Tag Archives: Affections & Motivations

Gospel Centrality

Honor Mom & Dad

“‘Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”
(Deuteronomy 5:16 ESV)

This is the beginning of human authority which ultimately points to God’s authority.  Honor respects the role and the person.  Some of the time, the person is harder to respect because of some of life’s decisions that they have made, but we should strive to honor them nonetheless.  Jesus & Paul highlight this command as well in Mark 7:1–13; Ephesians 6:1–3; 1 Timothy 5:4.  This commandment is the only one that offers the follower a reward if obeyed:  a life filled with God’s presence and favor.  Authority is central in the scriptures because it is central to life – we are a people under authority.  That was the reason for the tree in the garden, to remind Adam & Eve that they were not ultimate or autonomous, to remind them that they were under God’s authority.  Parents are to protect, provide & teach their children to love and obey God.  Parents are to provide a picture of redemption – a little Eden on earth.

For some, mom & dad were absent, disconnected or just plain wicked.  How do you honor them when there is very little in them that seems worthy of honor or when the wounds & scars that you carry are deep & debilitating?  There are no simple answers to this – for some it might be a life long struggle.  It is important to remember that most (though not all) parents try to do the best that they can, though they fall woefully short and their sins scar those around them.  The real power to forgive & honor those closest to us that have wounded us is found in the cross of Christ.  The more deeply that we understand and embrace that there was nothing good in us that inclined God toward us (or that inclined us toward Him); the more that we deeply understand & embrace that before He formed a star, planet or carved out a river He determined to love you and made a way for you to be reconciled with Him.  The more deeply that we understand our own depravity, rebellion & self-centeredness and see the beauty of grace in the cross, the more empowered (supernaturally) we are to forgive, honor & love.

Growth/Pursuit, Meditations, Promotions, Quotes/Lyrics, Resource

Heart of the Matter Review

““This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”” (John 6:29 ESV)

What is the work that we need to be doing?  That is the same question that was asked of Jesus in John 6:29.  His answer?  Be disciplined, work hard, feed the poor, love the unloveable, memorize the scriptures?  No.  All of these are good things, but they are secondary things.  The work we need to be doing in our faith is belief:  “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”  The real battle for us is to remember and rely upon the seemingly unbelievable good news of the Gospel – that a good and all powerful God has made a way for rebellious creatures to return and be reconciled with Him.  We don’t forget this in our minds, but the glory of God & His gospel readily creeps out of our hearts.

Heart of the Matter: Daily Reflections for Changing Hearts and Lives by Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation helps us to remember the staggering promises of the gospel by providing short, gospel saturated daily devotions that are aimed at penetrating the reader’s heart.  Paul Tripp, Ed Welch, Timothy S. Lane, William Smith, Michael Emlet, David Powlison and others share profoundly practical & impactful truths on subjects that include fear & anxiety, anger, contentment, faith, relationships, stress, suffering, identity and trials & suffering.  If you find yourself in the battle for belief, then Heart of the Matter: Daily Reflections for Changing Hearts and Lives is an excellent resource to help you on your journey.  It is available from New Growth Press at their online store, Amazon or WTS Books.  You can sign up to win a free copy here.

Belief, Faith, Quotes/Lyrics, Resource

Worried?

“Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.
Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat. Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them.
O Israel,trust in the LORD! He is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD! He is their help and their shield. You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD! He is their help and their shield.
The LORD has remembered us; he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron; he will bless those who fear the LORD, both the small and the great.
May the LORD give you increase, you and your children! May you be blessed by the LORD, who made heaven and earth!
The heavens are the LORD’s heavens, but the earth he has given to the children of man. The dead do not praise the LORD, nor do any who go down into silence. But we will bless the LORD from this time forth and forevermore. Praise the LORD!” (Psalms 115:1–18 ESV)

“All that’s left to do is trust God. But that just happens to be the hardest thing for a human being to do. If it were natural to us, everyone would happily follow Jesus, and divided allegiances would be an aberration. But trust isn’t natural, and divided allegiances are the norm. We are all guilty of little faith and, to make things worse, it isn’t enough to simply understand this. Acknowledging the diagnosis does not automatically lead to a cure. You can confess it, and worry will creep in even during your confession! The cure is not to simply know what the problem is. The cure is to know the one we are called to trust. Keep looking at the triune God and how he has revealed himself throughout history. Don’t spend your time focusing on your wavering allegiances.

How do you seek the kingdom? When you seek the King, you are seeking his kingdom. This kingdom includes everything that comes from him. It includes his law, his grace and mercy, his blessings of life, adoption, and holiness, and all his promises throughout Scripture. Those who seek him feed on his Word and seek to imitate him.

Are you worried? Jesus says there is nothing to worry about. It isn’t our kingdom, it is God’s. We take our cue from the King, and the King is not fretting over anything.

He is in complete control.”

by Edward T. Welch, Dec 17, p 352.  From Heart of the Matter: Daily Reflections for Changing Hearts and Lives by Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation. Copyright © 2012 by Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation. Used by permission of New Growth Press.

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Belief, Faith, Quotes/Lyrics, Resource

Forgiven

““Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”” (Jeremiah 31:31–34 ESV)

“Is the evidence of having forgiven someone forgetting what he has done to you? Jeremiah 31:34 is often quoted, where God says, “I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

There are at least two problems with this understanding of forgiveness. First, it is not realistic. Trying to forget a sin someone has committed against you will only encourage you to remember it. Completely erasing an offense from your memory is not realistic. Second, it is not biblical. Our omniscient God does not forget anything! The word “remember” in Jeremiah 31:34 is not a memory word, but a promise word, a covenant word. God is promising that when we confess our sins, “I will not treat you as your sins deserve. Instead, I will forgive you.” Forgiveness is a past promise you keep in the future. It is very important to understand these two dimensions of forgiveness. If you don’t, you will veer off in one of two equally wrong directions: (1) You will be plagued with doubts about whether you have forgiven someone because you think that forgiving equals forgetting.

Or (2) you will give in to bitterness because you think that, since you have forgiven someone in the past, you are allowed to hold onto the vestiges of hurt in the present. Neither reflects the way God has forgiven us.”

by Timothy S. Lane and Paul David Tripp, May 26, p 147.  From Heart of the Matter: Daily Reflections for Changing Hearts and Lives by Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation. Copyright © 2012 by Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation. Used by permission of New Growth Press.

Growth/Pursuit

The Ten Commandments: A Response to God’s Grace

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” (Deuteronomy 5:6 ESV)

The Ten Commandments start by reminding the people of what God had done on their behalf.  This is the LORD God (that is Yahweh Elohim – the personal, covenant keeping and yet all powerful God).  The Ten Commandments are built upon what God had done for the people; their obedience was a response in gratitude for what God had graciously done for them – not as a means to earn approval and salvation.

The Israelites are constantly being called to remember the events of the past, particularly how faithful God had been to them.  That is not because they normally had cognitively forgotten what God had done, that is because it was not longer impacting their hearts.  When we are no longer touched by the magnificent grandeur of God and all that He has done on our behalf our faith begins to wither into drudgery and duty.  Because we are prone to forget, we must be disciplined to remember the majesty of God by praying for Him to reveal Himself to us and by searching the scriptures for God’s sovereignty, grace and holiness.

Gospel Centrality

The “how” matters

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“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” (John 5:39–40 ESV)

You will find no mature Christian that will not tell you that one of the foundational ways to grow in your faith is to read the bible.  This has always been one of the foundational disciplines that leads to authentic spiritual transformation, especially since the scriptures have been translated and available to the common man.  But how we read our bibles matters greatly.  According to the the text above, it is possible to read our bibles and miss the Author all together.

It is not uncommon for us to read our bibles and see how we should behave, what we should feel and what we need to be doing.  Yes, indeed, the bible is full of these things, but if this becomes our primary focus in our bible reading, then we miss the entire point of the bible.  The bible is not about us and what we must do, the bible is about a good, sovereign and holy God and what He has done on our behalf.  The more that we read the bible through this lens, the more we will begin to see a God who is sovereignly ruling over what often times seems to us like an “out of control” world.  The more that we read through this lens, the more we will begin to experience the peace that transcends all understanding that Paul talks about in Philippians.  If you read your bible and hear “do more, try hard, run faster” then you will ultimately be worn out by what seems to be a litany of commands that you must follow to appease God.  Jesus perfectly obeyed on your behalf because you can’t.  Jesus said, “it is finished;” Hebrews tells us that the alter is closed and that we no longer need to drag our sacrifices into the temple.  All that is required now is your sacrifice of praise.

Our primary work is to abandon our work and believe in the One who worked on our behalf.  Jesus was asked “what must we do, to be doing the works of God?” (John 6:28).  That sounds like us, doesn’t it?  What do we need to do?  Our identity is far too often tied up in what we do – even spiritually – rather than whose we are.  Jesus answers their (and our) question in the following verse (29), “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”  Martin Luther said it like this, “It ought to be the first concern of every Christian to lay aside all confidence in works and increasingly to strengthen faith alone and through faith to grow in the knowledge, not of works, but of Christ Jesus, who suffered and rose for him, as Peter teaches in the last chapter of his first Epistle (1 Peter 5:10).  No other work makes a Christian.  Thus when the Jews asked Christ, as related in John 6:28, what they must do “to be doing the work of God,” he brushed aside the multitude of works which he saw they did in great profusion and suggested one work, saying, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent John 6:29.”  Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings by Martin Luther, Timothy F. Lull, William R. Russell and Jaroslav Jan Pelikan.  Page 395, chapter 32, The Freedom of a Christian.

That sounds good, you might say, but how in the world do I develop that kind of belief (faith)?  As a friend of mine put it, “you stare until you see it.”  Paul says it like this, “we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.  For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV).  We become like that which we worship.  Worship is an old English word that means worth-ship.  Whatever captivates and occupies the upper most affections of our heart is the object of our worship – and our lives will be marked by it.  It might be a relationship (or relationships), financial success, athletics, marriage, Christian service or a litany of other things.  John Calvin said that our hearts are little “idol factories.”  Unfortunately, in the church, these idols are good things that we turn into “god things” – these are secondary things that we make primary things.  Paul tells us that being transformed is the work of God (“for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”)  Our work is to stare, to beg God to enlighten the eyes of our hearts (Ephesians 1:18-21), to root out those things which we have come to rely upon other than Him, to see Him as the ultimate Treasure (Matthew 13:44) and to give us the faith to believe (Mark 9:24).

For most of us we know what we should and should not do, but lack the fuel to actually obey.  Who among us would say that fear, anxiety and worry are a good thing?  And yet, fear, anxiety and worry rule the hearts of far to many Christians.  Didn’t Jesus tell us not to worry about the things of this life in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:25-33).  We know we shouldn’t, and the advice that most people give us is to just “seek first the kingdom of heaven.”  Is there any more ethereal and abstract counsel than that?  We miss the entire middle part of the text – the birds don’t worry about these things, the lilies don’t work to be clothed in all of their splendor.  Why don’t they?  The real power to overcoming worry is understanding what the birds and lilies intuitively understand – that there is a good God on the throne that is in absolute control.  For me, I began to actually win the battle with anxiety when I began to believe at a deeper level that God was actually in control of all things – despite how things currently looked in my life.

How do you start?  “What can I do,” you might ask?  Pick a book of the bible (try the gospel of John) and start reading.  Ask God to show you who He is, what He’s like and what He’s done.  Then take some notes, write down everything that you notice about God’s character, nature and behavior.  Avoid writing down what you should be doing (you already know that).  Try this for a month or two and see if the Creator of the universe does not reveal Himself to you in new ways!

Growth/Pursuit, Meditations

Moses’ Farwell Address

The book of Deuteronomy is a sermon given by Moses just before the people cross the Jordan River and enter the promised land.  We can learn a lot from the man who met face to face with the Living God.  Here are a few things that stand out:

  • Moses intends to instruct and inspire the people that their God is both faithful and able to do what He says! Moses shows that God is faithful to a sinful people because of the promise that He made to Abraham. They are a people of His choosing, not because of their own effort, striving or obedience.
  • God’s sovereignty and grace are in focus. He is sovereign over all nations. He is gracious to those who do not deserve it.
  • Moses explains how the Law is the outflow of the Great Commandment given in 6:5 (Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might).
  • “Deuteronomy constantly addresses the “heart” of its audience: embracing this law, seeking the good of this people, is the right response to God’s grace and the embodiment of virtue.”  ESV Study Bible
  • Moses recognizes that God must act in the heart of the Israelites if they are to be faithful.
  • Israel exists to love God with every fiber of their being which is the means by which the world will learn of the one true God.
  • Remembering God’s faithfulness & the people’s unfaithfulness AND looking forward to God’s continued faithfulness & warning the people not to fall in to idolatry.  The theology of Deuteronomy provides the fuel for the reforms instituted by Josiah in 2 Kings 23.
  • The heart and the need for full embodiment of the Law through heart felt affection and obedience.  Deuteronomy recognizes that God must move in the hearts of men if they are to faithfully obey Him and His law.
  • The Sovereign hand of the Almighty is in focus.  God provides Egypt as provision in the midst of drought to Joseph (who acknowledges the sovereign hand of God by working out for good, what his brothers meant for bad), God protects and raises up Moses – even raising him under Pharaoh’s own roof.  Then God calls Moses, who is weak of speech, to lead the people out of Egypt.  God commands control over all things with the plagues, parting the sea and provisions for His rebellious people in the wilderness.  He continues His display of His sovereignty as the people take the land.  It is not because they were faithful or special of their own doing, it is because He is mighty and will glorify His name.
Gospel Centrality, Growth/Pursuit

A profoundly practical way to build belief

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 “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:8–9 ESV)

The post from yestereday, beating fear, anxiety & worry involves a transference of trust, was about how we must build belief in the fact that God is good, sovereign and faithful if we wish to overcome fear, anxiety & worry in our lives.  Today, we will explore a profoundly practical way to begin doing that.  The Apostle transitions from telling us not to worry (because God is in control) to telling us to fill our lives with things that inspire a worship of God instead of our idols.  This is an incredibly practical thing that we can do.  Far too often, we read this verse as a precaution to avoid thinking or exposing ourselves to immoral things – that is not the intent at all!  This is an admonishment to find things that stir one’s affections for Christ.  These are true, gospel saturated truths that evoke worship in the soul – this worship then overflows in to service.  What kind of things?

  • True things – seeing things as they actually are.  Jesus is true (Matthew 22:16, Mark 12:14), God is true (John 3:33, 7:18, 8:26, Romans 3:4), Jesus’ flesh & blood is true food and true drink
  • Honorable things – serious, reverent, holy, dignified, honest
  • Just things – righteous, right, upright, virtuous, observant of divine & human laws
  • Pure things – holy, morally upright, blameless, innocent, chaste, exciting reverence
  • Lovely things – friendly, affectionate, sentiment & feeling, acceptable, pleasing
  • Commendable things – worthy of praise
  • Excellent things – virtuous, praise worthy, moral goodness
  • Praise worthy things -things that evoke worship in your heart

THINK on these things.  To think means to take a mental inventory, esteem, to take an account of and treat accordingly, reckon, run debits & credits, meditate, weigh, understand, count (accounting term), reason, regard, remind, understand or consider. This is no fleeting thought, what is in view is a disciplined effort to take a mental inventory of things that are right, things that stir up our affections, things that cause us to worship.  This is only done with intentionality.  There are so many different things vying for our attention nowadays (ie Facebook, Twitter, politics, athletics, activities, hobbies, relationships, family, friends, work, and the list goes on and on) – good things – it is the rare person that has disciplined himself or herself to drive out the distractions and dwell upon transcendent, ultimate, eternal things.  It is easier to open up the computer, turn on the TV or run to the next activity than it is to still ones heart and mind and beg the Almighty to do what only He can do – irrigate our dry parched soul.  Being intentional will never irrigate our souls, it merely places us in proximity to the waterfall of God’s grace, we still must dependently and desperately beg for His divine intervention.  Being still is a hard fought discipline.

What do you dream about?  What fuel are you feeding your fantasies?  What sermon are you preaching to yourself when no one is there to hear it?  What you dream about, fantasize about or preach to yourself shapes your life, emotions and actions.  “If I only had that, if my life was more like hers, if I had a family like them, if my marriage looked like theirs, or if I was wired like him.”  These things are idols, these things are false gods that we often place our trust in for deliverance, these hopes and dreams will never enable you to walk freely.  We need to think upon greater things and beg God to root out these idols in our hearts.  We must pray for God to enlighten our eyes, quicken our hearts and give us a desire for Him and Him alone.  To be free, we must be willing to let go of our heart’s idols and desperately grasp a hold of God and God alone.  We must come to a place, like Habakuk, where God alone is enough.

How do we begin to do this?  We should use our time (especially our discretionary time) and be disciplined in our minds.  The Apostle apparently believes that what we meditate upon, fantasize about and spend time turning over in our minds has a profound effect on the way that we feel, what we do, and how we behave.  This is a more expanded version of 2 Corinthians 3:18:  “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.  For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV).  This is a call to think more about the manifest glory of the Almighty – to see Him as who He really is.  Spend time thinking about and mulling over the trueness of God, the holiness of God, the righteousness of God; find things (ie nature, Olympic competition, children, etc) the stir up your affections for a big, true, holy, loving, just, good, gracious God.  It is not easy nor natural – there is no secret formula, but nothing in our faith is easy, natural or formulaic – our faith is supernatural.  BEG GOD FOR HELP!

Gospel Centrality, Growth/Pursuit

Beating fear, anxiety & worry involves a transference of trust

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“The Lord is at hand, do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:5–7 ESV)

If you have been a Christian very long then you have undoubtedly read this verse, memorized this verse, had this verse quoted to you or clung desperately to it in the midst of difficult seasons in your life.  How many times have you said (out loud or to yourself), I have prayed about it, but I am still just as nervous about this situation as I was before – maybe even more so!  Maybe the Apostle is not giving us a “secret formula” or “silver bullet” for beating anxiety.  So what hope is there in becoming less anxious if this verse does not seem to help?  We need to dig a little deeper to understand what surrounds this verse so that we can better apply it in the context of the broader letter and apply it in our lives.

You know you aren’t supposed to be anxious (Jesus said it in Matthew 6:25-33, 10:19; Luke 10:41, 12:11, 12:22, 12:25) and Paul says it here in Philippians.  So how do we begin to beat anxiety?  To word translated “anxious” literally means “troubled with cares” or “to seek to promotes one’s interest” (Thayer’s Greek-English of the New Testament).  Beating anxiety is not as a easy as praying a prayer, as if it were a magic incantation.  What the Apostle is laying out for us in this passage is a transference of affections.

First and foremost, beating anxiety and fear is built upon the gospel truth that God is faithful, good and able (3:20-21) to do what He has promised.  The Apostle starts this passage by looking back at this reality by writing, “The Lord is at hand” (Philippians 4:5).  Remember, Jesus is coming soon, rest in that promise.  When we are anxious, it is a sign that we are struggling to believe that God is good, that He is really in control of all things or that He will be faithful to do that which He has promised to do.  This is reminiscent of Jesus’ admonishment not to worry in Matthew 6:25-34.  Why should we not worry?  Not merely because it is unprofitable (worry won’t add a single hour to your life).  No, the primary reason that Jesus is telling us not to worry is because God is in absolute control of everything!  The birds and lilies know it, and so should we.  Fear, anxiety & worry begins to loose its grip on our souls as we grow in our belief that God is in absolute control and that He is working good for those who love Him.

This happens by prayer – not just short prayers, but a deep wrestling in the soul with the Creator of the cosmos.  A wrestling that will ultimately deliver us from our own self centeredness.  There is a transference of affections from us and our wants to the One who is faithful.  All of this connects to a trust in God that yields rejoicing.  The root is a trust in the good and sovereign nature of God – believing this is the work that we must do.  The byproduct is a truly supernatural peace that transcends our own ability to understand it, reminiscent to Jesus promising rest for the weary soul in Matthew 11:28-29.  This transference of trust and reliance is especially true in the midst of severe difficulty (Paul writes this from prison) and Romans 8 boldly proclaims:  “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (v18), “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (v28), “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (v31).  Wrestle in prayer to believe that God is good, that He is sovereign and that He is faithful; the more that we believe this gospel truth, the less anxious we become.

See A profoundly practical way to build belief.

Faith, Gospel Centrality, Growth/Pursuit

Frustrated & Fruitless?

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.” (Philippians 4:4–5 ESV)

The Apostle once again brings rejoicing back in to focus.  Rejoicing (joy) is a deep contentment, an abiding joy, a soul level happiness that is not dependent upon our circumstances – it has at its root a dependent trust in and reliance upon a good and sovereign God.  All Christians know that they are supposed to be joyful, after all if is one of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).  So why are so few Christians really joyfully?

We may think that it is our responsibility to manufacture joy (and many other traits like love, patience, compassion).  But it is not our responsibility to produce these traits in our lives – we cannot and will not ever be able to manufacture these.  Most Christian’s wear themselves out trying to produce them.  Simply put, we lack the resources on our own to produce good things in our lives.  Joy is a byproduct of something deeper – it is the fruit of something that is happening inside.

So how do we become joyful like the Apostle is admonishing us to be?  Our lack of joy indicates a deeper problem.  We all know, that we can’t just make ourselves joyful.  Lacking joy, indicates a lack of faith (trust) in God which is often times manifested in our believing that we know what is best (though we’d never say it) as if we have ultimate vision and perspective on things or that God is not really after our good.  Do you see that?  We think we are privy to how things really work.  We think we have things all figured out.  We think we know what is best.  We are not convinced that God is really after OUR good.  Our work (and it is work) is to believe that God is good and that He is able to do all that He has promised (Philippians 3:20-21).  The more that we believe this and draw near to Jesus in utter dependance, the more He will produce wonderful things in our lives.  Your role is dependance and faith, His role is producing beautiful things – don’t get those backwards or you’ll be frustrated and fruitless.