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The Rebelution: To Say, I Have Known God.

“We must learn to measure ourselves, not by our knowledge about God, not by our gifts and responsibilities in the church, but by how we pray and what goes on in our hearts. Many of us, I suspect, have no idea how impoverished we are on this level. Let us ask the Lord to show us.

“Second, we must seek the Savior… It is [those] who have sought the Lord Jesus till they have found Him—for the promise is that when we seek Him with all our hearts, we shall surely find Him—who can stand before the world to testify that they have known God.”

~ Knowing God, J.I. Packer ~

I am currently reading “Knowing God”. I’ve read it before, years ago, but I really didn’t READ it.  This time will be different.

We must be constant worshippers - The Rebelution

Which God do you worship? -Part 8:  The Desert Pastor

“The doctrine of irresistible grace is easily understood. Once we understand the condition of man in sin, that he is dead, enslaved to a corrupt nature, incapable of doing what is pleasing to God, we can fully understand the simple assertion that God must raise the dead sinner to life. That is all, really, the phrase means: it has nothing to do with sinners rebelling against God and ‘resisting’ Him in that way. It has nothing to do with the fact that Christians often resist God’s grace in their lives when they sin against Him. No, irresistible grace means one thing: God raises dead sinners to life.”
-James R. White, The Potter’s Freedom

The gospel of Satan is not a system of revolutionary principles, nor yet a program of anarchy. It does not promote strife and war, but aims at peace and unity. It seeks not to set the mother against her daughter nor the father against his son, but fosters the fraternal spirit whereby the human race is regarded as one great “brotherhood.” It does not seek to drag down the natural man, but to improve and uplift him. It advocates education and cultivation and appeals to “the best that is within - It aims to make this world such a comfortable and congenial habitat that Christ’s absence from it will not be felt and God will not be needed. It endeavors to occupy man so much with this world that he has no time or inclination to think of the world to come. It propagates the principles of self-sacrifice, charity and benevolence, and teaches us to live for the good of others, and to be kind to all. It appeals strongly to the carnal mind and is popular with the masses, because it ignores the solemn facts that by nature man is a fallen creature, alienated from the life of God, and dead in trespasses and sins, and that his only hope lies in being born again.

 

In contradistinction to the Gospel of Christ, the gospel of Satan teaches salvation by works. It inculcates justification before God on the ground of human merits. Its sacramental phrase is “Be good and do good”; but it fails to recognize that in the flesh there dwelleth no good thing. It announces salvation by character, which reverses the order of God’s Word—character by, as the fruit of, salvation. Its various ramifications and organizations are manifold. Temperance, Reform Movements, “Christian Socialist Leagues,” Ethical Culture Societies, “Peace Congresses” are all employed (perhaps unconsciously) in proclaiming this gospel of Satan—salvation by works.” —A. W. Pink (1886–1952)

 

Taken from Another Gospel by A.W. Pink

 

HT: The Bororean

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.” – Ephesians 1:3-4

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. “– Ephesians 2:10

“For the grace of God has appeared, brining salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.” – Titus 2:11-12

I am using a book by John Macarthur, Drawing Near: Daily Readings for a Deeper Faith to help me dig deeper into studying and applying God’s word. I’ve had it for a few weeks now, but I’ve decided to write about what I’m reading to enable me to really think about it. It does me no good to read everyday and not give it any more thought.

Today’s reading is titled: The Measure of True Success. Right at the beginning it says:

God is more interested in your faithfulness

than in your accomplishments.

This culture measures success by our status, wealth, and possessions. However, God is not impressed by any of that. God measures our success by how faithful we are to His will. His will very often directly contradicts what the world says is successful. He tells us not to give thought to our possessions, to be content with what we have, to seek His approval rather than man’s approval. This is not easy to do, but it is what He requires.

If I am to be what God wants me to be, my focus has to be on being a success in HIS eyes, not in the eyes of people. I truly have to not care about what anybody else thinks of me, as long as I’m pleasing him. Now, I often say I don’t give a rip about what anybody else thinks of me, and for the most part it’s true. But I have to admit: I’m human, and at times, I’d love for others to approve of me. At those times, I have to ask myself: WHAT IS MY GOAL? Is it to hear the compliments and accolades of those around me, or is it to stand before God when it’s my turn (and we ALL will have a turn) and hear him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant? (Matthew 25:21). I can honestly say it’s the latter. Approval from other people is nice, but it does not satisfy me. Approval from others will change like the wind. I’d much rather work toward pleasing God, who does not change. God, who works out everything for my good. God, who knew me before I was in my mother’s womb. God, who I will stand in front of and give an account for everything I did in my life. There’s really no comparison.

So how do I do that? First, I need to be more consistent in my obedience of His word. This means, I have to be more consistent in my STUDY of his word. I have to be more consistent in communication with him. I have to make a conscience effort to pray EVERYDAY, and not just God bless me and mine, but sitting still and meditating on His word and asking him to guide me in living it out. And as the scriptures above say, I need to resolve to live holy and blameless before Him. I need to live my life to do the good works He has prepared for me to do. I need to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live a self-controlled, upright, and godly life. I cannot do these things in my own power. I will have to fully rely on His grace and His Spirit within me to make this possible in any way.

Following Christ in this world is not easy…..but it’s what I am committed to doing. I’ve given up making New Year’s Resolutions. What I’m talking about here is not about the New Year at all. It’s just about wanting to be faithful to God.

That’s the success I’m pursuing.