The question that ended our time yesterday really focused on the practical aspects of change in the Christian life. I would submit again that the answer is in a way both clear cut or straightforward, but also somewhat abstracted (in other words hard to see how it's practical) depending upon our level of Christian maturity.
I'll put forward one passage of Scripture as a guide and let you guys contribute your own comments or questions.
Romans 12:1-2 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
Go further and read the entire chapter of Romans 12. If you want to see change in your life as a believer then here is a command, "present your bodies as living sacrifices, HOLY, acceptable to God, WHICH IS your REASONABLE service." And then we ask "how?" By being "TRANSFORMED (changed) by the renewing of your mind..." Again, you may ask "how" do I transform my mind?
Concrete application: Read your Bible A LOT; "pray without ceasing" (I Thess. 5:17); attend all the meetings of the church; listen to Gospel preaching; seek counsel from mature believers; spend time with believers fellowshipping in the Spirit; observe the ordinances, etc. And remember, be patient; don't have the modern mindset that change must come on your terms or on your timetable. Trust that God works all things together for your God because you were called, you were justified, your are being sanctified and you will be glorified!!
Take hope and trust in the Lord!
Monday, September 15, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
Knowing Your Christian Identity
Peter says in II Peter 1:3 that God's "divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us..."
Timothy Lane and Paul David Tripp emphasize that Peter's claim is for the present life of the believer. However, many Christians suffer from a "Gospel Gap." This "Gap" is a failure to understand God's provision in Christ for believers and leads to the believer replacing the Gospel with "pretensions" (II Cor. 10:4-5) that make themselves out to be Gospel rivals.
The antidote? We must define our personal identity biblically as men and women who are shot through with sin, but who are redeemed by God's grace and live by the gratitude in our hearts for the cross work of Christ. When we begin to realize (have knowledge of what God has done for us in Christ) that Christ "is for us," that He is "interceding" for us, that He must increase and we must decrease, that "I no longer live, but Christ lives in me (Gal. 2:20)," then we will "walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh."
Remember, we must use the provisions God has spoken to us of in His Word: Bible reading and Scriture memorization; Christian fellowship; worshipping God regularly with His people at church; partaking of the Lord's Supper and witnessing the ordinance of Baptism; and Prayer. God has promised us in His Word that if He has called us WE WILL CHANGE, WE WILL BECOME MORE LIKE CHRIST!
As the authors put it, this is our hope: "The Christian hope is more than a redemptive system with practical principles that can change your life. The hope of every Christian is a person, the Redeemer, Jesus Christ. He is the wisdom behind every biblical principle and the power we need to live them out. Because Christ lives inside us today, because he rules all things for our sakes (Eph. 2:22-23), and because he is presently putting all his enemies under his feet (I Cor. 15:25-28), we can live with courage and hope!!!!"
Blessings,
Steve
Timothy Lane and Paul David Tripp emphasize that Peter's claim is for the present life of the believer. However, many Christians suffer from a "Gospel Gap." This "Gap" is a failure to understand God's provision in Christ for believers and leads to the believer replacing the Gospel with "pretensions" (II Cor. 10:4-5) that make themselves out to be Gospel rivals.
The antidote? We must define our personal identity biblically as men and women who are shot through with sin, but who are redeemed by God's grace and live by the gratitude in our hearts for the cross work of Christ. When we begin to realize (have knowledge of what God has done for us in Christ) that Christ "is for us," that He is "interceding" for us, that He must increase and we must decrease, that "I no longer live, but Christ lives in me (Gal. 2:20)," then we will "walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh."
Remember, we must use the provisions God has spoken to us of in His Word: Bible reading and Scriture memorization; Christian fellowship; worshipping God regularly with His people at church; partaking of the Lord's Supper and witnessing the ordinance of Baptism; and Prayer. God has promised us in His Word that if He has called us WE WILL CHANGE, WE WILL BECOME MORE LIKE CHRIST!
As the authors put it, this is our hope: "The Christian hope is more than a redemptive system with practical principles that can change your life. The hope of every Christian is a person, the Redeemer, Jesus Christ. He is the wisdom behind every biblical principle and the power we need to live them out. Because Christ lives inside us today, because he rules all things for our sakes (Eph. 2:22-23), and because he is presently putting all his enemies under his feet (I Cor. 15:25-28), we can live with courage and hope!!!!"
Blessings,
Steve
How People Change - Open Discussion
Hey Guys,
I have not put up any particular questions or concepts to reconsider from Sunday morning. So, for now, this is an open discussion for any comments or questions you all wanted to pose from our discussion Sunday morning. I will try to get up an original post tonight.
Blessings,
Steve
I have not put up any particular questions or concepts to reconsider from Sunday morning. So, for now, this is an open discussion for any comments or questions you all wanted to pose from our discussion Sunday morning. I will try to get up an original post tonight.
Blessings,
Steve
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
The Prayer of Faith
I came across an encouraging discussion on prayer in In Christ Alone, by Sinclair Ferguson. He writes, "This, then, is the prayer of faith: to ask God to accomplish what He has promised in His Word."
Ferguson bases this definition on James' discussion of Elijah in James 5.17ff. Elijah prayed that the heavens would be shut up based upon God's promise to do just that if Israel rebelled. From this example, two principles are clear. First, know the promises of Scripture. Scripture and prayer go hand in hand. The most important element of my prayer life has been Scripture memorization. Memorizing leads to prayer. So, take up the Bible and memorize. Your prayer life will certainly grow as you slow down and begin to meditate on verses you had formerly read or just skimmed.
Second, pray scriptural promises back to God. I must call on James 1.5 every other day: "if any one of you is lacking is wisdom, let him ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudingly and it will be given to you." When we pray Scripture back to God, we are praying the prayer of faith because our prayer is based on what God has already promised to us. This is why knowing the Word is so important. The more you pray what God has already promised, the more you pray according to his will.
Blessings, Marcus
Ferguson bases this definition on James' discussion of Elijah in James 5.17ff. Elijah prayed that the heavens would be shut up based upon God's promise to do just that if Israel rebelled. From this example, two principles are clear. First, know the promises of Scripture. Scripture and prayer go hand in hand. The most important element of my prayer life has been Scripture memorization. Memorizing leads to prayer. So, take up the Bible and memorize. Your prayer life will certainly grow as you slow down and begin to meditate on verses you had formerly read or just skimmed.
Second, pray scriptural promises back to God. I must call on James 1.5 every other day: "if any one of you is lacking is wisdom, let him ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudingly and it will be given to you." When we pray Scripture back to God, we are praying the prayer of faith because our prayer is based on what God has already promised to us. This is why knowing the Word is so important. The more you pray what God has already promised, the more you pray according to his will.
Blessings, Marcus
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
The Prayer Problem
Having often struggled with consistency in my prayer life, I have occasionally thought of the hindrances to prayer. I am sure that the hindrances differ from person to person, but the two that I thought that were most destructive to my prayer life are an over attraction to visible results and a general struggle with unbelief.
First, we live in a fast-paced culture that is enamoured with tangible, visible, marks of success. I spent three hours mowing my lawn; look at all that work I did. I just read 50 pages; see them as I flip through the pages that I have just read. I communed with God this afternoon and look at...well, nothing. I have nothing to show for the time I just spent in prayer. I, for one, am so focused on producing a visible effort or product that I am tempted to think prayer a waste of time.
Second, as secularism rises, the temptation to think little of prayer will certainly increase. Prayer must seem so silly to unbelievers; "acting like you are talking to someone when no one is there at all," they scoff. Sadly, I think a spirit of unbelief impacts many unbelievers, myself included, to not esteem prayer.
As I continually wrestle with these hindrances, I see all the more need to have my mind renewed daily so that I would not be conformed to this present age; an age of instant gratification, an age obessesed with platitudes, an age that sees only the physical. My encouragement to myself and to others concerning prayer is to continually be refreshed and renewed in the pages of Scripture. Read great books on prayer; persuade the mind of its value.
I am curious as to other hindrances to prayer that some have faced; Do you resonate with my hindrances? Experience others?
Blessings, Marcus
First, we live in a fast-paced culture that is enamoured with tangible, visible, marks of success. I spent three hours mowing my lawn; look at all that work I did. I just read 50 pages; see them as I flip through the pages that I have just read. I communed with God this afternoon and look at...well, nothing. I have nothing to show for the time I just spent in prayer. I, for one, am so focused on producing a visible effort or product that I am tempted to think prayer a waste of time.
Second, as secularism rises, the temptation to think little of prayer will certainly increase. Prayer must seem so silly to unbelievers; "acting like you are talking to someone when no one is there at all," they scoff. Sadly, I think a spirit of unbelief impacts many unbelievers, myself included, to not esteem prayer.
As I continually wrestle with these hindrances, I see all the more need to have my mind renewed daily so that I would not be conformed to this present age; an age of instant gratification, an age obessesed with platitudes, an age that sees only the physical. My encouragement to myself and to others concerning prayer is to continually be refreshed and renewed in the pages of Scripture. Read great books on prayer; persuade the mind of its value.
I am curious as to other hindrances to prayer that some have faced; Do you resonate with my hindrances? Experience others?
Blessings, Marcus
Monday, September 1, 2008
Prayer Challenge
Now that the "Prayer Challenge" has come to an end, I thought I'd offer a few reflections. I hope that you too will respond with your comments.
1. I have become more mindful of the need to pray. This challenge often brought to my mind our complete dependence upon God. It brought fresh meaning to the distinction between Creator and creature. Prayer is perhaps the most important spiritual discipline for realizing our JOYFUL dependence upon God.
2. Paul's call to "pray without ceasing" (I Thess. 5:17) makes more sense now. I think this reflection flows from the first one listed. As I became more aware in my own life of my dependence upon God, and the joy that I had in knowing that my weakness is made strong in Christ, I began to pray at all times throughout the day. I had begun to find in every area of my life the need to submit to God's authority and to humble myself to him in prayer asking His help in every area of my life.
3. I have been encouraged by this challenge because it has been conducted among my brothers in Christ. I hope that we can continue at JPBC to challenge each other to live for Christ, to learn more about God and to be godly men.
Hebrews 10:24-25 (NKJV)
"24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching."
1. I have become more mindful of the need to pray. This challenge often brought to my mind our complete dependence upon God. It brought fresh meaning to the distinction between Creator and creature. Prayer is perhaps the most important spiritual discipline for realizing our JOYFUL dependence upon God.
2. Paul's call to "pray without ceasing" (I Thess. 5:17) makes more sense now. I think this reflection flows from the first one listed. As I became more aware in my own life of my dependence upon God, and the joy that I had in knowing that my weakness is made strong in Christ, I began to pray at all times throughout the day. I had begun to find in every area of my life the need to submit to God's authority and to humble myself to him in prayer asking His help in every area of my life.
3. I have been encouraged by this challenge because it has been conducted among my brothers in Christ. I hope that we can continue at JPBC to challenge each other to live for Christ, to learn more about God and to be godly men.
Hebrews 10:24-25 (NKJV)
"24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching."
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