Amazing Grace

Grace is the most transformational word in Scripture. The entire Bible is a narrative of God’s grace, a story of undeserved redemption. By the transformational power of his grace, God unilaterally reaches into the muck of this fallen world, through the presence of his Son, and radically transforms his children from what we are (sinners) into what we are becoming by his power (Christ-like). The famous Netwon hymn uses the best word possible for that grace, amazing.

So grace is a story and grace is a gift. It is God’s character and it is your hope. Grace is a transforming tool and a state of relationship. Grace is a theology and an invitation. Grace is an experience and a calling. Grace will turn your life upside down while giving you a rest you have never known. Grace will convince you of your unworthiness without ever making you fell unloved.

Grace will make you acknowledge that you cannot earn God’s favor, and it will remove your fear of not measuring up to his standards. Grace will confront you with the face that you are much less than you thought you were, even as it assures you that you can be far more than you had ever imagined. Grace will put you in your place without ever putting you down.

Grace will enable you to face truths about yourself that you have hesitated to consider, while freeing you from being self-consciously introspective. Grace will confront you with profound weaknesses, and at the same time introduce you to new-found strength. Grace will tell you what you aren’t, while welcoming you to what you can now be. Grace will make you as uncomfortable as you have ever been, while offering you more comfort than you have ever known. Grace will drive you to the end of yourself, while it invites you to fresh starts and new beginnings. Grace will dash your hopes, but never leave you hopeless. Grace will decimate your kingdom as it introduces you to a better King. Grace will make you sadder than you have ever been, while it gives you greater cause for celebration than you have ever known.

Grace enters your life in a moment and will occupy you for eternity. You simply cannot live a productive life in this broken-down world unless you have a practical grasp of the grace you have been given.

Paul David Tripp, Broken Down House, p.43

There Is A Hope

There is a hope that lifts my weary head,

A consolation strong against despair,

That when the world has plunged me in its deepest pit,

I find the Savior there!

Through present sufferings, future’s fear,

He whispers, “Courage!” in my ear.

For I am safe in everlasting arms,

And they will lead me home.

(Stuart Townend and Mark Edwards)

One Life To Give: The Perspective of Jesus on His Death

So then, although he knew he must die, it was not because he was the helpless victim either of evil forces arrayed against him, or of any inflexible fate decreed for him, but because he freely embraced the purpose of his Father for the salvation for sinners, as it had been revealed in Scripture.

This was the perspective of Jesus on his death. Despite the great importance of his teaching, his example, and his works of compassion and power, none of these was central to his mission. What dominated his mind was not the living but the giving of his life. This final self-sacrifice was his ‘hour’, for which he had come into the world. And the four evangelists, who bear witness to him in the Gospels, show that they understand this by the disproportionate amount of space which they give to the story of his last few days on earth, his death and resurrection. It occupies between a third and a quarter of the three Synoptic Gospels, while John’s Gospel has justly been described as having two parts, ‘the Book of the Signs’ and ‘the Book of the Passion’, since John spends an almost equal amount of time on each.

John Stott, The Cross Of Christ, p.30

 

How To Weaken Pride And Cultivate Humility

A list of suggestions by C.J. Mahanney.

ALWAYS:

1. Reflect on the wonder of the cross of Christ.

AS EACH DAY BEGINS:

2. Begin your day by acknowledging your dependence upon God and your need for God.

3. Begin your day expressing gratefulness to God.

4. Practice the spiritual disciplines-prayer, study of God’s Word, worship. Do this consistently each day and at the day’s outset, if possible.

5. Seize your commute time to memorise and meditate on Scripture.

6. Cast your cares upon Him, for He cares for you.

AS EACH DAY ENDS:

7. At the end of the day, transfer the glory to God.

8. Before going to sleep, receive the gift of sleep from God and acknowledge His purpose for sleep.

FOR SPECIAL FOCUS:

9. Study the attributes of God. (esp. incommunicable attributes)

10. Study the doctrines of grace.

11. Study the doctrine of sin.

12. Play golf as much as possible. (Ok, I don’t play golf though.)

13. Laugh often, and laugh often at yourself. (Ok, this I can do.)

THROUGHOUT YOUR DAYS AND WEEKS:

14. Identify evidences of grace in others.

15. Encourage and serve others each and everyday.

16. Invite and pursue correction.

17. Respond humbly to trials.

I really enjoyed reading this short book. Because I think it deals with a vitaly important issue that I do not think enough about.

Going to work on point 1 by reading the recommended The Cross of Christ by John Stott.

The Glory of God-The Treasure of our Lives

When the glory of God is the treasure of our lives, we will not lay up treasures on earth, but spend them for the spread of his glory. We will not covet, but overflow with liberality. We will not crave the praise of men, but forget ourselves in praising God. We will not be mastered by sinful, sensual pleasures, but sever their root by the power of a superior promise. We will not nurse a wounded ego or cherish a grudge or nurture a vengeful spirit, but will hand over our cause to God and bless those who hate us. Every sin flows from the failure to treasure the glory of God above all things. Therefore one crucial, visible way to display the truth and value of the glory of God is by humble, sacrificial lives of service that flow only from the fountain of God’s all satisfying glory.

John Piper, Preaching As Expository Exultation, Preaching The Cross, p.111

Much of You by Steven Curtis Chapman

Was driving to work this morning and was simply moved by this God-Cross Centered song by Chapman.

How could I stand here

And watch the sun rise

Follow the mountains

Where they touch the sky

Ponder the vastness

And the depths of the sea

And think for a moment

The point of it all was to make much of me

Cause I’m just a whisper

And You are the thunder and

 

I want to make much of You, Jesus

I want to make much of Your love

I want to live today to give You the praise

That You alone are so worthy of

I want to make much of Your mercy

I want to make much of Your cross

I give You my life

Take it and let it be used

To make much of You

 

And how can I kneel here

And think of the cross

The thorns and the whip and the nails and the spear

The infinite cost

To purchase my pardon

And bear all my shame

To think I have anything worth boasting in except for Your name

Cause I am a sinner

And You are the Savior

 

I want to make much of You, Jesus

I want to make much of Your love

I want to live today to give You the praise

That You alone are so worthy of

I want to make much of Your mercy

I want to make much of Your cross

I give You my life

Take it and let it be used

 

To make much of You

 

This is Your love, oh God

Not to make much of me

But to send Your own son

So that we could make much of You

 

For all eternity

 

I want to make much of You Jesus

I want to make much of Your love

I want to live today to give You the praise

That You alone are so worthy of

I want to make much of Your mercy

I want to make much of Your cross

I give You my life

Take it and let it be used

To make much of You

 

I want to make much of You

Much of You Jesus

The Centrality of the Gospel

I think the thing that most encourages me these days is the renewed emphasis upon the centrality of the Gospel – that the Gospel, to use Tim Keller’s phrase, is not just the ABCs of the Christian life, but is the A to Z of the Christian life. That the Gospel is not just the entry point of how you become a Christian or just the exit point to where we are going someday, but in the here and now, the Gospel should be affecting the way I relate to my wife, the way I relate to my kids, the way think about my job, the way I think about my culture and the way I think about my church.

Justin Taylor, quoted from here.

Inner Problem, Alien Solution

They believe that they have an alien problem that is to be resolved with an inner solution. What the gospel says, however, is that we have a inner problem that demands an alien solution-a righteousness that is not our own.

Dever, Mark, C. J. Mahaney, Dr R Albert Mohler, and JR. Preaching the Cross. Crossway Books, 2007.p.81

The Magnitude of God’s Transforming Grace

You and I will never understand and celebrate the magnitude of God’s transforming grace until we understand the deep damage that sin does to the human heart. You see, sin isn’t about human beings being basically okay and just needing a little tweaking in order to be what they were meant to be and do what they were meant to do. No, the damage of sin reaches to every area of our personhood, deeply altering what we think and what we desire.

Paul David Tripp, a SHELTER in the time OF STORM p.20

Recordings from WorshipGod2009 Conference

The next best thing to being there at the conference. 24 recordings of all the sessions. Great resource.