“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 ?
“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.”
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.”
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 !
“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.
“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.
“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 wordswe 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.
“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.
“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.
“The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.”
- Jeremiah 1:1-2 (ESV)
Today in my Bible reading plan we begin the book of Jeremiah. I don’t know many people have a “favorite” prophet, but if I had to pick just one, it would be Jeremiah. There is such depth to his character, and we can all relate to his reluctance as God reveals His will for Jeremiah’s life. As I read the first two chapters this morning and some of the introductory material on this book online and in some commentaries, I thought for a bit about what makes this prophet so distinct in God’s revelation to us in His Word.
Think of how the last book of the Old Testament begins – “The oracle of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.” (Mal 1:1). That verse is essentially the extent of what we know about this minor prophet. Contrast that with Jeremiah, who is probably the most character-developed prophet we have. In Jeremiah 1, we are told about his divine calling, even before he was born in verse 5:
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
We know that Jeremiah began his ministry fairly young and throughout this book we get an inside view of his emotions and trials and tribulations, moreso than any of the other great prophets. We see how he wished to avoid God’s call. What was going through his mind when he was told the message he was to bring to those around him ? That message was not reassuring in the least, as we see in chapter 2, verse 22:
“Though you wash yourself with lye
and use much soap,
the stain of your guilt is still before me,
declares the Lord God.
I can imagine Jeremiah thinking, “You’ve brought me up to tell these people this ?” Of course we remember that Moses, nearly a thousand years earlier, reacted in a similar fashion when God spoke to him initially. But as we see throughout the book, Jeremiah is faithful to God’s calling.
Something that’s always intrigued me about Jeremiah is this note from the NIV Study Bible: “Jeremiah is the longest book in the Bible, containing more words than any other book.” I find this fascinating – longer than the Psalms, any of the Gospels, longer than the story of Creation and the Fall in Genesis and the deliverance from Egypt in Exodus, even longer than the great prophet Isaiah. Plus the book demands a lot of concentration from us in that it’s not presented in chronological form. Why is this ? Is there a particular reason that God has made this book this way ? Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but it’s just something I’ve noted.
Just some random thoughts as I begin this great book. It’s yet another reminder to me how inexhaustible the Word of God is. Each day we can rejoice in the work God has done in those saints of old and reflect on how He will do the same for us if we stay in the way He has called us to.
“Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, ‘The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.’ For he thought, ‘There will be peace and security in my days.’” - Isaiah 39:8 (ESV)
I’ve been in the great book of Isaiah for most of this month and decided to pause for a bit on the chapters concerning Hezekiah. This king was known as one of the “good” ones, as there were so few during the time of the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah. In chapter 37 of Isaiah, Hezekiah has just heard the words spoken against God (and him) by the messenger of Sennacherib, the king of Assyria. To his credit, Hezekiah takes this to God immediately in prayer (Isaiah 37:14). God responds to Hezekiah’s prayer (and Sennacherib’s defiance), as the Assyrian people are mauled and Sennacherib himself is killed by his own sons. In the next chapter, we see Hezekiah brings himself before God again in prayer, as he is ill to the point of death. God responds again by adding 15 years to his life. But for some reason, Hezekiah’s good judgment begins to fail him….
You would have thought that Hezekiah would have been especially on his guard after the first message from the messengers of Sennacherib. But when messengers from the king of Babylon come to pay him a visit, he welcomes them and gives them the grand tour. This was naturally alarming to Isaiah, who warned Hezekiah that down the road, everyone he knew and everything he counted as possessions would be carried off to Babylon. At this point, considering his history, I would have expected Hezekiah to humble himself before God in prayer again. Instead, he apparently shrugged his shoulders and said, “There will be peace and security in my days” or rather, “Better them than me, I got mine”.
I think there is a lesson here for all of us. As Hezekiah was once surrounded by enemies and illness, we too were once surrounded by the power of this world and the illness of sin. God was gracious to deliver Hezekiah because he had a “right spirit within” (Psalm 51:10) at first but then Hezekiah quickly developed amnesia. His mistake here is a reminder of how much grace God has extended to us, and also to those we love as brothers and sisters in God’s family.
How can we not respond with humble adoration and worship ?
“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?” – Jeremiah 32:27 (ESV)
Have you heard of a site called Puritan Picks ? It’s probably best described as a Christian Netflix. I recently rented a video from there titled Discipleship Explored, which centers around Paul’s letter to the Philippians. It’s an excellent DVD, well worth checking out if you have time (see preview below). In between watching the video and reading and rereading Philippians, I’ve been trying to reconcile the following two verses, which are very familiar to all of us:
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” – Phil 1:6
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” – Phil 2:12
I know that Philippians 2:13 reads that “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” – but there is a tendency in my case to feel that God needs “help” at times from me. Anyone who has visited here in the past knows that I tend to get despondent over sin at a level that is probably unhealthy. But at times I reconcile that by saying that I’m just “working out my salvation with fear and trembling” and that being despondent over sin is part of that. On the other hand, how does that match with knowing God will eventually bring this good work He has began to completion, and that nothing is too hard for Him ?
When you read Philippians, how do you view these verses in light of each other ? What are your thoughts on this ?
“God forgive them that raise an ill report upon the sweet cross of Christ. It is but our weak and dim eyes, and our looking only to the black side, that makes us mistake. Those who can take that crabbed tree handsomely upon their back, and fasten it on cannily, shall find it such a burden as wings unto a bird or sails to a ship.”
“While passing along the street one morning, a young man rushed out of his office and caught me in his arms, ‘O sir, I have found Christ.’
‘When and how?’ were the questions I earnestly put to him.
He then gave me the following account of himself: ‘You know, sir, I have been very anxious for some weeks past. That anxiety became dreadful on Friday night. I was engaged in prayer. While on my knees my burden became intolerable. I felt my sins pressing on my heart as if that warehouse were built on my body. I could not move. I could not rise from my knees. I cried with such agony that my next neighbor rose out of bed and rushed in to know what was wrong. He prayed with me. Before he left I found peace through believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.’
“My dear friend, have you known nothing of an experience like that?”
I just saw on Challies Dot Com this morning that there is talk of a Jennifer Knapp comeback. This just made my day. I’ve written about her here before and have hoped and prayed that she would one day return to the music scene. She’s without question one of my favorites in the Christian music world. I hope we’ll see her again soon and hear some new music from her. Her live album is the most played CD in my car…I’m looking forward to hearing more about this as I know I’m not the only one celebrating this today
“Go back again to that High Priestly prayer and notice how our Lord says that we are to glorify Him in this world exactly as He glorified His Father. Have you realized that ? That is the Christian life, that is the reason for living the Christian life; it is to realize that I belong to God and that I must glorify Him. That is how I am to look at it. What a wonderful position. And the Spirit is in me and is enabling me to do it. He transforms my outlook and I lose the spirit of bondage again to fear.”
“Good sense makes one slow to anger,
and it is his glory to overlook an offense.”
- Proverbs 19:11 (ESV)
Just reading over Proverbs 19 tonight and I’ve settled on several verses. I’m thinking a bit about the verse above and how meaningful it is in our day. Consider the so-called daily ’stresses’ in your life – someone cuts you off while driving, for example. That can set a tone for your whole day – “Man, these people are crazy on the roads !” Your adrenaline gets going and you get so wound up based on something insignificant like this. Where is our “good sense” then ? Or someone else gets the credit for something you did…or you’re told about a rumor someone has falsely spread about you. More signficantly, maybe a family member or spouse has said something that’s really hurt you. I’m wondering how much different our lives would look on a daily basis if we overlooked these “offenses” ? It can be easy to let the seeds of anger take root and forgiving someone seems out of the question. And then it becomes easier still to forget how much we ourselves have been forgiven…
How much different would things look if we instead remembered the words of Paul in his letter to the Colossians – “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive” (Col. 3:12-13, ESV)
“Obey God in all things today ! Drive out the enemy ! Lay the ax to the root of the tree, and the capacity for Jesus Christ will be increased tomorrow. Always the soul of the Christian either grows or shrinks; it never remains the same. Either it increases in capacity for life because it obeys and is determined to lay the ax to the root of sin, or it shrivels until the Christian experience is lost behind a cold steel wall of doctrine and dogma.”
Continuing along my reading list of uplifting titles I’m now in Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure. I had heard the above quote before reading the book but have been thinking about it since reading it in context earlier this week. Lloyd-Jones explains this phenomenon in such a way that I was surprised I hadn’t considered the distinction before. He talks about what we hear inside our heads each day as we wake up and our self starts talking as we listen – the problems of yesterday, the failures. I recognized this immediately because I’ve been hearing the same things from myself lately. These are the most popular 1) “how could you ?” 2) “you’ll never change” 3) “you’re going to church TODAY ? after the week you just had ? people will see right through you…what you’ve been thinking, how you’ve been acting. better stay home and save yourself the embarrassment…”
I found myself nodding and shaking my head at the same time while reading this. It’s so true and I’m so guilty of it. But what Lloyd-Jones suggests is so helpful and it’s a good way to turn the conversation back towards that accusing voice:
“You have to take yourself in hand, you have to address yourself, preach to yourself, question yourself. You must say to your soul: ‘Why art thou cast down’ – what business have you to be disquieted ? You must turn on yourself, upbraid yourself, condemn yourself, exhort yourself, and say to yourself: ‘Hope thou in God’ – instead of muttering in this depressed, unhappy way.”
Jerry Bridges, in his book Respectable Sins, suggests something similar: that we preach the gospel to ourselves each day. And how often do we really do that ? How different would our day look if, as we first wake up, we did just that ? If your mind and heart is filled with Christ, what room is left for that self-defeating, self-wallowing talk ?
I’ve found Lloyd-Jones’ book extremely encouraging so far. I’m about 1/3 of the way through it and will have more on it as I go along….
This is just more of a confession that Jesus so often does not get my best as the true Friend that He is. 
