desperate for His grace |
My desire is to be clay in His hands, to continuously learn more about who He is, to die to myself everyday, and to live a life that tells of His glory and grace. "However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace." Acts 20:24 "to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding" Ephesians 1:6-8 |
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"If we say, “I believe in Jesus,” but it doesn’t affect the way we live, the answer is not that now we need to add hard work to our faith so much as that we haven’t truly understood or believed in Jesus at all."
Timothy Keller in The Prodigal God - Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith
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"Worship is the attributing of ultimate worth to something. When this ultimate worth is attributed to anyone or anything other than the one, true triune God of the universe, it is idolatry. The root of Christian worship, then, is acknowledging, submitting to, and enjoying the supremacy of God’s glory. In all things."
The Explicit Gospel by Matt Chandler
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"When we who call ourselves Christians realize how utterly self-sufficient God is all within Himself, the gift of Christ to us and for us becomes all the more astonishing. And we will want it this way. Because a God who is ultimately most focused on his own glory will be about the business of restoring us, who are all broken images of Him. His glory demands it. So we should be thankful for a self-sufficient God whose self-regard is glorious."
The Explicit Gospel by Matt Chandler
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"A marriage must be built on the worship of God so that spiritual intimacy can enable all other intimacy,such as mental, emotional, physical, and sexual,without shame andwithout sin."
- Link A great blog post by Mrs. Jimmy Needham
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Gospel Wake-Fullness
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In the measly amount of years I have spent as an adult, I have “read” many books. What I mean is that I have simultaneously started multiple books, chugged along for a while in one, and then powered through a few more chapters in another. This has lead to a reading style which could probably be defined as “interval relay reading.” It spans over 3 years and the result is not a single book completely read from cover to cover (okay maybe a few were, but I’m just making fun of myself).
No I didn’t write to tell you about my weird reading habits. I am writing this post for a few reasons: to provide myself with a reminder and to tell whoever reads this blog post (most likely myself) about a book that kept me from “interval relay reading” and brought me into a marathon (with the exception of the Bible).
I just finished reading Gospel Wake-fullness by Jared C. Wilson and realized that I learned and re-learned so many truths that I need a summary of the great lessons to remember it all. I read a tweet by John Piper once that said, “It is grievous to have a fresh insight about God, neglect to write it down, and lose it forever, only recalling it was good.” So this post, like most of my tweets and other blog posts, is for the purpose of me writing down the fresh insights I was given in hopes that they will not be lost forever.
One of the main points I took from this book is the necessity of the gospel being central to all things in our lives. The author argues that we must regularly be engaged and be engaging others (believers and non-believers) in the good news of Jesus Christ. We need to be awakened to the astonishment of the Gospel - that “God has forgiven our sin and reconciled us eternally to him through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.” The Gospel is NOT something that only has the power to convert, it has the power to continually sanctify us and glorify God. We NEED to hear it, dwell in it, immerse ourself in it, preach it, savor it, suffer for it, and apply it daily. But instead many people say, “I have already heard the Good News, I already have Jesus, why should I hear the Gospel again? Isn’t that redundant?” But those who have what the author calls “Gospel Wake-fullness” aren’t more interested in anything else. I highly recommend this book. The rest of this post is simply quotes from the book that led to many of my “fresh insights.” Feel free to skim through them if you would like, but I am basically writing them down to keep at easy access.
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"Don’t just avoid sin, hate it. Be as intentional with your sin as Christ was. Carrying the banner of the gospel, which declares Christ’s conquering of sin and death, make BLOODTHIRSTY WAR with the sin in you. Watch for it, search it out, assassinate it with the Word of God. Arm yourself with Spiritual armor, put on Christ, and spare NO sin you find. Kill it, even as you trust the Spirit is killing it on your behalf. Because He is. And if He is, you should be too."
Gospel Wakefullness by Jared C. Wilson
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"The gospel must be central to our Christian lives; it is not the ABC’s of spiritual growth, but the A to Z. The problem prior to gospel wakefulness is that we do not see how the gospel can sustain such energies, such longevity. We see it as an entry fee, an insurance certificate. But the gospel is daily bread. It is robust and resilient enough to sustain not just for all life, but for all eternity. The gospel is the antidote for the human predicament, for all of humanity itself. …
When we “get” the gospel for what it really is - the power to save, the most thrilling news there could be, the declaration that God’s Son died for us and then came back to life to be risen Lord and supreme King of the universe, achieving for us not just the entry fee for heaven but the currency for all of life - we revel in the new creation it unleashes in its wake at every turn. We never get tired of hearing it. It’s the new song that never gets old. “Play it again, play it again!” we will cry."Gospel Wakefulness by Jared C. Wilson
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A great blog post by Barnabas Piper
This blog post exactly describes some lessons I have been learning lately!
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"Look to Christ!
How frequently, you who are coming to Christ, look to yourselves. “Oh,” you say, “I do not repent enough.” That is looking to yourself. “I do not believe enough.” That is looking to yourself. “I am too unworthy.” That is looking to yourself. “I cannot discover,” says another, “that I have any righteousness.” It is quite right to say that you do not have any righteousness, but it is quite wrong to look for any. God will have you turn your eye off yourself and look to Him. The hardest thing in the world is to turn a man’s eye off of himself, and to look at the cross of Calvary where the bleeding hands of Jesus dropped mercy to a garden of Gethsemane, where the bleeding pores of the Savior sweats pardons, sweats pardons from Calvary’s summit where Jesus cries, “It is Finished”. I hear a shout, “Look and be saved!”, but then comes a vile cry from my heart, “No, look to yourself, look to yourself.” Ah, my hearers, look to yourself and you will be damned. That certainly will come of it; as long as you look to yourself there is no hope for you. It is not a consideration of what you are, but it is a consideration of who God is and who Christ is that can save you. It is looking from yourself to Jesus. Oh men, there is quite a misunderstanding about the gospel. They think that righteousness qualifies them to come to Christ, whereas sin is the only qualification for coming to Christ. Righteousness keeps me from Christ. “The well have no need of a physician, but they that are sick.” Sin makes me come to Jesus. In coming to Christ, the more sin I have the more cause I hope in mercy."Charles H. Spurgeon
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"This is the profound message of the dysfunction of the church: that God knew it was going to be dysfunctional, and still sent Jesus. That’s why we celebrate! That’s the basis of our joy! NOT that we are better people, but that Christ has loved us where we are and THAT becomes the motivating launching point for all the transformation that occurs in us."
Matt Chandler, Ultimate Authority: Guiding and Confronting the Mess
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"I covenanted with the Father that He would do either of two things: either glorify Himself to the utmost in me or slay me. By His grace I shall not have His second best. For He heard me, I believe, so that now I have nothing to look forward to but a life of sacrificial sonship or heaven - soon. Perhaps tomorrow! what a prospect!"
Jim Elliot, The Life and Testament of Jim Elliot - Shadow of the Almighty by Elisabeth Elliot
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"Oh that Christ were all and Enough for me. He is supposed to be. But oh, to be swept away in a flood of consuming passion for Jesus, that all desire might be sublimated to Him."
Jim Elliot,The Life and Testament of Jim Elliot - Shadow of the Almighty by Elisabeth Elliot
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Abysmal Depths
“What is written in these pages I suppose will one day be read by others than myself. For this reason I cannot hope to be absolutely honest in what is herein recorded, for the hypocrisy of this shamming heart will ever be putting on a front and dares not write what is actually found in its abysmal depths. Yet, I pray Lord, that you will make these notations to be as nearly true to fact as is possible, that I may know my own heart and be able to definitely pray regarding my gross, though often unrecognized, inconsistencies. … These remarks are to be written from fresh, daily thoughts given from God, in mediation on His word.” — Jim Elliot, The Life and Testament of Jim Elliot - Shadow of the Almighty by Elisabeth Elliot
As I read excerpts of this man’s writings, I first of all am utterly jealous of his writing ability and the depth of thinking he reveals in it. But, even more so, am I astounded and convicted of the passionate love he has for God.
As I read his biography, I see a life lived with the purpose to know and love God. A life where nothing is of value apart from Christ. Yes, he was physically active, studious in school, had close friends, and was very smart. Yet, everything in his life only obtained value due to the purpose it has in Christ… and the worth of those things could not stand in the shadow of the glory of his Lord.
When he was 20 years old he prayed, “Lord make my way prosperous, not that I achieve high station, but that my life may be an exhibit to the value of knowing God.” Which is funny, because that is exactly what I see, a life that shows the value of knowing God.
And yet, the opening quote shows that in the abysmal depths of his heart, are gross sins of which he is admittedly ashamed to write about. Oh man, how I can relate! Not only have I come to realize my hatred towards this blog for that very reason, I realize how many useless private thoughts I contribute in my own journals. By useless, I mean unthoughtful sentences that are simply written to help hide the abysmal depths of my heart from even myself.
How can I be real with you if I can’t even be honest with myself? How can I confess my sins to God if I can’t even bring myself to recognize them? And how can I recognize them with silly little fake thoughts that go no deeper than my impure motives to look good to even myself?
If I spend time reading the Word but cannot seem to find something new and fresh, do I write a journal entry that indicates otherwise just so I can look like a perfect little Christian? Or can I be honest with God and confess my difficulty in my study that day? I will be honest, in the past I have stuck to the first of the two, unaware of the problem in it.
I also need to ask myself why on earth I feel the need to hide my ugly heart from myself? Do I foolishly believe by keeping myself oblivious, I am keeping my Savior unaware? And if that is the case, I am not only attempting the impossible (Jeremiah 23:24, Psalm 139:2-4, Job 34:21-22) , I am believing nonsense.
“Extravagant love is love with full knowledge. God loves extravagantly. He alone knows the true depth of my sin, yet He loves me more than anyone else loves me.” Therefore, there is no need to hide my sin from the one who saves me from them. In fact, it is deadly.
“For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.” Psalm 32:3-5
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"No one warns young people to follow Adam’s example. He waited till God saw his need. Then God made Adam sleep, prepared for his mate, and brought her to him. We need more of this ‘being asleep’ in the will of God. Then we can receive what He brings us in His own time, if at all. Instead we are set as bloodhounds after a partner, considering everyone we see until our mids are so concerned with the sex problem that we can talk of nothing else when bull-session time comes around. It is true that a fellow cannot ignore women - but he can think of them as he ought - as sisters, not sparring partners!"
Jim Elliot, The Life and Testament of Jim Elliot - Shadow of the Almighty by Elisabeth Elliot
