Devotional

Valley of Vision

I wanted to inform you of a great book that I recently started reading as a devotional. It is a collection of prayers from the Puritans and it is phenomenal... If you don't believe me then let me just share one of the prayers with you and see if it doesn't stir your soul to a deeper conviction of sin and greater love for God:

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly,

Thou has brought me to the valley of vision,

where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights;

   hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold

   thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox

   that the way down is the way up,

   that to be low is to be high,

   that the broken heart is the healed heart,

   that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,

   that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,

   that to have nothing is to possess all,

   that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,

   that to give is to receive,

   that the valley is the place of vision.

 

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,

   deepest wells,

   and the deeper the wells the brighter

   thy stars shine;

Let me find thy light in my darkness,

   Thy life in my death,

   that every good work or thought found in me

   thy joy in my sorrow,

   thy grace in my sin,

   thy riches in my poverty

   thy glory in my valley.

Acts 10- Consistency

In Acts 10 we are introduced to a man named Cornelius who was devout and God-fearing. He gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly (vs. 2). He had a vision and an angel of the Lord spoke to him.

How is your consistency? If someone were writing a description of you would those be things that would stand out and make the cut? Do you give generously? Do you pray regularly? This is a huge aspect of Christianity... consistency with God. 

My challenge to you today is to make it consistent. Do what ever it takes to give generously. Cut back on frivolous spending so you can give. Find a mission organization to give to or simply give more to the local church. Be known for your giving. Secondly, pray regularly. I am not talking about praying before you chomp down on a burger or once you are in bed and toss up a quick prayer to God while you fall asleep. I am saying, block out a chunk of time and pray to God. Start a prayer journal with pressing things that need to be brought before the Lord. Pray before you read scripture and then search for verses that you can pray back to God. Sit still for a little bit. Don't just talk until you are out of breath then peace out. Give God a little time and just sit at His feet. 

I want to be like Cornelius. I want to be described as giving generously, praying regularly, being a devout and God-fearing man.

Jesus the Hero

During my quiet time today I was reading in Romans... and the thing that I was being hammered with today is that humanity is so sinful. That is a vague and general statement but when you apply it on a personal level it begins to make sense; I am sinful. You are sinful.

Paul puts it like this in Romans 3 where he quotes the Psalmist, "there is no one righteous, not even one; no one seeks God... there is no fear of God before their eyes." There is not a person on the planet now or ever that can get the title righteous (except One). And when we look at the Law we are brought to the realization that we are sinful, I am sinful and God would be just in punishing me severely. So, what do we do? We look to our Savior. We look to Jesus to be our remedy.

But, that is not so easy. It is humbling for people to say to themselves that they are 'wicked' (quoting Paul again) and that they deserve punishment. It is so hard to submit to that truth and I would say even harder for 'religious' people that attend church and tithe and go to small group and what not. It is harder for them to see that they are sinful because after all they are good people.

Mark Driscoll puts it like this in his book Vintage Jesus, "religious people often read the bible looking for ways to be the hero of their own life rather than reading it to see themselves as the villain and Jesus their hero." And that is the truth that hit me this morning. I am a villain and Jesus is my hero. Jesus rescues me from my self. Jesus takes my punishment by faith and gives me His right standing with God by faith and justifies me before the Father by faith. But, I am a thief that doesn't deserve any of those things!?

What a humbling and liberating truth! Jesus is my hero. I'm a crook but Jesus is my hero.

A Walk With God

How do you keep from getting jaded? I'll be honest being elevated to the status of Pastor is one of the most unique and special things that I have been called to. In the words of D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones; 

[it] is the highest and the greatest and most glorious calling to which anyone can ever be called.... [it] is the most urgent need in the Christian Church today; and as it is the greatest and the most urgent need in the Church, it is obviously the greatest need of the world also.- Preaching and Preachers pg. 9

The Christians Ministry is a heavy calling. And, as I realize more and more the weight of my calling(the most important job in the world according to Lloyd-Jones) I am forced to employ every resource available to me to achieve the end to which I am called. I do not want to be a lazy worker. I do not want to peddle the word of God for a profit, either monetary or popularity. My aim to which I strive every day is a commission that Paul gave his apprentice Timmy, "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)" In the King James it says to study... Do your best; study. So that is what I do. I dive into books and commentaries and the bible in hopes that I will know and understand the bible which is a mystery because I am seeing that there are so many paradoxes and so many people shipwreck their faith and their congregation because of a misunderstanding or a misappropriation of the word of truth. So, I study and study and study. It also says, rightly handles or divides the Word of Truth. So there is a right way to handle the word. There is a way in the words of John MacArthur, 'to cut a straight line through the bible.' So to that end, I am trying to handle the word of truth to be presented before the King a worker that needs not be ashamed. Not a run of the mill 9 to 5 I got myself into. And, many would say, 'you are taking this too seriously.' Which I believe is the reason why so many churches are dead. They fail to take seriously the most serious Deity there is.

All of the above was an attempt to help you see this point that I think applies to each of us; In my opinion it is rather easy to become jaded when you put that sort of effort into your faith. Sure I could become jaded because I am a pastor but the danger falls on you as well. The danger is that it is easy to become a pharisee. To have a knowledge of God but no relationship. That is a scary thing. We each can read the bible and not experience God. It can be a duty. We can read Christian authors and never encounter God. So, what is the remedy? I believe the remedy is found in the life of Enoch in chapter 5 of Genesis. He walked with God. He was a man that lived and walked and loved and worked with God by his side. He had a relationship with the Almighty that resulted in God 'taking him away.' Literally the bible says that Enoch, 'was no more because God took him away.' I want a relationship with God like that. One that results in the blessing of seeing God. Going to be with God. Getting to look on His glory. So, I have to ask myself, and you my friend, are you walking with God? When is the last time that you spent with Him? Not praying, not having a quiet time, not reading about Him in the bible. But actually with Him. But Cory! How do I walk with Him if not in my 15 minute quiet time? 

Have a date. Block off a day with God. Spend some time with Him. During this time you can read, pray, meditate, but more than anything realize that the end to which you are striving is Him. Try to engage the Almighty. There is a reason why He calls the church His bride. Intimacy. Are you known by and knowing God? Are you intimate? Let's try to achieve this today. A walk with God. 

Luke 11: 28 -Hear the Word and Obey

Can you imagine the son of man standing before you and exposing the mysteries of evil spirits, and kingdoms, and unity with his vision?! Neither can I! But, apparently it was so exciting and overwhelming sitting under His teaching that a woman cried out, "Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you! (verse 27)"

I have only ever heard a couple people who so passionately exposed the word of God to me that I developed an instant man crush. It is rare that someone is so near to God and so passionate about His ways that you instantly praise that person for their devotion. It is sad because I wish that was the norm, unfortunately it is not.... Jesus, clearly, would have had this effect.

So the woman instantly praises Him! "Blessed is your mother! I am thankful for your existence! For your teachings! For having this experience!" But Jesus always has a way of steering peoples hearts and motives to the more important things. Like we noticed in chapter ten he pointed us to eternity. Today, He points us to the Word.

"Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it (verse 28)."

You get excited about my mom? Instead you should get excited about the Word. The people who are actually blessed are the ones who hear the word of God and obey it. People who listen to what God has to say and then they actually do it. Jesus sets the example for us all throughout his life and ministry saying he has come to do the will of the Father. He lives to obey. We should follow His lead and be in complete submission to the word of God.

Dear Christian, do you get excited about the word? Have you opened the scriptures today and asked God, "will you open my ears to 'hear the Word' and could you bend my will to obey you?" Do you look at scriptures and walk away without asking what you can obey. I know all too many people who have the curse of being able to hear the word and then walk away unchanged. Unwilling to obey the King of Kings. Unwilling to bend their knee to the Lordship of Christ. This does not happen out of rebellion but by the simple fact that Satan helps you to not see what needs to be obeyed. We have become a people that can nod our heads in agreement during a sermon and never obey. We can open our bibles and study and read without ever obeying God. It is a curse. It is a tragedy that we have trivialized the Words of God to a daily "quiet time' or to a little "teaching." Think about it, if God tells you to do something your proper response should be, "yes my Lord," as you bow in reverence to the Holy King. Somehow we have been deceived to think that we can look Jesus in the face, hear what He tells us, tell him "ok", then we walk away and do whatever we feel like.

Like James 1:22 say... "do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourself. Do what it says." Don't just listen, don't just read, don't let the words fall on def ears. Actually listen and actually obey. Then you will be blessed.