How Firm a Foundation - Part 3

This is the final section of David Powlison's look at the hymn, "How Firm a Foundation," found in his book, God's Grace in Your Suffering.

We have to consider if our disappointment with the Bible is because we are looking for the wrong answers from it. Powlison concludes this section of his study:

When you get to what most matters, to life-and-death issues, what more can he say than to you has said? To whom do you entrust your life? What will happen to you? Are you facing betrayal by someone you trusted? Aggressive, incurable cancer? A disfiguring disability? Your most persistent sin? These are what Scripture is about. And God's words address all the defining existential questions - questions about meaning or despair in the face of death, purpose or pointlessness, good or evil, love or hate, trust or fear, truth or lies. Can mercy untangle the knot of sin? Can justice undo oppression? What about the character of God? The dynamics of the human heart? The meaning of affliction? What more can the Lord say than to you he has said? Listen well. There is nothing more that he needs to say.

If you don't know the hymn, here is a link to the words. It's a wonderful hymn.

A Birthday Devotional

This is a special post from The Daily Bread for a special young man. Happy Birthday, Ryan!

I used to love birthdays. I can still remember standing excitedly on our front porch waiting for my friends to show up for my 5th birthday party. I wasn’t just excited about the balloons, the gifts, and the cake. I was happy that I was no longer only 4! I was growing up.

As I’ve gotten older, however, birthdays have sometimes been more discouraging than exciting. Last year when I celebrated a birthday that marked me by decades more than by years, my wife, Martie, cheered me up with the reminder that I should be grateful to be growing older. She pointed me to Psalm 71, where the psalmist talks about God’s presence throughout his life. He remembers that God “took me out of my mother’s womb” (71:6), and he proclaims with thankfulness, “O God, You have taught me from my youth; and to this day I declare Your wondrous works” (v.17). And now, when the psalmist is older, he has the honor to proclaim: “[God’s] strength to this generation, [His] power to everyone who is to come” (v.18). God had blessed the psalmist with His presence through every year of his life.

Birthdays now remind me of God’s faithfulness. And they bring me closer to being in the presence of the One who has been with me all these years!

Lord, remind me often that growing older means
I am growing nearer to You! Keep my heart
filled with gratitude for Your many blessings,
and keep my mind fixed on the joy of heaven.

How Firm a Foundation - Part 2

Continuing with David Powlison's study of the hymn, "How Firm a Foundation," we will discuss the lens through which we look at the Scriptures. Do we want more from the Bible than God wants to provide?

If we only had one more verse on each of the top ten questions we wrangle over! And think what he could have told us with an extra paragraph or chapter on a few of the tough topics! If only the Lord had shortened the genealogies, omitted a few villages in the land distribution, and condensed the spec sheet for the temple's dimensions, dishware, décor, and duties. Our Bible would be exactly the same length - even shorter - but the questions that rattle the church could have been anticipated and definitively answered. But somehow, God in his providence didn't choose to do that.

It comes down to what you are looking for as you read and listen.

What do you want from the Bible? What is most important to you? What is most important to God in providing wisdom to his people?

We'll conclude this series tomorrow.

How Firm a Foundation - Part 1

In the hymn, How Firm a Foundation, the anonymous writer includes this line: "What more can he say than to you he has said...." David Powlison in God's Grace in Your Suffering exegetes the hymn and finds deep meaning in its words. He addresses some of the questions that we all ask as believers. He notes that there is "a way to read Scriptures that leaves you wishing God had said a whole lot more":

How did Satan become evil? Why did Chronicles add zeros to the numbers in Samuel and Kings? How did Jonah avoid asphyxiation? Who wrote the book of Hebrews? And those aren't even the questions that most often divide and perplex the church. Wouldn't it have been great if the Lord had slipped in one killer verse that pins down the timetable for the return of Christ? That resolves every question about the meaning and mode of baptism and the Lord's Supper? That specifically informs us how to organize church leadership and government? That tells us exactly what sort of music to use in worship? That explains how God's sovereign purposes dovetail with human responsibility? That describes just how the Holy Spirit intends and does not intend to express his dynamic power?

Have you ever asked these questions and wondered about the answers? We'll explore more of these insights over the next couple of posts.

Enemies of Truth - Part 3

This is the last part of a devotional on enemies of truth written by Rebecca Vandoodewaard.

3. We are enemies of truth when we misrepresent the gospel. This could be to our family, our church, or those outside of it. This sort of skewed picture could come from apathy, fear of conflict, or abuse of authority. Of course, we will always represent the gospel imperfectly, often unknowingly. But a conscious decision to do and say things - or a conscious failure to do and say things - in a way that facilitates a misunderstanding of Christ's person and work places us in opposition to the truth. That is sobering indeed.

The fact that we will always sin while in the body does not diminish the seriousness of these dangers. Our mortality, our struggle with our sinful nature, does not absolve us from the responsibility to obey or from consequences when we fail. In fact, since we have the strength of the Spirit and the mind of Christ, we are able to be allies of the truth as it renews our hearts and minds.

This devotional appeared in the November edition of TableTalk.

Enemies of Truth - Part 2

Continuing with the devotional from Rebecca Vandoodewaard, we look at a second way in which believers can oppose the truth.

2. We are enemies of truth when we hide sin. Perhaps it's a besetting sin, such as anger, that we hide from people outside of our family. Perhaps we're covering up the serious sin of an older child, pastor, or friend: we're afraid of what would happen if we expose the sin, afraid that people will accuse us of not understanding grace if we do. Hiding sin could even extend to preventing biblical justice from taking its course, as in ecclesiastical or civil courts. Believers can do all of these things, and when they do, they facilitate a culture of lies.

Tomorrow, we'll conclude this devotional on enemies of truth.

Enemies of Truth - Part 1

The following is from a devotional published in TableTalk and written by Rebecca Vandoodewaard. When we look for our enemies, sometimes we don't have to look too far.

What comes to mind when you think of someone who is an enemy of the truth? Richard Dawkins? Joseph Smith? Hollywood celebrities? What about a woman at church? Your brother? You?

An older Christian once warned me, "Even Christians can be enemies of truth." We know that we battle the world, the flesh, and the devil - those are three categories that we can rattle off. But it's easy to think of ourselves in the right camp and others in the wrong one. We make reality black and white in ways that it is not. Thinking of a believer - of ourselves - as someone who can actually oppose truth is deeply sobering. Here are three ways that it can be true.

1. We are enemies of truth when we refuse to hear the truth. This tends to come in two forms: not listening to someone tell the truth or refusing to accept it. Maybe we're not will to take the time to actually hear; other priorities seem more urgent. Maybe we're afraid of what will happen if we do listen; understanding will require humility, repentance, and change. Maybe we do listen and understand, but we refuse to admit that it applies to us. Truth can be uncomfortable. It can mean that we've been wrong. Whether truth comes to us through Scripture reading, through preaching, or through the wounds of a friend, when we treat it like an enemy, we become the enemy.

We'll cove the other ways over the next two posts.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is tomorrow! With that in mind, I found a prayer in the Presbyterian Common Book of Worship. I hope this inspires you to remember the Lord on this day of thanksgiving.

We thank you, O Lord, for all the mercies of every kind, and for your loving care over all your creatures. We bless you for the gift of life, for your protection, for your guiding hand upon us, and for the many tokens of your love within us; especially for the saving knowledge of your dear son, our redeemer; and for the living presence of your spirit, our comforter. We thank you for friendship and responsibility, for good hopes and precious memories, for the joys that cheer us and for the trials that teach us to trust in you. In all these things, make us wise in the right use of your gifts, through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'll be taking a couple of days off from posting during the holiday, but I'll be back by the weekend.

Traveling Mercies

For all of those who are traveling for the Thanksgiving holidays, and especially for my son. This was adapted from the 1906 Presbyterian Common Book of Worship:

Lord God, who reigns in the heavens and on the earth; we ask for your guidance and protection for your servant now leaving on his journey. Against all dangers be his strong defense, and be his faithful friend; keep him in health and heart and prosper the ends of his journey. Guard him, we ask you, from all dangers, from sickness, from the violence of enemies, from every evil; and conduct him in safety to his destination with a grateful sense of your mercies, in the firm knowledge that he is yours, through Christ our Lord. Amen

Avoid Foolish Questions

Titus 3:9 - "But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless."

The following is from a devotional by Charles Spurgeon:

Our days are few, and are far better spent in doing good, than in disputing over matters which are, at best, of minor importance. The old schoolmen did a world of mischief by their incessant discussion of subjects of no practical importance; and our Churches suffer much from petty wars over abstruse [obscure] points and unimportant questions. After everything has been said that can be said, neither party is any the wiser, and therefore the discussion no more promotes knowledge than love, and it is foolish to sow in so barren a field. Questions upon points wherein Scripture is silent; upon mysteries which belong to God alone; upon prophecies of doubtful interpretation; and upon mere modes of observing human ceremonials, are all foolish, and wise men avoid them. Our business is neither to ask nor answer foolish questions, but to avoid them altogether; and if we observe the apostle’s precept (Titus 3:8) to be careful to maintain good works, we shall find ourselves far too much occupied with profitable business to take much interest in unworthy, contentious, and needless strivings.

There are, however, some questions which are the reverse of foolish, which we must not avoid, but fairly and honestly meet, such as these: Do I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? Am I renewed in the spirit of my mind? Am I walking not after the flesh, but after the Spirit? Am I growing in grace? Does my conversation adorn the doctrine of God my Saviour? Am I looking for the coming of the Lord, and watching as a servant should do who expects his master? What more can I do for Jesus? Such enquiries as these urgently demand our attention; and if we have been at all given to caviling [complaining], let us now turn our critical abilities to a service so much more profitable. Let us be peace-makers, and endeavour to lead others both by our precept and example, to “avoid foolish questions.”

Living by Faith

This devotional comes from a book, Heart of the Matter, and is written by David Powlison. As a side note, several weeks ago David Powlision was diagnosed with 4th stage pancreatic cancer. Based on his more recent writings, he is still relying on the Lord, even with this dire diagnosis, trusting the Lord for comfort and strength. I took a course with Powlison 15 years ago. A three hour class went by in what seemed to be minutes. His wisdom about the human condition was mesmerizing. He's a wonderful, godly man.

This devotional is based on a reading of Psalm 23:

Whatever your future, you are called to live by faith today. Jesus says, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" (Matthew 6:34). Jesus wants you to depend on him one day at a time. Learn not to worry about tomorrow. To do this you must meditate on who Jesus is.

More than any other passage, Psalm 23 brought Jesus to life for me in my struggles with fatigue. The psalm is full of promises - he provides, he restores my soul, he is with me, his goodness and mercy pursue me all of my days. Make this psalm your own. Jesus, your good Shepherd, will fill you with confidence. God doesn't meet us the way we want, but he does restore us. No matter what you are facing, you have a Shepherd who is with you, restoring you, and bringing good things - himself - into your life. Learn to trust him, and you truly have something worth living and dying for.

1 John 4:9-11

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Hazards to Spiritual Growth - Part 4

Michael Emlet ends this chapter returning to the subject of the book: psychiatric medications and diagnoses.

What does this mean with regard to the use or non-use of medications? Don't be too quick to cast off suffering as though immediate relief from trials is the only good God is up to. And don't think it's more "spiritual" to refrain from taking medications, as though character refinement through suffering is the only good God is up to. We don't choose our suffering in some masochistic way. Yet we are called to a life of walking in the footsteps of our suffering Savior. Christ teaches us a cross-centered and dependent lifestyle (Luke 9:23). And this is true in all situations of life.

Wise counsel for those who counsel others in everyday life.

Hazards to Spiritual Growth - Part 3

We left off yesterday noting that humans are prone to wander from God when life is hard and when life is easy. Michael Emlet continues this discussion with some thoughts on contentment:

Perhaps this is why the writer of Proverbs prays, "Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, 'Who is the Lord?' or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God" (Proverbs 30:8-9).

Here's another way of saying this: God-centered contentment is elusive in want or in plenty. Neither situation is the "ideal" for spiritual growth in a fallen world. Paul highlights this in Philippians 4:11-13 (NIV). He learned "the secret of being content in any in plenty or in want." He looked to the strength of Christ in all situations.

Tomorrow we'll finish this series on spiritual growth.

Hazards to Spiritual Growth - Part 2

Continuing with the chapter from Michael Emlet in Descriptions and Prescriptions, this section begins after the previous reference to Job and his suffering:

As we've seen, it's not a bad thing to seek deliverance from intense suffering and this can be done in a godly way, unlike the Israelites and Job's wife. For example, many psalms provide a model of crying out to God with integrity and humility in the midst of troubles and grief (Psalms 10, 22, 44, 73, 77, and 88, to name a few).

At the same time, a lack of suffering may bring the temptation to simply forget that "'in him we live and move and have our being'"(Acts 17:28). Temptation toward complacency and self-reliance can certainly happen when life is relatively easy. This was part of the problem God's people experienced once they left the wilderness and entered the Promised Land. Their dependence on him waned in the midst of material blessing (Deuteronomy 8:10014; Judges 2:10-12). You see that same pattern in David (2 Samuel 12:7-9) and Solomon (1 Kings 10-11).

We are prone to wander from God when life is hard and when life is easy.

More tomorrow.

Hazards to Spiritual Growth - Part 1

I'm reading a book by Michael Emlet, Descriptions and Prescriptions: A Biblical Perspective on Psychiatric Diagnoses & Medications. It is an excellent review of how Christians should think about psychiatric categories. He opens the book with the "Goldilocks Principle," which outlines the two ditches that Christians can fall into as they consider these categories: (1) Some Christians are "too cold" toward psychiatric diagnoses and are highly suspicious of using these labels, or (2) other Christians are "too warm" toward these diagnoses, embracing them as nearly all-encompassing explanations of a person's struggle. His book is about helping Christians through biblical wisdom find the path that is "just right." It's a short book - only 100 pages - and I think it's around $10. It's well worth the money.

There is much in the book that deserves comment, but one short chapter in particular caught my attention today. It is called "Hazards to Spiritual Growth." I would like to take the next couple of posts to share this chapter with you. It is not particularly focused on psychiatric diagnoses or medications (although it surely relates to them), but instead it focuses on the role of suffering in the spiritual growth of a person. I found it to be a profound read. Here is the first section:

Section 1
Main idea: Too much suffering can be "hazardous" to spiritual growth and too little suffering may be "hazardous" to spiritual growth.

What do I mean here? Simply this: It is hard to find the "sweet spot" for spiritual growth. In the midst of intense suffering, whether it stems from the body or from other sources (relational strife, difficult life circumstances), there often is a greater temptation to become fearful, angry, and embittered. This was true of the Israelites in the wilderness. They had experienced the redeeming power of God in bringing them out of captivity. But despite God's provision they succumbed to the temptation to doubt his goodness in the midst of wilderness hardships. Or consider the response of Job's wife to Job in the midst of their suffering, "Curse God and die" (Job 2:9). Extreme suffering provokes our hearts to fear and anger.

We'll continue with Emlet's analysis in the next post.

John 13:34

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another."

We are reminded by Jesus that we are to love one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. We are to share in each others' joys and sufferings in life. If your brother is suffering, so ought you. Step into his life and share that burden. This is how the world will know that you are believers.

Joshua 1:9

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Spiritual Warfare

Edward Welch shares the following devotional in the book, Heart of the Matter. He addresses spiritual warfare. This is an important lessen as we often forget that Satan is always ready to attack. Satan, along with the flesh and the world, is a source of temptation who we should never take lightly.

The details of how faith works in spiritual warfare are well known but easily forgotten. First, remember that you have an enemy. Follow the lead of wise people who begin each day by actually saying, "Today, I must be alert that I have an enemy." Ask others to remind you, and be quick to remind others. Realize that you are walking where rebels are known to be in the area. Their lives are devoted to your destruction.

Second, assume that warfare rages. Don't even bother looking for sigs of warfare. Just assume that you are in the thick of it. If you want evidence, don't look for it in the intensity of your depression. Satan will use your pain as a venue to employ well-worn strategies like these: Are you hopeless? Do you believe God is aloof and distant? Do you question God's love? Do you question God's forgiveness? Remember that Satan will always attack the character of God.

Are you listening to wise counsel and Scripture? If not, it is a sure sign that you are losing some spiritual skirmishes. Listening is a mark of humility, and Satan can't successfully fight against it.

A One Time Sacrifice

Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Christ Wants All of Us

The following is a devotional based on Luke 14:25-35 written by Paul David Tripp. The devotional appears in the book, Heart of the Matter.

Christ doesn't just ask for some of our things. He doesn't ask for the majority of our things. He doesn't say, "I want the best of your things." He doesn't warn us that there are going to be times when he will take precious things from us. No, his call from the outset is this: "Any of you who does not give up everything the he has cannot be my disciple." Why is his call so all-inclusive?

Jesus looks at the large crowd and sees people in the midst of a raging personal war. He understands that each one is a worshipper - each of their lives is always shaped by the pursuit of the treasure that has come to rule their hearts. He knows that what they treasure will shape their decisions, actions, and words. And he knows that they will make incredible personal sacrifices to get, keep, and enjoy whatever it is that they treasure. So, in asking his followers to sacrifice everything, he is not calling them to live without anything. No, he is calling them to empty themselves of every other treasure but him. He is saying, "If you are going to be my disciple, I must be the treasure that gives shape and directions to everything you decide, say, and do."

To end this series on Augustine, the authors wrote a prayer for students. I hope you enjoyed this series.

An Augustinian Prayer for a Student

God of Truth and Beauty,
You give each one of us the desire to seek the Truth.
Fire me with a thirst for knowledge and Truth.
Let me use that knowledge to build a community of justice and love.

God of Splendour and Glory,
You show us your splendour in the heavens, the earth and the mystery of each person.
May I see your presence and warming love in the gifts of this earth.
May I reverence this presence.

God, companion on the journey,
You touched the restless heart of Augustine as he searched for you.
Help me to support my friends and students in their quests
and seek their help in mine.
Remind me that you are within me and them as teacher and friend.
Be present to us in the struggles of life as we journey together.

God of Unity, God of Peace,
You inspired Augustine to gather friends around him in community.
May we always live together in harmony and be of one mind and one heart.

Amen.

Part XII - Being a Student: Open to the Transcendent

Lord, that I may know myself as you know me. (Confessions, 10, 1, 1).

The search for God is the search for happiness. The encounter with God is happiness itself. (The Customs of the Catholic Church, 11, 18).

We search God out by loving Him; we reach Him, not by becoming entirely what He is, but in nearness to Him, and in wonderful and immaterial contact with Him, and in being inwardly illuminated and occupied by His truth and holiness. He is light itself; we get enlightenment from Him. The greatest commandment, therefore, which leads to happy life, and the first, is this: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and soul, and mind.” For to those who love the Lord all things work unto good. Hence Paul adds shortly after, “I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor virtue, nor things present, nor things future, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (The Customs of the Catholic Church, 11, 18).

God who made you, doesn’t want anything of you but yourself. (Sermon 34, 7).

Part XI - Being a Student: Friendly and Community Oriented

We need the gifts of others to make up for what is lacking in ourselves. (Commentary on the Psalms, 125, 13).

There were other joys to be found in my friends’ company which still more powerfully captivated my mind - the charms of talking and laughing together and kindly giving way to each other’s wishes, reading well written books together, sharing jokes and delighting to honour one another, disagreeing occasionally but without rancour, as a person might disagree with himself, and lending piquancy by that rare disagreement to our much more frequent accord. We would teach and learn from each other, sadly missing any who were absent and blithely welcoming them when they returned. Such signs of friendship sprang from the hearts of friends who loved and knew their love returned, signs to be read in smiles, words, glances and a thousand gracious gestures. So were sparks kindled and our minds were fused inseparably, out of many becoming one. (Confessions, 4, 8, 13).

You are all to live together, therefore, one in mind and one in heart and honour God in each other because each of you has become His temple. (Rule, 1, 8).

Where there is no envy or fear, differences, far from creating divisions, foster harmony. (Holy Virginity, 29).

A community is a group of individuals bound together by the harmony and communion as to the things they look for and they love. In order to discover the character of a community we have only to observe what they love. (The City of God, 19, 24).

In an orchestra there are many different instruments. But all are tuned so carefully and played in harmony that the audience only hears one melody. This must be our ideal: to be an orchestra for the Lord (Commentary on the Psalms, 150, 8).

Being a Student - Part X: Committed and Studious

Our life is a pilgrimage and as such, it is full of difficulties. But our maturity is forged by these difficulties. We are not known to ourselves, unless we are tested; neither can we be crowned, if we don’t conquer; nor conquer, if we don’t fight; nor fight, if we lack enemies. (Commentary on the Psalms, 61, 2).

Don’t be sleepy when listening to the truth so as not to be woken up with a start when it comes to settling the bill. (Commentary on the Psalms, 32, 2, 2).

It is of no use “to know” the truth, if, at the same time, you do not embrace it with your life. It is necessary to build on a sure foundation, that is “to hear” and “to do”. The one that hears, and does not do it, builds on sand. The one that neither hears nor does it, builds nothing. The one that hears and does, builds on stone. (Commentary on the Psalms, 58, 17).