In His Grip

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;  And the government will rest on His shoulders;  And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.  There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace…  (Isaiah 9:6-7a NASB) And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,  "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."  (Luke 2:13-14 NASB) As I reflect on the state of our world, the goings on in my community (like Black Friday madness!), and even in my own home and relationships, peace seems often elusive, and, at times, downright impossible. Yet, we seek peace, we hold out for the prospect of it, for the hope of it. If we have not peace in our own hearts, our own relationships, and in our communities,  on what basis can we hope for peace in our world? One of the things I have been learning this year is the rele

 - Last Fall I began a series entitled Spiritual Tests: How We Know What is Authentic. While I’ve taken some detours along the way, here is a review of some of the ground we’ve covered regarding ways we can test our own authenticity: •    Godly Self-Examination •    God’s Examination •    Examination from Godly People From here I’d like to explore with you how we test the influence of others on our lives, both the claims of truth we receive, as well as the credibility of the source of those claims. God has given us this instruction from the Apostle John: Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is

(This is a continuation of my previous post .) As always, we look to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2), and not to ourselves. "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works." (Jesus, John 14:10 NASB) Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work." (John 4:34 NASB) Jesus was satisfied with His words and works; more specifically, He was satisfied with the words and works of God the Father in Him. What does this mean for you and me in Christ? But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, "LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD." (1 Corinthians 1:30-31 NASB) Now, I want to make an important connection here: "Blessed are th

  Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4 NASB) and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, (Ephesians 1:19-20 NASB) Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. (John 4:34 NASB) It’s amazing to me how fast this year has gone.  I find this is to be true the first part of each year, perhaps no more than this year.  It’s hard to believe that my last blog entry was nearly 4 months ago! How does the perfectionist process this?  He seeks to make up ground to make up for all past omissions and commissions of sin.   Ridiculous?  Yes.  Impossible?  Yes.  Eve

It is good to give thanks to the LORD  And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;  To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning  And Your faithfulness by night,  (Psalms 92:1-2 NASB) Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  (Philippians 3:13-14 NASB) As I enter 2011, am am heartened by God's immense patience with me and faithfulness to Himself in 2011.  I see the balance of anticipating His lovingkindness in the future and proclaiming His faithfulness in the past.  In all of this, I anticipate a stronger and sharper focus on the light of Christ as He shines in, through, and among the communities of which I am a part. I was encouraged by the above 'Wordle', which is a graphical representation of the words that have appeared most frequently in this blog in 2010.  I trust