Tag Archives: God

On God’s Kindness and Good Guilt

27 Monday Apr 2015

Posted by in Exhortation, Faith, Repentance, The Kindness of God

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 “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength…” (NIV)

As we experience more and more of the goodness of God in our relationship with Him, we are naturally led into deeper and deeper levels of holiness. For, the kindness that we experience in our relationship with God produces in His children a godly grief in our souls, which leads us to confess and repent of more and more of our sin. As we do this we become holier; thus we begin to live in the joyful freedom of walking in newness of life.

Another way to say the same thing is to say that the kindness of God causes us to feel a good-guilt over our wrongdoing. Good-guilt is rooted in an awareness of the goodness and love that God has shown to His children. Good-guilt is good because it makes us want to turn away from the things in our lives that displease God (i.e., our sin) and turn towards the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation that He died to give us. That is why the Scripture says, “Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?” (Romans 2:4, NLT).

When we say that we repent of our sin we mean that we have a change of mind about our sin; and for that reason, we turn away from our sin and towards God in the desire to live a God-glorifying life. In other words, to repent of sin is to turn around and go in the opposite direction when we realize that we are heading the wrong way on the path of life. Repentance is the authenticating mark of our profession of faith in Christ. It is the first outward proof that we possess true saving faith. If we agree with God that our sin is wrong, we will do everything that we can to turn away from it and turn towards the righteousness that is ours because of the cross-work of Jesus Christ. It is in this way that repentance leads to salvation. As Isaiah 30:15a says, “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength…” (NIV).

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2 Minutes with John Piper on the Fear of God

22 Wednesday Apr 2015

Posted by in Salvation, The Believing 21st Centruy American Woman, The Fear of God, The Glory of God, The Nature of God

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How can I escape my fear of man? Well, Witherspoon said, “It is only the fear of God that can deliver us  from the fear of man.” So I started checking out resources on the fear of God- and I came across this 2 minute sermon clip from John Piper. In it, he explains what the fear of God is for the Christian, and what the role of fearing God is in the Christian life. Well worth the 120 seconds it took me to watch.

We Must Be Firm in Our Faith

30 Tuesday Dec 2014

Posted by in Boasting in Weaknesses, Call to the Cross, Exhortation, Faith, The Sovereignty of God

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“If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.” Isaiah 7:9

“We must endure in our faith; in our belief and our trust in God. For the Scripture says, “…My righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in Him” (Hebrews 10:38). We must endeavor to believe God and trust that He is always working all things (i.e., all the circumstances, all the relationships, and all the events of our lives) out for our good and His glory, even when this is difficult to do. We must trust God all the time – in the midst of seemingly overwhelming personal weaknesses, broken relationships, and even shameful pasts. We must stand on the solid rock of the promise of God: that He causes “…all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose…” (Romans 8:28).

Believing that God will cause all things to work out for our good and His glory can be difficult when those all things include abandonment, abortion, abuse, addictions, betrayal, chronic pain, divorce, mental illness, the shame of sexual and physical assault, or the insecurity that results from prolonged emotional abuse. But, regardless of how difficult it may be for us to understand how God will overcome our painful realities and transform us through them; the Lord still calls us to believe that He can and that He will do all that He has said He would do for us. Only He expects that we believe in Him. For we know that He has said, “…without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). Therefore, we must discipline ourselves to trust God and rely on His ability to work out His good will in our lives – no matter how impossible this may seem to be to us. In other words, we must be firm in our faith. For Isaiah 7:9 warns us, “If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.”

Taken from Walking in Newness of Life: Experiencing the power of God in Resurrection by Identifying with Christ in His Death and Burial, pp. 95-96

A Violent Assault Against the Majesty and Glory of God

01 Wednesday Oct 2014

Posted by in Edification, Repentance, The Believing 21st Centruy American Woman, The Glory of God, The Nature of God, The Wrath of God

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“The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and wrathful; the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies” Nahum 1:2

“God does not take kindly to people who ignore Him; actually, He hates them (Psalm 5:5; 11:5). Ignoring God is a violent assault against the majesty and glory of who God is. It is wrong to pretend that God does not exist (Romans 1:18-32). It is an affront to God to pay no heed to His glorious holiness. It is a hostile thing in the eyes of God that men prefer to drown in the sewage pipes of human sin; rather than swim in the clean, refreshing ocean of the glory of God. For, God is jealous for His people; God is jealous for His glory (Exodus 20:5; 34:14). Truly, God hates all sin, and God is wrathful towards all sinners. As Nahum 1:2 says, “The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and wrathful; the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies” (Nahum 1:2).”

Walking in Newness of Life: Experiencing the Power of God in Resurrection by Identifying with Christ in His Death and Burial p. 41

On Living in the Reality of Philippians 2:12-13.

19 Friday Sep 2014

Posted by in Boasting in Weaknesses, Edification, Education, Encouragement, Pauline Theology, Reformed Theology, The Believing 21st Centruy American Woman, The Holy Spirit, The Sovereignty of God, Walking in Newness of Life

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“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” Philippians 2:12-13

“Personally, I cannot imagine a way that we could possess a more intimate knowledge of God than having Him inside of us in the person of the Holy Spirit, manifesting His resurrection power through our physical, mental, and emotional capacities; literally changing us from the inside out, and thus enabling us to walk in newness of life in Christ- only the Lord could think of that. Yet, astonishingly, this is exactly what has been happening in us since the moment that God saved us. God has been making us more and more holy, conforming us into the image of His Son. He has been forgiving sin. He has been at work healing that which is lame in us. He has begun to unravel our twisted sinful thinking and untangle all the shame filled knots in our souls. God has only begun to resurrect that which is dead in us; teaching us how to walk in the glorious newness of life that He has so graciously given us in Christ. Since the moment that we passed from death to life, God Himself has been at work in our souls producing all of the necessary graces that we have needed for walking in newness of life- through our union with Christ. Every step of faith that we have taken, every act of obedience which we have completed, every willingness and inclination towards God’s will has been a fulfillment of both the exhortation and the promise of Philippians 2:12-13: “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

Taken from Walking in Newness of Life, p. 138.

Ever-Present Help

17 Wednesday Sep 2014

Posted by in Boasting in Weaknesses, Edification, Encouragement, Exhortation, The Believing 21st Centruy American Woman, The Holy Spirit, The Sovereignty of God

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“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1, NIV

Have you ever noticed how when the Lord is teaching us something He providential ordains a thousand ways to communicate that same truth to us over and over again in our daily lives? For example, like when the Lord is teaching us about trusting Him: He makes the daily Bible reading about trusting Him, the songs that come on the radio (or Pandora) about trusting Him, the testimony at church or prayer meeting  about trusting Him, and our friends start randomly texting us verses about trusting God. In doing this, God is doing two things. First, He is giving us repeated exposure to whatever truth that He is teaching us (in the example that I just gave He is giving  repeated exposure to the truth that we can trust Him), and secondly, in doing this, God is also showing us that He is the Ever PRESENT God. He is showing us that He is the God of TODAY, the God of RIGHT NOW, the God of our present tense reality. He is showing us that He is not just the God of history or the God of some far-off abstract future tense reality (like the future reality of judgment day). We don’t want to miss this second message in the divinely appointed providential messages sent to us from the Divine School-Master (that is, given to us by the blessed Holy Spirit- who is God over all). In other words, we don’t want to let the insane pace of the American lifestyle rob us of the peace of the knowledge that “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”

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Why Didn’t God Give Us a New Past?

12 Friday Sep 2014

Posted by in Boasting in Weaknesses, Call to the Cross, Cross-Bearing, Edification, Encouragement, Exhortation, The Believing 21st Centruy American Woman, The Sovereignty of God, Walking in Newness of Life

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God gave us a new hope, a new Spirit, a new heart, and a new life, but He did not give us a new past: He decided to leave our pasts with us for the time being. God did this because He gets more glory by transforming our pasts than erasing them.

Taken from Walking in Newness of Life: Experiencing the Power of God in Resurrection by Identifying with Christ in His Death and Burial (p.98).

 

Why Matter- Matters.

10 Wednesday Sep 2014

Posted by in Edification, Encouragement, Walking in Newness of Life

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“God created everything that exists in order to manifest (or to make known) His glory. All matter was created to give us a small glimpse, a physical picture, of the incomprehensible greatness of who God is. Do you think that fruit is sweet? God is sweeter than the sweetest of fruit. Do you think that the sun is dazzlingly brilliant? God is dazzlingly brighter still. Do you think cool water is refreshing on a hot summer’s day? God is more refreshing than a thousand thirst-quenching mountain springs. Do you think that the ocean is vast? The vastness of God is greater still. Do you think that the universe is large? It is nothing in comparison to the greatness of God. So you see, matter matters because of what it shows us about God.”

Taken from Walking in Newness of Life: Experiencing the Power of God by Identifying with Christ in His Death and Burial (p.25).

What Does it Mean that God is Glorious?

08 Monday Sep 2014

Posted by in Education, Encouragement, Reformed Theology

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Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory! Isaiah 6:3

“Since God is holy in every way possible; God is glorious in the most possible way. To say that God is glorious means that God is worthy of fame and admiration; that God has striking beauty and splendor that evokes feelings of delighted admiration in us. God’s glory is the overflowing radiance and the brilliance of the holiness of God (i.e., the set-apart-ness of God) which calls forth our worship, admiration, and praise. God’s glory is the revelation of the surpassing magnificence, beauty, and value of Who God is in all of His perfect characteristics. His perfect love, His sovereignty, His patience, His kindness, His wisdom, His loveliness, and all of His other perfections make God desirable, delightful, pleasing, admirable, and glorious. This is why in God’s throne room, the great seraphim cry out, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” (Isaiah 6:3).♦

For a good article on the essence of the glory of God see: Piper, John. 2012. Soli Deo Gloria. http://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/soli-deo-gloria/. April 19, 2014.

♦Taken from Walking in Newness of Life: Experiencing the Power of God in Resurrection by Identifying with Christ in His Death and Burial (pp. 24-25).