We Can't Grieve However We Want

Article by Ryan Chase

During our first pregnancy, we were overjoyed to learn we were having twin boys. My dreams of fatherhood suddenly doubled as I imagined holding a baby in each arm, watching them learn to walk side by side, wrestling with them on the floor, and coaching their soccer teams.

Subsequent ultrasounds, however, showed that our boys had congenital birth defects. When they were born with crooked joints and extreme muscle weakness, they were immediately intubated. In an instant, a thousand dreams of fatherhood died.

“In an instant, a thousand dreams of fatherhood died.”

Instead of the life we hoped for, we were plunged into round-the-clock intensive care. Three years later we would plant the perishable seed of our son Isaac’s body in a twenty-square-foot plot of dirt at a cemetery called Woodlawn.

When I visit Isaac’s gravesite, waves of sadness often wash over me. I grieve the brevity of his life. I lament that he hasn’t been here to enjoy new experiences with his twin brother Caleb. Then I look at the empty plot we own next to Isaac’s and I dread the day when Caleb will join his brother.

No Wrong Way to Grieve?

“There’s no wrong way to grieve.”

That’s the counsel some popular psychology offers to those who mourn. The only problem is that it’s not true. First Thessalonians 4:13–14 says,

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

Those who believe in the resurrection of Jesus are decidedly not to grieve in whatever way feels right to us, nor are we to grieve like those who have no hope. Rather, we are called to grieve in ways that make much of Jesus, our glorious Savior who died and rose and is coming again.

“Those who believe in the resurrection of Jesus are decidedly not to grieve in whatever way feels right to us.”

I’m sure those who say there’s no wrong way to grieve truly want to comfort the hurting, but the reality is that we who suffer innocently are not immune to responding sinfully to our pain. We sin in our grief when we use it as an excuse not to love God or those around us, when we complain against God or neglect the people and responsibilities he has called us to.

Pain does not justify sin; only Christ can justify sinners. And in Christ, there is a greater comfort available to the heartbroken than handing us over as slaves to our own emotions.

Occasionally, Weep Deeply

John Piper once offered this counsel to those who mourn:

Occasionally, weep deeply over the life you hoped would be. Grieve the losses. Then wash your face. Trust God. And embrace the life you have.

That wisdom reminds me of the story of a barren woman named Hannah. Hannah was one of two women married to Elkanah. The other woman had children, but Hannah had none, because God himself had closed her womb (1 Samuel 1:5–6).

For years and years the other wife antagonized Hannah for her barrenness. Understandably, Hannah was deeply distressed and the state of her soul was outwardly visible. Her grief was so intense that she couldn’t eat. Her downcast face mirrored a soul burdened with sorrow.

But Hannah was not only “a woman troubled in spirit” (1 Samuel 1:15). She was also a woman of faith who directed her sorrow toward God: “She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly” (1 Samuel 1:10). These two things can coexist: bitter weeping and prayer, deep distress and supplication, grief and hope.

Wash Your Face

When the soul of the believer is exasperated and woeful, it overflows with cries for help to the God of comfort. Hannah prayed with such angst that Eli the priest thought that she was drunk, but she told him, “I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. . . . I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation” (1 Samuel 1:15–16). Then Eli blessed her and said, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him” (1 Samuel 1:17).

“We sin in our grief when we use it as an excuse not to love God or those around us.”

After that, the text says that Hannah “went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad” (1 Samuel 1:18). Just like that! Absolutely nothing had changed in Hannah’s circumstances, yet her countenance was visibly changed and she went on with life.

She wasn’t pregnant. She had no children. She still had a rival wife who would mercilessly goad her. But she had a word: “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition.” Hannah’s change wasn’t external or situational. It was internal, and it took place when she clung in faith to a word from God.

Trust God

If your life is not what you hoped, if you have suffered the loss of dreams or health or financial security or career ambitions or loved ones, I can’t guarantee circumstantial changes. We don’t know the secret things of God. But I can point you to the precious and very great promises in Scripture that offer you the same peace Hannah received:

• God promises to hear and answer us when we pray (1 John 5:14–15).

• God promises to satisfy our hearts with joy in him forever (Psalm 16:11).

• God promises to never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).

• God promises to sovereignly rule over every detail of our lives to maximize our delight in Jesus (Romans 8:28; Philippians 4:19).

• God promises to keep us from stumbling so that we stand before him blameless and full of joy (Jude 1:24–25).

Grieve in Hope

I’ve learned that despair wallows in if-onlys and what-ifs; faith dwells in the blood-bought reality that God will wipe away every tear from our eyes (Revelation 21:4). Hopeless grief says, I have lost the only thing that makes life worth living. Hopeful grief magnifies the surpassing worth of God himself and says, Nothing in all the earth can separate me from Christ (Romans 8:38–39).

“We must never let the sound of our own weeping drown out the comfort of God’s word.”TweetShare on Facebook

Don’t misunderstand. Hopeful grief is still grief. It’s not stoic or robotic. When Jesus stood outside of Lazarus’s tomb and wept, he wasn’t faking his tears (John 11:33–36). God incarnate was about to raise Lazarus from the dead, and still he wept over death. The hope of resurrection doesn’t eliminate tears, but it does redeem them.

We weep and mourn and pour out our souls to the Lord in lamentation for all that is wrong in the world. But we must never let the sound of our own weeping drown out the comfort of God’s word. By faith we know that our affliction is momentary, while our glory is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:17–18). “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning” (Psalm 30:5). We lament for now, but we will rejoice forever.

So, weep before the Lord. Then wash your face and keep walking by faith.

Ryan Chase is a pastor at Emmaus Road Church in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He and his wife Barbara have three sons, two living and one buried in hope of resurrection.

Posted at: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/we-cant-grieve-however-we-want?fbclid=IwAR0e9kD9C97-sJSGSTj4eXxuur58994TX67hXR_xpL3SpLZhN9XQDiAY6Sg

Social Media and the Snare of Self-Justification

 Trevin Wax

One of the points I make in This Is Our Time, in the chapter devoted to the smartphone, is that much of our social media use stems from the desire to know and be known (and fully affirmed).

Faithfulness in the age of social media will require Christians to understand why we are drawn to these spaces (what’s the longing behind our desire to cultivate our self-presentation online?), to recognize the futility in our attempts to find affirmation and satisfaction online, and to find (in the gospel) freedom from the snare of self-justification. In Christ, we are already fully known and fully loved by God. In Christ, we have the affirmation that matters most. Therefore, we don’t have to live for likes but can live from love.

Self-Righteous Activist

It is encouraging to see others taking this line of thought further than I have. Not long ago, Duke Kwon laid out some of the heart motivations behind political engagement on social media: the desire to be seen as righteous.

When our basic identity (our life’s “confidence”) is rooted in ourselves, our hearts are essentially unstable and insecure. We’ll do anything to fortify our self-image, including tearing down the public image of—and the image of God in—others. That’s why the self-righteous heart is always condemning. It’s never satisfied with being “right”; it also always needs to prove that others are wrong.

Kwon’s essay is profound and personal, revealing some of the biggest temptations that anyone with an activist bent might grapple with as they engage online.

But self-righteousness, virtue signaling, and the desire for self-justification go well beyond the politically minded among us. Facebook has made it easy for all of us to seek online affirmation, in all sorts of ways.

Self-Justification: Vertical and Horizontal

A recent essay from A. Trevor Sutton, “Inclined to Boast: Social Media and Self-Justification,” from the winter 2019 issue of the Concordia Journal encourages us to respond to the rise of social media (Facebook in particular) with deeper theological reflection. Viewing social media use through the lens of Lutheran theology, Sutton argues that the “like” on Facebook is “emblematic of our modern pursuit for self-justification.”

What does this modern pursuit of self-justification look like? It differs from the manifestation of self-justification in previous generations. The classic doctrine of justification by faith alone championed by Luther and the Reformers was articulated in a society filled with people who felt the dread of impending death. The vertical dimension of justification by faith provided an answer to people who lacked assurance regarding their future, specifically—on what basis an individual could possibly hope to stand before God.

In contrast, our society today has pushed death to the side. Without the dread of death, the vertical dimension of justification has been diminished. Sutton writes:

“Death is not a daily fear for most people in modern industrialized nations; the vast majority of people in developed nations begin each week assuming that they will survive to see the weekend. This deferment of death has diminished the urgency of the vertical realm and produced a greater regard for the horizontal realm. Contemporary culture says there is plenty of life standing between now and eventual death; being in right relationship with the world is far more pressing than being in right relationship with God.”

So, there’s a craving for justification still among us, but this desire to be seen in “right relationship” has moved more to the horizontal level. People are concerned more about being affirmed by others than about receiving the affirmation of God.

“Self-justification in the Late Middle Ages was about producing good works that one might offer to God in order to be deemed righteous; self-justification in the modern age is about producing good works that one might offer to oneself or the world in order to be deemed righteous.”

Sutton quotes New Testament scholar John Barclay, who describes how the fear of judgment (on a horizontal level) has pervaded our current cultural moment:

“In an age when people fear the judgment of their peers far more than the judgment of God, we have become increasingly petulant, critical, even cruel and it’s proving hard to take. . . . Our contemporaries are not now primarily trying to win the favor of God; they are trying to win the favor of one another. The judgment they fear is not the last judgment, but humiliating comments on social media.”

Sutton and Barclay are right. When the craving for justification morphs from the vertical to the horizontal, we find not peace but anxiety. (Last year, I was intrigued by how many TV personalities on New Year’s Eve wished everyone a “judgment-free” year. Why this fear of judgment in a supposedly tolerant society?)

Self-Justification and Facebook Likes

The longing to receive affirmation and the desire to escape judgment is at the heart of self-justification. Sutton thinks our social media habits confirm and enhance these desires. Collecting “Likes” and “Favorites” has become a primary way for people to confirm their righteousness.

“New media and designed technologies are at the forefront of individual user-experience, enabling and expediting the human pursuit of self-justification.”

Sutton then turns to Lutheran theology to diagnose the heart:

Luther described the human penchant for sin as incessantly building a case for our own righteousness while rejoicing in the deficiencies of others: “But the carnal nature of man violently rebels, for it greatly delights in punishment, in boasting of its own righteousness, and in its neighbor’s shame and embarrassment at his own unrighteousness. Therefore it pleads its own case, and it rejoices that this is better than its neighbor’s.”

Sutton sees social media, and the like button on Facebook in particular, as emblematic of the human propensity to plead for our own righteousness.

The Like button on Facebook is not there by accident. The Like button is there because of our deep longing to be liked by others, celebrated for our accomplishments, and deemed righteous in the horizontal realm. This affordance was designed, wittingly or unwittingly, with this kind of user in mind. The one-click affordance of the Like button on Facebook is a good example of technology designed for self-justification: it provides visible confirmation and affirmation from other users. Users post a picture or text while other users are able to like what has been posted. The amount of likes a post receives is visible to other users. The Facebook platform is a public forum for determining what is deemed good, right, and salutary by other users.

Good News for Chronic Self-Justifiers

The good news is, we have good news. The gospel speaks directly to this longing in the human heart, and it offers something greater in response. Sutton quotes Thesis 28 of the Heidelberg Disputations: “The love of God does not find, but creates, what is pleasing to it. Human love comes into being through what is pleasing to it.” He writes:

Social media invites us to find that which is pleasing. We like good pictures, tweets with which we agree, and shared articles that affirm our views. These platforms are a virtual exchange of human love; people seek, find, and confirm their love of self and others. In order for human love to exist, however, that which is loved must be pleasing. These online spaces invite us to endlessly prove that we are in fact loveable. Pleasing the unpleasable, however, is a fruitless endeavor that will inevitably lead to despair.

The love of God is different. God does not find something loveable; rather, God creates that which is loveable. . . . Before God, our standing is not based on the sum total of our likes, favorites, or retweets.

Sutton concludes his essay with some suggestions on how pastors may care for people in the digital age. He doesn’t condemn social media spaces or urge Christians to go offline. Instead, he believes pastors can help church members remember the unmerited grace of God in Christ and slowly untangle the cords of self-justification. Further, pastors can aid people toward constructive engagement and help them become more aware of how one person’s post could lead to a “self-promotion-envy spiral” for someone else, and so on.

I recommend Sutton’s essay (his website and other writings are here), and I hope to see more Christians from various traditions bringing their theological perspective to bear on how we can better be salt and light online, standing out in a world of self-justifying spin.

Posted at The Gospel Coalition . https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/trevin-wax/social-media-snare-self-justification/

How To Abound

by Charles Spurgeon 

"I know how to abound."
-- Philippians 4:12

There are many who know "how to be abased" who have not learned "how to abound." When they are set upon the top of a pinnacle their heads grow dizzy, and they are ready to fall. The Christian far oftener disgraces his profession in prosperity than in adversity. It is a dangerous thing to be prosperous. The crucible of adversity is a less severe trial to the Christian than the refining pot of prosperity.

Oh, what leanness of soul and neglect of spiritual things have been brought on through the very mercies and bounties of God! Yet this is not a matter of necessity, for the apostle tells us that he knew how to abound. When he had much he knew how to use it. Abundant grace enabled him to bear abundant prosperity. When he had a full sail he was loaded with much ballast, and so floated safely. It needs more than human skill to carry the brimming cup of mortal joy with a steady hand, yet Paul had learned that skill, for he declares, "In all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry."

It is a divine lesson to know how to be full, for the Israelites were full once, but while the flesh was yet in their mouth, the wrath of God came upon them. Many have asked for mercies that they might satisfy their own hearts' lust. Fulness of bread has often made fulness of blood, and that has brought on wantonness of spirit. When we have much of God's providential mercies, it often happens that we have but little of God's grace, and little gratitude for the bounties we have received. We are full and we forget God: satisfied with earth, we are content to do without heaven. Rest assured it is harder to know how to be full than it is to know how to be hungry--so desperate is the tendency of human nature to pride and forgetfulness of God.

Take care that you ask in your prayers that God would teach you "how to be full."

"Let not the gifts thy love bestows
Estrange our hearts from thee."

Charles Spurgeon

Charles H. Spurgeon (1834-1892) served as the Pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, England for nearly forty years and is the founder of Spurgeon’s College. Having preached to over 10 million people in his lifetime and being widely considered the “Prince of Preachers,” Spurgeon published more words in the English language than any other Christian in history and baptized more than 14,000 converts.

Do Not Regard God's Discipline Lightly

by Kristen Wetherell

I’ve never met a person who said that discipline was pleasant. Parents battle their kid’s temper tantrums with heavy hearts and tears, athletes break their bodies in order to build strength and train for victory, and reckless drivers receive expensive tickets so the roads are kept safe.

Discipline is often painful in the moment, but its rewards are great. This is what the writer of Hebrews was expressing when he cited Proverbs 3:11-12:

My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,

nor be weary when reproved by him.

For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,

and chastises every son whom he receives. (Hebrews 12:5-6)

The Lord’s discipline is a means to our growth in holiness:

For [our earthly fathers] disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but [God] disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (vv 10-11)

TRAINED BY DISCIPLINE

We are not to regard lightly the discipline God ordains for us; we are to be trained by it. What does this mean? To regard something lightly is to belittle its significance and pass over its intention, to ignore that its purpose is meant to be examined, taken to heart, and leveraged as an instrument for growth. So, to be trained by discipline is to give weight to it, to consider its value, and to ask, “Lord, how would you have me grow through this painful circumstance in order that I would bear your image more fully?”

One of the most frustrating measures of discipline the Lord has exercised in my own life is the painful experience of sleeplessness. Unable to stop my mind from running, I occasionally lay awake for hours on random nights, anticipating the difficulty of the following day and dreading how much exertion it will take to peel myself out of bed in the morning, let alone work and serve effectively hour to hour.

For others, the Lord’s discipline comes in different forms, but it has the same purpose: that we would be trained by it, regarding it with weight, that we may share in God’s holiness with peace.

One important truth we should note is that God’s discipline is not the same as his judgment. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). The resurrection and ascension of the Son is God’s final stamp of approval over his sacrifice for our sin, and this acceptance stands for all those who put their faith in Christ as their sin-bearing Savior and Lord. The cross of Christ is our assurance that there is no longer any judgment for sin for those who have been covered by the righteousness of Jesus. It is our assurance that all discipline is a carefully ordained measure of God’s love being poured out for us.

Believer, how might the Lord be disciplining you right now? What recent experiences have been painful for you, rather than pleasant? When have you been tempted to grow weary from the exercise of God’s loving, but strict, parenting?

Let’s regard the Lord’s discipline, not lightly, but with humbly submissive attitudes and searching thoughts, with the desire to bear the peaceful fruit of righteousness as we are conformed to the image of Christ. Train yourself to ask the following questions:

“WHAT IS GOD TEACHING ME ABOUT HIMSELF?”

Often, when God disciplines his children, he is training us to take our eyes off ourselves — our own strength, plans, and desires — and to fix them on his character.

Behold, God is my salvation;

I will trust, and will not be afraid;

for the Lord God is my strength and my song,

and he has become my salvation. (Isaiah 12:2)

When circumstances are running smoothly and our own plans are being fulfilled, it is easy to forget the Lord and all he has done in the gospel. God’s discipline gives us a glorious opportunity to mine the depths of his person and work, though we will never understand him completely until we are with him. When we search out his character, we are reminded of his strength, his praiseworthiness, and his salvation. We are reminded that Christ is indeed sufficient for us and all of our weaknesses.

“WHAT IS GOD TEACHING ME ABOUT MYSELF?”

God’s loving discipline often intends to wake us up from the sleep of selfishness and independence that comes so naturally to our flesh. Our attitude of submission can easily turn into presumption when we take our eyes off the character of God and assume that his agenda should be the same as ours.

But, when we are faced with trials and testing, the desires of our hearts are exposed. God uses discipline to weed out that which is earthly within us — our pride, fears, idolatry, and presumptions — in order that we might confess sin, repent of it, and share in his holiness. God in Christ is faithful to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

In Psalm 118, the singer has been awakened through discipline to his sin-bent propensity to rely on earthly things and human ability. He then says,

It is better to take refuge in the Lord

than to trust in man.

It is better to take refuge in the Lord

than to trust in princes. (Psalm 118:8-9)

Through discipline, our loving Father might be teaching us that our trust has been misplaced and that he is the only One who can truly satisfy us. The significance of the cross is magnified, as we realize anew that Christ bore all of our sins in his body on the tree, that we might be free of them and conformed to his image.

“HOW MIGHT GOD BE USING DISCIPLINE TO CONFORM ME TO HIS IMAGE?”

If God’s purpose in discipline is that we might share in his holiness, then we can trust that everything coming from the Lord’s hand is for our good. We can rest in his promise that, in Christ, he is for us, and not against us (Romans 8:32) and, therefore, that even the most severe discipline is rooted in God’s great and steadfast love for his children.

I shall not die, but I shall live,

and recount the deeds of the Lord.

The Lord has disciplined me severely,

but he has not given me over to death. (Psalm 118:17-18)

“HOW MIGHT GOD USE THIS AS A TESTIMONY TO OTHER PEOPLE?”

The way that we respond to the Lord’s discipline is an chance to give a reason for the hope that we have in Christ our Lord. Our natural inclination towards discipline is to grumble and complain, grow bitter and angry, and rely on our own strength. But when the children of God trust that his discipline is loving and for our good, we will respond in trust, peace, and with a deeper hunger to know God through his Word.

This does not mean that we necessarily enjoy our present trials; discipline is rarely a pleasant experience. However, we testify to a greater hope when we lean into our training in righteousness, rather than merely trying to escape it or fight against it. We become living, breathing proof that our eyes are fixed on another world, an eternity with Christ forever.

DISCIPLINE LEADS TO LIFE

This has been difficult to write. While I know all of this is true, my flesh still rebels when discipline comes from God’s hand. I am prone to anger and discouragement, rather than deep trust, joy, and peace in knowing that God is for me and is training me.

Thank God for his grace shown in Christ, for even when our faith fails, God is greater than our hearts! We can confess our sin and weakness and ask him for the faith to submit to whatever discipline he brings for our good. And that is one prayer he loves to answer.

The Lord may discipline us severely, but it will not end in death. It will yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness for those who have not regarded it lightly but have been trained by it.

WHAT IS GOD TEACHING YOU ABOUT HIMSELF, YOUR OWN HEART, AND HOW HE MIGHT BE GROWING YOU?

Editor's Note: This originally published at Unlocking the Bible, and then again at Kristen Wetherell's site. 

Kristen Wetherell

Kristen Wetherell is a writer, Bible teacher, and the content manager of Unlocking the Bible. Her writing has been published on TGC, Crosswalk, and iBelieve and featured at Challies.com. She is married to Brad, loves traveling, and writes music in her spare time. Connect with Kristen at her website or on Twitter @KLWetherell.

5 Steps You Can Take to Keep Your Heart

Colin Smith

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. (Proverbs 4:23)

Every time you hear the story of a Christian whose life has gone into total moral collapse you can be sure of one thing: behind that story the person had a long history of not dealing with their own sin. Don’t let this be you. Instead, keep your heart with all vigilance!  

A wise Christian studies the Bible and his or her own heart. You have to become the expert on your own heart. No one is in a better position to do this than you.  

Here are five steps that are involved in guarding your heart with all vigilance. 

1. Watch  

Jesus said, “Watch and pray so that you do not enter into temptation” (Matthew 26:41). Paul said to Timothy, “Watch your life and your doctrine” (1 Timothy 4:16), and he said to the Ephesians elders, “Watch yourselves and the flock over which God has made you overseers” (Acts 20:28).

How are we to do this? Most of you will be familiar with the concept of a dashboard. Think about your car—as you drive along the road there is certain information that you need to have close at hand: What speed are you going? How much fuel do you have left in the tank? 

Then there is other information like the temperature of your engine, and the level of your oil. You don’t watch that constantly, but if the temperature of your engine rises you need to know. All of this information is displayed on a dashboard in front of you. 

What would a dashboard for your soul look like? There would be red lights and green lights. Red lights would be impulses in your soul that have the tendency to secret, perpetual, and alarming departure from God. 

Let me give you some examples of red lights that you might put on your dashboard: Fear, pride, greed, self-pity, resentment, cowardice, anger, hard thoughts about God, and coldness in worship—any sense of formality in worship, or any sense of going through the motions. 

I encourage you to get a pen and paper and write these things down. Begin making a list of things that belong on your dashboard. Do this because it will give you clarity. 

2. Investigate 

You were running well. Who hindered you? (Galatians 5:7)  

There was a time when you were making good progress in the Christian life. You had a heart for God. But that is no longer true of you. 

You found joy in Christ. Your love for the Savior burned brightly. You had greatpassion for the advance of the gospel: You made significant sacrifices. You faced difficulties with courage. And, you battled against deeply rooted sins in your life and you grew in holiness. 

What happened to you? What is in you that has got in the way of your continued progress? Who or what hindered you? 

This is a place to be ruthlessly honest with yourself. You say, “I’m not really sure.” Then ask God to show you your own heart, “Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. And see if there be any grievous way in me” (Psalm 139:23-24). 

Talk it out with a Christian friend or with a pastor if you need to, but don’t settle without the answer. It’s too important. 

I fear that there are many Christians who study the Bible, but who hardly give their own hearts a second look, because they have never learned how to do this. 

3. Confess  

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9) 

This is a marvelous promise, but we must take its condition seriously: “If we confess our sins…” In other words, if we see the red light, and then we bring it to God in confession and trust in the blood of Christ to cover it. What is the last sin you confessed? 

Confession must always be first to God, but it will help you if you are able to talk honestly with someone who knows you and cares about you. This has been such a help to me in my own life. 

Recently, I was in a conversation with a few of our lay leaders. I told them that I saw some things changing in my own heart, and that I didn’t like what I saw. I listed several things. One of them was that I am becoming less patient. That’s a red light. It needs to be addressed. 

I was talking with a friend the other week. He is in his early 70’s and he is experiencing another passage of life, in which he is moving away from some responsibilities that he had before. 

He said to me, “I can see the path to becoming a grumpy old man from here and I don’t want to go down it.” Do you see what he’s doing? He’s watching his heart. 

4. Commit 

For every red light on the dashboard, showing impulses that lead us away from the Lord, there is a green light that will be its opposite. Green lights are impulses in your soul that reflect what the Bible calls the “fruit of the Spirit” in your life. 

You can make a list straight from Galatians 5:22-23. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. This is not an exhaustive list. You could add others. Forgiveness would be one example. Courage would be another.

Identify the green lights that correspondence to your red lights and commit to pursuing them. 

“Lord, by your grace and through your power, I renounce this impatience. I want nothing more to do with it. Lord, help me now to grow in the patience that I seek. Guard my heart from this enemy within, and use the circumstances that have provoked this impulse to sin in my heart to become the occasion of new growth in likeness to Jesus, for your glory.” 

That’s how Christian growth happens. The very circumstances that provided the red light, are the very things that produces new growth. 

5. Trust  

The person who is far from God has no interest in looking into his own heart. But when God gives you a new heart, you have a new interest in keeping it, as he calls you to do. Examining your heart to discover the trends of sin in your own life is something that godly people do. 

But when godly people look into their own hearts, they find it very discouraging. We are amazed that after all God has done for us, after all we’ve experienced, there should still exist in our hearts this principle that tends towards a secret, perpetual, and alarming departure from God. 

So, looking at your own heart can easily lead to you feeling defeated. Robert Murray McCheyne had the answer for that: “For every look at self, take ten looks at Christ.”

As you look at your own heart, Christian, remember that by his blood he opened a fountain for cleansing. We need it every day of our lives. Let’s be done with this pious religion of moral superiority that so many have confused for Christian faith. 

We need the cleansing of the blood of Jesus. The sins that lurk in our hearts are not greater than the power of the blood of Christ to go on cleansing our lives. And he loves to do it. 

So, will you commit to keep your heart with all vigilance? 

Posted at: https://unlockingthebible.org/2019/02/five-steps-you-can-take-keep-your-heart/

The Parent's Daily Commute

Erik Raymund

I awoke recently to a nice, fresh snowfall. Curious to see how much we received I ventured outside to take a look. It was a modest amount, maybe 3 to 5 inches. It was early, and I noticed the sidewalks had yet to see any foot traffic. I made my coffee, resolving to shovel after doing some reading. Soon I went outside and there several footprints in the freshly fallen snow. Neighbors and others living nearby had made their way out, venturing to work or to take their dogs for an early morning walk. The soft blanket of snow had been disturbed by the shuffling of feet.

As I went out to shovel our steps and clear the sidewalk, a word picture emerged reminding me of the parental privilege and priority of prayer.

Think of each day when you awake as a fresh snow. There are no tracks. All is quiet. Then you get up and bring your petitions to God for your children. You pray for their salvation. You pray for them to honor Christ. You pray for their studies in school. You pray for their potential spouses. You pray for them to serve in Christ’s church. You pray for them to grow in their understanding and love of the Bible. You pray for them to be faithful. You pray for God to supply a rich gospel legacy. You pray for them to steward their lives and the gospel well. You pray for them.

Think of this parental praying as making new tracks in the fresh, previously undisturbed snow. You are, as their parent, bringing your petitions to the throne of grace. You are interceding for them. You are begging God that you would not do anything that would hinder their love for and faithfulness to Jesus. You are making a lot of tracks as you commute to the throne of grace. This is a privilege given to believing parents. We are instructed to pray for our children. We are blessed with the opportunity to do so. What a privilege!

But this is also a priority. They need us to pray. What happens if we get lazy as parents? If we presume upon God’s grace, then we won’t pray. If we minimize the danger of sin, then we won’t pray. If we undervalue the joy of holiness, then we won’t pray. If we overestimate our ability to parent them, then we won’t pray. This troubled me. It convicted me. I was unsettled a bit as a parent. To not pray for our kids is not to do one of the best things we can do for them. To not pray for our children is to neglect their souls. It is to fail to do them spiritual good. We may rightly impugn those who ignore their children’s most basic needs (food, shelter, clothing, time, development, and so on). However, how indicting is it Christians, if we remain we fail to make tracks to the throne of grace? What if we are mute at the bench of petition on our kids’ behalf?

Parents have the privilege and priority of making the daily commute to the throne of grace for their kids.

If you are a parent, think about what the “snow” looks like in front of your child’s house. Is it smooth and undisturbed? Or, have you been making fresh tracks commuting to the presence of God on their behalf?

Parents, if we don’t pray for our kids, then who will? It’s good to feel this burden. And, it’s good to know this privilege. Put together then, Christian parents should have a priority of daily praying for their children.

Be grateful, then, that God hears your prayers through the merit of Jesus. Know that he is gracious to imperfect parents like us. Be reassured that he is both sovereign and good; whatever he has decreed will come to pass. And so pray—and make some tracks in the snow.

Posted at: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/erik-raymond/parents-daily-commute/

6 Ways to Love Others Every Day

Paul Tautges

“To have love as the guiding principle of our lives means that our continual mindset in all we do should be “What will serve the other person?” So writes Matt Perman in his excellent book, What’s Best Next. “It is not ‘What will serve me?’ but ‘What will serve them?’ The guiding mindset of our lives is to be: how can I do good for others? How can I benefit my neighbor?” Here are six practical pieces of counsel:

1. Have real goodwill toward the other person. “Motives count. The essence of love is having real goodwill toward others–that is, truly wanting the best for them and delighting in it.” (Phil. 1:15-16.

2. Put the other person first. “This means finding out what others need and making those needs your priority, not your own….Putting the interest of others first involves finding out what matter to them. It is not loving to impose our own grid onto others!” (Matt. 20:26-28; Rom. 15:1-3).

3. Be eager in meeting the needs of others, not begrudging and reluctant. “If love is genuine concern for others, then we see that things done from love are done joyfully and eagerly, not backwardly and reluctantly.” (Titus 2:14)

4. Be proactive, not reactive, in doing good. “Don’t simply wait for needs to come your way. The Christian ethic is to be on the lookout to identify needs proactively and then take action to meet those needs.” (Mark 12:31)

5. Avoid a self-protective mindset and take pains to do good for others. “We are to do good even it if requires a sacrifice on our part. Radical generosity, not self-protection, is the Christian ethic (Matt. 5:42; see also the parallel in Luke 6:32-36).”

6. Be creative and competent in doing good, not lazy and shoddy. “If we are about serving others, then we need to be competent in serving them because incompetence does not serve people. For example, if you are helping a friend remodel his kitchen, and you cut corners, will that serve him? You are making things easier for yourself at his expense; instead of going through the trouble to do it right, you are making something that will work less effectively for him down the road, transferring the burden from yourself to him (which is the opposite of Gal. 6:2).

4 Reasons Survivors of Abuse Stay Silent

Posted by Gospel Coalition, by Anonymous

I didn’t do anything about it for years. Years while I was suffering from traumatic memories. Years when I knew it was wrong. Years when I knew that my silence was allowing sin to thrive. I was miserable in each circumstance. Full of despair as a child, I first imagined ways to kill myself. Decades later, trapped again, I had a folder on my computer with suicide notes ready to go.

I experienced sexual abuse and assault as a child and as an adult. Spanning decades and leaving me confused and broken, my experiences of abuse have shaped my life. It is only through the hand of God and years of guidance from a gifted, educated, godly counselor that I can speak about this topic. I didn’t speak about it for years.

My situation may be unique, but it is not dissimilar from others. There are hundreds of thousands of individuals who have been hurt by the horrific sin of sexual perversion, abuse, and violence. Months ago, a few years after I had been able to escape my abusive situation, I finally reported my abuse to those in the positions of leadership who needed to know.

It seemed miraculous that after years of assuming no one would believe me, they immediately believed me. They immediately took complete, full, biblical action. They immediately cared for me. They protected me.

Questions and Confusion

I have repeatedly asked myself questions: Why didn’t I speak earlier? Why didn’t I tell the first time something happened? Why didn’t I go to someone in a position of authority over the various individuals who misused, abused, and assaulted me?

Or, an even a more basic question: When I was abused within earshot of other people, why didn’t I scream? That question still taunts me in the dark nights of my soul.

I’m not alone as a survivor in asking these questions. Similarly, those who haven’t experienced the confusing maze of abuse certainly must wonder these same things as they hear the stories that have come to light. Someone once told me, “The confusion is the abuse,” meaning that through cultivating confusion about what happened, abusers cultivate and perpetuate abuse.

The confusion doesn’t end with the victim; it extends even to those who learn of the abuse. They wonder how it could be possible. It is extraordinarily rare for an abuser to seem like an abuser in ordinary life. Countless people, including those closest to the individual, will recall so many moments when the accused abuser was compassionate, completely appropriate, and even sensitive to other abuse cases.

Questions multiply in everyone’s minds when abuse comes to light. How could this person have done what is being alleged? And, if so, how could the survivor have not spoken up more quickly?

I didn’t tell about my abuse for many years. But, now, I want to push back the confusion and unmask the author of lies. I want other survivors to be set free by the truth that also freed me.

Common Reasons

As I’ve thought back over my own situation and talked with other survivors, here are some of the most common thoughts that someone who is being abused or assaulted has thought, not only hurting the survivor, but also prolonging silence about the abuse:

• They’ll think I wanted it to happen or No one will believe me. Abusers are manipulative. They cleverly identify the vulnerable, abuse them, and then redefine truth for them. Even when the survivor’s heart screams the truth, the abuser’s voice is loud in her ears. It convinces her that no one will ever believe she is anything other than an immoral, sinful, willing participant—if anyone even believes anything happened at all.

• It’s really my fault. Abusers often make themselves the victim in the aftermath of the abuse. They didn’t want to do it, but something in the survivor made them. They couldn’t help it. For the vulnerable—and particularly for those who have experienced any other form of abuse—this is particularly plausible. This is also extremely confusing when the survivor knows that he or she said “no,” or demonstrated some other unwillingness to participate, and yet becomes convinced that he or she actually caused it.

• But he’s not really that bad. Abusers are sometimes both villain and hero. It’s possible for someone who is sexually abusing someone else to demonstrate tremendous care for them in other facets of the relationship. This does not in any way discount or minimize the horror, sin, and legal issues associated with abuse and assault, but it does contribute to why a confused survivor may not report the abuse. The abuser’s mixed actions lead the survivor to question whether the situation really is as bad as it seems.

• I don’t want to hurt his family. Abusers aren’t generally living in isolation. They have a family. Often a spouse and children. Perhaps grandchildren. Since abuse most often occurs in the context of relationship, it’s not uncommon for the survivor to know—and even care about—the family of the abuser. And there is no possible way to report sexual abuse or assault without devastating the family of the abuser. This is what most strongly stopped me for so long and is also why this article is being written anonymously. I don’t want to bring any additional pain to those who were also victims in this situation—victims whose worlds have also been turned upside down. They deserve compassion, space, and grace.

Loving with Truth

Knowing this, how should Christian friends, family members, and leaders respond when a survivor reports abuse? The thing that has been most helpful for me is also very simple: “I’m sorry” and “I believe you.” Those sentences, said with conviction and care, corrected for me the strongest lies and set me on a path to the wholeness that Christ always intended.

If you have experienced abuse in the past, I encourage you to reach out to a counselor or trusted friend and share your experience. If you are currently experiencing abuse, I encourage you to not only share with a counselor or friend, but also to immediately go to the police.

If you are the friend of someone who has come forward as an abuse survivor, pray for them, let them know you are sorry and you believe them, then let them determine what they share and how they share it. And as you pray, pray also for the abuser and his or her family, that they too might experience the fullness of Christ in their circumstances. Sexual abuse is naturally destructive, but we serve a supernatural God who can redeem the bleakest of circumstances for all of those who have been harmed.

Posted at: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/reasons-survivor-abuse-silent/

How Jesus Trains Husbands

Article by Guy Richard

Most of us know that Ephesians 5:25 calls husbands to love their wives “as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,” but I am not so sure that we know what this Christlike love is supposed to look like in practice. There are no details given in Ephesians 5, no list of ten ways that husbands can accomplish this challenging command. There are no pictures showing us exactly how to do it and no warning lights to alert us when we are missing the mark. There are no indicators to encourage us when we are in the general vicinity of Christlikeness.

My marriage would certainly benefit from these kinds of helps. It has taken me far too long to understand even a little of what Ephesians 5:25 is calling me to as a husband. And my experience as a pastor tells me that most men are struggling at least as much as I am to understand what it means to love their wives. That is why I would like to take up this difficult subject and to talk about it here. I want to spend some time exploring, first, what it means to love our wives in a Christlike way, and second, how we can evaluate whether we are succeeding. My hope is to encourage husbands to give themselves more energetically to the work of loving their wives in a Christlike way.

CHRIST’S STANDARD

So, in the first place, let’s consider what it means for husbands to love their wives as “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” When we look at the text before us, we can say for sure that our love for our wives must be sacrificial. And this means that we must be willing—should it be required of us—to lay down our lives on behalf of our wives and thereby make the ultimate sacrifice. But, as important as this is, most of us will never be asked to make this kind of sacrifice. So while we can readily acknowledge our willingness to love our wives in this way, it remains only theoretical and hypothetical for the vast majority of us.

It is far more difficult to daily sacrifice our pride, our reputation, our selfishness, our perceived “rights,” or our desires to be served than it is to sacrifice our lives. And yet, these daily sacrifices are part and parcel of what it means to love our wives sacrificially. I have never met a husband who would not willingly lay down his life for his wife. But I have met many who refuse to sacrifice themselves in the smaller ways and, therefore, make life very hard for their wives on a daily basis.

Jesus paid the ultimate price, laying down His life for the sake of His bride, the church. 

Jesus exemplified both aspects of sacrificial love. He did not come into the world in order “to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). He laid down His “rights,” setting aside many of the prerogatives that belonged to Him as the God of the universe (Gal. 4:4), emptying Himself (Phil. 2:7). He laid down His own will and subjected it to that of His Father in heaven (cf. Matt. 26:39). He came to serve rather than to be served. And He paid the ultimate price, laying down His life for the sake of His bride, the church.

God has given those of us who are husbands a tremendous privilege to model Christ to our wives and our families: to lay down our lives every day, to serve them rather than seeking to be served by them, and to give ourselves on their behalf. That is a tremendous privilege. I often hear men say that they feel like they are giving more in their marriage than they are getting out of it or that they are giving more than their wife is giving. My response is usually something like this: “Congratulations! That is exactly the way it is supposed to be.” God calls us as men to give ourselves every day in service to our wives, to lay ourselves out sacrificially—to spend and be spent—just as Christ gave Himself sacrificially in every way for His bride.

Now I will be the first to admit that I fall short of achieving this standard in my marriage. I do not consistently love my wife in this kind of Christlike way. I am far too often prideful and selfish. Frequently I want to have my own needs met and to get more out of my marriage than I give. And so I need to be reminded that Jesus’ sacrificial love for me covers over all of my own failings to love my wife sacrificially. I need to be reminded that He loved me to the end despite my sins and my failings. And I need that love to “train” me to love my wife in a way that reflects His love for me (Titus 2:11–12).

THE BRIDE’S SANCTIFICATION

In the second place, consider how we can know if we are actually succeeding in loving our wives in a Christlike way. Some of us go through life convinced that we are fulfilling Ephesians 5:25, either because we have watered down Paul’s command to mean only that we should literally lay down our lives on behalf of our wives or because we are judging ourselves by our intentions rather than by our actions. Either way, we are fooling ourselves. How can we know for sure? Is there something we can look for in our wives to know whether or not we are loving them in a way that even remotely resembles the love of Christ? I believe that there is. And I think we see that in Ephesians 5:26–27. These verses indicate that the result of Christ’s sacrificial love for His bride is that His bride becomes sanctified, “holy and without blemish.”

Remember that Augustine defined perfect beauty in terms of God Himself. For Augustine, God is the source of all beauty and the standard by which all beauty is to be measured. That which best reflects the image of God is the most beautiful. The Scriptures teach us that Jesus is the perfect image of God: “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (Heb. 1:3); “He is the image of the invisible God,” and “in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell” (Col. 1:15, 19). This means that Jesus is the most beautiful person, the standard by which our beauty is to be measured. If we understand the process of becoming “sanctified” as a process of becoming more like Christ, then Ephesians 5:26–27suggests that the result of Christ’s sacrificial love is that His bride, the church, becomes more and more beautiful over time.

I have found this to be especially helpful in diagnosing the condition of my own marriage and in determining how well (or not) I am loving my wife in a Christlike manner. If I am giving myself sacrificially to my wife, then I should expect that over time my wife will become more and more beautiful. Her beauty is the test by which I know how I am doing as a husband. If she is bitter or beat down with discouragement or feelings of insignificance, then this is an indication that I am probably doing something wrong. I remember the day when I saw this for the first time in Ephesians 5 and I realized that I was not loving my wife in a Christlike manner. It was a difficult day, but it was a good day. It was a day in which I could repent for my failures and seek God’s and my wife’s forgiveness, a day in which I could begin striving to understand more and more of Christ’s sacrificial love for me and start applying that love to my wife. If you have been struggling to love your wife, I pray that today will be that day for you.

This post was originally published on September 6, 2017.

Dr. Guy M. Richard is executive director and assistant professor of systematic theology at Reformed Theological Seminary in Atlanta. He is author of What Is Faith? and The Supremacy of God in the Theology of Samuel Rutherford.

Posted at: https://tabletalkmagazine.com/posts/2019/02/jesus-trains-husbands/

Is There Any Hope for Weary Women?

Article by Kimberly Wagner

As I’ve been teaching the book of James to a small group of women on Sunday afternoons, they’ve asked some good questions, and I thought you might like to “get in on” the discussion. I’m so grateful for the women who are digging into the Word with me. These questions surfaced from our focus on James 1:1–12 if you want to read that first for some context.   

Question:

What does steadfast and faithful look like? 

My Response:

Steadfastness is the goal. Steadfastness is produced through our faith being tested and through suffering (James 1:3, Romans 5:3)—neither of which sound like much fun. But the appeal of steadfastness is the glory of reaching a place of victory. Steadfastness is a consistent and joyful endurance that is otherworldly, even supernatural, because it is not something we can produce. Steadfastness is only developed by the grace of God in the crucible of affliction. 

Steadfastness is not an emotional “happiness” or optimistic outlook on dark days. It is not a “Pollyanna” cheerfulness produced from a “name it and claim it” theology or a self-induced positive attitude. Steadfastness is produced through a series of hard falls and failures—but failures followed by repentance and crying out for God’s grace; asking for His help. Steadfastness is the goal. We obtain steadfastness through a long trajectory of pressing on toward that goal, while slogging through seasons of doubt and questioning, but always returning to the source of Truth for help.

Pressing toward steadfastness will definitely include days of weariness, discouragement, self-disgust, doubt, with personal disappointment and embarrassment.

Yes, striving toward steadfastness will include moments, and possibly seasons of doubt—struggling with our view of God, fighting to find a resolution to the crisis of faith we might experience when the crushing blows we receive don’t make sense, when God seems distant and the cruelties of life feel greater than His care for us. But the believer will despair if he stays in that state. That is why James implores us to ask for wisdom; wisdom that is specifically designed for navigating a season of suffering (James 1:5). 

Question:

If I grow weary does that mean that I’m not steadfast?

Does being “steadfast” mean never doubting in weariness?

Never questioning the accuracy of one’s understanding of God or His ways?

Never being in need of encouragement? No feebleness allowed? Only perfection? 

My Response:

James does not say that we won’t doubt, but he provides a compelling contrast between those who endure hardship, in faith, and those who experience the instability and tumultuous consequences of doubt. For the believer, there is usually a mixture of faith and doubt while navigating the rough waters of affliction (James 1:6–8). But the goal is steadfastness. With each test, we have the opportunity to press in to truth, to ask for, and choose, faith. We have the opportunity to trust God in greater ways than before. We have the opportunity to move closer to a consistent walk of steadfastness.   

The Lord knows that we’ll struggle with doubt, that is why the Spirit inspired James to warn us that we need to “ask in faith” and we need God’s grace for that faith. We need His help. We cannot produce the wisdom or the faith to steadfastly endure trials. We need to ask Him for those things. 

The weary believer definitely needs encouragement during seasons of trial. Definitely. I’ve been blessed, this past year and a half, by a friend who is younger than me, but her husband is experiencing a similar trial, and her texts, that are filled with Scripture or words of encouragement letting me know that they are praying for us, have been a true source of comfort. The unexpected gifts of groceries, gift cards, financial donations, and firewood on the porch have been an immeasurable blessing and tangible encouragement.

LeRoy and I have experienced the ministry of encouragement in our difficult season, but sadly, many in the church don’t see the need to personally encourage those who are drowning under what some might consider less “acceptable” struggles—like mental illness, suicidal thoughts, or recurring addictions. 

Some want to avoid the hurting person entirely or approach the broken and needy with the cold message of “Just get it together!” Some preach a “just have faith” message, without compassion or understanding that the road of suffering is hard—no matter how spiritually mature you are, or how much you’re seeking to honor God in the trial. Suffering is hard. And some in the church apparently deny that, or haven’t experienced that kind of real suffering. 

In this life, a believer never reaches the place that they no longer need comfort or encouragement.

The “perfection” of a flawless performance during trial is an unlikely and unrealistic expectation.

But the “perfection” of endurance/steadfastness that produces spiritual maturity is the goal. And along the way of reaching that goal will come failures. These failures are evidence that we need to ask for grace again, we need to ask for help, we need to acknowledge that “faith to endure” and “wisdom in trial”, are things that don’t come naturally. 

Steadfastness can certainly involve reaching out for resources and help—and that might include counseling, or regular conversations with a more mature believer—and that is nothing to be ashamed of. The humble admission that you are in need, is evidence that you desire to continue pressing on in faithfulness—you don’t want to stay in your needy state. Reaching out for help, and having the body walk with the hurting, is the DNA of a healthy Church (Galatians 6:2). We are to bear one another’s burdens, and not look at a broken or needy sister in disgust with the message to “Just grow up!” Feebleness is allowed, even expected, when facing a brutal trial.

Question:

What’s the line between faithfulness and unfaithfulness, steadfastness and non steadfast? 

My Response:

I don’t think we have Scriptural evidence for a distinct and clear line that we can draw between faithfulness and unfaithfulness—unless that line would be rejecting God’s truth. But, even in seeking to know if there is a line, indicates your desire to know and understand God’s ways, rather than just all out rejecting Him. And the contrast between steadfastness and “non steadfastness” is not so much a line, but a process that will, at times, include both. If this year, I’m striving to “walk with endurance” and respond to this trial with steadfastness, but I’m not actually as faithful or consistent as I will be next year . . . does that mean that I’m not steadfast right now? Am I more steadfast now than I was at this time last year while walking through the same trial? 

There will be bumps and falls along the way, but what is your trajectory? Are you continuing to cry out to God for help to walk faithfully . . . and steadfastly? That might be the “line” you’re talking about. The line of willingness to ask God for help, rather than trying to manage it on your own.

Question:

Is there even hope for one who is profoundly weary, re-evaluating her understanding of God and His ways, desperately in need of encouragement (all of which seems to be the antithesis of faithfulness/steadfast) to be deemed faithful?

My Response:

There is hope. Oh, precious friend, yes—there is hope! The hope is found in viewing our suffering through the lens of the cross. The cross provides us with the perspective to endure, to develop steadfastness, to experience a fellowship with Christ that is only possible in trial. 

Far too often, I’m guilty of presenting a simplistic picture of what it looks like to follow Christ or to walk by faith. I fear that, as I attempt to communicate the majestic truths of Scripture, there is no nuance or consideration of the enormous trials or difficulties that another woman may be facing. And she is left feeling hopeless and that she could never approach the life of faithfulness that Scripture presents. If that is you today, dear reader, know that He sees, He knows, and He cares. He sees your pain and struggle, He understands that you are weak and needy, He remembers that we are but flesh, and He cares for you. 

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.” (1 Peter 4:12–13)

Posted at: http://www.kimberlywagner.org/?p=7428