Eat and Grow

When my boy isn't eating his food I look at him and say, "you need to eat so you can be BIG and STRONG."  He smiles at me and tries to copy my flexing gesture, and begins to eat.  I was thinking about that this morning.  The whole idea that if he didn't eat, he really would begin to get weaker and weaker.  He needs food to grow and he needs it for strength 

Well, when I think about my spiritual life, I truly want to grow.  But if I am honest, I often don't want to eat.  I just want it to happen: no effort, no energy...just happen.  But that isn't how things work.  That is only the way our selfish and lazy minds work.  We want something, but don't want to put the work into getting it.  Ponder this idea.  Ask yourself what you are truly after.  If you truly desire God, than no amount of work, pain, or struggle will side track you from pursuing him.  But if what you are after is your own good, than you might just find laziness more appealing than God himself.

You need to eat your (spiritual) food so you can be BIG and STRONG!  Feed yourself.

Controlling our Hope (Part 2 of 2)

I can’t control the weather.

I can’t control who lives.

I can’t control my kids.

I can’t control my wife.

I can’t control what people think of me.

I can’t control what is demanded of me.

I can’t control when unexpected costs come.

I can’t control if I get a disease or major health problem.

I can’t control if I get hit by a car.

I can’t control if my “stuff” works how it’s supposed to.

I can’t control my kid’s health and safety.

I can’t control my brain to function as it should.

I can’t control politics.

I can’t control who wins the Super Bowl.

I can’t control.

I can’t control.

I can’t control.

Thinking about life makes me realize how little is up to me and how much is out of my hands.  Why then, do I spend so much physical and emotional energy trying to control what I can’t…all the while neglecting the very things I can control.

By God’s grace and through the power of the Spirit, I can control my obedience to Him.  

I can be faithful by saturating myself in God’s word, whether I feel like it or not. 

I can be faithful by loving my wife, despite how she responds. 

Loving and disciplining my kids, whether it is easy or exhausting. 

Sharing my faith, whether people respond or not.    

Sometimes faith seems complicated, but I think that is because our hope is in so many different things and we try to control all those things.  Maybe faith is simple.  Our duty is to obey God and keep his commands (Eccl 12:13).  It is that simple.  What makes it complicated is not what is asked of us, but that our desires are not where they should be.  It gets complicated because our sinful hearts pull us in so many directions, and in that we try to control much of life around us.  Maybe it is time to stop trying to control so many things.  Time to stop being anxious and worried over things we can’t control.  Time we just look at what God has called us to be obedient to, and do it.  Time we trust God for all that other stuff, and focus our energy where it should be focused.  After all, trying to control these things instead of trusting God accomplishes nothing except revealing our hope is in something other than God Himself.    

Controlling our Hope (Part 1 of 2)

I hope I make a difference.

I hope my marriage thrives.

I hope my kids love Jesus.

I hope to provide for my family.

I hope people like me.

I hope to enjoy life.

I hope tragedy doesn’t strike those close to me.

I hope my neck stops hurting.

I hope it rains.

I hope my car will work when I turn the key.

I hope to have more kids.

I hope our economy will strengthen.

I hope.

I hope.

I hope. 

“Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” -1Pe. 1:13

Hope.  Fully.  Those words rise from the page as I read this verse.  How many different things is my hope in?  How many things, even good things, do I hope for because I want them to come true.  Yes, it is a good thing to want to make a difference.  But is that a hope I have because of what I want?  Or is it a hope that overflows from a hope that is fully on Jesus Christ?  How would my life look if my hope were fully on the grace that is to come?  How would it be different?  Why am I so far from that? 

All these little hopes seem harmless, but in the end focus my attention and energy away from the sovereign plan of God.  Why do I hope it rains?  If God wanted it to rain, it would rain.  So why not, instead, hope in God through the drought.  Hope that He will accomplish his purposes through this.  I believe that as we are swept away by the greatness and beauty of who God is and what He has done, that our lives will be changed.  It is not trying harder, doing this or that, or learning more that will transform us into who we are called to be.  We need to hope in Christ.  Fully.  Everything else will work itself out though that hope.      

Self Esteem

There is a lot of talk about self esteem today, especially in circles that work with youth.  People beleive that if we can get kids to feel better about themselves then they will be more likely to suceed and less likely to fall into depression or drugs.  Christian organizations and youth groups have adopted this same philosophy, yet there is a huge problem with it: it isn't Biblical.

Think about it.  Do you think Adam and Eve needed self esteem?  No!  In fact, they only began to worry about their self-esteem after they sinned.  This tells me that the focus on self and worry about self worth is a product of the fall.  It is a result of sin.  So if Adam and Eve didn't have self esteem before they sinned, what did they have? They had, what I like to call, God esteem.  They found their worth in God and who they were in Him.  Their thoughts and lives revolved around God and His glory, not around their own thoughts and their own glory.

What this means for us is that we need to think less about what we do, less about who we are, and less about our status in society.  We need to think more about who God is, more about what Christ has done, and more about our identity in Christ.  This means when we get down we don't need to convince ourself of our worth, rather we need to remember that no matter what, our lives our hid with Christ (Col 3:3).  Nothing can separate us from God's love (Rom 8:38-39).  And that our identity does not change in Him.  When we begin to do this, no longer will our identity change based on circumstance, rather it will be changeless, regardless of how you feel.  Just the thought of this brings hope to the downcast, hope to the anxious, and hope to the sinner who is flooded with guilt.       

• Self Esteem focuses on how you feel about what you have done. God esteem focuses on who you are because of what Christ has done for you.
• Self Esteem focuses on your changing identity in culture. God esteem focuses on your changeless identity in Christ.
• Self Esteem is about how I feel about myself, leading 2 obsessing over self. God esteem is about how I feel about God, leading 2 worship.

The Christian Walk

After hearing a sermon, there are some key points or feelings you usually take from it, but it is often difficult to remember the details.  Since my sermon was about the Christian walk, I wanted provide some of the details from the sermon in writing, so they can be remembered and referred back to;  Because if we miss the purpose of the Christian walk…we will miss Jesus. 

Below are the 3 main points (from Col. 2) I communicated followed by the quote by Tullian Tchividjian (Presbyterian Pastor and great grandson of Billy Graham).  His quote sums up beautifully what the Christian walk is about and how we are to grow in it.

1.       You are completely full in Christ.  Everything you need, in Christ, you already possess.  So don’t seek fullness anywhere else, you have it.

2.       You have triumph because of Christ’s triumph.  It isn’t about what you do but what Christ has already done for you.   

3.       You live the life you are called to live because of your love for Christ, not to gain the love of Christ.

“I’m realizing that the sin I need removed daily is precisely my narcissistic understanding of spiritual progress. I think too much about how I’m doing, if I’m growing, whether I’m doing it right or not. I spend too much time pondering my failure, brooding over my spiritual successes, and wondering why, when it’s all said and done, I don’t seem to be getting that much better. In short, I spend way too much time thinking about me and what I need to do and far too little time thinking about Jesus and what he’s already done. And what I’ve discovered, ironically, is that the more I focus on my need to get better the worse I actually get. I become neurotic and self-absorbed. Preoccupation with my performance over Christ’s performance for me makes me increasingly self-centered and morbidly introspective. After all, Peter only began to sink when he took his eyes off Jesus and focused on “how he was doing”

So, by all means work! But the hard work is not what you think it is–your personal improvement and moral progress. The hard work is washing your hands of you and resting in Christ’s finished work for you–which will inevitably produce personal improvement and moral progress. Progress in obedience happens when our hearts realize that God’s love for us does not depend on our progress in obedience. Martin Luther’s got a point: “It is not imitation that makes sons; it is sonship that makes imitators.”

The real question, then, is: What are you going to do now that you don’t have to do anything? What will your life look like lived under the banner which reads “It is finished?”

What you’ll discover is that once the gospel frees you from having to do anything for Jesus, you’ll want to do everything for Jesus so that “whether you eat or drink or whatever you do” you’ll do it all to the glory of God…That’s real progress”

*from June 2011 Newsletter Article 

Sharing in the Death & Resurrection (Part 3 of 3)

Our old self is dead.  It is no longer there. 

The reign of sin is gone.  It no longer has the authority it once had.

Now what?

The death of our old self and dethronement of the reign of sin is not the end.  We not only participate in the death of Christ, but the resurrection as well!  Christ’s resurrection is also our resurrection.  We are risen with him and given life (Rom 6:5-10)…but why? 

A boy is coloring a picture, and in his excitement handles the crayons a little too aggressively and breaks one.  He is upset because he needed that color, but now it is broken.  He looks at his mother as she reaches into the crayon box and pulls out another crayon of the same color.  Why is she giving the boy another crayon?  Is it so he can break it just like he did the last one?  No!  She is giving him one so he can use it for its intended purpose.  To color. 

Our lives were broken.  Sin destroyed us.  What did God do for us?  He sent his Son for us.  Jesus died for our sins, and then rose from the dead to give us life.  Does Christ die, rise, and give us a new life so we can break it again?  No!  He gives us a new life so we can live it out for its intended purpose: God’s glory!  Living out the power of the resurrection means living life the way God intends for us to live it, through the power of Christ’s finished work.  It means fearing God and obeying his commands (Eccl. 12:13).  He didn’t die and rise so you could be an observer.  He did it to give you life with him, life that participates in what God is doing.  He did it to change you.   The whole object of all that Christ has done in his grace is to deliver us finally and completely out of sin and death and to bring us into this new life, which is his own life, which is indeed the life of God.

Sharing in the Death & Resurrection (Part 2 of 3)

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me.” Gal. 2:20

Several years ago, Saddam Hussein, the former Iraqi president, was captured, tried, and hung.  He was killed for his terrorist activity and violence to other humans.  Can he run Iraq anymore?  Absolutely not!  It isn’t just improbable, it is impossible because he is dead.  Even though he cannot rule the country, his violence, policies, and ideas can still be lived out by people within the country and world.  People can act like Saddam still reigns, but truth be told: he doesn’t and can’t reign again. 

Before Christ changed you, sin reigned.  It was sin that ruled your heart, guided you, and had the power.  But upon belief, something happened to sin.  Sin has been killed, which means sin no longer reigns.  We may at times try to act like it reigns, like people did with Saddam, but we must know that it isn’t just improbable that sin will reign, it is impossible. Christ conquered the power of sin, so that what reigns now is Christ.  The power that sin had on us has been nailed to the cross, has died, and was buried.  Christ is now the power in us.  Christ reigns.  Christ gets the last say.  Learn to obey the one who truly reigns instead of listening to the silent whispers of the one whose reign has been forever conquered.   

 

 “Because of my union with Christ, because I have died with him, because I have been buried with him, because I have been risen again, I am dead to sin as a realm and reign, I have finished with it, it has nothing to do with me.” -Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones   

Sharing in the Death & Resurrection (Part 1 of 3)

“If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.  For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin – because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.” –Rom 6:5-7

We just rearranged our house…it just wasn’t working how we had it.  We moved my office across the house to be further away from the playroom since it was difficult to work in the same room as an adorable 10 month old screaming “papa” (which is what he has decided to call me). 

The other day I was working in my new relocated office when I needed a book.  I stood up, walked across the house, and got all the way to the play room to realize that the book I was looking for wasn’t in this room anymore.  In fact, it was in the room I just walked out of.  I was so used to it being in the other room that I didn’t even think about the fact that the book accessible to me without even leaving my chair. 

We do the same thing in our spiritual lives.  This passage tells us that the old self has been crucified.  Yet we still, figuratively, walk all the way across the house to get something that is no longer there.  Even though the old self isn’t there, we seek to find it.  We, without thinking, go back to our sinful lives, our sinful habits, and our sinful desires…even though that part of us has been killed. 

The death and resurrection has many implications, and one of those is that we share in it.  Our old self has died just as Christ died.  Begin to live out the power of the cross.  Realize that your old self is no longer there!  Stop living like it is there.  It has died, so stop going back to it.  That self was crucified and buried.  Do not dig up what God has buried.  There is a new life you are called to live.  Live it! 

The Resurection...why does it matter?

What if there was no Easter?  What if Christ was born (Christmas) and then died on the cross (Good Friday), and it ended there?  Think about it.  Do you believe that Christ rose from the dead?  that the event was significant for some reason other than what happened on the cross? 

The Apostle Paul realized that there were people having these questions, so he addressed this issue in a letter to the church in Corinth.  Here is Paul’s take on the resurrection: “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith…If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins…If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men…If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die (1Cor 15:14,17,19,32b)”

Paul could not make it any clearer: No resurrection, no Christianity.  No resurrection, no eternal life.  No resurrection, no payment for sins.  “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead,” Paul declared (1Cor 15:20a).  So there is Christianity, life, and payment.  Let’s think about how this all comes together through the resurrection.

In the Old Covenant, priests would have to make sacrifices day after day for the sins of the people (Heb. 10:11).  Why?  Because the sacrifices that were made were for the sins the people committed…they couldn’t cover future sins.  So, since they (and we) daily sinned, the sacrifices had to continue.  On top of that, the sacrifices they made did not take away sins (pay the penalty for them) they were just a sacrifice to show that sins needed to be paid for (Heb. 10:11).  Jesus, on the other hand, only had to sacrifice himself once (Heb 10:12), and that sacrifice took away sins of the past, present, and future. 

What does the resurrection have to do with this?  First, His sacrifice took away sins because Jesus was able to die in our place for our sins.  This was possible not only through the cross, but the resurrection as well.  Jesus had to die for our sins (the cross) but he also had to conquer sin (the resurrection).  Death is a result of sin, so in rising from the dead, Jesus conquered sin.  His resurrection is victory for Christ and for us.  The cross was the payment and the resurrection was the victory.  The resurrection gives Christ the ability and authority to not just die as a sacrifice for sins, but to take our sins away.  (cf. 1Cor 15:54-56)

Second, Christ’s resurrection doesn’t just take away past sins, but future as well.  Christ is the sacrifice for our sins, and in rising from the dead he has become our living sacrifice.  He is not lying dead on an altar like the animal sacrifices.  He is alive; interceding for us (Rom. 8:34).  His resurrection made his sacrifice one that lives on.  We don’t have to wait for another sacrifice…because of the resurrection we can have life, be forgiven, and have hope that our sins do not get the last say.  The resurrection makes his sacrifice effectual forever. 

Spend some time this Easter season to really think about the resurrection.  Think about what it means.  Think about what it does in you.  Think about the gravity of it.  The Christian faith depends on the resurrection being a real.  Is it real for you?  Not just in your head…but have you experienced the power of the resurrection in you?  Dwell on this.  Let it change you! 

Daily Littles

"The Christian life is a great thing, one of the greatest things on earth. Made up of daily littles..." Horatius Bonar

When we approach the Christian life we usually see it in terms of big decisions, big actions, and big life change.  There are times we make big decisions, such as when to have kids, what job to take, or where to live...but on the whole, life is about the little decisions, and growing closer to God and being faithful to him is directly tied to those little decisions.  

A heroin addict doesn't get to that point over night, it happens after an extended period of time, making little decision after little decisions...eventually getting to the point of addiction.  An athlete doesn't just think his skill will be there for the big game.  No, the athlete runs, trains, practices...and those little decisions make him succeed.  Why would our Christian life be different?  The little decisions we make take us down a path, for good or for bad, and prepare our hearts for life's challenges.  It's the decicions to be diciplined to read our Bibles, the decision to help your neighbor, the decision to talk with a friend about Jesus, the diccision to not let your anger fester.  All your decisons take you somewhere, the question is, where?

Horatius Bonar challenges us in this saying: "Let us be on our guard against old self in every form, whether it be indolence, or temper, or coldness, or rudeness, or disobligingness, or slovenliness, or shabbiness, or covetousness, or flippancy, or self-conceit, or pride, or cunning, or obstinacy, or sourness, or levity, or foolishness, or love of preeminence. Let us cultivate a tender conscience, avoiding old notions and conceits; yet watching against the commission of little sins, and the omission of little duties; redeeming the time, yet never in a hurry; calm, cheerful, frank, happy, genial, generous, disinterested, thoughtful of others"

Think about your daily littles.  What do they say about you?  Where do they take you?  Where do you fall short of obeying Christ?  

Sayed Musa

I sit at my desk drinking coffee while planning my next youth sermon. Next to the east side of the church is the post office and next to the west side of the church is the municipal building.  Both these buildings are run by the government, and neither have any problem with what I am doing at my desk.  So I sit comfortably and continue my work....

In the mean time, on the other side of the world, a man named Sayed Musa is set to be executed because of his Christian faith.  He has done nothing which deserves government actions...he has simply believed.  Here is a link to an article that describes the situation and is being updated as events unravel:
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor?s=Sayed+Musa

With this happening as we speak, there are a couple of questions I want you to ask yourself, as these are the questions running through my mind.

1. Do I pray for persecuted Christians throughout the world?  Because of how easy it is to believe here, we forget that there are people who profess the same thing we do, but because of where they lived are getting brutally tortured.  There is a free magazine called Voice of the Martyrs (click to go to website) that tells the stories of those who are persecuted.  It is a great magazine to have to remind you to pray and make aware to you what others are going through (since our news doesn't find interest in this).  
2. Do I really believe what I say I believe?  If it came down to it, and I was getting tortured like Sayed Musa is getting tortured, would I hold fast to the faith?  
3. Why am I so timid to share my faith?  Brothers and sisters across the globe are getting killed for it...what am I so afraid of?  Rejection?  Being seen as a Jesus freak?  Loosing a friendship?  Having an awkward conversation?  What would Sayed Musa say to us if he heard our excuses?

May Sayed Musa's story remind us of our call to preach the gospel at any cost.  May it bring us boldness to be who we are called to be.  And may it bring us to pray for our fellow brothers and sisters.

Cross to Bear

"If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me." -Mk 8:34

This verse is asking two things of those who wish to follow Christ: deny and take.

Denying yourself requires much more than we want it to.  I doesn't mean denying your personality, dying as a martyr, or denying stuff.*  It means denying you: your selfish desires and hope in the things of this world. It is calling you to not live for yourself.

But we don't just deny, we then take.  Taking up you cross means that you agree to do whatever God call of you, no matter the cost.  This has nothing to do with bearing the troubles life brings you* (death of a loved one, difficult job, family trouble, etc.), but everything to do with obedience to God's will, and accepting the consequences that may follow.  For some this will involve physical suffering and ever death, but for others it might involve a sacrifice of time, money, comfort, friends, or anything else.  The idea is that nothing is to be held back...we take up our cross no matter what it is, and in doing this it shows our love for Jesus surpasses our love for anything else.

The cross imagery here calls to mind a very profound idea:  Someone who carried a cross through the city to their execution would publicly demonstrate their submission/obedience to the authority which they had previously rebelled against.*  This is exactly what we are doing in taking up our cross.  Though we were once far off (Eph 2:13) and enemies (Rom 5:10) of God, we now make a public declaration of our submission to Christ.  We intentionally live for His will, come what may.

Cross bearing denies self and seeks to live out what God calls us to.  The end goal of cross bearing is not the suffering it may require, rather the end goal is obedience to what God calls us to.  Jesus dying on the cross is the ultimate display of this type of obedience, where He gave everything to fulfill what He was called to do.

So what is your cross to bear?    


*Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-). The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

Salad or a Big Mac?

Sally waits in line with her little boy Jack as her mind races.  What should she order for her boy?  Should she order him a Big Mac, and make his day?  Or should she order him a salad because that would be the healthy option?  Satisfaction or heath.  This is what it all boils down to.  Both have there advantages and both have there drawbacks.  What will it be?

We all know that pursuing Jesus is good, but what is "good."  It is good to order the salad, but that isn't the option that will bring Jack the most joy.  Unfortunately, this is often how we view what it is like to follow Jesus.  We know it is the right decision, but it will lack the satisfaction that the alternatives bring.  We want to change, and become more like him, but are afraid that this change will result in boredom and a lack of joy.  Well, this is because we view things all wrong!

"The secret of gospel change is being convinced that Jesus is the good life AND the fountain of joy.  Any alternative we might choose would be the letdown."*  He is the joy and satisfaction of the Big Mac while being the wise choice like the salad.  He is both!  God created us to live in fellowship with him.  This means that our desires find their true satisfaction in him, since that is what they were created for.  This means that there will be no lasting satisfaction in anything apart from Jesus.  This is good news!  You can have both!

Our problem is that we live in a culture where we want things now.  Yesterdays news is boring, answering an email after its been in your inbox for two days is too late, waiting more than 5 seconds for a webpage to load is frustrating, getting stuck in traffic throws our whole day off.  What is our response to our impatience?  It is wanting satisfaction now.  We would rather have a lesser satisfaction now then a greater one later.  I would rather eat the Big Mac now and deal with the consequences later.  Take a step back and really think.  You will realize that Jesus truly is our deepest longing and joy, we are just too impatient to see it and wait for Him.  Joy in him isn't a quick fix, its a long road...and too often we would rather have the quick fix.  It is like a child who has a deep desire for a bicycle.  But instead of saving up for one, he uses his allowance each week on candy.  It satisfies his current desire, but not one of his deepest ones.  I will end with a quote from C.S. Lewis, where he drives this point home:

"Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink, sex, and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

*Tim Chester in "You Can Change" p15

State of the Union

Tonight, our president will address our nation on the state of the union.  Some will watch confused, unsure what the answers are to our problems, some will watch in support of their party, unconcerned about actual issues,  and some will watch nervous for our nation, knowing there are real issues that need to be solved.

Here is the truth behind the State of the Union: we live in a world plagued with sin, and not matter what happens in Washington, we will have major problems in our society.  It doesn't matter who is President and what party is in the majority, sin will continue to fracture society.  With this in mind, here are some Bibilical ways you can view the government and political issues:

1. God establishes all authority, therefore we are called to submit to government (Romans 13:1).  This does not mean that we must agree, but through our disagreements we are to submit to the ruling authority.  (sidenote: if the government ever does ask for us to do what Scripture forbids, this is when we obey Scripture and disobey government.)      

2. Support issues, not parties.  There are issues on both sides of the isle that the Bible would support, and issues on both sides of the isle that the Bible wouldn't support.  Be someone who cares about Biblical issues, not political parties.

3. Fight for what is Biblical, do not just vote for what is Biblical.  Too many Christians use their vote as their only voice.  (Don't get me wrong, we should be responsible citizens and care about who is elected and what is passed.  We should vote...but that is not our primary task.)  God does not call us to just hope things change through the government...he calls us to action.  He calls us to fight for injustices and make a difference.  No matter what the government does, there will still be world hunger, diseases, abortion, unemployment, pollution, sex trafficking, drugs, education issues, fraud, health care issues, war, corruption, crime, and so much more.  What issues do you care about?  If you care about them and they are Biblical...figure out how you can help!    

4. Know what true change is.  Too many people think that if we can just legislate certain policies, than things will be better.  As Christians we don't believe that things will change through policy changes, but heart changes (which is why laws are broken daily...because the heart is still bent towards sin).  Things will begin to change as hearts are transformed, as the gospel begins to invade hearts.  Change will happen as your fiends, neighbors, and family begin to grasp who God is and what he has called us to.  Change will happen as hearts of stone are changed to hearts of flesh (Ez 36:26).  

Pray tonight as our nation is addressed.  Pray for our leaders, that their decisions would truly impact lives for the better.  Pray for yourself, and how you can make a difference.  And pray that hearts are changed as the gospel is spread...for this is the true hope for the world!

Not in this World (Resolutions 4 of 4)

"Resolved, to endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness in the other world as I possibly can, with all the power, might, vigor, and vehemence, yea violence, I am capable or, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of."
We spend so much time seeking happiness in this world, yet this world will soon pass away.  It is temporary.  Let us seek our happiness in the world that will not pass away, it the world that will bring us true joy!  Let us spend our time on things that are not temporary, but that will last forever.

"Resolved, never henceforward till I die, to act as if I were any way my own, but to act entirely and altogether as God's"

Our culture uses the words "mine" so much that we believe we own things, we believe we are our own...that we can do what we want.  Yet scripture tell us differently.  It tells us that you are not your own, "you were bought with a price, therefore honor God with your body (1Cor 6:20)."  We are God's, and he has a purpose for us.  Let this constantly be on your mind...you are His!

Fighting Sin (Resolutions 3 of 4)

Sin is around us and in us so often that we become desensitized to it.  Let us fight to do away with the sin within us, and care deeply about the sins we see within ourselves.    

"Resolved, whenever I do any conspicuously evil action, to trace it back till I come to the original cause; and then both carefully endeavor to do so no more, and to fight and pray with all my might against the original of it."

There is a root cause to every sin, and Edwards wanted to find that root!  Can you trace your sins back to the original cause?   

"Resolved, to examine carefully and constantly what that one thing in me is that causes me in the least to doubt the love of God; and so direct all my forces against it."

If we are not waging war against our doubts than they will fester and grow until our doubts are so great that we wonder if it is even worth being a Christian.  Doubts are not bad, unless they go untouched.  Doubts are there so we can wrestle them and grow from them, not so they can isolate us from our faith.  

"Resolved, to inquire every night, as I am going to bed, wherein I have been negligent, what sin I have committed, and wherein I have denied myself; also to inquire so at the end of every week, month, and year"

Care deeply about your sin, for sin separates us from God.  Find a specific time where you will examine your life and how you have fallen short of God's commands.  If it isn't' scheduled, it probably won't happen often.  

"Resolved, constantly and diligently, to be looking into the state of my soul, that I may know whether I have truly an interest in Christ or not."

Discipline of the Mind (Resolutions 2 of 4)

"Resolved, when I think of any theorem in divinity to be solved, immediately to do what I can toward solving it"

What would it be like for us if every time we had questions related to divine things, that we did everything we could to figure it out?  Not because there is an answer to everything, but because we want to deeply understand the things of God.  What questions about God, scripture, or other divine things do you have?  How will you solve it?  

"Resolved, to maintain the strictest temperance in eating and drinking" 

Jonathan Edwards is known to have a very strict diet, not because he was concerned about his looks or his weight, but because he cared about his mind.  He knew that what he fed his body affected his whole being, and he wanted his mind to be clear so he can think upon God with a clear mind.  Are there things you could change in your diet so that you feel better, you mind is clearer, and you have more energy for pursuing God?  

"Resolved, to study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly, and frequently that I may find, and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of them." 

This is a lot of study!  To study them so much that you can see yourself growing in understanding!  There are many times I have trouble recounting what I studied the night before.  Edwards did not want this to happen to him...his study was for growth in God, and he would study so fervently to make this happen.  How can you study the Bible in a way that you remember what you have read, and understand it better?  Are there better times in the day for you to study that would increase its effectiveness?        

Edwards was very intentional so his mind could be actively engaged in the pursuit of God.  Let us follow suit in discipling our own lives and minds for God's glory and our good.  

Don't waste your Life (Resolutions 1 of 4)

"Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can"

"Resolved, never to do anything that I should be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life"

Edwards understood how short life was, and that it could end at any moment.  This drove him to desire and strive to live every moment to the fullest.  He did not want his life to end while he was wasting it.  Life was a gift and he was going to live it for Christ!  

What about you?  How much time did you waste today, this week, this past year?  What is the reason behind this?  

I think it is far to easy for us say to ourselves: "I'll get to that tomorrow" or "Next week I'll do better at loving Jesus" or "I am tired, I'll serve my spouse another day."  The urgency to live for Christ now and always, without wasting time has not hit us as hard as it hit Jonathan Edwards.  Spend some time thinking about this, and how your life could be lived ALL for Him...not just some or most.  

Resolutions...from the 18th Century

Gyms get crowded, nicotine patch sales increase, memberships for weight loss programs grows, and church attendance tends to rise.  Why?  New years resolutions.  This is a natural season of life where we really think about life and how we want to change things for this upcoming year.

What if we could think a little deeper than the typical resolution?  What if we could really dig into our lives this January?  Well, this is the hope.  The next blog series will be going through Jonathan's Edward's "Resolutions" to help propel us to greater commit our lives to Christ. 

Jonathan Edwards preaching and writings were a catalyst to what we know as the first great awakening.  During his ministry he began to make resolutions to help guide, monitor and gauge his spiritual condition.  In them, we find a man who is "determined to bring every area of his life under subjection of the Lordship of Christ and to rest in the sovereignty of God."  In these resolutions he gives himself a note that says "remember to read these once a week,"  which shows us these are not merely ideas he wrote down, but truths he passionaly tried to live by. 

Over the next few weeks we will read and examine some of these resolutions, and my hope and prayer is that we would really take to heart these topics.  Here we go...