Take Heart, We Have Hope.

¹³That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, ¹⁴and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. ¹⁵While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. ¹⁶ But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. ¹⁷And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. ¹⁸Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” ¹⁹And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, ²⁰and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. ²¹But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. ²²Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, ²³and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. ²⁴ Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” ²⁵And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” ²⁷And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

-Luke 24:13-27

I believe we forget the resurrection happened. I know I do. Just like the disciples,we lose hope easily. They believed Jesus was going to redeem Israel. They believed that he was the Christ. Until Jesus was crucified. They thought it was over and done with. They wept bitterly and did not know what to do next. They forgot Jesus saying that he would arise on the third day, just as we forget.

The Gospel is the Gospel because Christ had victory over death. Without this, we have no hope, no joy. Christ paid our price on the Cross and rose again and is still living! How incredible. I truly believe that if we took hold of this truth, a radical change will occur in our lives. Christ has risen! He is alive and well.

Lord, how I pray that we hold tightly to this important fact. I pray that it changes our lives. I pray that you soften our stubborn hearts and lead us into a loving, pure, hopeful relationship with the God of gods, King of kings, Lord of lords, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Hope. Convict us of our pride. Help us look at your Son in everything we attempt to do. It is only by Your grace and mercy we are alive. We take hope in the only God worthy of taking hope in. In Christ’s precious name, Amen.

I’ve wasted it.

One of my favorite writers/theologians is John Piper. He has taught me much about the majesty of God and how important it is to find complete joy in Jesus Christ. Very influential on my thought processes and such.

I am reading a book of his called Don’t Waste Your Life. In it, he tells of a story about a elderly man who was in his Dad’s congregation. The church had been praying for his salvation for years, but it just would not give. They wondered why. Finally, one day the man came down after John Piper’s father finished preaching. The elderly gentlemen’s heart was burdened by the Spirit of God and the man came to faith in Christ. The biggest part of that story was the fact that when the man was saved by Jesus, he kept saying, “I’ve wasted it! I’ve wasted my life!”

This has been on my mind since I first read it. What is a life well lived? What is the one passion, the one purpose of our lives? What is the essence of this life? There has to be more than just working, starting a family, retiring, and then dying in old age. More has to come out of this so called “American dream.”

Lately I have been gripped with how short life is. I don’t want to waste it in fleeting things, but so often I do. How many times have I slept for 12+ hours? How many hours have I wasted watching TV? How often do I spend time on Twitter and Facebook? All these things are good in their own ways, don’t get me wrong. I think each has its purpose, but hours and hours out of the day wasted on these things? We only have 24 hours a day! Man, I don’t know about you, but that is too short to be wasted on these certain objects.

Needless to say, I am sick of wasting my life. I am just tired of being focused on money, the opposite sex, even the future. I want to magnify Christ in all I do. I want eternity to grip me. I want to keep my eyes on things that matter more so than just in that hour or minute of time. I want to be grasped by a majestic God who loves us more than we can ever imagine. That is my prayer for myself and for each and everyone of you.

Life.

It’s rough. People always say to compare yourselves to others. Then you will feel better. Really? I vote no on that one.

I am beyond insecure. So excited about certain things that never phase out the way I want them to. It blows. I feel used and to be honest, I have been down for the past couple weeks. I get myselves into these dumb situations that are COMPLETELY my fault. What do I do after they fail? I medicate with anything else that is not the Gospel.

I am just scared. Hate to face it, but it’s true. I put my life into my own hands and it always flops. I want to trust in Jesus more. I want to risk my life for the Gospel. But I am way too nervous to put my hands into Jesus’. What will become of it? I know greatness. I know blessings, but why am I so hesitant?

Blah. Cheers.

Sum of all Life.

I read this tonight. Simply beautiful:

Without the gospel

everything is useless and vain;

without the gospel

we are not Christians;

without the gospel

all riches is poverty,
all wisdom folly before God;
strength is weakness,
and all the justice of man is under the condemnation of God.

But by the knowledge of the gospel we are made

children of God,
brothers of Jesus Christ,
fellow townsmen with the saints,
citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven,
heirs of God with Jesus Christ, by whom

the poor are made rich,
the weak strong,
the fools wise,
the sinner justified,
the desolate comforted,
the doubting sure,
and slaves free.

It is the power of God for the salvation of all those who believe.
It follows that every good thing we could think or desire is to be found in this same Jesus Christ alone.

For, he was

sold, to buy us back;
captive, to deliver us;
condemned, to absolve us;

he was

made a curse for our blessing,
[a] sin offering for our righteousness;
marred that we may be made fair;

he died for our life; so that by him

fury is made gentle,
wrath appeased,
darkness turned into light,
fear reassured,
despisal despised,
debt canceled,
labor lightened,
sadness made merry,
misfortune made fortunate,
difficulty easy,
disorder ordered,
division united,
ignominy ennobled,
rebellion subjected,
intimidation intimidated,
ambush uncovered,
assaults assailed,
force forced back,
combat combated,
war warred against,
vengeance avenged,
torment tormented,
damnation damned,
the abyss sunk into the abyss,
hell transfixed,
death dead,
mortality made immortal.

In short,

mercy has swallowed up all misery,
and goodness all misfortune.

For all these things which were to be the weapons of the devil in his battle against us, and the sting of death to pierce us, are turned for us into exercises which we can turn to our profit.

If we are able to boast with the apostle, saying, O hell, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting? it is because by the Spirit of Christ promised to the elect, we live no longer, but Christ lives in us; and we are by the same Spirit seated among those who are in heaven, so that for us the world is no more, even while our conversation is in it; but we are content in all things, whether country, place, condition, clothing, meat, and all such things.

And we are

comforted in tribulation,
joyful in sorrow,
glorying under vituperation,
abounding in poverty,
warmed in our nakedness,
patient amongst evils,
living in death.

This is what we should in short seek in the whole of Scripture: truly to know Jesus Christ, and the infinite riches that are comprised in him and are offered to us by him from God the Father.

- John Calvin

Life, Death, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Many deaths in the news recently. Michael Jackson, Farah Fawcett, and now Billy Mays. These recent tragedies have got me thinking a ton about how short this life is and how much I forget that daily. We should live with a sense of urgency is something I often hear from preachers… and all I can think of is, “Urgency? Why be urgent when I can enjoy my life and chill? Why be urgent when it takes so much energy to constantly live a sacrificial life dedicated to the Lord? Urgency? No, thanks. I will just sit here and coast through life forgetting everything I have been blessed with and forgetting how I deserve absolutely NONE of it.” That is my default outlook. And that is a tragedy in itself. I don’t live like Christ is my everything. I become attached to other objects and people and focus all my attention on them until something happens where I need to turn to Christ, but don’t and instead because this sad, depressed fellow. That is ridiculous. I ask daily for a changed heart, but it sometimes feels like a circular prayer. I have been changed by the blood of Jesus. I know I have. I am not the same person I was 2 years ago. I have all these opportunities presented to me, all these ministries I am a part of, but I frequently forget who I am doing them for and who gave me them. I am broken and in need of grace every millisecond.

Jesus, draw me close to You… so that I might see everything I do in life comes back to Your Cross and Your commands. I need help. Desperately. Thank You for loving me first.

Detox, Day 3.

I am a little behind, but I will catch up soon enough.

Reflections on Daniel 3:

This is might be one of the most well-known Bible stories. The fiery furnace. This story always struck a chord with my heart. Especially these verses.

¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. ¹⁷If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. ¹⁸But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

Wow! Look at their faith. The King wanted everyone to bow down to the idol he constructed, but Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refuse. They said that God would deliever them, but EVEN IF He didn’t, they would still not bow down. The boldness and courage these dudes had is something that is rarely seen today. But God’s faithfulness is still steadfast. He still delivers them. God has His servants in His grasp and will always be with them. I pray that we become so enamored with who God is and that nothing will keep us from keeping our eyes upon Him!

DETOX.

My church (www.vintageNOLA.org) is embarking on a ten day Daniel fast. It is a fast of fruits, vegetables, and everything else that is organic. I have never been on a fast so this should be eye-opening! Along with the ten days, we will be reading a chapter of the book of Daniel. There are only twelve chapters. Here are my reflections on chapter 2:

King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and wanted it to be interpreted. All the other sorcerers and so called “prophets” could not interpret it. But Daniel heard of this and meets with the King in order to interpret his dream. But Daniel does not do it on his own.

¹⁷Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, ¹⁸ and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

Here shows Daniel and his friend’s dedication! How often is it that we always try and use our own means and our own strength in situations? It’s frequent for me. Probably daily. But Daniel turns straight to God and begs for His mercy! They did not rely on their own strength, but upon God’s. And God delivers. This event brings me back to Micah 6:8:

⁸He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?

I pray that we will always come back to the Cross. We will always stand under it, in awe of it, and keep our eyes fixed upon it.

Thank you, Jesus. For Your death upon the cross for measly sinners like us. I pray that we will always keep You in the center of our lives. It is by Your grace and mercy that we are here. For that, I can never repay.

Great sinner, but even Greater Savior.

It is so crazy how a relationship with Christ works. The closer you get to Him, the more you see yourself as so undeserving of Him.

Recently, my heart has been so distraught. I am a pathetic person. It is hard for me to accept the idea of grace. I think it is hard for anyone to. I come from a mindset of getting what I deserve. Earning every right or wrong. My heart pours out of Psalm 51:

51:1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!

3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.

In the words of John Newton, “I am a great sinner, but Christ is a great Savior.”

My one prayer is that I never forget that. Without the Cross, I am nothing.

“But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” -Galatians 6:14

Coldplay and the Glory of Christ.

Saw Coldplay last night. Great show. The production was off the charts good.

But while I was there in a stadium completely packed and sold out, I noticed something. Even as everyone was singing along (which by the way, the sound of a huge crowd singing the same thing gives me chills) all I could think about is how intense and wonderful Heaven will be. Every nation and tongue will sing His name in the end. It will be beautiful.

Forgive me for forgetting who truly deserves the Glory and Honor that You do. Praise you, Jesus… the only One worth any praise.

Defend!

My church started LIFE groups two weeks ago. It is pretty much a small group type thing. We are following along with Mark Driscoll small group study of Vintage Jesus. It is an awesome study and book. Highly suggest it.

One thing stuck out in my mind this entire week. In our group, the question “Do you believe Jesus is the only God? And if so, why?” was asked. Seems like a simple question for a Christian.

It made me realize how important it is for us to study our beliefs more. Study the Word more. Come up with our own conclusions on why we believe Christ is the only way instead of being influenced by people around us to just ‘believe’. 

Don’t get me wrong. Being a follower of Christ requires tons of faith. Faith in things that sometimes just don’t make any sense. But being able to tell people logically and reasonably WHY we believe to make them see it logically and reasonably is super important. I think we forget that easily.

When athiests and people who don’t even follow Christ know more about the Bible than us Christian who base our life around it, then we have a problem.

I pray that we find such a passion and joy to follow Jesus in everyway that we are completely consumed and in turn become completely contagious. 

As John Piper says:

God is most satisfied in us when we are most satisfied in Him.