Simply Praise
1 Ch. 29:13 “Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.
(A monthly meditation considering our God)
Love Through Me
Play in me Your song of love
On my own I can do nothing
On my own I am no good
With trembling heart I bow before You
Yielded to my Masters hand
Take me Lord and strum my heart
That I might understand
This song is not my own to keep
But for a dry and thirsty land
Love through me
These seeking souls
That want for lasting love
For I am but Your instrument Of grace and truth and love
Play in me Your song
O Righteous King
That it may ring with sounds of grace
To a world in dire need.
2 Timothy 3 warns us about the perilous times that shall come. I’d like to point out a couple of verses that caught my eye, considering this month is traditionally the “Love” month. Verse 2a “For men shall be lovers of their own selves.” And verse 4b “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.” In chapter 2 verse 3 we are reminded “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” I find these interesting because soldiers typically, especially on the battlefield cannot be lovers of their own selves, they are there helping to protect one another. And some give the ultimate. Nor can a soldier be a lover of pleasures more than his or her Commander. If that were the case then where would the respect or fulfilling of orders be? The same rings true of us as soldiers in a battlefield of flesh and spirit. If we love ourselves to the point where we put our comforts and desires ahead of what our Commander Jesus has instructed us through His Word and through His Spirit we are on a slippery slop of apostasy. Questions I ask myself: do I love God and others enough to make it to church on time? Or would I rather stay home and sleep? Should I put God’s Word first, or watch a movie? Is it really that important to meet midweek? I can go on and on, but the fact is, each question echoes the self love that eats away at the heart of the gospel, “For God so loved!” O Jesus, play in me Your song of love. (D.E.M.)
John 3:16-17
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. Are you not glad that God was not and is not selfish concerning love? God gave and Jesus gave the ultimate love gifts; and I am shamed that I find it hard to give Him an hour of my day.
Love Jesus First
There is a simplicity and purity about devotion to Christ that can easily be lost as we become more “sophisticated” in our faith. We know more about Jesus, and we’re doing more for Him; but in the process, we often leave Jesus Himself behind. Jesus has a simple but earnest message for us, as He did for the first-century church in Ephesus: “You have forsaken your first love” (Rev.2:4). Jesus says in effect, “Your theology is straight. You are busy serving Me. You have lots of activity going on. But you’re missing the pulse. You’re neglecting the one thing that matters most—your relationship with Me.” He appeals to His people to repent and return to their first love. In Ephesians 5 and elsewhere, the Bible uses marriage imagery to describe our relationship with Christ. As Christians, we are His bride. So when Christ says, “You have forsaken your first love,” He’s not just speaking as a journalist reporting on the facts. He’s not speaking as an employer giving a performance review. He’s speaking as a wounded lover. He’s saying, “I remember what it was like when you first knew Me—when you were so grateful, so tenderhearted, so devoted to Me. I mattered more to you than anything or anyone else. But all that has changed now. You don’t love Me as you once did.” when our love for Jesus grows cold and we grow distant, He is grieved. He’s heartbroken. It’s as if He is saying, “What happened to My bride? Where did you go? What happened to your heart?” Sadly, I have known the experience, as perhaps have you, of going through the motions of living the Christian life—doing all the right things, serving in ministry, but doing it without passion for Christ. When our relationship with Christ suffers, completing ministry tasks becomes more important to us than the people we are serving. Why? Because our love for others ultimately flows out of our love for Christ. People are not impressed by our religious activity or theological correctness. They care about our love. I’ve attended many funerals over the years, including some for well known Christian leaders. As I look back, the most meaningful ones have not been those where people praised the departed one for their impressive achievements or tireless efforts, but those where what stands out is the departed one’s heart, as seen in their love for Christ and others. When all is said and done, I don’t want to be remembered for the books I wrote, the messages I gave, or the ministry I led. I don’t want to be remembered primarily for my doctrinal precision or my tireless activity. I want to be remembered as a lover of Christ and His people. As Steve Green reminds us in the song “The Mission” To love the Lord our God is the heartbeat of our mission, the spring form which our service overflows.”
How is your love life with Jesus? Are you lacking spiritual intimacy, warmth, vitality, and power? Has your service for Him become mechanical? Jesus counsels us to remember what it was like when we loved Him with all our hearts, to turn from any competing loves (repent), and to return to those expressions of devotion that once characterized our relationship with Him.
(Nancy Leigh DeMoss Revive Our Hearts radio host)
Choosing JESUS by Bill Elliff
WHAT IF YOU COULD TURN A CORNOR and find a million dollars? Or a new car? If you’re like me, you couldn’t wait to make that turn! But here’s a staggering spiritual truth: Jesus is the way that leads us into the presence of God. In Him we find wisdom and knowledge...supply for every need...love that fills our deepest heart-longings...perspective that gives meaning to every circumstance...adventure that takes us places we could never go on our own. Every thing worth having flows from Him. That’s why there is nothing more important than our relationship with Jesus. So how intimate are you with Jesus right now? More importantly, how intimate would Jesus say you are with Him?
Tender Father Scotty Smith
I am beginning to understand that you are committed not only to showing me my sins but also to showing me my idolatries. As you do this, my sins seem even more sinful; for I see myself engaged in false worship, not just in making poor choices. Please forgive me and free me from worshiping other things, including people, more than I worship you. And merciful Father, please free me from the worst of all idolatries—thinking of you as other than you have revealed yourself to be. Jesus, you alone are worthy of all my attention, affection, adoration, and allegiance. I know this to be true, but foolishly, I forget. I am like Asaph. I have moments, weeks, even months when I want more than who you are and what you provide. Free me from thinking that people can meet the deepest needs of my heart; for in reality, only you can fill me up. Free me from believing that a different spouse (or even having one), different children (or even having some), different parents or friends or church or job or body or anything is what I need the most. Help me to know you so well and to worship you with such joy and passion that I stop using people and start loving them. You alone can do this, O Lover of my soul. By your grace, through your power, for your glory—forgive my idolatries, heal my wounds, and set this captive free. Amen.
(pg.81 Objects of His Affection)
The Forgiveness of God
“In whom we have..the forgiveness of sins.” Eph. 1:7. beware of the present view of the Fatherhood of God—God is so kind and loving that of course He will forgive us. That sentiment has no place whatever in the New Testament. The only ground on which God can forgive us is the tremendous tragedy of the cross of Christ; to put forgiveness on any other ground is unconscious blasphemy. The only ground on which God can forgive sin and reinstate us in His favour is through the cross of Christ, and in no other way. Forgiveness, which is so easy for us to accept, cost the agony of Calvary. It is possible to take the forgiveness of sin, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and our sanctification with the simplicity of faith, and to forget at what enormous cost it was all made ours. Forgiveness is the divine miracle of grace; it cost God the Cross of Jesus Christ before He could forgive sin and remain a holy God. Never accept a view of the Fatherhood of God if it blots out the Atonement. The revelation of God is that He cannot just forgive; He would contradict His nature if He did. The only way we can be forgiven is by being brought back to God by the Atonement. God’s forgiveness is only natural in the supernatural domain. Compared with the miracle of the forgiveness of sin, the experience of sanctification is slight. Sanctification is simply the marvelous expression of forgiveness of sins in a human life, but the thing that awakes the deepest well of gratitude in a human being is that God has forgiven sin. Paul never got away from this. When once you realize all that it cost God to forgive you, you will be held as in a vice, constrained by the love of God.
(My Utmost For His Highest; Oswald
Zephaniah’s Words
Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem! The LORD has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy….The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:14-15, 17
Preaching the Gospel
Jesus is the true and better Adam who passed the test in the garden and whose obedience is imputed to us.
Jesus is the true and better Abel who, though innocently slain, has blood that cries out, not for our condemnation but for our acquittal. Jesus is a true and better Abraham who answered the call of God to leave all the comfortable and familiar and go out into the void to create a new people of God. Jesus is the true and better Isaac who was not just offered up by His Father on the mount, but was truly sacrificed for us.
Jesus is the true and better Joseph who, at the right hand of the King, forgives those who betrayed and sold Him, and uses His new power to save them.
Jesus is the true and better Moses who stands in the gap between the people and God, and who mediates a new covenant. Jesus is the true and better Rock of Moses who, struck with the rod of God’s justice, now gives us water in the desert.
Jesus is the true and better Job, the truly innocent sufferer, who then intercedes for and saves His foolish friends.
Jesus is the true and better David whose victory becomes His peoples victory, though they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves. Jesus is the true and better Esther who left His ultimate and heavenly palace, and who didn’t just risk His life but gave it to save His people. Jesus is the true and better Jonah who was cast out into the storm so that we could be brought in.
Jesus is the real Passover Lamb, innocent, perfect, helpless, slain so the angel of death will pass over us.
Jesus is the true temple, the true prophet, the true priest, the true king, the true sacrifice, the true lamb, the true light, the true bread. (taken from Tim Keller’s message “Preaching the Gospel)
Is the Real Jesus Your Savior?
The alarming spiritual reality is that it is possible to be trusting Jesus to save us when we die, while acting as if He is inadequate to save us today. When we believe the false promises of idols, we become blind to the truth that only Jesus can save. My experience in pastoral ministry has convinced me that most of us are slow to identify our own idolatry. Our tendency is to deal with the fruit of our sin while remaining woefully ignorant of the deadly root of our misplaced affections. Until something is taken away—until the divorce papers are signed, and child goes astray, or a financial investments sours—we fail to grasp our lack of dependence on Jesus. The only antidote for idolatry and false dependence is the gospel. The good news of the gospel reminds us that the work of Jesus is completely sufficient to save. Nothing can be added or taken away from what He has provided. Through Him alone we receive God’s open invitation to real intimacy and satisfaction.
Is Jesus really your Savior?
(Excerpt from an article in “revive” magazine full article can be read at www.LifeAction.org/revive)
