can't say it enough

the guest pastor read the first question of the heidelberg catechism today. i know i've blogged it before, but it is such an excellent summation:

Q: What is your only comfort in life and in death?

A: That I am not my own, but belong - body and soul, in life and in death - to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with His precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to Him, Christ, by His Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for Him.

btw - i'm reading a good book on the catechism: "the good news we almost forgot: rediscovering the gospel in a 16th century catechism"

beginning with a bang

our summer quizzing program started up yesterday. it's a chance to let kids get a head start on learning stuff for the coming year, as well as being a less intimidating intro for some who may have never had exposure to Bible quizzing - and even for those who may not ever stick with quizzing, it's a chance to get some of God's Word into their heads and hearts.

i was able to spend some time doing one of my very favorite things (aside from raindrops on roses and the like): helping kids memorize Scripture. as i was memorizing with two who are heading into fifth grade, i was also relearning the beginning of 2 Peter myself... well, we only got through verse 3 (and honestly, i was the one who really had it that far, the other two were really only solid on 1 & 2), but let me tell you, i was blown away by how much meat of truth was there in just those first 3 verses - it reminded me why i love God's Word so very much!!!

"Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called by His own glory and goodness." 2 Peter 1:1-3

just some nuggets:
* Jesus Christ is our GOD and our SAVIOR
* faith is a gift RECEIVED
* faith is a PRECIOUS gift received
* faith is a precious gift received THROUGH THE RIGHTEOUSNESS of Jesus
Christ (our God and Savior - see first nugget)
* FYI - this is a book written to believers (oh, it's from Peter - a
servant and apostle of Jesus Christ - i totally skipped that part)
* GRACE and PEACE come THROUGH the KNOWLEDGE of GOD and of JESUS OUR LORD
* FYI - not just a little grace and peace - grace and peace IN ABUNDANCE
* HIS DIVINE POWER has given us everything we need for life and godliness
* His divine power has given us EVERYTHING WE NEED for life and godliness
* His divine power has given us everything we need for LIFE AND GODLINESS
* His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness
THROUGH OUR KNOWLEDGE OF HIM (ties in with nugget 6)
* HE CALLED US
* He called us BY HIS OWN GLORY AND GOODNESS

i am so excited about the riches of studying God's Word this year!!!

a hymn (in progress)

i've spent a lot of time this year moved by and meditating upon the connection between John 3:14, Numbers 21:4-9, Genesis 3:1-19 and Galatians 3:13...

cursed Man upon the tree
the curse He bore was
the curse He bore for me
now i'm alive eternally
for from the curse i've been set free

lifted up i'm forced to see
the weight of my sin
its dreadful gravity
my rebellion in Jesus' pain
His greatest loss, my greatest gain...

couple good quotes for thought

"all the saving events and all the saving blessings of the gospel are means of getting obstacles out of the way so that we might know and enjoy God most fully. propitiation, redemption, forgiveness, imputation, sanctification, liberation, healing, heaven - none of these is good news except for one reason: they bring us to God for our everlasting enjoyment of Him. if we believe all these things have happened to us, but do not embrace them for the sake of getting to God, they have not happened to us. Christ did not die to forgive sinners who go on treasuring anything above seeing and savoring God. and people who would be happy in heaven if Christ were not there, will not be there. the gospel is not a way to get people to heaven; it is a way to get people to God. if we don't want God above all things, we have not been converted by the gospel." john piper

"i am progressing along the path of life in my ordinary contentedly fallen and godless condition, absorbed in a merry meeting with my friends for the morrow or a bit of work that tickles my vanity today, a holiday or a new book, when suddenly a stab of abdominal pain that threatens serious disease, or a headline in the newspapers that threatens us all with destruction, sends this whole pack of cards tumbling down. at first i am overwhelmed, and all my little happinesses look like broken toys. then, slowly and reluctantly, bit by bit, i try to bring myself into the frame of mind that i should be in at all times. i remind myself that all these toys were never intended to possess my heart, that my true good is in another world and my only real treasure is Christ." c.s. lewis quoted by mark talbot

aleph

gonna work my way through Psalm 119...

Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord!
Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with their whole heart, who also do no wrong, but walk in His ways!
You have commanded Your precepts to be kept diligently.
Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping Your statutes!
Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all Your commandments.
I will praise You with an upright heart, when I learn Your righteous rules.
I will keep Your statutes; do not utterly forsake me!

may the cry of my heart be that of verse 5... that my ways would match up with those of the blessed described in verses 1-4...

taking up the cross

"and He said to all, "if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me." Luke 9:23

this seems to be a repeated theme over the last couple of weeks... the song i've practicing on the guitar after watching the indelible grace documentary with ryan and sarah... the quote the pastor closed his sermon with on sunday evening... the amazing testimony of a pakastani government official gunned down for his faith... may my life match the song!

Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken

Jesus, I my cross have taken,
All to leave and follow Thee.
Destitute, despised, forsaken,
Thou from hence my all shall be.
Perish every fond ambition,
All I've sought or hoped or known.
Yet how rich is my condition!
God and heaven are still my own.

Let the world despise and leave me,
They have left my Savior, too.
Human hearts and looks deceive me;
Thou art not, like them, untrue.
O while Thou dost smile upon me,
God of wisdom, love, and might,
Foes may hate and friends disown me,
Show Thy face and all is bright.

Man may trouble and distress me,
'Twill but drive me to Thy breast.
Life with trials hard may press me;
Heaven will bring me sweeter rest.
Oh, 'tis not in grief to harm me
While Thy love is left to me;
Oh, 'twere not in joy to charm me,
Were that joy unmixed with Thee.

Go, then, earthly fame and treasure,
Come disaster, scorn and pain
In Thy service, pain is pleasure,
With Thy favor, loss is gain
I have called Thee Abba Father,
I have stayed my heart on Thee
Storms may howl, and clouds may gather;
All must work for good to me.

Soul, then know thy full salvation
Rise o'er sin and fear and care
Joy to find in every station,
Something still to do or bear.
Think what Spirit dwells within thee,
Think what Father's smiles are thine,
Think that Jesus died to win thee,
Child of heaven, canst thou repine.

Haste thee on from grace to glory,
Armed by faith, and winged by prayer.
Heaven's eternal days before thee,
God's own hand shall guide us there.
Soon shall close thy earthly mission,
Soon shall pass thy pilgrim days,
Hope shall change to glad fruition,
Faith to sight, and prayer to praise.

WDJD?

what does Jesus do?

"This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but He holds His priesthood permanently, because He continues forever. consequently, He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since HE ALWAYS LIVES TO MAKE INTERCESSION FOR THEM." Hebrews 7:22-25

there's a great example of this intercession in John 17:20-26:

"I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as You, Father, are in me, and I in You, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that You have sent me. The glory that You have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and You in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that You sent me and loved them even as You loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that You have given me because You loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know You, I know You, and these know that You have sent me. I made known to them Your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which You have loved me may be in them, and I in them."

may my prayer life mimic that of my Lord and Savior... that His people might have: 1. a knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ... 2. love and unity rooted in and for the sake of the gospel... 3. a great longing to be with Jesus.