The only people who can truly magnify the Lord are…people who acknowledge their lowly estate and are overwhelmed by the condescension of the magnificent God.
Category Archives: Salvation
Christ Our Savior
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Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You. John 17:1
Once again the celebration of Easter is upon us. This often entails Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter services that include special choral numbers and solos. While I have participated in the past, appreciate the artistry, and do not doubt the faith or the worship of those involved, I’m not a fan of those services. I much prefer more quiet times of worship that offer opportunities of introspection, a greater understanding the sacrifice of our Savior and of God, or a call to draw near to God in unified worship. It’s not that I am opposed to celebrating Easter, it’s just that I prefer to do it by focusing on the need for salvation, the reconciliation that Christ’s sacrifice provides, the broader scope of redemption, and the glory of God.
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Religion or Relationship?
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The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. Romans 8:16-17
As I continue to facilitate another support group, I have the benefit of being reminded of (or in some cases, relearning) past lessons regarding the roll of suffering in faith and in my relationship with God. I’ve been going to church since I was born and I’ve been a Christian most of my life. Much of my childhood was spent being instructed in or listening to the finer points of faith being discussed or debated. As an adult, I’ve participated in many such discussions and led a few. These are the things of religion. While I have had a relationship with God since my youth and recognize periods of significant spiritual growth throughout my life, that relationship has been significantly altered by my illness. In that regard, my suffering has been my greatest blessing in that has matured my faith and pushed me to a deeper relationship with our Lord.
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Who can add to Christmas? The perfect motive is that God so loved the world. The perfect gift is that He gave His only Son. The only requirement is to believe in Him. The reward of faith is that you shall have everlasting life.
Looking to Heaven
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But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.2 Peter 3:13
At the top of the back wall of our church’s sanctuary is a small window. For me, one of the joys of singing in our choir was looking through that window to the sky and imagining that we were singing straight to the throne of God. It always encouraged my soul and gave new energy to my singing. Sadly, the addition of a balcony required blinds on that window. That imagery is now but a fond memory. Often it seems that the daily events of our lives and the concerns that we bear are like that blind and prevent us from contemplating and looking forward to heaven. However, it is helpful to pause every now and then to evaluate our focus. In that light, consider the following.
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Pride and Humility Part 2
Humility Extolled
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O Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear to vindicate the orphan and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth will no longer cause terror. Psalm 10:17-18
As I stated in the last post (Pride and Humility Part 1 – Pride Renounced), we live in a culture that promotes autonomy, independence and self-assuredness. When controlled, these characteristics are useful tools in life. However, left unchecked, they will likely lead to pride. Prideful arrogance impedes a relationship with God, inhibits relationships with others, multiplies guilt, brings dishonor and insures judgement. Alternatively, humility is often despised by our culture because it appears to be the weaker trait. However, it is desired by God because it yields rewards in both this life and the one to come. Following are a few of the benefits.
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You may readily judge whether you are a child of God or a hypocrite by seeing in what direction your soul turns in seasons of severe trial. The hypocrite flies to the world and finds a sort of comfort there. But the child of God runs to his Father and expects consolation only from the Lord’s hand.
Running the Race
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For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:3
I went out for a run the other day and struggled through most of it. Somewhere in the last half mile, I decided it might be wise to walk the remainder of the way home. Shortly after I started walking, I met a young woman running in the opposite direction. As we met, she cheerfully encouraged me to start running again. As tempting as it was, I declined as my choice was not a matter of giving up but rather a bit of prudence for a few reasons: I have asthma and had forgotten to use my inhaler before running; my body is recovering from injury, and I’ve been pushing myself to meet various demands and have not been getting the rest that my body needs. In better circumstances, the encouragement would have yielded the desired effect of the other runner. However, under these conditions, I had to allow reason to overrule desire. As we endure in our walk of faith, we need be intentional as well.
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Love and Grief
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“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved, and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:4-7)
This was not the topic that I originally intended for this week’s post, but given a few divinely inspired events, my plan was changed. As is my habit, I started the day with the “verse of the day” emails from Bible Gateway and KLove. The one from Bible Gateway was a portion of Psalm 139. It is a favorite of mine for many reasons; one of those is that it was the last passage my parents read together on the eve of my mother’s death. That circumstance coupled with the quote that I posted this week beckoned me to consider love and grief.
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Enduring Love
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We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. 1 John 4:16-17
We all like to be reminded that we are loved…especially by those who are dear to us. My wife was out of town this weekend and I wasn’t feeling the greatest on several levels. At one point, I considered staying home from church on Sunday morning. However, realizing that it was not a wise choice in that moment and that there are others who would love to attend a worship service, but are unable, I rose to the occasion and went. During the praise time, the worship team led us in “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us”. For various reasons, I desperately needed to hear those words.
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