The good news of Christ
Heavenly Father,
save me from dying in the desert
because of my discontent —
Let me find reason for gratitude.
Only God,
save me from the pleasure of idolatry,
from deifying desire —
Let me know the true and living God.
Continue reading “Save me”
In an age where our secular culture attacks any show of masculinity as ‘toxic,’ should the church settle for the feminized version of what it means to be a man?
I. Judges 8:18-21. Having overcome his fear and fully trusting in God, Gideon routs the armies attacking Israel and captures two of their leaders, who basically tell him to kill them himself if he were to be a man. Gideon does, but is it toxic masculinity or doing what has to be done–even if it’s hard? Fear almost always is the cause for most men to shrink back from being ‘men.’ Describing David as a man after God’s heart, God explains that he would do all of His will (Acts 13:22). So, to be a godly men, we must be a living sacrifice to know what God’s will is (Romans 12:1-2), choosing to do His will–even if it’s difficult.
II. Hebrews 5:7-9. Jesus was such a man, who suffered greatly in His obedience to His Father’s will, but became the source of salvation to all who obey Him. We are told to fix our eyes on Him as our example and for perseverance to obey because the way He endured the cross was “for the joy that was set before him” (Hebrews 12:1-4). Jesus fulfilled what it means to be a godly man in the fullest sense and then left us an example to follow (1 Peter 2:21-23), even forgiving from the cross (Luke 23:34).
III. Psalm 18:29-40. So, only in Jesus and walking as He did (1 John 2:6) are we able to be ‘men’ by God’s definition. “For as the man is, so is his strength,” Gideon was told. Since “the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Corinthians 1:25), how better to truly be a ‘man’ than through Him?
God made both men and women in His likeness. There’s no reason why the church must accept that there’s no difference or that gender is somehow fluid or subject to choice. Rather, both men and women must live out how they were intended to be in Him as outlined in His Word.
“I’ll tie one hand behind my back just to make it a fair fight!” says someone who believes himself at a great advantage to start with. But what about God? If He’s going to fight for you, what does He have to do to make it a fair fight for your enemies … or so you can understand His power?
Isaiah records that one angel slew 185,000 Assyrians, and yet Jesus said in Gethsemane that He could call 12 legions of angels to Him if He wanted to. With a legion being 6,000 strong, that’s a total of 72,000 angels capable of handling 13,320,000,000 enemies.
With God on your side, who indeed could stand against you?
I. Judges 7:1-21. But, Gideon didn’t understand that. He lived in a time when the great things that God did for His people were just dusty stories from long ago (don’t know what that’s like!). Just telling Gideon that He will be with him is not enough for trust in God to be built. So, through a series of tests, God shows Gideon that He will take care of him. God had to get Gideon (full of man’s idea of strength) out of the way so God could be seen as GOD. Paring down Gideon’s army to a mere 300, the bully, Midian, flees.
II. Exodus 14. In fact, throughout the Bible God uses impossible situations to show His power. Gideon cites God saving them out of slavery in Egypt with the plagues, but it is at the Red Sea that God is seen as GOD. Armed for battle in all of man’s strength (Exodus 13:17-18), the Israelites were nevertheless disorganized and unprepared to meet Pharaoh’s army. Backed against the water with chariots bearing down on them, God–through Moses–parted the water and the Israelites walked through as on dry ground while the Egyptians drowned.
III. Romans 8:26-31. The cross is, of course, the greatest impossible situation in which God was seen to be GOD. And, we have the reassurance that if God would not even spare His own Son for us that there’s nothing He wouldn’t give us. He fights for those who trust in Him to be GOD, and so He uses those who can get themselves out of the way, be still (Psalm 46:10), and let Him battle for them (1 Corinthians 1:18-31).
But do we? So often we go at the impossible situations in our lives with our own strength and resources. Like Gideon, we need to know that God is GOD, and that when He is fighting for us, there’s nothing resembling a fair fight!
So pray this way:
Our Father in heaven,
may your name be honored,
—Mt 6.9
God eternal, you are Father! —
On this truth hang all our prayers —
Love unknown upon this planet
Comes to us from highest heaven,
Son of God, the very essence,
Sacrifice of man’s redemption —
Grace on grace — O Lord, what mercy!
When someone says ‘good enough,’ he’s referring to a minimum standard he hopes he has met. Many around us often express that they hope the good they have done will be ‘good enough’ to get them into heaven–as if God is weighing deeds with some great cosmic scale.
In addition to believing that God has a minimum standard for entrance into heaven, another problem with this view is that it eliminates Jesus and His work on the cross and in the tomb entirely from the solution for sin.
I. Acts 10:1-48. If there was such a cosmic scale, Cornelius had tipped it heavily towards the good. He had good deeds as well as having a good character … but God said that all that was not ‘good enough’ and sent Peter to preach the gospel to him. It was after Cornelius obeyed the gospel that he had salvation.
II. Hebrews 5:7-9. Once God had taken on flesh in the person of Jesus and went about doing good works as Peter described Him to Cornelius (Acts 10:38), wasn’t that ‘good enough’ to get Him into heaven? After all, Jesus was sinless (2 Corinthians 5:21). No, He needed to learn obedience from what He suffered and with loud tears cry out to God who was able to save Him.
III. Ephesians 2:8-9. Having been saved through Jesus’ obedience, we must not think that we can ever be ‘good enough’ to somehow work our way to heaven. Rather, we, who are in Christ, do good works out of obedience to the One who saved us through His obedience. We walk as Jesus did (1 John 2:1-6).
We must examine why we do good things. Are we doing them to earn our way to heaven (working) or are we doing them as acts of obedience (walking)? ‘Good enough’ is never ‘good enough’ with God. He holds us to the maximum standard that His Son has met, so that in Him we can meet it too. This is why the gospel truly is good news!
Eternal God, all praise is yours,
All glory, honor, power, and might!
What wisdom adorns your worthy crown!
You are love, and you are light. Continue reading “Why Should You Take Note of Me?”
Move us beyond a life of self
To your most glorious kingdom reign,
Where words are spoken on Christ’s behalf,
And deeper meaning is given to pain.
I think too much of me and mine —
Let Jesus occupy my thoughts —
Let life be engaged around your throne,
And heart embrace the enduring Cross.
The world is large, and I am small,
What can one person do?
It seems to be an order too tall
To pull just myself through!
How, then, to bring another soul
To love and serve the Lord,
Much less to make the world my goal?
For that, how small’s my sword!
O God eternal, open my eyes
To power beyond my mind,
To love where saving deeds arise,
To words that seek and find.
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Of all the prayers that I could pray,
Requests that I could make,
I’d ask one thing: my dying day
At Jesus’ feet to wake.
O God eternal, it is not true, you know,
That we only live once.
We shall live again.
We will be raised from the dead.
We will appear before your judgment throne.
We will enter eternity.
We will suffer horribly or enjoy every rich blessing from your hand.
And our choices here and now will determine our destiny.
O God of all goodness, help me choose this day to love and serve you.
Strengthen my heart to be a person of integrity.
Put steel in my will, that I might do your will.
Clear my mind of all distractions, in order to learn from Jesus
And follow him in all things.
I want to go to heaven.
Make this not to be a mere wish, but a reality.
Because Jesus is mine, and I am his.