“To suppose that whatever God requireth of us that we have power of ourselves to do, is to make the cross and grace of Jesus Christ of none effect.” John Owen
Category Archives: Growth/Pursuit
Those Whom He Justified He Also Glorified
“Many people want the skyscraper promise of Romans 8:28, many want the precious reality of eternal security. But they don’t want it on God’s terms. They want their security AND their sovereignty. They want God to step in at the end of their lives with sovereign power and give them glory, but they do not want him to step in now with his sovereign grace and make them holy.” Listen Now:
Pride and the providential control of God
God causes the Assyrians to waste away because of their wicked pride fullness (Isaiah 10:16–19 ESV). What characterizes an arrogant, prideful heart? I did it, I am strong & capable, I am smart & wise, I understand, I make things happen, I overcome, I am unopposed, I have the right perspective. When we walk in pride we believe that our strength and savvy is what makes things happen. See the emphasis on “I?” ““By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding; I remove the boundaries of peoples, and plunder their treasures; like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones. My hand has found like a nest the wealth of the peoples; and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken, so I have gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved a wing or opened the mouth or chirped.”” (Isaiah 10:13–14 ESV)
There is coming a day when God will judge the Assyrians for their wickedness. God (and Isaiah) seem to be OK with using one wicked people (Assyria) to judge another wicked people (Israel) and then turning around and judging the first wicked group (Assyria). Only in the providential control and guidance of God does this make sense: “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD of hosts: “O my people, who dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrians when they strike with the rod and lift up their staff against you as the Egyptians did. For in a very little while my fury will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction. And the LORD of hosts will wield against them a whip, as when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb. And his staff will be over the sea, and he will lift it as he did in Egypt. And in that day his burden will depart from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck; and the yoke will be broken because of the fat.”” (Isaiah 10:24–27 ESV)
God’s providential control precedes all human free choice
Assyria is the rod of God’s judgement against Israel. God’s providential control precedes all human free choice. God works through human will, but is not dependent upon us to accomplish His will. The Assyrians wanted to attack the northern kingdom, God did not coerce them, but accomplishes His predetermined purposes through their free act. “Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger; the staff in their hands is my fury! Against a godless nation I send him, and against the people of my wrath I command him, to take spoil and seize plunder, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. But he does not so intend, and his heart does not so think; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few;” (Isaiah 10:5–7 ESV).
God ordains Assyria to attack Israel and Judah as His judgement upon them for their haughty, hard hearts and then He judges Assyria for their arrogant heart. “When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, he will punish the speech of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes.” (Isaiah 10:12 ESV). Assyria fell in 612BC. Assyria is nothing other than a tool in the Hands of the Almighty! “Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it, or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it? As if a rod should wield him who lifts it, or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!” (Isaiah 10:15 ESV)
It’s Okay to Not be Okay
The gospel liberates us to be okay with not being okay. We know we’re not okay—though we try very hard to convince ourselves and other people that we’re basically fine. But the gospel tells us, “Relax, it is finished. The pressure’s off.”
What should we do about unanswered prayer?
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View post, What should we do about unanswered prayer? by Desiring God
Pride is self confident and says, “I’ve got it.” Pride does not see any need to repent or seek outside help. Pride blinds.
Pride is self confident and says, “I’ve got it.” Pride does not see any need to repent or seek outside help. Pride blinds us.
Our pursuit of Christ is driven by joy
Our pursuit of Christ is driven by joy. God is not out to destroy our joy, on the contrary, He is after our greatest joy. Jesus is not just better than hardships, He is better than the best stuff in life – sex, good food & drink, fulfilling relationships, healthy marriages, great kids, etc. The gospels are filled with statements calling us to loose our life in order to find true life.1 Yes, we must deny, follow, love everything less than Christ and be willing to give it all for Him and His kingdom. The question is, “Why?” Is it just our duty? Is it just what is required? Is it because Jesus does not want us to enjoy anything in this life? No! It is because Jesus is after our greatest joy. He is calling us to exchange that which is fleeting and temporal for that which is ultimate, eternal joy.2
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1 As an example: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.” (John 12:24–26 ESV)
2 For further information, see Jesus is After our Joy.
I will wait for the Lord, I will hope in Him
“For the LORD spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.” (Isaiah 8:11–15 ESV)
The people of Judah are afraid of surface level threats because they have no fear of God. They have such a low view of the majestic grandeur of the Creator that they are easily shaken by what is going on around them. We should not fear what others fear, nor dread what others dread for our eyes are fixed on the transcendent majesty of the King of all the earth. He is our strength, protection, hope, salvation and strength. God promises to preserve a remnant of faithful, loyal disciples while the remainder of the people remain stiff-necked and complain against God while they are taken in to exile. A patient trust in God characterizes those whom are part of the remnant. Is our faith really in God, or is it in other things – surface level things that distract us from full devotion? “I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him.” (Isaiah 8:17 ESV)
God tells Job, “I am God.”
Instead of giving Job a behind the scenes look at things about why he was being tested, God just tells Job that He is God; He didn’t seem compelled to explain to Job the events that are recorded in chapters one and two. Job realized that he was limited in his understanding and that God was infinite and eternal – their perspectives were worlds apart.
The Gospel Centered Life 