Your Attention Please

If you listen closely, you might realize that someone is trying to get your attention. How To Know God's Trying To Get Your Attention by Kristina Long at Relevant

It took me a while to understand the application of the Bible's story about Jonah and the whale. Maybe it came quick for you, but not me.

In case you're not familiar, the story of Jonah goes something like this:

A man named Jonah was asked by God to go Nineveh and talk to people who lived there. Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh or talk to the people who lived there.

Jonah hid from God by getting on a boat headed away from Nineveh. A storm came. The people on the ship knew someone on the ship caused God to be angry. Jonah told them to throw him overboard so the storm would stop. Jonah was thrown overboard and the storm stopped.

Jonah’s death did not fit with God’s plan. God wanted Jonah to go to Nineveh. God sent a large fish to swallow Jonah, where he stayed for three days. Jonah turned back to God and prayed. The fish swam to Nineveh only to spit Jonah out on the shore. Jonah inevitably did what God asked.

Now, a lot of trouble, turmoil, and stress could have been easily avoided had Jonah just done what God had asked him to do in the first place. Jonah did not listen to God. He feared God’s plan and chose a different route.

I live in a little town in Idaho town that I love. I love my job, the people, the recreation and God’s beautiful creation all around me.

A year ago, I felt God’s call for me to step up, which made me fear I'd have to leave my little Idaho town. I applied to a graduate program nearby so I could keep living my way.
I even did it under the guise of, “This program will help me to serve God better.” I did well in the program: good grades, learning everything I could etc.

I felt transformed to do more. My pride grew and I became satisfied with my work for God.

That’s the issue, isn’t it? It is not me who needs to be satisfied with my work for God. God is the one who works in me and through me. God is the one who transforms me. My intentions and love for my town were great, yet my lack of trust in God made me fearful of the future.

My fear made me lose sight of God and his plan. Instead I focused on my plan for him.

The Right Question

"The most important question we ask of the text is not 'What does this mean?' but 'What can I obey?' A simple act of obedience will open our lives to this text far more quickly than any number of Bible studies, dictionaries and concordances."

- Eugene Peterson, The Pastor, page 71

Stopped Dead In Your Tracks

This is so good - God Commands the Impossible, and That’s Good by Donavon Riley

Some have built an entire theology on the false assumption that when God commands us to obey or believe, we have the ability to obey or believe. So then, what’s the point of all God’s commands? They show us what the power of sin has done to us, how it controls us, and how it controls our every decision and action. We are “under the power of sin” as the Apostle Paul writes (Romans 3:9). This is our condition. We are sold under sin. Sin rules us. We serve sin. We have no choice. Sin is going to kill us and there’s nothing we can do to stop it. This is why Paul cries out, “I am a wretched man! Who will deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24)

God commands the impossible to stop us dead in our tracks. When he speaks a command, it shows us our inability to obey or believe as he commands us to obey and believe—with perfect obedience and trust from our heart. When God commands us, for example, to repent and believe the Gospel, he doesn’t want us to respond with, “Okay, I’ll get right on that. And, don’t worry, I’m gonna do my best, you’ll see.” What he wants is for us to say, “But… that’s impossible.” Only then, when God reveals to us that we have nothing to offer him, nothing we can do to meet his expectations of perfect obedience and faith, that there’s nothing lovable about us that would make him want to love us—only then when we’ve had the veil pulled back on our sin, are we ready to receive Christ. If we imagine we can obey God’s command, or trust him in perfect faith, then Christ’s perfect obedience and faith, which fulfilled all God’s demands, was for nothing.

For Martin Luther, this Scriptural understanding of God’s commands was vital for Christian faith. We are under the power of sin. Sold into slavery to sin, we’ve lost our ability to choose between God and the devil, faith and unbelief, grace and sin, promise and law, blessing and curse. We are compelled by the power of sin to always disobey and disbelieve God. And worse, when we assume we’re free to choose between good and bad, right and wrong, in obedience to God’s commands—we’re actually standing in the place of God, knowing good and evil. We’re not being obedient to God’s commands, we’re re-enacting the original sin.

That doesn’t mean what God commands is bad. No, “the commandments are not given inappropriately or pointlessly; but in order that through them the proud, blind man may learn the plague of his impotence, should he try to do as he is commanded” (Luther, The Bondage of the Will, in Packer & Johnston, pg. 160).

Only when God exposes our sin as being wholly sinful and we are tempted to give up hope of ever being saved from our doom, can we receive his saving grace that comes to us in the person of Jesus Christ. When God speaks his commands they are not given “inappropriately or pointlessly,” Luther writes, “but in order that through them the proud, blind man may learn the plague of his impotence, should he try to do as he is commanded.” (Packer, pg. 160)

That’s why Luther is of such help and encouragement for all of us who’ve ever been crushed by the responsibility we assume for living up to what God commands. He points out that, “man, before he is renewed into the new creation of the Spirit’s kingdom, does and strives for nothing to prepare himself for that new creation and kingdom, and when he is re-created he does and strives for nothing towards his perseverance in that kingdom; but the Spirit alone works both blessings in us, regenerating us, and preserving us when regenerate, without ourselves…” (Packer, p. 268)

Search your Bible cover to cover and highlight every “if,” underline every command, make a note of every “ought” and “should,” and you will discover that God’s word tells you what you are to do and not do. He tells you what is required of you. But nowhere does he say you have the power or ability to do anything about it. When God says, “If you are willing,” he doesn’t say you can or are willing. When God says, “If you are willing,” “if you hear,” “if you do,” he doesn’t then declare that you have the ability to do it, just that you’re obligated to do it. But we can’t, and that’s what finally kills us.

The command is good because God speaks it, and God is good. But as Paul writes, “sin, having been afforded an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me” (Romans 7:11) It’s not the command, but sin that deceives us, inspiring us to imagine we can do and not do what God commands. Sin stirs us up to believe we can be good and holy, because the command is good and holy, just as God is good and holy—and we can be like God, if we can only be more obedient and more faithful. Sin sells us on the lie that we have the ability, the freedom, to choose to obey God’s commands.

When this happens, we even imagine that grace is given to us for the purpose of obedience. That God’s grace is a spiritual steroid injected into us by the Spirit, to strengthen us for the Christian life, so we can perfectly obey and believe. All this serves to drive us away from God’s grace. It drives us away from Christ, and deeper into sin, deeper into “the body of this death.” And this is why we desperately need a Savior, one who will rescue us from our delusions of lawfulness. In fact, only through faith in Christ, without any effort or seeking on our part, do we fulfill all God’s demands and commands to obey and believe perfectly (Romans 3:31).

God demands we be do-ers of his commands, not try-ers. He doesn’t wink at sin either. His commands put us in an impossible position then, which is exactly where he wants us. He wants to expose the power of sin in our lives and our lawless ungodliness. Why? Because God loves to justify the ungodly! (Romans 4:5) It’s not what God commands, but what Christ has done to fulfill God’s commands in our place that finally matters. We are not expected to be doers of God’s command, but believers in God’s promise. The command turns us away from ourselves, and all our self-salvation projects, to hear what He promises us in Christ: forgiveness for our lawlessness, life rising up out of sin induced death, and salvation for those who’ve been shown they never had a chance at saving themselves by obeying God’s commands.

Faith Defined

The Basics of Christianity by Paul Tripp:

If you had to define your faith with one sentence, what would your definition include?

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines faith as a "strong belief or trust in someone or something." The Bible defines faith as "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1)

Isn't it interesting how both of those definitions don't reference God in their initial description of what faith is or what faith does?

Now, ultimately, both of those sources end up associating faith with a belief in God. In its secondary definition, Merriam-Webster explains that faith is a "belief in the existence of God [or] strong religious feelings." Hebrews 11 goes on to reference God multiple times in the Bible's famous chapter on faith.

But here's the point I'm trying to make – every human being lives by faith, with or without God.

Christians believe, by faith, that there is a God and that eternity exists. Simultaneously, those who deny the existence of God and the reality of eternity do so by faith, too. Two totally contradicting messages, both derived from faith.

You may know atheists and agnostics, but you've never met a "faithless" person in your life. Every human being lives by a set of convictions and with a mentality of hope, despite a lack of factual and tangible evidence.

Regardless of religion profession, we all interpret what we see through the vehicle of the "unseen." It's impossible to exist in this life without faith of some capacity and variety.

THE BASICS OF CHRISTIANITY

If every person lives by faith, what makes the Christian unique? Here it is: Christians are different, not because they live by faith, but because of the object of their faith.

Naturally, the next question becomes: who is the object of the Christian faith? The answer, of course, is God. Christians live by faith in the existence of God. But what does that mean, and what does that look like?

With this Article, I'm going to try to define the basics of the Christian faith with one sentence. I’m going to leave Hebrews 11, the quintessential definition of Biblical faith, and use Scripture to interpret Scripture. My definition comes from Acts 17:22-31, when the Apostle Paul addresses the Areopagus.

So, fasten your seat belts - here's my sentence-long definition: true, biblical faith believes in the existence of God as Creator, Sovereign, and Savior, and results in a lifestyle of worshipful obedience, confident peace, and humble repentance.

Let me break down those six elements for you:

Creator / Worshipful Obedience

"The God who made the world and everything in it…" (v. 24)

Our world operates under a very simple organizational chart - God is Creator, and we are creatures. That means we belong to God, and whatever created things we've been given also belong to him. We don't get to define how life operates, because he designed life from the beginning!

True, biblical faith believes that God is Creator, so true, biblical faith never allows us to take life in our own hands. Faith won't allow us to treat people and possessions as if they belong to us. Faith won't allow us to believe we're smarter than God. True, biblical faith recognizes the organizational structure of the universe and allows us to obediently rest within God's wise boundaries as his creatures.

Peace For The Willing

From Challies.com at http://www.challies.com/a-la-carte/a-la-carte-february-6-0

Accepted

,

HT: Crossway Books

What Not to Pray About

Sometimes it's better to stop praying and start doing/obeying! Form Alex Kocman at Charisma:

Prayer is a top priority in the Christian life, but not when used as a means of procrastination, according to Greg Darley. Christians need to stop praying about commands the Lord has already given and simply obey them, according to Christian author Greg Darley.

Darley, leader of International Justice Mission's College Mobilization team, is releasing his first book next month, titled Wasted Prayer. Though its title sounds incendiary, its message is arguably far less so.

According to Darley, the problem is that prayer is often locked up inside a "cycle of religiosity." And that's when he says prayer becomes nothing more than procrastination.

"Prayer is not just a transaction. It's a relationship marked by obedience," says a press release for Darley's book. "Only when we break free from a cycle of religiosity, in which prayer is a reaction to our circumstances, do we enter a fruitful relationship characterized by discipleship. In this relationship, prayer is good. But in the religiosity, prayer is often procrastination. It's an excuse. It's a prison sentence that keeps us locked in 'safe' inaction."

There's also biblical evidence in both testaments, says Darley, that prayer isn't always the answer. Or, in other words, faith and prayer without works is still dead.

Because discipleship is inherently about obeying Christ's orders, the author argues that no Christian life is complete without conscious, active obedience to Christ.

Thus, while prayer is high atop the list of Christ's commands for our lives, Darley notes that praying is often an excuse for inaction in other areas of life.

"Following Jesus has always been about action. If there's no action in your life, you aren't following Jesus. It's impossible to be a disciple and stay still," the announcement notes.
"When Jesus called the disciples to follow him, they literally walked behind him. If they had stayed where they were, they wouldn't have become his disciples. Being a disciple, in essence, means acting." 

The Goal

From @DailyKeller

Playing the Game of "Jesus Says"

Hat Tip: The Thinklings

Ability

“Don’t think of Christianity as having to do what a peevish God wants. Think of it as now being able to do what a good God demands” 

         - Kevin DeYoung, The Hole in our Holiness, page 112

HT: Sam Storms

Profess and Practice

We most humbly beg You to give us grace…

not only to be hearers of the Word,
but doers also of the same;

not only to love,
but also to obey Your gospel;

not only to favor,
but also to follow Your godly doctrine,

not only to profess,
but also to practice Your blessed commandments…

to the honor of Your holy Name, and the health of our souls.

- Thomas Becon, 1511-1567

HT: Trevin Wax

Living From Approval

"The Christian is assured of God's love and approval. God is pleased with us in Christ. So the Christian longs to obey God, not for himself,so that God will save him, but out of gratitude to God who he knows has already saved him....God's approval liberates us to live in a way God approves of. The gospel is both a powerful assurance and a powerful motivation to live in radical obedience. We do not live God's way in order to become His children, but out of gratitude that we are already God's children."

                   - Timothy Keller, Galatians For You, page 34-35
   

A God We Can Use?

"We have turned to a God we can use rather than a God we must obey; we have turned to a God who will fulfill our need rather than a God before whom we must surrender our rights to ourselves. He is a God for us, for our satisfaction-- not because we have learned to think of him in this way through Christ but because we have learned to think of him this way through the marketplace. Everything is for us, for our pleasure, for our satisfaction, and we have come to assume that it must be so in the church as well."

          - David Wells, God in the Wasteland


HT: Vitamin Z

Violent Grace

"Grace-driven effort is violent. It is aggressive. The person who understands the gospel understands that, as a new creation, his spiritual nature is in opposition to sin now, and he seeks not just to weaken sin in his life but to outright destroy it. Out of love for Jesus, he wants sin starved to death, and he will hunt and pursue the death of every sin in his heart until he has achieved success.

This is a very different pursuit than simply wanting to be good. It is the result of having transferred one’s affections to Jesus. When God’s love takes hold of us, it powerfully pushes out our own love for other gods and frees our love to flow back to him in true worship. And when we love God, we obey him. The moralist doesn’t operate that way. While true obedience is a result of love, moralistic legalism assumes it works the other way around, that love results from obedience."

         -Matt Chandler, The Explicit Gospel, pages 217–218.

Hat Tip:  Peter Cockrell

(Have I mentioned that I really want to read this book?1!!)

Upside Down

"When our salvation depends upon our righteous behavior, our righteousness will be driven by a desire to elevate ourselves in the eyes of God.  This is not love for God, it's self-protection.

The gospel turns religion upside down. The gospel assures us of God's acceptance, given us as a gift earned by Christ's worthiness, not ours. In response to that gift, we are moved to obey. Love for Him grows in response to His love for us....

...The gospel reawakens us to the beauty of God and overwhelms us with mercy. Our behavior changes us because we change. Until that happens, all religious changes will be superficial. Even if you force yourself to act right, your heart will be going in the other direction. This is the doctrine of total depravity."

- J.D. Greear, The Gospel: Recovering the Power that Made Christianity Revolutionary, pages 36-37

Life From the Inside Out

"When we learn to truly follow Jesus, we find that obedience to God comes from the inside out.  Submissions to what God wants for our lives flows naturally out of that relationship.  It's not to say that what we do or don't do doesn't matter, but what we do or don't do must come from who we are as followers of Jesus."

- Not A Fan, Kyle Idlemann, page 77

Free to Follow, Free to Obey

"The reality is that when you believe in Christ for salvation, you not only are declared right before God as Father, but you are also begin to walk with God as friend.  In addition to new birth, Jesus gives you new life: a life of joyful obedience and overflowing love.  So when you hear Christ's radical call to live sacrificially, you do not think In the gospel I am free to flout his commands.  Instead you think In the gospel I am free to follow his commands.  And the faith that God has graciously given to you begins to produce radical fruit from you."

         David Platt, Radical Together, Page 30

Grace Gives All It Demands

“The law demands what it cannot give; grace gives all it demands.”

 - Blaise Pascal

Hat Tip:  Of First Importance:

Knowledge Before Obedience

"[Paul] deemed it necessary to teach first about Christ and the mystery of the incarnation. Only then did he point to things in their lives that needed to be corrected. He wanted them first to know the Lord and then to want to do what he told them. For if you don’t know the one who leads the people in observing God’s commands, you are not very likely to obey them."

- St. Athanasius

Hat Tip: Peter Kirk at Gentle Wisdom

There's Just Something About Mary

What to make of Mary? If Roman Catholics seem to overdo the Mary thing, we protestants may be under appreciating her. And Mary is worth appreciating. Check this out from John at "Jesus the Radical Pastor" - Ave, Maria!

Mary was a pregnant teen out of wedlock. Her betrothal to Joseph was not the same as a legitimate marriage. When Mary became pregnant with Jesus and made her pregnancy known to Joseph, he was rightly shocked and wanted to break the betrothal for he was known as “a righteous man.” Mary’s virtue certainly would be questioned and scorned; she and the child would be poor and dependent as beggars. Joseph’s reputation would be defiled, and the son born to Mary would be considered illegitimate (a back-handed insult thrown at Jesus by the Pharisees in John 8:41). Faced with Joseph’s disappointment, with her culture’s insults and rejection, and her son’s future as illegitimate and, therefore, very limited in society, Mary says to Gabriel after his announcements to her, “I am the Lord’s servant…. May it be to be as you have said.” Or, as a teen might say today, “Bring it on!”

Gutsy, obedient, surrendered, undoubtedly anxious, Mary takes her place in the Christmas story. God’s plan meant public disgrace for her and for Joseph. Matthew writes that the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph to encourage Joseph to stay committed to Mary in the face of the societal rejection to come. Joseph meets his own crisis of faith and he, too, surrenders to God’s plan. Yes, a lowly carpenter becomes (step)father to the King of Kings.

Knowing this, I find my heart welling up to shout “Ave, Maria!” You go, girl! And “Ave, Joseph!” You da man! For it is by your tough obedience in the face of your society’s scorn that Jesus (“Yahweh saves!”) was brought into being and raised as an obedient son. I imagine that Jesus often looked lovingly at Mary, thanking the Father for her gritty perseverance in birthing and raising Jesus. I imagine Jesus working next to Joseph and thinking that this man lost his standing in the community in order for me to have a life among my people. “Ave, Jesus!” Hail, Jesus, you come from a very good family.