Faith in Future Grace

"Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him..." - Psalm 91:14

The Psalmists knew that past grace, provision, and power has been enough for him (91:1-13), and would continue to be in the future. We "abide in the shadow of the Almighty" (91:2) Psalm 91:14-16 is God's response to his faith.  "I will deliver...I will answer you...I will satisfy." God promised future grace. In light of past grace, he trusted future grace.  Faith in future grace lead him not only to hold fast to the Lord, but to hold fast "in love." The rock solid foundation of "hold fast in love" faith is thankfulness for past grace with expectation of future grace.

 

Trust God's grace, it was enough yesterday, will be enough for you today, and for the endless ages to come.

Below are two videos to consider as well:

I am deeply indebted to John Piper's ministry in my life.  This concept of "Faith in Future Grace" was first revealed to me by him.  Check out the video below for more:

"Rise and Pray..."

And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.” ~Luke 22:39-46

As I have been reading through the gospel of Luke this month, I have been overwhelmed by the authority of Jesus and His commands to His people.  In this passage, as He is within reach of His arrest, He stops to pray, which is a common theme in Luke.  As He prays, He has the cross in view saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.", the "cup" He is referring too is the cup of Gods Wrath due to sin which He will bear on Himself on the Cross.  There He would bear the full weight of sin for His people who turn to Him. "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin (Jesus), so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." ~2 Corinthians 5:21.  Another thing I find interesting is the statement made about prayer within the text itself.

We see the disciples, as the text says, "a stones throw away" and when Jesus returns to them they are "sleeping for sorrow".  How often is this me?  I let the sorrows of life or the emotions of a moment take control when I should be praying.  What happened to me and the disciples is simple, we both looked away from Jesus.

Jesus was within a stones throw of the disciples and yet the feel asleep in prayer, and us, as Christians, even knowing the love of the Lord and His interceding  for us. (Hebrews 4:14-5:14).

But, we must "Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation." We must look toward Jesus, the Author and perfecter of our faith, in times of temptation.

" And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." ~2 Corinthians 3:18

As we look to Jesus, we are sanctified and formed more into Christs Image. (2 Cor. 3:18)

Let 2013 be a year of prayer- looking to Jesus and continuing to be formed in His image.

A Time for Silence: When to Stop Sharing

Found this awesome article through the StonethePreacher blog. Taking them to heart. The article was written by Dr. Bob Gonzales. Hope it blessed and encourages you as it did me.

 One of the marks of a Christian is a desire to share the good news of the life-transforming gospel with others. In the words of the apostles, “We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). But what if a friend, fellow worker, schoolmate, or family member asks us to desist? Does there come a time when we should refrain from speaking to a person about Jesus and Christianity?

A few years ago, I sent John Piper’s booklet The Passion of Christ: Fifty Reasons Why He Came to Die to several close friends and relatives. To my knowledge, most of them were not Christians. I had already shared the gospel with some. With others I had not–at least not in a more comprehensive way. I wanted to be able to face Jesus on Judgment Day with the knowledge that I had attempted to share the gospel with those who were close to me.

Disappointingly, one couple replied with a letter and some materials that made it clear they rejected Christianity, affirmed materialistic evolution, and wished me to relinquish my attempts at trying to convert them. They were polite. But they were also resolute. They didn’t believe in God, and they preferred that I give up any attempt in persuading them otherwise.  Read More...

Tales Of A Fearful Fisherman: Survey Style

Image from:
http://surveys-paid-online.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/survey2.gif

In a small town, large scale evangelism is hard to do.  The town I live in has maybe two large events (meaning of over a hundred people or so) in a year.  Living in the Bible belt is both a blessing, because there are lots of churches, but there are also lots of lukewarm Christians, hypocrites and people who have been hurt by those hypocrites.  Even amongst this, there are still Christians going out and sharing there faith, and people who God has made open to the message.

Me and a company of friends took off on the last day of my winter break to do some Evangelism "Survey Style."  Normally, in this small town, there is very few places to go where lots of people are gathered.  We tryed to go "fishing" at the public park, and after receiving very little "biting" there. (The first guy we asked actually told us he had already take our survey, even though we had just arrived there and he had no knowledge as to what it was about.)