Holiness.

"Without holiness no one will see the Lord". Hebrews 12:14.

"But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written : "Be holy, because I am holy." 1 Peter 1:15-16.

Talking To Yourself.

'Most unhappiness in life is due to the fact that we are listening to ourselves instead of talking to ourselves." (paraphrase D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones).

Sounds somewhat nonsensical?

Spiritual depression is influenced by our negative thoughts. These thoughts are spontaneous and often uninvited but are frequently entertained over and over again. They might be thoughts about our sinfulness or our lack of success and our failures. These negative thoughts render the Christian ineffective and unhappy. The Bible calls us to take ourselves in hand (as Lloyd-Jones puts it) and tell ourselves (talk to ourselves about) the truth of God's word. Preach the gospel every day to ourselves. The facts and promises God has given us. Imagine, we are seen as righteous in God's eyes because of Jesus. God loves us as sons and daughters and promises us an inheritance with him forever. He promises us good things! We do not have to do anything to earn our place. We are valuable the way we are because God created us this way and values us.

Our minds need to be continuously renewed by the word of God (Romans 12:2). Take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5) and set our minds on things above, not on earthly things (Colossians 3:2), not on ourselves but on God and his promises.

See Spiritual Depression, It's Causes and It's Cure by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones.

Life

Life here can be a struggle. Jesus told us it would be. But, God has a plan for a great future for those who believe.

Jesus said..."In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. Genesis 3:16-17

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights. Habakkuk 3:17-19.

Jesus said...."I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. Revelation 21:1-7.

God's Wrath

God is a just God. He hates sin and will justly act to rid it from his presence. His wrath toward sin and evil are turned toward us, because we are by nature sinful. Look at the world. Read the headlines. Can anyone disagree that mankind is not right? I know in my heart how sinful I am. Even if it doesn't appear by my actions that I am broken, I know deep down what a wretched man I am. What makes it even worse is the fact that I cannot stop my sins completely even if I try. I am a wretch. Every sin I have committed and will commit incites the wrath of God. I have no hope.

Or do I?

When Christ hung on the cross God's wrath was poured out on him for all of my sins. Think about that. My sin from the past, present and future was attributed to Jesus, and he suffered the full wrath of God for what I have done, am doing and will do. This means that there is no wrath left. It has already been spent. God sees me as a righteous man because of what Jesus has done.

We are obedient to God's commands because we love him. Not to earn our way into heaven.

"Amazing grace how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I am found; was blind but now I see."

1 Peter Opening

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to God's elect, strangers in the world, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: (1 Peter 1:1-2).

There is an amazing amount of information in this text.

Observations:

• -This is not our home. (Heaven is).
• -The trinity is seen clearly (Father, Spirit, Jesus).
• -Believers are chosen by God according to his foreknowledge or forthought.
• -God's foreknowledge speaks to his knowing of the future, in this case of our individual acceptance of his free gift of salvation.
• -The Spirit enters our lives and begins to sanctify us or mold us to the image of Christ.
• -We are sprinkled by Christ's blood through faith receiving forgiveness for our sins. Christ's righteousness in God's eyes is given to us or imputed to us in this transaction.
• -Real faith in Christ mandates obedience to his commands.

Take The Bullet

For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 1 Peter 2:19,21,23.

Observations:
-We are called to suffer in a way that glorifies God even if persecuted or punished unjustly.
-No whining (Phillipians 2:14).
-Retaliation by us for perceived wrongs is sin. (Hebrews 10:30).
-This includes "thinking" about retaliation.
-God is the protector of our reputations and our lives.
-The Lord is just so we can trust him with our reputations and our lives.

I am really not doing the above well. Help me Lord to want to honor you more that I want to protect myself.

Proof.

Why hasn't God demonstrated his existence in "terms" which are incontrovertible?

God could present himself on the earth or in the heavens in all his glory for all to see and speak to us making his existence unquestionable. Carl Sagan (an atheist) asked why God does not just put a huge cross in the sky if he is real. Why doesn't he? It wouldn't be difficult for him. He created the heavens and the earth. Why does God not make himself obvious?

Love. Love is the answer. God is love (1 John 4:16). Love cannot be coerced. It cannot be forced. The only way for people to love God is if they have the opportunity to not love God. When I first met my wife, if I pointed a gun at her and said you will love me at this moment or I will shoot, she would have been unable to love me even to save herself. We cannot truly love God unless we have the opportunity to reject him. God loves us and wants us to love him. This has to be our choice by definition. In order for it to be our choice, God could not present the evidence for himself in incontrovertable terms.

Having said that, God has revealed himself to all people in atleast amounts that are enough to result in belief in him. Man has no excuse for rejecting him for the heavens declare the glory of God (Romans 1:20, Psalm 19:1).

Reward For Believers.

God is the creator of joy.

Obedience to God requires faith that God exists and belief that God rewards those who are obedient. To seek the reward God offers is a sign of faith in the reward giver.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross....(Hebrews 12:2).

Does God want us to be joyful? Does God want us to be obedient without promising us reward for doing so? Is the Christian to be motivated by duty to do what's right or by personal benefit if what's right is done? I have always thought that we are obligated to do God's will, to be obedient to him solely because he is God, and we are obligated. But, does a man (or woman) ever act in ways that bring no self benefit?

Pascal said, "All men seek happiness without exception. They all aim at this goal however different the means they use to attain it. . . .They will never make the smallest move but with this as its goal. This is the motive of all the actions of all men, even those who contemplate suicide." Pascal was a Christian. He saw the nature of man and the bent of the word of God.

Hebrews 11:6 says, "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." Part of faith is believing the promises of reward that God has given. If we act with a sense of duty and without a sense of the blessing God has for us, we forfeit the joy God has planned. The tendency is to become lukewarm in our walk with Christ. The problem is we don't often think of God offering reward for obedience. We only think of God's wrath toward disobedience.

God has planned and promised blessing (Malachi 3:10, Ephesians 1:3, 1 Corinthians 9:23-24), joy (Nehemia 8:10, Psalm 16:11, John 15:10-12), glory (1 Corinthians 2:7, Romans 8:17-18) and an inheritance in heaven (1 Peter 1:4) to those who believe. We should seek the rewards of God and rejoice in his provision for an "abundant life." (John 10:10).

"Resolved, To endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness in the other world as I possibly can, with all the power, might, vigor, and vehemence, yea violence, I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of." Jonathon Edwards.

See John Piper's profitable writing on Christian Hedonism which inspired much of this post.

John 14:21

Jesus said, "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."

Observations:
-We cannot "have" Jesus' commands without reading and knowing the Bible.
-Willful ignorance of Christ's commands is not an acceptable excuse.
-Obedience to Christ is evidence of love for Christ. Disobedience suggests abscence of faith.
-Obedience leads to further revelation.

Paradise.

"Remember me when you come into your kingdom," said the thief to Jesus. Each hung on a cross in excrutiating pain. Jesus replied, "Today you will be with me in paradise."

The thief had lived a life full of sin, had never been baptized, but believed in the last hours of his life in the power of Jesus Christ to save him. God later that day received his spirit into paradise.

Paradise sounds good doesn't it? Paul speaks in the third person about himself in 2 Corinthians when he says: "I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven*. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know--God knows. And I know that this man--whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows--was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things that man is not permitted to tell." (2 Corinthians 12:2-4). Paul saw paradise, but was not permitted to "discuss the details." Ever wonder why Paul had the strength to live the life he did? He knew who he was going to be with (Jesus/Acts chapter 9), and he knew the inheritance he was to receive. About eternity Paul writes: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him." (1 Corinthians 2:9). Anything we imagine is less than what God has planned! Think of the most awesome beautiful place on earth, and it is nothing in comparison to the eternal dwelling of those who allow Jesus to become Lord of their life.

*Third heaven: the first heaven is the sky, the second heaven is the stars and space, the third heaven is the spiritual realm.

The Desert.

I have been in the desert for a week. Dry. Missing God, but too frustrated with myself and life to seek him. I get this way atleast for a few days every six or eight weeks. This episode started with being busy doing the "work of a Christian"...accountability groups, Bible studies, etc. I was so busy I didn't spend time in the morning with God. I began taking more interest in worldly things which led to more disappointment and frustration. Like Martha, I wasn't sitting at Jesus' feet and just listening. After getting caught up in worldliness, I usually begin to feel depressed with my sin. This lasts a day or two and then God in his great mercy lifts me out of the miry pit (Ps 40:2). Right now I am being lifted out and God is showing me the joy of my salvation (Ps 51:12). What a good God he is!

God, thank you that no one can snatch me out of your hand. Thank you for your mercy. You have never and will never leave me or forsake me. Help me to first seek you as seeking treasure. Help me to rest in you and rejoice in you. Help me to remember I am a stranger in this place. This is not my home.