Christian Living

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
And awe came upon every soul....
Acts 2:42, 43a

In the creature’s knowing, esteeming, loving, rejoicing in, and praising God, the glory of God is both exhibited and acknowledged; his fullness is received and returned. Here is both an emanation and remanation. The refulgence shines upon and into the creature, and is reflected back to the luminary. The beams of glory come from God, and are something of God, and are refunded back again to their original. So that the whole is of God, and in God, and to God; and God is the beginning, middle and end in this affair. (Yale, Vol. 8, p. 531)

Jonathon Edwards
The End For Which God Created The World

The Commands Of Jesus

The Commands of Jesus

Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” (John 14:21, ESV)

1. Repent Matt 4:17
2. Let your light shine before others Matt 5:16
3. Reconcile your anger with your brother Matt 5:21-26
4. Do not look at a woman with lustful intent Matt 5:28
5. Do not divorce Matt 5:32
6. Do not take an oath Matt 5:34
7. Do not resist the one who is evil Matt 5:39
8. Love your enemies Matt 5:44
9. Pray for those who persecute you Matt 5:44
10. Give to the needy secretly Matt 6:3,4
11. Do not lay up for yourself treasures on earth Matt 6:19
12  Lay up for yourself treasures in heaven Matt 6:20
13. Do not be anxious about your life Matt 6:25, 34
14. Seek first the kingdom of God Matt 6:33
15. Judge not Matt 7:1
16. Do not give dogs what is holy Matt 7:6
17. Do to others that which you wish others would do to you Matt 7:12
18. Beware of false prophets Matt 7:15
19. Fear not men who hate Christ Matt 10:26
20. Proclaim from the rooftops what Jesus tells us Matt 10:27
21. Deny self, take up cross, follow Jesus Matt 16:24
22. Confront a brother who sins against you Matt 18:15-17
23. Love the Lord your God with all heart, soul, mind Matt 22:37 (from Law)
24. Love neighbor as self Matt 22:39 (from Law)
25. Call no man or self father, rabbi, instructor Matt 23:8-12
26. Watch Matt 25:13
27. Go, make disciples, baptize disciples, teach disciples to observe what Christ commands Matt 18:19

Good, Righteous, Holy

God is good, righteous and holy.

He is good in that he is benevolent toward those that are his. He wants to do "good" for us and to us. He is not watching over us waiting for us to mess up so that he can punish us. (Matthew 7:11, Romans 8:32)

He is righteous in that he always does what is right based on his character. His actions are always perfect in righteousness. He hates wickedness and sin. His actions are consistent and never vary from his standard. (1 John 3:7)

He is holy in his essence or nature. He is pure, sinless, perfect in character. He "is" holy. He "acts" righteously. God is set apart from all creation and altogether "other" in his holiness. (Isaiah 6:3)

Assurance

Struggling with assurance, I found this from a sermon by John MacArthur. Reassuring for me to consider.

Test yourself in this way. You once lived in sin and loved it. Do you now desire deliverance from it? You were once self-confident and trusting in your own fancied goodness. Do you now judge yourself as a sinner before God? You once sought to hide from God and rebelled against His authority. Do you now look up to Him, desiring to know Him, and to yield yourself to Him? If you can honestly say "Yes" to these questions, you have repented ... And remember, it is not the amount of repentance that counts: it is the fact that you turn from self to God that puts you in the place where His grace avails through Jesus Christ

Worn

I’m Tired I’m worn
My heart is heavy
From the work it takes
To keep on breathing
I’ve made mistakes
I’ve let my hope fail
My soul feels crushed
By the weight of this world

And I know that you can give me rest
So I cry out with all that I have left

Let me see redemption win
Let me know the struggle ends
That you can mend a heart
That’s frail and torn
I wanna know a song can rise
From the ashes of a broken life
And all that’s dead inside can be reborn
Cause I’m worn

I know I need to lift my eyes up
But I'm too weak
Life just won’t let up
And I know that you can give me rest
So I cry out with all that I have left

Let me see redemption win
Let me know the struggle ends
That you can mend a heart
That’s frail and torn
I wanna know a song can rise
From the ashes of a broken life
And all that’s dead inside can be reborn
Cause I’m worn

My prayers are wearing thin
Yeah, I’m worn
Even before the day begins
Yeah, I’m worn
I’ve lost my will to fight
I’m worn
So, heaven come and flood my eyes

Let me see redemption win
Let me know the struggle ends
That you can mend a heart
That’s frail and torn
I wanna know a song can rise
From the ashes of a broken life
And all that’s dead inside can be reborn
Cause all that’s dead inside will be reborn

Though I’m worn
Yeah I’m worn

What Is A Disciple Of Jesus Christ?

A disciple....

1. Bears fruit (John 15:8)
2. Loves others (John 13:34-35)
3. Is willing to renounce all that he has (Luke 14:33)
4. Abides in Christ’s words (John 8:31)
5. Loves Jesus more than others (Luke14:26)
6. Denies himself/herself and carries his/her cross (Luke 9:23, Luke 14:27)

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

--Luke 9:23