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Archive for the ‘Scripture’ Category

The Word never grows old

Posted in Scripture on September 19, 2011| Leave a Comment »

As I prepared to speak to the men of the seminary last week, I realized these verses on God’s intentionality and sovereignty over disability simply never lose their power.

And I am grateful he let’s me see these verses as good news.  I pray the same for you.

Exodus 4:11 Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?”
 
John 9:1-3 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” 
 
Psalm 139:13-16
For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

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We can take refuge in Him!

Posted in Scripture on September 10, 2011| 1 Comment »

A brother opened up Psalm 36:5-9 on Friday and it just rained grace and hope right down on me.

With all the rottenness in our own souls and all the dangers outside, sometimes against the very lives of our loved ones with disabilities, God never fails, never quits, provides abundantly, shines light in dark places and gives us life!  “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do (Luke 12:4).”

We are safe in God!

I pray that same hope rains down on you today.

Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.

Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O Lord.

How precious is your steadfast love, O God!

The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights.

For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.

Psalm 36:5-9

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God uses boys to teach us about important things.

Posted in News, Scripture on September 8, 2011| Leave a Comment »

The 14-year-old boy that Pastor Sam referenced as he closed his sermon on Saturday finally lost his battle with cancer.  He is now with Jesus.

For our devotions at work on Wednesday, Jon Bloom reflected on the example of a boy in teaching us how to die well.

He loved Jesus.  He made Jesus look beautiful and glorious.  His labor is over.

Our time is short.  How can we make Jesus look beautiful and glorious to a world that needs him and would find joy in him?

God has work for us to do – and he will help us complete it.  We do not labor in vain.

When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”

“O death, where is your victory?

O death, where is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

1 Corinthians 15:54-58

In the Lord – what a help!  God will do it.

As I’m writing this on Wednesday, Pastor Sam’s sermon wasn’t up on the BBC website yet.  I’ll link to it when it is available.

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This evil will not stand!

Posted in Scripture on September 3, 2011| 1 Comment »

For almost three weeks I’ve been trying to write about the evils of pregnancy reduction – killing one twin in the womb so the family only has to ‘deal with’ one child – which was highlighted in the August 10 New York Times Magazine.

I’ve read about it before in the context of aborting a child with a disability and letting the ‘healthy’ twin live, but the evil of it still astonishes me.

And I haven’t been able to put a coherent thought together.

So, I’m trusting in this – someday this evil of abortion will end.  God will do it.

No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel can avail against the Lord.

The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord.

Proverbs 21:30-31

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God himself will do it!

Posted in Scripture on September 2, 2011| 1 Comment »

A dear brother is in the midst of a hard circumstance, and I was drawn to 1 Peter 5:7 as a reminder about God’s care for us and his command that we cast our anxieties on him.  Those few verses around verse 7 are packed with hope!

And it concludes with a tremendous promise – God himself will do great things for us!

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And 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 5:6-10

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Being surrounded by God makes joyful endurance possible!

Posted in Scripture on August 28, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Pastor Kenny was preaching on Saturday night from Colosians 1:3-14.

Verses 11-14 landed powerfully on me before he even started preaching:

May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

We are surrounded by God in these verses:
  • God strengthens – according to his glorious might!
  • The Father qualifies us for the inheritance And delivers us from the domain of darkness AND transfers us to the kingdom of Jesus!
  • Jesus provides forgiveness of sins!

Put together, the endurance and patience WITH JOY and thankfulness make sense – God has surrounded us with all that we need for today and the hope of a glorious future with Jesus.

Then Pastor Kenny started preaching and I learned a whole lot more!  Plus, he mentioned the disability ministry a couple of times, and that always encourages me.

May your Lord’s Day be equally refreshing, emboldening and encouraging!

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The sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings – Malachi 4:2

Posted in Scripture, Sermons on August 14, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Back in December of 1987, Pastor John was preaching on Malachi 4:1-3:

“1 For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. 3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.” Malachi 4:1-3

And he offered this helpful word on Jesus and the hope before us:

This sun of righteousness rises with healing in its wings.

I can remember the sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean nineteen years ago this week. Noël and I were on our honeymoon. We were up early one morning and saw how it happens on the rim of the ocean.

A thin line of orange and red appears along the water. Then it intensifies, brighter and brighter, and you see the brightness focusing more and more on the center of the line, until the flaming ball surges up out of the water. And then you watch it rise up, and in a sense it brings that whole red line on the rim of the water up into the air as though the sun had wings.

When Malachi saw that, God told him: the coming of the Messiah will be like that and the effect of his beauty will be healing. And Jesus was a great healer. All I have time to say now is that though Jesus does not heal every disease in this life, he will heal every disease in the resurrection. In other words Jesus meets the tremendous need we all feel for hope beyond the grave—that all sickness and pain and sorrow and crying will be gone forever.

Amen, Pastor John!

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Pray for our Christian doctors

Posted in commentary, Scripture on August 13, 2011| Leave a Comment »

I’ve been reading accounts of what happened to the medical profession in Nazi Germany and the capitulation of so many doctors to the Nazi regime’s murderous policies against children and adults with disabilities.

It is a stark reminder to pray for our Christian doctors who not only provide care to us and to our families but must battle darker forces within their own profession.

And it is also a reminder that the Great Physician handles the the most important issue 0f all – the darkness within our own sinful hearts:

But when he heard it, (Jesus) said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:12-13

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August 1 is a good time to start!

Posted in Scripture on July 31, 2011| 5 Comments »

There are things we know are good for us, but it can be hard to persevere (or even to start).

Reading through the Bible is one of those things – it really is helpful!

It can also be exciting.  God continues to reveal things I hadn’t seen or understood before, even in passages I’ve read many times.

No, there aren’t fireworks of new insight every day, and some days I approach it with a less-than-expectant attitude.  Frequently, God reminds me on those days that he is the source of joy, he is the provider of faith, and he will never leave us.  Sins get revealed and dealt with, and I experience the freedom that Jesus promises.

I pray you’ll find the same.

So this is one of my regular encouragements to do yourself some good and read through the entire Bible.

I can recommend the One-Year Tract Bible Reading Plan provided for free by Crossway.  They also offer several other plans.

Who cares that you’re starting on August 1 rather than January 1!  Next July 31, you’ll have read all of God’s inspired word!

And if you started earlier in the year and just fell too far behind to catch up – so what!  Start again.

If the first plan you choose just doesn’t seem to work, choose another.  By the start of 2012 you’ll already have momentum to keep going.

And thank you to my friend, Chris Nelson, who suggested this reminder.

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Hope not in numbers but in the One

Posted in News, Scripture on July 29, 2011| 2 Comments »

Tim Challies pointed to an excellent blog posting by Mike Pohlman, who was writing about watching his wife battle her Stage IV cancer and persist in the fight of faith.  It is a short read, full of Bible and wisdom, and I recommend it.

My own Dianne also wanders off to see her oncologist every six weeks or so.  At every visit they take a sample of her blood to see if her Stage IV cancer is causing havoc again.

For six years she and I have lived with this regular reminder that the disease could return.  Statistically, it will return.  Actually, statistically, it should have killed her already.

So, like Mike with his Julia, I am humbled by this example in my home of faithful persistence.  God does not allow the specter of her disease to crush her or make her morose, but rather uses it to remind her that he is good and faithful and very, very strong and kind.  It has increased her affections for her children and her patience with me.  It has made God look very precious.

And someday, because of the One, we’ll never think about the numbers related to cancer markers again:

He will swallow up death forever;
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
It will be said on that day,
“Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.
This is the Lord; we have waited for him;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

Isaiah 25:8-9

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