 (ESV)

I’m reading in Jeremiah and the Gospel of John this month and have been thinking for a bit today about what we find in chapter 10 of each book – the subject of shepherding. The verse above illustrates the state of the ruling class at the time Jeremiah was a prophet. The group of kings and leaders that had been at the head of Israel and Judah since the end of Solomon’s reign and the beginning of the divided kingdom read like a handbook of how not to shepherd a group of people. Is it any wonder that the people find themselves in the state they’re in as Jeremiah pronounces the message he’s been given from God ?

Now contrast this group of shepherds with The Good Shepherd:

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” – John 10:11

Jesus also reminds us in Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” He came to fulfill what centuries of lackluster and mostly evil leadership never could. That leadership ultimately left their flock scattered. Not so with Jesus.

He is our Good Shepherd. We are His sheep. Follow His lead today and put your trust under His care.