Tag Archives: Affections & Motivations

Gospel Centrality

Talking to yourself, developing desire for God and our need for Grace

How do we develop a desire for God?  How do we fight spiritual apathy and foster affection for God?  Why do we need grace, are we really awed by it?  Here are some great articles and resources to help answer those questions:

Gospel Centrality

Godliness is having regard for God; ungodliness is an apathetic disregard for God

The grace of God has appeared… training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions. (TITUS 2:11-12)

“Grace teaches us to say no to ungodliness. Ungodliness in its broadest form basically comprises disregarding God, ignoring Him, or not taking Him into account in one’s life. It’s a lack of fear and reverence for Him. The wickedness portrayed by Paul in Romans 1:18-32 all starts with the idea that “although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him” (verse 21, NIV). A person may be highly moral and even benevolent and still be ungodly. When we trust in Christ as our Savior, we bring a habit of ungodliness into our Christian lives. We were accustomed to living without regard for God. As unbelievers, we cared neither for His glory nor His will. Basically, we ignored Him. But now that we have been delivered from the dominion of sin and brought under the reign of grace, grace teaches us to renounce this attitude (as well as actions) of ungodliness. Obviously this training does not occur all at once. In fact, God will be rooting out ungodliness from our lives as long as we live on this earth. Grace also teaches us to say no to worldly passions, the inordinate desire for and preoccupation with the things of this life, such as possessions, prestige, pleasure, or power. “For this world in its present form is passing away” (1 Corinthians 7:31, NIV). Saying no to ungodliness and worldly passions basically means a decisive break with those attitudes and practices. In one sense, this decisive break is a divine act that occurred when we died to the dominion of sin in our lives. In another sense, we’re to work out this breach with sin by putting to death the misdeeds of the body (Romans 8:13).”

Gerald Bridges;Jerry Bridges. Holiness Day by Day: Transformational Thoughts for Your Spiritual Journey Devotional (p. 45). Kindle Edition.

Growth/Pursuit

Personal piety is not about pomp and circumstance

““Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.” (Isaiah 58:6–11 ESV)

Personal piety is not about pomp and circumstance.  Personal piety always results in tangible acts of compassion and mercy (6-7).  True fasting is met by the God of all creation with tangible, true blessings.  But, true fasting is not a tool that is deployed to manipulate God in to getting what we want.  True fasting involves singular pursuit and devotion to God in an attempt to see Him more clearly, know him more fully and experience Him more deeply.  The discipline of fasting places us in proximity to the waterfall of God’s grace, but we still are in desperate need for His intervening power in our lives (8-9).

True faith and the natural outflow of that faith are inextricably linked.  True, dependent faith, is always met with blessings by the benevolent Creator.  The faithful will look like watered gardens in the desert with cool bubbling brooks to satiate their parched souls.  This is indeed supernatural, not something that we are able to manufacture on our own.  v10-11

Gospel Centrality

Righteousness does not come from obedience, righteousness comes from faith which leads to obedience. They may look the same on the outside, but the innards are worlds apart!

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Righteousness does not come from obedience, righteousness comes from faith which leads to obedience.  They may look the same on the outside, but the innards are worlds apart!  Their “delight” in verse 2 is not genuine as they attempt to use their religious behavior as a tool to pressure and manipulate God to get what they want.  But their real delight is in God’s good gifts, not in the Giver of the gifts.  Their false piety is apparent by their oppression of their workers, fighting and bickering.  Our obedience is never a director of God’s favor; it is a reflection that we have already received God’s favor – their is a huge difference.

““Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God.
‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’ Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the LORD?” (Isaiah 58:1–5 ESV)

Growth/Pursuit

The passive wrath of God; Faith is revealed by what we fear

The people found hope, strength and identity in chasing an endless array of political alliances.  To say that there is no hope, surface level identity or strength in worldly pursuits is not true.  They do, however lack that capacity to provide true, deep soul satiating satisfaction that is sustainable.  Their endless pursuit of idols and alliances kept them energized.  “You were wearied with the length of your way, but you did not say, “It is hopeless”; you found new life for your strength, and so you were not faint.” (Isaiah 57:10 ESV).  It is frightening that God would allow man to find satisfaction – even if it is fleeting – apart from Him.  This is the Passive Wrath of God.  The people’s faith was revealed but what caused them to fear – man.  Though they had outward signs of allegiance to God – their hearts were revealed by what they feared, what they wanted and what they looked to to provide them with protection, significance & salvation.  God said, “let your idols deliver you.”.

“You journeyed to the king with oil and multiplied your perfumes; you sent your envoys far off, and sent down even to Sheol. You were wearied with the length of your way, but you did not say, “It is hopeless”; you found new life for your strength, and so you were not faint.
Whom did you dread and fear, so that you lied, and did not remember me, did not lay it to heart? Have I not held my peace, even for a long time, and you do not fear me? I will declare your righteousness and your deeds, but they will not profit you. When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you! The wind will carry them all off, a breath will take them away. But he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land and shall inherit my holy mountain.” (Isaiah 57:9–13 ESV)

Gospel Centrality

God’s everlasting approval and acceptance, His affectionate, loving peace will always be upon us because of His compassion towards us which is expressed in the person of Jesus. v10

“For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.” (Isaiah 54:10 ESV)

God’s everlasting approval and acceptance, His affectionate, loving peace will always be upon us because of His compassion towards us which is expressed in the person of Jesus. v10

Christianity, Gospel Centrality

Remember & reflect on our reason for rejoicing

It seems to be a consistent theme in scripture that man forgets God.  This is because we choose autonomous self rule instead of the surrendered rule and reign of the Almighty.  This seems to still be an issue in my own heart.  God save me!

Let us remember and reflect on the reason that we have for rejoicing in this New Year.  The words of Isaiah 52:13-53:12 were spoken around 680 BC and are about the Exalted Sin-bearer.  The substitutionary atonement of Christ is at the core of the Christian faith.  Remember Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf.

1)  He was beaten beyond recognition. 52:14
2)  He provides salvation for many nations. 52:15
3)  He was not born into majesty, had no distinguishing external features or privileged in any way.  53:2
4)  He was (and still is) rejected by men (our minds are naturally blinded by sin).  53:3
5)  Acquainted with sorrows & grief (how could the Creator not be sorrowful at the abject depravity and rejection of His creation?).  53:3
6)  He bore our sins, yet humanity did not understand or desire His sacrifice.  53:4-5
7)  He was pierced for our transgressions and it is by His sacrifice that we are spiritually reconciled to God.  His suffering addressed the wicked root of our terminal disease – sin manifested as autonomous self rule.  53:5
8)   Like stupid and helpless sheep, we all have gone our own way – no one sought Him or saw need for His sacrifice.  Despite our ignorant, hard, rebellious hearts, God laid the punishment due to us on Him – the innocent lamb of God.  53:6.
9)  He did not complain, despite the cosmic inequity of His sacrifice on our undeserving, unwanting, unbelieving behalf.  53:7
10)  He was wrongly condemned by unrighteous, oppressive, godless judgement.  53:8.
11)  He was condemned as a common criminal, yet He was totally morally pure – the only acceptable sacrifice for sinners.  53:9
12)  It was God’s will to crush His son under the weight of sin and His wrath; God makes and meets the demands to make us holy.  53:10
13)  His suffering was not only physical, but also a soul level despairing.  The holy, unstained, pure, omnipotent Creator experienced sin and His father’s associated wrath.  For the first time in all of eternity, God turned His back and withdrew from His Son.  Jesus experienced pain, suffering, despair, hopelessness, rejection and death on our behalf.  53:10
14)  His suffering and punishment became an offering for our guilt, cosmic justice was served.  53:11
15)  His perfect sacrifice will make many righteous.  53:11

Gospel Centrality

The truth is that God isn’t concerned with any kind of obedience; he’s concerned with a certain kind of obedience

“The truth is that God isn’t concerned with any kind of obedience; he’s concerned with a certain kind of obedience. What motivates our obedience determines whether or not it is a sacrifice of praise … If any kind of obedience, regardless of what motivates it, is what God is after, he would have showcased the Pharisees and exhorted all of us to follow their lead, to imitate them. But he didn’t … External righteousness is something we can all achieve on our own with a little self-discipline and a lot of self-righteousness. But Jesus wants us to see that regardless of how well we think we’re doing or how righteous we think we’re becoming, when “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” becomes the standard and not “how much I’ve improved over the years”, we realize that we’re a lot worse than we fancy ourselves to be–that unrighteousness is inescapable, that “even the best things we do have something in them to be pardoned … Only when our understanding of righteousness “exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees” and goes beyond outer conduct, will we see the  impossibility of achieving our own righteousness and the necessity of receiving Christ’s righteousness. There is nothing that sinners hate more than to be told that there’s nothing they can do, that everything has been taken out of their hands, that no matter how hard they try, their best is never good enough. And yet, we’ll never be free until we give up fighting for a righteousness we can claim as our own.”

-Tullian Tchividjian, read more here