For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 1 Cor 13:12
 

The old and the young

We sometimes think that the young needs the old more. That the old are already “up there”, in a league of their own, sufficient of themselves and can do without us very much.

But if we only spend time with them, you will realise that the old is no longer as energetic as the young. The years may have worn them down. We may think, they are strong enough to last this far, they should be strong enough to press on.

The truth is they do draw strength and encouragement from seeing how the young ones are taking their place in the assembly. They feel rejuvenated seeing the young passionately serve the Lord and have a vision for His things. And that gives them the extra push, to press on in His things.

We sometimes think, “Didn’t they learn this when they were younger like us?” Perhaps that is why Peter says in his epistle that we all need to be constantly reminded (and remind each other) of His Word, for we so easily forget and lose heart.

That is what a family is for. We pray, sing and study the Word together, we help each other when the other is helpless, we love without expecting anything in return, and we rebuke in view of restoration and repentance.

The truth is, we all need each other equally. The young needs the old’s exhortation and example and testimonies, and the old needs the strength and encouragement from the vigour of the young.

These are people we are spending eternity with in worship of our great God and Saviour.

Invest in them, through Him.

So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body,  because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.

2 Peter 1:12-15


So great a salvation

He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor punished us according to our iniquities.

Psalm 103:10


An ordinary day, an extraordinary God

After his traumatic brain injury through an accident in 2006, Ian has been disabled ever since. I remember one day in college hearing news about his accident and being asked to pray for him. His then girlfriend and now wife Larissa stayed faithful by His side. They were married in 2010, and their love continues to encourage me and show me the depth of Christ’s love for us.

Recently the people at DesiringGod** did a video on them, and here’s a peek into their ordinary life and their sacrificial love for each other.

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/the-story-of-ian-larissa

And here’s what they have shared after the video went viral, which is really inspiring.

MAY 8, 2012

an ordinary day. An extraordinary god.

over the past 12 hours, our story has been watched more than 86,000 times. this is astounding. and to ian in particular, it is worth it: “i would do this (disability) all over again if i knew it would affect this many people. god is glorious.”and so here we are, knowing that literally thousands of people just today have hopefully somehow seen god through our marriage. that in itself is mind-blowing. because it is so not of us. we are so very ordinary. tonight is so very ordinary. ian is napping. the rain is pouring outside and the washer downstairs is spinning. the poor clothes in the washer probably won’t get switched until I get home from work tomorrow. and by that time, they’ll need to be re-washed. i can’t see the floor of our bedroom, our laundry completely taking over. i’m putting off making dinner, even though all it requires is putting leftovers on a plate and into the microwave.and yet, in the midst of this ordinary, the weight of what has happened today through this video and what will continue to happen pummels me. it pummels me because what god is accomplishing through our afflictions is happening at the same time that we are sinning. What a great divide that crosses. What wretched sinners Ian and I are, and yet somehow, He uses us to magnify himself. Our sin does not prevent god’s glory on display.on days like this, we get just a glimpse of this promised eternal weight of glory, as undeserved as it is, and it is enough to bring us to our knees. how great this weight will be in heaven!

one thing that we love and hold so close on days like this is that our dad, steve, now feels and knows that weight of glory. he prepared us so well and we can’t wait to see him again. one of the biggest impressions on my heart the few days after he died was that he was seeing fully. and that he would encourage us to press on, because it is beyond worth it.

thank you, all. in the words of my dear husband, god is awesome.

i&l

 

 

**Note that I do not in any way promote or encourage the DesiringGod website or any of John Piper’s teachings, especially his views on “Christian Hedonism”.

Pix from www.lydiajane.com


Grace

This really caught me off-guard, and pushed me to realise the need to truly guard and tame my tongue. I have always known I had a problem with it, but was rarely prayerful about it nor did I take conscious, practical ways to solve the problem.

Lord, I am so hurt and sorry that I have dishonoured Your testimony. How foolish of me. At this instant, I wish You’d take me back to heaven right now.

But I know that that would be escapism, and that there is grace at Your feet. It’s so easy to bounce to the other extreme, so help me to learn what I can from this, and for grace to press on, to learn from Your great example, You who ‘doeth all things well’.

 

O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:24-25)


Still and pensive in Christ

“As we watched the sun settle in flaming colors beyond the coastal hills, our spirits were still and pensive in Christ’s company. How tenderly He had opened the way for us. How surely He had guided us in the storms. How generously He had brought us back again to this beloved region.

Life is intertwined with challenges. They test our own fortitude. But even more compelling, they demonstrate to us how gracious, generous, and faithful is our Father to His children. Life with Him is truly an adventure, full of beautiful bonuses! How grateful we are!” – Phillip Keller, in What Makes Life Worth Living


The way of victory

So much for things we should know. Now let us move on to action we must take.

Only God can make us holy, but He will not do it without our cooperation. As in many areas of the Christian life, there is a curious mingling of the divine and the human. God provides the power but we must avail ourselves of it. Our obligation is to be filled with the Spirit. It is only as we walk in the Spirit that we will not fulfil the desires of the flesh.

But what does it mean to be filled with the Spirit? This sounds very ethereal and mystical. It sounds like something that is reserved for preachers and missionaries. Not so! It is something that is commanded for all God’s people and it does not call for anything that is impossible for any believer. To make it as simple and practical as possible, let us suggest some basic steps that are involved in being filled with the Spirit.

1. Don’t let sins accumulate

In order to keep ourselves clean, we must confess and forsake sin as soon as we are aware of it in our lives (Prov 28:13, 1 John 1:9). All sin should be confessed to God since all sin is against Him. If people have been wronged, then the confession should be made to them also.

True confession should be:

  1. Immediate – we should not wait until the end of the day or the end of the week.
  2. Unconditional – do not say “If I have done anything wrong” or “I’ll forgive you if you forgive me”.
  3. Complete – a man confessed that he had stolen a length of rope but neglected to say that there was a horse at the other end of the rope.
  4. Specific – tell it as it is. Call it ‘stealing’ rather than borrowing. Peter did not say, “I am an inadequate man” but “I am a sinful man, O Lord.”
  5. Accompanied by the determination to forsake the sin – this is NOT the confession: “I stole a crate of pears, but better make it two. I am going after the other crate tonight.”
  6. Heartfelt – just say it, “I was wrong. I am sorry. Please forgive me.”

When we honestly confess our sins, we can know on the authority of the word of God that we have been forgiven. God has promised to forgive if we confess, and He is true to His promise. We appropriate forgiveness by faith.

But someone may say, “I don’t feel forgiven”. That may be so, but you are forgiven, whether you feel it or not. Assurance of forgiveness does not come through changeable feelings but through the unchangeable Word.

2. Present your body a living sacrifice

3. Saturate your life with the Word of God

This book will keep you from sin,

or sin will keep you from this Book.

There are two things that God cannot part;

Dust on the Bible and ice in the heart.

4. Pray without ceasing

5. Stay close to Christian fellowship

6. Keep busy for the Lord

7. Practice discipline of the body

8. Guard your thought life

9. Choose to flee rather than fall

10. Respond to temptation as a dead person would

11. Avoid the touch of danger

12. Avoid whatever weakens the will

13. Call for help

14. Believe that God is working in and through you

– William MacDonald in The Forgotten Command: Be Holy


Some things that hinder victory

… it is helpful to remind ourselves that there are certain attitudes and actions that do not help us in the quest for holiness.

Astecism does not help. In Col 2:23, Paul says that while self-torture and self-denial may give the appearance of godliness, they are “of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.”

Monasticism does not help. A person may separate himself from the world in a monastery cell, but he cannot separate himself from his own nature.

Introspection does not help. There is no victory in self; occupation with self is like casting your anchor inside the boat.

Passivity is not the answer. Holiness doesn’t descend on those who idly wait for it. Neither does it come through an intensive study of temptation. The more we think about temptation, the more likely we are to yield. Finally, victory doesn’t come through giving up in despair. That is defeat, and God cannot use defeated Christians.

— William MacDonald in The Forgotten Command: Be Holy

 


“I can’t help it, I have to sin!”

We must not say that we have to sin. It never says that in the Bible and it isn’t true. If we say we have to sin, we are saying, in effect, that the Holy Spirit isn’t powerful enough to enable us to resist temptation. But He is. The trouble is not with Him but with ourselves. We sin when we do not appropriate His power. We sin when we want to.

To say that I must sin, is to deny the foundations of Christianity, for sin shall not have dominion over the believer (Rom 6:14); to say that I cannot sin, is to deceive myself (1 John 1:8); to say that I need not sin, is to declare a divine principle, for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ makes me free from the law of sin (Rom 8:2). Thanks be unto God which gives us the victory!

–William MacDonald, in The Forgotten Command: Be Holy


And though I cherish you, I must now offer you

Aunty Tammy taught us this song some weeks back, and listening to her sing it again yesterday really moved me. The kind of obedience that Abraham had… we thought it was truly unmatched… but behold the Lamb!!

Ours is to live worthy of all He has done for us…

Sacrifice by Bob Fitts

Oh this must be the hardest hill I’ve ever climbed
For I must sacrifice you, promised son of mine
And so I go to worship with you by my side
And trust the sacrifice, He will provide

And though I cherish you
I must now offer you
To Him who is the giver of all good things
And though I cherish you
I will now offer you
For surely He could raise you up again

Here on this altar Father I lay all my dreams
And offer back to you this child You’ve given me
O son you must believe He’s called us to obey
And by His love He’ll make a better way

And though I cherish you
I must now offer you
To Him who is the giver of all good things
And though I cherish you
I will now offer you
For surely He will raise you up again

O Abraham! Oh Abraham!
Now that I know you fear My name
Withhold your hand
O Abraham! O faithful man!
Your only son, he’s not the one
Behold the ram
Behold the Lamb!

It must’ve been the hardest thing He’d ever done
When God the Father sacrificed His only Son
Though One He most cherished gave His life away
And by His love He made a better way

And so I cherish You
And so I honor You
For truly You are the giver of all good things
And so I cherish You
And so I honor You
Your sacrifice is now the King of Kings

Jehovah Jireh
He has provided
The sacrifice of love no man could ever pay
And what He requires of you and me
Even the hardest things
Your blood O Christ
Your sacrifice gives me strength to obey


A bondservant’s cry

My Master, lead me to Thy door;
Pierce this now willing ear once more;
Thy bonds are freedom; let me stay
With Thee, to toil, endure, obey.

Yes, ear and hand, and thought and will,
Use all in Thy dear slav’ry still!
Self’s weary liberties I cast
Beneath Thy feet; there keep them fast.

Tread them still down; and then I know,
These hands shall with Thy gifts o’erflow;
And pierced ears shall hear the tone
Which tells me Thou and I are one.

–by Handley Moule