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:

Response to "rapidwaters" and Creationism

I recently received a response through the Tumblr on this post responding to the Bill Nye recent comments on Creationism.  I responded below to the user named "rapidwaters".  Pray for the Lord to reach them repentance and faith.

I don’t even know how to properly respond to this idiocy. Taking the words Bill Nye said and twisting the words towards your belief in god is ridiculous. You could have at least been original and proclaimed your statement with your own words. And maybe add a few facts of gods existence … oh wait there isn’t any. It’s sad that people cannot believe in science and themselves enough that they have to continue to believing in a “almighty” fictional character. A fictional character that “loves” everyone… everyone but gays and independent women. A character that would rather have, men specifically, act like slave drivers who keep their women in check and burn other men who are curious about their fellow men’s a— holes.

Hello “rapidwaters”. Thank you for your response! I would have you notice I have not changed your response in anyway, except to sensor the curse words you used.

First, the guys who created this video (whom I am not one of of) were showing the fallacy that you in fact noticed. An appeal to there own authority. This is the same thing Mr. Nye did, he offered no evidence at all against the existence of God as if God needed to be proved.

18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. ~Romans 1:18-20

You seem to affirm this by the fact that you speak very hateful toward the God you claim does not exist. You claim He is fictional due to the fact that He, in your own words, hates “gays and independent women”. Which is a strawman I do believe.

Second, Psalm 5:5 says, “The arrogant cannot stand in your presence; you hate all who do wrong.“ God hates with a sinless hatred toward sin. Sin is lawlessness, anything done in the opposite of His nature. Like oil and water they cannot mix.

God created the standard by which He will judge the world in righteousness (Acts 17:30-31) We do not create this standard to push any sort of agenda. God sees every act and thought of man, to Him lieing, stealing, blasphemy, lust (which He considers adultry - Matthew 5:28) and hatred is murder (Matthew 5:21-26) are all sin, and rightly deserve punishment. This place of punishment, according to the Bible, is eternity in Hell.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus” - Romans 6:23

But God, in His mercy, came in the person of Jesus Christ, to suffer and die on the Cross 2000 years ago in our place. He bore the wrath of God on Himself in our place, even though Jesus was innocent. ”He who knew no sin, became sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” He then was buried and rose again three days later to defeat sin, death and Hell! Now, anyone who turns to Him in repentance (to turn from, forsake) of there sins and Trust alone in Christ and His work on the Cross (like you would a parachute) will be born again.

”3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

Believe me at one time I too hated God with my actions and ways. But, when you are born again it changes everything. You receive mercy from God, forgiveness of sins, new, eternal life and adoption as Gods Son or Daughter. He will never leave you, nor forsake you. Please, I would love to answer any questions or concerns you have with Christianity. I would love to talk more. Please, think about your eternity and what God did for guilty sinners. I say this too you, out of love for you and care for you.

God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. ~Romans 3:25-26

A Response to Bill Nye "The Science Guy"

Very eloquent response to this video, from Bill Nye "the Science Guy". As someone who loved his videos as a child, I am shocked to hear him come out this strong against Creationism.

Pray the Lord will open His heart.

The Armor Of God.

As Paul is composing the end of his letter to the Ephesians, he begins to write about the unity in the body of the Christ (4:1-16), living a holy, Christ-imitating life (4:17-5:21) then goes on to apply the Truths of the Gospel to marriage (5:22-33), parenting, (6:1-4), and servitude (6:5-6:9) and finally he writes about those facing temptations from Satan. God has really used this passage in my life recently in regards to my fight with sin, so I thought we’d walk through what Paul has to say about the “Armor of God”. Let us begin today with verses 10 & 11.

”Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God,so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. “

When we see a word like “finally” in the Bible (much like therefore and many other phrases) we need to consider the context. We see the importance of the words to following because of how general the statement is. In the passages before he refers to wives (5:22), husbands (5:25), children (6:1), fathers, (6:4), slaves (6:5) and masters (5:9), but this “finally seems to have a unifying effect as he gives the command “be strong in the Lord and his mighty power.”

He is making statement about the power of those receiving his letter. It doesn’t say, “be mighty in your power!” or “You can do it guys! I believe in you!” This seems to carry a much different effect. He is saying, “Guys, you can’t do this on your own, don’t even try.” Much like Jesus statements through out the Gospel, but especially in John 15 where He says, “Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”

Then Paul gives the command, “Put on the full armor of God,so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. “

Paul seems to carry with him two reasons why this command is given.

1) So they can be “strong in the Lord”

2) So they can “take there stand against the devil’s schemes.”

How much more is this important for the Christian of today? Don’t realize that Satan seeks to destroy you (John 10:10, 1 Peter 5:8)? We need to be on alert.

The only question left too ask is, “Are you ready for Battle?”

Most of the Church is too caught up in the world to worry about the war, which is just where the enemy wants them, in a comfortable Christianity that makes no advance in the kingdom of God and makes no assault on the kingdom of Darkness.

Over several posts, we will look at what Paul supscribes in the Armor of God to help us fight Satan, our temptations, and to kill personal sin in our lives.

A Message From D.L. Moody to the Lost:

“I have no doubt that those who would not pray when the ark was being built, prayed when the Flood came; but their prayer was not answered. I have no doubt that when Lot went out of Sodom, Sodom cried to God; but it was too late, and God’s judgment swept them from the earth. My friend, it is not too late now, but it may be at twelve o’clock tonight. I cannot find any place in the Bible where it says you may call tomorrow. I am not justified in saying that. ‘Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.’”

"What Is Truth?"

Mark Spence, from Living Waters, teaches on the subject of "What is Truth?"

It's difficult to think of a more important topic than the nature of truth. Truth is that which agrees with reality.

Check it out!  Find out more at: LivingWaters.com

A Prayer For The Young, Restless and Reformed

“Please God, don’t let the young, restless, and reformed movement be another historically ignorant, self-absorbed, cooler-than-thou fad.” ~Kevin DeYoung

J.I. Packer Quote

“What matters supremely is not, in the last analysis, the fact that I know God, but the larger fact which underlies it — the fact that he knows me. I am graven on the palms of his hands. I am never out of his mind. 

All my knowledge of him depends on his sustained initiative in knowing me. I know him because he first knew me, and continues to know me. He knows me as a friend, one who loves me; and there is not a moment when his eye is off me, or his attention distracted from me, and no moment, therefore, when his care falters. 

This is momentous knowledge. There is unspeakable comfort — the sort of comfort that energizes, be it said, not enervates — in knowing that God is constantly taking knowledge of me in love and watching over me for my good. There is tremendous relief in knowing that his love to me is utterly realistic, based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst about me, so that no discovery now can disillusion him about me, in the way I am so often disillusioned about myself, and quench his determination to bless me.”

— J.I. Packer,  Knowing God, pg 41-42

Awesome book! I 100% recommend it.

Credit. God Bless!

When Homosexuality Becomes A Man

From "Desiring God"

Joe Hallett didn't waste his AIDS, he didn't waste his new life in Christ.

What will you do with yours?

Inspiring story. Pray it blesses you!

Restoring A Broken Faith...In The Church

I have this friend who the Lord used to lead me to Christ. Though, once totally on fire for the Lord, now, it is hard to separate him from the rest of the "lukewarm Christians" that seem to fill the pews in America.

I can only imagine that this how John felt coming the sermon he wrote to the church at Ephesus (This sermon is recorded in the book of 1 John). Three main themes are addressed in this book: True Doctrine, True Obedience, and True Devotion. The latter of these themes are the answer to the other two, and this is found within the Local Church.

No blog this week.

I leave in the morning (6/10/12) for a Student Life camp.

I am currently working on a post about nomad Christians and the local Church.

Pray me and my group as we seek Gods face, and grow in our love, servitude and adoration for the Lord and that we will live it out and reach out with Gospel even once we return from out camp.

You Can't Take It With You

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/e-boasting

This morning I read the account in Luke 16 about Lazarus and the rich man. So much has struck me this morning.

What truly struck me that Lazarus, a man, a beggar covered, had nothing. Yet, he was a believer, and therefore had everything.

What else struck me was that the rich man, who too the world then and now, would have seemed to have everything, truly had nothing at all.

I am reminded of a choiral piece I have sang before, "You can't take it with you Brother Will, Brother John."

Christian, no matter what the world says, you have all you need in Christ.
Paul wrote in Philippians 3:7 " But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ."

In the context of that verse Paul starts rattling off what was to his gain.

"If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law,faultless." Philippians 3:5-6

In other words, Paul was "the man!" He had all he needed to be well liked and popular among the people of that time.

"The world couldn't get along with the holiest man that ever lived, how will they get along with us!"

Church, wake up. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation.

Above is a powerful message from Paul Washer. Hope it blesses you.

My Take: The Bible condemns a lot, but here's why we focus on homosexuality

By R. Albert Mohler Jr.

Are conservative Christians hypocritical and selective when it comes to the Bible’s condemnation of homosexuality? With all that the Bible condemns, why the focus on gay sex and same-sex marriage?

Given the heated nature of our current debates, it’s a question conservative Christians have learned to expect. “Look,” we are told, “the Bible condemns eating shellfish, wearing mixed fabrics and any number of other things. Why do you ignore those things and insist that the Bible must be obeyed when it comes to sex?”

On its face, it’s a fair question. But it can be posed in two very different ways.

Read More...

A Giraffes Neck Disproves God!?

So, sometimes when I am in a dry spell on doing Evangelism I go onto chat site Omegle (warning, be careful who you run into on this site) with the purpose of engaging in spiritual conversation to then share the Gospel (through my own presentation or an online resource)

You can read our conversation HERE.  I pre-apologize for some of the "mature" (if you want to call it that) language in the conversation.

We see here the power of Biblical presuppositional apologetics, and the Gospel in action.

In this Omegle Evangelism encounter (not perfect by any means). The guy (from Israel), after I had torn apart his worldview and tried my best to present the Gospel in the time I was given, resorted to using Girrafe necks as somehow disproving God.

Pray for him. I trust that "the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation." (Romans 1:16)

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.  (1 Cor. 15:58)

Why The Message Of 180 Is So Urgent

This morning we received the following tragic email via the Heart Changer website. It is a reminder of why the message of 180 remains so very urgent.

"Dear whoever came up with this and whoever is getting this. You just gave me a 180... but not the way you expected. If anything you have almost completely turned me against Christianity all together. I am 16 and pregnant. The father, a man very well known and loved in the church. They find out I'm pregnant with his kid and he's done. He has a disability that makes it so he cannot handle stress. He is an amazing man and I love him to pieces. But we cannot handle this right now and my belief is that if it is meant to happen it will happen again. !@#$% you guys. I'm deffinately getting an abortion now. God Bless."
Read more.......

Straight From My Heart...

Today, I go out to take the Gospel to the streets. I come just as Paul did to the church at Corinth. I do not come with eloquence, or intelligence, just as Paul did. I come with much fear and trembling, just as Paul did. The Gospel comes not with wise and persuasive words, but with the Power of the Spirit of God, so that those who come to faith may not rest on mans wisdom but on God's Wisdom. (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)

Jesus, bless us. Open eyes, open hearts, invade lives with your Spirit. Keep us humble, make our eyes, Your eyes; our hearts, Your heart...We ask for a harvest, as workers in your field. (Matthew 9:37-38) In Jesus name, Amen.

"In Christ, we are not bound to the law, but Christ in us binds us with the Lawgiver."

“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” ~ Galatians 2:19-21

Spurgeon on "Reading The Bible"

If this be the Word of God, what will become of some of you who have not read it for the last month? “Month, sir! I have not read it for this year.” Ay, there are some of you who have not read it at all. Most people treat the Bible very politely. They have a small pocket volume, neatly bound, they put a white pocket-handkerchief around it, and carry it to their places of worship. When they get home, they lay it up in a drawer till next Sunday morning; then it comes out again for a little bit of a treat and goes to chapel; that is all the poor Bible gets in the way of an airing. That is your style of entertaining this Heavenly messenger. There is dust enough on some of your Bibles to write “damnation” with your fingers . There are some of you who have not turned over your Bibles for a long, long, long while, and what think you? I tell you blunt words, but true words. What will God say at last? When you shall come before him, he shall say, “Did you read my Bible?” “No.” I wrote you a letter of mercy; did you read it?” “No.” “Rebel! I have sent you a letter inviting you to me: did you ever read it?” “Lord I never broke the seal; I kept it shut up.” “Wretch!”, says God, “then you deserves Hell, if I sent you a loving epistle and you would not even break the seal: what shall I do to you?” Oh! let it not be so with you. Be Bible readers; be Bible searchers.

"Angels Long To Look On Such Things!"

 "...Even angels long to look into these things" ~1 Peter 1:12

"Angels longing?"  What a marvelous thought?  What could Angels, who work and minister for us in the presence of God (Hebrews 1:14), long to look into?

Well, let's look in the context of the verse.

1 Peter 1:3-12-

  ³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷ These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, ⁹ for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

¹⁰Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care,¹¹trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow.¹²It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.

 This passage makes is clear what they long to look upon, the Gospel we have received.  Think about it.  Jesus didn't die for angels, He didn't suffer for angels, God didn't adopt angels, God doesn't call, sanctify, justify to angels.  God doesn't put Himself into the hearts of angels through the Holy Spirit.

God loves humanity though we in no way deserve it.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." ~John 3:16

Today, maybe you're not a Christian and you're reading this.  Even though you are a dirty condemned sinner, God is inviting you too new life, to be adopted into His family and too be saved for the coming wrath of Hell that is deserved by all who have sinned.  (1 Thess. 1:9-10)

Repent (turn from your sin) and put your Trust in Christ and His work on the Cross (Matt 26-28) and recieve what angels long to look upon, the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

If you are a Christian, give your God praise this day that He came into your life today and did what only He could, save you from yourself.  Give God praise this Sabbath, because He is the Only One worthy of your praise, affection and devotion.  And, brother or sister in Christ, don't forget the cost of rejecting such a great Salvation (Hebrews 2:15)  Let us dedicate our lives to making His Gospel known to everyone, everywhere in every tribe, tongue, and nation. (Mark 16:15, Matt. 28:19-20, Acts 1:8)
 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— ²⁵ to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. ~Jude 24-25