Posted by Dominic
Sun, 22 Jan 2012 03:42:00 GMT
1The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
2to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.
4They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.
5Strangers will shepherd your flocks;
foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.
6 And you will be called priests of the LORD,
you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
and in their riches you will boast.
7Instead of your shame
you will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace
you will rejoice in your inheritance.
And so you will inherit a double portion in your land,
and everlasting joy will be yours.
8“For I, the LORD, love justice;
I hate robbery and wrongdoing.
In my faithfulness I will reward my people
and make an everlasting covenant with them.
9Their descendants will be known among the nations
and their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will acknowledge
that they are a people the LORD has blessed.”
10I delight greatly in the LORD;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11For as the soil makes the sprout come up
and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness
and praise spring up before all nations.
— Isaiah 61
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Posted by Dominic
Tue, 23 Nov 2010 21:19:00 GMT
These three articles all came across my desk in the last few weeks, and I figured it could not be without reason.
So please read:
A Sermon on Divorce and Remarriage
By Kevin DeYoung, of University Reformed Church
The Crushing Burden of Divorce
The Divorce Post: Responding to Critics
Both by David French, ADF Senior Counsel
My heart breaks for people who are in this situation.
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Posted by Dominic
Tue, 09 Nov 2010 13:47:00 GMT
Whenever we see God’s fingerprints in our lives, we should party hard.
We all too often forget to celebrate when God has worked in our lives. We’ll thank Him for how he’s worked in our lives, but we don’t truly rejoice.
I know I often haven’t.
6Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
8From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.
Genesis 12:6-8
God appeared to Abram with a promise, and he built an ALTAR in remembrance.
A what?
An altar.
Not once, but twice.
And then he worships and witnesses to those around him.
When was the last time you ran to tell all your friends when God worked in your life? When did you tell strangers?
I know I’ve never built an altar, that’s for sure.
What I do know, is that I’ve realized the importance of celebrating God’s work in my life. Both through worship to Him, and in telling others.
I have also realized that it’s important to to look back at the times when God did wonders in my life so that I remember how He changed my life.
Genesis 13 picks up again:
1So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. 2Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.
3From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier 4and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the LORD.
Abram went to Egypt, returned to the altar he had built before and remembered.
I think few things help our Faith like looking back at his ever-changing work in us. I know it blows me away each and every time.
How do you remember God’s work in your life? Do you tell others about the God-things that happen?
Do you build altars and party hard?
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Posted by Dominic
Thu, 23 Sep 2010 12:34:00 GMT
While driving in to work this morning, I overheard Max Lucado on KLOVE.
To paraphrase him:
“We have to remember, that even as Christians, we aren’t any better than others out there… The Bible says that salvation is a gift, and not faith through works. That means that we’re still just as bad as them, but we have the blessing that comes from God. And we need to remember that, and with humility act lovingly to each other.”
Christians often think that, because of the blessing of our salvation, we somehow are better than the “vast masses of unwashed sheep” out there - but when it comes down to it, we’re not. We were born sinners, we continue to sin (often on a daily basis), but — we were offered (and accepted) the blessing of Salvation.
That makes us different, but not better.
I actually think it raises the bar for Christians - our faith is not rooted in our works, but our faith does requires continual work on our part.
James 2:14 —
14What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
18But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
19You believe that God is one You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
20But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?
…
26For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
God loves us, and offers us the blessing of Salvation and a life spent following him. But if we accept that gift, we, out of love in return, are called to humble ourselves and love others.
Think about it.
Posted in God, how should christians behave | Tags humility, love | no comments | no trackbacks
Posted by Dominic
Fri, 30 Jul 2010 23:05:00 GMT
(Alternate title: ’How do we keep a Godly perspective in times of trouble.’)
I usually have a hard rule regarding not writing anything on the internet that involves my day job. Far too many people have gotten in trouble for mixing their work and personal lives, in one way or another.
I am going to break that rule because I think that the lesson I have learned (and the benefit to others from my realization) is important enough to risk the consequences of writing about it here.
I have had a bad attitude about work.
It’s bad, really bad. While I still did my job, and I did it to the best of my ability each and every day, my heart was no longer in it. I felt complacent, I felt entitled. I took it for granted.
I hid it well, at least that’s what I thought. While my attitude seemed largely hidden, every so often some of it would slip through. Often it was disguised as me upholding my boundaries, but underneath the carefully maintained facade was a seething storm of discontentment.
When talking about it with friends or asking for prayer about it, I would veil over it as the troubles being everybody else’s problems but mine. Blame a boss, or coworker, or corporate politics, or pick any of a million reasons to be unhappy with your job - I was doing well at deflecting the responsibility for my attitude.
And therein lies the crux of the problem: Responsibility.
You are responsible for your own thoughts, actions and emotions. Conversely, nobody else is responsible for your thoughts, actions and emotions, nor are you responsible for anyone else’s thoughts, actions and emotions.1
The words rang true in my mind as I sat there reeling under the onslaught of conviction for what I was doing. I had lost sight of what was important. I had to start taking responsibility for my emotions, actions and words.
It is written in James 1:
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
Perseverance through trials builds character. Maturity. Growth. While not an enjoyable experience, this is a good thing, with an even better end result. Which is why we should be joyful about the opportunity, even if being in the middle of it doesn’t feel very joyful.
Thus begins the heart change. But there’s more to trying to change how I was thinking about the situation, especially one where I was so deeply entrenched in the bad attitude I had toward it.
Philippians 4 helps us with our focus:
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Instead of constantly focusing on the bad parts, the disappointment, the frustrations, the politics or whatever else negative I’d been focusing on, I should focus on the blessings, the good things.
I am blessed to have a job. It’s a good job. It pays well. It puts food on the table, and a roof over my head. I could say all these things with an air of reluctance - forced gratitude, if I may call it that. But I actually am really glad for all of it.
Uncooperative coworkers, or managers that make decisions that just seem to pile on the work, can be a blessing - I have to practice exhibiting grace, I have to learn to deal with people and situations in a constructive way, instead of lashing out in anger or frustration.
That’s how we are called to behave, interact, deal with people. Not just when it’s easy, but especially when it’s difficult. That’s what makes for the biggest growth opportunity.
And growth is something we should look forward to and embrace, not fear.
1Source: Dr. Chris Thurman, Author of The Lies We Believe
.
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Posted by Dominic
Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:11:00 GMT
God taught me a lesson on grace yesterday.
A friend of mine accidentally exhibited some behavior that I have a bit of baggage about in my past. And my first instinct was to think the worst of her, and in my initial communique I was significantly more accusatory than I needed to be.
In talking back and forth, turns out it was an accident - we were a victim of some non-obvious user interface behavior behavior on a certain social networking site.
That’s when It hit me - the fact that right off the bat, I had assumed the worst of her… how twisted of me is that?
About the same time, I had a response from said friend, in which she challenged me to be more courteous the next time, et cetera. It was quite a bit of a wake-up.
I ended up thanking her for having confronted me and apologizing profusely for thinking that she had done it out of malice.
It reminded me of a quote I’ve read online many times:
Do not attribute to malice what can be explained by ignorance.
Sometimes those are useful words to remember.
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Posted by Dominic
Wed, 09 Sep 2009 22:33:00 GMT
I work like it’s up to me,
and pray like it’s up to Him.
I came across those words online the other day, and it struck me… While I might have that in my head, it’s not necessarily in my heart.
Often I don’t pray like it’s up to Him. See, I like being in control. When I do things, I know they’re done right. And that means that I then don’t trust God to do a good enough job for me. But that’s crazy, I mean… really, that’s crazy. Not to mention foolish.
And yet I do it, day after day, all the while wondering when I’m going to learn that lesson.
Take heed, friends, and learn from my foolishness.
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Posted by Dominic
Tue, 28 Jul 2009 00:35:00 GMT
As Jesus is on his way from Judea, he is approached by a young man: ”Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?”
The answer he gets is a bit puzzling — ”Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
The ruler thought this part easy, and he promises he has done this all his life. Not quite satisfied, the ruler asks: ”All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?”
And here’s the really uncomfortable part — Jesus issues a challenge to the ruler, ”If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
This young ruler was rich, you see — and when the challenge sank in, his spirits fell and he walked away grieving.
Most people are familiar with the story of the rich young ruler — but I wonder if we don’t fully understand what the challenge means, in terms that seem applicable to us today….
Over the last few weeks, I’ve come across several passages that all seem to point back at the same core tenet: Seek first God, all else is secondary.
Then Jesus said to His disciples, ”If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” (Matthew 16:24)
My fear is seeing people who read this passage and turn it into some weird twisted legalistic thing. They end up needlessly keeping themselves from doing things because they think blocking themselves from doing those said things is to deny themselves.
Take ice cream: I enjoy ice cream. A lot. I find it rather enjoyable to eat. Now, I don’t think that the passage is telling me to deny eating food. Or deny myself eating ice cream, or even deny myself enjoying eating said ice cream.
So what does it mean?
I think the passage refers to denying ourselves the things that we put ahead of our relationship with God. The challenge to “deny yourself” as issued by Jesus, is really a challenge to deny sin. That can be a difficult struggle to live out, but also a very fulfilling one.
For the rich young ruler, the challenge was to give up all his carefully collected riches. His most important things he was asked to give away.
Some are afraid of losing money. Others their big house, car or boat. Maybe it’s prestige and social standing…. Idolatry. We put other things before God, stupidly thinking it will do us good.
For me, it’s often trust: Silly as it may sound, my brain tries to twist reality into me thinking that I can take care of myself better than God, and so I don’t trust that he has what’s best for me in mind.
But just as with the rich young ruler, we are issued the same challenge:
Let it go. Give it up.
Of course this is all easier said than done. But we have a helper — He is more than willing to help us through the struggle. He’ll give us strength when it’s difficult, he’ll give us comfort when it’s tough, and through all it, there is love.
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Posted by Dominic
Tue, 26 May 2009 03:49:00 GMT
So I’m in Baltimore attending the NEXT conference - and listening to the speaker tonight, I was having the hardest time focusing on what he was teaching.
Then I started reviewing my notes, and boy, how I was twisting what he was saying when I was trying to write it down…. It didn’t make any sense.
Then my brain started playing tricks on me, and I was having these really weird emotionally self-destructive thoughts (for those not familiar with my newfound (thanks to therapy (and yes, I’m nesting parenthesizes)) self-examination and realizations, no — I’m not talking suicide or anything else, just… sometimes you start thinking of things and it goes downhill from there)….
And it occurred to me, it was time to pray.
I spent a good amount of time praying — in fact, I probably missed almost half of his teaching. But sometimes that’s just how things work out.
Later, as I’m sitting in my room finding the boarding pass information online, I overheard one of my roommates and his friends discussing how they felt disconnected during the session — just like I had. For one of them it was so strong that he ended up leaving, just to end up being ministered to by God outside showing him the falseness of his thoughts.
The moral of the story:
Do NOT underestimate the power of spiritual warfare, especially if you are in a room with some-3000 other Christians worshiping God at a conference that is being blanketed in prayer.
Sometimes Satan strikes when we think we are at our strongest….
Posted in God, how should christians behave | Tags 2009, conference, next, spiritual, thisisnext, warfare | no comments | no trackbacks
Posted by Dominic
Thu, 14 May 2009 16:58:00 GMT
The following has been standing out in my mind a lot this last week:
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
— Matthew 6:25-34
Posted in God, how should christians behave, Wandrings of the mind | Tags donotworry | no comments | no trackbacks
