“I’m accepted by God, not on the basis of my personal performance, but on the basis of the infinitely perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ.” Gerald Bridges;Jerry Bridges. Holiness Day by Day: Transformational Thoughts for Your Spiritual Journey Devotional (p. 10). Kindle Edition.
Category Archives: Growth/Pursuit
Our identity, faith & obedience; God’s credentials, goals & sovereignty (Isaiah 48)
Their identity came from being called by God. They professed faith in God. However, their practice was nominal, lukewarm, marginalized.“Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and who came from the waters of Judah, who swear by the name of the LORD and confess the God of Israel, but not in truth or right.” (Isaiah 48:1 ESV)
God’s ultimate goal is the zealous pursuit of His own glory – above a beyond ours. He did not punish His children as they should have been in order to protect His glory – not because of them, but because of Him! Let us not be glory thieves, for it is frightening to be at cross purposes with the Creator. “For my name’s sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.” (Isaiah 48:9–11 ESV)
God’s credentials: I made you and everything else; I am unequaled and unchallenged. “Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called! I am he; I am the first, and I am the last. My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand forth together.” (Isaiah 48:12–13 ESV)
God has determined to use Cyrus to deliver His people. God has spoken and called him as a tool of His deliverance. God will bring him forth and prosper him in order to accomplish His purposes – This is an idol worshiping pagan. God is in absolute control – even of godless kings! “Assemble, all of you, and listen! Who among them has declared these things? The LORD loves him; he shall perform his purpose on Babylon, and his arm shall be against the Chaldeans. I, even I, have spoken and called him; I have brought him, and he will prosper in his way. Draw near to me, hear this: from the beginning I have not spoken in secret, from the time it came to be I have been there.” And now the Lord GOD has sent me, and his Spirit.” (Isaiah 48:14–16 ESV)
Things would have gone differently had the people listened to and obeyed God. He would have protected them and prospered them, but they couldn’t obey. We don’t do much better, do we? “Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go. Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea; your offspring would have been like the sand, and your descendants like its grains; their name would never be cut off or destroyed from before me.”” (Isaiah 48:17–19 ESV)
God’s ultimate purpose and pursuit in history is the glory of His name; He is in absolute sovereign control of all things, is accountable to no one and is not bound by what we want. Until we are OK with that, we will not be OK with the God of the bible.
God’s ultimate purpose and pursuit in history is the glory of His name; He is in absolute sovereign control of all things, is accountable to no one and is not bound by what we want. Until we are OK with that, we will not be OK with the God of the bible.
Bankrupt – chapter 7 or chapter 11?
“You and I and every person in the world are spiritually bankrupt. Except for Jesus Christ, every person who has ever lived has been spiritually bankrupt. In Romans 3:10-12, Paul declared our spiritual bankruptcy in its most absolute state. We were spiritually destitute, owing God a debt we couldn’t pay. Then we learned salvation is a gift from God, entirely by grace through faith (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9). We renounced confidence in any supposed righteousness of our own and turned in faith to Jesus Christ alone for our salvation. In that act, we essentially declared spiritual bankruptcy.
But what kind of bankruptcy did we declare? In the business world, financially troubled companies can declare bankruptcy according to “chapter 7” – if it has no future as a viable business – or “chapter 11,” for companies that, given time, can work through their financial problems.
So what kind of bankruptcy did we declare – permanent or temporary? I think most of us actually declared temporary bankruptcy. Having trusted in Christ alone for our salvation, we have subtly and unconsciously reverted to a works relationship with God in our Christian lives. We recognize that even our best efforts cannot get us to heaven, but we do think they earn God’s blessings in our daily lives.”
Gerald Bridges;Jerry Bridges. Holiness Day by Day: Transformational Thoughts for Your Spiritual Journey Devotional (p. 9). Kindle Edition.
Created things cannot provide transcendent answers
Idols are powerless to deliver. Ancient idols, created by craftsmen, were powerless to save, deliver or strengthen – the same is true of our modern, shiny, sophisticated idols. Just as God formed us, so do craftsmen form idols – but these creators are human: they tire, get sick, get hungry & thirsty. All idols are created out of created things that God gave mankind. They used the wood to make a fire to bake their bread and then used what was left to fashion a “god” and then bow down and worship it, saying “deliver me!” They cannot see that this is a created thing that they are looking for transcendence from. Created things cannot provide transcendent answers. On top of that, God has blinded them and shut up their hearts so that they cannot see the futility of their pursuit.
What do you delight in? What do you look to for answers, satisfaction, identity, fulfillment? These are your idols. The heart will always worship something – either God or an idol. Many times these are good things that we turn in to god things; things like marriage, family, faithful service, hard work or kid’s activities. We teach our children what is worthy of worship and what they should seek to establish their true identity in life by what we will really trust in and what we really point them to – it may be athletics, relationships, morality, education or financial independence. All of these things are good, but they are not designed to be our ultimate pursuit; they cannot hold the weight of our worship. What “gospel” are you preaching to yourself and your children? What do you say is worth all of your time, energy and pursuit? What is your life ordered around? This is what you really worship. Is Jesus just one of many gods in your life?
“All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together.
The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!”
They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”” (Isaiah 44:9–20 ESV).
The anchoring effect of rightly placed identity
“But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you. I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”” (Isaiah 43:1–7 ESV)
Who is this God? The Creator; the One who formed us and has now set His affection upon us. He redeems us – He has calls us by name, we are His. Our identity does not come from our own abilities or performance – or lack there of – our identity comes from being a child of the Creator who gives us His grace! It is not because we are awesome or do great things, quite the opposite! Because of the great love of God for His people and zeal to glorify His name, God goes to great lengths to save His people – even raising up Pharaoh to deliver them from his oppressive reign. Even in the most difficult of seasons, God is with His people – we are never alone. The real anchoring effect of having our identity found in being a child of God is that we don’t have to perform flawlessly – Jesus already performed flawlessly on our behalf!
Our biggest problems are not outside of us
Our biggest problems are not on the outside of us (wife, economy, government, temptations). We normally address these problems by saying that we need to work harder, do more, be more disciplined – look inside; this is Christianized self-help/self-esteem. The gospel says that the greatest problem is on the inside and the solution is on the outside. This was the mistake of the Jews in the first century. They thought that the Romans – not sinful hearts – was the real problem. Our biggest problem is the sin that lives in our hearts and our only solution is to look to the finished work of Christ. Nothing in the bible tells us to fix our eyes on us and our own efforts. The bible (Hebrews 12:1-2) tells us to fix our eyes upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith; we look up and out to the finished work of Christ. Transformation comes from outside of us.
But God, being rich in mercy, made us alive
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:1–10 ESV)
The bible clearly tells us that we are dead. The idea of being terminally ill has become a popular one, but it is not biblical. When we realize that we had no contribution in our salvation, we become overwhelmed with gratitude and awe that God would call some one like us out of darkness and in to light. When we understand that God’s radical, unconditional grace, one way love then we are moved to worship. All of the acceptance and approval that we all long for we now have in Christ, it frees us to stop pretending, remove our mask and walk freely. “THANKS BE TO GOD THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD.” At the point at which we recognize our deep need (oh wretched man that I am) is the point at which the gospel becomes real and impact-full.
We are part of His story
People respond to crises by looking for something to place their trust in, something that transcends the here and now. Often times, we construct idols and look to them. But created creators are powerless to save or deliver. (Isaiah 41:5-7)
God chose the Israelites and they were currently living out the Creator’s story. They were part of His plans for all of history. Because they were God’s chosen people, they could be confident that He was unfolding history according to His plans. History is not random, it is guided. They did not need to fear because God would strengthen them and uphold them with His right hand. We, the chosen, called, resurrected, redeemed children of God, are currently living His plan for history. This is not random, it is guided – find strength and confidence in that.
Thoughts for Young Men by J.C. Ryle
“Tomorrow is the devil’s day, but today is God’s. Satan does not care how spiritual your intentions are, or how holy your resolutions, if only they are determined to be done tomorrow.” Kindle location 78
“Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil” (Jeremiah 13:23). Habits are like stones rolling down hill–the further they roll, the faster and more ungovernable is their course. Habits, like trees, are strengthened by age. A boy may bend an oak when it is a sapling–a hundred men cannot root it up, when it is a full grown tree. A child can wade over the Thames River at its fountain-head–the largest ship in the world can float in it when it gets near the sea. So it is with habits: the older the stronger–the longer they have held possession, the harder they will be to cast out. They grow with our growth, and strengthen with our strength. Custom is the nurse of sin. Every fresh act of sin lessens fear and remorse, hardens our hearts, blunts the edge of our conscience, and increases our evil inclination.” Kindle location 134
“Habits of good or evil are daily strengthening in your hearts. Every day you are either getting nearer to God, or further off. Every year that you continue unrepentant, the wall of division between you and heaven becomes higher and thicker, and the gulf to be crossed deeper and broader.” Kindle location 143
Thoughts for Young Men by J.C. Ryle
The Gospel Centered Life 