The Real Kind of Faith

I have more blessings than you can possible imagine! For someone as ungrateful and selfish as I am, it is truly amazing how faithful God is to give me so much to enjoy. I have close friends to share in mutual encouragement with, and people older and younger than me that I can lead or follow in Christ. God lets me feel His presence in a deep way almost every morning. He regularly gives me the chance to worship Him, and stand or kneel or lay face down in awe and wonder at who He is, despite my personal lack of spiritual understanding. If my certainty of God's love was dependent just on my experience of His spiritual blessings, then I would have more than enough proof.

But here's the thing. I'm not okay with that. I don't want my understanding of God's love to depend on what I can see and touch and feel. Who God is is infinitely greater than my experience of who He is, because I am finite and very limited in my scope of vision.

In my Bible reading this morning, I got to revisit an example of what kind of person I want to be. In John 4, we read of a man who was in dire need. This man was an official in high position who lived in Capernaum. Whatever power this man may have felt he had, there was one circumstance in his life that he was powerless to deal with. His beloved son was sick and dying, and the official could literally do nothing about it. So this man went to the One who could do something.

When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to Him and asked Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.

This man was acknowledging that he could do nothing for the one he cared about so deeply. His attitude was one of humility and desperation. Yet he was still not at the place Jesus wanted him to be. He was ready for a miracle from God, but faith in and desire for this miracle was not all that God wanted.

So Jesus said to him, "Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.”

The official had no problem believing that Jesus could do a miracle. His problem was believing in Jesus if He didn't do a miracle.

The official said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”

Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.”

Now the official faced the dilemma that we all come to at some point or another. He had felt hopeful and confident on his journey to Jesus, as long as he expected that Jesus would come back with him. If the official could see Jesus lay hands on his son, that was more than enough. But now Jesus had done the unexpected. He refused to come back with the man. Instead, the official was to go home, alone, with no guarantee but a word from Jesus.

This is where our faith is tested. It is good to have a firm belief that Jesus is at work in your life. But as long as you are seeing His work clearly from day to day, your faith, though genuine, is still untested and unproven. When real faith comes into play is when you are asked to face a day with no certainty of Jesus showing His hand. Without any clear sign that He is near, armed with nothing but the ancient promises of His word, you are asked to “Go.” Go back home. He won't show you a sign. He won't give you a blessing or a token of His involvement in His life. Just walk back the way you came, by yourself, and believe not in what you will see when you get there, but in the One who sent you.

The man believed that word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.

As he was going down his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” The father knew that this was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household.

Sometimes Jesus wants us to do more than just believe He'll work. He wants us to believe in Him even when we aren't feeling His presence, or feeling used in others' lives, or feeling encouraged by the believers around us.

The official from Capernaum passed this test. By the time he got back to the servants who told him the good news, he had already proven he didn't need good news. He had gone to Jesus, left Jesus, traveled for two days and probably even slept a whole night—all without any knowledge of his son's state. But a word from Jesus had been enough to sustain him, because he trusted in who Jesus was.

How I want to be like this man! Sometimes I think that the only faith I've been proven to have is the kind that is instantly rewarded and rarely tested. Who's to say that my faith in God has what it takes, if it might just be dependent on the blessings I'm used to receiving?

But my prayer and my hope is that God has given me a better faith. Who He is is more than enough. And if today I lose some blessing I thought I needed, I hope I can keep His character in view and, like the the man from Capernaum, “Go.”

That Kind of Love

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.  The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.
--1 John 3:1

People in the world are not used to being loved unconditionally.  Forgiveness doesn't come cheap.  And when a relationship is hurt there is no telling how long it will take for it to bounce back--if it ever does.  Contrast this with the God who sent His own Son to die for us while we were yet sinners.  That's what unconditional love is--we were in no state to earn it when we first received it, and still aren't.

The world doesn't know our Father, so it can't possibly comprehend our love.  Loving believers will certainly appear amazing to the unsaved if they ever really get to see them in action.  One of my favorite things to do is to tell people who don't know Christ about my friends who do.  The Christlike love that is on display at my church is unlike anything the world has to offer.  And I want to wear that love on my shirtsleeve.  So what if somebody makes fun of me because I believe in my Father who loves me?  I'm going to turn around and love them back.

The trials of being  mocked, rejected and hated are fading fast.  After the last person has rolled their eyes at me or called me naive I'm going where my Father is.  And I'm never coming back.  I get to enjoy the kind of love that made me His child--and I'll enjoy it forever!  Until I do, I want to broadcast that love to a watching world.

The Price of Our Joy

No one has ascended into heaven except He who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.
--John 3:13-14

Have you ever given up something you wanted, so someone else could get what they wanted?  Maybe you said no to hanging out with your friends because you knew someone else really wanted to talk.  Maybe you didn't accept an exciting opportunity you were offered, and waited for someone else to jump on it, without even acknowledging that they were taking what you wanted for themselves.  Maybe you gave up your morning of sleeping in because someone needed help moving, or doing yard work.  I've done something along all of these lines before.  But let me tell you, what Jesus gave up to give us eternal life makes any sacrifice I've ever made seem not even worth mentioning.

Jesus descended from heaven.  Do you have any idea how wonderful heaven is?  I wish I knew.  I only will know when I get there, and I want to be there more than anything.  But once I am, I'm sure of one thing.  I won't want to come back here.

Now imagine what it was like for Jesus to leave.  If the joy of heaven is the presence of God, Jesus had been reveling in that joy since before the beginning of time.  He willingly left it all, confining Himself to space and time and suffering.  In many ways, His life was miserable even by our standards.  But imagine those trials from the perspective of living in paradise for all of eternity.  I will never understand the depths of Christ's perfection, so I'll never realize just how much He suffered.

And Jesus carried the awareness of what He had given up with Him even to the end.  John 13:3 tells us that, when His hour had come, Jesus knew that "He had come from God and was going back to God."  Finally, after enduring the worst trial imaginable, Jesus would be on His way back to the Father's side--this time to sit down and remain forever, glorified.

I am so thankful to Jesus for the sacrifice He made.  He gave up heaven for decades of a grueling earthly existence, so that I could enjoy heaven, with Him, forever.  I can barely believe that He would sacrifice so much for me.  I am in awe of the depth of joy I get to experience for eternity, and the price it took to buy that future for me.

He Knows

John 2:24-25 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because He knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for He Himself knew what was in man.

It strikes me as amazing that there could be someone who truly knows what's in my heart and actually loves me regardless.  I am sure that if my friends knew what was going on in my mind, they would be shocked and disappointed.  They would find out that I am a person who serves begrudgingly, sometimes only acts like I'm listening, and looks to them just for what they can give me.  Although I love them, that love often seems to lose out to my sinfulness and love of self.  This is horrible to think about, but it's true.

Yet here I find a hope far beyond anything I deserve to have.  Jesus actually knows all the things my friends don't--And He loves me anyways!  Just as He did with His disciples, Jesus chose each one of us with a full knowledge of how we would fail Him and others.

So it's obvious that when Jesus chooses followers, He isn't choosing them based on their own merit.  That is really encouraging to me.  I'm not disappointed, as in, "What?  I really don't have anything to offer God?!"  I'm totally relieved that the whole "following Jesus" thing is initiated by Him, totally independent of what I can do.  By that line of thinking, I can say with confidence that I will grow as a follower of Christ and I will get better at loving other people, not because I am self-motivated but because Jesus never fails to complete anything He starts.

Thank you, Jesus, for knowing me and loving me anyways.

To Suffer Like Him

I know of no one who has ever suffered a trial that is comparable with what Jesus suffered the day He died. Being rejected by all He loved (that included the whole world), being whipped and beat up and killed, and experiencing for the first time separation from God. My sufferings are infinitesimal.

Nonetheless, I have been known to freak out when just a little a trial comes into my life. I was expecting to live my normal, self-serving day, and then (suprise!) one of my favorite blessings gets taken away. Because I often live for pleasure, even a little trial can throw me completely out of whack.

It wasn't that way with Jesus! He wasn't just minding His own business on earth, when suddenly it dawned on Him that these men really were going to kill Him. No, as early as John 3—at the setting for Christ's first recorded miracle—He makes a reference to His death. “Woman,” he says to His mother, “what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” “My hour.” The hour of Christ's suffering. The hour of the greatest trial ever endured by a human being.

Twice after this in the book of John, we hear that the forces of the world could not touch Him because “His hour had not come.” A normal human being, when escaping imminent arrest, would breathe a sigh of relief and hope everything could just be okay now. For Jesus, it was different. He knew that these men, who wanted to take Him away and kill Him, would get Him someday. He even knew exactly when that day was coming. If He was spared from an untimely death a few times, it was just to preserve Him for the one time, the climactic day of His life when He would die. And Jesus knew this.

Finally, after years of divinely preserved earthly life, Jesus' hour came. John 13:1 says,

“Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.”

Jesus loved His disciples with the purest and best kind of love. He knew He would die for them, and that their sin was going to be His burden as He did. Yet He loved them to the very end. In the face of the ultimate tragedy, the end of His life that He had always known was coming, Jesus stooped down and showed love one more time.

Washing feet in trials. What a concept! Even in my little, paltry trials, there is usually only one person I'm thinking about. I'll try to reassure and comfort myself, “You're gonna be okay, Car.” Maybe I'll even spend some time one-on-one with the Lord, to find His comfort for my troubled heart. But serving others? Comforting others? Reaching out with compassion and sympathy to all the other human beings who are suffering too? That just seems unnecessary.

I will never suffer like Jesus suffered. Compared to the trials He endured, anything I endure for Him will be minor and easily forgotten once I am safe in heaven. But on a different level, maybe I can suffer, at least a little bit, in the way He suffered for me. And what was that way? It was the way of expecting trials, trusting God to bring them at the right time, and loving others deeply in the midst of them. I want to be like Him, the Man of sorrows who suffered with unshakable faith, hope, and love.

Grace That's Enough

I love church.  I love my church, because I see it fulfilling God's will for the church in countless ways.  The world is full of lamentations about people who don't practice what they preach.  Even many supposedly Christian churches are full of hypocrisy.  While no one can live out their faith perfectly, I find countless examples within Racine Bible Church of the word being taught, believed, and applied in ways that truly honor God.

In Sunday school this morning, Todd Kellner taught a lesson on some verses from James 1, including these:

James 1: 2-4 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

These are verses that most Christians claim to believe.  I think just about all Christians would say that having faith in God is the only way to persevere in trials.  And many Christians even would say that the trials in our lives always have a good result, even if they are extremely difficult as we go through them.  But in everyday life, I don't know many people who, at least outwardly, express thankfulness for the trials that God has placed in their life.

Today, I found one.  I had a five-minute talk this morning with Mary Kullberg. I haven't talked to her in a long time, and I think that maybe that has been a mistake.  

Mary just had a book published last month, called "That's Life at the Barclay - Living with MS."  Mary is wheelchair bound thanks to the disease.  She had to give up a successful school-teaching career about 10 years ago.  This book has come out of 10 years of the progressive worsening of the biggest trial in her life, and I am just amazed at how God has produced a steadfast and more perfect person from such a fiery trial.

First of all, when I complemented Mary on her book being published, she told me what she finds most important about it.  What is exciting to her is not just that she's "on Amazon," as she jokingly said, but that unsaved people have already been impacted by the message of her faith.  She has already heard, she said, of some reading clubs with unbelieving members who will be discussing her book.  

I told Mary how the testimony of her trust in God in the face of trials over the past decade has exemplified James 1 to me.  What she said next really got me thinking.  Her words illustrate so perfectly exactly what it is about Mary that I want to emulate in my life.  She said, "His grace is sufficient."

God's grace is sufficient for her.  Here is a woman who has had to give up some of the best things in life, and who all the while has been confident that God is enough.  Legs that move?  Sure, that would be nice, but God's grace is all that Mary needs.  The ending of the verse Mary started is "for [God's] power is made perfect in weakness."  What if the trials that God wants to use to refine my faith involve giving up my strength?  Could I say with Paul, and with Mary, "Your grace is sufficient for me.  I don't need independence, self-determination, or even the strength to stand.  I just need You."

I said to Mary that if God perfects us with trials, then maybe I want a few more in my life.  And she said to me, "If You ask Him, He'll give you some."  Maybe I better ask.

The Lamb of God

But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year.  For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Consequently, when Christ came into the world, He said:

"Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me;
in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.
Then I said, 'Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,
as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.' "
--Hebrews 10: 3-7

I looked up this passage yesterday, because I wanted to know more of what is meant by "The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" in John 1:29, since we looked at that verse in youth group on Wednesday night.  These verses in Hebrews tell us how Christ's sacrifice exceeds any other sacrifice.  Any sacrifice that we try to make--any attempt undo the severity of our sins--doesn't work.  The sins always come back.  There can be no freedom outside of Christ.

To make the ultimate sacrifice, Jesus says that God had to prepare a body for Him.  Jesus made the sacrifice of His own life.  Unlike the old lambs and goats, whose blood could only hold off the wrath of God for a short period of time, the blood of Jesus removes God's wrath from us forever.  Jesus "does away with the first in order to establish the second (vs. 9)

And here's what really got to me.  Verse 10:

"And by that will [the will of God that Jesus came to do] we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

Although I'm being sanctified day by day, in a broader sense my sanctification is as sure now as if it has already been completed.  The sacrifice of the Lamb of God was perfect; and thus it is my indisputable assurance that I will one day be perfected.  This life full of sin is just a prequel to my real life, forever, in heaven.

Freedom from sin was accomplished once for all by the sacrifice of the Lamb of God.  Victory is mine, now and forever in Him.

Worried?

Fret not yourself because of evildoers;
Be not envious of wrongdoers!
For they will soon fade like the grass
and wither like the green herb.

Trust in the LORD, and do good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
Delight yourself in the LORD,
and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in Him, and He will act,
He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
and your justice as the noonday.
--Psalm 37: 1-6

It is so easy to worry and fret in this world.  My plans often seem to go awry more than they work out.  My prayers for others--especially for the salvation of others--can go months and years without any sign of answer.  And on top of this, there can be a nagging suspicion that worldly, unsaved people are better off than I am.

We know that trust is the opposite of worry.  But an abstract concept like "trusting God more" can be hard to apply in the real world.  Thankfully, God gives us some concrete ways to build our faith and overcome our worries right here in Psalm 37.

1.  Remember that the wicked will not last forever.  Have you ever been jealous of someone that you knew was not a believer?  Maybe their less conservative sense of humor was gaining them more popularity and attention than you were getting.  Maybe their lower standards were allowing them to have an apparently successful dating relationship, while you stayed single.  Maybe they were taking shortcuts at work, making their job easier and leaving them off no worse than rule-followers like you.  The broad road can offer temptation even to those who have been travelling on the narrow one for quite some time.  What God reminds us is that the glory and beauty of a wicked person will not last.  When their popularity and success and external attractiveness fades to dust, the blessings in your life will still be shining just as bright.  God will still be your God, your Christian friendships will have stood the test of time, and heaven will still be waiting for you.  So don't get caught up in what looks like success but is actually just a blade of grass that will be cut down tomorrow afternoon.

2. Do good.  As simple as this sounds, this is actually a profound truth.  Nobody ever overcame any worries in their life by sitting around worrying about them.  If things are going to ever get better, you need to hand over your worries to God, get up off the ground, and do the next thing you know He wants you to do.

3.  Delight yourself in the LORD.  When the worrisome aspects of life are getting you down, maybe it's because you aren't remembering who's in charge.  A sparrow doesn't fall from the sky, or a hair from your head, without God knowing about it.  So maybe it's time we got to know Him as well as we know our anxieties.  Be intentional about this.  Decide that you will spend 15 minutes of your quiet time just delighting in God.  Let your mind wander about the incredible blessings and lasting pleasures of knowing Him.  Read Psalms, the first chapters of Epistles, old Hymns, and Puritan prayers, and praise Him.

4. Commit your way to the LORD.  Right now, what worries are on your mind?  Sometimes it can help to just write out every single thing that is causing you to feel this way, and commit it to Him. I think it is amazing how soon feelings of relief can sweep in once I have finally given my troubles over to God.  Committing every decision, relationship, essay,  job interview and gospel opportunity to the Lord is not more than He wants from you.  Knowing that you have left it all in His hands can be a wonderful source of peace.

And when we take these steps towards trusting God, we do not just make ourselves feel better.  God has given us promises here for how he will really help us once we have done these things.  And here's a news flash--God keeps His promises.  That means that you can know for sure:

-As you learn to delight in God, the desires of your heart will be met in Him.
-As you commit your ways to the Lord, He will act in the ins and outs of your life.
-As you choose to obey in the midst of turmoil, God will grow you into a more righteous and happy person.

May God bring us peace.

This Is Love

"I have said these things to you in figures of speech.  The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father.  In that day you will ask in My Name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from God.  I have come from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father."

His disciples said, "Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech!  Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God."  Jesus answered them, "Do you now believe?  Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone.  Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me.  I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation.  But take heart; I have overcome the world."

Just reading this passage--carefully and slowly--is enough to take my breath away.  I just can barely believe the extent of God's love for me.

God's love is not some cheap, small love like you would get from anybody here on earth.  This love is the love of Jesus, the Man who is God, who lived and died for me.  And it's the love of His Father, who through Jesus is now my Father too.  These two awesome loves, the love of the Father and the love of the Son, both for me, are absolutely astounding.  I can't even scratch the surface of the fringe of the farthest outer corner of the immense expanse of God's love.  But a few little things about it stood out to me from this passage.  Maybe I'm easily amazed.  But my God is easy to be amazed at.

Jesus gives us the reason here for God's amazing love. The reason is this--"because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God."  Did the disciples love Jesus, and believe that He had come from God?  Well, yes—and so do I.  But looking back just a little bit, you will find that this did not come naturally, either to the disciples or to me.  Everyone who has ever been saved has been a liar, a complainer, and an ungrateful, lustful, rebellious sinner.  We are people who choose our own perceived glory and short-lived, measly pleasures over God 10 times out of 10.  Believing in Jesus, and loving Jesus, the light that shows our darkness in all its ugliness, is something we would never, ever do.  No, our belief and our love for God are themselves gifts from God.  He is the one who makes our hearts live, and love, and have faith for the first time.  So the reasons that God loves us--our belief in Jesus, and love for Him--are reasons that would not exist unless they had been given by God.

We never deserved God's love, period. The fact that we are saved is absolutely mind-boggling. But here's the clincher. Now, even now, as we daily experience God's grace and love and abundant blessings, He knows that we will still fail Him! Jesus said to His disciples, “Do you now believe? The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will...leave me alone.” In the face of ultimate suffering, Jesus would be abandoned by the men he had been devoted to for years. They would leave, scatter, hide, even deny ever knowing the One who had showed them a love beyond any other. Yet after this prediction of His disciples future failings, Jesus did not give a condemnation or a prediction of a punishment to match the sin. Instead, we read these beautiful words:

“Yet I am not alone,

for the Father is with me.

I have said these things to you,

that in Me

you may have peace.

In the world you will have tribulation.

But take heart;

I have

overcome

the world.”

We all fail Jesus. I do it many times a day, and times untold in a week. We are as bad or worse than the disciples on their worst day. But in all this we know that, just like Jesus, we are not alone. The Father who loves us and saved us, is with us, even when we try to leave Him. To those who will forsake Him, Jesus gives a message of peace. And this is a promise I can claim for my own. I do not need to worry about what failings tomorrow will bring. In my Father, who bought my salvation with the price of His own Son, I have the confidence of a love that could never leave me. And in my Savior, who has overcome the world, I have a peace that truly goes far beyond anything I can understand.

Opposites are Attractive...To My Sin Nature

The heart is deceitful above all things.  The devil is the father of lies.  And the world is a twisted and corrupt generation.  So it makes sense that the temptation I get from my heart, the devil, and the world will not line up with the truth.

What surprises me sometimes is how little sense the temptation actually makes.  What I mean is, there have been plenty of times where I have literally had the opposite temptation on two consecutive days.  For example, I may be battling pride and self-sufficiency on Monday.  Then on Tuesday, I may face crushing despair and thoughts that I'll never be good enough.  On Wednesday, I might be making a golden calf out of the relationships in my life--only to struggle with feelings of impatience and bitterness towards those same people on Thursday.  I know temptation lies.  But sometimes I wonder how my heart can be dumb enough to believe something so far fetched!  The lust of my flesh, the lust of my eyes, and the pride that taints my life is all based on the stuff of fiction.

The only solution for someone who is enslaved by their own deceptive (and confusing) desires is real truth.  And real truth is also known by the name of Jesus Christ.  In John 1, we hear how He is the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.  In John 4 He tells us that the only way to really worship the Father is in spirit and truth.

Who knows what bizarre lies my sin nature might throw at me next?  I better be in fellowship with Truth when they come.

The main idea of this post came from a conversation with one of the godliest people I know.  You know who you are.  Thanks :].

Forget and Press On

Phil 3:13-14
Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own.  But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Paul is probably the godliest man I have ever heard of.  Yet even he was the first to admit that he was "not already perfect" and he hadn't "made it [his] own."  Compared to him, I don't even like to think of how "not perfect" I am.   Still, it encourages me to realize that, at least a little bit, I'm in the same boat with one of God's best saints.

What I especially love about this passage is, however, not Paul's admission of imperfection, but his expression of his goal in life.  Paul says that, day by day, he forgets what is behind him and pushes forward towards what he knows is ahead: the glorious prize of God's upward call.  Man, I want to live like this!

So often I get caught up in what lies behind me.  I know I blew it yesterday by entertaining unloving thoughts towards someone I have no excuse but to love.  I know I screwed up this morning when I was hesitant to serve someone in my family and made that obvious by my reluctant tone.  The sin that lies behind me can be very much a part of my present, not just my past, as long as I let it cloud the horizon of my future.  Instead of looking to the great blessing I have of fulfilling God's will for my day, I might meditate on my past failures until I collapse into despair.  This is not how it should be!  Paul understood this.  For the forgiven, the sins of the past are in the past.  I have the freedom to repent and move on.  No need to wallow in my own failures, or let them chain me back from running the race today.

Once I can leave the past behind me, I get not only a deep feeling of relief, but the glorious hope of something far better that lies ahead.  Once I'm free from the chains of sin, my focus is no longer on what I've escaped from but is now on what I am running towards.  Paul calls it "the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

Peter calls it like this: "After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you (1 Peter 5:10)."

The call of God for me is a call to His eternal glory.  Can you imagine anything more amazing?  A wretched sinner, often enslaved to the despair of her own failings, actually has the divinely appointed job of bring God glory forever and ever!  No matter how sinful I am, I must not think that God can't use me.  He chose me because He wants to use me--and not just for little, mediocre service projects from day to day.  God is using me to (somehow) bring Him eternal glory.

If you feel like the sins of the past are holding you back, remember this.  Those sins are behind you.  And the God of love, mercy, and forgiveness will forgive you when you repent of those sins.  And He will use you to bring Him eternal glory, in ways you never thought were possible.

"To Him be the dominion forever and ever.  Amen."

On Knowing Christ

Luke 14:33

So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that He has cannot be my disciple.

Philippians 3:7-8

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

Hebrews 11:26-27

[Moses] considered the the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised.

Jeremiah 9:23-24

Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”

John 17:3

And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

2 Peter 1:3-5

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence, by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

Not to Please Myself

Romans 15:1-2 says:
We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.

We all have people around us who are stronger or weaker than we are (or at least appear that way). My tendency might be to think someone who is not excessively joyful is a weak person. Especially if I am experiencing a time of great rejoicing in the Lord, I may think that someone who is having a bad day must be “weak” for struggling with their attitude. My tendency, if I come across such a person, is not (and I know this may come as a shock) to respond in a godly way. If someone is feeling sad, and I'm feeling happy, I'll most likely not choose to sympathise with their feelings and “please my neighbor.” Instead, I'll be insensitive and ramble on about whatever it is I'm happy about.

Now don't get me wrong. There is absolutely no problem with having joy—even a great big happiness that manifests itself in smiling, joking, and laughing loudly. But if I take my jovial laughter (yes, I know it can be loud) and back-slapping hilarity into the home of a friend who got only 4 hours of sleep and had to spend the whole day doing yard work, that might not be appropriate. The key is to be sensitive to the needs of others.

Romans 12:15 says:
Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.

My goal must be not to do what pleases myself (expressing whatever feelings I have) but what pleases my neighbor (listening to how his day was, and offering sympathy or congratulations, depending on how he feels).

I said before that my tendency might be to have too much happiness at the wrong time. At least recently, that has been my inclination. I'm not saying I'm always joyful. I'm just saying, if I am, it can be very difficult for me to take it down a couple notches and weep with someone else. But others might have the opposite tendency. This has happened to me before as well. Imagine someone who has just uncovered some deep truth from God's word and is in a very somber mood. But this person just so happens to be at a party with some of the other girls and all of them are having a fantastic time. As they joke and laugh and get more and more ridiculous, this person might think, “What is wrong with all these immature people? We should be thinking about the Lord right now!” In that girl's heart, she has chosen her stoic, unflinching meditations over their innocent enjoyment of each other's company. They are not sinning. But she just might be, if she lets her perceived “strength” convince her that she is better than they are. Instead, I think it would be better for this person to (are you ready?) relax. She's stuck at this party, after all, so she might as well just take it easy and decide to have a good time. It's not up to everybody she's with to pander to the way she feels at the moment. Instead, she should be looking out for their wishes and trying to ensure that everybody else is doing alright.

Whenever you feel like you are the strong one in a conversation, realize that God is giving you an extra responsibility. Being strong does not mean that you get to enjoy your own strength—whether it consists of the joy of the Lord or your suffering for the Lord. It means that you have an obligation to reach down to the weaker person, find out how they are doing, and respond empathetically.

And if the strong people all chose to do this, I can only imagine what fellowship would be like. Romans 15:5-6 gives us a little glimpse:
May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Though I may think that, in my strength, I have a great song to sing, God might just want me to turn down the volume and sing harmony for a while. What if every time I felt stronger than somebody else, I chose to complement their song with mine? Then together, with one voice, we could glorify our Father in heaven.

Top 5: Evidences of Grace, Guy and Faythe

1. Love for Others
Guy and Faythe Ladd are the parents of a close friend of mine.  But every time I am around them, I feel as though they are my friends too.  I'm not alone in this.  There are quite few people in the world (in Racine and elsewhere) whose lives have been touched by Guy and Faythe's love for others.  You feel genuinely loved by them; not like when you're around people who are only tolerating your company or who act like they'd rather be doing something other than entertaining you.  And their love for others is not just about serving them and meeting their physical needs.  It's a Christlike love that cares for the spiritual well-being of others above all.
2.  Wisdom 
Mr. and Mrs. Ladd have a lot of wisdom to show for the years they have been walking with the Lord.  Recently I saw this as I was sitting at the dining room table with them for a meal.  Mr. Ladd will often bring up a topic of edifying discussion for everyone to talk about.  This time he asked us our thoughts on just how holy and Christlike a human could become, based on some passages of scripture he had been studying.  He often leads his family (and guests) in a conversation like this that is thought-provoking, edifying, and usually very convicting.  This is a fantastic way to apply what he is learning personally, and cause others to think about the Lord too.  I am thankful for how God has given him wisdom, and spread that to others through him.
3.  Servants' Hearts
This one should go without saying to anyone who has ever known a Ladd.  They are serving machines.  From stocking up someone's fridge with groceries the day they come in from out of town, to teaching Sunday school or VBS at church, to giving someone a place to stay and food to eat without asking anything in return, the Ladds show over and over again that, like Jesus, they would rather serve than be served.
4.  Hospitality
Hospitality is mentioned and commanded numerous times throughout the New Testament--but it is a character trait that many people either don't have or just don't understand.  If you are wondering how to be hospitable, let me suggest that you learn from Faythe Ladd.  Even if you aren't as good a cook as she is (I'd be impressed if you were), you can still learn from the ways she cares for every person who visits her home.  She makes people feel welcome.  Hospitality, as I see it in Faythe, is all about giving.  I want to imitate her in this, especially if God ever lets me become a wife and mom.
5. Example
The Ladds have been faithfully following God for a lot of years now.  As with Ace and Linda, I see them as great examples for younger people of what we should strive to become.  They have demonstrated godly parenting and continuous service of the Lord over the years.  And the fruit of their efforts is plainly visible in the lives of their kids and everyone else they've reached out to.  It is encouraging to me to see the end result of years of obeying God.  Knowing the Ladds makes me want to follow harder after Him, so that a few years from now, I can be where they are.

Another Option

Romans 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

The theme verse of my blog is Phil. 2:5, as you can see from the top right side of this page.  But choosing a theme verse was not an easy task.  The Philippians verse was actually the third or fourth verse (of my favorite verses) that I referenced in search of a good title.  Though it is one of my favorite verses, I wasn't originally planning on using it here.

My first pick was the above verse from Romans 15.  Besides being the life verse of a good friend of mine, and a perfect reference to put by your name when you sign letters (I don't mind if you steal that from me), this verse seems to state what I want my life to be all about.

My God is the God of hope.  More than I hope in hanging out with my friends tonight, or seeing the next episode of my favorite show, or taking the first bite of a burrito or butterburger made just how I like it--I hope in my God.  And it's a different kind of hope.  No earthly blessing that I hope in is guaranteed to me.  They all fade over time and vary in the amount of happiness they provide.  But my God is always the same.  He's always in Heaven, securing my eternal home.  And He's always right here with me, every day, providing peace and security in life's trials.  What I want right now, more than almost anything else, is to be a person who, by the power of Holy Spirit, abounds in hope.

This verse states what my desire is for me and for you:  that our God, The God of Hope, will fill us up to the brim with the joy and peace of believing in Him day by day.  I want us to be people of hope, just as our God is the God of hope.  Now if only I was smart enough to think of a good blog title from this verse...

Overwhelmed With Joy

This is a guest post by my friend Katelyn Ladd.  She is everything a friend should be.  She loves Jesus, loves others, and points me towards an eternal mindset.  I hope you enjoy this awesome post about God's work in her life these days.  I know I did.
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Ever felt like the joy of the Lord was completely overflowing in your life? I hadn't felt that in a long while, in fact, I had been really struggling with being joyful. So, for a few days now I have been changing the way that I pray. Instead of just asking God to give me joy, I have been spending time rejoicing in the salvation that I have been given. When you spend time remembering what God has done, and praising Him for it, it will fill you with joy. A sermon that I listened to a few days ago, by John Piper, also changed my way of thinking. The message was on Psalm 51. In this psalm David is repenting of some pretty major sin. Piper said something that struck me. He said that David's sin, at the core, was not the adultery that he committed with Bathsheba, or the fact that he murdered a man. No, his sin began when he stopped rejoicing in his salvation.That's why David says this:

"Restore to me the joy of your salvation..." Psalm 51:12

To say the least, I have been learning a lot about joy, and I have been praying differently about having joy.

At youth group last night, God blessed me with another opportunity to rejoice in my salvation. He gave me a burden for a lost soul. There was a new girl who came for the first time, she pretty much knew absolutely nothing about the gospel, and God gave me a love for her. After small group I was overwhelmed by her need for a Savior, thinking about her need, caused me to rejoice even more in the salvation that I have already received. I came home from youth group last night, and I felt like I was overflowing with joy.

I am rejoicing in the Lord because of the salvation that I have been given, and I am rejoicing in the opportunity that He has given me to share the joy that I have with someone who has never experienced it.

Carly, thanks for letting me post! --KJL

George Müller, Amy DeBurgh, and Me

Guess what I just found out?  The word "amen" is another word that doesn't mean what I thought I meant.  I thought it meant something like, "May it be;" as if to end my prayers with one more "please answer this."  My definition was close, but not quite right.

Here is what DeYoung (can you tell I'm reading his book?) says about the word:
"Amen" is not short for "prayer over" but means "Truly!" "Verily!" or "This is sure to be!"

And "amen" is not just a nice sentiment--it's Biblical.  When we are praying within God's will (a.k.a. according to the Lord's prayer), a statement of confidence like "amen" is a totally appropriate ending.

I remember about a year ago, my mom started to pray for a whole hour every morning.  Within a week or two, she was telling me amazing examples of God answering her prayers.

And then about a summer ago, I read the biography of a man named George Müller.  Basically it was a whole book of instances where this man needed something, prayed, and got it.

Now, don't get me wrong, I've always believed that God hears and answers our prayers.  It's just that I thought it happened to other people, not to me. 

What made Mom and George's experiences so different from mine? 

It wasn't that God cared about their prayers and didn't care about mine.  It was that they believed in God's ability to answer.  They believed enough in His willingness to answer that they continued to confidently ask even if He didn't answer right away. I had been making an incredibly stupid mistake.  I was expecting God to answer prayers I wasn't praying!

Praying for someone on the same night they give you a request is better than not praying at all, but not as good as bringing their needs before your Father day by day.  Firing off a 5-second request for help right when you need it is good, but it's not the same as diligently pleading for victory over a certain sin for days, weeks, or months.  I've come to realize that truth ever since I started writing in this:

This little purple journal is, I suppose, a prayer journal.  The front side of each page that I've gotten to is filled with prayer requests about people I love.  Some of the requests were given to me by these people.  Some are things I only wish the people I love would ask me to pray for.  

Just about every night, I go through as many of the pages as I can and lift up the requests to my Father.  I don't always remember to say amen; sometimes I drift off to sleep before I get to that part.  But let me tell you--I believe "amen!"  I believe that, when I pray, "it will be"--because I have seen it happen time and time again.  On the back of almost every page is written one or two or ten or twenty ways that God has answered that prayer.

"Amen" doesn't mean what I thought it meant.  But now that I know what it means, I'm not surprised.  It just makes sense.

Top 5: Evidences of Grace, Dave and Linda

1. 
   
   Wisdom
   Ace Westcomb is one of those people who has been in his ministry forever. He has at least 13 years of high school leadership.  But it isn't just the length of years that makes him a good leader. He has had a growing, thriving relationship with God for even longer, giving him a huge capacity for encouraging others and giving them godly advice.
2. 
   
   Example
   Young people like me need examples of godly lives lived out. Ace and Linda Westcomb are invaluable in that respect. Young adults need to see what a marriage that honors Christ looks like—one that has stood the test of time. We need to see people who love the church, love their kids, and endure in serving the Lord even when life gets tough. I see all these things in Ace and Linda.
3. 
   
   Serving others
   If you spend any amount of time at Racine Bible Church, you know that Linda Westcomb is hugely involved in ministry there. She is a crucial part of the framework that holds things together and keeps them running smoothly. If you ever happen to be in her office on a workday (which I have been) you will certainly find yourself wondering “How does she do it?” She will take multiple phone calls, make connections, send e-mails, arrange the church bulletin, figure out whose car is parked on the crosswalk in front of the door, and write down memos all while having an edifying conversation with you! Ace and Linda are serving machines.
4. Care for others
   This is a blessing that I have experienced personally. My mom and dad were overseas for about three weeks this summer. While they were, Ace and Linda practically filled in for them as our parents. It's hard to explain if you've never felt this before, but I am not being too nice or exaggerating when I say that Ace and Linda were family to us. Being around them was just like being with adopted parents or grandparents. I saw a thousand times how much they really cared for our physical and spiritual well-being.
5. 
   
   Mentoring
   I have several friends at RBC who just so happen to be guys. And most of them also happen to be living, breathing testimonies to Ace Westcomb's faithful discipleship. A recent prayer request Ace shared with me included the names of no less than four sophomore and junior high school guys who he plans on meeting with every week.  As someone who knows these guys fairly well (and is closely related to one), I can't tell you how thankful I am that they get the opportunity to spend even 20 minutes with such a fantastic influence as Ace.