I wish that all men would repent and believe! (2 minutes)
http://illbehonest.com/
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
"In view of His Mercy...."
"Therefore I urge you brothers in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies a living and holy sacrifices, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 12:1-2)
I have been thinking alot about my life and the direction that I know the Lord is leading me in regards to my personal life as it relates to the way that I lead and serve my wife and children; especially as it relates to the roles of the man and the woman in a marriage relationship. Obviously, I could talk about Ephesians 5, I Timothy 2, and Titus 1-2, until I am blue in the face, but it means nothing unless you and I are looking at them from the same paradigm. "We interpret Scripture through presuppositions of what we 'think' to be true" So basically, if you (or I) are not basing everything that you do (every facet of your day to day life) on the revealed truth found in the scripture than you are, simply put, living your life according to what you think to be true, which has been influenced / saturated by the every element of the world specifically designed to present a truth in direct contrast to the Word of God, and henceforth you interpret passages such as the ones listed above from a presupposition of truth that has no foundation or root in the revealed truth found in the Word of God. So, these verses regarding the roles of the husband and the wife, are foolishness to you because you are not reading them from a presupposition that the Bible is the inerrant, infallible, complete, revealed truth of God useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that you will be thoroughly equipped for every good work. Having said that, I could not begin to instruct or comment on the roles of the husband and wife, which clearly do not conform to the pattern of this world (Rom 12:2) unless I first present, through scripture the "view of God's mercy".
I do feel like this part of the verse can get overlooked or less emphasized, but as I was sitting here in prayer thinking about these verses in Romans 12, I kept coming back to this phrase, (In view of God's mercy). I believe that this is the foundational phrase from which you can understand not only the rest of that chapter, but pretty much the whole New Testament and God's instructions for living an unashamed, non-conforming, righteous-seeking life. The verse says, "...in view of God's mercy, offer your bodies as living sacrifices..."; throughout the Old Testament sacrifices were made as repentance for sins, in honor to God, and as acts of worship. When Christ came He did away with the earthly sacrifices as a means of justification for sins. He became the justification / propititation for my sins. He looked at me: wretched, dead in my trespasses and sins, worthless (of my own merit), abominable, damnable to hell, and through His grace gave the gift of salvation sovereignly to an object of His wrath (me). Basically, He is just. Therefore, before Him, I deserve eternal wrath in hell, but He by His Sovereign saving grace showed mercy on my soul, giving me a saving faith that was from Him (Eph 2:8-9) so that I could spend eternity with Him. THAT is mercy (very short version)! So now back to the verse in Romans 12: "...in view of God's MERCY..." He tells us to offer our bodies (our lives -- the totality of them) to Him as a spirtual act of worship. Another thing to note, in the Old Testament, when they offered sacrifices they did not offer to the Lord defiled offerings, they were required to offer to Him the best of the best. Now back to Romans....He doesn't want us to offer Him defiled lives. "...in view of God's MERCY..." when you begin to see THAT, how could you possibly not want to do everything possible to offer your very best to Him! Well, what is your very best? Read the sermon on the mount (Matthew 5,6,7) and keep reading in Romans 12 --> "Do not conform anymore to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind" ...Hebrews 12 :1 says, "...let us lay aside every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles us, and let us run the race that is set before us..." I will let the Word and the Holy Spirit direct you to what those verses are talking about in your life. So once your "view of God's mercy" is broadened and your understanding, from The Word, is deepened, you begin to realize that the things of this world grow strangly dim in the light of His glory and grace! So the long and short is that you cannot understand the freedom in the Lord's order for the family unit and each one's role until you have sought His Word and He has revealed himself, through His Word, to you in such a way that His mercy overwhelms you and His grace leads you to the cross.
"The Cross (of Christ) does not give us a minor shift or two with regad to a few of our ethical and moral and religious values. The cross radically disrupts the very center and citadel of your life from self, to Christ" (http://www.illbehonest.com/)
All His Love and Grace
Matt
I have been thinking alot about my life and the direction that I know the Lord is leading me in regards to my personal life as it relates to the way that I lead and serve my wife and children; especially as it relates to the roles of the man and the woman in a marriage relationship. Obviously, I could talk about Ephesians 5, I Timothy 2, and Titus 1-2, until I am blue in the face, but it means nothing unless you and I are looking at them from the same paradigm. "We interpret Scripture through presuppositions of what we 'think' to be true" So basically, if you (or I) are not basing everything that you do (every facet of your day to day life) on the revealed truth found in the scripture than you are, simply put, living your life according to what you think to be true, which has been influenced / saturated by the every element of the world specifically designed to present a truth in direct contrast to the Word of God, and henceforth you interpret passages such as the ones listed above from a presupposition of truth that has no foundation or root in the revealed truth found in the Word of God. So, these verses regarding the roles of the husband and the wife, are foolishness to you because you are not reading them from a presupposition that the Bible is the inerrant, infallible, complete, revealed truth of God useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that you will be thoroughly equipped for every good work. Having said that, I could not begin to instruct or comment on the roles of the husband and wife, which clearly do not conform to the pattern of this world (Rom 12:2) unless I first present, through scripture the "view of God's mercy".
I do feel like this part of the verse can get overlooked or less emphasized, but as I was sitting here in prayer thinking about these verses in Romans 12, I kept coming back to this phrase, (In view of God's mercy). I believe that this is the foundational phrase from which you can understand not only the rest of that chapter, but pretty much the whole New Testament and God's instructions for living an unashamed, non-conforming, righteous-seeking life. The verse says, "...in view of God's mercy, offer your bodies as living sacrifices..."; throughout the Old Testament sacrifices were made as repentance for sins, in honor to God, and as acts of worship. When Christ came He did away with the earthly sacrifices as a means of justification for sins. He became the justification / propititation for my sins. He looked at me: wretched, dead in my trespasses and sins, worthless (of my own merit), abominable, damnable to hell, and through His grace gave the gift of salvation sovereignly to an object of His wrath (me). Basically, He is just. Therefore, before Him, I deserve eternal wrath in hell, but He by His Sovereign saving grace showed mercy on my soul, giving me a saving faith that was from Him (Eph 2:8-9) so that I could spend eternity with Him. THAT is mercy (very short version)! So now back to the verse in Romans 12: "...in view of God's MERCY..." He tells us to offer our bodies (our lives -- the totality of them) to Him as a spirtual act of worship. Another thing to note, in the Old Testament, when they offered sacrifices they did not offer to the Lord defiled offerings, they were required to offer to Him the best of the best. Now back to Romans....He doesn't want us to offer Him defiled lives. "...in view of God's MERCY..." when you begin to see THAT, how could you possibly not want to do everything possible to offer your very best to Him! Well, what is your very best? Read the sermon on the mount (Matthew 5,6,7) and keep reading in Romans 12 --> "Do not conform anymore to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind" ...Hebrews 12 :1 says, "...let us lay aside every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles us, and let us run the race that is set before us..." I will let the Word and the Holy Spirit direct you to what those verses are talking about in your life. So once your "view of God's mercy" is broadened and your understanding, from The Word, is deepened, you begin to realize that the things of this world grow strangly dim in the light of His glory and grace! So the long and short is that you cannot understand the freedom in the Lord's order for the family unit and each one's role until you have sought His Word and He has revealed himself, through His Word, to you in such a way that His mercy overwhelms you and His grace leads you to the cross.
"The Cross (of Christ) does not give us a minor shift or two with regad to a few of our ethical and moral and religious values. The cross radically disrupts the very center and citadel of your life from self, to Christ" (http://www.illbehonest.com/)
All His Love and Grace
Matt
Monday, August 17, 2009
The Big Plan
So I was reading with Ashley tonight and read a passage that kinda struck me in a different way than you may expect or think. I'll share:
" So then you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God's household, built on the foundationof the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone. The whole building is being fitted together in Him and is growing into a holy sanctuary in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for God's dwelling in the spirit" Ephesians 2:19-22
The more that I study and emmerse myself in the Word of God the more I begin to see the majestic Sovereignty of our Mighty Lord. The Word of God is God's revelation of Truth to and for us, therefore the more we read and study the greater and more majestic the picture of our Lord becomes to us. "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God; He was with God in the beginning" Plain and simple we limit our view of the God we say we serve when we neglect to study His revelation to us....Himself (The Word). Anyway, having said this, when I began reading this passage from Ephesians the phrase "...the whole building is being fitted together in Him...." kept sticking in my mind. This seems like a continual and constant "fitting together" if you will. A continual working towards an end. What I am getting at is that when I read this passage I see the Sovereign Lord at work within His master plan for the universe that began being fashioned from creation and is still continually being fashioned today. The neat thing that I realized is that if I am a true believer than I am part of that sovereign plan of our Master. I am constantly being fitted together in the Lord so that once "I have finished the race marked out for me" I hear the words, "well done my good and faithful slave". Then I will be able to "look back" and see how I did fit in the Lord's sovereign plan and hopfully faithfully continued the work so that those that are to follow me can build upon what the Lord used me for to fit them for their place among the building of the Master Plan.
Thanks
Matt (Jeremiah 17:7-8)
" So then you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God's household, built on the foundationof the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone. The whole building is being fitted together in Him and is growing into a holy sanctuary in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for God's dwelling in the spirit" Ephesians 2:19-22
The more that I study and emmerse myself in the Word of God the more I begin to see the majestic Sovereignty of our Mighty Lord. The Word of God is God's revelation of Truth to and for us, therefore the more we read and study the greater and more majestic the picture of our Lord becomes to us. "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God; He was with God in the beginning" Plain and simple we limit our view of the God we say we serve when we neglect to study His revelation to us....Himself (The Word). Anyway, having said this, when I began reading this passage from Ephesians the phrase "...the whole building is being fitted together in Him...." kept sticking in my mind. This seems like a continual and constant "fitting together" if you will. A continual working towards an end. What I am getting at is that when I read this passage I see the Sovereign Lord at work within His master plan for the universe that began being fashioned from creation and is still continually being fashioned today. The neat thing that I realized is that if I am a true believer than I am part of that sovereign plan of our Master. I am constantly being fitted together in the Lord so that once "I have finished the race marked out for me" I hear the words, "well done my good and faithful slave". Then I will be able to "look back" and see how I did fit in the Lord's sovereign plan and hopfully faithfully continued the work so that those that are to follow me can build upon what the Lord used me for to fit them for their place among the building of the Master Plan.
Thanks
Matt (Jeremiah 17:7-8)
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
An Exhortation While Walking in Sovereign Sustaining Grace
Let's be honest, life can seem tough sometimes. (Although I must preface this by saying that we in America do NOT really know what it means to suffer. I do not say this to minimize anyone's present circumstance, but I have really been challenged with a type of true Christianity that I see and hear about it other countries. Here, we live our worldly conforming lives and when we face a little percieved hardship our spiritual mettle is tested. In other countries, a pursuit of Jesus Christ is certain death) Anyway, having said that, I can say from a personal level that we as a family have and are walking through some times of testing. What I want to do is tell you about the sustaining peace, grace, and faith that our Saviour has given us through His Word ("Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God"). There is a beautiful passage of scripture (Jeremiah 32:36-41) that really elevates the Sovereignty of God in walking us into tough times, but while we are there, He sustains us with His Sustaining Grace. Then as He walks us out of the tough times, He rejoices over us and gives us His Word in order to glory and exult in Him alone. The tough things we are walking through are in His hand. As the Sovereign God He ordains, sustains, and delivers according to His will. This view of His Sovereignty has really been a blessing to Ashley and I. To know that He is here and in total control. What He wants from us is this:
"Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to the Lord. This is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the re-knewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, His good, pleasing, and perfect will" (Romans 12:1-2)
We must know His Word and yearn, seek, and pursue His Holiness so that in the midst of any strom we may experience Him. Whether He says "storm...peace be still" or the storm continues, it is ordained for His glory and we can either choose to see that and put our trust in the awesome God or we can choose to put our faith in ourselves and not glory in His Soveriengty. I want to leave you with a verse of exhortation for all of us that "call" ourselves Christains:
"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust indeed is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by the waters, that sends its roots out by the streams. It does not fear when the heat comes; it's leaves are always green. It does not worry in a year of drought, it NEVER ceases to bear fruit!" (Jeremiah 17:7-8)
Matthew 7, says that you know a tree by its fruit. Are you bearing the fruit for Christ that you so adamately profess? Better yet, are you so rooted in Christ, not conforming to this sick world, and firmly based in the Word of God and His Sovereignty that you continue to bear fruit in and through tough times? That is the mark of a true believer. I exhort you as does Jeremiah, where are your roots planted? Every root of your life and who you are?
God Bless
Matt
"Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to the Lord. This is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the re-knewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, His good, pleasing, and perfect will" (Romans 12:1-2)
We must know His Word and yearn, seek, and pursue His Holiness so that in the midst of any strom we may experience Him. Whether He says "storm...peace be still" or the storm continues, it is ordained for His glory and we can either choose to see that and put our trust in the awesome God or we can choose to put our faith in ourselves and not glory in His Soveriengty. I want to leave you with a verse of exhortation for all of us that "call" ourselves Christains:
"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust indeed is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by the waters, that sends its roots out by the streams. It does not fear when the heat comes; it's leaves are always green. It does not worry in a year of drought, it NEVER ceases to bear fruit!" (Jeremiah 17:7-8)
Matthew 7, says that you know a tree by its fruit. Are you bearing the fruit for Christ that you so adamately profess? Better yet, are you so rooted in Christ, not conforming to this sick world, and firmly based in the Word of God and His Sovereignty that you continue to bear fruit in and through tough times? That is the mark of a true believer. I exhort you as does Jeremiah, where are your roots planted? Every root of your life and who you are?
God Bless
Matt
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
