Greatest Thing of a Day

Thank God. I think that this time is the rhema of God that He wants us to understand how precious and important to make room with God Himself, the source of everything.

Imagine walking up a mountain alone. But it’s no ordinary mountain. The ground beneath you is shaking, and the entire mountain is covered in smoke. At its peak is a thick cloud with lightning and thunder. God descends onto the mountain in fire, and each time you speak to him, he responds in thunder. This is what Moses experienced in Exodus 19.

Now compare that experience to your last time in prayer.

Distracted, obligatory, ordinary — I doubt any such words came across Moses’s mind as he ascended the mountain. But some three thousand years later, we rarely marvel that God permits imperfect humans into his presence.

How did the shocking become so ordinary to us? Is it even possible for our experiences with God to be that fascinating?

Going Up the Mountain

A mentor of mine lives in India. Last year, he called me on the phone crying, distraught over the state of the church in America. “It seems like the people in America would be content to take a selfie with Moses. Don’t they know they can go up the mountain themselves? Why don’t they want to go up the mountain?”

When was the last time you enjoyed meaningful time alone with God? Time so good that you didn’t want to leave. It was just you, reading God’s words, in his holy presence.

I was fifteen years old when my youth pastor taught me how to pray and read the Bible alone. Now, more than thirty years later, I still can’t find a better way to start my days. I can’t imagine what my life would be like if I didn’t refocus daily by going up the mountain.

It is alone with him that I empty myself of pride, lies, and stress.

• Pride: standing before a Person clothed in unapproachable light has a way of humbling you (1 Timothy 6:16).
• Lies: speaking to an All-Knowing Judge tends to induce honesty (Hebrews 4:13).
• Stress: kneeling before the God who causes men to fail or succeed replaces our anxiety with peace (Psalm 127:1).

Professional Gatherers

We often spend a lot of time and effort gathering believers together. We’ve become experts at gathering Christians around great bands, speakers, and events. Where we have failed is in teaching believers how to be alone with God. When is the last time you heard someone rave about their time alone with Jesus in his word? Gathering believers who don’t spend time alone with God can be a dangerous thing.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes in Life Together:

Whoever cannot be alone should be aware of community. Such people will only do harm to themselves and to the community. Alone you stood before God when God called you. Alone you had to obey God’s voice. Alone you had to take up your cross, struggle, and pray, and alone you will die and give an account to God. You cannot avoid yourself, for it is precisely God who has called you out. If you do not want to be alone, you are rejecting Christ’s call to you, and you can have no part in the community of those who are called.

The word community is thrown around quite a bit in Christian circles today. But our gatherings can be toxic if we do not spend time alone with God. I’ve been in many groups where people share their insights. The problem is not only that our insights are not as profound as we think they are, but that we’re so eager to share thoughts originating in our own minds, when we have a God who says,

              My thoughts are not your thoughts,
                   neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
              For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
                   so are my ways higher than your ways
                   and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8–9)
    

I want to know the thoughts of God. I want to gather with people who have been reading God’s words, people who have prayed and interacted with him. I want to fellowship with those who fellowship with God. I couldn’t care less if you have a doctorate in theology or sixty years of life experience. I would rather talk with a fifteen-year-old who has been in the presence of God.

Can You Love Sermons Too Much?

There is so much discussion around books, sermons, and conferences. I’m not against those. After all, I’ve given a significant portion of my life to preaching sermons and writing books and going to conferences. But sometimes I wonder if it’s time to shift our focus.

We have to look at the facts. American Christians consume more sermons and books than any other group in the history of the world, but consider the state of the church. Has the increase in resources led to greater holiness? Greater intimacy with Jesus?

You could argue that the state of our churches would be even worse without the resources. Maybe that’s the case. Or could it be that these resources (and even this article) has the potential of distracting people from the Source itself? Maybe all of these books and sermons about Jesus have actually kept people from directly interacting with him. It may sound blasphemous to suggest our prayer lives may be weakened by all of the consumption of Christian material. Nonetheless, I want to throw it out there.

We live in a time when most people have a difficult time concentrating on anything. We are constantly looking for the quick fix and for faster solutions. So the thought of sitting quietly to meditate on Scripture and praying deeply in silence can be eagerly replaced by listening to a sermon while driving to work. While it’s definitely better than nothing (considering all of the other messages we are bombarded with daily), the point of this article is to say that there is no substitute for being alone with God.

We must learn to be still again.

Something Has to Go

It was simple for Paul. He loved being with Jesus. “To live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).

Knowing Christ deeply consumed him (Philippians 3:8). There is no substitute for being alone with God. If you don’t have time, you need to quit something to make room. Skip a meal. Cancel a meeting. End some regular commitment. There is literally nothing more important you could do today.

God literally determines whether or not you take another breath. “He himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything” (Acts 17:25). Could anything be more important than meeting with the One who decides if you live through this day? Could anything be better? How can we not make time to be with the Maker of time?

What plans do you have today that you think so important that you would race past the Creator to get to them?

(Credit to Francis Chan, 23 November 2015)

Regular Time with Our Heavenly and Loving Dad

Today's devotion plan reminds me, when I was in the car with my family. We were all going to visit our grandfather's house. I remember, I was over-thinking at the time. Thinking about anything that I should not have to. Apart of being overwhelmed for having a tough semester with tons of papers and summaries - well, you know, that "tons" was just a metaphor. I was pushed myself profound in digging all the rapture thing, meanwhile I was too afraid whether my whole family could be saved or not - which is not my business at all, like who rules whom? We're just a broken vessel and God is our Master. That's why I mentioned that should not have to be thinking of. I do not know this is fact or not, but I bet people out there also believe that "the time is running out" is true. But that's not a thing that I talk about.

 When we had to stop because of the traffic light, I felt something that He was about to speak to me. He called me and touched my head saying:

"Love, you are too over-thinking. You need a rest. Enjoy every moment with your family. Embrace the day 'coz what I am looking for, it’s quite simple: Do what is just, be compassionate and loyal in your love, And don’t take yourself too seriously..". 

The best part of Him saying is:

 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to Me. Get away with Me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with Me and Work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” 

Same as what it's written in Matthew 11. You can read it on the Message version, anyway.

And what I am going to write in the rest is an afterthought from Durwood Snead, North Point Ministries. I liked when he brought a parable that sometimes, we feel like we're on a treadmill, running to the next meeting, the next event, the next goal. Life can seem so busy that we wonder if we're doing the right things. Worries and anxieties build with the pressure, and the things we can truly affect get buried in the things over which we have no power. At times like this, we feel we just need some clarity. How should we spend this precious, limited time that God allots to us? More importantly, how does He want us to spend each moment?

Jesus had just finished a very busy day in Capernaum, preaching, healing, and casting out demons. The demands grew as the day progressed. As the stories of His miracles spread, the entire city gathered at his door. Jesus’ work continued until well after dark, and He must have collapsed into bed at the end of an exhausting day. The crowd gathered quickly again the next morning, as people brought their sick family and friends to Jesus’ healing hands . . . but Jesus was nowhere to be found. His disciples looked everywhere for Him and when they finally found Him, they asked the Son of God, “Where have you been? Don’t you know everyone is waiting for you?”

Jesus’ response to the pressing needs, hurting souls, and sick bodies was completely unexpected: “Let us go somewhere else.” What? Go somewhere else? What is He thinking?

Jesus had risen before dawn and gone away to a secluded place to pray and seek the will of the Father. He poured out His heart to His Dad and asked for wisdom; the answer He received in return was, “You are finished here for now. It’s time to go somewhere else.” 

At the end, we are all busy people doing important stuff. Sunday is coming, there’s a lot to do, and souls are at stake. There is family to care for, volunteer ministry to engage, and there never seems to be enough time. In all of our strategizing, planning, “doing less for more,” “making sure we have steps and not just programs,” and all of the other best practices that guide us, let us not neglect the one thing that brings clarity to everything else: regular time with our heavenly Father. (*Credit to Mr. Snead, from North Point Ministries).

My Law and the Law of Sin

The other law describes a person’s self-centeredness and perceived right to self-determine and go their own way. As a consequence of the fall, this law is active in the flesh of every living person. It manifests itself in a person’s innate desire to preserve their own life, independence, freedom and right to choose what they will do and how they will live. The other law will manifest itself in the life of a believer in their desire to serve God their own way. Regardless of a person’s commitment to serve God, Paul explained that the other law will make them a prisoner of the law of sin that is also at work in the members of their body. The law of sin describes the deception and consequences of sin that have been evident in the world since the fall of man. When God gave Adam and Eve a command in the garden of Eden, Satan took the opportunity to bring an alternate word. Satan knew that disobedience to God would lead to death. However, he deceived Eve into thinking that she could disobey God and find life. For this reason, Jesus called him the father of lies and a murderer from the beginning. When Adam sinned by disobeying God, the whole of the human race was cut off from the life of God. The result was death. The operation of the law of sin leading to death, has continued in every generation. When the law covenant was given to the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai, it did not remedy the problem. The law was holy and the commandments were holy, righteous and good. The law revealed the true nature of sin and its harmful consequences. However, because it had no capacity to deal with man’s propensity to sin, it only served to perpetuate the problem. It bound the people by covenant to the consequences of their sin and disobedience.
Gen 3:4-5  The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die! (5) "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Joh 8:44  "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies." Rom 5:12  Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned. Rom 7:7, 12  (7) What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, "YOU SHALL NOT COVET." (12) So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. 2Co 5:14  For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died. Rom 14:7-9  For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; (8) for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. (9) For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. James 4 - The Message version 1-2Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don’t have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn’t yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it. 2-3You wouldn’t think of just asking God for it, would you? And why not? Because you know you’d be asking for what you have no right to. You’re spoiled children, each wanting your own way. 4-6You’re cheating on God. If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God and his way. And do you suppose God doesn’t care? The proverb has it that “he’s a fiercely jealous lover.” And what he gives in love is far better than anything else you’ll find. It’s common knowledge that “God goes against the willful proud; God gives grace to the willing humble.” 7-10So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet. 11-12Don’t bad-mouth each other, friends. It’s God’s Word, his Message, his Royal Rule, that takes a beating in that kind of talk. You’re supposed to be honoring the Message, not writing graffiti all over it. God is in charge of deciding human destiny. Who do you think you are to meddle in the destiny of others? 13-15And now I have a word for you who brashly announce, “Today—at the latest, tomorrow—we’re off to such and such a city for the year. We’re going to start a business and make a lot of money.” You don’t know the first thing about tomorrow. You’re nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing. Instead, make it a habit to say, “If the Master wills it and we’re still alive, we’ll do this or that.” 16-17As it is, you are full of your grandiose selves. All such vaunting self-importance is evil. In fact, if you know the right thing to do and don’t do it, that, for you, is evil.

Single You Will be the Married You

Well, I guess it is not an accident that I would make myself a glass of hot coffee. Not a strong one. I kinda learn something by read a precious article from P. Holmes. He must be trying so hard to be a responsible and loving husband for his wife, and a father for his kids. 

He said "Joining a gym won’t instantly transform your physique. Starting a blog won’t immediately make you a good writer. Purchasing a piano won’t make you a musician. The same principle is true for marriage. Getting married will not make you a good spouse or a better person."

Killing Sin While You’re Single

Some Christian singles live lives of passivity. Often there is little to no accountability in their lives. Therefore, secret sins survive and corrupt. Singles indulge in different kinds of sexual immorality, give little to nothing of themselves to the church, scarcely attend Sunday worship, spend their free time idly, rarely read the Bible or pray, and pay little attention to the sin that still abounds in their heart. Much of this was true for me in my singleness.

But as newlyweds, an uncomfortable truth is discovered: the single you still resides inside of the married you. If you’re lazy, irresponsible, selfish, prideful, greedy, and/or lustful when you’re single, you will be just as (or more) lazy, irresponsible, selfish, prideful, greedy, and/or lustful after you say I do.

It is essential that we not put off the practice of watching and killing sin in our lives. The sins that entangle you, as a single, will inevitably continue to entangle you in marriage. Nevertheless, singles shouldn’t kill sin simply because you want to be good spouses, you should kill it because you want to live happy and holy lives, whatever your marital status.

Paul warns everyone that the “wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23) and that we should be about the business of putting to death “what is earthly in you” (Colossians 3:5). This command is not simply for the married, but for the unmarried as well. If you don’t kill sin now, it will kill you later, unless you repent.

Don’t Put Off the Killing of Sin

Paul also uncovers the great danger in putting off the practice of killing known sin in our lives:

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves. . . .

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. . . .

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness . . . Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. (Romans 1:24–32)

God gave them up because “they knew God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die” but continued in these things instead of repenting. While this passage addresses sexual immorality, it clearly also includes gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, and ruthless.

This passage is a warning to us all, especially to single people, of the risk in putting off (for whatever reason) the killing of sin. I say especially to single people because you’re living without the day-in, day-out accountability of a spouse. It is a dangerous thing to be given over to your sin. It is frightening to know that we can one day reach a point where we’re unable to see the suicidal foolishness of our transgressions.

The Grass Is Truly Greener in Jesus

We’ve all heard the saying, “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.” The saying is meant to address mankind’s discontentment with his or her current position or plight. We all think that we’d be happier if we were in a different set of circumstances. The same is true for our marital status. Most of us know singles who want to be married or married people who want to be single again. Why? We think our current state of discontentment is external rather than internal.

Discontentment with present circumstances is near the root of the every single person’s expectation that marriage will instantly change them. Marriage has gradually become their Holy Spirit and the wedding day has become their Pentecost. But after the wedding day has passed and the honeymoon phase fades — they discover the ceremony lacks the saving and sanctifying power they need, and they’re still the same sinful person they were when they were single.

It is spiritually and eternally irresponsible to put off the business of killing sin as a single — in hopes that a different life (marriage) will make one holier and happier. Only Jesus can make us happy. Regardless of our current circumstances, the grass can be greener with Jesus. Run to him. Repent of your sins. Drink from the only fountain that can quench the thirst that is inside of us all.

No, marriage will not instantly change you. God, because of Christ and through his Holy Spirit, will change you when you’ve surrendered yourself to him, whether married or unmarried.

I, hm no. I mean even nobody cannot guarantee that everything will be going well all the time. But, I'd love to say this that when your eyes still be wide opened, either because of the coffee effect or not, spend time with the words of God. It feels good when you sleep with a mind that being fulfilled by His love and kindness, how He loves us. Whatever you are going thru the last few months, weeks, or days, it just feels good knowing that there is a person, divine person whose belong every power and authority in the whole universe, and He.. loves you just as who you are. Pray, talk to Him. We may be Christian but without prayer, we will keep continue to touch uncleanness and finally our spiritual sight will be darkened and the day will overtake us like thief.

Uncertainty of Dating

September 22, 2015. Paul Maxwell.

When couples move past the awkward first-date phase of a relationship, many face a new and unsettling tension between strong romantic feelings and the reality that they are not yet married. They ask themselves, “What does a relationship look like with someone who is neither my spouse nor my fiancé?” How does one practice vulnerability without any security, any promises, any covenant? How does one react to anxiety in the relationship without always becoming defensive?

How does one move forward in the uncertainty of dating in a right and good way without becoming a nervous wreck? The forward march of the heart in dating is like walking a tightrope — all daters perform, and dating feels de facto not by grace. Each of us are left with a basic question: how does the grace of Christ meet us in the midst of emotionally charged, often over-spiritualized, life-encompassing performance anxiety?

The Cause of Uncertainty

First, we must try to understand the anxiety of the uncertain. Why does exclusive dating so often leave us undone? The answer is very clear: there are a lot of chips on the table and with blind odds. The risk in dating is never higher than when sharing intimate, vulnerable, breakable pieces of ourselves — in appropriate ways and at appropriate time — without any certainty this will lead to marriage. We’re betting a portion of our heart, without knowing how they will respond. It can be terrifying.

More than that, when sinful people are put in a place of danger, they’re more prone to play God. We are most prone to try and seize control of the situation — of hearts, of circumstances, or of emotions, all in self-defensive ways that are tragically self-defeating. “I would rather eat “the bread of anxious toil” (Psalm 127:2) than trust the Lord is holding and guiding me. We feel like we have control over the outcome. In self-perpetuating irony, magnifying all of the uncertainty and anxiety, we just end up multiplying our own pain and destroying the relationship.

Indulging in anxiety in a dating relationship is like indulging in back-seat driving: it only makes everyone else more nervous and annoyed, and doesn’t actually contribute anything positive. Yet, the experience is legitimate and real, and so is the fear. The cause of the feeling of uncertainty, to state the obvious and criticial, is that things are uncertain. God has made no promises. Circumstances are shifting shadows. To know how Jesus Christ is relevant to our situation in dating, we must first of all come to terms with the often avoided, but very obvious reality, that we are not safe in a relationship. Sinful humans, with all of our benefits, come with risks.

The Normality of Uncertainty

Affection and vulnerability with a lack of covenantal commitment is a tension that can end in a naturally explosive way — either in a breakup or marriage. The stakes are high on both sides, and the pressure and fear that invariably accompanies those stakes very likely will not be resolved in the dating process. Dating is an emotional complexity we were not intended to endure for long.

Understanding that anxiety is a proper reaction to the unsettled angst of an unfulfilled and covenantally unprotected relationship is the best starting place. We can say a dating relationship is protected and settled and safe, but it isn’t — no matter what dating philosophy one adheres to, the emotional escalation of dating leads either to a breakup or a marriage.

The Function of Uncertainty

There is only one honest thing to say when the weight of dating uncertainty weighs heavy: “We don’t know.” We must confess that, to the experience of besetting and anxious uncertainty in dating, there isn’t an answer or at least not a concrete and immediate answer. Maybe the whole point of dating — and the fact that Scripture says so little about it — is that we don’t know what we’re doing, we can’t do it well (alone), and it isn’t sustainable. If it made sense, or it was easy, or it wasn’t soul-splittingly uncomfortable, there would be no propulsion forward, towards marriage or otherwise. Uncertainty in dating propels us forward with purpose. It unsettles us. It shows us idols in our hearts. It makes us anxious. Uncertainty is the soil of the psalms (Psalm 38:17; Psalm 88:3).

Uncertainty dangles us from our ankles and reveals all of the unspoken (and often ungrounded) expectations hanging loose in the pockets of our faith:

“God, I know this person is the one.”
“I did everything right. Why isn’t this easier?”
“Are you punishing me for my sins in a previous relationship?”
“I thought you loved me. So why doesn’t he love me?”
“I was so sure that was your will and then it ended out of nowhere.”

You don’t need to pretend you haven’t thought those things — like you haven’t wanted to say those things to God, to other Christians — like you haven’t preached those things over and over again to your own heart. I have. The uncertainty of dating peels back the floorboards of our presumptuous theologies — our crystallized ideas about what God should be doing for us — and shines the light on all the threats beneath the otherwise comfortable world we live in: “Those who once feasted on delicacies perish in the streets” (Lamentations 4:5). Uncertainty creates urgency and sobriety.

The uncertainty of dating is a microcosm of the otherwise forgotten truth: life is uncertain. Even the notion that life beyond dating has no uncertainties — marriage, kids, family — is a delusion. The risks are higher, the vulnerability deeper, and the losses greater. In dating, disappointment exists in the form of breaking up. In marriage and parenting, the disappointments and pains can be much more devastating, and sometimes even permanent.

Grace for the Uncertain

We need not be uncertain about everything in dating, though. God is not inactive, distant, disinterested in our relationships: “Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions” (Deuteronomy 32:11). The same God says, “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord” (Proverbs 18:22) and, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). Dating literature, for too long, has offered too many of the wrong guarantees, and too few of the relevant graces.

I once heard someone pray, “We pray against a closed sky.” It may be easy for some to feel ignored in the abyss of uncertainty. We also live in an open world and feel threatened. Many attempts to resolve this tension result in a self-pandering theology. We are tempted to earn and secure love by our own power, and tempted to test others’ worthiness for our love. And yet we have a God who passionately endorses marriage as the norm for people, and is actively seeking to bless us. The uncertainty of dating highlights for us the immanent possibility of blessing and tragedy. That tension was not meant to be immediately resolved. It is an unsustainable (but not purposeless) relationship-form in the long term, meant to lead you to depend on a heavenly Father who cares for you, and promises to provide for you, regardless of your relationship status or prospects.

But uncertainty is a mercy, if we’re prepared to receive it — it reveals to us the tensions of life itself, especially when we can’t sit still long enough to listen. At times, that may be too hard for us. Life in the midst of “We do not know” (John 14:5) and “You know” (Psalm 139:4) can, at times, feel like we’re fastened to a torture rack — pulled between a big God and real life.

Jesus Christ knows the anxious heart of the uncertain dating Christian (Proverbs 21:1). And he does not judge: “He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young” (Isaiah 40:11).

What Shall We Say Then?

When we consider all of the various elements of how a person is born as a son of God, it is certainly an amazing gift that has been given to us by the work of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. What more could there possibly be?

Paul also recognized this amazing reality of having been saved by grace and born of God. He also asked, ‘What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase?’ Of course, his answer was, ‘May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?’ Unless a person is baptized into the death of Christ, so that their natural inclination and propensity to sin is removed from their life, the seed of the divine nature will die and it will not produce the fruit of sonship.

This is the lesson of the parable of the sower. The seed of the divine nature will die within a person if they do not join the fellowship of Christ’s death by baptism, so that they can be raised by the Father to walk in newness of life. Jesus likened those who have received the benefits of Christ’s offering but do not want to participate in the fellowship of Christ’s death, as those who have received the word on stony ground. They rejoice for a little while in the life of God that they have received, but they stumble at the need to join the fellowship of the cross.

Rom 6:1-4 
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? (2) May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? (3) Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? (4) Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

Mat 13:20-21 
"The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; (21) yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away."

Rom 7:7 
What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, "YOU SHALL NOT COVET."

Php 3:10 
That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.

Born of the Spirit

The disciples were born of the Spirit when Jesus breathed His life upon them after His resurrection. On the day of His resurrection, we recall that Christ spoke with the women who visited the tomb and commissioned them as His first witnessess. He said, ‘Go to My brethren and say to them, “I ascend to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God”.’ Christ ascended to the Father and was then sent by Him to the disciples, so that the disciples could receive His life and become sons of God.

When Jesus stood among the disciples in the upper room, He breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’. There were two distinct actions here. Jesus breathed ‘His life’ upon His disciples. He then gave them the Person of the Holy Spirit. The disciples were born of the Spirit when the Father sent Christ to give His Spirit and life to them. It is for this reason that the apostle Paul calls Jesus the ‘life-giving Spirit’. This fulfilled the promise that Jesus had made to His disciples, ‘I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you … You will see Me; because I live, you will live also.’

The Father, Son and Holy Spirit all come and take up residence in the heart of a person who is in the process of being born of God. Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him’. Further to this, Jesus said, ‘I will ask the Father and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever’. The Father sends the Holy Spirit, through the Son, to dwell in each son of God as the essence of the New Covenant. The Holy Spirit is the guarantee of their eternal inheritance as sons of God.

Joh 20:17, 22 
(17) Jesus *said to her, "Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.'"
(22) And when He had said this, He breathed on them and *said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit."

1Co 15:45 
So also it is written, "The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

Joh 14:16, 18-19, 23 
(16) "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever."
(18) "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. (19) After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also."
(23) Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him."

2Co 1:21-22 
Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, (22) who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.

Eph 1:13-14 
In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation--having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, (14) who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory.

Act 1:4-5 
Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, "Which," He said, "you heard of from Me; (5) for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

Act 2:4 
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.

The Illumination of a Son of God

The first and most obvious evidence that a person has been born of God is illumination. This is not the same illumination they experienced when the word of the cross was first preached to them and the spirit of grace and supplication was poured out upon them. That initial illumination caused them to look upon Him whom they had pierced, mourn, and come to the Father seeking forgiveness. It led them to repentance. However, there is a further illumination that a person receives when the Father sends forth the Spirit of His Son into their hearts so that they are born as a son of God.

The illumination that comes to a newly born son of God is the understanding given to them by the Son of God when He gives them His life. John declared, ‘We know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true’. He is the true Light who has come into the world to enlighten every man. When the Son of God gives His life to a new believer, it gives them the ability to see, comprehend and apprehend the amazing reality of being a son of God. It causes their perspective on life to change completely. They begin to see in the way that a son of God sees things, and respond to the issues of life in the way that a son of God responds.

Great joy and enthusiasm are the outcome of the seed of God’s divine nature germinating within a person. The Light of life begins to dawn in their heart and they ‘exult in the hope of the glory of God’. They have been born of God and become a partaker of the divine nature. They have received the seed of new creation life as a personal possession, and new life has begun to be evident in their lives.

Gal 4:6 
Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"

1Jn 5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.

Joh 1:9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.

Mat 13:20 "The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy."

Rom 5:1-2, 11 (1) Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, (2) through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.(11) And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

2Pe 1:4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

Zec 12:10 "I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn."

2Co 7:9-11 I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. (10) For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death. (11) For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter.

Rev 1:7 BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.

Joh 8:12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life."

Born of Incorruptible Seed

When Jesus Christ comes to dwell in a person’s heart, they are born of the incorruptible seed of the divine nature. The life of the divine nature becomes their personal possession when Christ comes to them personally as a seed and takes up residence in them.The Spirit of the Son comes into their heart as the seed of His life. The apostle Peter declared, ‘You have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God’.

Jesus Christ is the full revelation of the word and the life of the Father. He is both the Messenger of God and the embodiment of the message of God. When the Father sends the Son of God, who is the Word, into the hearts of men, the Son brings both life and understanding to those who receive Him.

We recall the words of John, ‘In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men’. In this regard, Christ is much more than a messenger who communicates a message. He embodies the message and He gives the substance of the message to those who receive Him as life! It is this life that enables those who receive Him to be born of incorruptible seed and receive illumination as sons of God.

What is the difference between the life of Christ in the seed, and the life of Christ in His blood? 

The seed is the life of Christ that has been given to a believer as their personal possession of the divine nature, as an individual son of God. 

The blood is the life of Christ that has been shed for their redemption and is given to them when they join the fellowship of His sufferings. A person only possesses the blood of Christ as part of a fellowship with Him and with others in the many-member body of Christ. It is the fellowship of His life.

1Pe 1:22-23 
Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, (23) for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.

Joh 1:1-4 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) He was in the beginning with God. (3) All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. (4) In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.

2Pe 1:4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

Php 3:10-11 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; (11) in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Think Yourself Less

I joked with some people whether being asked to give this talk on pride is an example of typecasting. I am very qualified to speak on pride because I am so proud. I hate my pride, but what I take even more seriously is how God hates it so much more.

Pride is our greatest enemy because it makes God our enemy — an almighty opponent. “God opposes the proud” (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5). Why? What makes pride so singularly repulsive to God is the way that pride contends for supremacy with God himself. Pride is not one sin among many, but a sin in a class by itself. Other sins lead the sinner further from God, but pride is particularly heinous in that it attempts to elevate the sinner above God.

Pride is not just a sin, but a sinful mother — a sinful orientation that gives birth to more sins. For example, pride can lead to lying. You tell a lie because you are too proud to admit you were wrong or you did something wrong. But the problem is so much bigger. Pride doesn’t just tell lies; it is a lie.

Why? Pride is self-obsession; pride is preoccupation with ourselves. Therefore, it is a lie about reality. It says I am worth thinking about all the time. It is an orientation that wrongly assumes that everything revolves around us.

A Shape-Shifting Sin

Pride deserves to die, but it is hard to spot and even harder to kill. Pride is a slippery sin because it is a shape-shifter. Jonathan Edwards said pride is “the most hidden, secret, and deceitful of all sins.” Let me give you an example. Here is a conversation that I might have with myself after a meeting at church:

“That meeting went really well. I think the turning point might have been when I asked that question which no one had thought to ask before. Wait a minute! That was such a prideful thought. It sounds like I am taking credit for the meeting going well. I am such a prideful person. I hate my pride.”

Meanwhile three seconds later, “I fight pride pretty hard. I’m glad that I caught that initial prideful thought. I wonder if other people are as aware of their pride and fight it as hard as I do. Wait a minute! It just happened again. I am taking pride in my awareness of pride. O, deliver me from this body of death, Lord Jesus! Thank you God that you give us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Several Shapes of Pride

If pride is preoccupation with ourselves, then we cannot defeat pride by becoming preoccupied with how we are doing against pride. When we do, we play right into the hands of pride because we take a page out of pride’s playbook. Think about yourself more. Obsess more. Become preoccupied with how you are doing — how the fight is going.

You can fall into self-exaltation (takes credit for success) and self-promotion (put those successes in other peoples faces so they will give us credit for them). But pride can shift into the shape of self-degradation and self-demotion when we beat ourselves up for our failures. We are still obsessed with ourselves. In the first form, we are obsessed with our successes; in the second, we are obsessed with our failures.

Think of Yourself Less

Maybe some of this will make more sense if we talk about what real humility is. As C.S. Lewis said, true humility is “not thinking less of ourselves, but thinking of ourselves less.” We can spend a lot of time thinking less of ourselves but we only end up thinking a lot about ourselves. The problem of pride does not boil down to whether we think high thoughts or low thoughts about ourselves but that we think lots of thoughts about ourselves.

Humility is fundamentally a form of self-forgetfulness as opposed to pride’s self-fixation. Humility can set you free because when you think about yourself less you are free to think about Christ more. Humility puts us on the path of grace; pride puts us on the path of opposition. God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5).

Two Crash Sites

The collision between the glory of God and the pride of man has two possible crash sites: hell or the cross. In other words, either we will pay for our sins in hell or Christ will pay for our sins on the cross. Hell is like an eternal crash site and crime scene. It is a horror movie in which there are no closing credits because it never ends.

God opposes pride actively and hates it passionately, which means that pride is spiritual suicide. The reason is simple. Pride is on a collision course with God himself and the date is set. “For the Lord of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up — and it shall be brought low” (Isaiah 2:12). All must be torn down so that one thing alone may be left standing. “The Lord alone will be exalted in that day” (Isaiah 2:11). The Bible calls it the day of the Lord.

But God in his mercy made another way. The Son of God emptied himself by taking on humanity and humbled himself by obeying to the point of death — even the death of the cross. God sends his Son to vindicate the worth of his great name, which sinners have defamed. The sacrifice of Christ fully absorbs and satisfies the wrath of God. This glorious aspect of the atonement is called “propitiation” (Romans 3:24–25).

The Solution to Our Self-Obsession

Seeing the cross rightly crushes our pride decisively. Why? Seeing the cross rightly means that we see ourselves rightly. We see him on the cross and conclude that we are actually seeing our sin on the cross. The cross reveals what we deserve from God. We cannot receive the grace of Christ apart from seeing and embracing the undeserved dis-grace of Christ.

We see the cross rightly through the miracle of conversion. We were blind to the glory of Christ on the cross (2 Corinthians 4:3–4), but God’s grace is stronger. When Christ is proclaimed, God overcomes our spiritual blindness by flooding our hearts with light. The eyes of the heart are opened to see and savor the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6). The Spirit acts like a floodlight to illuminate the work of Christ on the cross.

The Bible’s answer to our fallen self-obsession is a great work of grace in the gospel that creates a worshipful obsession with God. Pride is defeated decisively at conversion, progressively in sanctification, and totally at glorification — where we experience ever-increasing, everlasting, white-hot worship of God. The day is coming when God alone will be exalted. It will be the worst day for unbelievers and the happiest day for all Christians.

Sanctified by the Altar

I have posted how we could be sanctified by a man, and now how we could be sanctified by the altar.

A woman will only be effective in her mandate when she recognises that she is a sister on the ground of the brethren. This relationship must be established before she becomes a wife and mother. Long before she was a helper to her husband and a mother to her children, she was a sister. This is a significant point because it highlights the source of confusion between the culture of the kingdom and any other culture that can exist in our homes. Most of the angst experienced by a woman and her household can be attributed to placing higher priority on the covenants of marriage and the house, than on the covenant of the kingdom. This leads to alternate cultures and agendas being accommodated in the home. These are then thrust upon the fellowship of the church. This is offering in uncleanness that defiles the Lord’s house. This denies the altar that sanctifies our offering.

Let us consider a simple example. Our ethos for dress at church functions should show respect for the occasion. If a woman dresses in inappropriate clothing, this is not firstly an issue to do with the culture of the kingdom. The question should be, what allowances and accommodations are being made in the covenant of the house in which she lives, that give credence to clothing that denies the covenant of the kingdom? The problem lies in the covenant of her marriage and covenant of her house. The hope would be that she perceives the merits of modesty. She recognizes that the Lord desires her to guard her sanctification and pursue the inner beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit. With illumination on the culture of the kingdom, the covenant of her house will be amended. This is only one example. All areas of our culture are to be sanctified by the altar.

Mat 23:19
"You blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering?"

Exo 29:37
"For seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it; then the altar shall be most holy, and whatever touches the altar shall be holy."

Mat 23:26
"You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also."

1Pe 3:1-6
In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, (2) as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior. (3) Your adornment must not be merely external--braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; (4) but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. (5) For in this way in former times the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands; (6) just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear.

Psa 51:6
Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.

Rom 2:29
But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.