Trust the Bible Above Your Experience

by Jordan Standridge

We’ve all had incredible experiences.

Whether it is catching a big fish, or winning a big game, or, more seriously, witnessing the birth of your child or thinking back to your wedding day.

Some claim to have had religious experiences where God told them something to do, or where He revealed something to them. I think we can all agree, though, that our experience cannot even come close to match what Peter experienced by being around Jesus for three years.

As he spent time with Jesus, he was constantly amazed.

He saw it all.

Water turned into wine. Blind men seeing. Zacchaeus’ repentance. Dead men living. And hundreds and hundreds of more miracles.

But there was one experience that superseded them all. He got to see something that, in my opinion, is the greatest experience in human history.

He was on a mountain with James and John. Jesus was there, and the Bible tells us that He was transfigured.

Matthew 17:2 says,

“And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light.”

All of a sudden, Moses and Elijah show up and Peter witnesses the three of them have a conversation. He immediately wants to build tents and stay there forever. Then God speaks and says,

“This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!”

It is safe to say that none of us will ever experience anything that comes close to that.

Yet, it is fascinating to hear Peter talk about it.

In 2 Peter 1:18-20, Peter has something fascinating to say about that experience. He says,

“For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased”— and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”

Think about what he is saying!

We were there on a mountain, we saw Jesus transfigured! We saw Elijah and Moses speaking with Jesus! We heard God speak to us! We are certain of it!

Yet DO NOT trust our word. Don’t trust our experience.

Trust the Bible!

The Bible, Peter says, is surer than any human experience.

The Bible isn’t based on human experience. It’s not based on what men think, but, rather, the Bible is a book that was breathed out of the mouth of God.

As we head into a new year, let me ask you a question. Did you trust your experience above the Bible last year?

You may say, I would never do that! I’m a discerner! I believe in expository preaching! Let me tell you that we are all in danger of trusting in ourselves rather than in the Bible.

This year, resolve to read the Bible more, but let me encourage you to resolve to do what the Bible says. Reading blogs and listening to sermons is wonderful, but every time you do it, seek to apply it. Actually, ask the Lord to change you because of what you just heard or read.

Sadly, this is so needed in the church.

We have many people who are capitulating on doctrine and theology because of experiences that they have had. Whether it is a sensing that God’s Word is not reliable in certain areas, or whether it is negative experiences that they have faced, we are seeing a trend toward compromise. Unless we are trusting God’s Word and allowing God’s Word to speak and inform our beliefs, we are in constant danger of allowing experience to compromise our trust in Scripture.

We need a sea of people in the church who completely rely on Scripture–to unapologetically declare our hearts’ wicked inability to know the truth without it, and to resolve to completely rely on the Holy Spirit to inform our doctrine and theology.

Of course, Peter loved being on the Mount of Transfiguration. He wanted to set up shop and live there forever! But looking back to that incredible experience his takeaway was that he wanted people to understand that their belief in God should not be reliant on the word of Peter, but, instead, should be solely reliant on the Word of God.

We can be thankful for so many things God allows us to experience, but always remember that our experience no matter how great and no matter how sure we are about them can be wrong. The Word of God however cannot and will never be wrong and we must resolve to read it more,  trust it more, and most importantly to obey it more. May we be men and women of the Word.

Jordan Standridge: Jordan is the pastor of evangelism at Immanuel Bible Church in Springfield, VA. He has a wife named Jenny and 4 children, Davide, Matteo, Nico and Gabriella. They're on their way to Italy as missionaries check out their website at Standridge.org.

All You Need for the New Year

Article by Marshall Segal

As the sun rises on another year, where do you want to be found more faithful twelve months from now — in your diet and exercise, or in the patterns of your marriage and relationships, or in personal evangelism, or in productivity at work, or in communion with God? The beginning of a year is as good a time as any to audit our hearts for our hidden places of faithlessness. What sinful impulses have we neglected, excused, or even harbored? What might God finally prune away — or bring to life?

The apostle Paul warns us with a promise, “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” (2 Corinthians 9:6). A farmer who sows a few seeds will reap a small crop, but one who sows much will have a great harvest. How we sow (and for whom) will determine — in real, significant, meaningful ways — what we reap. If last year left us emotionally unstable, financially distressed, physically weak and unhealthy, relationally disconnected, and feeling farther away from God, we are likely reaping what we have sown. And if we sow the same this year, we will likely feel similarly a year from now. Or worse.

But if we sow bountifully, we will reap differently. And our God loves to fill (and refill) the cups of those who eagerly pursue him, and gladly pour themselves out for others.

How Will You Sow?

When Paul wrote about sowing and reaping, he was writing about financial generosity (2 Corinthians 9:7), but not only that — “in every good work,” he says (2 Corinthians 9:8). So, as we turn the page to another year, we would do well to consider how well we will sow — our money, yes, but also our time, our energy, our attention. We can determine now, with our hands open before God, who or what will get the most and best of what God has given us. Most of us sow sparingly because we sow thoughtlessly and prayerlessly. No farmer sows bountifully by accident, and few Christians sow sparingly with serious intentionality.

“Most of us sow sparingly because we sow thoughtlessly and prayerlessly.”

Why do we sow sparingly? We sow sparingly because we forget or ignore what we will reap (or not). We settle for the comfort and convenience of drifting despite how much it might cost us. We trade fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore for fractions of joy and moments of pleasure.

When we cannot see beyond the horizon of our short life, we learn to live day to day as if there’s nothing there. We neglect the profound and invincible wisdom in Jesus’s counsel,

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. (Matthew 6:19–20)

We sow sparingly because we forget what we will reap, or we sow sparingly because we fear that God will provide sparingly. We hoard whatever seed he gives — time, money, energy — because we’re afraid we won’t have enough for ourselves. But Paul has a word to speak to all our new year’s fears: “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:6–8).

All You Need

You may not feel sufficient for what God has called you to do. Likely, as you look back over the last year, you feel freshly insufficient for your marriage, family, ministry, and other callings. That’s good. God does not call us to feel or be sufficient. We should feel insufficient for the Christian life (2 Corinthians 2:16). If we are genuinely able, it is because God is able. “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency . . . ” (2 Corinthians 9:8). Ability and sufficiency that matter come, in every way, from above.

Apart from grace, we do not have the energy we need in parenting, or the wisdom we need for our schedule, or the faith to give beyond what’s comfortable, or the perseverance to steward our bodies well, or the patience for trials, or the love we need in marriage. But God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and wields the strength of a thousand armies, and knows billions and billions of stars by name — and he lives in us, and for us, by his Spirit.

In All Things

God, and God alone, will be your sufficiency — in everything. “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things. . . .” (2 Corinthians 9:8). God will not overlook or forsake any area in your life — not your marriage, not your work, not your home, not your health. Wherever he provides, he provides in full, according to his wise plan. His grace covers every dark and needy corner in our hearts.

“We should feel insufficient for the Christian life.”

None of us sows well everywhere all the time. In God’s wise, sovereign, and loving plan, we can’t. All of us need to sow better somewhere. And we are probably prone to presume on God’s provision in areas where we are stronger, and to subtly assume he won’t provide more in areas where we are weaker. By faith, we resolve against both. We will ask God to provide in every area — where we are stronger or more gifted and where we are still weak — because God promises to provide in all things.

We live, work, love, and grow under the banner “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).

At All Times

God will give you everything you need in every area of life at every moment over the next year (and for endless years). “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times” (2 Corinthians 9:8). Our God is an always God. He will be there providing on the mountaintops of success or progress; he will be there providing in the valleys of disappointment and failure; and he will be there providing on the rough and often punishing roads of our ministry to others.

If we are his, no hour will be overlooked. Over every minute of every day, he says to us in Christ,

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)

At all times. No interruptions, mistakes, or oversights. Just relentless, continuous, providing, fatherly love. Fear not, for the one who rules the universe and writes all of history will strengthen you, guide you, and protect you as you walk through this life. If we could see and feel the extent and constancy of his care, we would laugh at how fearful we can be. The clouds of uncertainty hanging over our future would begin to look less like devastating storms and more like much needed rain.

For All Good Work

The last all is the most subtle, at least in our English Bibles, but it is just as important and relevant for a new year: “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every [literally, all] good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8). Every ounce of God’s provision to you will come laced with opportunity for you — to serve yourself or to turn, in love, and serve others. God always means for the grace he gives us to work through us for someone else’s good.

While many of us need to hear that God will provide again — all sufficiency, in all things, at all times — just as many need to be reminded that he has laid good works before each of us. “We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). God himself has prepared work for us to do this year, places for us, in particular, to sow, sowing that will often cost us more than we planned to give.

Will we walk in the love he has prepared for us? Let’s pray now, at the end of another year, for the sufficiency — all we need, in all things, at all times — to sow faithfully in the next.

Marshall Segal (@marshallsegal) is a writer and managing editor at desiringGod.org. He’s the author of Not Yet Married: The Pursuit of Joy in Singleness & Dating. He graduated from Bethlehem College & Seminary. He and his wife, Faye, have a son and live in Minneapolis.

Posted at: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/all-you-need-for-another-year

Is Your New Year's Resolution Biblical?

Bethany McIlrath

As a copywriter, one of my tasks is to write marketing materials. Something I’ve learned writing ads, emails, and more is that every goal has another goal behind it. This is called a motive.

You may think your goal is to lose weight this year. But what’s the goal behind losing weight? Your motive may have to do with self-image, your health, or having the energy to go on an adventure you’ve always dreamed about.

New Year’s Resolutions tend to get many of us thinking about goals, but our motives aren’t typically the focus. 

God’s attention to motives suggests we might be approaching our resolutions backward:

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” (Colossians 3:23).

How do we purify our motives as we set New Year’s Resolutions this year?

1. Watch Out for Selfish Ambition

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:3-4)

Ambition isn’t unbiblical. God Himself makes plans and has goals. Many people whose stories are commended in the Bible set out to accomplish things. Jesus once disappointed an admiring crowd because He had an ambition, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose” (Luke 4:43).

God warns us in our ambitions, though: the heart is deceitful above all things and He searches our very hearts and minds (Jeremiah 17:9–10). It isn’t hard for us to do right things for the wrong reasons—or wrong things for the right reasons. Your goal might be good, but your motive might have more to do with your own glory than God’s. It may also be more focused on you than on serving others, which is another one of God’s priorities.

Ask God to purify your heart as you set resolutions this year. Consider if your motives line up with God’s purposes.

2. Grow in Dependence

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.” (Proverbs 3:5-7)

One thing that sets a believer’s life apart is growing dependence. Sin in our hearts and in the world makes self-sufficiency seem like a sign of maturity and accomplishment. God, meanwhile, commends those who grow in reliance on Him.

Jesus sets the example for this as He does nothing apart from the will of God. He commands us to do the same: “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

Apart from Jesus you can do nothing of real value. You might accomplish something temporal, but all the elements which build into eternity will be absent. Reaching your goals won’t lead to authentic worship. The process won’t show you the goodness of God. If you haven’t prayed, you won’t have answered prayers.

If you’re going to pour effort into a resolution, wouldn’t you like it be one with lasting effect? Tackle “whatever you do” leaning on God’s understanding, laid out in His Word. Acknowledge Him in prayer and praise.

3. Consider Good Examples

As you weigh your motives in regards to resolutions, examples of God’s priorities might help.

• Read Colossians 1:9-14 or Ephesians 1:15-23. What did Paul pray for those he loved? His prayer requests offer ample examples of priorities we might resolve to seek ourselves or for our loved ones.

• Reread James, an action-driven, goal-oriented letter about faith having effect. For example, James offers plenty of wisdom on bridling the tongue.

• Read Philippians 4:8 for examples of the kinds of things Christ wants us to focus on.

• Read the Sermon on the Mount, starting in Matthew 5, to review several of Christ’s calls to action for those who would follow Him, like purity, peace, and honesty.

4. Consider What’s Fruitful

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23)

Have you ever noticed how antithetical the fruit of the Spirit is to many modern goal-setting strategies? Current culture caters to our sinful natures. Forget patience, there are ten million ways to change your life in less than five minutes. Drop the idea of self-control: you can have your cake and eat it, sans calories, too.

The results of worldly resolutions are fragile, fickle things in comparison to the treasures of eternity. Thankfully, we can lay up our treasure in heaven even as we live our very-real lives on earth (Matthew 16:19-21). Our earthly accomplishments can also be investments in what endures forever.

Set your resolutions with the goal of being fruitful. Ask: how will this open my heart to the work of the Spirit so He might produce fruit in me? How will this testify to others about Christ?

Bethany McIlrath: A learner at heart, Bethany loves to share about her Savior and ways to lovingly serve others whom God has so loved. She wants those immersed in Christian environments to know the sweetness and joy of abiding in Christ for themselves. You can find her reflections on First and Second Blog and connect with her on Twitter or Facebook.

Rewriting Psalm 55 Reflecting on Sexual Abuse

Brad Hambrick

In his booklet Recovering from Child Abuse: Healing and Hope for Victims David Powlison identified Psalms 55, 56, and 57 as particularly good Psalms for helping victims of abuse put their experience into words.  The Psalms were meant by God to help us put our experiences into words, but for many people (especially those who were “silenced” after their abuse) this can be difficult.  The example below is an attempt to rewrite Psalm 55 to put the experience of sexual abuse at the hands of a family member or trusted friend into words.  It is advised to read Psalm 55 in your Bible first.  Then read this post.  Afterwards you might try to rewrite it to allow God to give words to your experience.

A song of me,
my pain, my story, and my God.

1. Oh God please hear me. Don’t pretend that this is not happening. I need you!

2. Be silent no longer. Say something. Let me know you are there. I am overwhelmed as I cry and convulse over what happened to me.  I can’t eat, sleep, or think.

3.  My abuser made such awful noises. He took pleasure in my pain and degradation. He over-powered me. There was nothing I could do. He must hate me to keep doing this. What have I done?!  What could cause such hatred and disregard?!

4. My soul quakes.  Heart-break feels romantic compared to this. This is worse than death.

5.  Panic attacks and the fear of panic attacks assail me. My body tremors in rebellion against me.  I can’t control my movements. Fear divides my heart, soul, mind, body, and will to attack them separately.

6. Like Jenny in Forest Gump, I want to be a bird and fly away.  I want to escape to a place of rest.

7. That place of rest would have to be far away, but there is one, right? I would travel however far, by whatever means, if only You promise there is somewhere I can go.

8. If you would just tell me the direction I would leave now. I would drive all night. I want peace more than sleep. Without peace sleep is useless. Sleep is just part of the storm.

9. Take justice! Do to them what they have done to my soul. Don’t let them multiply my shame by talking of this deed. Don’t let them mock me or worse talk like nothing happened.

10. I can’t believe I live in a world/country where this is “common.” It’s always being reported on the news or another documentary. Every time I hear it I am reminded. The pain echoes; worse it flashes back.

11. There is a whole industry of sexual degradation in our culture – porn. Its bigger than the NFL. They write and glorify stories like mine. There is an audience who pays for it, even with children.

12. But I can’t blame culture or an “industry” for my pain.  It is no stranger who dined on my soul. It was not an enemy who was getting even. If it were, then I could be more protected. I could appeal to family and friends for help… and they might believe me.

13. But I knew him! I trusted him! My trust was used against me. My trust was the Trojan horse that let him in. How was I supposed to know?

14. We had so many good talks before that. We went to church together. We prayed together. He taught me Bible lessons. How much of that was a lie? What does it mean to have your soul betrayed by a friend and a “friend of God”?

15.  May the death they have sparked in me explode in their own life and them live to experience it.  Oh, that they would know the full degree of pain it was possible for them to create.  Let their heart vomit its content into their own soul.

16. But I call to you God.  No one is capable of handling what is before me except You. It takes omnipotence to overpower my pain, omnipresence to get your arms around it, and omniscience to fathom it.  Only You can help me.

17. My pain is before me all day and at night when I am not sleeping.  I don’t know what else to do but cry to You.  So You hear from me a lot. Everything in my life reminds me of my pain and my pain reminds me of my need for you constantly.

18. You are the one who keeps soldiers safe in the midst of battles. I am in the fight of my life and won’t make it without You.  My abusers, pain, memories, and fears out number me greatly.

19.  God I trust the lies and deception do not outlive You.  You hear, see, and know the truth. This sin was as arrogant against You as it was ravaging to me.  He will not stand or smirk in Your presence.

20. My father/uncle/friend attacked me and violated the trust of our friendship and, with it, my willingness to allow anyone to get close again.

21. I replay his words over and over again, but cannot figure out what I should have heard. The terror of his intentions was hidden from so many. Were all of his compliments intentional instruments of death or were some sincere?

22. This was not my fault. God calls me righteous.  He calls for me to cry to Him. He is not ashamed of me.  God is angered by anyone who would shun or condemn me.

23.  But God is more angered by my rapist. Sexual predators will answer for their sin. Yet in His fury against them God is still safe for me.  I will come near, leave my shame, look in Your eyes, and have my trust restored.

Posted at: http://bradhambrick.com/rewriting-psalm-55-reflecting-on-sexual-abuse-2/

RUN YOUR RACE—NOT SOMEONE ELSE’S

Jen Oshman 

Did you know a horse’s field of vision is almost a complete circle? With their eyes set on the sides of their heads, their only blind spots are two small spaces—one in front of the nose and one behind the tail.

To narrow horses’ comprehensive focus, their trainers often place blinders on them. Also called blinkers or winkers, horse blinders are small leather squares that are attached to the horse’s bridle to prevent them from seeing anywhere except right in front of them and going off course.

The blinders keep the horses’ focus on his master. They tune his attention to just one voice, one set of commands. They allow the horse to run his race without concern for the other horses and chaos happening around him.

Horse blinders might be a handy tool for us humans, too.

KEEP IN STEP WITH THE SPIRIT

Paul’s letter to the Galatians with these instructions: “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another” (Gal. 5:25-26).

These words come on the heels of Paul’s famous list of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). He has spent an entire letter up to this point exhorting the Galatians not to put their hopes in their own efforts, their own flesh, their own ability to follow the law. Rather, he calls them to remember the gospel, to remember that the Holy Spirit lives inside of them, and to live by the power of the Spirit alone.

So, as he gets ready to sign off, it’s no surprise that Paul says, “keep in step with the Spirit.” But the instructions not to become conceited, not to provoke one another, and not to envy one another seem a bit out of the blue.

What does conceit have to do with keeping in step with the Spirit, and why do provocation and envy get a mention here, too?

ON THE PERIPHERY

When Paul says, “let us not become conceited,” the Greek word for “conceit” means “vain-glorious, or empty of honor.” He’s saying, let’s not grow “a perceived absence of honor and glory, leading to a need to prove our worth to ourselves and others.”[1]

This conceit manifests itself in our tendency to compare ourselves to others and to measure our worth or performance against theirs. If we’re feeling pretty good about ourselves, we feel superior and proud. But if we’re feeling down about ourselves, we feel inferior and ashamed.

Have you ever heard yourself inwardly say, Well, at least I’m doing better than that guy, or, conversely, I’ll never be as good as that girl? In the former, we are provoking others. In arrogance, we look down on others with scorn and wonder why they can’t deliver as well as we can. In the latter, we envy others. With self-loathing, we want their success or abilities.

In both cases, we are conceited, seeking to prove our worth based on what we see in others. Our conceit is fueled by focusing on the periphery, so Paul calls us to put blinders on.

FOCUS ON YOUR RACE, NOT THEIRS

To keep in step with the Spirit is to “run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith” (Heb. 12:1-2). It is to test our own work (Gal. 6:4) and complete the race God has given to us, without regard for the race he has marked out for our brothers and sisters.

What if we put spiritual blinders on? What if we focused solely on our Master’s voice and didn’t look around at how well or how poorly others were running? What if comparison played no part in our race?

Spouses might stop tallying the number of times they each do the dishes, put the toothpaste cap back on, or take out the trash. Coworkers might stop comparing hours logged or meetings missed or compliments paid by the boss. Friends might stop counting who paid the bill last time, who calls more often, who remembers birthdays better. Church members might stop feeling false pride over the number of weekly meetings they attend or false shame over not being able to go on a mission trip. Or they might stop comparing perceived spiritual fruit in others.

PEACE AND MERCY

Conceit and comparison cause provocation and envy, resulting in self-aggrandizing or self-loathing—ultimately leading to discouragement and death.

But when we wear spiritual blinders, we fix our eyes on Jesus and have ears only for the Holy Spirit. We run our race and test ourselves. We look out and up to him who gives life.

It is from this focused point of view that we remember our only boast is in the cross of Christ. He alone made us new creations (Gal. 6:14-15). All that we have—our new life, our breath, our skills and abilities, our opportunities—they all come from him and are for him.

“And,” Paul says, “as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them” (Gal. 6:16).

Posted at: https://gcdiscipleship.com/article-feed/2019/11/14/run-your-racenot-someone-elses

WANT A FAITH THAT LASTS? CHECK YOUR MOTIVATIONS

Trillia Newbell 

The trashcan was full of CDs, and I was convinced it was for the best.

It was a small act, really, but one that was significant to this music-loving gal. A year or so after I became a Christian at twenty-three, I had thrown all of my CDs in the trash. I would have a fresh start and begin a new collection—one filled only with Christian music. After all, I was motivated by my love for and devotion to God. Having made my decision, I made sure others knew about my brave act of obedience so I would receive their approval.

The specifics of the trashed collection are forgotten now, I just knew that it felt more holy to throw them all away than to keep them. But was that action really motivated by a love for Jesus? No. I was more concerned about looking Christian than I was about being motivated by the gospel.

A music clean-out could certainly be a wise and God-honoring decision, but the motivation for such an action is vitally important. A friend once told me about a man who gave up baseball and then became legalistically transfixed on the idea that baseball was wrong—even to the point of becoming angry when someone invited him to a game. I guess we all have our things we do—things we believe will make God pleased with us.

Let’s step back and recognize that the right motivations are essential for living consistently—that is, with our actions in step with our beliefs. When actions flow out of a heart that’s motivated by the right reasons, we experience joy, freedom, gratitude, and peace. This is possible only if our motivations are rooted in Christ. It’s also hard but incredibly freeing.

I had been motivated to look Christian, so throwing away all that music felt like the right decision to make, like what a good Christian ought to do. But my motivation didn’t come out of a desire to guard against the temptation to indulge in the world; that music wasn’t leading me to think sinful thoughts. So instead of joy, freedom, gratitude, and peace, I found guilt and dissatisfaction because of a desire to please others. I lacked the peace of knowing I was secure and loved in Christ.

JESUS’ OBEDIENCE AND OURS

Any time we discuss running our race with endurance, it’s good to make sure we’re thinking rightly about our obedience and Jesus’ obedience on our behalf. Jesus endured for the joy set before him (Heb. 12:2)! His endurance was focused on joy.

Thankfully we have a Savior who relates to our suffering. Jesus is aware of and acquainted with the grief of humanity. He is acquainted with my grief and yours. The God-man endured trials and temptation but remained without sin (Heb. 4:15). He was abandoned by his friends. He was a man of sorrows. He endured to the bitter end because he too was in a race. He was on a mission: the redemption of the world! The joy set before him was that he would be seated at the right hand of the Father. Death was defeated!

“So Jesus knows what it’s like to endure; he understands what you experienced yesterday, what you will experience today, and what you will experience tomorrow.

So Jesus knows what it’s like to endure; he understands what you experienced yesterday, what you will experience today, and what you will experience tomorrow.

On his way to the cross, Jesus sat and prayed to his Father, asking that if it was God’s will, the cup of wrath would be taken away. Yet Jesus willingly drank that cup, and he hung on the cross. And in his final moments on the cross, he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mk. 15:34).

His pain and suffering was for a purpose: the redemption of the world. He endured great pain—pain I can only imagine, pain and wrath on my behalf. But he knew the end. And his endurance through pain and mocking—a death fit for a criminal, not a savior—was all because he was fulfilling a plan formed before the foundation of the world. And now we know that “we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven” (Heb. 8:1).

HAVING RIGHT MOTIVATIONS

As Christians, you and I want God’s truth to inform how we think and how we live. We pray for the alignment of what is true, what we believe, what we think, and how we act. As we seek to live this out, we fight an important battle for the right motivations, and we resist wrong motivations. It’s easy for our motivations to shift, so it’s essential to root ourselves in the truth of the gospel continually: Christ sought you and me out while we were still sinners, and he humbled himself to take the punishment we deserve in order to give us new life to the glory of God. Jesus defeated death and promises to finish the work he began in us. This truth is the foundation of right motivations.

Your heart motivations matter because our God isn’t fooled by outward appearance and actions. Running with the wrong motivations also leaves us depleted and wanting to give up this race. He desires our obedience both externally and internally—in action and in thought. This is why Jesus warned the Pharisees that to look beautiful on the outside meant nothing if inside they were full of death, uncleanliness, and impurity (Matt. 23:27). There’s freedom, joy, and praise to our God in living with the right motivations. As we look into our motivations, you and I need to recognize that we live a difficult tension as Christians: we are saved by grace and are compelled to put off the old self and walk in a way worthy of our calling.

“Although legalism can look like trusting in God because of good works, it’s actually a form of unbelief because we aren’t resting in faith in the finished work of Jesus.

What I was struggling with regarding CDs has a name: legalism. At its most basic, legalism is trying to save one’s self. It’s trying to do right things without believing that God justifies us by faith alone. It’s trying to obey without God’s help, without his power, and without his grace. Although legalism can look like trusting in God because of good works, it’s actually a form of unbelief because we aren’t resting in faith in the finished work of Jesus.

When we’re motivated to work hard for God in order to earn his favor, we aren’t operating with faith or trust. Instead we’re trying to add to the finished work of Jesus on the cross. We’re living as though his work isn’t enough so we must strive to make him happy—as though our acceptance by God depends on our efforts.

Because we’re justified through faith alone as a gift from God, you and I are freed from attempting to earn God’s love and favor. Our salvation isn’t—and never will be—a result of our works (Eph. 2:8). There’s nothing we could ever do to earn God’s saving favor. No amount of sacrifice could earn us anything more. If you are in Christ, you have his favor—forever!

My temptation into legalism was motivated by selfish ambition. I was taking my works and showing them off to God. Look, God! I threw out all my CDs for you. This thought seems ridiculous now that it’s written out. That’s why Ephesians 2:9 is so important; salvation is “not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” We don’t finish the race and then boast in ourselves. That’s what makes salvation a gift: it’s free and unearned by us. So salvation isn’t ultimately about you and me but about God. God does the work, and he receives the glory. A legalist wants to do the work, earn the favor, and get the glory.

It’s probably apparent already that this isn’t a good motivation because it’s skewed and tainted by sin. Instead of pursuing good things out of the joy and knowledge of the firm standing and identity I have in Christ, my motivation was marked by insecurity, by selfishness, by mistrust, guilt, and doubt. We want to watch that our running toward Jesus isn’t more about us and less about him.

BREAKING FREE FROM LEGALISM

I got this good advice from a pastor: “If you’re struggling with legalism, don’t fight it by quitting your Bible-reading time.” In other words, if we aren’t living out of the right motivations, there can be a temptation to jettison good things (such as Bible reading, acts of love, or evangelism) because we think they are part of the problem.

Examining our motivations is a good thing; we need to be mindful about what’s behind our actions. But in this process it’s easy for confusion to set in.

In the midst of this confusion, look what has been revealed to us through God’s Word:

• God has given us all we need for godliness (2 Pet. 1:3).

• There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1).

• Our obedience to God comes out of our love for him (Jn. 14:15).

If we struggle with legalism, somewhere in our pursuit of godliness we forget that only by God’s grace can we live for him. God is the one who has granted us “all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Pet. 1:3).

In turn, his love motivates us. It is the fuel we need.

Taken from Sacred Endurance by Trillia Newbell. Copyright (c) 2019 by Trillia Newbell. Published by InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL. www.ivpress.com.

Posted at: https://gcdiscipleship.com/article-feed/2019/11/22/want-a-faith-that-lasts-check-your-motivations

Think You Know the Christmas Story? Here are Five Common Misconceptions

Michael Kruger

Bah, humbug.

That’s probably one of the most well-known lines in literary (and now, cinematic) history. Everybody immediately recognizes the curmudgeonly voice of Ebeneezer Scrooge as he pours cold water all over our Christmas spirit.

And his point is still made today by some, albeit in different words.  It’s that the Christmas story just isn’t true. It’s rubbish. It’s made up. It’s all in our heads.

While now is not the time for a full-scale defense of the historicity of the Christmas story, Scrooge’s skepticism does prompt us to wonder whether we’ve gotten the story right. Are we telling the story that really was, or are we just telling the story that we want to tell?  Are we just telling the story in our heads?

It might be useful, then, to reflect on a few common misconceptions about the Christmas story. The best way to validate the Christmas story to the Ebeneezer Scrooge’s out there is to make sure we’ve got it right ourselves. Here are five of them.

1. There Was a Star the Night Jesus Was Born

It’s difficult to find a nativity scene (or Christmas play) without a star over the manger. Indeed, this might be the quintessential symbol of the birth of Jesus.

The problem is there’s no indication the star hovered over the manger on the night Jesus was born. On the contrary, when the angels announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds watching their flocks by night (Luke 2:8–11), they weren’t told to look for a star. They were told to look for something else: “And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12).

The star was given not to the shepherds but to the Magi (Matt. 2:2), who appear to be visiting Jesus at a later time period. How much later is unclear, but the fact that Herod commands all the babies in the region younger than 2 years old to be killed suggests Jesus may have been in Bethlehem for some time.

2. There Were Three Wise Men

Speaking of the wise men, in both art and in song (“We Three Kings”) we get the undeniable impression there were three of them (also called “Magi”). The problem, however, is that this number is found nowhere in the biblical accounts.

Matthew simply tells us, “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem” (Matt. 2:1).

The idea of three wise men likely came from the fact that Matthew mentions three gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh (Matt. 2:11).

3. There Was No Room for Them in the Inn

Another staple of modern nativity plays is the scene at the inn. Joseph and his wife, Mary—who is on the verge of giving birth—are cruelly turned away by the innkeeper who shows them no compassion.

Here is another popular misconception. The Bible never mentions an innkeeper. In fact, it’s possible there was never even an “inn” at all.

A recent study by Stephen Carlson makes the case (a compelling one, I think) that the Greek word normally translated as “inn” (καταλύματι) in Luke 2:7 is best translated as “place to stay.” So the passage isn’t saying there was no room in the inn, but rather there was no room for baby Jesus in the place they stayed. In what place were they staying? Carlson argues it was probably in the home of Joseph’s family in Bethlehem, perhaps in an adjacent guest room (which would have been small).

4. Jesus Was Born in a Barn or Stable

Since Joseph could find no spot in the inn, the reasoning goes, he must have been forced to stay in the stable. Indeed, every nativity scene ever created places Jesus in a barn of sorts.

But the text doesn’t say he was born in a barn. It only says Mary “laid in him in a manger” (Luke 2:7). Although that might seem to suggest a barn, it was common for mangers to be kept in the main room of village houses during this time period. Why? Because the animals were often housed just a few feet away in an adjacent room.

It seems likely, then, that Mary gave birth to Jesus while they were staying at the home of Joseph’s relatives in Bethlehem. But the room in which they stayed—likely a tight guest room or hastily added chamber—couldn’t accommodate a birth. So, Mary had to give birth in the larger family room and lay Jesus in the nearby manger.

5. Jesus Was Born on December 25

If we celebrate Jesus’s birthday on December 25, it’s logical to think this was the day on which he was born. But the precise date of Jesus’s birth is uncertain. A variety of options have been suggested throughout church history, including March 21, April 15, and May 20.

So how did December 25 become the date? It’s commonly thought Christians took over the pagan holiday of Sol Invictus (“Unconquered Son”), which was on December 25. But there’s little evidence to back this up.

Instead it seems early Christians may have reasoned from the supposed date of Mary’s conception, which was thought to be March 25—the same day Jesus was thought to be crucified. Fast forward nine months and you land on December 25 for his birth.

These five misconceptions remind us that sometimes our picture of scriptural stories is shaped more by popular perceptions and modern retellings than by the text itself. But when we take a closer look at the biblical clues, a wonderful—and hopefully more accurate—picture emerges of what happened that night nearly 2,000 years ago.

And what happened that night still stands as one of the most monumental events in human history. God became a man and entered our dark, cold world to redeem a sinful people.

And that is a story that should transform our “Bah, humbug” into a hearty “Merry Christmas.”

Note: A version of this article originally appeared on The Gospel Coalition website.

Posted at: https://www.michaeljkruger.com/think-you-know-the-christmas-story-here-are-five-common-misconceptions/

How Do I Battle Subtle Temptation to Lust

John Piper, from Ask Pastor John podcast

Audio Transcript

How do I battle lust in temptations subtler than porn? It’s a question I see often from men in talking about swimsuit issues and lingerie catalogs. This particular question comes to us from an anonymous man. “Hello, Pastor John! Three years ago, I turned away from porn for the final time, a perennial struggle for my life for the better part of a decade, between ages 16 to 26. I’m now married and have not looked at porn for three years. I can only say it’s a victory from the Lord to find deliverance in Christ from the bondage.

“In recent months, however, I am lured to images of women in female marketing campaigns. My wife gets a number of catalogs from companies that make female workout clothes and lingerie. We are putting a stop to those mailings, as much as possible, but a lot of them simply show up. It feels like the same allure as porn, the same challenge — maybe less immediately dangerous, but very similar. I don’t want to undersell this struggle. What advice do you have for those of us who have experienced victory over porn, but are now tempted by subtler and less scandalous objects of lust like this?”

Well, may God get the glory now and from everyone who listens to this that there are stories of triumph like this — there are. They are there by the thousands, and we shouldn’t be totally discouraged when we hear all the bad news about how prevalent pornography is among people, and believers in particular. But this is glorious. Thank you for sharing it. I love the renewed sense of vigilance over the soul. It is such a good sign of spiritual reality when little things matter as well as big things in the pursuit of holiness. All impurity matters to God: seemingly harmless magazines as well as adultery and rape. God lays claim on every impulse in the human heart.

Eyes Like a Magnet

The male eye is like a magnet in its attraction to excessive female skin, or tantalizing gaps in clothing, or featured bodily shapes through tight clothing. God cares about these magnet impulses of the male eye, and what we do with them. I am glad that our friends, and this man in particular, care as well. Every Christian should care about what appear to be such little things compared to the horrific things that we might be considering. So, I’d like to point to five passages of Scripture. Each of them addresses, I think, an aspect of the battle for purity, even in regard to a wife’s women’s magazines. I know exactly what he’s talking about. I could name them. I dumped three of them in the garbage yesterday.

“God lays claim on every impulse in the human heart.”TweetShare on Facebook

My wife’s in Florida right now, welcoming a grandbaby, and the magazines keep coming. They all tend to come at once. Do you ever notice? They must all use the same mailing company. I get three women’s fashion magazines, clothing magazines, and there they go in the garbage. Or do I open them? Do I look for the bathing suits? Do I look for whatever? What do you do? So, I would sum up these five principles or guidelines — or you decide what they should be called — like this:

1. Faithfulness in Little

2. Urgency in Warfare

3. Fighting Like a Dead Man

4. Making Specific Covenants

5. Praying for Sovereign Sway

Let me say a word, and give you a verse for each of those, and tell you what I mean, and see whether this might just provide another piece of kindling on the fire of vigilance that is being expressed.

1. Faithful in Little

Luke 16:10: “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.” Now, that applies in context to money, but it is the same with regard to all temptations, I believe. God cares about small things, and when we are faithful in the small, who knows what God might be willing to entrust to us, and what great things he might be willing to do through us, if we are faithful in the smallest things.

2. Urgency in Warfare

Jesus said,

You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery.” But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. (Matthew 5:27–29)

Well, suggesting that we tear out our eye, because the issue is heaven and hell, is a call to urgency — about as strong a call to urgency as I can imagine. My oh my. Misplaced sexual desires — not just acts, but desires — is, it turns out, not such a small thing after all. So, urgency is essential.

3. Fighting Like a Dead Man

Now, this is the heart of the uniquely Christian way of pursuing purity and fighting sin. Lots of people think it doesn’t really matter how you kill sin. Just do it. Just do it. No, there’s a Christian way to do it, and you might be turning it into a false way if you don’t do it the Christian way. Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” Why? “For you have died . . .” Wow. So, every Christian has to come to terms with this. Have I? What is that in my experience? “You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). That’s about the most amazing thing that can be said about a human being. You’re dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Wow, that’s worth a few hours of meditation.

“There is a place for very specific covenants with our eyes, and hands, and feet.”TweetShare on Facebook

“When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:4). And here comes the imperative following from the indicative that you have died: “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you” (Colossians 3:5). The first four things he mentions are what? “Sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire . . .” — and then he adds, “and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming” (Colossians 3:5–6).

So, here’s the uniquely Christian paradox. You have died, so put to death. You have died, so put to death. “You have died” means that, by faith alone, you really have, through identification with Jesus, died and risen and passed from death to life. Your life is hidden with Christ in God: sins forgiven, eternity secured. Now, fight. Kill sin. The first four sins Paul mentions relate to sexual desire. Go figure. There’s nothing new under the sun. If you say, “I don’t need to fight, because I’ve died, and I’ve been raised, and I’m secure in heaven. Nothing can happen to me,” you simply show that you’re not dead. You’re not, and therefore you’re not secure. The fighting like a dead man — your fighting like a dead man — is the proof you are a dead man. If you don’t fight, you’re not dead.

4. Making Specific Covenants

This is absolutely essential I think. Here’s what I mean. Job 31:1 says, “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?” A covenant with the eyes. I think there’s a difference between saying, on the one hand — and I’m basing this on significant personal experience, as well as biblical observation. There’s a big difference between saying, on the one hand, “I’ll do my best, by the power of the Spirit, to walk in holiness and purity for the rest of my life — ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty years,” and saying, on the other hand, “In the next four weeks, I will not crack open a single women’s magazine that comes in the mail, not one page. Period. No exceptions.”

If you leave your hormones wiggle room, which is what lifelong, general commitments do, without very specific commitments or covenants with your eyes, your hormones will almost inevitably convince your mind that this little exception is okay. “They’re just bathing suits.” There is a place, in other words, for very specific covenants with our eyes, and hands, and feet. I’ll be honest. When Noël left, and she’ll be gone probably for a couple of weeks, I made one of those covenants, with regard to a bunch of specific things. I think that’s crucial. Not that it’s okay to sin when she’s here, but there’s something unique, there’s a unique challenge, when you’re alone.

5. Pleading for Sovereign Sway

Psalm 119:37 is a pleading prayer: “Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.” So, the psalmist knows that his eyes are like magnets drawn to “worthless things.” Depersonalized female skin is a worthless thing. Now, women as persons are of infinite worth in relation to God, but lust depersonalizes skin, and turns it into a worthless thing. It’s demeaning to women. It’s deadly for men. So, the psalmist pleads for sovereign sway. “Turn my heart, turn my will, turn my eyes. Get sovereign sway over my desires.”

So, those are my five suggestions in the ongoing fight for purity, even when the great battles have been won against pornography.

1. Faithfulness in Little

2. Urgency in Warfare

3. Fighting Like a Dead Man

4. Making Specific Covenants

5. Praying for Sovereign Sway

Posted at: https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/how-do-i-battle-subtle-temptations-to-lust

Marry X-mas

By Jay Adams

“Why in the world would you write that?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Obviously, that X in Christmas.”

“What wrong with that?”

“You don’t know?”

“Nope. Tell me.”

“Well, X stands for an unknown quantity. That’s no way to talk about our Lord!”

“Whoa! You don’t have the facts straight!”

“What do you mean?”

“That’s no X, it’s…”

“Looks like an X to me.”

“Listen, the New Testament was written in Greek—which everyone wrote at that time.”

X-mas isn’t something new…

“Yeah? So what?”

“Here’s what – that supposed “X” in Xmas isn’t an English letter at all. It’s…”

“Sure looks like one.”

“Yes. But it is really a Greek letter standing for ‘Ch,’ the first two letters in “Christ.” The expression Xmas is an abbreviation – that’s all.”

“Oh!”

“If I were objecting to anything, and I’m not, it would be the ‘mas’ at the end of the word.”

“Hmmm. You’d better explain that one too!”

“Well, it’s a shortening of the word ‘mass.’”

“A Roman Catholic word?”

“Sorta. You see, Xmas is a ‘mule word’ – half Greek, half Latin.”

“Hmmm…”

“The latter part, mas, came from the Latin mitto which means ‘to dismiss’ or ‘send off.’ It was used in the early church to dismiss unbelievers before communion was served. But it has little meaning any more – it’s just an abbreviated ending. Get it?”

“Think so. Uh . . . Merry Xmas”

“Merry Xmas!”

Posted at: https://reformedperspective.ca/merry-x-mas/

The Greatest Salvation Imaginable

• Devotional by John Piper

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah . . . ” (Jeremiah 31:31)

God is just and holy and separated from sinners like us. This is our main problem at Christmas — and every other season. How shall we get right with a just and holy God?

Nevertheless, God is merciful and has promised in Jeremiah 31 (five hundred years before Christ) that someday he would do something new. He would replace shadows with the Reality of the Messiah. And he would powerfully move into our lives and write his will on our hearts so that we are not constrained from outside, but are willing from inside, to love him and trust him and follow him.

That would be the greatest salvation imaginable — if God should offer us the greatest Reality in the universe to enjoy and then move in us to know that Reality in such a way that we could enjoy it with the greatest freedom and the greatest pleasure possible. That would be a Christmas gift worth singing about.

That is, in fact, what he promised in the new covenant. But there was a huge obstacle. Our sin. Our separation from God because of our unrighteousness.

How shall a holy and just God treat us sinners with so much kindness as to give us the greatest Reality in the universe (his Son) to enjoy with the greatest possible joy?

The answer is that God put our sins on his Son, and judged them there, so that he could put them out of his mind, and deal with us mercifully and remain just and holy at the same time. Hebrews 9:28 says Christ was “offered once to bear the sins of many.”

Christ bore our sins in his own body when he died (1 Peter 2:24). He took our judgment (Romans 8:3). He canceled our guilt (Romans 8:1). And that means our sins are gone (Acts 10:43). They do not remain in God’s mind as a basis for condemnation. In that sense, he “forgets” them (Jeremiah 31:34). They are consumed in the death of Christ.

Which means that God is now free, in his justice, to lavish us with all the unspeakably great new covenant promises. He gives us Christ, the greatest Reality in the universe, for our enjoyment. And he writes his own will — his own heart — on our hearts so that we can love Christ and trust Christ and follow Christ from the inside out, with freedom and joy.

Posted at: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-greatest-salvation-imaginable