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Archive for the ‘Scripture’ Category

God is able in all circumstances to help us.

Posted in Scripture on June 29, 2012| Leave a Comment »

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8 ESV)

This verse was the focus of our devotions at work on Wednesday.  The context is financial (which, given my work responsibilities, was very relevant) but Jon Bloom pointed out that Paul opens it up much broader than that:

  • All grace
  • All sufficiency
  • All things
  • All times
  • Every good work

The one who is providing this is God. This is the same God who knows everything about everything, including how he is orchestrating all things for our good.

I know what it is like to get another medical bill and wonder exactly how it will be paid.  We have had times when we’ve been bone-tired, yet Paul (or some other child) needed attention.  The emotional reservoirs frequently feel empty.

But my perceptions of reality are not reality. God is acting in ways we cannot begin to understand, for his glory and for our good.  Someday we will see clearly.  In the meantime, we have promises like 2 Corinthians 9:8.

And the certainty of eternity with Jesus!

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Dig deeper – there’s more there to enjoy!

Posted in Quotes, Scripture on June 25, 2012| Leave a Comment »

I’m grateful that Pastor John pushes us to go deeper into God’s word to see  and enjoy more of God’s intentions and plans and designs for his glory.  Alistair Begg does the same, like in this accounting of Mephibosheth, who was lame in both of his feet and the grandson of Saul, David’s mortal enemy. He was also the son of David’s greatest friend:

Mephibosheth was not an attractive guest at the royal table; yet he had an open invitation because King David could see in his face the features of the beloved Jonathan. Like Mephibosheth, we may exclaim to the King of Glory, “What is Your servant, that You should show regard for a dead dog such as I?” But still the Lord invites us to share intimately with Him, because He sees in our countenances the remembrance of His dearly-beloved Jesus.

Alistair Begg, Mephibosheth’s Example, May 27 Devotional

When we cling to Jesus, God sees Jesus’ righteousness and we get more of God rather than the punishment we deserve!  We are not turned away but embraced!

Pastor John pointed out that this can work in the other direction as well.  After Mephibosheth had been lied about and David had made a decision to give half of what rightfully belonged to Mephibosheth to the man who had lied about him:

Mephibosheth said to the king, “Oh, let him take it all, since my lord the king has come safely home.” (2 Samuel 19:30)

This is how we should feel about king Jesus. He has come to save us. And he will come a second time to be with us forever. He is our inheritance and our great reward.

Jesus is greater than anything!  It isn’t just to avoid God’s wrath that we should cling to him (as great a gift as that is); if that’s all there is to it, we have really missed the greatest gift of all in being with Jesus forever.

And God chose to use the lame grandson of the enemy of the king to be an example of God’s great mercy and to point us to the center of our joy.  We should never doubt that God is doing something great for his glory and for our joy through disability, even when it is not immediately obvious to us.  Someday, it will be!

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Two verses in a beautiful language.

Posted in Scripture on June 19, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Thank you to Stephen Newell who tweeted these verses.

Since I don’t know American Sign Language, I’m trusting what is presented below is accurate.

 

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A great way to pray for each other from Colossians

Posted in Scripture on June 15, 2012| 1 Comment »

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. (Colossians 1:11-12 ESV)

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“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD. . .”

Posted in Scripture on June 7, 2012| 1 Comment »

Reflecting on Jeremiah 31 yesterday nearly always points me to another great text in Jeremiah, which I know also happens to be a favorite of Krista Horning:

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11 ESV)

“The blind and the lame” in Jeremiah 31 are not a surprise to God, and not a mistake!  He has plans for every one of his elect, with disabilities and without.  And it is a plan meant for our good.

What a thing it is to live with the assurance of a future spent with Jesus!

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Knowing and enjoying the glory of God – we were made for this. All of us, of every ability!

Posted in Quotes, Scripture on June 6, 2012| 1 Comment »

For devotions on Tuesday, Jon Bloom read the entire first chapter of Pastor John’s Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ.

My heart leapt when I heard this (again)!

The deepest longing of the human heart is to know and enjoy the glory of God. We were made for this. “Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth. . . whom I created for my glory,” says the Lord (Isaiah 43:6-7). To see it, to savor it, and to show it—that is why we exist.

John Piper, Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ, p. 14.

Part of why this brought me joy was remembering another place in the Bible where God is specific that when he gathers, it includes those who live with disabilities:

Behold, I will bring them from the north country and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here.  (Jeremiah 31:8 ESV)

None of God’s elect will be forgotten, and all will gather because GOD WILL DO IT!

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“I will come to you.” Jesus

Posted in Scripture on June 4, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Pastor John used this text in his sermon yesterday.  Even before he began preaching, I was encouraged!

Jesus speaking as recorded in John 14:15-18:

If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

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Fight the chaos – believe!

Posted in Scripture on June 2, 2012| 1 Comment »

Thursday morning was chaotic, even for us.

So, of course, I complained in my spirit and felt sorry for myself.

God is kind to look at that mess and rather than incinerate me for my idolatry, he brings me  to himself through his word with reminders that he alone is in control:

Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts:
“I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.
Who is like me? Let him proclaim it.
Let him declare and set it before me, since I appointed an ancient people.
Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen.
Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it?
And you are my witnesses!
Is there a God besides me?
There is no Rock; I know not any.”
(Isaiah 44:6-8 ESV)

No, there is no god like our God.  And there is no person who can do what God can do.

And Jesus has already provided what we need the most, and he will continue as we cling to him in faith:

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
(John 14:27 ESV)

My day never felt like it was under control – I was moving from one thing to another, one conversation to another, one child’s activity to another.  But I could rest under the assurance that God most certainly is in control and continually moving, shaping and ordering all things for his glory and for my good.

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We must warn the enemies of our children – God is coming

Posted in commentary, Scripture on June 1, 2012| Leave a Comment »

As I’ve explored here before, there is a horrible, unbiblical, idolatrous line of thinking that says only people who are strong and have some sort of usefulness really deserve to live.  The evil is breath-taking.

God warns about such thinking, and what will happen to those who take advantage of the weaker member:

I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.  (Ezekiel 34:15-16 ESV)

And God also tells us in several places how he will behave toward the weaker members, the ones cast off by the strong:

In that day, declares the LORD, I will assemble the lame and gather those who have been driven away and those whom I have afflicted; and the lame I will make the remnant, and those who were cast off, a strong nation; and the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion from this time forth and forevermore.
(Micah 4:6-7 ESV)

God is coming.  Those who would destroy our children with disabilities need to be warned that he will deal with them either as they deserve for abusing little ones he has created, or he will NOT deal with them as they deserve because they cling to Jesus as their righteousness.

And for those who are being abused and afflicted and ignored today, God himself is making them into a strong nation – one that will last forever.

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Good books remind me, I am free!

Posted in commentary, Scripture on May 30, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Every time I read The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis I am convicted – and embarrassed – by how often I have looked away from Jesus to find my hope.  I am prone to feel sorry for myself.  The world is oriented to feeling sorry for me, giving me permission to focus on how “hard” things are in our home.  The enemy of my faith loves to use misdirection, encouraging me to search for hope in the wrong things.

It is good to be reminded that this life is war.

But not a war with an undecided outcome! And we don’t fight in our own strength.  Jesus has already secured the victory over sin , and we are already free when we cling to him:

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1-2 ESV)

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