Bookends - John Stott

Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18).


As we consider various means by which Christians grow think of each one of them as a book you're putting on the shelf of your life. In order to keep those books in place, you need two bookends.

The first bookend we need is the righteousness of Christ. The most important question any person can ask is: How can I, a sinful person, be accepted by an infinitely and righteous God?

Paul told us it is by trusting in the righteousness of Christ. Paul counted all his impressive religious credentials as rubbish in order that he might "gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ -- the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith" (Philippians 3:8-9).

Paul found his acceptance with God not in his own imperfect obedience, impressive as it was, but by trusting in the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ, which God credits to all who trust in Him as Savior. That is what faith is--trusting in Jesus Christ as one's Savior.

The second bookend we must set in place is the power of Christ.  Just as our acceptance with God must come through the righteousness of Christ, so our power to live the Christian life must come from Christ as well. As Jesus indicated in John15:5, we have no ability within ourselves to grow.

All that ability must come from Him.

The common element in these two bookends is the word dependence. We're dependent upon the righteousness of Christ for our acceptance with God and upon the power of Christ for our ability to pursue spiritual growth.

                 -- From John Stott

Whose Will?

                                                              

                                                                     Whose Will?

Jesus' prayer in the Garden was "Not My will, but Thine, be done."

Most often I would rather pray, "Let my will be done."

And that gets me into trouble! The sin in my life, and probably in yours, can be traced back to pursuing our own wills, goals and desires, rather than His -- the will of our heavenly Father who made us, knows everything and plans our best in all things all the time.

So when we pray we should ask  God to reshape our will, to realign it with His Will through the Word of God.

Our hearts are inclined toward sin, rebellion and walking out of step with God.

But God, in His infinite mercy and grace, has given us His Spirit and His Word to  reshape our will and recalibrate the desires of our hearts to bring us back into step with Him!

He always gives us what we need to obey and glorify Him!

 What a great and loving Father we have!

Bloom Where You Are Planted!

Bloom Where You Are Planted!

Thoughts from Charles Spurgeon --

"Believer, if your inheritance is meager, you should be satisfied with your earthly portion; for you may rest assured it is best for you. Remember this: If any other condition had been better for you than the one in which you are, divine love would have put you there.

You are placed by God in the most suitable circumstances, and if you could choose your lot, you would soon cry, 'Lord, choose my heritage for me, for by my self-will I am pierced through with many sorrows.'

Be content with the things you have, since the Lord has ordered all things for your good. Take up your daily cross; it is the burden best suited for your shoulder and will prove most effective to make you perfect in every good work and word to the glory of God. Busy self and impatience must be put down; it is not for them to choose, but for the Lord of love!"

Armies - Seen and Unseen

Remember Elisha and his servant? They were in Dothan and an angry king wanted to destroy them. 

"Elisha's servant got up early, and when he went out, he saw an army with horses and chariots all around the city. The servant said to Elisha, 'O my master, what can we do?' 

Elisha said, 'Don't be afraid. The army that fights for us is larger than the one against us.'

Then Elisha prayed, 'LORD, open my servant's eyes and let him see.'

The LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha." (2 Kings 6:15-16).

An army of horses and chariots of fire -- a celestial army!

Too often we focus on the wrong army! 

We need to change our focus --

"Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world" John wrote in 1 John 4:4.

Jesus, who lives in us, is stronger than our enemy!

Stronger than all our enemies' armies-- seen and unseen!

We  just need to adjust our vision --take another look! And maybe pray for friends who are facing great calamity -- pray as Elisha did, that the LORD would open their eyes and let them see!

Remind everyone around us that God can correct our vision! He can open our eyes to see things previously unseen!

It's Your Decision - what do I do about Jesus? - J M Boice

From James Montgomery Boice - 
    The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 2, pp 634-635



Have you ever been confronted by the power of Jesus' resurrection? Or are you still trying to make your life secure against Jesus?

Perhaps you have heard of Christ's gospel, but you have been trying to keep Jesus politely in His place.

I warn you: Jesus is not that easily contained. You can push Him down, but He will crop up again. You can banish Him from your thoughts, but He will come back when you least expect Him. What are you going to do against the power of the one so many call Lord? How are you going to make yourself secure against Jesus?

Let me suggest what you can do. You can begin with activity. That should not be too difficult in our hectic times. Our world is preoccupied with activity and even rewards those who are busiest. If you are busy enough you will not have time to think about Jesus. Fill up your time. Schedule your idle hours. Then you will not have to go to a Bible study. When Christians invite you to church, you can say you are too busy. Fill your evenings with television so you won't have time to read your Bible.

Here is something else you can do. You can fill your life with sin and sin's pleasures. Jesus is the sinless Son of God. Sin should keep you from Him. Fill your life with evil pleasures of the world. Here are many. Make your life as secure as you can against Jesus.

I have one more suggestion:  Become religious. If you take this path, however, I suggest that you do not learn too much about Christianity. Instead, sink yourself in ceremony. Do things not because they are meaningful -- you might have to think about their meaning -- but for tradition's sake or for mere aesthetics. Make your life as secure as you can with religion. Attach your seals! Set your guards! Erect your barricades!

Alas, it will not be enough.

Jesus has broken seals before. He has scattered countless guards. What will you do with the light bursts forth from heaven and Jesus confronts you in resurrection splendor?

I will tell you what I would do.

I would give up fighting altogether. I would lay down my seals and stones and guards and feverish activity. I would abandon my sins, and I would fall before Him and confess Him as Thomas did. I would say, My Lord and my God."

Then Jesus will make you His, and He will tell you what you are to be and do for His sake.

                                       ~~~~~~~~~~~~



[That's what I did - and I've never been sorry!]