God Knows...And God Cares

Wow. I can hardly believe it is Monday of finals week. I took my Theology II exam today. I'm getting ready for three more, then it's "off to see the wizard", toto, dorothy, and Kansas in general. Time really flies by. I'm not quite sure I like the idea, but I guess I will have to adjust.

I just want to say a word to anyone doubting that God cares about what is going on with you, specifically - HE DOES!

Yeah. You had better believe it. He knows what you need, when you need it - and He will send it when it's time for you to have it.

Nahum 1:7 tells us that God knows those who call on Him. He doens't deal with us in a generalized, all-you-little-human-things kind of way. Not at all. He is a personal God, interested in dealing with us personally. And He will. Whether it be a good shaking from the scruff of our necks, or a timely word of exhortation or encouragement, He will send it our way when we are in need of it. I find this so encouraging, and it confirms to me that
GOD KNOWS...AND GOD CARES!

Worship in the Splendor of Holiness

My ESV Bible has as header for Psalm 96: "Worship in the Splendor of Holiness" (from v. 9)

Oh sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth!
Sing to the Lord, bless his name;
tell of his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples!
For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and beauty are in his sanctuary...
(Ps. 96:1-6)

The Gospel is Fitted for All Men

"Never lose heart in the power of the gospel. Do not believe that there exists any man, much less any race of men, for whom the gospel is not fitted." (Charles Haddon Spurgeon)

For more great quotes on the gospel, see the "Together For The Gospel" blog, http://blog.togetherforthegospel.org/gospel/index.html

Towards Thee I Roll - Herman Melville and The Enemy Within

I recently read an excellent book, The Enemy Within, by Kris Lundgaard. It is based on the great works by John Owen on the subject of sin. I found that what has stayed with me is a quote from Herman Melville's Moby Dick, which Lundgaard uses in chapter four to illustrate important truths about sin, sin's struggle against God, and the intensity with which we should struggle against the remaining sin in our lives.

Herman Melville's classic work Moby Dick is the story of Captain Ahab's unrelenting pursuit of the great White Whale. This quote captures the vehemence with which the captain pursues his archenemy:

The author offers two very helpful analogies that developed from this potent little excerpt.

1. God is like the white whale. The flesh is not the Captain Ahab, it is not the harpoon, but rather the pure hatred (Rom. 8:7). The sad reality is that we, every human being, in our unregenerate state, are all the Captain Ahabs, waging war in our hearts against God. Only when we are saved and this enmity is put to death, are the whale and the Captain Ahab reconciled.



2. If slightly altered, the excerpt could be read as a declaration of war on our remaining sinful flesh that wages war against the Spirit that abides within us (Gal.5:17):

"Towards thee I roll, thou all-consuming by unconquering FLESH; to the last I grapple with thee, from HEAVEN'S heart I stab at thee; for LOVE'S sake I spit my last breath at thee."

May we always show this sort of rabid hatred against the sin that remains within us. May we stand strong, resolved and determined to go-down-swinging, to "spit our last breath" at it's unwanted presence in our lives. May we worship God by waging war against sin.

The Apostle Peter's Experience With Biblical Hope

This is an excerpt from my paper on Biblical Hope, for Methods of Biblical Change.

My definition of Biblical hope is: a confident anticipation that God will keep his promises, thus providing the way to joyfully and confidently continue forward in any circumstance.

I hope this is a profitable read. God bless!

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...Because of human weakness, every believer will falter in his faith and struggle with maintaining biblical hope from time to time. If hope were merely an understood, never-lacking property of the Christian walk, then the Bible would not speak so frequently about the issue. The human soul is helpless, and desperately longs for hope. As has been said before, Christ offers this hope. To encourage the believer in his quest for hope, in the gospel of Matthew there is an example of hope acquired, lost, and restored – the plight of Peter walking on the water. This story, recorded in Matthew 14:22-33, is extremely relevant as an example of how focus on Christ and His promises relates to biblical hope.
When Peter realized that it was Jesus that the disciples saw walking on the water, he called out and said “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water (v. 28).” After receiving the Lord’s command to come, Peter left the boat and walked on the water to meet Jesus. This was accomplished by a radically focused faith on Jesus! It is evident that focus was essential in this endeavor, because when Peter began to focus on the wind he faltered and began to sink, crying out to Jesus (v.30). In this moment, Peter was faced with a choice of focus – of hope. Would he focus on his inability, or on Christ’s sufficiency? Would he sink to his death, or cry out to the Lord? The next verse says that Jesus immediately reached out and lifted Peter up, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” In this brief story, we see an example of how vitally important focus on the Savior is to maintaining biblical hope. The progression of Peter’s acquiring, loss, and restoration of hope is as follows: 1) Peter saw the Lord and had faith, 2) This faith carried Peter through an impossible situation, 3) Peter lost his focus on Christ and instead focused on his surroundings and personal inability (placing him in great danger), 4) Peter looked again to Jesus for hope, and 5) Hope was immediately restored.

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