Oil for the Lamp

Purity: Necessary

2011-05-24T06:14:00.000-04:00

How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.
Psalm 119:9

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you. Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.
Proverbs 4:23-27

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Philippians 4:8

So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
2 Timothy 2:22

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.
Ephesians 5:1-3

Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sine a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
1 Corinthians 6:18-20

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
1 Cor. 10:13

Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
2 Corinthians 7:1

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.
Romans 6:12

The point of Life

2011-05-22T03:23:00.001-04:00

It's a tall order to be able to fulfill the infinite characteristics required to know everything. However, it seems to me that sometimes I can be god of my own little world. I can't wrap my mind around the size of the galaxy in comparison to earth, let alone how many times I've committed a wrong in the sight of others or by my own standards. We have a pretty small galaxy from what I've heard. I'm not God. Jesus is. That's very good news. I need an infinite God. I am nothing in comparison to the infinite. That fact makes his love for me all the more special. Jesus is actually a real person and He is God, I hope you have experienced this, but in case you have not, ask Him to show you himself. He loves us more than we could ever imagine. He is knocking at the door of your life! I speak the truth to you and am not lying. God wants more from your life and wants you to experience the joy of intimacy with Him. Christianity is not primarily about a relationship with God that benefits us, it's about knowing Jesus and enjoying the fact that we know God through Him for his own sake! Everything else is a bonus.

Psalm 1

2011-04-30T05:45:00.000-04:00

1 Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

Position, Identity, Life!

2011-03-22T04:28:00.002-04:00

It's been a while. Since my last post, I've graduated college, started a job, and gotten a dog. Even further, I've been to four different countries. One thing hasn't changed, and that's my extreme daily need for Christ in my life. There really is nothing to compare with knowing Jesus. It is an experience of truth. To experience something and know that it is really unbelievably real is great! What I experience as a Christian (and have experienced), I sometimes cannot fully grasp. I know God! I love that. Knowing God and the theory or idea of Him is totally different. To know God as you may know a friend is possible! How can anyone pass it up?

I've been reading a book by a man named George Müller, and in Chapter 16 he expressed a great desire for all Christians. He said, "I desire that all the children of God who read this account of God's work in Bristol be led to trust Him for everything they need under any circumstance. I pray that the many answers to prayer we have seen may encourage them to pray, particularly for the conversion of their friends and relatives, their own growth in grace and knowledge, the saints whom they know personally, the state of the Church, and the success of the preaching of the Gospel." If you know God, this must convict you. These are simple commands that are biblical. But more than commands, these are courageous acts of love towards God. When we do what He wants us to do it pleases Him. Isn't His facial expression towards what we do of importance? Because God is real and able to be pleased by me, who has Christ as my identity, then I must strive toward that end.

In church this past Sunday, I heard R. Cunningham speak about why my character is important. Here were some profound truths that were spoken into my life with great meaning:

1) God has given me a new identity that allows me a disposition in Him from which to hate sin and seek purity by His Holy Spirit, and that, though I am able to commit the deepest of sins, this disposition is a whole new creation within me caused by Christ alone and initiated by God himself. (Eph 5:8, "for at one time you were darkness, but YOU ARE LIGHT in the Lord. Walk as children of light.") I hate sin! When I commit sin, I am blinded by the lie that sin is momentarily better than the deep seated truth in my heart that God's love is not comparable to anything on any level. James 1:14-15, "But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death." This holds true with the law that sin requires and leads to death. There is only Christ, everything else vanishes and flees from our life. Therefore, as I am led in the desires of Christ to seek purity and conform to His image, I am not led to death, but life! And so, my character flows from my relationship, disposition, and identity and intimacy with Chirst. Shouldn't it?

2) God is a father who is passionately concerned about the purity of His children. I wondered, at this moment, what it was to be concerned so much for someone else's purity that I would let my son die. God's demonstration of this concern is clear to me at the foot of the Cross. Romans 5:8 becomes vibrantly real to me. But so many times I have thrown this truth by the wayside and openly committed sin. Praise God that I have room for growth.

3) Because God has changed me, he can use me to change the world. I am a tool. Ha! Everyone else was thinking it, I just said it! We change this world by bearing witness to another world. In everything we do there is an occasion to expose the evil of this world. God can use every moment in my life to make His name greater and as a byproduct cause the fruit of the Spirit to become a reality in my life. The simple fact is that God wants to further His own kingdom by means of the virtue and character of His children. He could use legions of angels to be His witness, but just as He made Christ a man to save all men, so will he use men to save men.

Jesus! We welcome you with praise in our lives! How can we adore anything else after we've been in your presence? Refine our lives Jesus to have one heart and one action, that is to make your name great and fulfill Matthew 6:33, "But seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you." God, use your presence in our lives to convince people that you are real. Change the hearts of people who don't believe for your Glory! Amen.

Rejected?

2010-09-09T22:57:00.001-04:00

Over the past few months I've had the privilege to read through the books of Samuel (1 and 2). It's been a while since I've made time to write about how God has taught me through reading, but now I've got a few days to really digest some of the life principles I've learned. Shortly after I read about Elkanah and his response to Hannah, I came across 1 Samuel 8. In summary, Israel has demanded from God that they be ruled by a king like other nations around them. It starts in verse 4, "Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah and said to him, "Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations." But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to judge us." And Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, "Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. "According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. "Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them."
Many times I am susceptible to the notion of looking at biblical figures who are ambassadors of God, like Samuel and David, and giving them a status that is higher than men deserve. I guess because they were prophets and kings of old, I fall under the tendency to think they weren't as sinful as humans and attained some form of higher holiness. I am usually very quickly corrected by the Spirit as I was here with Samuel. Again it's the response that caught my attention. Israel wanted a human king that they could touch and see. They didn't realize the reality of the all-powerful God-king that was already reigning in heaven over them. If the elders had taken God seriously as a king, they wouldn't have even brought this request to Samuel. Samuel was displeased by this request from the elders. There are two responses here: God's response to Samuel's prayer and Samuel's response to the elders. Samuel responded by being displeased with man and turning to God. I initially was thinking, "Way to go Samuel! You're the only righteous person leading these silly Israelites." Then I read how God responded to Samuel's prayer. God immediately reminded Samuel that the burden of responsibility in being rejected was his own. "Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. Samuel just had the wrong idea of his role in God's economy. He really thought that he was being rejected apart from God.
As I read this I was dealing with possibly being rejected. The reason this had such an impact on me was because I hadn't fully embraced that, as long as I'm following God's will and obeying His word, I can't be rejected.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon: August 28th

2010-08-28T08:21:00.008-04:00

"Oil for the light." — Exodus 25:6

My soul, how much thou needest this, for thy lamp will not long continue to burn without it. Thy snuff will smoke and become an offence if light be gone, and gone it will be if oil be absent. Thou hast no oil well springing up in thy human nature, and therefore thou must go to them that sell and buy for thyself, or like the foolish virgins, thou wilt have to cry, "My lamp is gone out." Even the consecrated lamps could not give light without oil; though they shone in the tabernacle they needed to be fed, though no rough winds blew upon them they required to be trimmed, and thy need is equally as great. Under the most happy circumstances thou canst not give light for another hour unless fresh oil of grace be given thee.

It was not every oil that might be used in the Lord's service; neither the petroleum which exudes so plentifully from the earth, nor the produce of fishes, nor that extracted from nuts would be accepted; one oil only was selected, and that the best olive oil. Pretended grace from natural goodness, fancied grace from priestly hands, or imaginary grace from outward ceremonies will never serve the true saint of God; he knows that the Lord would not be pleased with rivers of such oil. He goes to the olive-press of Gethsemane, and draws his supplies from Him who was crushed therein. The oil of gospel grace is pure and free from lees and dregs, and hence the light which is fed thereon is clear and bright. Our churches are the Saviour's golden candelabra, and if they are to be lights in this dark world, they must have much holy oil. Let us pray for ourselves, our ministers, and our churches, that they may never lack oil for the light. Truth, holiness, joy, knowledge, love, these are all beams of the sacred light, but we cannot give them forth unless in private we receive oil from God the Holy Ghost.

Also:

This is some great listening from 1980. Piper sounds a bit younger but none the less wiser. You'll have to copy and paste.

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByTopic/26/241_How_Not_to_Be_a_Mule/

Also, also...and more importantly:

Rev 14:15 And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, "Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.

Give your life to people who don't have any life at all (that is through Christ), because that's exactly what He did for us. Implicitly this includes those who would directly oppose you, spit at you with harsh words, openly hate you, or just don't have the faintest clue of the name of Christ. It's easy to love your brother or someone you get along with, but even people who are not Christians do so. It's hard to love your enemies while they torment you. We're called to do both. So the conclusion is the same as the beginning. Give your life to people who don't have any life at all (that is through Christ), because that's exactly what He did for us.

Yes!

2010-08-27T19:12:00.002-04:00

"O Loving-Kindness so old and still so new, I have been too late of loving Thee. You are young, my brethren; profit therefore I beseech you from my confession, that I cared too little to employ my early years for God. Consecrate all yours to His love. If I had only known Him sooner, if I had only had someone to tell me then what I am telling you, I should not have so long delayed in loving Him. Believe me, count as lost each day you have not used in loving God."

Brother Lawrence, "The Practice of the Presence of God"

Another Great Response

2010-08-24T14:40:00.006-04:00

Read 2 Chronicles Chapter 20:1-23. The Moabites, Ammonites, and some Meunites came as a single horde against the nation of Judah. In Chapter 20 verse 3 it says that, "Jehosaphat (the king of Judah) was afraid and set his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah." Later Jehosaphat said to God, "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you." (2 Chronicles 20:12) This is an awesome statement that revealed the absolute helplessness and dependence of Jehosaphat and the nation of Judah on God. Jehosaphat knew he was powerless. Though he was the king of a nation, he recognized his need for the Lord. No one is without need of the Lord. Psalm 73:25-26 states explicitly, "Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." In what moment can we ever say that that our eyes should not be on the Lord? When is it okay to depend on myself rather than God? Though, in lite of the scripture, the question seems to answer itself, I still find myself struggling often between the tension of self-reliance and completely giving my heart to God in every moment. I love God's response to Judah's helpless state. He uses Jahazial in the midst of the assembly to say this, "Thus says the Lord to you 'Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God's." (2Chr20:15) God then tells them what to do and gives them this exhortation, "You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf." God sets Himself up as the only option for the salvation of Judah and King Jehosaphat. Here a great multitude of three different nations were coming against Judah. The difference for Judah was that God was (and still is) greater than any multitude or force that was to come against them. God was their only hope for salvation, as He is ours. When God confirms to us that He has gone before us as we are trusting in Him, it enables us to step out in faith to do what He has planned according to His will. We need to go when He says go, stand firms when He says firm, and watch His salvation establish itself in our life. This is not always a process accompanied by ease, comfort, popularity, lack of suffering, or prosperity in the eyes of the world; however, listening to God will always produce His best for our lives. "Jehosaphat stood and said, 'Here me O inhabitants of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be established; believe in his prophets, and you will succeed.'"
The nation of Judah did all that God said and they watched their enemies devour themselves and all that was left was the plunder to be collected.

Elkanah's Response

2010-03-28T00:50:00.004-04:00

Hannah was teased by her counterpart, Peninnah. Peninnah was able to have kids and Hannah wasn't. Peninnah mocked her about it, too. It says in 1 Samuel 1:7-8, "So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, 'Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?'"

I can't express exactly what God did to me when I read that last question. I felt Him asking me that same question. "Sam, am I not worth more to you than everything?" I wanted to say yes. I wanted to so badly. What is answer to the question? The answer is no. I want God to be worth more than everything, but I am left asking how? How does that become a reality for the rest of my life? I am in the process of learning how to make God's worth a reality in my life. Psalm 119:9 asks and answers a similar question, "How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word." The literal Hebrew version of the answer says, "by taking heed (thereto) according to thy word." This presents in the english as a present progressive form (In English, present progressive can be used to describe what is happening now, or what will happen in the future.) There is no, "How did the man keep his way pure for three weeks out of the year?" The command is ongoing and constant. I must continue to keep my way pure according to His word. I can't be pure for a period of time and then take a break for self-entitlement as if I have earned something.

The next question becomes...Why do I put worthless things above God (thanks Mom)? Why do any of us? It's because we love those worthless things more than we love God. I hope that's as awful to read as it was to type. The love in my heart for worthless things that I keep is greater than the love in my heart for God. Spurgeon(12/5) said, "It is one thing to love the ways of the Lord when all is fair, and quite another to cleave to them under all discouragement and difficulties. The kiss of outward profession is cheap and easy, but the practical cleaving to the Lord, which must show itself in holy decision for truth and holiness, is not so small a matter. In glorious ease and idolatrous pleasure, life will melt into death. May our whole heart cleave to Jesus." The word cleave is it's own antonym. (You can cleave -- adhere closely, remain faithful. And you can cleave -- split apart, sever. This refers to the first.)

I know there are things in my daily life that require submission to God. That will always be true until He calls my soul to heaven. Of course, these ideas make me consider what is of more worth to my heart than God and why. A.W. Tozer said once, "There are few things in life that are actually matter and even fewer that are matters of life and death." That guy is right. How could I ever put something of no worth above something of infinite worth? It's like trading a nickel for a million dollars. That's a senseless trade.

My prayer from all of this is for me to love God more than all other things. I want my heart to be completely focused on His infinite worth. In reality when compared to God, nothing else holds value. I want my heart to enjoy that reality so others can enjoy it, too. But primarily, I want to enjoy that reality because "when I am satisfied in God alone, He is most glorified in me (John Piper)."

Therefore, I always want to remember Elkanah's response. I want to be satisfied in my God alone, always.

Great Quotes

2010-02-22T01:16:00.003-05:00

These are a few of the quotes that have made an impact on my life over the past few months:

It is one thing to love the ways of the Lord when all is fair, and quite another to cleave to them under all discouragement and difficulties. The kiss of outward profession is cheap and easy, but the practical cleaving to the Lord, which must show itself in the holy decision for truth and holiness, is not so small a matter. In glorious ease and idolatrous pleasure, life will melt away into death. May our whole heart cleave to Jesus. - C.H. Spurgeon 12/15

Leave means untried, but still wait on the Lord to provide. - C.H. Spurgeon 10/06

Every time I am enabled to exercise any grace renewedly, I am renewedly indebted to the God of all grace for His special assistance. - David Brainerd (1743)

Do I live with one foot raised in expectation of seeing my savior? - C.H. Spurgeon

God, help me to serve You as faithfully in freedom as I tried to do in prison. Don't let the easier circumstances lessen my dedication. I would rather be truly faithful in prison than let the easier life outside weaken my faith. - Haralan Popov

Devotions are a means of cultivating clearer insight into what God is absolutely willing to do for us. - Andrew Murray

Take advantage of now; it's the only time that exists. - ?

There is in Him an all sufficiency of grace and strength; all our springs are in Him and our streams from Him; to forsake this is, in effect, to deny this. He has been to us a bountiful benefactor, a fountain of living waters, overflowing, ever flowing, in the gifts of His favor; to forsake Him is to refuse to acknowledge His kindness and to withhold that tribute of love and praise which His kindness calls for.

Those who forsake Him cheat themselves, they forsook their own mercies, but it was for lying vanities. They took a great deal of pains to hew themselves out cisterns, to dig pits or pools in the earth or rock which they would carry water to, or which should receive the rain; but they proved broken cisterns, false at the bottom, so that they could hold no water. When they came to quench their thirsts there, they found nothing but mud and mire, and the filthy sediments of a standing lake. Such idols were to their worshipers, and such a change did those experience who turned from God to them.

If we make an idol of any creature - wealth, or pleasure, or honor, if we place our happiness in it, and promise ourselves the comfort and satisfaction in it which are to be had in God only, if we make it our joy and love, our hope and confidence, we shall find it a cistern, which we take a great deal of pains to hew out and fill, and at the best it will hold but a little water, and that dead and flat, and soon corrupting and becoming nauseous. No, it is a broken cistern, which cracks and cleaves in hot weather, so that the water is lost when we have most need of it. Let us therefore with purposeful heart cleave to the Lord only, for where else shall we go? He has the words of eternal life. - Matthew Henry

My Portion is Christ

2010-02-18T11:21:00.002-05:00

I was reading in Psalm 73, "I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you. Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works."

It's great stuff. Spurgeon said, "In matters of grace, you need a daily supply. You have no store of strength. It's a sweet assurance to know that Christ, our daily portion, is provided for us." It's a humbling thought to know that I can't offer anything to the house that the Lord is building. I can be included in what he's already doing. I can imitate Him and take part in what He is already doing, but He is the builder. Psalm 127:1-2 says, "Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep." Any work or toil we do in our own name is in vain and completely useless. Every time I think about that I wonder how many of the things in my life are not devoted to the glory of God's name. It makes me want nothing to do with myself. I want to be a part of something greater than to be the whole of nothing. I'm humbled that God doesn't depend on me for anything, but He does choose to use me. All we have is God! Everything else is a huge loss and cracked cistern that will neither hold the waters of satisfaction, peace, joy, comfort, nor anything else. Praise God's sovereignty!

This Stuff is Crazy...No Pun Intended

2010-02-09T19:47:00.008-05:00

I'll be completely honest. I'm having a real hard time with some of the concepts and foundational philosophies of Psychiatrics. For those of you who don't know, I'm studying psychiatric nursing this semester. Mainly my problems don't arise from the fact that I have a lack of understanding in regards to theory, but the reasoning behind them. I mean for that to be a general statement, because there are many different reasons for different theories. If I say 'we', I mean the people who are in the medical profession. That doesn't mean these words won't be applicable to you.

C.S. Lewis proposes, "All possible knowledge depends on the validity of reasoning. If the feeling of certainty which we express by words like 'must be' or 'therefore' and 'since' is a real perception of how things outside our own minds really 'must' be, well and good. But if certainty is merely a feeling 'in' our own minds and not a genuine insight into the realities beyond it--if it merely represents the way our minds happen to work-- then we can have no knowledge. Unless human reasoning is valid, no science can be true." This is a considerable statement about the very thoughts we think on a daily basis. We must consider the validity of our own reasoning on both the micro and macro levels. We must also consider our reality vs. the reality of the people we treat. Lewis continues, "It follows that no account of the universe (from a mentally ill mind or not) can be true unless that account leaves it possible for our thinking to be a 'real' insight." Where's the source of validity in any reality? What are we basing our thought and reasoning on? If there is nothing, then we might as well trust whatever the wind brings us. I'd be substantially freaked out if my nurse or doctor maintained that line of thought. There's a whole other discussion about reality to be had, but I digress. C. S. Lewis continues, "An act of knowing must be determined, in a sense, solely by what is known; we must know it to BE thus solely because it IS thus. That is what knowing means." Of course there are various conditions of knowing such as partial knowledge and complete knowledge. How would there be uncertainty if we knew all things? I'm sure not everyone on a psychiatry unit agrees with what the other believes about life, love, happiness, truth (what it actually is), honor, fidelity, and of course more, but this issue isn't limited by psychiatrics. This being said, I can't fathom (not to say it can't be seen or doesn't exist) how it's possible to give consistent care when multiple people with multiple belief systems treat the same person. Mental health is a nebulous thing, especially because the state of mentally healthy is such a relative (to each person) thing. Lots of questions pop in my head when I get to thinking about where someone has come from, what they've experienced, how the things they've experienced have attributed to their current state of mind, how I can help them, how they view me and the world, is it reversible, and how they feel when they are told they have a disease of the mind (which isn't exactly like heart disease or a completely physical disease). I read an interesting article that proposes that, "In reality, neither minds nor bodies develop illnesses. Only people (or, in a wider context, organisms) do so, and when they do both mind and body, psyche and soma, are usually involved." (if you want the link, let me know). That's funny. Mabye it's the mind, body, and spirit that make up a person (the sarcasm is supposed to be explicit).

All these things said, does my agreeing or disagreeing with an idea make it right? No. However, if something remains true independently from my belief in the matter, then we must trust it. Even if we don't understand it. Is that blind faith? It depends on what you consider blindness. So, how do we differentiate the truth? All Lewis' point is saying is that we can't proclaim to know something unless we have a basis of knowledge and reasoning. If no one agrees upon the fact that we can actually know what's right and wrong or what's true and what's false, then nothing really matters. It's like Dostoevsky said, "If there is no God, then all is permitted." This statement transcends society and covers all of humanity.

I always think about 1 cor 2 when it talks about how no one can know another man's spirit, but we can know God's because He's given it to us. That's how we know truth. I do enjoy the realization of truth and the process of seeking it through self examination and the examination/observation of others. It seems to me that it's becoming more and more difficult to say we can 'know' anything. How do you know? We've intellectualized the mind to a state of hypothesis' that may or may not be true. It's often more socially and scientifically acceptable to propose a theory than to claim the truth of a matter.

Here's some food for thought: When you read this you will either agree, disagree, or not decide because you can't make a decision on the validity of it...Are you the source of your own validity? Or is it a text book? Consider the sources that have structured your beliefs, hopes, ambitions and everything else that is in your heart. Is it God?

These are a conglomeration of my thoughts, they could all be wrong. But how do you know? Thanks for reading and sorry for any jargon.

Follow Up

2010-02-04T14:29:00.005-05:00

As I said in the previous post God has been dealing with my heart lately on issues of how to glorify Hm and serve Him best with my life. I'm going to often need forgiveness for the fact that I will probably always say something and then get on a tangent without coming back to it. I did that. I also didn't make very clear the idea of the heart that I had in my head while writing. My mom said I skirted it (I appreciate the feedback). It's true. I did. So here's the rest, I hope:

Think of your heart as the source of life or the source of a river. What comes out of your heart is a river. So the "river" includes our actions, thoughts, words, aspirations, relationships (and how we view them), and basically every motivation and desire to do anything for any purpose. When God takes our heart and makes it His heart (Ezekel 36: 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.), it doesn't automatically change what's in the river (so to speak). God will continue to work out the problems with the "junk in the river." It's a process. But the main thing that has happened is the change in the source of life. A heart of stone leads to death. A heart of flesh leads to life. What's happened is the source of motivation and desire has shifted from our own heart's desires to the desires from God's heart. Does this always mean we'll get everything right and act, think, and be the way we should? Certainly not, but it does mean that we have a place to receive purer and stronger desires that are more powerful than our old desire. Our old desires were in no part good. God's desires are in no part bad. And if we wait long enough, we'll begin to see that our old desires are, in reality (the way things actually are, unaffected by man's opinion), much less desirable than the new ones anyway. God's way is always better than our way. That's a fact.

So with that said, how has God been showing me to glorify Him more? I've heard lately to just get out of the way. Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." So in order to glorify Him with my heart, I need to learn how to trust Him and be ok with not initially understanding everything. He says in Psalm 32:8, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you." Lord! We must wait with confidence that His promises are true and they will produce a pure and clean heart when we trust Him to do so.

Every 3 Weeks I'm Stuck

2010-01-31T13:01:00.001-05:00

So, here I am on a Sunday morning enjoying the quietness that happens after a long night for many residents. About every three weeks we (RA's) work what's called a power weekend. That means I work Fri, Sat, and Sun. It's like being on house arrest for a weekend (though I've never been on house arrest before...I promise). The upside is the interaction with residents. I love talking to people and finding out what's going on with their heart. Most of the time it's hard to get that far in conversation with someone at the front desk, but it happens on occasion.

I just finished listening to a sermon by Mark Driscoll (pastor at Mars Hill in Seattle). Like I said in the past, I've been reading the Proverbs and trying to gain more insight into the meaning and wisdom within them. God has been dealing with my heart lately on issues of how to glorify Hm and serve Him best with my life. Hopefully I can summarize what Mark said without any blasphemy. I'll try to reference statements with scripture (hopefully not out of context).

Jesus makes it clear that matters of the heart are of utmost importance (Luke 10:27, Matt 5:8; 22:37) Coinciding topically with Romans 3:23, Proverbs 20:9 says, "Who can say,'I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin?" This is obviously a question that is answered in Psalm 53:2-3, "God looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. Every one has turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one." That settles the issue of whether or not man is good on his own. He's not.

The question that was asked was 'Why do we do these things otherwise called sin?' (Sin is more or less rebellion against God's will and missing the mark of perfection)

WEll, The answer to that is based in Romans 5:12-21, "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned-for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come. But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

One of the points here is that we were implicated and involved with sin when Adam sinned. The example he used was clever. He talked about when a nation's leader decides to go to war the people of that nation are included whether they want to be or not. Another example is Psalm 51:5.

So what is the heart? What does that even mean? It's the center of our being (an even more nebulous thought) and the essence of who we are. The heart is a place from which our life flows. He basically used Proverbs 4:23 (Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.) to explain further that it's the spring of life. So, everything in our life will flow forward from our heart, because it's the source of our life. If then there is a problem with what comes out of the heart, then there is a problem with our source of life (namely our heart).

He did a great job of exposing our heart's need for regeneration into something new. Ezekiel 36:26-27 says, "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules." This means God has not fixed our hearts, but replaced them. He deals with the heart rather than picking through all the junk that comes from a heart that produces death. The heart bring forward will a life that leads to death if not regenerated by God's hand. It's only when God's hand has moved in our life that we will experience a heart that is given eternal life. Our hearts are utterly incapable of sustaining our own life because of it's imperfections and evil desires.

The cool thing about how this process works is found in Psalm 37:4, "Delight yourself in the Lord , and he will give you the desires of your heart." The key here is to realize that in delighting in the Lord we are given God's desires for His own work. So His desires replace our desires. BUT! Sometimes we have conflicting desires. Don't you? I do. God wants us to be more attentive to His desire than our own, because He knows that fulfilling His desires will always be more satisfying for us. From this perspective Christianity becomes much less of "why do I have to follow all these rules" and more of "I get to do what God wants? (which is what we want, if we delight in Him)"

Some questions to think about:
1) Do you have a new heart? (and how do you know?)
2) What is God showing your heart?
3) What can you do do nourish a deeper desire to delight in the Lord?
4) What desires (from God) are even deeper than your appetite for sinful desires?

Trust Him

2010-01-27T00:35:00.001-05:00

It's crazy that God, who has never given me a reason to doubt Him, would be the focus of my intermittent distrust. Why? Why would I distrust God? He says to me, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you. Do not be like the horse or mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you. Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord's unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in Him (Psalm 32:8-10)." Yet, I lose focus of Him for a brief time and I waver in my ability to trust in His greatness. It's like a lapse of memory in the midst of my life's very purpose! This is evidence of my soul's need for the continuing presence of the Holy Spirit in my life. "Look to the Lord and His strength, seek His face always. (Psalm 105:4)" Always! No moment of our life should be spent in pursuit of anything else but God's presence. Pursuing God's presence will allow us to see the benefits of His grace; however, I want to be clear that the benefits are nothing more than a residual effect of being in His presence (thank you R.C.V.). I should seek His presence not for the things it gives me, but because it pleases Him for me to do so.

It's so great a thing to know that He promises to instruct me and guide me. He promises and He is faithful to His promises not for my sake, but for the sake of His own name. Ah! What love our God has shown us? He truly is our refuge and fortress. His presence is the only place to develop intimacy with Him. But where is it? It's in our hearts, in prayer, in the Word (He's given to us), in other Christians, in His body (the church). Jesus is the ultimate answer to these questions.

Psalm 31:3

2010-01-26T00:45:00.000-05:00

"Since YOU are my ROCK and my FORTRESS, for the sake of YOUR name lead and guide me."
I can't add to that.

Read the Scriptures

2010-01-25T00:23:00.000-05:00

I found that getting together with people and reading scripture aloud is a great thing. Try it. One thing that was discussed as we read Ephesians tonight was how God gives us His spirit and revelation in the knowledge of Him for one purpose...His name. When is it that each one of us as Christians will realize that God's name is infinitely greater than our own? Everything God does for us, in us, through us, is for one purpose, "to the praise of His glorious Name." (Ephesians 1:6) I love to read Psalm 115 which says, "Not to us, O Lord, but to your Name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness." Knowing who my God is should make me all the quicker to avert any praise I receive directly to Him. I read a Spurgeon quote one time that went something like this, "The moment we glorify ourselves--since there is room for only one glory in the universe--we set ourselves up as rivals to the Most High." To me, that's no place I want to be. Proverbs 21:30 says, "No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel can avail against the Lord." It is crucial that our whole life and nothing less be given to the God of the Universe for the sole purpose of pleasing Him. Another thing to understand in light of the fact that God is jealous for His own glory is: Even if we contend for His glory, it still belongs to Him and no one can take it from Him. The only way we will get to see glory is if we accept Christ and step into the glory that He has already established since before time began. Glory is God's. Isaiah 42:8, "I am the Lord; that is my Name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols." Mind blowing.

I Serve a Great God

2010-01-23T08:01:00.001-05:00

So many things just happened. I'm going to ramble a few thoughts. There is no human feeling that is comparable with the presence of God. The presence of God, in fact, is not a feeling, but a place to be. For that matter, it's the greatest place for us to be.

Also, uncertainty is not bad. For some reason I've been getting uncertainty and impatience confused. However, being impatient in the midst of uncertainty takes away the opportunity to trust the Lord in difficult situations. God desires for us to wait patiently and know that He is the Lord who will work out everything according to His perfect will. Psalm 27:14 says, "Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!" God gives us clear instructions here on how to wait. With courage! Simply having courage implies that we've placed our hope in something that is viable. God is more than viable; He's the Rock! I've never thought that I could have unwavering confidence in the face of uncertainty. With God these things are not only possible, but commanded. "Be strong," is not a suggestion; it's a command. Praise God that we're not called to be weak people.

And to everyone who reads this, if anyone, pray more. It WILL change your life.

God's a Good God

2010-01-22T01:29:00.000-05:00

Tonight I was sitting in my room with a friend, and we were talking about Proverbs 21. God's words are so much better than my words! "To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable than sacrifice. (v.3)" Later on, "The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination; how much more when he brings it with evil intent. (v. 27)" Our perspectives on righteousness and justice is not the thing being encouraged here. We have no righteousness without Jesus. So, we must trust 2 Corinthians 5:21 which says, "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." The whole idea of righteousness and justice come from their source, God. We are to be imitators of God in His righteousness and justice with our own lives and set an example for others. I love these words, "Live such good lives that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us. 1 Peter 2:12" The life of a Christian is a life that includes sacrifice. As I mentioned earlier in a post, we must consider who brings a sacrifice and to whom it is being brought. Remember in Mark when they ask Jesus about money and He retorts to them that Cesar deserves his coins? "Render to Cesar that which is Cesar's. (Cesar liked his own money, it had his face on it.) In order to please God through sacrifice we must first be obedient. Sacrifice without obedience is silly. God asks us to obey His commands and knows that in doing so it is of most benefit to us, in terms of satisfaction, fulfillment, peace, joy, love, etc... See Jeremiah 32:38-39 (awesome) If we bring God a sacrifice, but ignore His commands do you think He will be pleased with it? My sacrifice becomes more like a bribe to get God to look away from what I've been doing otherwise. Put yourself in God's position, would a gift offering from a person who hates your ways (or is indifferent about things you ask them to do) be a comfort and pleasing? I'd be inclined to think not. The truth in these verses is that God wants us to do what is right, because it pleases Him. His pleasure is a great starting point for a direction in life. The crazy thing is that God pleases Himself through the people who have Jesus. So, it's really just God honoring and glorifying Himself through us. We GET to take part in glorifying God simply by being invited into the presence of God's ever-present glory. These are my thoughts. Weigh in please.

Have You Seen This Book?

2010-01-21T00:42:00.000-05:00

In Proverbs there are 31 chapters. It has taken me since I could think and remember things (about three years) to figure out that this fact matches with most months in the year. If you've done the math like I have, that's a chapter of proverbs a day...which equals wisdom for the rest of life! At this point I've been able to read through the book of Proverbs about three times, three months for the lay person. What has God taught me? Wow, good question! The answer is not simple for me to express in words. But since that's all I have, I must. Overall I've been challenged to think about the presence and application of knowledge and wisdom in my life. As I may or may not have communicated before, the only reason I have knowledge is so that others can know the glory and fame of my Lord, Jesus Christ. What good is my knowledge otherwise? The answer to that is, no good. Good only comes from God. I am totally incapable of good without Christ. So really, when ever I do good or anyone else does good, it's really just God reflecting Himself through that person. We're just fortunate to be able to partake in the good being done.

Contrarily, since we live in a society that is "me" centered and pushes towards independence (not always a good or bad thing), we must question our motivation for doing good for others? Obviously I'm not advocating that you take your life and do bad things, but I do often think about the implications of how we, as a society, define "good". Dr. John Patrick (he teaches biochemistry and is not a preacher:) made a point that I can't stop thinking about. He said, "All the things that matter most to us have no material existence. Have you ever thought about that? Love, fidelity, truth, honor, justice: these have no material existence and cannot be measured in the scientific sense. Science has nothing to say about them, but you can’t live without them." I couldn't refute the statement. Each society that has ever existed has all had elements of these things that have no material existence. As far as I know, no leaders convened in order to agree that justice was something they needed to have within their own realm of rule. Of course, the philosophy of what is good and bad has become, in the modern sense, a relative idea. Consider this: If I want good and you want good, but my good conflicts with what you consider as good...we have a problem. One of us is bad in the other person's eyes. If we can't agree on this at the individual level, how then can we agree on a macro-social (probably not a word) level? This also begs the question, is there a standard for good, and can we all seek to agree on that standard? This doctor also said, "Each culture is bound by the categories of thought (love, truth, justice, good, bad, fidelity, etc...). One mistake we make is that because we cannot make a particular judgment (say, as to what is good or bad), then ultimately these categories don't exist." Meaning that the societal definition of what is good or bad is as far as we need to think. But what if our society and economy was based on the sex trade, and success or good was defined by how well the economy was booming? Then selling people for sex would be good, because it's good for the economy. Now, back to my original question (a round-about way of asking, I know), where does your motivation lie? To what end is the good being done? It seems that I've rambled. I'll say that the end of the good we do is found in the glory of God. God will have His glory. No one can take it from Him, and no one can add to it. Here's a cool verse on the matter: "I am the Lord; that is My name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. Isaiah 42:8" I'll quote this article ( http://www.crosswalk.com/pastors/11624579/) on suffering, "God's Spirit and God's truth afflicted me in my comfort and comforted me in my affliction. As a result of this hard year, however, God and his gospel became more real and relevant to me than ever before. I've never felt so dependent on him. He's never been so big; I've never been so small. The idea that Jesus plus nothing equals everything ceased being simply a cognitive truth for me-it became my functional lifeline." Wow. Jesus must equal the value of everything in our life. He is our only true source of value! If you disagree or see it differently, that is precisely the thing I'm curious to know. I have no didactic motives here, only curiosity and a thirst for truth. So, like I said...Proverbs is awesome.

The Word is Important

2010-01-20T00:11:00.000-05:00

For my inaugural post, that I'm sure I'll be reading by myself, I shall ponder what it is to know something. Proverbs 1:7 says that, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.(ESV)" I heard a man say one time, that man being Dr. John Patrick (http://www.johnpatrick.ca/index.htm), "don't make statements, ask questions...then quote and atheist." So, what is it to fear the Lord? I don't really have any atheists in mind right now. If I find one to quote in the near future, I'll get on that. Chapter 2 of this book of wisdom offers a fair bit of insight as to how we receive the fear of the Lord. It reads, "My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, THEN you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; (ESV)" Need I say any more? The fear of the Lord is rooted in trembling and fear. Of course when you fear death, it's much different than the fear you ascribe to God. Think about it. If I fear a tyrant, then my fear is rooted in the potentially bad things that this person could do, namely abuse of power. God is not a loveless tyrant! He is a powerful all-knowing and loving God that seeks to make His own name the purpose of our life. We should fear Him, because He is worthy of it and in doing so it makes His name great. My fear of the Lord conversely allows me to not fear anything else! (did I use that word right?) Wow! I love the Lord and His Word of truth in my life. So can I quantify the fear of the Lord in a statement? No. But by making my ear attentive to wisdom, inclining my hear to understanding, calling out for insight, then I will understand it in my heart and relationship with Christ. There are things in our life that will only be expressible between us and God. 1 Corinthians 2:11, "For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? so also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God." We can't fuse our spirit with anyone but God. He's made it that way. So, when He helps me to understand in my spirit how to fear Him, it's because He's given it to me from His own spirit that is within me. It's a beautiful thing. All these things to Christ --"He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in approachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen." (1 Timothy 6:15-16)