Monday, December 5
My honest thoughts today!
Lord I sit here at home this morning burdened greatly by all that's going on around me. I run to you. Thank you for the hope I just read in Isaiah 59. V.9 says, "we hope for light and behold darkness, and for brightness, but we walk in gloom." I'm feeling that today. "We grope for the wall like the blind; we grope like those who have no eyes." God I can't see what's ahead. I worry and sit in fear. I confess that. V.15 is so full of hope. "The Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice. He saw that there was no man and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then his own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him. He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak." This is the Lord's covenant "My Spirit will come upon you." Lord I praise you for putting on zeal in such an extravagant way that hope might be brought to my life TODAY. I rest in this covenant! Praise you God!!!
Thursday, May 5
Thoughts on rest and vacation
Tomorrow morning Danielle and I are heading to Mexico for 5 nights of vacation with a bunch of our good friends. I'm excited about a lot of things, but what I'm really excited about is just chillin -- limited internet, no texting, just chilling on the beach with my bride and our friends. My personality is a worker. I make to-do lists and don't really do a very good job of sitting down and resting. My goal this vacation is to rest, but I want to do it very carefully.
My mind goes to the writer of Hebrews, where in the third and fourth chapters he describes salvation as an entry into the Lord's rest. That is a very interesting wording. I think what it's trying to communicate is that apart from Christ there is no such thing as true rest. Don't get me wrong, people "rest." They go on vacation, take breaks, etc, but that doesn't speak to the problem of the unrest in the human soul. Left to ourselves, we are broken and bent to sin. We don't naturally live for God, but for ourselves. We work so hard to clean ourselves up, be presentable, some even do it with the goal of trying to make God happy. Yet, apart from the redemptive work of God we will remain in our exhausted, busy, broken, and selfish unrest. All the while continually looking to the next thing in the hopes that it brings us the rest that only Jesus can fulfill.
So whether we are going on vacation, taking a day off or just sitting down to rest, it must flow out of and be saturated with Jesus. Left to ourselves, our own agendas, our own thinking, even our own naps, we will remain in our brokenness and miss the eternal rest that can only comes from the Savior. With that being said, I'm looking forward to resting in him this next week.
My mind goes to the writer of Hebrews, where in the third and fourth chapters he describes salvation as an entry into the Lord's rest. That is a very interesting wording. I think what it's trying to communicate is that apart from Christ there is no such thing as true rest. Don't get me wrong, people "rest." They go on vacation, take breaks, etc, but that doesn't speak to the problem of the unrest in the human soul. Left to ourselves, we are broken and bent to sin. We don't naturally live for God, but for ourselves. We work so hard to clean ourselves up, be presentable, some even do it with the goal of trying to make God happy. Yet, apart from the redemptive work of God we will remain in our exhausted, busy, broken, and selfish unrest. All the while continually looking to the next thing in the hopes that it brings us the rest that only Jesus can fulfill.
So whether we are going on vacation, taking a day off or just sitting down to rest, it must flow out of and be saturated with Jesus. Left to ourselves, our own agendas, our own thinking, even our own naps, we will remain in our brokenness and miss the eternal rest that can only comes from the Savior. With that being said, I'm looking forward to resting in him this next week.
Wednesday, March 9
Gospel in Life
Our leadership at North Church has been going through Tim Keller's study "Gospel in Life." It has be very transformational. We will be rolling it out church-wide in April. I commend this study to you. You can always join us at North Church to experience it as well. It will transform your view of Christianity and the gospel.
Trailer for Gospel in Life from Redeemer City to City on Vimeo.
Thursday, February 17
A Pitiful Hope
1. A girl crushed after her boyfriend broke up with her, inspite of the promise ring he gave her.
2. A 14 yr old and his family who continue to grieve losing their teenage brother/son/friend 10 months ago.
3. A precious saint who was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and given 2 weeks to 3 months to live.
4. A couple who found out their unborn baby has a 50/50 chance of being born with a disease.
5. A couple who lost their co-joined, unborn twins.
6. My mother (who is in remission from cancer) has been undergoing tests for pain and hearing loss.
7. A friend who just went through a divorce.
8. I just had my car broken into and MacBook Pro stolen
All of these situations mentioned are being experienced by brothers and sisters in Christ. With the weightiness of them all, I'm remined of the following scripture:
1 Corinthians 15:19 (ESV)
19If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
Where is your hope? If you are banking on this life...it's guaranteed to go bad (read the above situations again)! Don't pursue a pitiful hope...look to our eternal God who had given us an eternal inheritance that will not fade away!
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