Romans 5 | Rejoicing in the Sufferings

The gospel is so often counter intuitive. Our natural inclination is to pursue our greatest comforts. We plan and strive to put ourselves in better situations than we are currently in. For instance, we go to school so that we can get a degree, so that we can get a good job, so that we can purchase a good home, so that we can provide for our family. Maybe my example is too predictable? But aren't you looking to the horizon to see what you can do to better your situation? We strive after what we believe will be better for us and our loved ones.

The gospel tells, however, us to rejoice in the difficulties of life. It tells us to find contentment in God, regardless of our present situation, and to celebrate the difficulties because they are making us into people fashioned for heaven.

"Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us" (Romans 5:3-5).

Now I am not saying that we should pursue persecution. I do not think it wise to chase after hardships. Life has taught me that hardship will seek you out so you need not look for them. What I am saying is that we should expect difficulty, and when it comes, we should be ready to rejoice that God uses hardship to make us better subjects of the Kingdom.

God is so insanely good and wise that He takes the "bad" things of the world and uses them for our good.

Wherever you are at in life, recognize that God is using the present situation to give you perseverance, character, and hope. Do not despise your struggle, rejoice in it. Because through it you are becoming more like Christ.

I'm Tired

My wife works nights. Three twelve hour shifts a week--though they are rarely only twelve. Somehow, she manages to remain on top of life even though she commutes two hours even to get to her hospital. I on the other hand, am seldom on top of life. If I do not get a solid eight to nine hours of sleep, I'm toast. I am grumpy, I have a bad attitude, and people don't like to be around me--or maybe I don't like to be around people.

Through my exhaustion God is always teaching me things. I am learning more about my self and God. David Powlison of CCEF has a short publication on exhaustion from NewGrowthPress. In it, he explains how God can leverage your exhaustion for a deeper relationship with Him.

Open publication - Free publishing - More stressed

Or another great resource for sleep, is a talk given by John MacArthur at the T4G conference titled, A Theology of Sleep:

T4G 2010 -- Session 5 -- John MacArthur from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

Quote for the Day // Prayer

Praying most often doesn't get us what we want but what God wants, something quite at variance with what we conceive to be in our best interests. (Eugene Peterson, Working the Angles, pg. 44)

All of Grace

All of Grace by Charles Spurgeon

What an exceptional book! Spurgeon writes with people in mind... It is brilliant to listen to him plead for people's spiritual wellbeing. That is what makes Spurgeon so genius. He didn't preach for the sake of preaching. He didn't write for the sake of writing. He would preach and write with one goal in mind, the salvation of souls. Spurgeon is a "soul-winner" and this book will win your soul to Christ. It could win your soul to Christ for the first time, or like it did to me, it can win you over to deeper love and devotion to HIM with every page you turn.

Quote for the Day // Prayer

Pastors who imitate the preaching and moral action of the prophets without also imitating the prophets' deep praying and worship so evident in the Psalms are an embarrassment to the faith and an encumbrance to the church (Eugene Peterson, Working the Angles, pg. 40)

Luke 1:26-38 | How To Get God's Favor

December 5, 2010 from Central Wired on Vimeo.

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What You Celebrate as a Church Is Just as Important as What You Believe

This is an important fact: what you actually emphasize is more important than what you say you emphasize. Trevin Wax has written us an important article to remind us of this...
What You Celebrate as a Church Is Just as Important as What You Believe
Let us emphasize things of first importance-the Gospel.

Feed Your Soul

I am a big fan of this guy:

Bob MacRae: Youth Pastor Lunch from Brandon Early on Vimeo.

HT: Brandon Early