A Good Word on Anxiety from the Good Doctor

Recently I have been learning yet again the need I always have of trusting the Lord. Sure, I pray about things, but I always amaze myself at how quickly I then turn around and either lean to my own understanding or hit the panic button...or both. The Lord has been reminding me of HIS faithfulness to provide and of my need to trust Him implicity and resist the temptation to try to figure things out on my own. (Hah! As if I could) :) Anyways, all that being said, my wonderful hubbo showed me this little devotional thought from Martyn Lloyd-Jones, so I thought I would pass it along. So, here goes...

"I once heard a man use a phrase which affected me very deeply at the time, and still does. I am not sure that it is not one of the most searching statements I have ever heard.  He said that the trouble with many of us Christians is that we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, but that we do not believe Him. He meant that we believe Him for salvation of our souls, but we do not believe Him when He says a thing like this to us, that God is going to look after our food and drink, and even our cothing. He makes such statements as 'Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest', and yet we keep our problems and worries to ourselves, and we are borne down by them and defeated by them, and get anxious about things. He has told us to come to Him when we are like that; He has told us that if we are thirsting in any respect we can go to Himn and He has assured us that whosoever comes to Him will never thirst, and that he that eats of the bread that He shall give shall never hunger. He has promised to give us 'a well of water springing up into everlasting life' so that we shall never thirst. But we do not believe Him. Take all these statements He made when He was here on earth, the words He addressed to the people around Him; they are all meant for us. They are meant for us today as definitely as when He first uttered them, and so also are all the astounding statements in the Epistles. The trouble is that we do no believe Him. That is the ultimate trouble. 'Little faith' does not really take the Scripture as it is and believe it and live by it and apply it. "  Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, ii, pp. 128-9

I was so challenged by this thought - I may know what Jesus has said, but do I really believe Him? Do I really hear what He has said and trust that His Word is true? As Joseph Carroll said, "The true attitude of trust is rest. If you're not resting, you're not trusting." I can tell if I really believe the Lord by the state of my heart. Am I resting?

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

Fight the Good Fight

I was listening to a sermon by John MacArthur on Ephesians 6:14. I had never heard this hymn before and like it, so I thought I would pass it along. :) Hope you're encouraged.

"Fight the good fight with all thy might,

Christ is thy strength and Christ is thy right.

Lay hold on life and it shall be

thy joy and crown eternally.

Run the straight race through God's good grace

and lift up thine eyes and seek His face.

Life with its ways before thee lies,

Christ is the way and Christ the prize.

Cast care aside, lean on thy guide,

lean and His mercy will provide.

Lean and the trusting soul shall prove

Christ is its life and Christ its love.

Faint not nor fear,

His arm is near.

He changeth not and thou art dear.

Only believe and thou shall see

that Christ is all in all to thee."  

- John Monzell

"Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. 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."

                                                                                                                                             (Phil 3:12-14)

"Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I dscipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified." (1 Cor 9:24-27) 

Just a Moment

I've found myself thinking a lot about this life recently; I can be distracted with random stuff, taken up with cares of today, fears and concerns for the future, and yet somehow my thoughts seem to rarely dwell on eternity and on the day when I will be able to see the Lord. I can dread the separations that life brings, I sometimes fear what kind of trials may come, but I forget that this life is just a moment, a vapor, here and then gone and that our faithful Shepherd is walking through life with us. This life is not the end-all; we as believers have eternity to look forward to. I recently heard someone speaking and I was impressed by his eternal perspective on life. He was sharing about getting ready to move across the country, and admitted that leaving close relationships was difficult, but he concluded that this life was but a short time before we would all be together worshipping the Lord before His throne. I was so encouraged by his perpsective on life - he was interpreting his blessings and trials through the lens of eternity. How differently we view life when we look at it from an eternal perspective. How I work at my job matters because I will give an account to the Lord for how I applied myself to the task He gave me. How I interact with other believers matters because we are in a warfare and are all marching towards eternity and need exhortation and encouragement along the way. How I interact with unbelievers matters because this life will be over soon and they will stand before the Lord their Judge. Blessings can be rejoiced in because they are but a small taste of what heaven will be like, and difficulties can be endured because, as Paul put it, they are just "momentary light afflictions," and our ever-present Savior gives grace sufficient for every trial (2 Cor 12:9). Earthly joys can be enjoyed but not lived for, because we have been freed from living for lesser things and now have the immense privilege of living for our Savior who is coming again. May the Lord further develop an eternal perspective in me and cause me to view my life in light of His return.

"Only one life to live, will soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last."   

Christ My Righteousness

Recently I’ve found myself thinking a lot about faith in the life of a believer.  I think it’s easy to recognize that faith, complete reliance upon Jesus Christ, is necessary for salvation, but when it comes to sanctification, how often do I move away from simple faith in Christ and put stock in my own performance and judge God’s reception of me on the basis of how I’ve been doing? Since I have to deal with my flesh through this life, it can be a discouraging business to rate my standing before God on the basis of my performance.  I was encouraged by two different articles I read by Thomas Brooks and Octavius Winslow today and thought I would share them.

“The Lord looks more upon your graces than he does upon your weaknesses. The Lord did not cast off Peter for his horrid sins, but rather looked upon him with an eye of love and pity: “But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee!” (Mark 16:7) O admirable love! O matchless mercy! Christ looked more upon Peter’s sorrow than his sin, more upon his tears than his oaths. The Lord will not cast away weak saints for their great unbelief, because there is a little faith in them, or for their hypocrisy because of the little sincerity that is in them, or for their pride because of the rays of humility that shine in them, or for their passion because of the grains of meekness that are in them. We will not throw away a little gold, because of a great deal of dross that cleaves to it, or a little wheat, because it is mixed with much chaff, and will God? Will God? We do not cast away our garments because of spots, or books because of some blots, or jewels because of some flaws. Will the Lord cast away his dearest ones, because of their spots, blots and flaws? Surely no! God looks more upon the bright side of the cloud than the dark. God looks upon the pearl, and not the spot in it. Where God sees but a little grace, he does as it were hide his eyes from those circumstances that might seem to deface the glory of it. Ah! Weak Christians are more apt to look upon their infirmities than on their graces, and because their gold is mixed with a great deal of dross, they are ready to throw away all as dross. Well, remember this: the Lord Jesus has as great an interest in the weakest saints as the strongest. He has an interest as a friend, a father, a husband. Yea, though saints are weak, yea, very weak, he cannot but overlook their weakness and keep a fixed eye upon their graces. “ (Thomas Brooks)

I thought this was an encouraging thought! The Lord is not shocked when He sees a flaw in me, and He does not give up on me when I fail.  I realize that the Lord does not look upon my graces as if they somehow emanated inherently from me – He looks at Christ at work in me, and any grace that is evident in me is simply proof of His working. AND, while my flaws are there, “He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.” (Phil 1:6) Now, I don't  have license to sin, for my sins…”may provoke him to frown upon you, chide you, correct you," BUT my sins "will never provoke Christ to give you a bill of divorce. “ (Thomas Brooks)  The Lord still hates sin in the lives of His own, and I need to fight it with all my heart, BUT my right standing before Him is always based on the righteousness of Christ.  I need to have my thoughts taken up more with the preciousness of Christ and His righteousness than with my own foibles and failings.

“How precious is the righteousness of Christ – a righteousness that fully justifies our person, completely covering all our deformity, and presenting us to God…and look at the preciousness of His sacrifice, which is as a “sweet-smelling savour” unto God. (Eph 5:2), ascending ever from off the golden altar before the throne in one continuous cloud of incense, wreathing the persons, perfuming the prayers, accompanying the offerings, and presenting with acceptance every breath of devotion, every accent of praise, and every token of love that His people here below lay at His feet. ‘By one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified’ (Heb 10:14). That “one offering,” offered once for all, was so divine, so holy, so complete, so satisfactory, it has forever perfected the pardon, perfected the justification, perfected the adoption, and will perfect the sanctification when it perfects the glory of all the elect of Jehovah. Beloved, is not this enough to check every sigh, to quell every fear, to annihilate every doubt, and to fill you with peace and joy in believing? What shouts of praise to Jesus should burst from every lip as each believer contemplates the sacrifice that has secured his eternal salvation…Believer, evince (show) your sense of the preciousness of this great sacrifice by bringing to it daily sins, by drawing from it hourly comfort, and by laying yourself upon it, body, soul and spirit a living sacrifice unto God.”  (Octavius Winslow)

Faith does not end at conversion. I am to live by faith everyday – live believing that Christ is my righteousness and that on my best days I am only accepted on the basis of Christ, and on my worst days, I am still accepted because of Christ.  As Elyse Fitzpatrick has said, “for every one look I take of myself, take ten looks at Christ.” Living daily by faith in Christ and what He has done for us motivates us to fight sin and live for Him not out of fear of being punished, but simply out of love and thankfulness for Who He is and all that He continually does on our behalf.  

Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness

My beauty are, my glorious dress;

‘Midst flaming worlds in these arrayed,

With joy shall I lift up my head.

Jesus, be endless praise to Thee,

Whose boundless mercy hath for me –

For me a full atonement made,

An everlasting ransom paid.

-Nikolaus L. von Zinzendorf