"And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together." -Colossians 1:17
2011 has been a year where my cup has overflowed. God has blessed me beyond comprehension with some wonderful gifts, and the most precious gift I could have ever received aside from my salvation, my incredible husband, made just for me. And the way in which He answered prayers, like that for a husband, were above and beyond all that I could have imagined or hoped for (Ephesians 3:20-21).
Throughout this year God has not only blessed me abundantly, but has, in His love, sanctified me in a variety of ways. I have seen His hand reveal areas of weakness in my life, and have felt the Spirit's strengthening power to run this race harder. This year my prayer was two-fold with regard to my own sanctification; that I might know Him better and that I might comprehend the weight of the Gospel more. I am an eternity from the total fruition of these prayers being answered, but can truly say that He has allowed me to see Jesus as more glorious and great this year, and He has made the Gospel more real in my life. For that, I am so thankful.
As I look back on this year, I am humbled and in awe of God's faithfulness. I wonder why I ever distrust such a perfectly sovereign and good God. Despite the suffering, trials, and daily battles I have faced, I have realized more than ever the goodness of the Great God we serve! His immutable faithfulness is dumbfounding, characteristics that I never grow weary of praising Him for.
I believe as Christians it is a good thing to look back over the year, whether full of blessing or trial, and stand in awe of our great God. When you begin to examine the days of the year, you can't help but find yourself thanking Him for His constant love, steadfast protection and provision, and grace in your life. You see more clearly His sustaining power in all things in your life. And recognize that it is by His grace you were given another year.
And as we reflect and bring Him glory, we prayerfully anticipate the next year, 2012. There are countless unknowns and the great possibility that we may see Him face to face this year! There is a vital need to pray, to entreat the mighty God, and expectantly hope in this year, knowing that whatever His will is for it will be good, perfect!
I am beyond excited for 2012, despite the unknowns, because I have a great Father in heaven who holds all things in His hands! It is another year to know HIm more, to bring Him more glory, and to enjoy the good gifts (like my sweet husband), that He has blessed me with!
Thank you Jesus for 2011, I trust you with 2012!
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
The Gospel's Power to Humble
The human heart, by nature, is selfish and proud. Although it may be disguised at times in self pity or selfishly motivated humility, we must admit that being humble does not come "natural". And in a country and culture where self-worth, self-esteem, and pride is esteemed, being humble is all the more of a struggle. Yet, for the Christian, it is a command. Jesus himself called for a denial of self in order to be one of His disciples. And He goes further in summing up all the commandments into two; love Him first, and then love others...making you and me, number three. I'll be the first to admit that both of these characteristics that should define a Christ follower are struggles for me daily. My flesh is weak and although the Spirit is willing and able, I so often fail to draw from Him, and end up falling prey to my own fleshly wants and desires. I find myself like the Apostle Paul in Romans 7 saying, " For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing" (v19). And yet there is one thing that can humble me to my knees, one thing I must meditate more and more on, and preach continually to my heart- The Gospel of Jesus Christ.
As Christmas comes this week I have been daily reminded of the Gospel. I can't think of the little baby in the manger without immediately thinking about the man on the cross. I am dumbfounded when I recognize the weight of what happened during the transaction that day. And I am humbled beyond understanding when I recall the events of Christ's birth, life, and death. The God of the universe, coming to earth as a baby, in a stable? It sounds foolish. And then He goes further, purposefully planned, and dies the most heinous death possible, never once opening his mouth in rebuke or wrath. That kind of humility is out of this world, it is perfect in every way. It demands my worship, adoration, living.
And the message as Paul calls it in 1 Corinthians 1:18, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God", is truly the most humbling. It forces a sinner to their knees, to a recognition of the true state of self, and to a humbling reality that there is no hope within the human race. It demands repentance. And yet, while devastating the pride of the individual and humiliating the person to their knees, it offers the sweetest of promises, the greatest of joys, and the most wonderful of hopes. It is humbling, but in the most satisfying way. A salvation that is solely His to give and freely ours to cling to. How precious, how great is this Truth.
My heart's hope is that this Christmas season will spur on a year of continual reflecting on the Gospel message. It is the only message that will bring about true humility as we live for Him each day, and enable us to selflessly live a life for the glory of His name!
As Christmas comes this week I have been daily reminded of the Gospel. I can't think of the little baby in the manger without immediately thinking about the man on the cross. I am dumbfounded when I recognize the weight of what happened during the transaction that day. And I am humbled beyond understanding when I recall the events of Christ's birth, life, and death. The God of the universe, coming to earth as a baby, in a stable? It sounds foolish. And then He goes further, purposefully planned, and dies the most heinous death possible, never once opening his mouth in rebuke or wrath. That kind of humility is out of this world, it is perfect in every way. It demands my worship, adoration, living.
And the message as Paul calls it in 1 Corinthians 1:18, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God", is truly the most humbling. It forces a sinner to their knees, to a recognition of the true state of self, and to a humbling reality that there is no hope within the human race. It demands repentance. And yet, while devastating the pride of the individual and humiliating the person to their knees, it offers the sweetest of promises, the greatest of joys, and the most wonderful of hopes. It is humbling, but in the most satisfying way. A salvation that is solely His to give and freely ours to cling to. How precious, how great is this Truth.
My heart's hope is that this Christmas season will spur on a year of continual reflecting on the Gospel message. It is the only message that will bring about true humility as we live for Him each day, and enable us to selflessly live a life for the glory of His name!
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
A Sobering Reality
Death is a sobering reality, a reality we often forget. We often live day by day with a sense of immortality in our minds. And although we aren't to live in fear, there is a Truth Scripture exhorts us towards, a Truth that reminds us of where our focus must be during all of life's seasons.
In Ecclesiastes 7:2, the wise Solomon speaks this weighty words:
"It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart."
I can remember it like it was yesterday. Before I even got to the hospital I knew, I knew I would never see my grandpa this side of heaven again, and the pain of that was unbearable. I don't think I have ever cried so hard in my life, a sort of weeping that pains every fiber of your being, my heart literally hurt. And yet, in the midst of it all, I had an indescribable peace and joy that I couldn't explain. It didn't remove the pain I was enduring, or stop the tears I shed for days, but it shifted my focus from the temporal to the eternal. In that season I was struck head on with a reality I had never had to face before, that reality that Solomon speaks of in Ecclesiastes 7, that death is real, and for every person that ever walks the face of this earth.
In the midst of all the tears I was reminded of two crucial things; his salvation (and mine), and the reality of the Great Commission. The joy and burden of both weighed heavy on my heart. It was almost if I had been jolted into the realm of reality I hadn't wanted to face. The fact that I didn't have "forever", and the need for purpose in my pursuit of this life. Why was I here? Merely to bring glory to God through the exclamation of His precious and powerful Gospel, the hope that is found in Jesus Christ alone. My grandpa had been saved for less than a year when He went home to be with His Savior. He had heard the Gospel countless times in his 60 some odd years and rejected it again and again, and yet by the sovereign hand of the Almighty, He had been sustained, God's patience had endured until the day He was given eyes to see and a heart to respond. The power of the Gospel was displayed in the death of my grandpa. There was true joy in knowing I would see Him again.
So what's the point of all of this you might ask? The point is that we MUST refocus our minds and hearts on the eternal. We must realize that death is imminent for all men and we don't know the timing of the Almighty for each individual, it could be today, it could be tomorrow, or it could be in 50 years from now. But regardless, as believers we have been given a commission, to use TODAY to be a light for Him, to take the opportunities to share His Truth, to pray for the lost and unsaved in our midst, and to trust the God who is mighty to save. Marvel at the life you have been given because it is the grace of God, and only that, that sustains your every breath. Stand in awe of the salvation which He has graciously given you, and don't take that for granted. Be reminded in life and death of the reality of the temporary and the eternity of the eternal...and live for what is imperishable not for what moths and dust will destroy. Think on these things regularly, and never lose sight of the hope on which you stand.
And for the unsaved, let death be a wake up call to you. Recognize the reality that you are hanging by a mere thread over the pit of hell and it is but by the mercy and grace of God that you still live and breath. KNOW that He is ready to save you, His love seen through the Gospel of Jesus Christ enables your sin to be forgiven and for the perfect righteousness of Christ to be put on your account. In a moment your destiny can change. Don't believe the lies of the enemy that you have more time. Time is in the hands of the One who made you, and death is real, and never timely. I plead with you to repent, to turn from your sins and to put your trust and confidence fully in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Your eternal destiny depends on it...
"For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter,and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born." - 1 Corinthians 15:3-8
In Ecclesiastes 7:2, the wise Solomon speaks this weighty words:
"It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart."
I can remember it like it was yesterday. Before I even got to the hospital I knew, I knew I would never see my grandpa this side of heaven again, and the pain of that was unbearable. I don't think I have ever cried so hard in my life, a sort of weeping that pains every fiber of your being, my heart literally hurt. And yet, in the midst of it all, I had an indescribable peace and joy that I couldn't explain. It didn't remove the pain I was enduring, or stop the tears I shed for days, but it shifted my focus from the temporal to the eternal. In that season I was struck head on with a reality I had never had to face before, that reality that Solomon speaks of in Ecclesiastes 7, that death is real, and for every person that ever walks the face of this earth.
In the midst of all the tears I was reminded of two crucial things; his salvation (and mine), and the reality of the Great Commission. The joy and burden of both weighed heavy on my heart. It was almost if I had been jolted into the realm of reality I hadn't wanted to face. The fact that I didn't have "forever", and the need for purpose in my pursuit of this life. Why was I here? Merely to bring glory to God through the exclamation of His precious and powerful Gospel, the hope that is found in Jesus Christ alone. My grandpa had been saved for less than a year when He went home to be with His Savior. He had heard the Gospel countless times in his 60 some odd years and rejected it again and again, and yet by the sovereign hand of the Almighty, He had been sustained, God's patience had endured until the day He was given eyes to see and a heart to respond. The power of the Gospel was displayed in the death of my grandpa. There was true joy in knowing I would see Him again.
So what's the point of all of this you might ask? The point is that we MUST refocus our minds and hearts on the eternal. We must realize that death is imminent for all men and we don't know the timing of the Almighty for each individual, it could be today, it could be tomorrow, or it could be in 50 years from now. But regardless, as believers we have been given a commission, to use TODAY to be a light for Him, to take the opportunities to share His Truth, to pray for the lost and unsaved in our midst, and to trust the God who is mighty to save. Marvel at the life you have been given because it is the grace of God, and only that, that sustains your every breath. Stand in awe of the salvation which He has graciously given you, and don't take that for granted. Be reminded in life and death of the reality of the temporary and the eternity of the eternal...and live for what is imperishable not for what moths and dust will destroy. Think on these things regularly, and never lose sight of the hope on which you stand.
And for the unsaved, let death be a wake up call to you. Recognize the reality that you are hanging by a mere thread over the pit of hell and it is but by the mercy and grace of God that you still live and breath. KNOW that He is ready to save you, His love seen through the Gospel of Jesus Christ enables your sin to be forgiven and for the perfect righteousness of Christ to be put on your account. In a moment your destiny can change. Don't believe the lies of the enemy that you have more time. Time is in the hands of the One who made you, and death is real, and never timely. I plead with you to repent, to turn from your sins and to put your trust and confidence fully in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Your eternal destiny depends on it...
"For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter,and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born." - 1 Corinthians 15:3-8
Tuesday, December 06, 2011
An Infant God?
"Why did Jesus have to be God?"...I think as believers we have all faced this question, especially during Christmas. For whatever reason, people have a really hard time understanding how on earth a baby in a manger was the God of the universe, the One who created everything! It might be easier to believe He was God when He was out and about performing miracles, or even when He rose from the dead, but when He was lying in a manger? When he was a toddler walking around the home of Mary and Joseph? As a school aged boy playing with his friends? Was He really God, and did He even have to be at that point?
Well think about this for a moment...
A perfect, holy, Creator, God makes man who in turn is also blameless and living in perfection. In the sovereign plan and design of that holy God, man falls, disobeys, and sin enters the ENTIRE human race. From that point on, there is no longer fellowship between the two (God and man), it seems from the perspective of creation, to have forever been marred. YET, God had a greater design, a more perfect plan then anyone could fathom. His glory would be displayed in an indescribable and unfathomable way. God would make a way, a way for man to restore the relationship, to be cleansed from their iniquity forever, and to enjoy eternity in heaven with Him. The solution? Jesus Christ, His perfect Son, God in the flesh.
The incarnation of Christ baffles the human mind. In order to save us God had to become man. The Son assumed a genuine human nature in order to: perfectly obey God’s law (in order to fulfill the covenant of works), suffer and die on the cross as a vicarious atonement and rise again victorious over Satan, sin and death. It is a tremendous blessing to us that the Mediator will forever and ever be both God and man. For eternity we will be able to look at the scars in our Lord’s hands, feet and side. His glorified human body will be an eternal testimony to His supreme love; the love that caused Him to descend from the room of heaven to the filthy manger in Bethlehem and the painful road to Golgotha.
So there you have it, the answer to an age old question. Was Jesus God in that manger...yes, and more importantly, did He have to be...yes. He CHOSE to submit, to love, to redeem, to reconcile, to restore, and to one day glorify.
As we reflect this month on the true Christmas story, stop and marvel at the reality of the incarnation...be amazed once more, glorify the risen Christ with the angels in heaven, and remember why it had to be, and more importantly why He did it.
Well think about this for a moment...
A perfect, holy, Creator, God makes man who in turn is also blameless and living in perfection. In the sovereign plan and design of that holy God, man falls, disobeys, and sin enters the ENTIRE human race. From that point on, there is no longer fellowship between the two (God and man), it seems from the perspective of creation, to have forever been marred. YET, God had a greater design, a more perfect plan then anyone could fathom. His glory would be displayed in an indescribable and unfathomable way. God would make a way, a way for man to restore the relationship, to be cleansed from their iniquity forever, and to enjoy eternity in heaven with Him. The solution? Jesus Christ, His perfect Son, God in the flesh.
The incarnation of Christ baffles the human mind. In order to save us God had to become man. The Son assumed a genuine human nature in order to: perfectly obey God’s law (in order to fulfill the covenant of works), suffer and die on the cross as a vicarious atonement and rise again victorious over Satan, sin and death. It is a tremendous blessing to us that the Mediator will forever and ever be both God and man. For eternity we will be able to look at the scars in our Lord’s hands, feet and side. His glorified human body will be an eternal testimony to His supreme love; the love that caused Him to descend from the room of heaven to the filthy manger in Bethlehem and the painful road to Golgotha.
So there you have it, the answer to an age old question. Was Jesus God in that manger...yes, and more importantly, did He have to be...yes. He CHOSE to submit, to love, to redeem, to reconcile, to restore, and to one day glorify.
As we reflect this month on the true Christmas story, stop and marvel at the reality of the incarnation...be amazed once more, glorify the risen Christ with the angels in heaven, and remember why it had to be, and more importantly why He did it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
