Galatians 2:20, crucified with Christ?

Song for today: "Crucified with Christ"/Artist: Phillips, Craig & Dean

Choosing a song was easy; choosing a picture was not. I spent a few minutes this morning looking for a picture to go with today's post, but I just couldn't find one. I couldn't think of anything I had that would represent a crucified life. If I had a picture of a railroad spike or something that resembled the nails used for crucifixion that might have been appropriate, but I didn't.

I am frustrated and sad because I know that in the last couple of weeks I have been spending more time fantasizing about fleshly things than yielding to the Spirit. Whether those fleshly things are recreational, professional, perfectionism, or whatever is not as important as the fact that it points me to my current state of discontent.

I am moving forward, but there are warning signs that say "Matt, you're off-base." Most of my self-medicating habits of the past are gone, but one that is big right now is food. There are parts of my day that I enjoy and in so many ways things have improved so much over the last few years. I can go through the day eating normally, healthily, not starving myself, just fine. And then I get home and eat terribly. Or a weekend comes and I eat terribly.

I am not surrendered. I am not crucified with Christ. I am operating in the flesh-I am discontent and operating on false beliefs instead of the truth that is in God's Word. There is the saying that "the problem with living sacrifices is that they crawl off of the altar." If you read this and you are a follower of Christ I would appreciate a prayer for a surrendered spirit that yields to God's presence and revealed truth for my life.

We Are Born, We Go to Death; what about the dash?

Song for today: "Our God Saves"/Artist: Paul Baloche.

It has been a sad week in our home. Our dog that has been part of my family for 13.5 years died. He had not been eating right and generally just didn't look good. As I took him to the vet I noticed he looked even worse. And he continued to get worse once we got there. After the blood work and the x-rays the vet told me I could take him home and watch him overnight if I wanted to (which I did), but eventually conceded I might be making a mistake. She expected I would be back first thing in the morning with him to end his suffering. He had heart disease and his heart had enlarged to the point where it basically filled his chest cavity which, among other obvious problems, made it very difficult for him to breathe.

This was the first time I had been to this vet. We've never really found a vet here in Clermont that we have been knocked over by. But Dr. Dwyer is our vet if we ever need one again. Her compassion for Yeats and me was so obvious and present. We bid on a veterinary "well-check" at Zach's preschool during a school fundraiser. We won. Say what we want, but even in that God's hand may have been involved. I don't know where I would have turned for help and who knows what answers or compassion we would have found.

So I am mourning the passing of a good friend and companion. I am mourning the lost opportunity to care for him like I would like to have done. If I recounted the things in life that we have gone through while Yeats was with us I would write for days and days. They’ve not just been trivial life, but the heavy stuff that we all face at one time or another, it just seems like for Kathleen and I there’s been a bunch together. This year alone we’ve had three surgeries and a broken arm—the only one not operated on or casted is Hannah. We’ve been challenged by Zach’s respiratory problems (asthma and others) since his birth. That lead to Yeats having to move outside. The month before Zach was born Kathleen lost her mother and the year before that (2004) her grandmother. Our first baby was born March 25, 2002. It was two years and some intervention by a fertility team before we conceived Hannah. Believing we couldn’t get pregnant on our own we didn’t worry about contraceptives and just a few months after Hannah was born while Kathleen’s c-section incision was still healing we found out we were pregnant with Seth. Seth was born March 24, 2003. Seth almost died at one-month and the next year with him was life-changing.

I got Yeats around June of 1995. He was a stray wondering the countryside near the rural mid-western town of West Frankfort where I had grown up (may sound picturesque, but that’s just words—it’s where I grew up and while it is special to me it wouldn’t be to anyone who didn’t know or care about me). He showed up at my grandmother’s home which was on the other side of our property. My cousin took him to a lake not too far away and if he was still there in a couple of days was going to put him down. I decided to keep him. At the time I was living in an apartment in Carbondale while going to college. I was trying to come out of some very bad habits (as well as not harassing my future wife because we had parted ways) and so I moved home to get a more solid base, save some money and take care of Yeats. I named him Yeats because that was the only author/poet that I found appealing when I took English Lit my second year of school. My appeal for William Butler Yeats was no doubt stoked by favorite contemporary author at the time, Stephen King, whose book The Stand quotes Yeats. The adapted TV miniseries has Ed Harris quoting Yeats’ “The Second Coming”. As the plague spreads Harris says “Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;”. Here is the rest of the passage:

Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood dimm'd tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

My life has changed drastically from those days. I would not repeat in this avenue the life I lived and struggled to move through during those days. Everyone, including Yeats, suffered from the outward manifestations of my inner turmoil. That’s not to say that I went around beating him or other people, I did not. The transformation has taken years and years. Most of Yeats’ life I have been trying to figure out what life is about and what mine should look like and trying to get there. It’s only recently that my understanding is that I am on a journey. I want to move through life following Jesus Christ, but I do not have an earthly destination. At no time in this body will I arrive.

I’ve been writing and drinking coffee for over an hour now, so let me move to the end. Yeats was born and Yeats died. In the middle he lived. It’s like the saying about the dash on a tombstone between the dates: it represents what we did with our lives. Yeats was a good dog (mostly) and a devoted companion (excluding the times when he escaped and we had to chase him down—about a dozen of them). His dash was good. I hope I get to see him again. I am not aware that there is anything in the Bible that says I will not. Animals are certainly part of the millennial kingdom.

Likewise we are born and we die. What happens in our dash tells all about what happens after we die. Romans 6:23 says “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” We will live for eternity in one of two places, heaven or hell. By grace through faith in Jesus Christ I have been saved (thus the song for today). Even though I am sad that Yeats died I remember during these times death is not the end, certainly not for humans. I mourn my friend, and my mourning will give way to good memories. But he was a great part of my dash and I hope I was a great part of his dash too. For me, the most important part of my dash is the transaction I had with God where He delivered me from an eternal jail and adopted me as His son.

Some might ask “Geez Matt, your dog died, isn’t this a little much?” or “aren’t you over-spiritualizing all of this?” The best way I know to answer is that I would not be authentic if I didn’t write about what I believe. I believe in what happens to us at the end of our dash. It is part of my everyday life. It is part of how I treat people. It should have been a more prominent part of how I treated Yeats. I don’t do it perfectly and God forgives my shortcomings, but I believe in eternity and I believe in salvation. I hope what I have written is authentic to me.

An Unfolding Heart

Song for today: "Here Is Our King"/Artist: David Crowder Band

Two lines of the lyrics from this song go:
And what was said to the rose to make it unfold
Was said to me, here in my chest

The old belief I am challenging this coming week is going to be "Our spiritual pursuit has an earthly destination." This can be countered by Philippians 3:14 which says "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which Gad has called me."

My spiritual journey had a point of origination. It will have a destination, but not an earthly one. Never on earth will I have "arrived" at the spiritual place for which I was created and redeemed. There are two spiritual destinations and the determination about which one is mine was made some time ago. One destination is a conscious reality in God's presence for all of eternity (heaven). Another destination is a conscious reality with out God (hell). The degree that we can understand how wonderful or terrible each is limited by how much we can understand what it would be like to be in God's presence.

In the Bible it says that my destination was determined from eternity past when God, in His grace and mercy, chose to adopt me as His son and make me an heir with Christ. In doing this, He has given me something I could not earn. God's determined plan became a reality when I heard the Gospel, that Jesus Christ alone through His Person, life, death, burial and resurrection bore the penalty of my sin and I trusted in Him and trusted that His work was sufficient. That was a transaction where God set aside the penalty due me for my sin and conferred upon me the rights of an adopted son. It was at that point that my heart began to unfold and the path of my spiritual journey toward heaven separated from a spiritual journey that would have led to hell.

The Illusion of Control

Song: Glory in the Highest/Artist: Chris Tomlin’s

Sometimes when I write I want to unpack what I’m feeling. I like to follow those feelings back to where they are originating to see what belief is driving it. Sometimes it starts with a belief and the feelings follow. The feelings are important, but what is more important is whether or not the beliefs they flow from are based on reality and the truth of God’s Word. I just picked out this song this morning because I like it. Most of these songs are in an iTunes playlist I have titled “Christian Praise”. There are only 25 in there and most of them are contemporary. There are other playlists as well (my “Christian Songs” playlist has 186 songs).This song was suggested on a friend’s blog.

There have been times in my life where the illusion of control has been removed. Occasionally that has happened like a curtain slowly being pulled back. A time or two it was more like a door being smashed violently and revealing my true impotence in life. This week my Zachary had surgery. It was an outpatient procedure, not a big deal. But he was under general anesthesia for the procedure and intubated, we were not in control.

Listening to this song and meditating on God’s faithfulness brings peace and a sweet fellowship with my Maker. One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Psalm 121:4: “Behold, He Who keeps Israel will neither sleep nor slumber.” The whole Psalm is only eight verses so I produced it below.

God is not impotent. He is omnipotent. He is always present. During times of distress, whether as a result of the fallen world we live in or in circumstances of my own making where God chastens me, He is there. As I said yesterday, through grace by faith in Jesus God gives me what I need to be unconditionally accepted by Him, justified, accredited as righteous, forgiven. The image I used to have of God was a tyrant who would have his way and if I got out of line I would get hammered. As I said yesterday, he would be impossible to please. I am mournful for the time I have wasted in my life thinking like that about God. I am grateful that He has revealed more and more of His attributes through His Word.

PSALM 121
The Lord the Keeper of Israel.
A Song of Ascents.
1 I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;
From where shall my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your keeper;
The Lord is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun will not smite you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
8 The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in
From this time forth and forever.[1]

[1]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Ps 121:1-8.

The Half-Truth of Perfection

Song for today: The Love of God/Artist: David Phelps, Guy Penrod & Joy Gardner

I recently made a little note card. I do this from time-to-time. The purposes usually vary between doing it for Scripture memory or to confront an untrue belief (which is a combination of both purposes because the untrue belief is replaced with Scripture). One of my goals recently has been to memorize one Scripture each week about one of God's attributes. So this week's card did all three of those.

The one I made this week starts out with the current belief: God is impossible to please because He is perfect. Then I literally leave some white space on the card and draw a stop sign and list the truth below it. In this case I listed two Scriptures: Truth: In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 Jn. 4:10 NASB) But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom. 5:8 NASB)

The current belief is a half-truth. God is impossible to please and He is perfect. But as the Scriptures indicate, He has provided what I need to please Him and fellowship with Him. Outside of His provision there would be no hope. God didn't change, he humiliated Himself and gave me what I need.

The application here goes beyond my relationship with God to my relationships with others. I think we are all probably impossible to perfectly please. But in love we give to each other our approval and commitment to care and provide. It was two pretty heavy moments for me as I made these connections. The first, that yes it was impossible to please God but that He had given me everything I needed to be justified in His sight. Secondly, that I may have frequently disappointed my parents and other loved ones in my life, but in love they have made a conscious decision to give me their love. I want to make sure I model and communicate this to my own wife and children and so demonstrate in my own life what I have experienced from God and in fact be a living illustration for my children of God's wondrous grace and mercy.

An interesting connection to explore later is that out of love and concern God will chasten, train, instruct, rebuke, correct me as I will my children. It is a demonstration of love, not evidence of its absence.

Source of Real Life

Songs for today: The More I Seek You/Artist: Gateway Worship; Knowing You (All I Once Held Dear)/Artist: Promise Keepers; Breathe/Artist: Michael W. Smith

I could spend a long time writing this morning. There are a couple of topics that have really captured my attention. They are: (i) earnestness for the faith and discipleship of those we invest in as well as the source for that; and (ii) knowledge moving beyond our heads. I only have enough time to briefly touch on each of them. The songs listed above deal more with latter and my devotion this morning in Today in the Word by Moody Bible Institute had to do with the former.

Today's reading was 1 Thessalonians 3:8-10. V. 8 caught my attention "For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord." (NIV) I followed that "standing firm" thought up in the cross references of my Bible. It is not untrue to say that I could write on and on and on about standing firm. But the verse in the cross references to the cross reference was 2 Corinthians 1:21 which part a of says "Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ." (My Bible often-times take you back to a central place where it has referenced many other instances of that phrase or idea rather than list them all in each instance. This makes a lot of sense.)

The second part is just something that I want to begin praying more and more about. I will need to search for Scriptural support, but I believe I will undoubtedly find it without taking the Word out of context. I could fill my head with all kinds of Knowledge about the Bible. I could read and hear great prayers. I could regurgitate that material and people would think that I had the greatest Bible knowledge and was a committed prayer warrior. But if it doesn't penetrate my kardia (see yesterday's post), then what is it? If I don't move beyond knowing the claims of Christ and trust in Him, then what do I have but knowledge that leaves me in a worse position than before. How would it leave me in a worse position that before? Because having been presented the truth and rejecting it is worse than not having ever been presented the truth. The eternal destination in either case is the same, but the punishment is not equal.

My prayer then is that the things I learn about God and the prayers I pray and the things I write don't reside alone in my brain, but permeate every part of my life.

Where is my heart?

Song for today: Go Light Your World/Artist: Chris Rice.

I've been praying on and off over the last couple of years that God would help me to love others and see others as He does. I use Today in the Word by Moody Bible Institute (www.todayintheword.org) as my daily devotion time. This month is looking at 1 and 2 Thessalonians. On Monday's reading, 1 Th. 2:17-20 Paul says "But, brothers, when we were torn away form you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you." (2:17 NIV) I followed up that parenthetical "in person, not in thought" to see what that was about. It turns out that the thought part is the Greek word kardia . . . sounds like cardiac doesn't it? That's because it means heart and not the literal organ. According to the Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek it refers to "the areas of the inner self, including: the volition, the mind, the desires, etc., though the facility of the intellect may be slightly more emphasized"*

If my heart is not with those that God has given me and placed me in the midst of then I am off-track. Even more importantly, if I pretend my heart is with those in the outer parts of my circle of influence and neglect my closest family then I am a hypocrite. I want to have the same concern for those in my sphere of influence that Paul had (see 2 Cor. 11:23-29).

*James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains : Greek (New Testament), electronic ed. (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), DBLG 2840, #1.

Change in profile

Mostly this blog is about a change that I've made to my profile. Instead of being about me and the stuff that I'm into, I want the profile for my blog to represent the message of my life. I'll be the first to admit that I don't live it out perfectly, but I have counted the cost and I am determined to do my best to live day-by-day with the reality that I have been saved from my sins by Jesus Christ. 1200 words I think is the limit to the "about me" portion of the profile. But I think I can fit it in-if not, then I suppose I could elaborate on my Web page (not yet finished, but out there).

Grace abounding

Yesterday I was reading in Knowledge of the Holy about God's infinite grace. Tozer pointed out that we could never know the full weight of our sin and that we did not need to know. What he referred to was Paul's argument in Romans about when sin abounded that grace abounded all the more. God's grace is infinite, it is unlimited. God did not change between yesterday and today. He will not change tomorrow. I know I don't deserve His grace. I am rebellious, full of sin and pride.

As I learn more about the attributes of God it challenges my perceptions of Jesus. Again, I did not deny that Jesus was God, but I did not apply to Him the same attributes that I do to God. God was "up there" and Jesus had been "down here". It did not pose a problem for me that they were of the same essence and did not share the same attributes. If asked "Matt, do you believe that God the Father and Jesus the Son (and for that matter included the Holy Spirit) share the same attributes?" I would have answered, "Yes." But, then say to me "Matt, describe Jesus' attributes." I would have used some generic words about all loving, perfect, caring, compassionate, kind. If pressed to describe even these attributes as infinite or not, I probably would have because I knew it was the right answer, not because that was the Jesus that had been revealed to me. Even now, I am just beginning to learn to apply those same attributes that I am learning about to Jesus.

Change from one beggar to another

Song for today: Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)/Artist Chris Tomlin

Today I did something sinful. I confessed my sin and acknowledged (not with as much gratitude as I should have) the forgiveness I have received and I asked for God’s help not to repeat that failure.

But as we drove to Lakeland to retrieve our children from my parents I spent some time thinking about it. What struck me was this thought and question: My heart finds pleasure in writing here. Would my heart find the same pleasure if instead of writing about God I wrote of the profane things in life? If my actions that bear fruit are not matched by attitudes that bear fruit, I am like a Pharisee and my religious activity an affront to God.

That line of thought held and manifest became the conviction of self-ambition and pride. A concrete lesson waited for me at the exit ramp from the Polk Parkway. I spotted a pedestrian at the intersection where we were getting off while we were still a long way off. When they didn’t emerge from the other side of the vehicles like someone crossing the street with purpose I figured it was someone panhandling and so I locked the doors. As we decelerated and came to the intersection I discovered I was right. I generally don’t give money to panhandlers because I don’t want to enable whatever addiction they’re suffering under. My heart began to melt.

It’s amazing how fast our mind can work. I went from disdaining this guy to thinking that I would just give him the change in the door handle of K’s van (I don’t think we had any cash or I probably would have given that too) and I thought I would add some spiritual words of comfort or encouragement. As he got closer to the van I finally got the window rolled down and the change in-hand. I looked him in the eye, gently placed the change in his hand—neither he nor I even looked to see how much it was. I think he said “Thank you, God bless” and went on to the truck behind us. My weak, soft response to his gratitude was “you’re welcome.” That was it; I had nothing else to say…nothing else to offer at that moment.

In that short amount of time I learned something. A friend from a church we used to attend would frequent say about ministry that “we are just one beggar telling another beggar where to find some bread.” In truth, I don’t think too much about being a beggar myself, but I enjoy telling others where to find some bread. I would much rather direct others to bread than admit my own need for even crumbs. This afternoon I shared in that beggar’s abject poverty and bankruptcy—he and I are on equal footing before God. He and I are deserving of the same judgment from God. We’re spiritually bankrupt and except for the work of God we would be separated from Him for all of eternity.

That panhandler probably has less to overcome spiritually to enter the Kingdom of God than many religious people. They think they have the answers and don’t see their poverty. He may drink or drug himself into a stupor, but he is probably not deluded into thinking that He should be inheriting the eternal presence of God Himself. See what the Bible says in Matthew 21: 28-32. In verse 23 we see that the King was being challenged by the chief priests and elders of the people while in the temple teaching. After a short discussion on Jesus’ authority, the King told a parable:

Matthew 21:28-32 (NASB95)28 “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ 29 “And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went. 30 “The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go. 31 “Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. 32 “For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him."

Pray for me, that I would be reminded of my own spiritual poverty and the amazing grace that comes from God. To quote today’s song: “The earth shall soon dissolve like snow. The sun forbear to shine. But God, Who called me here below, will be forever mine, will be forever mine. You are, forever, mine.”

God is the sole source to meet our needs

God as the sole provider was manifested in yesterday’s reading as well. In Hosea 7:8-16 the Bible says that Israel (the Northern Kingdom) was turning back and forth for help to Egypt and Assyria. They should have been seeking God.

Lately in my own life I have been experiencing some of this. Not only in the role of Israel seeking fulfillment, joy, protection, salvation that can only come from God, but also in the role of Egypt or Assyria. I want to be a source of fulfillment, joy, protection, salvation for those around me. Not only is that unrealistic, but it can be incapacitating. The needs of my family and those in my sphere of influence are beyond my capability to fulfill. The list is long and not knowing where to start can mean not starting at all. It is only as I yield to God’s Spirit that I can be a vessel through which He ministers to those around me. My roles as the leader of my home and protector and provider and shepherd are not to be shirked. But ultimately, I should be lovingly (which means sacrificially) pointing my family and those around me to God. If I am not, then I am leading them astray.

The study notes in my Ryrie Study Bible say this about the Scripture quoted below: “This great invitation, extended to all, is threefold: (1) to come and receive salvation; (2) to learn in discipleship; and (3) to serve in yoke with the Lord. The yoke involves instruction under discipline. Yet, in contrast to the teaching of the scribes, Jesus’ yoke is easy. Through the ages these verses have been among the most beloved in the N.T.”

Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (NIV) These are the words of the Jesus who bore the penalty of all my sin—through Whom I have received forgiveness and life everlasting in the presence of God. I like to return time and again to the fact that eternity with God will be more wonderful than anything we can imagine because it will be in God’s presence and we cannot imagine that. A converse and sobering fact is that for all those who go into eternity without having trusted in Jesus as Lord and Savior their eternity will be more terrible than anything we can imagine because it is to be without God for eternity. God will not drag people into His presence for eternity if they spent all of this life not wanting anything to do with Him. What kind of god would force his eternal presence on creatures that with responsibility for their freedom of choice chose him not?

God's Attributes are infinite, perfect, never diminished one by the other

In my own words: As I was praying this morning I was thinking about and praising God for how God’s attributes are never sometimes on and sometimes off, even though I don’t completely understand it. When I thought of Old Testament passages it didn’t always seem like God’s righteousness (results of which are judgment and wrath) was accompanied by His love. It worthwhile to note that God’s judgment and wrath are not found only in the OT, but that’s my natural thought about where they are displayed.

Continuing with the thought above…God’s love is not diminished by His other attributes nor His other attributes by His love. One of the verses from my devotion this morning demonstrates this: “Woe to them, because they have strayed from me! Destruction to them, because they have rebelled against me! I long to redeem them but they speak lies against me.” (Hosea 7:13 NIV) I didn’t even pick up on it when I read through the passage (vv. 8-16 was today’s reading) the first time. But here is God pronouncing destruction, yet what does He say? He says, “I long to redeem them…”

In my own life, I fear God’s chastening for my sin (1 Cor. 11:32; Heb. 12:7-10). I do not want to regard iniquity in my heart and disrupt or sever my communion with God. I desire to be conformed to the image of Christ and not only seek to confess my sin, but ask for God’s help in not doing it again. But my natural man recoils from the idea of chastening for my sin. I would interpret suffering those consequences as proof that the sin was my fault (which in reality it is; sin is always the result of a willful choice). I also don’t like the idea of enduring consequences for my sin. I want a happy, successful, care-free life after all. I don’t think those adjectives would characterize Christ’s life: happy, successful, care-free. Jesus accomplished in obedience what was set out from eternity past for Him to accomplish, but that is different from our view of success today. Happiness is determined by our external circumstances, not an internal joy irrespective of external circumstances. How can a Christian be care-free? In one sense I guess we are because God has provided all that we need. Further, our flesh has been crucified and along with its worldly desires. But enduring chastening for my sin doesn’t equate with my idea of care-free. By care-free I mean unhindered to pursue my own agenda. In that regard, the follower of Christ is not care-free; our agenda was crucified with Christ.

But I can trust God that when He chastens me, He does so because He loves me. And I can trust God that in His chastening He will be conforming me to the image of Jesus Christ, my savior and king. I can trust God that even as His righteousness is being displayed, His mercifulness, graciousness and love are on display as well. The Lord my God, in Whom there is no shadow of turning (James 1:17), is my God. In Him I have life now and life eternal. He is my inheritance.

“It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.” The Apostle Paul writing to Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:15 (NASB).

First picture post

I've never done this before. I have been starting a large project of organizing pictures. I selected Picasa 2 (free through Google) to organize my photos. I noticed a Blog This button. I ended up having to disable my internet filter to get it to work even though the website was already on the list of acceptable websites. I had a blog started here shortly after some friends of ours started one to keep their friends, family and loved ones up-to-date on the progress of their newborn who has had some challenges. God loves them so much, I just checked the blog and it honestly makes me want to cry knowing how much God loves them and their baby and their boys. Honestly, it leaves me with nothing more to say here about me.

Knowledge of the Holy

I have been reading the book Knowledge of the Holy written by A. W. Tozer. It is having a major impact on me. It changed my worship experience yesterday at church. How? As we sang I had that book open and reading through the things I had underlined as key to changing how I think about God. Why is what I think about God important? Tozer underscores the answer to that question when he says in Chapter One: "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us." (Proverbs 4:23-Keep your heart with all vigilance,for from it flow the springs of life. ESV)

I must admit, that I really interacted with God as though he was the highest order of created being. My God was one of my own creation, what I wanted because I didn't trust that He held my best interests in view. My God was too small. (see Bruce A. Ware's book Their God Is Too Small - I should clarify that I was not and am not an open theist, but the book has application to what I am speaking to here.) Intellectually I assented to the fact that He was not created, but in practice I didn't want to give God control of my life.

As I have been reading this book for the last several days, I have also been listening to John MacArthur as I walk in the evening. The podcast is "Grace to You". Several of the podcasts have dealt with growing in Christian maturity by focusing on the glory of God.

All of these things are leading me to trust in God in a way that I have never done before. I see Jesus in a way that I never saw Him before. As I learn more about Who God really is the miracle of His incarnation in the person of Jesus Christ becomes more amazing. My heart is responding with joy and pride. Pride in my God Who has saved me, not by setting aside penalty for my sins, but by accepting the penalty Himself. I hope these are the first of many responses that may perhaps be described as "joy inexpressible" (1 Peter 1:8). I belong to Him and He is my inheritance.

Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life. No one will go to the Father excepth through Jesus. (John 14:6)

A Conforming Nonconformist?

I don't want to conform the ways of the world, but the fact is that I sometimes do. I used to wonder if I would ever get to the point where I agreed with people who embraced the view that Christians were foreigners in this life and should look forward to realizing our citizenship in God's presence. I guess as I have gotten a little older, or I believe more accurately, as the Holy Spirit has worked in my life to make me more mature, I have begun to long for the yet unrealized presence of God unhindered by the sinful flesh and sinful world I inhabit.

The Bible is the truth and faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to inherit everlasting life in God's presence, which will be far better than we could ever imagine.