The World Can Do What it Will

...But as for me, my prayer is to You, O LORD.
At an acceptable time, O God,
in the abundance of Your steadfast love answer me
in Your saving faithfulness. (Psalm 69:13)

How precious are His Words, giving form to deep thoughts and feelings we can't express! How beautiful is the simplicity and how amazing the accuracy of these words (they are perfect!), taking my feelings and channeling them on His lighted path. It's almost as if my Father tells me: "I know how you feel, this is it! And it's also how you should think about it.". Thank You! Your guidance is so precious!

Deliver me
from sinking in the mire;
let me be delivered from my enemies
and from the deep waters.
Let not the flood sweep over me,
or the deep swallow me up,
or the pit close its mouth over me. (Psalm 69:14-15)

All my struggles are before You and You can hear the longings and cries of my heart. You are perfectly wise and just and You have ordained everything that ever happens, so thank You for my circumstances. Please fill me with Your Holy Spirit so what would come out of my heart would be the good treasure You have stored: trusting fully in Your sovereignty and promises, and great joy that I have the imperishable inheritance You've stored in heaven for You church.

Answer me, O LORD, for your steadfast love is good;
according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.
Hide not your face from your servant;
for I am in distress; make haste to answer me.
Draw near to my soul, redeem me;
ransom me because of my enemies!
(Psalm 69:16-18)

If You would come and abide with me, if You will never leave me nor forsake me, my soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods. If Your precious Spirit would make His holy presence known in me and make me abide in You, I will bear much fruit, so that You would be glorified. Thank You that I long to see You glorified, that You've enabled me to see that You are worthy of all praise and honor and worship forever!

A Servant of All

I would just like to take a few minutes and "thank the LORD for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!" (Ps 107:31).

God is a wonderful Father, the only perfect Father we could ever have. He knows exactly what we need and I can say pretty confidently that I believe He will give us His word when we need it. I'm saying that because He says that "He has given us everything we need for life and godliness", even our daily bread was designed by Him so that we might have a vivid picture of the fact that we need His Word, that we need His strength and grace to survive for "Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God" and "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Phil 4:13).

And because "Praise benefits the upright" I will praise the LORD by declaring His wonderful deeds. That He is a faithful God, that He is not like man, that He should lie, or like the son of man that He should change His mind. What He said He will do and what He spoke He will fulfill.

I praise God for my marriage. That it's been a wonderful opportunity to see that He is right, to see that my reflection in His Word is the most accurate reflection of me that I'll ever see. That I am so well portrayed in the beginning of Psalm 36..

" Transgression speaks to the wicked
deep in his heart;
there is no fear of God
before his eyes.
For he flatters himself in his own eyes
that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.
The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit;
he has ceased to act wisely and do good.
He plots trouble while on his bed;
he sets himself in a way that is not good;
he does not reject evil."

That I am portrayed so well in my need for Him in John 15

"I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full."

I praise the Holy Spirit of God for softening my heart and showing me that I own these verses. That He makes me see that this is The Truth and nothing else I see around me.

Lately, my Heavenly Father has kept bringing me back to these words of Jesus:

"33 And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, "What were you discussing on the way?" 34But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. 35And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, "If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all." (Mark 9).

"20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. 21And he said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him, "Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom." 22Jesus answered, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?" They said to him, "We are able." 23He said to them, "You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father." 24And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. 25But Jesus called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."" (Matt 20)

This is one thing I've seen in myself a lot through my marriage: I want to be served. It's always about me, even when I do something for Dave, I need praise and he definitely needs to do something even nicer for me. But according to what Jesus says, I will be last in the kingdom of heaven if I continue to act that way.

The kingdom of heaven.. a place full of God's glory. The place where the Almighty God dwells, the only place that matters in light of eternity. I want to be great in the kingdom of heaven!

Being all fair and without spot in the eyes of God

This was too good to not pass along. I definitely think that one way of killing sin is by meditating and having it so rooted in our minds that God loves us with a perfect love and sees us as holy. How crazy! And wonderful. Charles Spurgeon explained it so well "this morning" :

"Thou art all fair, my love."—Song of Solomon 4:7.

"The Lord's admiration of His Church is very a wonderful, and His description of her beauty is very glowing. She is not merely fair, but "all fair." He views her in Himself, washed in His sin-atoning blood and clothed in His meritorious righteousness, and He considers her to be full of comeliness and beauty. No wonder that such is the case, since it is but His own perfect excellency that He admires; for the holiness, glory, and perfection of His Church are His own glorious garments on the back of His own well-beloved spouse. She is not simply pure, or well-proportioned; she is positively lovely and fair! She has actual merit! Her deformities of sin are removed; but more, she has through her Lord obtained a meritorious righteousness by which an actual beauty is conferred upon her. Believers have a positive righteousness given to them when they become "accepted in the beloved" (Eph. 1:6). Nor is the Church barely lovely, she is superlatively so. Her Lord styles her "Thou fairest among women." She has a real worth and excellence which cannot be rivalled by all the nobility and royalty of the world. If Jesus could exchange His elect bride for all the queens and empresses of earth, or even for the angels in heaven, He would not, for He puts her first and foremost—"fairest among women." Like the moon she far outshines the stars. Nor is this an opinion which He is ashamed of, for He invites all men to hear it. He sets a "behold" before it, a special note of exclamation, inviting and arresting attention. "Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair" (Song of Sol. 4:1). His opinion He publishes abroad even now, and one day from the throne of His glory He will avow the truth of it before the assembled universe. "Come, ye blessed of my Father" (Matt. 25:34), will be His solemn affirmation of the loveliness of His elect."

(Charles Spurgeon - "Daily Meditations", December 2nd Morning)

Thanksgiving for Thanksgiving sermon

Dave was asked to give the thanksgiving sermonette (approx 15 min) in our church service on Wednesday night. God was again faithful! He gave Dave the grace he needed to speak His truth faithfully. I am blessed to be married to a man who has such a high view of God's Word!

I was thinking to share a summary for people who weren't there..

The main verse he used was 1Thess 5:18: "Give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.". He explained that giving thanks means to express gratitude for and acknowledge what God has done. He went on to say that the bar is set really high: "give thanks in all circumstances". All that followed was explaining how that's possible. We know this is God's Word and that God means what He says.

Some things are easy to be thankful for, but what about when circumstances are hard, when there is discomfort, pain and conflict? Dave said that people who believe what the apostle Paul believes are able to give thanks always. He encouraged and helped us to look at Paul's theology on suffering and looked at 4 main things:

1. Paul's circumstances

Here, he read 2Cor 11:23-28 : "Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches."


The circumstances that most of us face are probably far easier to deal with than Paul's.

2. Paul's Hope

He must have had a serious hope to be thankful in those circumstances. This hope is a sure hope.

Rom 8:28,29: "And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purposes. For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son so that he might be the first born among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified and those whom he justified he also glorified."


This hope is the sure hope that God works all things for the good of believers. We must be careful that we come up with our own definition of "good", but that we understand God's definition. We find it in verse 29 : "to be conformed to the image of His Son", who is holy. And having been conformed to Christ and given "the holiness without which no one will see God" (Heb 12:14), we will spend eternity in glory with Him.

3. Paul's Perspective

Paul's perspective is not surprising given his hope. We find that perspective a few verses earlier, in Rom 8:18: "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us."


2Cor 4:17,18: "For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."

Jonathan Edwards summarizes this perspective well. It is the perspective of someone who sees "the shortness of life, the certainty of death and the length of eternity"

4. The Purpose Paul sees in his sufferings: God's Glory!

2Cor 4:15: "For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.". "It" refers to the suffering Paul experiences in spreading the Gospel. "Grace" refers to the grace of the gospel. Which brings us back to thanksgiving:

1Thess 5:18: "give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you"

It is God's will because it brings glory to God.

Ps 50:23a: "The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me"

Ps 69:30: "I will praise the name of God with a song;
I will magnify him with thanksgiving."


Amen!

City on a Hill

The "City on a Hill" Conference was a very refreshing and edifying time. I think it's really amazing how God can refresh you through His Word being faithfully preached. It reminds me of what J.I. Paker said in "Knowing God" that those who know God have great energy for God and a great commitment to God. It's really encouraging to see that fruit being created in your heart by good preaching.

Anyway, I don't have time to share too much about it, hopefully the sermons will be online soon.. I just wanted to share two funny moments in the conference.

The first one was when Philip Ryken opened his sermon during the last session on Saturday afternoon and shared parts of the conversations he'd had with people over the lunch break. So he was telling somebody that we, as Calvinists, believe in the doctrine of total depravity. And not only do we believe in it, we also practice it. So true!

The second moment was after Steve Lawson finished his excellent seminar on Jonathan Edwards. He was taking questions from different people. One person raised their hand and asked "How come you're not a Presbyterian?". Dr Lawson didn't really have the time to answer that question but made the comment that usually it's Presbyterians who invite him to preach..

I just want to express my gratitude to God for providing the church with these wonderful men of God, that He gave them such a passion for Him and His Word, that He gave them the understanding and grace to do their ministry so faithfully! We have a great, good, perfectly holy God! Praise to the LORD, the Almighty, the King of creation!

Jesus, Our Treasure

Lately I've been reading Charles Spurgeon's Morning and Evening Daily Meditations. It's been really good to get encouraged and edified by the "Prince of Preachers". I think it is also amazing how somebody who loved God so much and had such a great desire to benefit God's people can have such an impact on the church today. I find that to be a great encouragement to the people of God to do "the good works which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them".

I'm really thankful that God created us with the strongest need for Him, that He helps us realize that need and then He also meets it. I'm thankful that He teaches us that reality about ourselves, through trial and error, through our best moments in His presence where there is fullness of joy, and our worst moments of rebellion and turning our backs on Him. The other day, Spurgeon was meditating on Col 2:6a "So, as you have received Christ". Here is part of what he says :

"While we are without faith, Jesus is a mere name to us—a person who lived a long while ago, so long ago that his life is only a history to us now! By an act of faith Jesus becomes a real person in the consciousness of our heart. But receiving also means grasping or getting possession of. The thing which I receive becomes my own: I appropriate to myself that which is given. When I receive Jesus, he becomes my Saviour, so mine that neither life nor death shall be able to rob me of him. All this is to receive Christ—to take him as God’s free gift; to realize him in my heart, and to appropriate him as mine.

Salvation may be described as the blind receiving sight, the deaf receiving hearing, the dead receiving life; but we have not only received these blessings, we have received Christ Jesus himself. It is true that he gave us life from the dead. He gave us pardon of sin; he gave us imputed righteousness. These are all precious things, but we are not content with them; we have received Christ himself. The Son of God has been poured into us, and we have received him, and appropriated him. What a heartful Jesus must be, for heaven itself cannot contain him!"

That's pretty crazy. To know that at any(and every!) point during my day or night, I have Christ, He is there with me, always, a friend, a treasure, a high priest who can sympathize with anything I'm going through! A refuge, the perfectly patient, kind, loving friend who sacrificed his life for me. The perfect Lamb who was slain so that He might receive glory, honor and praise from His church, perfected and glorified, forever! The perfectly pure, perfectly holy, Almighty King of the Universe is mine, He is the water that my soul thirsts for, His Word is the only light that can guide my steps. How would I ever need anything else? How would I ever desire something that grieves His heart? How would I ever choose to drink stinky and polluted water after tasting the purest, most fresh and satisfying water that He offers? How would I get angry at people when He will make perfect justice? How would I not tell the world about this wonderful counselor, Mighty God, Lord of Lords and King of Kings, who created the universe by His Word? How would I not pray with my whole heart, that He would come back again, to destroy anything that doesn't give Him the glory He is worthy of?

I think it is because I don't keep my eyes fixed on Him. I don't think about the fact that He is mine. I don't trust Him to be true (which is crazy! "Every word of God proves true; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him" !).. So I'm thankful that my Heavenly Father knows that I am but dust. And that He graciously gives me His Word everyday and He continues to feed me and grow me and help me. I am thankful that He exulted His Name and His Word above all things.

Here are some verses that God used today to confront me and help me see how He sees my sin

Prov 11:6: The righteousness of the upright delivers them, but the treacherous are taken captive by their lusts.

v9: With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor, but by knowledge the righteous are delivered

v12: Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense, but a man of understanding remains silent

v19: Whoever is steadfast in righteousness will live, but he who pursues evil will die. (this made me think about Rom 8:13 and Rom 1:17, I love this version: "The one who by faith is righteous shall live")

A joyous blah

I'm getting married in 2 months!!! Things have been so crazy with all the preps and all the anticipation! But I am so thankful for my dear friends and family who have shown their love to us in so many ways: from sacrificing their time to help us with what we need to get done to sending their loving thoughts and sharing God's words of wisdom and love with us!

I just wanted to write down some of the verses these wonderful people have shared.

Prov 18:22: "He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD."

Prov 8:35: "For whoever finds me [Wisdom] finds life and obtains favor from the LORD,"

Psalm 127:1-2: "Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep."

Prov 24:3-4: "By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches."

Gal 6:22: "Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."


1 Peter 3:1-6: "Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct. Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening."

John 3:29: "The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete."

I also appreciated the reminder to enjoy the time of our engagement. It's so easy to just focus on the details of the wedding and miss out on the joy that God intends for us to have during this time. And, most of all "Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift"(2 Cor 9:15).