God's Patience

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August 17, 1767.

It is indeed natural to us to wish and to plan, and it is merciful in the Lord to disappoint our plans, and to cross our wishes. For we cannot be safe, much less happy, but in proportion as we are weaned from our own wills, and made simply desirous of being directed by His guidance. This truth (when we are enlightened by His Word) is sufficiently familiar to the judgment; but we seldom learn to reduce it to practice, without being trained awhile in the school of disappointment. The schemes we form look so plausible and convenient, that when they are broken, we are ready to say, What a pity! 

We try again, and with no better success; we are grieved, and perhaps angry, and plan out another, and so on; at length, in a course of time, experience and observation begin to convince us, that we are not more able than we are worthy to choose aright for ourselves. Then the Lord's invitation to cast our cares upon Him, and His promise to take care of us, appear valuable; and when we have done planning, His plan in our favour gradually opens, and he does more and better for us than we either ask or think.I can hardly recollect a single plan of mine, of which I have not since seen reason to be satisfied, that had it taken place in season and circumstance just as I proposed, it would, humanly speaking, have proved my ruin; or at least it would have deprived me of the greater good the Lord had designed for me. 

We judge of things by their present appearances, but the Lord sees them in their consequences, if we could do so likewise we should be perfectly of His mind; but as we cannot, it is an unspeakable mercy that He will manage for us, whether we are pleased with His management or not; and it is spoken of as one of his heaviest judgments, when He gives any person or people up to the way of their own hearts, and to walk after their own counsels.Indeed we may admire His patience towards us. If we were blind, and reduced to desire a person to lead us, and should yet pretend to dispute with him, and direct him at every step, we should probably soon weary him, and provoke him to leave us to find the way by ourselves if we could. But our gracious Lord is long-suffering and full of compassion; He bears with our forwardness, yet He will take methods to both shame and to humble us, and to bring us to a confession that He is wiser than we.

 The great and unexpected benefits He intends us, by all the discipline we meet with, is to tread down our wills, and bring them into subjection to His. So far as we attain to this, we are out of the reach of disappointment; for when the will of God can please us, we shall be pleased every day, and from morning to night; I mean with respect to His dispensations. O the happiness of such a life! I have an idea of it; I hope I am aiming at it, but surely I have not attained it. Self is active in my heart, if it does not absolutely reign there. I profess to believe that one thing is needful and sufficient and yet my thoughts are prone to wander after a hundred more. 

If it be true that the light of His countenance is better than life, why am I solicitous about anything else? If He be all-sufficient, and gives me liberty to call Him mine, why do I go a-begging to creatures for help? If He be about my path and bed; if the smallest, as well as the greatest events in which I am concerned, are under His immediate direction; if the very hairs of my head are numbered then my care (any farther than a care to walk in the paths of His precepts, and to follow the openings of His providence) must be useless and needless, yea, indeed, sinful and heathenish, burdensome to myself, and dishonourable to my profession. Let us cast down the load we are unable to carry, and if the Lord be our Shepherd, refer all and trust all to Him.

 Let us endeavour to live to Him and for Him to-day, and be glad that to-morrow, with all that is behind it, is in His hands.It is storied of Pompey, that when his friends would have dissuaded him from putting to sea in a storm, he answered, It is necessary for me to sail, but it is not necessary for me to live. A pompous speech, in Pompey's sense! He was full of the idea of his own importance, and would rather have died than have taken a step beneath his supposed dignity. But it may be accommodated with propriety to a believer's case. 

It becomes us to say, It is not necessary for me to be rich, or what the world accounts wise; to be healthy, or admired by my fellow-worms; to pass through life in a state of prosperity and outward comfort,-these things may be, or they may be otherwise, as the Lord in His wisdom shall appoint;-but it is necessary for me to be humble and spiritual, to seek communion with God, to adorn my profession of the Gospel, and to yield submissively to His disposal, in whatever way, whether of service or suffering, He shall be pleased to call me to glorify Him in the world. It is not necessary for me to live long, but highly expedient that whilst I do live I should live to Him. Here, then, I would bound my desires; and here, having His word both for my rule and my warrant, I am secured from asking amiss. Let me have His presence and His Spirit, wisdom to know my calling, and opportunities and faithfulness to improve them; and as to the rest, Lord, help me to say, "What Thou wilt, when Thou wilt, and how Thou wilt."

When We Awake In Glory

Dear Madam,

What a poor, uncertain, dying world is this! What a wilderness in itself! How dark, how desolate, without the light of the Gospel and the knowledge of Jesus! It does not appear so to us in a state of nature, because we are then in a state of enchantment, the magical lantern blinding us with a splendid delusion.

         Thus in the desert's dreary waste, 
         By magic power produced in haste, 
         As old romances say, 
         Castles and groves, and music sweet, 
         The senses of the traveler cheat, 
         And stop him in his way. 
         But while he gazes with surprise, 
         The charm dissolves, the vision dies; 
         'Twas but enchanted ground 
         Thus, if the Lord our spirit touch, 
         The world, which promised us so much, 
         A wilderness is found.

It is a great mercy to be undeceived in time; and though our gay dreams are at an end, and we awake to everything that is disgustful and dismaying, yet we see a highway through the wilderness; a powerful guard, an infallible Guide at hand to conduct us through; and we can discern, beyond the limits of the wilderness, a better land, where we shall be at rest and at home. What will the difficulties we meet by the way then signify? The remembrance of them will only remain to heighten our sense of the love, care, and power of our Saviour and Leader. O how shall we then admire, adore, and praise Him, when He shall condescend to unfold to us the beauty, propriety, and harmony of the whole train of His dispensations towards us, and give us a clear retrospect of all the way, and all the turns of our pilgrimage !

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In the meanwhile, the best method of adorning our profession, and of enjoying peace in our souls, is simply to trust Him, and absolutely to commit ourselves and our all to His management. By casting our burdens upon Him, our spirits become light and cheerful; we are freed from a thousand anxieties and inquietudes, which are wearisome to our minds, and which, with respect to events, are needless for us, yea useless.

But though it may be easy to speak of this trust, and it appears to our judgment perfectly right and reasonable, the actual attainment is a great thing; and especially so, to trust the Lord, not by fits and starts, surrendering one day and retracting the next, but to abide by our surrender, and go habitually trusting through all the changes we meet, knowing that His love, purpose, and promise are unchangeable. Some little faintings, perhaps, none are freed from; but I believe a power of trusting the Lord in good measure at all times, and living quietly under the shadow of His wing, is what the promise warrants us to expect, if we seek it by diligent prayer; if not all at once, yet by a gradual increase. May it be your experience and mine!

Is Repentance Necessary for Salvation?

Romans 2: 4  “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?”

I have read on several occasions that there is no need for repentance to be saved. I have no idea what that means. The Bible could not be clearer on this subject. So, what would possess someone to say you do not need repentance is beyond me. Luke 13:3 “tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” The Bible tells us that God is the one that brings repentance into the heart and 2 Tim 2: 25 “Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to knowledge of the truth.” Sadly, with our washed down gospel, the opponents are right here in the Church with us today.

Until God brought the gift of repentance to my heart, I had no idea that I was going through my Christianity without ever truly repent. All of us have the ability to babble some words and ask God for forgiveness, especially before communion time, we close our eyes and in all the sincerity we have in our heart we ask Him to forgive our sins. But what does that means? If repentance has not been granted to you by God, then you go on recycling the same old things over and over again.

This is why ignorance is truly sad. I remember my father used to say “I’d rather have the fever than being ignorant” I have no idea where he got this saying from. But as I became a true Christian, I realized how this silly saying is so important. With ignorance, it is like being born blind and you go through life never knowing that it is not normal to be born this way.  Mind you, in such case, it would be a blissful ignorance, but not when it comes to God’s Word. As we go through our own mechanical repentance, we have no idea that we are not right with Him and we never quite get what the word of God means in Mathew 3:8 the new living translation says it better “Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God”

The fruit of your repentance is not an outward thing, but, rather the work of the Holy Spirit gets you there, by changing your mind and your heart. Only then the outward action is right. Only then, the fruit and the work of your faith are pleasing to God. And this is also the only way you do not keep recycling the same sins decades after decades.  Without knowing what true repentance of the heart means, you never move forward, you can never grow spiritually in grace. And I do not care if you memorize the whole Bible and other ignorant like you have appointed you to a leadership role.

This is also why I like using myself as a prototype when I Blog. Most of you know that they do not come more clueless than I. The point I am trying to make when I use myself as an example is that we do not have to remain and die in our ignorance. I use myself because I am grateful for His grace at work in me. If one person can come off their pedestal and acknowledge their need for Him, through reading me, then it is worth making a fool of myself, because God is not looking for quantity, but quality. Most of us what we need is to stop living in our self-righteousness, our man made morality with our precious do’s and donts list. We have not gotten to the place where we have hearts like the poor publican sinner.

Repentance goes hand in hand with Salvation. Not accepting it as such, is like trying to convince people that it is possible to have a coin with one side only, and we all know it is impossible. Even if the other side is blank but it has to be there. I am not saying that repentance has to enter our hearts right away when we receive salvation, but you can be sure saving faith in your heart will lead you to repentance sooner or later and whether you like it or not. If you never experience true repentance in your heart where you come face to face with God, then I can say with no qualm and God will be my judge on this, YOU DO NOT HAVE SAVING FAITH. I have learned it directly from Him, therefore I will not compromise to make someone else feel good. I serve God, not man.

True repentance in the heart whether we like it or not we find that it changes our mind as well as produce actions. And the word of God is clear on that as well because we are told that it leads us to the knowledge of the truth in 2 Tim 2: 25.  When the gift of true repentance enters your heart, you will find yourself face to face with God Himself. It is a transaction between you and God the Father. Then you will be saying oh! That’s what you meant in Acts 20:21 “… That they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.” Until then, I did not care about the distinction. But notice two important things in this tiny verse: First, repentance has been distinguished from faith. Second, repentance is toward God the Father.

It is both, blissful and bittersweet experience when your heart comes to the realization as to why God hates sin with a passion. All of the sudden the exceeding sinfulness of man before God, His purity and Holiness that cannot come in contact with sin and His grace and mercy that He showers on you. As you come to grip with Christ’s suffering, the abhorrence of sin, the heavy grief in your soul for finding out who you truly are, they all bring you down to your knees and your heart melt. Through the pain of all that you have come in contact with, you realize even though you are undeserving, yet, He is washing you in his love, it is like you are bathing in it. The uncontrollable tears flowing down your face while you are down on the floor and you cannot help it never to have anything to do with sin anymore, because of what it looks like, because of God’s indignation and because of what it cost Him. Guess what? You do not have to force yourself to feel that way, it is just being put into your heart and it is becoming who you are. Only then, your soul understands the difference between being saved in your sins and saved from sins.

Exploring The Hidden Questions Of Our Heart

It is possible to recover the lost life of our heart and with it the intimacy, beauty, and adventure of life with God. To do so we must leave what is familiar and comfortable—perhaps even parts of the religion in which we have come to trust—and take a journey. This journey first takes us on a search for the lost life of our heart, and for the voice that once called us in those secret places; those places and times when our heart was still with us. The pilgrimage of the heart leads us to remember together what it was that first engaged us in deep ways as children: ". . . anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it," said Jesus (Mark 10:15).

Our journey will take us to explore the hidden questions of our heart, born out of the stories of our lives. It is only by leaving home and taking a pilgrimage that we will begin to see how our own stories are interwoven with the great Romance God has been telling since before the dawn of time. It is on this pilgrimage that we begin to see that each of us has a part in the cosmic love affair that was created specifically with us in mind. Last, this pilgrimage brings us to the destination, set within all of our hearts, which in some way we have known, longed for, and been haunted by since we were children.

...Our journey begins by asking questions, putting words to the movements of the heart. "What is this restlessness and emptiness I feel, sometimes long years into my Christian journey? What does the spiritual life have to do with the rest of my life? What is it that is set so deeply in my heart, experienced as a longing for adventure and romance, that simply will not leave me alone? Does it have anything to do with God? What is it that he wants from me? Has he been speaking to me through my heart all along? When did I stop listening? When did his voice first call to me?"

Excerpt from Ransomed Heart Ministry

http://www.ransomedheart.com/

The Outer and Inner Life

The Outer and Inner Life

By J. R. Miller, 1895

In every man there are two men. There is an outer man that people can see; there is an inner man that no human eye can see. The outer man may be hurt, wounded, marred, and even destroyed, while the inner man remains an untouched, unharmed, and immortal. Paul puts it thus: "Though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day by day." He is referring to his own sufferings as a Christian. His body was hurt by scourgings, by stonings, by exposure. It was worn by toil, and by endurance of hunger, of hardship. But these things which scarred his body, leaving marks upon it, making it prematurely old—had no effect on the inner man. His real life was not wounded by persecution. It even grew in strength and beauty as the outer man decayed.

There is quenchless life within our decaying life. The beating heart, the breathing lungs, the wonderful mechanism of the body—do not make up the real life. There is something in us which thinks, feels, imagines, wills, chooses, and loves. The poet lies dead. His hand will write no more. But it was not the poet's body that gave to the world the wonderful thoughts which have so wrought themselves into the world's life. The hand now folded shaped the lines—but the marvelous power which inspired the thoughts in the lines was not in the hand. The hand will soon moulder in the dust—but the poet is immortal. The outward man has perished; but the inner life is beyond the reach of decay, safe in its immortality.

The inner spiritual life of a Christian is not subject to the changes which come upon his outer life. The body suffers; but if one is living in fellowship with Christ, one's spiritual life is untouched by physical sufferings. The normal Christian life is one of constant, unchecked, uninterrupted progress. Unkindly conditions do not stunt it. Misfortunes do not mar it.

The inner growth of a Christian should be continuous. The renewal is said to be "day by day." No day should be without its line. We should count that day lost, which records no victory over some fault or secret sin, no new gain in self discipline, in the culture of some virtue, no enlargement of the power of serving, no added feature of likeness to the Master. "The inward man is renewed day by day."

This does not mean that all days are alike in their gain. There are special dates in every spiritual history which are memorable forever for their special advance—days when decisive battles are fought, when faults are discovered and conquered, when new visions of Christ are granted, when the heart receives a new accession of divine life, when one is led into a new field of service, when a new friend comes into the life, when one takes new responsibilities, or enters into new relations.

Then there are days in every life, when there would seem to be no spiritual advancement. We all have our discouraged days. We have days which are stained by folly, marred by mistakes, blurred and blotted by sin; and these seem to be lost days. There are days when we appear to fail in duty or in self-control, or in struggle with temptation. The inner man would appear to be crippled and hurt in such experiences as these; and the days would seem to be idle and useless, without profit or progress. We come to the evening with sad confessions of failure, and with painful regret and disheartenment. But even such times as these are really gaining times, if we are living near the heart of Christ. We are at least learning our own weakness and frailty, the folly of self-dependence, the feebleness of our own best resolves. Often times our defeats prove our greatest blessings. No doubt many of our richest gains are made on the very days on which we weep most sorely over our mistakes and failures.

Then there are days that are broken by sorrow. The lights go out in our sky, and leave us in darkness. The friends of many years are taken away from us. Prosperity is turned to adversity. Misfortune touches our interests. Our circumstances become painful. Is not the growth of the inner life interrupted by such experiences? Not if we are truly abiding in Christ, and receiving from him the grace he has to give. No doubt many of the best, the divinest blessings of spiritual life come to us on just such days. The photographer takes his sensitive plate into a dark place to develop his picture. Sunlight would mar it. God often draws the curtain upon us—and in the darkness brings out some rare beauty in our life, some delicate feature of his own loveliness.

The teaching of the Scripture is that, whatever the experience of the outer life, the growth and enrichment of the inner life should never be interrupted or hindered. This is the divine purpose for us. Provision is made in the grace of God for this continuous work. We need never be harmed by anything which breaks into our life. Indeed, there is nothing which touches us in any way that may not be made to minister good to us. Woundings of the outer life—may become pearls in the soul. Losses of earthly things may become gains in the spiritual realm. Sickness of the body, may result in new health and increased vigour in the inner man. It is the privilege and the duty of the child of God—to move upward and forward day by day, whatever the day's experience may be.

This is the meaning of the promises of peace which are found so frequently in the Bible. We have no assurance of a life without strife, trial, trouble, earthly pain, and loss; but we are assured that we may have unbroken peace within, while the outer life is thus beset. "In the world you shall have tribulation." "In Me you shall have peace." The blessing of such a life in this world is incalculable. It becomes a source of strength, of shelter, of comfort, of hope, to many other lives.

We can be truest and best blessings to others only when we live victoriously ourselves. We owe it therefore to the needy, sorrowing, tempted world about us, to keep our inner life calm, quiet, strong, restful, and full of sweet love, in whatever outer turbulence of trial or opposition we must live. The only secret is to abide in Christ.

The lesson has a special application to sickness. Sickness is common. Not always does it prove a means of grace. There are some who are not spiritually benefited by it. Yet it is the duty and the privilege of every Christian so to meet the experience of illness or invalidism as ever to grow in it into Christlier character. The secret is a living faith in Christ. Restlessness or distrust will mar the divine work that Christ would do in the heart; but quiet submission to the will of God and peaceful waiting for him will ensure continual renewal of the inner life, even while the outer life is being consumed.

It is well, therefore, that those who are called to endure sickness should learn well how to relate themselves to it, so as not to be harmed by it. Sickness is discouraging. It is not easy for one with life broken, unable longer to run the race with the swift, to keep his spirit glad, cheerful, and wholesome. It is hard not to be able to do the heroic things which the unquenched spirit longs to do. Life seems now to be useless. They appear lost days, in which no worthy service can be done for Christ.

Too often those who are called to invalidism lose out of their heart the hope, the enthusiasm, the zest of living—and become depressed, unhappy, sometimes almost despairing. But this is to fail in true and noble living. When we cannot change our conditions, we must conquer them through the help of Christ. If we are sick, we would better not fret nor chafe. Thereby we shall only make our illness worse, retarding our recovery, while at the same time we shall mar the work of grace going on in our inner life. The captive bird that sits on its perch and sings, is wiser than the bird that flies against the wires of the cage, and tries to get out, only bruising its wings in its unavailing efforts. The sick-room may be made a holy of holies instead of a prison. Then it will be a place of blessing.

The lesson has its application, also, for those who are growing old. Old age ought to be the most beautiful period of a good life. Yet it is not always so. There are elements in the experience of old age which make it hard to keep the inner life ever in a state of renewal. The bodily powers are decaying. The senses are growing dull. It is lonely. There is in memory a record of empty cribs and vacant chairs, of sacred mounds in the cemetery. The work of life has dropped from the hands. It is not easy to keep the joy of living in the heart, in such experiences. Yet that is the problem of true Christian living.

While the outward man decays, the inward man should be renewed day by day. This is possible, too, as many Christian old people have proved. Keeping near the heart of Christ is again, as always, the secret. Faith gives a new meaning to life. It is seen no more in its relation to earth and what is gone—but in its relation to immortality and what is to come. The Christian old man's best days are not behind him—but always before him. He is walking, not toward the end—but toward the beginning. The dissolving of the earthly tabernacle is a pledge that the house not made with hands is almost ready.

The lesson has its application also for death. That seems to be the utter destruction of the outer man. The body returns to the dust whence it came. What of the inner life? It only escapes from the walls and fetters which have confined it on the earth. It is as when one tears a bird's cage apart, and the bird, set free, flies away into the heavens. Death is not misfortune; it is not the breaking up of life; it is growth, development, the passing into a larger phase of life. We need death for life's completing.

"Death is the crown of life;
Were death denied, poor man would live in vain;
Were death denied, to live would not be life;
Were death denied, e'en fools would wish to die.
Death wounds to cure; we fall; we rise; we reign;
Spring from our fetters; hasten to the skies,
Where blooming Eden withers in our sight.
Death gives us more than was in Eden lost;
This king of terrors—is the prince of peace."

As I was reading this Spurgeon piece, so much came to mind and really I do not want to say too much. I would rather let the words of such a godly man penetrate your heart and let you ponder on them.

This college that Spurgeon referred to, some godly Christian writers call it a University. But whether it is University or College they are all one in the same. The goal is to study and be trained by Him, at His feet so that He can knock religion out of you as you become spiritually real.

As you lay down your life, you find out He takes you on as His pupil and you are shedding this life that you used to know, layer by layer. Anyone who has become spiritually real in Him knows the pain of this process too well. So many great men of the Bible have been to this University. Men like David, Paul, Joseph, Moses and so many more we have before us as examples. But, because I bought into this saying in the Church “God prepares us according to the plan He has in mind for each one of us” Christians just love throwing those words around without understanding what they truly means to God. Sadly, I found the moment you tell someone about spiritual growth and if they know they are not there, especially when they have been calling themselves Christian for a while, they tend to find shelter through those words.

So, even when God took me to the wilderness, I did not expect it to be as intense, painful and long as it has been because I knew “I was nothing” and God’s plan for me is way too small to go through what these people have been through. So, when this harsh reality of His University training came to my door steps, I painfully accepted it and I was truly thinking, since He took me to this harsh path, He must have a big ministry in mind for me. To my surprise, this path where He strips you off of all those layers and brings you to ruin inwardly to rebuild you has nothing to do with anything specific to one person. It is just the beginning of a process to rebuild you and put you back to the way you should have been to begin with, if Adam and Eve did not sin.

The making of the holy man or woman He wants you to be, the making of that being in a close relationship with Him as you walk with Him like a friend, is no less painful than  those men who walked the path before us. Sure He customizes it a little bit. Like David needed to learn to be skilful in battles and leadership to become the King. Moses needed to know the back of the wilderness really well to lead His people, and he also needed time to shed those egotistical years he spent as the Pharaoh’s son, so his training lasted forty years before God calls him to Himself. But shedding the self-life to become holy and start this life that Adam and Eve shared with Him before their sin, is for all of us. It is a training that prepares us for so much that I would need several posts to talk about them. Nevertheless, once you go through this training, you understand fully well what the Scriptures tell us in 1 John 3:6. It is also a training where once you go through it, you can see how easy it is for Him to work out the sermon of the mount within you.

Suffice to say, when God takes you to this path, you find yourself saying over and over again “oh! This is what you meant?”  It never gets old. That’s when you understand  and you feel like a fool for having tried to work out those little bits and pieces that we set out to throw together to make up our own idea of Christianity, have nothing to do with His plans, if only we would let Him show us and teach us.  I need to stop there because this post is about showcasing the words of Spurgeon. 

Spurgeon In "The College OF Christ"

"Then He opened their understanding—that they might understand the Scriptures." Luke 24:45

Many teachers can bring the Scriptures to the mind—but the Lord alone can prepare the mind to receive the Scriptures. Our Lord Jesus differs from all other teachers; they reach the ear—but He instructs the heart; they deal with the outward letter—but He imparts an inward taste for the truth, by which we perceive its savor and spirit. The most unlearned of men—become ripe scholars in the school of grace—when the Lord Jesus by His Holy Spirit unfolds the mysteries of the kingdom to them, and grants the divine anointing by which they are enabled to behold the invisible!

Happy are we if we have had our understandings cleared and strengthened by the Master! How many men of profound learning—are ignorant of eternal things! They have a veil upon their hearts which the eyes of carnal reason cannot penetrate.

Such was our case a little time ago; we who now see—were once utterly blind! Truth was to us—as beauty in the dark, a thing unnoticed and neglected. Had it not been for the love of Jesus—we would have remained to this moment in utter ignorance—for without His gracious opening of our understanding, we could no more have attained to spiritual knowledge than an infant can climb the Pyramids, or an ostrich fly up to the stars!

The College of Christ is the only one in which God's truth can be really learned. Let us sit at the feet of Jesus, and by earnest prayer call in His blessed aid that our dull wits may grow brighter, and our feeble understandings may receive Heavenly things.

Some useful Quotes:

Dietrich Bonhoeffer    "Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: 'Ye were bought at a price', and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer   "Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession.... Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate."

 Meaning of a Believer: “A believer is someone who responds by accepting this relationship and binding him/herself to Jesus Christ. In practice this means a voluntary surrender of life to Jesus Christ; it is to completely sacrifice your life to the One who has offered Himself” 

When Nothing Makes Sense To Us, Praise Him!

John 9: 1-3 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

Nobody will ever outgrow Scriptures. I have read John 9 countless times. Yet today was different. First of all, the whole chapter gave me goose bumps and teary eyes. But the things that struck me was the fact that this man or his parents have done nothing wrong. (This does not mean they were sinless)  It was decided since he was in the womb to be born blind because God had a plan that He shared with no one. His plan was to use this man years down the road to open his eyes and redeem his soul. He also wanted to share with those willing to believe, that He was indeed the son of God.  He also wanted to share with his disciples, use it as a stumbling block to the Jews who were dead set against His teachings and also share with us today so that we might be comforted and learn to trust His plans for us. Without knowing what God was doing in the background, this man was called to live out a lifelong blindness as a beggar, with no hope.

But, imagine being this man’s parents to find out your beautiful baby boy is born blind. The pain this must have caused them and all the unanswered questions they must have had. There is no doubt since the Jews regarded this as the effect of sin, that they had no compassion for the man and perhaps people were pointing fingers at the parents too. This man’s life has been affected completely since he grew up with his blindness well through adulthood.  

I guess the reason I had teary eyes and goose bumps was the display of God’s sovereignty, the way He design things for us, through us and in spite of us. We are wrong to think God NEEDS us to receive glory because if we do not do it because of our love for Him and gratefulness for who He is, then the stones will cry out. (Luke 19:40)

Sometimes we cannot explain why life is what it is. Our endless trials and grievous calamities have purposes we have no way of knowing the impact and the depth unless we keep going on, in faith and steadfastness. We can find strength to go because we know He is Sovereign, He is a just God,  His goodness is beyond measure and His compassion limitless. In His appointed time, He will bring it all together for us.

 So, would you please find the strength in Him to hang in there even when nothing makes sense to you? In Him there is healing and there is hope.

Prayer:

Holy, Lord God Almighty, Heaven and earth are full of your glory. We praise you and worship you. We give you thanks for who you are. You are worthy to receive Glory and honor. Great are the works of your hands, Hosanah in the highest. Lord I pray that you would bring relief to the heart of those who are in pain. I pray that you would put your healing touch on them, and give them the patience needed to go through it all. Please give them such confidence in you that they would not be able to deny your presence. May your grace fall upon them. May you guide their actions, protect them from the evil one who is able to use their sorrow against them and against you. Through the darkness that surrounds them right now, may you become their light and allow them to see you through their despair. Most of all my Lord may their sorrow be used for your glory. To you be the glory my redeemer and I love you with all that I am, so please hear my plea. 

What Is Spiritual Growth?

Years ago, I remember getting on the bandwagon when people were talking about the Israelites in the wilderness and the fact that they missed out on God’s plan for them. If I was writing down all the derogatives comments made about the Israelites for having God right there with them yet they failed, I would have enough material to create a book by now. As I grow spiritually, I realized how juveniles those comments were. We can afford to make such comments because we truly do not know God the way we think we do. If we did, we would learn through God that there is no difference between us and the Israelites when it comes to serving and loving Him. 

As the matter of fact, we do not only have Christ in front of us as a cloud and our high priest, we also have Him inside of us, so in a way, we are worse than the Israelites. We are stubborn people, we enjoy living a double life, hence why we do not want anything to do with a life of abandonment at His feet. We follow after anyone willing to dilute the gospel to make things easier for us. We are great at giving Him lip service. Not interested in anyone’s report that does not match what we want to hear. We have hard hearts, idols coming out of our ears, and we are fascinated by what the world has to offer, and the list goes on.

The key thing here is “spiritual growth.” Spiritual growth isn’t about how active you are for God, or about accumulating knowledge. While these things make us feel good, and even the Church tends to evaluate most of their staff and what they label mature Christians, by accumulated knowledge. But, that’s not what God’s word value, for spiritual growth. Rather, it’s a process by which we are slowly becoming more and more like Christ while taking on His characters.  

As we grow spiritually, God keeps pushing the veil back for us which takes away the limitations God put on us after we died spiritually when Adam and Eve sinned. Only as we let Him remove the veil in increment that we understand how much we human beings have a limited understanding of the depth of spiritual growth. Imagine with me that God is working in each one of us to make us like Christ. Now, picture Christ’s character and everything He was when He walked the earth, then picture yourself and tell me in comparison to Christ you do not see almost an impossible challenge. If you can see the difference between the two, you will be able to accept the fact that there is so much work to be done that it is almost discouraging. Yet, the task is not impossible to God, all He asks is that we make every effort to keep up with Him so that He can prepare us for the future life.

Christ first Sermon was the Sermon on the Mount and should be a very good starting point for us. In reality this sermon signifies the starting point of our spiritual life. I was made to understand that I did not have to worry about the Sermon on the Mount and that God would work it out in me even after I die. As I walk closer with Christ, I found out this is something He needs to work in me and you now, and it is just the beginning of a life in spiritual adulthood as we leave behind the child life stage. As the Holy Spirit enlightened me to see the starting point with Him, it made me sad to see how today Church is trapped in a perpetual infancy stage – like the Pharisees.

Sure there is an ultimate end to our spiritual growth when we will see Him face to face just like He is. But like the Spirit taught me, there is nothing that limits Him from working most of it in us right here right now, except us getting in His way.

2 Peter 1:3-8

New International Version (NIV)

Confirming One’s Calling and Election

3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I worry when I hear people say: “may be it is His plan for you and not for me” to grow so much in Him. This excuse has become so universal that I can only see Satan in the midst of it all. How then can we read the Bible, even reading verses like 2 Peter 1:3-8, then still not moving forward like we are participating in a course for our lives? If we truly get the gist of the Bible, how then can we explain that most of us are not making the commitment to follow hard after Him? Something is amiss.

  

We are so blinded that we lie to ourselves, yet we walk around as if God cannot see our excuses and the lies we tell ourselves to avoid a real commitment to Him. You are also kidding yourself if you think you can get there without making a painful mental effort to commit wholeheartedly to this walk. This is not a commitment to do more, but a commitment from the heart that says I want to stop playing with Christianity and learn to see things from His standpoint. I want to get to know Him intimately and I need to make things right with Him.

Think of it this way and test yourself. If you cannot find it in you after you claim to be Christian for decades, to commit wholeheartedly to Him, how do you expect your work to pass the test of the fire? Because not being able to take that mental step to abandon yourself to Him, should be your answer.

Take the step to let the Spirit moves freely in your life!

Thomas Brooks (Puritan)

Thomas Brooks on the title page of his book The Riches of Christ.

Courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Brooks_(Puritan)

This post  by Thomas Brooks below merged well with my post on April 12 :  Complete & Effective Dominion

 

I mentioned how important it is to test the spirits. A minister who is not breaking your heart with the word of God almost every time he takes the pulpit, there is a strong chance that he has not been hand picked by Him. A real minister of God will cause you to go home somewhat, if not fully offended every time you hear him. Why? Because it is the nature of the true Gospel it offends unbelievers as much as it offends believers that are not right with Him.

 

Sadly, Satan has worked it so nicely for us to make us comfortable with a half truth, that in the Church, we scream “apostasy” when we are offended by the truth of  the Gospel and in our state of spiritual we have no idea that we are led by Satan to react this way. Satan has done such a great job that we love our mediocre preachers, they make us feel good, we agree with them, we say AMEN, HALLELLUJAH! We get all emotional and drunk on “god”   yet, we go back home with the same compartmentalized lives, wrong attitude toward Him, stubborn hearts,  lack of obedience and our rituals that make us feel good because we found “religion”

 

Even on my death bed, I will keep saying over and over again. The reason we are offended by the preaching, the posts or the books that call for examination of our hearts, or to a deeper life and make us feel inadequate is because we are not where we should be. Deep inside of us, we know something is wrong, but we shut if off and slap our mask on again. For a lot of us, often the subtlety of Satan acts like a snooze alarm we keep pressing the button just so we can get a few more minutes of sleep. Before we know it, time passes us by, we get so deep with Satan, and in our slumber it would take a bulldozer to get us out of our lethargy and laziness. By then, it is easier to say Oh! Well God is good!

 

May God have mercy on us!

Thomas Brooks (1608–1680) was an English non-conformist Puritan preacher and author

Consider carefully what you hear." Mark 4:24"

It is sad to see how many preachers in our days, make 

it their business to enrich men's heads with high, empty, 

airy notions; instead of enriching their souls with saving 

truths. 

Fix yourself under that man's ministry, who makes it his 

business, his work to enrich the soul, to win the soul, and 

to build up the soul; not to tickle the ear, or please the 

fancy. This age is full of such light, delirious souls—who 

dislike everything—but what is empty and airy.

Do not judge a minister . . .

  by his voice, nor

  by the multitude who follow him, nor

  by his affected tone, nor

  by his rhetoric and flashes of wit;

but by the holiness, heavenliness, and spiritualness 

of his teaching. Many ministers are like empty orators, 

who have a flood of words—but a drop of matter.

Some preachers affect rhetorical strains; they seek abstrusities, 

and love to hover and soar aloft in dark and cloudy expressions, 

and so shoot their arrows over their hearers' heads—instead of 

bettering their hearers' hearts. Mirthful things in a sermon 

are only for men to gaze upon and admire. He is the best 

preacher, not who tickles the ear—but who breaks the heart.

"My message and my preaching were not with wise and

 persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's

 power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom,

 but on God's power." 1 Corinthians 2:4-5