Tag Archives: Affections & Motivations

Gospel Centrality

Grace Laced People are Transformed

“He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking on evil, he will dwell on the heights; his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks; his bread will be given him; his water will be sure.” (Isaiah 33:15–16 ESV)

Faith far too often is mechanical, intellectual (only), theoretical.  But the man who is transformed by God’s grace is truly different; faith moves from theoretical to a passionate pursuit.  The kingdom of God is for these people, people who have been transformed.  Grace laced people are transformed so that they walk righteously, speak truthfully, hate oppression, cheating & bribery, and oppose evil – even when it is sanctioned by the law.  This man is near God, he is strong, secure, satiated.  Has your heart been transformed by the grace of God or has your faith been something that you have only known in your head?

Gospel Centrality

The Radical Grace of God

“For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”” (Isaiah 30:15 ESV)

“Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.” (Isaiah 30:18 ESV)

God calls His people to return, repent and rest in Him and He will provide for and protect them; their strength was to be found in quietness and trust in God (30:15).  But the people were unwilling (v 16) and depended, instead, upon the perceived strength and power of their Egyptian protectors (v 16-17).  So how does God respond?  With wrath, with judgement, with His strong oppressive arm?  No, God responds in unmerited favor – He responds with radical grace (v 18)!  Don’t miss the fact that He is still a God of justice, but He has determined that He will extend mercy and grace.  These rebellious, idolatrous, heard hearted people (sound familiar) were constantly rejecting the loving, protecting hand of their God in lieu of every idol that they could find and yet, God mercifully and patiently extends grace!  The fact that the sovereign Creator of all things is merciful to any of His treasonous creatures is foreign to me, but it produces worship.  It is, indeed, the kindness of God that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4).

 

Gospel Centrality, Meditations

A Liberating Truth

“Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”” (John 8:47 ESV)

“but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock.” (John 10:26 ESV)

“For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”” (John 18:37 ESV)

“We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” (1 John 4:6 ESV)

These passages highlight a liberating truth. That truth is that God is the One that works in the hearts of men so that they can hear His words. The pressure to convert or convince is not ours to carry; carrying this pressure serves as poor motivation to labor faithfully, joyfully & dependently.  We should work tirelessly, study faithfully and prepare diligently, but only those who are of God hear God’s words. What a relief! It doesn’t depend “on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.” (Romans 9:16 ESV). Now, let’s go labor with all of our might because God just might allow us to play a part in His cosmic plan – not because He needs us, but because it glorifies Him to use such an incapable people as us and brings us profound joy in the process!

Gospel Centrality

Sin exploits our empty places

Aside

“On the most basic of levels, I desire fullness, and fleshly lusts seduce me by attaching themselves to this basic desire. They exploit the empty spaces in me, and they promise that fullness will be mine if I give in to their demands. When my soul sits empty and is aching for something to fill it, such deceptive promises are extremely difficult to resist. Consequently, the key to mortifying fleshly lusts is to eliminate the emptiness within me and replace it with fullness; and I accomplish this by feasting on the gospel . . . As I perpetually feast on Christ and all of His blessings found in the gospel, I find that my hunger for sin diminishes and the lies of lust simply lose their appeal. Hence, to the degree that I am full, I am free.”

Hedges, Brian G. (2010). Christ Formed in You (Kindle Locations 3189-3194). Shepherd Press. Kindle Edition.

Growth/Pursuit

Religious motions or real worship?

“So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”” (Matthew 15:6–9 ESV)

Have we made our own traditions and religious preferences on par with the doctrines taught in the scriptures?  This is the same thing that the religious elite did in the first century.  Are we going through the motions externally, but worship is absent?  It is easy to look good on the outside by our mechanical obedience to a list of dos and don’ts, but God is after our hearts!

Growth/Pursuit

Our blind, small desire

“my biggest problem is not that I desire to be happy when I ought to be more concerned about doing my duty. This is not Jesus’ diagnosis of human need. My biggest problem is my blindness to the source of true joy. I need opened eyes and a renewed heart so that I will desire what is truly satisfying! ”
“The greatest hindrance to our deep transformation and spiritual growth is the smallness of our desire. We trifle with the “mud pies” of lust and greed, when we could enjoy a “holiday at the sea” or, to use biblical language, “pleasures at God’s right hand forevermore” (Ps. 16:11). We are content to play with Monopoly money when we could have eternal treasure. We desperately try to drink from broken cisterns, while neglecting the Fountain of Living Waters (Jer. 2:11–13). “

-Hedges, Brian G. (2010). Christ Formed in You (Kindle Locations 3113-3116; 3125-3129). Shepherd Press. Kindle Edition.

Gospel Centrality, Growth/Pursuit

Redmeption is coming!

“On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain, and Moab shall be trampled down in his place, as straw is trampled down in a dunghill. And he will spread out his hands in the midst of it as a swimmer spreads his hands out to swim, but the LORD will lay low his pompous pride together with the skill of his hands. And the high fortifications of his walls he will bring down, lay low, and cast to the ground, to the dust.” (Isaiah 25:6–12 ESV)

In contrast to the world’s party that is portrayed in 24:7-11, God reveals a picture of His bounty and grace.  It is marked by people from all nations who will feast on spectacular food and perfectly aged wine (verse 6).  Death will be swallowed up, God will wipe away the tears of sorrow and suffering and He will dwell with His people – they will never again feel abandoned or alone (verses 7-8).  God will humble human pride.  The hope that His people had about being identified by Him is now a reality, they experience that they are His!  Salvation will prove to be worth the wait as He makes all things new, He will renew the earth, society and culture – we will set them right, the way that they were intended to be (verse 9). The powerful hand of God will squash all opposition to Him; He will reveal the uselessness of self-salvation and human pride (verses 10-12).  This is the enduring hope that our faith offers to us, there is coming a day when God will restore all things, judge evil, redeem His chosen people, and set up a kingdom where there is no oppression, pain or strife.  The harmonious rhythm of the Garden will return and this time we will have redeemed hearts that will worship instead of rebel.

Growth/Pursuit

Has your affection toward God grown cold?

Why does Jesus say that you can’t pursue both worldly treasure and eternal treasure?  Are you attempting to chase them both?  Does this help explain why being spiritually disciplined is difficult or your affection for God has withered and your soul has grown dry?  (Matthew 6:22-24)

The primary reason that most of us have little spiritual discipline or affection for God is because what we really treasure is here – it is transient.  You cannot pursue both earthly and heavenly treasure for they are mutually exclusive – you have to make a choice.  Our tendency is to try to pursue both which reveals our natural proclivity to be double minded.1  The point is that our ultimate affection should be toward God and nothing else, which is one of Jesus’ common themes in His teaching.2  Jesus is personifying the pursuit of wealth and tells us that we have to choose who we will serve.  We can’t serve two masters – our lives aren’t compartmentalized.  Just as no one shares a slave, because the same degree of devotion to both masters is not possible, “since a slave is the sole property of one master, he must give the master exclusive service.  A disciple’s loyalties cannot be divided—that is, one is either a slave to God or to money.”3  You can’t have two treasures on the throne of your heart.  There is nothing wrong with nice things – but where is your mind’s affections on these things?  Do you have to have them?  Do they identify you?  Is your hand closed around them?  Can you honestly say, “I don’t need that?”  Do you have them or do they have you?  We’d rather hedge our bets and have the best of both worlds, but the best of the eternal kingdom requires an absolute abandonment of the pursuit of the things of this world.  A slave is able to follow two masters as long as they travel together, but when they take separate paths, he can no longer follow both – he must make a decision.  It is far easier to make that decision before you come to the fork in the road.  You can only chase one thing at a time.  When money masters us, God becomes the means to bless us.  When God masters us, money becomes the means by which we proclaim the Gospel.  You can’t chase both.  Are you trying to serve two masters and attach God’s name to it?

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1 “he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:8 ESV); “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” (James 4:8 ESV)
2 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26–27 ESV); “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:37–38 ESV)
3 “Serve (Gk. douleuoœ) indicates the work of a slave, not an employee. Since a slave is the sole property of one master, he must give the master exclusive service. A disciple’s loyalties cannot be divided—that is, one is either a slave to God or to money.”  Lane T. Dennis and Wayne Grudem, eds., The ESV Study Bible (Accordance electronic ed. Wheaton: Crossway Bibles, 2008), note on Matthew 6:24