Life with Christ
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” – 2 Corinthians 12:9
“Don’t understand to believe, but believe to understand!” – a quote quoted by Rick Holland in his sermon “A Faith To Imitate”.
After taking a shower I was feeling a bit woozy because I caught the flu when I went to visit my friend Kevin in Taipei earlier in the week. God has given me the inspiration for a new song “I’m Coming Home” but because I felt sick I didn’t plan on working on the song, then while moping around next to my guitar God suddenly gave me a brand new song! I still feel sick though.
Rejoice! haha
Verses are from the NIV 1984 Bible Ecclesiastes Ch 3.
“Rejoice, Rejoice, Rejoice!”
Verse 1:
There’s a time to be born
and a time to die,
There’s a time to plant
and a time to uproot,
There’s a time to kill
and a time to heal,
There’s a time to tear down
and a time to build.
There’s a time to weep
and a time to laugh,
There’s a time to mourn
and a time to dance,
There’s a time to scatter stones
and a time to gather them,
There’s a time to embrace
and a time to refrain.
Pre-Chorus 1:
There’s a time for everything
But now’s the time for us to sing
Chorus:
Now’s the time to rejoice,
rejoice because my Savior lives
He has risen fro the dead
to go and crush the serpent’s head
Now’s the time to rejoice
rejoice because my Savior lives
He has washed away my sins
so I shout “Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice!”
Verse 2:
There’s a time to search
and a time to give up
There’s a time to keep
and a time to throw away
There’s a time to tear
and a time to mend
There’s a time to be silent
and a time to speak.
Pre-Chorus 2:
There’s a time to love and a time to hate
There’s a time for war and a time for peace
There’s a time for everything
But now’s the time for us to sing
Chorus:
Now’s the time to rejoice,
rejoice because my Savior lives
He has risen fro the dead
to go and crush the serpent’s head
Now’s the time to rejoice
rejoice because my Savior lives
He has washed away my sins
so I shout “Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice!”
I can see now that pain is necessary to be able to understand what Jesus did for me, how happy the disciples must have been when you returned back from the dead.
Prayer comes naturally as a result of our salvation.
Though it does not mean that I only pray when I feel like it.
In the same way, though I sometimes don’t want to talk to others
I do it, because I love them. And because God loves me.
And for those times when I cannot speak
Silence is just fine
because God still hears me.
Notes
The First Year of Your Christian Life – Steven L. Pogue
“I prayed for faith, and thought that some day faith would come down and strike me like lightning. But faith did not seem to come. One day I read in the tenth chapter of Romans, “Now faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” I had closed my Bible and prayed for faith. I now opened my Bible and began to study, and faith has been growing ever since.” – D.L. Moody
“There will be times when you still feel guilty even after you’ve confessed your sin. It somehow seems spiritual to berate ourselves for committing such an awful sin, and we think that if we can lower ourselves in our own eyes, God will be pleased with our humility.
In reality, that attitude displeases God. Part of confession is thanksgiving: thanking God that all of our sins have been paid for by Christ on the cross 2,000 years ago. What God’s Word says is true about you instead of how you feel. To berate yourself focuses on your sin rather than on Christ and His forgiveness.”
I got to listen to C.J. Mahaney’s sermon (Extravagant Devotion) on Mary’s pouring of perfume on Jesus’ head.
- What questions would you have for someone who went to heaven and came back?
Thanks for being a part of my life.
I long to be like the “young attractive woman who skips to spend time alone with her Savior.”
Except in this case I would only skip if I really, really had to. haha.
Very encouraging sermon, thanks C.J. Mahaney! And thanks for the prayers, God hears them.
Sometimes I feel so dead inside and wonder what I am living for, and time and time again God reminds me of His promises and this hope that He promises.
A dead man cannot die. It seems that all the time God gives me more than I could ever handle, but I’m still alive. When I became a Christian about 2 years ago I thought I had already went through the most painful moment of my life before I gave my life to Christ, but now I see that sorrow was not in the beginning; now it seems as if every other day is another day that I’d rather be dead than alive.
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. - 1 Corinthians 10:13
Heaven is so close, and yet so far. It has been promised but has not yet been given. The one thing that already has been given, though, is Christ. And by God’s grace it is already sufficient enough for me.
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” – 2 Corinthians 12:9
Hypocrite
“Cleanse me from the inside
Wash away my life’s lies
telling me I’m alright
when I am so dirty on the inside.”
Please don’t let me be a hypocrite.
Please allow me to understand, and if not please continue to sustain me until it’s time to return back home.
A poem by David Redding.
“Lend a Hand”
O Lord, it is so hard
for those who cried all night
to bear our laughter.
How many have to suffer
through our smiles
for someone else,
when they’ve been out
of smiles so long
it isn’t fair.
What’s a hand to do
that’s been dropped
and left hanging
all alone.
Shaking hands
is no solution.
Every hand needs a
hand to hold it.
Aren’t there enough hands
to go around
until we circle at last
this lonely earth
and no one will be able
to make a fist anymore?
“The forge does not stand for spoken prayers necessarily; it signifies waiting in God’s presence, soaking up His warmth. We do not affect the forge so much as it affects us. It signifies being affected by an unbelievably hygienic and nourishing atmosphere, such as happnes with plants sunning themselves.
In prayer a light “Brighter than the sun” comes on, as Saint Paul said happened to him en route to Damascus. Perhaps its effect is something like the effect our favorite song or poem has upon us; or what it means to be sitting beside our favorite friend; what it does to a baby to bask in his mother’s arms.
What happens to a person when he falls in love? No one knows the extent of the curative powers, the dynamic effect on the will to live in such an experience. Consider the effect of falling in love with God. What does it do to have someone so creative, so life-giving, take your breath away? Such an intimacy with God rests and tunes the heart. There is a bath we call baptism. There is a breath so strong, Scripture refers to it as “a mighty wind,” where “tongues of fire” have been known to fall on everyone present in prayer. “
Bad words are better than phony words. Telling God off would be better than kidding Him. Read the Psalms. Some of them address God almost savagely, but they are real. The psalmist takes prayer to be a time when he can let down his hair – let the cat out of the bag. Only then can he manage an honest “hallelujah.”
Prayer is dangerous and easily perverted. What consumes our attention finally gets us. What gets our attention?
We have long been accustomed to thinking of church as a requirement instead of a reward. We urge each other to pray and read our Bibles until, before we know it, we have twisted the blessing into a burden. It is no longer “Good News”; it has become more chores to do in an already overworked life. Instead of the relief Christ promised, church becomes our responsibility. Instead of the rock holding us up, we are holding up the rock.
What does it exactly mean to be a Christian?
Is it ok to take medication for depression?
Is it ok to show how weak I am?
These emotional rides are killing me and I don’t know anything anymore…
Yet
God loves me.
This promise I will cling onto until I cannot anymore, and even then God will never let go.
“Young man, look to Jesus Christ! Look! Look! Look! You have nothin’ to do but to look and live.”
Here in Taiwan I got to evangelize for the first time, sitting at a bus stop just staring at nothing. An old man sat down next to me and we began a long conversation. Somewhere in the conversation I started talking about Jesus, just all of a sudden. No, I didn’t share the whole Gospel, but all I did say was:
If there is a God, if Jesus is real, shouldn’t we do our best to see if it is true?
I am hurting, but what are feelings compared to the truth?
Evangelizing, something I haven’t really done in a while, but there is no need to worry. It comes naturally, and whether it is many people or even just one, God is most glorified.
Prayer Requests:
- To find a church nearby in Kaoshiung
- To find out what to do with my life, I don’t know what to major in, or even have the desire for anything.
I’ll be reading “When Dreams Come True” by Eric and Leslie Ludy while flying to Taiwan tomorrow. It’s a great book for those still waiting on that special someone in their life! haha
someday…
It’s 1:30am, just got home from school. No, I don’t have school this late! haha
Today I came home to find that my mom took my brother to the hospital, because he was very weak from the disease he had for the last month. I called him to see how he was doing, and he told me he was tired.
All the time since I got home to then, I felt nothing. I really felt nothing, even hearing that my brother is in the hospital. What sort of person am I? I told myself I was garbage. I tried to sleep, but I couldn’t, so I took my guitar and walked out, first to a nearby Jack in the Box to eat, then to my school’s campus to find a quiet place. While playing the guitar I thought about love, and what love is. Then I suddenly realized, “I am loved.”
As a result, God has given me a new song, and even more. Right when I finished writing the song a security guard came by, and to make a long story short I made a new friend named Naamen who is a youth pastor for a nearby church and we got to talk and pray for my brother. How amazing is that? Thank You God. Here’s Your song, from Matthew Ch 5, the Beatitudes. I’ll post up a video soon, maybe.
I am Loved
Verse
I am poor,
I am mourning,
I am weak,
I am hungry/thirsty.
I am ashamed,
I am broken,
I am nothing,
yet, I am loved.
Chorus
I am loved, loved, loved
by the One who gave us
His One and Only Son
to show me, just how much
He loves me,
Bridge
I am rich,
I am rejoicing,
I am strong,
I am satisfied.
I am redeemed,
I am remade,
I am precious, precious,
because I am loved.
I am loved.
Always have, and always will be. Thank You God.
Take care,
- Joshua H Wu
While using my computer I clicked on an old bookmark that I haven’t used in a while; A daily dose of Spurgeon. I had my doubts, and I still do. Who am I to judge God?
Their particular sorrow was the death and absence of their Lord, and it was turned into joy when He rose from the dead and showed Himself in their midst. All the sorrows of saints shall be thus transmuted, even the worst of them, which look as if they must forever remain fountains of bitterness.
Then the more sorrow, the more joy. If we have loads of sorrow, then the Lord’s power will turn them into tons of joy. Then the bitterer the trouble the sweeter the pleasure: the swinging of the pendulum far to the left will cause it to go all the farther to the right. The remembrance of the grief shall heighten the flavor of the delight: we shall set the one in contrast with the other, and the brilliance of the diamond shall be the more clearly seen because of the black foil behind it.
Come, my heart, cheer up! In a little while I shall be as glad as I am now gloomy. Jesus tells me that by a heavenly alchemy my sorrow shall be turned into joy. I do not see how it is to be, but I believe it, and I begin to sing by way of anticipation. This depression of spirit is not for long; I shall soon be up among the happy ones who praise the Lord day and night, and there I shall sing of the mercy which delivered me out of great afflictions.
A song written for an environmental concert. The inspiration came from hiking with my mother and seeing the view from the mountain after the rain clears up the pollution, where you can literally see miles all around. The second verse is from my parents, bringing me up to never waste food.
Same Night Sky
Looking at the same night sky
The moon seems so alone
Sometimes I feel that way too
Asking “Where did everyone go?”
Though it’s just a lie
(I know) it hurts so much inside
So Mr. Moon for you
I’ll clear the sky
And show you what is true
Stars in the night, brighter than city lights
Sand by the sea, purer than snow’s white
View from on high, as far as the eyes can see
Looking at the same night sky
A child is starving alone
Wondering if there’s a place out there
A home he could call his own
Though I can’t relate
I have much more than I could need
So my child for you
I’ll change the world
And give you everything
Water and bath, cleaner than morning dew
Food and a friend, a family you belong to
All this we can do, one small step at a time
“I must confess,” he says, “that I never would have been saved if I could have helped it. As long as ever I could, I rebelled, and revolted, and struggled against God. When He would have me pray, I would not pray, and when He would have me listen to the sound of the ministry, I would not. And when I heard, and the tear rolled down my cheek, I wiped it away and defied Him to melt my soul. But long before I began with Christ, He began with me.”
I have been rebelling, and continue to.
…but You love me anyway, how You love me!
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we[b] rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we[c] also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 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.
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
- Romans 5:1-8
Rejoice in our sufferings… thank, God?
Thank You for dying for me.
Thank You for this life You have given me.
Thank You for everything…
Thank You.
haha, dude, I just want to write this right now!
I’m free in Christ!
Would you take the place of this man?
Would you take the nails from his hands?
Why would You do this, for me?
‘You keep track of all my sorrows.
You have collected all my tears in your bottle.
You have recorded each one in your book.’
- Psalm 56:8 (NLT)
1 You have searched me, LORD,
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, LORD, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
- Psalm 139:1-6 (NIV)
‘And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.’
- Romans 8:28
When it rains, God knew; When it does not rain, God knew. Every tear that we have cried, are crying, and will cry; every trial that we have gone through, are going through, and will go through, God knew.
And God does it for our good. Trust in Him, even when we don’t understand. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
He loves you and He cares about you; always have, and always will.
A song by Hillsong.
Carolyn Mahaney, wife of C.J. Mahaney, speaks on True Beauty.
http://media.resolved.org/2006/R06GS03.mp3
Here is a link to arguably the most notable American pastor of his time, Jonathan Edwards’, 70 resolutions. I have been encouraged and am also seeking to write my own resolutions to myself, to discipline myself for the glory of God!
http://www.apuritansmind.com/the-christian-walk/jonathan-edwards-resolutions/
“40. Resolved, to inquire every night, before I go to bed, whether I have acted in the best way I possibly could, with respect to eating and drinking. Jan. 7, 1723.”
- Resolution number 20 and 40 both refer to eating and drinking; that’s how important it was for Edwards’ to remind himself if he ate and drank wisely! Because out of bad eating habits we can become unhealthy, suffer from food coma, and through these things lose a lot of valuable time!
Speaker : Steve Lawson
A sermon on guarding your heart. All sin originates from our heart, and to get rid of sin we must get to the very root of the problem.
Psalm 139: 23-24 Asking God to search our hearts and reveal to us our hidden sins so that we might confess them.
Proverbs 28:13-14 Hidden sin will reveal itself, but whoever confesses their sins and renouces them will find mercy.
7 Keys in truly confessing sin
1. A conviction of sin
- God must convict us of that sin and reveal it to us. Believe in your heart that the sin is vile and detestable.
2. Realization of evil
- Realize all sin is evil, unreasonable, hateful in God’s sight.
3. A recognition of rebellion
- Every sin is rebellion against God.
2 Samuel 12:13, David is speaking, “I have sinned against the Lord.”
Psalm 51:4
4. God hates our sin
- Because of that, Christ bore our sin on the cross, and at the cross God poured His wrath onto Jesus.
- God is not a stoic sovereign, our sin angers him, even as Christians.
- My greatest disappointment is to bring disappointment to Him.
5. Justification of God’s anger
- When we sin it reminds us that all we deserve is hell, and if God brings hell or sorrow to us, that is His rightful choice.
6. A humiliation of heart.
- Don’t take God’s grace for granted, but humble ourselves whenever we sin. Lower ourselves, realizing just how ugly and wretched we are when compared to our Holy God.
Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, they will be comforted.”
- Mourn for our sinfulness, but also be comforted knowing that God has forgiven us.
Ezra 9:6, be ashamed of sin.
7. Expectation of pardon
- Since we have been saved by God’s grace, never think that you have fallen too far away to come back to God. God chose you and me, not the other way around.
Author- Commissioner S.L. Brengle
“I like to think of that first society of His people, which we now speak of as the Early Church, as the seamless robe of Jesus.”
- The author compares the Early Church as a seamless robe.
1. [Jesus] was revealed in its spiritual life.
2. He was made manifest in the activities of the Early Church.
3. But most surely was He seen and known in and by the love which His disciples had one for the other.
The author then begins to compare sin as rents in the seamless robe.
1. First rent was Ananias and his wife Sapphira, lying about their offering of the money received from selling their land.
2. When the Grecians began to murmur against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected in the daily ministrations.
“The rending of this seamless robe can always be tracked back to lack of love. The great heresy of the ages is not manifested so much in false doctrine as in failing love and consequent false living. Faith is lost when love leaks out and living becomes selfish. Heresy begins in the heart, not in the head.” (54)
What is more dangerous than false doctrine is hypocritical Christians. All of our problems comes from our sinful, rebellious hearts.
- We need to study the history of Israel to avoid repeating the mistakes of the Israelites for our Church today.
1. Miriam and Aaron became jealous of Moses.
2. Absalom through unholy ambition. Deceit, pride, caused him to perish.
3. Rehoboam turning from the advice of wise old men to listen to the haughty counsel of his young nobles.
4. Shameless, sinful neglect of the prophets.
Today we must continue to keep the robe of Jesus (the Church) seamless and protected it from rent (wrinkles). As Paul writes in Philippians, we must be likeminded, have the same love, be of one accord, of one mind. Don’t let anything be done out of strife or pride, but humbly let us all serve one another.
Does your Christian life seem to have no clear direction? We need to constantly be reminding ourselves of the reason for our existence, reason for living, and also have goals and promises to strive for. Here’s a link to a great Christian leader’s 70 Resolutions, promises to himself to always read once a week, reminding him constantly of his life’s purpose.
http://www.apuritansmind.com/the-christian-walk/jonathan-edwards-resolutions/
You can learn more about Jonathan Edwards here, the download titled “An Introduction to Jonathan Edwards” by Steve Lawson.
http://www.resolved.org/media/v
I hope to also be able to make my own resolutions to keep! (Even though Jonathan’s will be better than whatever resolutions I come up with haha ^__^Y)
Ch 15
v 1-3 The Pharisees accused Jesus of breaking tradition and Jesus responds by pointing out the Pharisees hypocrisy when they break God’s command.
v 4-6 Many people, including myself, use the excuse of going to church and serving God as a way of neglecting our own parents/families. Although Jesus teaches that we are to love Him more than them, He did not teach us to neglect them. Jesus Himself took care of His earthly parents and siblings, making sure they were taken care of as He was on the cross.
v 6 What is more important to us? Traditions created by man, or God’s commandments?
v 7-9 Actions without the heart is hypocrisy.
v 10-20 It is not what we take in from our environment that makes us unclean, nor is it the sinful acts I commit everyday. It is myself, as a sinner, that I am unclean. Because my heart is unclean my actions will be also. Only by God’s Holy Spirit may I be sanctified, and until the day He takes me back it will be a daily struggle against my sinful self and God’s work in me.
v 12 Jesus knew He would offend the Pharisees.
v 15 Interesting note; Peter would later be faced with the issue of clean and unclean food (Matthew 15:11 and Acts 10:12).
v 23-26 Jesus was not ignoring the woman because He did not come to save her, but was showing how Jews of the day treated the Gentiles.
v 23 The disciples here, instead of trying to help the needy woman, was annoyed by her. We should not be so focused on trying to love God that we neglect the very people God commands us to love and care for.
v 24 Jesus was sent to God’s chosen people, the Jews. They were to have the first opportunity to hear the Good News, yet many of them were the same people who would be sending Jesus on the cross.
v 27-28 The woman was willing to humble herself to Jesus’ supposed contempt because she had faith that Jesus could make her daughter well. Jesus came to save the whole world, not just the Jews.
v 32-33 Even though we can so easily criticize the disciples for forgetting just recently when Jesus fed the five thousand, how many times do we worry and forget all that God has done in our lives? Jesus is more than enough in any situation, I need to constantly remind myself of this!
Ch 1
v 1-3 This affirms that Jesus is God, and that He was always with God. Not as a creation, but as the Creator.
v 4 God is life, and men, different from all other creation, has life because of God.
v 5 The verbs here are present tense, so even today God’s light shines in the darkness, that can never overcome the light. (ESV)
v 6-8 talks about John the Baptist.
v 13
Ch 4
v 1-2 Why didn’t Jesus baptize? He was teaching His disciples, modeling how baptism would be done.
v 3 Jesus didn’t want to face off against the Pharisees because it wasn’t time yet.
v 4 Jesus had to go through Samaria. What does that mean? Jews at that time avoided Samaria because of they hated the Samaritans, yet Jesus had to go through for the Samaritan people.
v 5
v 10 Jesus is saying things over the head of the Samaritan woman that she could not understand yet.
Desiring God – John Piper
Meditations of a Christian Hedonist (pleasure seeker)
“The pursuit of pleasure is not optional. It is essential.”
“Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” – Psalm 37:4
Introduction
The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever.
- I agree with this statement, in that everyday, every moment, is a time in which we should be finding delight in God, knowing that He created all things for His own pleasure and all creation for Man to enjoy!
Just as we praise a person for their talents, an athlete for their skills, or a teacher for being great, we can and should also praise God for everything, that He deserves no less!
“This fact- that praise means consummate pleasure and that the highest end of man is to drink deeply of this pleasure- was perhaps the most liberating discovery I ever made.”
- I agree with him on this point to. I used to think that when I was happy in serving God, for instance serving on the worship team, that was pride. It is pride, but pride in our God!
John Piper is not stating that Christian Hedonism means God becomes a means to help us get worldly pleasures.
- It is that through all these pleasures we would come and delight in the One who created them.
Commands from God concerning joy:
1.To “love mercy,” not just do it (Micah 6:8)
2. to do “acts of mercy, with cheerfulness” (Romans 12:8)
3. to “joyfully” suffer loss in the service of prisoners (Hebrews 10:34)
4. to be a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7)
5. to make our joy the joy of others (2 Corinthians 2:3)
6. to tend the flock of God willingly and “eagerly” (1 Peter 5:2)
7. to keep watch over souls “with joy” (Hebrews 13:17)
Christian Hedonism is a philosophy of life built on the following five convictions:
Beautiful song by Laura Story, thanks Josh C!
Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the achings of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise
God, why did you make the stars?
Lesson 3: Revelation (Part 1)
- God’s identity is who He says He is, not what we think He is.
Q: Are we open to having our own beliefs changed by reading the Bible? Changed? Called wrong?
-We need to approach the Bible with humility, allowing it to mold us into who God wants us to be, not who we want to be.
Q: How do we find and defend the Gospel?
- God has entered our world through Jesus Christ.
- The Bible is the only religious book in mankind that allows it to be tested. (If you can show the body of Jesus, prove the resurrection is wrong, then the Bible is wrong)
- The Bible is the story of what God has done in order to repair, and renew, and restore.
God is so different from everything we know there is nothing on earth that we can use to compare to Him. God is absolutely unique in that He is other (God and other, Creator and creation)
God is the incomparable one.
Isaiah 40:18 What image will you compare Him to?
v 25 who is His equal? There is none like God.
- God is the one that no human
Job 36:26 How great is God? Beyond our understanding!
Revelation – God makes known what would otherwise be hidden (His character, His will to His creatures.)
Matthew 11:25-27
I. The Need for Revelation
A. God is transcendent the Creator-creature distinction
1. He is the incomparable One (e.g., Isa.40:18-25)
2. He is the incomprehensible One (Job 36:26; cf. Isa.40:11-18)
3. Is he then the hidden God (deus absconditus)?
Are we bound to agnosticism?
B. God has revealed himself (Matt.11:25-27 [Luke 10:21-22])
1. Revelation is the product of divine action
2. God is sovereignly free in his revelation (v.25-27)
- He chose to reveal Himself, wanting to reveal Himself to us.
- Revelation is an act of God’s grace, His goodness.
3. Revelation is the result of God’s goodwill toward his creatures
“The distance between God and the creature is so great, that although reasonable creatures do
owe obedience unto him as their Creator, yet they could never have any fruition of him as their
blessedness and reward, but by some voluntary condescension (coming close) on God’s part… (WCF 7.1)
Calvin’s doctrine of accommodation (God has accomidated Himself to us)
- God crosses this chasm by His stooping down to us by Jesus.
“For who even of slight intelligence does not understand that, as nurses commonly do with infants,
God is wont in a measure to lisp in speaking to us? Thus such forms of speaking do not so much
express clearly what God is as accommodate the knowledge of him to our slight capacity: (John
Calvin, institutes, 1.13.1)
4. Revelation is personal. Its content is the knowledge of God (v.27)
- God, in His great mercy, has chosen to reveal Himself to communicate His character and fatherly concern to us.
In his great mercy, God desires to “render himself near and familiar to us” (Calvin)
- Revelation is not the revealing of God’s ideas, it is revealing God Himself, His heart.
5. Revelation is necessary for human beings to know God (v.25)
Psalm 8 What is man that You are mindful of him?
“Hidden”means beyond human ability or rational deduction. Thus all human ability is excluded. God is the initiator; man is the receiver. See the comment from the WCF above (voluntary
condescension ). This means that revelation is an act of grace, God freely coming close to his creation and disclosing something of his person, ways and will to us.
6. Thus, God is to be praised for his work of revelation (v.25)
Joy is the proper human response (Luke 10:21)
II. General Revelation. The revelation of creation: The knowledge of God the Creator
A. God’s revelation of himself within the’ material universe (Psalm 19:1-6) 6
1. As the sky and sun bear witness of their creator, we may say that God has revealed himself in
creation even though the revelation is wordless or inaudible (vv. 2-3)
2. Creational revelation reveals God’ existence, glory (kabod: reputation or even presence), and the fact that he is Creator (v. 2)
- To glorify God is for us in our lives to make God visible. God is visible in His creation.
3. This revelation is continuous (vv. 2-3, 5)
4. This revelation is worldwide in scope and universal in extent (vv. 5-6)
The traces of God (vestigia)
God displays “innumerable evidences and unmistakable marks of his glory” within the
workmanship of the universe such that the universe is a “grand theater” in which we
contemplate God though his works. Calvin could also call the universe “a sort of mirror in
which we contemplate God, who is otherwise invisible.” (Institutes, 1.5.1, 8)
- Every creature of God is put together with so much care (Cats have 3-sided eyelids!)
B. Revelation through God’s on-going providential care for his creation.
1. Acts 14:14-18
a. The regularity of the order of creation testifies to God’s existence, his status as Creator and LORD,
and his benevolence (w.15, 17). Cf. Job 36-37; Exo.20:11; Ps.146:6; 147; Lev.26; Jer.5.
b. This revelation is continuous, occurring season after season. Thus God’s revelation of his kingship is not limited to the origination of the universe.
- We see His glory in everyday things (sun rises everyday)
c. Those who recognize God’s goodness and benevolence should also recognize that God is not like mortal human beings and thus he cannot be adequately imaged in idols made of wood or stone (v.15). Cf.Jer.2:5.
2. Acts 17:24-31
a. The God who created all things is the Lord over his creation (v.24)
- The author has authority over what He has produced.
b. Humankind is made from one common stock (v.26). Cf. Gen.1:27-28; 10:32.
c. God has fixed the seasons and the boundaries of the nations (v.26). Cf. Gen.1:14; Deut.32:8;
Psa.74:17.
- Why is there order in our lives? Because God has allowed it!
d, The objective of this order is that people should seek God (v.27). Cf. Deut.4:29; Isa.55:6.
- We owe Him and Him alone thanks and praise for the good we experience in the world!
- God has created a hunger in us for Him!
Notice that Paul follows the example of the Old Testament in moving seamlessly from God’s
revelation in the created order to his revelation in his sustaining providence over the natural
order to his moral government over the human order. Cf. e.g., Neh.9:6-7; Isa. 40: 12-31;
Psa.33, 148.
C. Revelation through moral conscience
Human beings have an inbuilt sense for God. Its not enough that God reveals himself. He must also make us receptive to his revelation in order for communication to take place.
- A revelation placed on our hearts, that we naturally seek out God or something to worship.
1. The seed of religion (semen religionis): an ingrained natural instinct, an unmediated perception or impression that there is a God, and that we must worship him. Human beings are inherently worshipping creatures. We are all, and all the time, “doing business with God” (negotium cum Deo). Indeed, no matter how far one might drift away from God, even to the point of denying God’s existence, still “that seed remains which can in no wise be uprooted” (John Calvin, Institutes, 1.4.4).
- Will we worship God or make an idol and worship something else?
- All of us hope for something, and that is our god.
2. The awareness of deity (sensus divitatis)
The knowledge that God exists and that we are morally accountable to him “There is within
the human mind, and indeed by natural instinct, an awareness of divinity. This we take to be
beyond controversy. To prevent anyone from taking refuge in the pretense of ignorance,
God himself has implanted in all men a certain understanding of his divine majesty. Ever
renewing its memory, he repeatedly sheds fresh drops.’ (1.3.1)
•…this conviction, namely, that there is some God, is naturally inborn in all, and is fixed deep
within, as it were in the very marrow… From this we conclude that it is not a doctrine that
must be learned in school, but one of which each of us is master from his mother’s womb
and which nature itself permits no one to forget, although many strive with every nerve to
this end.” (1.3.3)
Q: Do natural evil glorify God?
1. Sleep is a daily gift from God!
2. Sleep is a daily reminder from God!
- We sleep 1/3 of our lives! So I’ve been sleeping for over 6 years now!
3. Sleep is a daily occasion to examine our hearts before God!
- Examine your heart in the shadow of the cross and in the Holy Spirit. Thank God for His sacrifice and our redemption from sin!
Next time sleep knowing that God created sleep for our enjoyment and ALSO as the way to renew our strength to take on the next day! (So don’t neglect it)
Oh, and for those interested here is a FREE MP3 DOWNLOAD of a sermon on sleep by C..J. Mahaney, titled “A Biblical Understanding of Sleep”. I recommend this for those who love sleep and want to learn more on how to glorify God through it!
“Then Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.’”
- Luke 6:5
God is greater than any law or bind that we have placed on ourselves; our salvation is our freedom! Even though one may be a failure according to the laws of this world, if that person has Christ then he is a child of God, which is worth more than anything else.
You aren’t a failure, but God’s child, His beloved.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
- Genesis 1:1
“Such humbling but salutary messages our depressions whisper in our ears. They tell us in a manner not to be mistaken that we are but men, frail, feeble, apt to faint.”
- C.H. Spurgeon
“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” – Colossians 3:17
Unashamed to call me Your own?
Unashamed to call me Your own?
Unashamed to call me Your own
The hardest part of a missionary career, Hudson Taylor found, is to maintain regular, prayerful Bible study. “Satan will always find you something to do,” he would say, “when you ought to be occupied about that, if it is only arranging a window blind.”
Just got rid of the manga and youtube videos! Almost done with the book of Isaiah! Almost a hundred chapters behind on the BRP, but how many times do we get the chance to read the Bible in our lifetime?
One day when he was over 70 years old, he paused as he crossed the sitting room in Lausanne, Bible in hand, and said to one of his children: “I have just finished reading the Bible through, today ,for the fortieth time in 40 years.” And he not only read it, he lived it. - excerpt from Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret.
What a thing that would be to tell your kids? haha
But then, it is not impossible.
Read what God has to say. Not only for yourself, but for those you love.
it hurts, it hurts, it hurts…
please allow me to understand, too.
“But how to get faith strengthened? Not by striving after faith, but by resting on the faithful one (Jesus Christ!).”
- McCarthy, from Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret
I was worried about how I was going to get money for dinner with my friend tonight because I was out of cash (and worried about other things too) , and while thinking I stuck my hand in my pocket and found twenty dollars!
My worries instantly disappeared! God always provides and is always in control, never forget that! God is just too amazing! XD
Take care,
- Joshua H Wu
Here’s a poem from the book “Streams in the Desert” by L.B. Cowman that I would like to share.
Rain, rain,
Beating against the pane!
How endlessly it pours
Out of doors
From the blackened sky-
I wonder why!
Flowers, flowers,
Upspringing after showers,
Blossoming fresh and fair,
Everywhere!
Ah, God has explained
Why it rained!
Thank God for the rain!
Ch 3
v 6 – 7 ?What do these verses mean?
v 17 ? Lay bare their secret parts? What a weird punishment. I think their punishment is up to v 24.
Ch 4
v1 ? Why seven women? What are they doing?
Not only did God give me one song, but two! That’s two more than I would have ever dreamed of! Praise God! XD
“LOVE”
(V 1)
What is it that my heart desires?
Is it the riches, fame, or power?
Even if I could have all those things,
Would it, ease the longing in my heart?
(C 1)
L-O-V-E
That’s what my heart desires,
From the One who gave,
Gave His everything! (x 2)
(V 2)
What is it that my heart desires?
Is it the beauty or the child?
Even if I could have all those things,
Would it, ease the pain that’s in my heart?
(C 1) (X 2)
(B)
My God, my God,
why would You care for me,
so much, that You gave your only Son to me,
that You hung on a cross,
and shed Your blood for me,
my God, my God, my God…
(C 2)
L-O-V-E
that’s why You died for me,
On that cross where You,
You paid the price for me!
L-O-V-E
that’s why You rose for me,
on the day that You,
You set Your children free! (x 2)
Thank God!
Joshua H Wu