JamesThinking

I read a man’s words recently that I feel were very informative and helped to put flesh on the bones of a lot of thoughts and feelings I’ve had lately: 

“With this sweet hope of ultimate acceptance with God, I have always enjoyed much cheerfulness before men; but I have at the same time laboured incessantly to cultivate the deepest humiliation before God. I have never thought that the circumstance of God’s having forgiven me was any reason why I should forgive myself; on the contrary, I have always judged it better to loathe myself the more, in proportion as I was assured that God was pacified towards me (Ezekiel 16: 63)…. There are but two objects that I have ever desired for these forty years to behold; the one is my own vileness; and the other is the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ: and I have always thought that they should be viewed together; just as Aaron confessed all the sins of all Israel whilst he put them on the head of the scapegoat. The disease did not keep him from applying to the remedy, nor did the remedy keep him from feeling the disease. By this I seek to be, not only humbled and thankful, but humbled in thankfulness, before my God and Saviour continually.” (Charles Simeon)

While I love so much that people are grasping onto our royal identity as adopted sons and daughters of God most high (Romans 8:15). I don’t think there’s any way we can be more blessed than by claiming that identity. However I don’t think that we can ever move past the idea that we are most importantly humbled by the cross. 

I would go so far as to suggest that I have never truly realized and have never truly been affected by the truth of who Christ is and what He has done until very recently as I began to dwell on my own sinful condition and realize how incredible it is that as depraved and loathsome as I am, the perfect, holy, “all consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:28-29) came down, put on the disgusting flesh of humanity, lived as I, and took the weight of my sinfulness upon himself. He bore the weight of his own wrath and punishment that I could be made right with Him (Phillipians 2).

Who am I that God would do this? It seems that the more I learn of who He is the more and more I come to loath my nature and even myself. I feel that I am losing pretense and shallow identities. I see myself more and more as a transparent sort of being, he sees right through all of me and I have less and less I am able to hide, indeed there’s less and less worth hiding. I pray that he’d keep moving so that by some point I feel so that there is nothing I have to hide before him. In my head I may know that there is nothing I am able to hide from God however the nature in me is still so strong that my deceitful heart tells me I can still keep things from the Devouring Fire! How stupid! 

My prayer is that God would keep moving to humble me and show me how vast and worthy he is that my life seems small and even trivial in his light. I know that in my soul I love God though I don’t always feel it in my heart. I feel that by being humbled by what He’s done by His son I am slowly shaping my heart towards what God desires. Humbled. 

God you are worthy.

“If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people? Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, do you ask for a ruling from those whose way of life is scorned in the church? I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? But instead, one brother takes another to court—and this in front of unbelievers!

 The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters. Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with mennor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

I think I can not remember a time in my life where I’ve been so wholly overwhelmed by gratitude. The things the Lord’s done in my life over the last year is incredible.

I’ve said it a lot in conversation but if someone had told me a year ago where I would be now, I probably would have laughed. That’s not me trying to be self deprecating or anything, but it’s just a bit of honest self examination. I have no other explanation for the things going on in my life other than the sheer grace and blessing of God and the people in my life. I am absolutely humbled by it all. 

 11. Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power 
   and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, 
   for everything in heaven and earth is yours. 
Yours, LORD, is the kingdom; 
   you are exalted as head over all. 
12. Wealth and honor come from you; 
   you are the ruler of all things. 
In your hands are strength and power 
   to exalt and give strength to all. 
13. Now, our God, we give you thanks, 
   and praise your glorious name. (1 Chronicles 29)

Four things:

1. The fame and glory is all Godward. (This is made clear in v.11)
2. Blessings come from God. (v. 12a)
3. He alone has the ability to bless (v.12b)
4. I am thankful (v.13)

In this season, I’ve found myself incredibly blessed. My prayer is that I would be constantly reminded that it comes from God alone, and is for his glory. 

1. Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.

2. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

3. Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

5. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. (Psalm 100)

The good ol’ Tumblr is back in motion! Thanks Tumblr support for helping me get it un-suspended!

• “Now set your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God” (1 Chronicles 22:19)
• “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20)

• However I can always better know who that person is. 

• I can’t have God be any closer to me. As someone who is dying to the flesh and being surrendered to the spirit of God and having given myself to Christ his person is always present, always around, always inside me. 

Anonymous asked: Marry me?

suuuuuuure!

I’ve had a few conversations lately about what God’s love for us means and what our role in our relationship with God is and if I talk about how God’s glorifying himself in our lives is the most loving act towards it is often miscommunicated (my fault) or misunderstood as hyper narcissism or something. I was reading this article on the Desiring God website and it really blessed me and helped clarify some concepts in my head. My prayer is I’ll be more clear in communication, this could bless some of you, and that He’d be glorified all the more.

Here’s the link

“God’s love for us is not mainly his making much of us, but his giving us the ability to enjoy making much of him forever. In other words, God’s love for us keeps God at the center. God’s love for us exalts his value and our satisfaction in it. If God’s love made us central and focused on our value, it would distract us from what is most precious, namely, himself.Love labors and suffers to enthrall us with what is infinitely and eternally satisfying: God.Therefore God’s love labors and suffers to break our bondage to the idol of self and focus our affections on the treasure of God.

To see the God-centeredness of God’s love demonstrated in Christ let’s look at John 11:1-6, the story of Lazarus’ sickness and death.

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4 But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, [οὖν, therefore] when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

Notice three amazing things:

1. Jesus chose to let Lazarus die. Verse 6: “When He heard he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where he was.” There was no hurry. His intention was not to spare the family grief, but to raise Lazarus from the dead.
2. He was motivated by a passion for the glory of God displayed in his own glorious power. Verse 4: “This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.”
3. Nevertheless both the decision to let Lazarus die and the motivation to magnify God were expressions of love for Mary and Martha and Lazarus. Verse 5: “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus … so he stayed … where he was.”

O how many people today – even Christians – would murmur at Jesus for callously letting Lazarus die and putting Him and Mary and Martha and others through the pain and misery of those days. And if they saw that this was motivated by Jesus desire to magnify the glory of God many would call this harsh or unloving. What this shows is how far above the glory of God most people value pain-free lives. For most people love is whatever puts human value and human well-being at the center. So Jesus’  behavior is unintelligible to them.

But let us not tell Jesus what love is. Let us not instruct him how he should love us and make us central. Let us learn from Jesus what love is and what our true well-being is. Love is doing whatever you need to do even to the point of dying on the cross to help people see and savor the glory of God for ever and ever. Love keeps God central. Because the soul was made for God.

People asked me, shouldn’t love be part of BBC’s mission statement (We exist to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ)? I answered this is our definition of love.

Jesus confirms that we are on the right track here by the way he prays for us in John 17. I assume that he is praying for us (v. 20) and that this prayer is a loving prayer (John 13:1). Consider how Jesus prays in the first five verses:

When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

This is the way God prays when he is being loving to his people. He prays that his glory be upheld and displayed.

The connection with us comes in verse 24, “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” The love of Jesus drives him to pray for us and then die for us, NOT that our value may be central, but that his glory may be central, and we may see it and savor it for all eternity. “That they may see My glory!” – for that he let Lazarus died, and for that he went to the cross.

See one illustration of Paul’s experience of this way of being loved. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10:

So to keep me from being too elated by the surpassing greatness of the revelations,1 a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Many man-centered Americans who have defined the love of Christ as his making much of them, not his helping them to enjoy make much of him, would cry out to Jesus in this situation: I don’t care about your power being made perfect, I care about not hurting with this thorn!

O how we need to help people see that Christ, not comfort, is their all-satisfying and everlasting treasure. So I conclude that magnifying the supremacy of God in all things, and being willing to suffer patiently to help see and savor this supremacy is the essence of love. It’s the essence of God’s love. And it’s the essence of your love. Because the supremacy of God’s glory is the source and sum of all full and lasting joy.”

So, worship…

“And so the Lord says, These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. And their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.” (Isaiah 29:13)

1. This shakes me up when I think about all the times of corporate or musical worship I’ve sung and danced my brains out, but then if i examine what changed in my heart it’s convicting that I really didn’t come away with my heart being changed.
2. Then I examine my life as an act of worship, I can say the right things and do everything right, but where’s my heart at?

• I know there’s times when I’ve met with God and encountered his presence, and i know there’s times when I’ve “worshipped” and nothing changed in my heart. How can I keep my life from being “rules learned by rote”? I want my life to reflect the real closeness and intimacy i have with me and my Lord.

1. Seek God and know his character.
2. Ask Him to do big things.
3. Be available for big things.

Anonymous asked: Hi! What does the bible teaches about women working? There's some people around me that totally disagree with that and others who thing It's fine. Can you help me?

I would love to be able to refer you to this little something that I think would explain my thoughts a little more clearly. 

“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

      For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:1-3)

The phrase “so great a cloud of witnesses” is in reference to the prior chapter (11) which marks out some incredible past models of faith. There’s a distinction to be made though, the world looks at a role model and says:

• “They were amazing people, so they were able to perform well. I should perform well, because they could.”

This passage is outlining that the Christ-follower looks at a role model and in reading this passage in reverse says:

• “These were amazing people, because Christ performed perfectly on the cross for them. They, while still wretchedly sinful and unworthy, took hold of His sufficient work and let that overflow to obedience and good work. I now have a model for how I can latch on to Christ.”

Then the next verse reminds us, again, to consider Him (Christ) so that we will not grow weary. Keep things Christ-centered, not amazingpeople-centered.

I’ve seen his ragged shoes
The soles are worn straight through
Well I proclaimed
The king has sang the blues
If you’ve got better news
Then make it play

He laid aside his crown
All our crimes he carried
Was lifted from the ground
With our burdens buried

Listen to me
Though I speak of sober things
Listen through me
Though we’re men of lips unclean
I speak truly
What you only think you’ve heard everything
Everything
Everything hangs on a word

Sparing no expense
He made recompense 
For all the earth
The story’s an offense
So get down from that fence
And bless or curse

He laid aside his crown
All our crimes he carried
Was lifted from the ground
With our burdens buried
The shadows all had flown
In the light diminished
He emptied out his lungs
Crying it is finished

Listen to me
Though I speak of sober things
Listen through me
Though we’re men of lips unclean
I speak truly
What you only think you’ve heard everything
Everything
Everything hangs on a word

A word…

The shadows all had flown
In the light diminished
He emptied out his lungs
Crying it is finished

Listen to me
Though I speak of sober things
Listen through me
Though we’re men of lips unclean
I speak truly
What you only think you’ve heard everything
Everything
Everything hangs on a word 

Where does a realistic fearlessness (not bold recklessness or the lack of thinking of consequences, but a simple unafraidness) come from? 

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.” (1 John 4:18)

Why would “perfect love cast out fear”? I think it does in two contexts:

• When asked what is your greatest fear, I can’t help but wonder how many people would respond “dying alone”? How good does knowing that we are perfectly loved sound?
• Furthermore, look at Romans 8, after Paul delivers one of my favorite descriptions and explanations of God’s love for us he says “If God is for us who can be against us?

Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life —is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:31-39)

I don’t think there’s any room for fear (whether it comes from ourselves, the world, or the enemy) within the scope of what God’s love encompasses. There’s simple no room within the heart that belongs to the love of God for true, bone gripping fear. 

Let’s cling to that, though it may not feel like that always, let’s constantly steady our hands and hold on to that.

“In those days you were living apart from Christ.”

What is it that living apart from Christ brings?

“You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope.” 

Life apart from Christ brings:

1. Not benefitting from the covenant God made with Abraham, or citizenship with Israel. (Genesis 12-17)
2. Without hope. “Christ is the hope of Glory” (Colossians 1:27)
3. Without God. “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1)

“But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:12-13)