In the last post we looked at what it meant for Christ to be honoured and glorified by the way we live...the verse continues onto to say that we will be 'honoured along with him.' However what does this mean...surely it is all about Jesus receiving the honour and the glory and not us? Well it certainly doesn't mean that we should go around seeking praise for ourselves, but on the other hand we would be foolish to ignore the theologically truth contained in this statement. Romans 8:30 gives us insight into this idea saying 'those he justified he also glorified.'
As human beings we are cracked and flawed, we are not as we were originally intended to be, nor supposed to be. Being a Christian is being part of on going process of transformation in which we become fully human, as Christ was fully human. We are not left guessing as to what exactly this means...Jesus gave us the example of what it means to live a perfect human life. On the final day, all those who put their faith in Christ Jesus, will be transformed and made like Jesus himself; pure, spotless and without blemish. We will be glorified like Christ is glorified. For some the change on that final day will be more significant than others, but nevertheless it will be as complete for all those that belong to God.
Being glorified is not something we undergo for our own gain, but something which points back to God himself; without Christ we would not glorified at all. We are being strengthened and empowered because Christ is 'in us', thus our glory is a testament to the infinite power and grace of the indwelling spirit of the living God. Furthermore we are not giving Christ something he did not have in the first place, as if we giving God 'more glory.' No, we giving back to Christ everything that was already in his possession...we can be said to be the illumination of Christ's glory, a lampstand on a hill. It is as if Christ reveals his glory to us, so we praise him and worship him by changing the way we live, and in turn we reveal more of the glory of God.
Paul writes here with his eyes firmly focussed on heaven. Indeed this is such an important thing to remember for us living the Christian life, it gives us a greater perspective, a persective which is beyond ourselves and our immediate situation. We are living are living for the glory of God, and we are living in view of God one day transforming us once and for all in to who we are destined to be. Colossians 3:1 - 4 puts this whole idea in context very nicely for us... 'Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.'
Take a moment to examine yourself...does your life truly reflect the glory of God? Is your undergoing a transformation or do you feel left stagnant and stationery, in the same place you were many years ago? Do you feel you are overcoming spiritual strongholds and areas you are weak in, making ground for Christ Jesus in your life?
Monday, 30 June 2008
Friday, 27 June 2008
05 - Praying with Paul
'So we keep on praying for you, asking God to enable you to live a life worthy of your calling. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good works your faith promotes you to do. Then he will be honoured by the way you live, and you will be honored along with him. This is all possible by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.'
What does it mean for 'Christ to be honoured by the way you live?' Well another way of understanding this verse would be to say 'may Christ be glorified by the way you live.' It is essentially saying therefore everything you do, every thought you have, every word you speak, and every action you make, God should be glorified as a result. C.S Lewis argued that as human beings every decision we make brings us closer to God or further away from Him...I would continue this line further, every decision we makes either brings glory and honour to God or it does not.
Do not take this verse lightly, glorifying God is of utmost importance...in fact glorifying God is man's chief end, everything we do should bring glory to God, it is the principal reason why we were brought into existence and why we continue to exist. God's only purpose in his own existence is to bring glory to himself, it is his nature. Indeed John Piper writes 'God's overwhelming passion is to exalt the value of his own glory?'
In life it to common that we have our own agendas and so it is no different in Christian life . We have our own ideas, opinions and strategies of how things should be done best; all to often we can become preoccupied with these agendas and we lose sight of principal aim...to bring glory to God. In my church we are under going building work and various plans are floating around as how to best carry out this work. Innevitably people will be looking at all sorts of problemsproblems of planning, finance, logistics, building and a whole host of other stuff. My prayer for those in leadership and those concerned with this building project is that they don't lose sight of their principal aim, to bring glory to God.
Why are we doing this structural work? To have more seating space. Why do want more seating space? So we can accomodate more people into our sunday morning service? Why do we want more people? So we can teach them, encourage them, bring them into the presence of God. Why do we want this? So people will learn how to glorify God more and more through, and in their lives!
Let him (man) give God all the glory, who alone makes him to differ from the worst of people in this world and the most miserable of the damned in hell...Let him ascribe all glory to Him whose workmanship we are, created in Christ jesus for good works.' Jonathan Edwards (1703 - 1758)
What does it mean for 'Christ to be honoured by the way you live?' Well another way of understanding this verse would be to say 'may Christ be glorified by the way you live.' It is essentially saying therefore everything you do, every thought you have, every word you speak, and every action you make, God should be glorified as a result. C.S Lewis argued that as human beings every decision we make brings us closer to God or further away from Him...I would continue this line further, every decision we makes either brings glory and honour to God or it does not.
Do not take this verse lightly, glorifying God is of utmost importance...in fact glorifying God is man's chief end, everything we do should bring glory to God, it is the principal reason why we were brought into existence and why we continue to exist. God's only purpose in his own existence is to bring glory to himself, it is his nature. Indeed John Piper writes 'God's overwhelming passion is to exalt the value of his own glory?'
In life it to common that we have our own agendas and so it is no different in Christian life . We have our own ideas, opinions and strategies of how things should be done best; all to often we can become preoccupied with these agendas and we lose sight of principal aim...to bring glory to God. In my church we are under going building work and various plans are floating around as how to best carry out this work. Innevitably people will be looking at all sorts of problemsproblems of planning, finance, logistics, building and a whole host of other stuff. My prayer for those in leadership and those concerned with this building project is that they don't lose sight of their principal aim, to bring glory to God.
Why are we doing this structural work? To have more seating space. Why do want more seating space? So we can accomodate more people into our sunday morning service? Why do we want more people? So we can teach them, encourage them, bring them into the presence of God. Why do we want this? So people will learn how to glorify God more and more through, and in their lives!
Let him (man) give God all the glory, who alone makes him to differ from the worst of people in this world and the most miserable of the damned in hell...Let him ascribe all glory to Him whose workmanship we are, created in Christ jesus for good works.' Jonathan Edwards (1703 - 1758)
Thursday, 26 June 2008
Spiritual Groove
Time to share some more music with you guys...
Antoine Dufour (guitar) and Tommy Gauthier (violin), feature in this video...both from Canada (the french speaking part) . This combination of instruments is truly stunning...Watch out from 1:56 -2:10, this is my favourite part of the whole composition, a wonderful rising sequence.
This is beautiful blend of both melody and rhythm. Antoine's guitar playing is sensational, his grasp of every aspect of the guitar; finger picking, strumming, harmonics, and his whole very rhythmic approach. The sound of Tommy's violin is incredible; he has beautiful tone. I particuarly enjoy the the way he slides onto the notes giving a very 'folky' sound. He uses a great variety of fast, very rhythmic playing almost bouncing off the strings, in juxtaposition to long sweeping notes. His use of double stopping just shows the great command of the instrument he has.
Fantastic!
Antoine Dufour (guitar) and Tommy Gauthier (violin), feature in this video...both from Canada (the french speaking part) . This combination of instruments is truly stunning...Watch out from 1:56 -2:10, this is my favourite part of the whole composition, a wonderful rising sequence.
This is beautiful blend of both melody and rhythm. Antoine's guitar playing is sensational, his grasp of every aspect of the guitar; finger picking, strumming, harmonics, and his whole very rhythmic approach. The sound of Tommy's violin is incredible; he has beautiful tone. I particuarly enjoy the the way he slides onto the notes giving a very 'folky' sound. He uses a great variety of fast, very rhythmic playing almost bouncing off the strings, in juxtaposition to long sweeping notes. His use of double stopping just shows the great command of the instrument he has.
Fantastic!
Wednesday, 25 June 2008
04 - Praying with Paul
How often do you hear people say, when talking about what happens to them when they die...'well I have done loads of good things, in fact I dont think I have ever done anything bad at all'. They give lots of money of charity, serve the local community in some various way and do loads of other stuff which they believe should surely secure them a place in heaven. Not to say all these good things our hypothetical person does, are in fact bad, not at all, but in the context of eternity they mean very little...it is an issue of the soul we are dealing with here. In thinking this way our hypothetical person neglects the very core and essential component of what it means to live and in fact reach heaven...the HEART.
Paul prays from the Christians in Thessalonica that they may accomplish all the good works their faith promotes them to do. That the good works they do flow from a HEART which loves Jesus Christ, and longs to please him. If they are not done out of the heart, in eternitys eyes they mean nothing. Paul makes it clear the honus of the good works is very much placed on them, in the fact that they are something THEY do as a result of THEIR faith. However they are not something they do alone; they are empowered by the spirit of the Living God only in this way will they be truly fruitful and sucessful. Indeed Psalm 127 makes it very clear, 'unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labour in vain.'
Paul is assuming therefore, as we spoke about in the third post in this series...an inner transformation in taking place in the hearts of the Thessalonian believers. They are not interested in doing the things they once did before they knew Christ Jesus, but now they have a new set of goals and aims...these a result of their faith. Paul doesn't describe how this should actually work out in practise, but we can infer it means any good work done, not out of the sake of doing good works, but out of faith, empowered by the indwelling Spirit of Christ
Take a moment to reflect on your own life; are you indeed doing any good work for the sake of Jesus Christ or are you concerned with principally your own aims and ambitions? If you are doing good things, are they done out of love for Jesus Christ and love for other people, or they done to seek some other sort of reward? Finally, are you relying on your own strength and will power to accomplish your good works or do you pray this prayer of Paul...that God would give you the power?
Paul prays from the Christians in Thessalonica that they may accomplish all the good works their faith promotes them to do. That the good works they do flow from a HEART which loves Jesus Christ, and longs to please him. If they are not done out of the heart, in eternitys eyes they mean nothing. Paul makes it clear the honus of the good works is very much placed on them, in the fact that they are something THEY do as a result of THEIR faith. However they are not something they do alone; they are empowered by the spirit of the Living God only in this way will they be truly fruitful and sucessful. Indeed Psalm 127 makes it very clear, 'unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labour in vain.'
Paul is assuming therefore, as we spoke about in the third post in this series...an inner transformation in taking place in the hearts of the Thessalonian believers. They are not interested in doing the things they once did before they knew Christ Jesus, but now they have a new set of goals and aims...these a result of their faith. Paul doesn't describe how this should actually work out in practise, but we can infer it means any good work done, not out of the sake of doing good works, but out of faith, empowered by the indwelling Spirit of Christ
Take a moment to reflect on your own life; are you indeed doing any good work for the sake of Jesus Christ or are you concerned with principally your own aims and ambitions? If you are doing good things, are they done out of love for Jesus Christ and love for other people, or they done to seek some other sort of reward? Finally, are you relying on your own strength and will power to accomplish your good works or do you pray this prayer of Paul...that God would give you the power?
Tuesday, 24 June 2008
The Mandolin Rain
Well...I thought I would have a little break from the spiritual stuff and instead share some of my favourite songs. Bruce Hornsby is surely one of the most creative musicians and lyricists in the music at the moment...listen and enjoy.
"The song came and went
Like the times that we spent
Hiding out from the rain under the carnival tent
I laughed and shed smile
It would last for awhile
You dont know what you got till you lose it all again
Listen to the mandolin rain
Listen to the music on the lake
Listen to my heart break every time she runs away
Listen to the banjo wind
A sad song drifting low
Listen to the tears roll
Down my face as she turns to go"
I love it when you find a song which resonates deeply within you....This song surely does for me.
"The song came and went
Like the times that we spent
Hiding out from the rain under the carnival tent
I laughed and shed smile
It would last for awhile
You dont know what you got till you lose it all again
Listen to the mandolin rain
Listen to the music on the lake
Listen to my heart break every time she runs away
Listen to the banjo wind
A sad song drifting low
Listen to the tears roll
Down my face as she turns to go"
I love it when you find a song which resonates deeply within you....This song surely does for me.
Monday, 23 June 2008
03 - Praying with Paul
In the previous post we beagn to dismantle the first sentence and what it means for God to 'enable us'... let us further dismantle this first sentence by looking at what is means to live a life 'worthy of your calling.'
We can best understand this statement initially by asserting what it doesn't mean. We could easily interpret this verse incorrectly, arguing that in some way perhaps Paul was suggesting that the Christians in Thessalonica need to attain a certain level of godliness to become worthy Christians; that they would somehow EARN their right to be called by God. In turn they would be 'worthy of their calling.' This view is certainly not what Paul is trying to communicate...Paul makes it obvious everyone is a sinner and nobody is ever 'worthy to be called' in the sense that they are good enough by their own merit.
In Romans 8:30 it reads 'those he predestined, he also called...' and thus in some way the saving process (salvation) has already begun for those who have been called. If you have been called by God you have been saved (justified)and been made 'acceptable' by him. Thus the Thessalonian Christians could not be counted 'worthy of their salvation' by their own effort because, indeed we can say with confidence they already were saved.
Thus Paulis saying something very different, he is emploring his fellow Christians to live a life 'worthy of the one' who called them. Because they have been called, because they have been made right with God, there should be a profound affect on the way they live their lives. Carson himself writes 'Paul wants us to become what we are not, and prays to that end.' Thus becoming worthy of your calling is essentially an issue of stepping into Christian maturity. Are you going to step into the eternal values God has called you to? Remember citizens of heaven and sons of the most high God live very different lives to those who are not.
Carson indeed makes it very obvious in his text of what it means to step into Christian maturity...'we should become increasingly holy, self denying, loving, full of integrity, steeped in the knowledge and Word of God, delighted to trust and obey our heavenly Father.' This cetainly looks like a daunting list of things to live up to and acheive in our owns lives, however GOD IS THE ENABLER. Paul prays that God would enable us, not that we do it by our own strength but instead we acheive this things by the grace of God working in and through our lives. To step into Christian maturity and become worthy of your calling, is surely to step into a new life in Christ Jesus, which consumes more and more of the freely flowing grace of God each day.
I shall leave you with a final quote to reflect on, take a moment to understand what this fully means in light of what we have already discussed...'The greatest spiritual saints are not those who need less grace, but those who consume the most' (Dallas Willard).
We can best understand this statement initially by asserting what it doesn't mean. We could easily interpret this verse incorrectly, arguing that in some way perhaps Paul was suggesting that the Christians in Thessalonica need to attain a certain level of godliness to become worthy Christians; that they would somehow EARN their right to be called by God. In turn they would be 'worthy of their calling.' This view is certainly not what Paul is trying to communicate...Paul makes it obvious everyone is a sinner and nobody is ever 'worthy to be called' in the sense that they are good enough by their own merit.
In Romans 8:30 it reads 'those he predestined, he also called...' and thus in some way the saving process (salvation) has already begun for those who have been called. If you have been called by God you have been saved (justified)and been made 'acceptable' by him. Thus the Thessalonian Christians could not be counted 'worthy of their salvation' by their own effort because, indeed we can say with confidence they already were saved.
Thus Paulis saying something very different, he is emploring his fellow Christians to live a life 'worthy of the one' who called them. Because they have been called, because they have been made right with God, there should be a profound affect on the way they live their lives. Carson himself writes 'Paul wants us to become what we are not, and prays to that end.' Thus becoming worthy of your calling is essentially an issue of stepping into Christian maturity. Are you going to step into the eternal values God has called you to? Remember citizens of heaven and sons of the most high God live very different lives to those who are not.
Carson indeed makes it very obvious in his text of what it means to step into Christian maturity...'we should become increasingly holy, self denying, loving, full of integrity, steeped in the knowledge and Word of God, delighted to trust and obey our heavenly Father.' This cetainly looks like a daunting list of things to live up to and acheive in our owns lives, however GOD IS THE ENABLER. Paul prays that God would enable us, not that we do it by our own strength but instead we acheive this things by the grace of God working in and through our lives. To step into Christian maturity and become worthy of your calling, is surely to step into a new life in Christ Jesus, which consumes more and more of the freely flowing grace of God each day.
I shall leave you with a final quote to reflect on, take a moment to understand what this fully means in light of what we have already discussed...'The greatest spiritual saints are not those who need less grace, but those who consume the most' (Dallas Willard).
Friday, 20 June 2008
02 - Praying with Paul
In the previous post we looked at how Paul seems to challenge a narrow view of praying, giving us good example of how to pray in a more broad and expansive way; a type of prayer that reflects the infinitely broad and expansive nature of God, who is able to accomplish all things!
There are two things worthy noticing in the very first sentence, we shall look at one here... Paul prays 'GOD would enable them to live a life worthy of their calling.' What is significant to note is that God is the one who 'enables us', he is the initiator of all things. Just as he is the initiator of our faith, giving us the faith to believe in the saving work of the Cross, so he gives us the power to continue in the course of Christian discipleship also.
Satan would easily tell us the lie that pursuing God is a completely personal endeavour, which is a test of your own will and single mindedness. Paul reminds us that we should pray for God to help us in our journey into his likeness. In fact our success in transformation is utterly dependant on the grace of God in every aspect of our life, enabling us to be transformed into a better reflection of Jesus Christ. To 'go it alone' in our Christian faith is surely to lead to failure. I shall leave with a few useful quotes from the Jonathan Edwards (1703 - 1758) who gives good insight into describing our utter dependence on God.
'You stand in need of daily supplies of God. Without Him, you can receive no spiritual light, or comfort, can exercise no grace, and can bring forth no fruit. Without God your souls will wither and pine away, and sink into a most wretched state. You continually need God's intructions and directions. What can a little child do in a vast, howling wilderness without someone to guide and lead the child in the right way? Without God, you will soon fall into snares, pits and many calamities.'
or...
'After a true conversion, the soul is increasingly aware of its own impotence and emptiness. It is aware of its universal dependence on God for everything.'
Examine yourself for a moment; are you truly aware of own incapability of living the Christian life and in turn aware of your utter dependence on the grace of God? How differently do you think your life would look like without God being the most SINGLE IMPORTANT thing in your life? Would your world fall to pieces around you, or would it continue to look much the same?
There are two things worthy noticing in the very first sentence, we shall look at one here... Paul prays 'GOD would enable them to live a life worthy of their calling.' What is significant to note is that God is the one who 'enables us', he is the initiator of all things. Just as he is the initiator of our faith, giving us the faith to believe in the saving work of the Cross, so he gives us the power to continue in the course of Christian discipleship also.
Satan would easily tell us the lie that pursuing God is a completely personal endeavour, which is a test of your own will and single mindedness. Paul reminds us that we should pray for God to help us in our journey into his likeness. In fact our success in transformation is utterly dependant on the grace of God in every aspect of our life, enabling us to be transformed into a better reflection of Jesus Christ. To 'go it alone' in our Christian faith is surely to lead to failure. I shall leave with a few useful quotes from the Jonathan Edwards (1703 - 1758) who gives good insight into describing our utter dependence on God.
'You stand in need of daily supplies of God. Without Him, you can receive no spiritual light, or comfort, can exercise no grace, and can bring forth no fruit. Without God your souls will wither and pine away, and sink into a most wretched state. You continually need God's intructions and directions. What can a little child do in a vast, howling wilderness without someone to guide and lead the child in the right way? Without God, you will soon fall into snares, pits and many calamities.'
or...
'After a true conversion, the soul is increasingly aware of its own impotence and emptiness. It is aware of its universal dependence on God for everything.'
Examine yourself for a moment; are you truly aware of own incapability of living the Christian life and in turn aware of your utter dependence on the grace of God? How differently do you think your life would look like without God being the most SINGLE IMPORTANT thing in your life? Would your world fall to pieces around you, or would it continue to look much the same?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
