The Steadfast Love of God

Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.

God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.

So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn't hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn't gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God's chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ's love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:

They kill us in cold blood because they hate you. We're sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.

None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I'm absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.

From The Message (Romans 8:28-39) - this version really helped me better grasp these verses.

The Fruit of the Spirit

1Opposing forces are constantly battling: good (Holy Spirit) and bad (our sinful nature)
2Opposing lifestyles:
-Acts of sinful nature – 4 categories; sex, religion, society, drink (not clear on this last one but I’m assuming getting drunk)
- God’s way: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control
3Opposiing Attitude: We are to reject our sinful desires and surrender to Holy Spirit

Stott mentions that our attitude must be decisive, complete and continuous. Since these are spiritual fruits, we’re talking about making them grow.

So how do we make all this happen. Well, I guess most of us already took the first and easy step in believing Jesus as our lord and that he died for our sins.

Next is our sanctification process. I tihnk this is the hardest part of the Christian life. I don’t think there is any magic or a quick solution here. Most of us already know the answer. Stott reminds us: make the best of Sunday worship, daily devotion, public worship, participation in Lord’s supper, and involvement in Christian services are some of the key things that will help us grow in our Christian walk.

This is definetely much easier said then done. I struggle every day with all of the above. This is probably an excuse but sometimes I feel that I could do much better if I had 32 hrs a day. Nah.. i probably just need to plan my day and life little better. Plan, prioritize, and execute. We'll see how it goes...

the two shadows of the cross

it is interesting that the apostle paul states in romans 3:25 that God sacrificed His Son to die on the cross, "to demonstrate His justice, because in His forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished".

this is a remarkable statement. every one of the countless sins that had been committed from the beginning of creation until the time of Jesus's death on the cross, had been, in the words of paul, "left unpunished".

of course, these people endured the natural consequences of their sinful actions, and had succumbed to natural death, but their sins had never been atoned for in a way that appeased God's terrible justice and righteous anger. they had been left "unpunished".

God could not possibly be just or righteous if He left these sins unpunished, much like an earthly judge would be unrighteous if he let a murderer go free without having him pay for his crime.

in this way, if Jesus had never died on the cross, God could be accused of being "unjust", in just "letting" sins go without punishment.

but when Jesus Christ suffered the punishment for these sins, He satisfied through His death the perfect and terrible justice that these sins demanded.

thus the cross is not only a demonstration of God's perfect love. the cross is equally a demonstration of God's perfect justice.

this glorious truth proves 3 very important points:

1) only when God's perfect justice was satisfied by punishing His own Son for the sins of the world was God in any position to forgive sinners. He could not have forgiven us if our sins had not been atoned for.

2) just like we, 21 centuries removed from the crucifixion, look back at Jesus's death on the cross with faith, believing that He died for our sins, those who lived before the time of Christ looked forward to Christ in faith for their redemption. they died in faith, trusting that God would enact their salvation through some future action. they could not have imagined that their salvation would be achieved through God sending His own Son to die.

3) it shows us that Jesus's motivation to finish the work on the cross was not only His great love for sinners, though it was that. it was also to satisfy the terrible justice of God, lest any accuse God of being unjust for leaving past sins unpunished. His great concern was for the honor of His Father in heaven.

"whoever is wise, let him heed these things

and consider the great love of the Lord" (psalm 107:43).

Metaphors of Ministry

Lynn started the blog today but got busy at work and asked me to take her spot.

In today's scripture we learn about Paul's view on ministry and how he personally ministered to the early christians at Thessalia. He uses four metaphors to speak about his ministry. First with stewardship, being entrusted by God with the gospel. Second like the gentle sacrificial care of a mother. Third as a father figure teaching via both word and action. Finally he talks about the boldness of a herald. Stott explains that these actions can only occur through truth and love as a result of the Holy Spirit and we have people in our lives who perform these actions every day. Today I wanted everybody to remember the staff at EKPC who have been sent to us as our shepards, who sacrifice to guide us and teach us the gospel.

Metaphors of Ministry

From these...we learn two major responsibilities of those who are called to pastoral ministry... responsibility to the word of God... responsibility to the people of God."

"... the two chief marks of pastoral leaders should be truth and love in combination. how is this possible? Only by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, for he is the Spirit of truth, and the first of the Spirit of friut is love.

Although Stott focuses on pastoral care in examining the characteristics of authentic ministry, I there is something to be learned as sheeps who benefit from our shepherds who are in pastoral ministry. Stott describes the four characteristics:"The faithfulness of a steward, the gentleness of a mother, the encouragement of a father, and the boldness of a herald." He then narrows in on " the two chief marks of pastoral leaders...truth and love in combination." More importantly, Stott shares how the responsibilities in ministry can be carried out- "the indwelling of the Holy Spirit". Just as our pastors are, everyone who is a Christian are called to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And we have been taught that faith comes by hearing the Word

Placarding Christ Crucified

When Paul preached the cross, he was met with persecution.

In 2008, the cross is popular in the worst kind of way. It hangs on rear view mirrors of cars, worn on t-shirts and tattooed on body parts. The meaning is lost and people are hostile to hearing the truth about it.

“Placarding Christ Crucified.”
How do we do that in this day and age? Practically speaking what does it look like for us to take Christ crucified into our work places and classrooms?

When you choose daily to be faithful, to live out the truth of what God has accomplished on the cross through His Son… I think you become a kind of a placard for Christ.

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Galatians 6:14

Authentic Freedom

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm... and do not let yourself be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." (Gal 5:1)

Two things jump out from this verse. First, this verse is teaching us that Christ has set us free. But what kind of freedom is Paul talking about? In Gal 5:13 Paul says, "But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature." So clearly freedom is opposite to sinning. We are not set free so that we can sin all we please. Rather, I believe true freedom is the ability to do what we were created originally to do, which is to love and obey God. As Christians we now have that power through our new nature and by the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

The second thing this verse is teaching us is that we must not believe in the lie of sin's slavery. When Paul says "and do not let yourself be burdened by a yoke of slavery", he's basically saying that we must not believe the lie that we are not free. Sometimes the influence of sin is so great, the temptation so irresistible that we feel imprisoned in our sins. But if we are truly Christian, this verse is basically telling us "don't let yourself be fooled into believing the lie"; Christ has set us free!

All true believer have been set free from the bondage of sin and therefore has the power to live a life pleasing to God. It's just that we are so use to the old way of indulging in sin that we find it so hard at times to break out of the old way and to believe that we've been set free from the power of sin. But we have been set free and Paul is telling us to stop believing in that lie that we are in bondage to sin.

So let us not make any more excuses. Next time we're tempted, let us remind ourselves that Christ through his death has broken the power of sin and given us the Holy Spirit to resist and overcome all temptations. Let us cry out to Christ in our moments of temptation!

Posted by Pastor James