A Cry of Assurance

"...but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, 'Abba! Father!' The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God" - Romans 8:15-16

Struggling Christian, your cry to your Father is met by the cry of the Holy Spirit which cries out as a witness: "My child, I hear you. You are mine." Therefore, your cries out to God are God's assurance that you in fact His. "Help my unbelief" are the words of one whom is continuing to believe. A bedrock of security for those sinking in the ocean of doubt.

Our Serving, Suffering, Supplicating, Sympathetic Savior

How does Jesus respond to suffering?  Matthew 14 gives us some insight. 

When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, “he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself.” (14:13).  Jesus wanted some time to mourn alone.  Suffering well will include solitude.  Needing to be alone is often the best thing for a hurting heart.  But, Jesus did not get much time alone, the crowds were following him.  Upon seeing the crowd Jesus, “had compassion on them and healed their sick.” (14:14).  Jesus did not let his suffering lead him to bitterness but be sympathetic toward others in pain.  He not only took the time to heal the crowds, but to fed 5000 and set with them until they finished eating.  “And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.” (14:21) Suffering well will include service. Jesus was suffering, but He took the time to minister to others in need instead of focusing on His own needs.  Lastly, we see that Jesus did get His alone time, after He dismissed the crowd, he spent an estimated 9 hours in prayer, not only for the ministry he was about to do, prayer for his own suffering (Matthew 14:23-25). Suffering well involves supplication.

The good news is just not just that out Savior suffered, but that He suffers well and sympathizes with us in our suffering. 

Will we light the spark?

Reading up on the Third Great Awakening (1850-1900) for a history paper.  Many profound things marked this revival, both positive and negative, but the emphasis on prayer and unity really struck me.  Walter Hampel writes, "Denominational differences were considered important but secondary to the purpose of seeking God’s face in prayer."  This unity in prayer is credited with much of how the revival "spread to be like a lightning strike in a forest".  Christians, will we light the spark of revival on our knees?

“Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance. It is laying hold of His willingness.” - Luther

Augustine on the Two Will of God

"Thus His saints, inspired by His holy will, desire many things which never happen. They pray,
e.g., for certain individuals—they pray in a pious and holy manner—but what they request He does
not perform, though He Himself by His own Holy Spirit has wrought in them this will to pray.
And consequently, when the saints, in conformity with God’s mind, will and pray that all men be
saved, we can use this mode of expression: God wills and does not perform,—meaning that He
who causes them to will these things Himself wills them. But if we speak of that will of His which
is eternal as His foreknowledge, certainly He has already done all things in heaven and on earth
that He has willed,—not only past and present things, but even things still future. But before the
arrival of that time in which He has willed the occurrence of what He foreknew and arranged before
all time, we say, It will happen when God wills. But if we are ignorant not only of the time in
which it is to be, but even whether it shall be at all, we say, It will happen if God wills,—not because
God will then have a new will which He had not before, but because that event, which from eternity
has been prepared in His unchangeable will, shall then come to pass." - City of God 22:2

"Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them" - Hebrews 7:25

Persevering through the prayers of our sympathetic Savior.

A Prayer For Good Friday

Blessed Lord Jesus,
Before thy cross I kneel and see the heinousness of my sin,
   my iniquity that caused thee to be ‘made a curse’,
   the evil that excites the severity of divine wrath.

Show me the enormity of my guilt by
   the crown of thorns,
   the pierced hands and feet,
   the bruised body,
   the dying cries.

Thy blood is the blood of incarnate God,
   its worth infinite, its value beyond all thought.
Infinite must be the evil and guilt that demands such a price.
Sin is my malady, my monster, my foe, my viper,
   born in my birth,
   alive in my life,
   strong in my character,
   dominating my faculties,
   following me as a shadow,
   intermingling with my every thought,
   my chain that holds me captive in the
   empire of my soul.

Sinner that I am, why should the sun give me light,
  the air supply breath,
   the earth bear my tread,
   its fruits nourish me,
   its creatures subserve my ends?

Yet thy compassions yearn over me,
   thy heart hastens to my rescue,
   thy love endured my curse,
   thy mercy bore my deserved stripes.

Let me walk humbly in the lowest depths
   of humiliation,
   bathed in thy blood,
   tender of conscience,
   triumphing gloriously as an heir of salvation."

– “The Precious Blood,” Valley of Vision, 74-75.

"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 Prayer for Overflowing with Thankfulness

--Scotty Smith

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. 

Col. 2:6-7

 Dear Lord Jesus, I want to be a man who gives you the quality and quantity of thanks of which you are so absolutely worthy. Not like a slow drip, a babbling brook, or a meandering stream, but like a geyser—a gospel geyser—spontaneously erupting with gratitude any and every moment. I want to overflow with thankfulness, to the praise of your glory and grace!

I have every reason to be like the healed Samaritan leper, who with a stunned heart and irrepressible gratitude returned to give you heartfelt thanks (Luke 17:11-17). I return today, and I want to return every day, to express my profound thankfulness.

From the first nanosecond I was given faith to receive you as Savior and Lord, I was fully and firmly rooted in your righteousness and love. Now, completely forgiven, I have no other righteousness than yours. Just as I cannot add one iota to your righteousness, I can never, ever be separated from your love, and your love, alone, is better than life. You have already set me free from the penalty of sin, you are continually setting me free from the power of sin, and one day you will set me free from the very presence of sin.
Jesus, I want to live in you—reflecting upon your glory with an unveiled face and marinating in the riches of your unfailing grace. I want to be built up in you, maturing by the same grace that saved me, being liberated for the race that you’ve set before me. I want to be strengthened in you, forgiving others as you have forgiven me; forbearing with others as you forbear with me; accepting others as you accept me—loving as your beloved.

Lord Jesus, how I would love to be already done with all of my carping and droning, all whining and complaining, all boohoo-ing and Eeyore-ing, and with every other expression of ingratitude. But until that Day, rise up in me this day, and set my heart, voice, hands and feet free to love you and serve those around me. Oh, Fountain of Grace, Oh, Artesian Spring of Life, set me free. So very Amen I pray, in your glorious and grace-filled name.

Charles Spurgeon Quote

"Give away a tract whenever you can; better still, give a little book that will not be torn up, one that has a cover on it, for you will probably see it upon the table when you call again. Speak a word for the Master whenever it is possible; and offer a short prayer at every convenient opportunity. I think we should make it a rule, whenever we hear a foul or blasphemous word in the street - (and, alas! we constantly do so) - always to pray for the person who utters it. Perhaps then the devil might find it expedient not to stir up people to swear, if he knew that it excited Christians to pray. Try it, at all events, and see whether it may not have a subtle power to stop the profanity which is so terribly on the increase."

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

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.

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.

Charles Spurgeon On Prayer

“All hell is vanquished when the believer bows his knee in importunate supplication. Beloved brethren, let us pray. We cannot all argue, but we can all pray; we cannot all be leaders, but we can all be pleaders; we cannot all be mighty in rhetoric, but we can all be prevalent in prayer. I would sooner see you eloquent with God than with men. Prayer links us with the Eternal, the Omnipotent, the Infinite, and hence it is our chief resort…Be sure that you are with God, and then you may be sure that God is with you."

What an encouraging challenge!

God Has Already Done The Work!

I received this anonymous questions:

"Hello, I have a question: I love God but I feel as if I'm not living up to His expectations and that I'm not praising him enough. I pray to Him every day and night, and in my prayers I always praise Him. What else can I do to show God that I love him?"

Well, let me say, praying and praising God is great and will keep a soul on fire for the Lord.

I want to begin with a few points, then answer your question with Scripture.

1) God's expectations are too high for us too reach.

The fact is, we are commanded to "be perfect as our Father is Holy" (Matthew 5:48)

But the Bible also says that we can not do it without God helping us. (2 Peter 1:3)

"For He has made perfect forever, those who are being made holy" Hebrews 10:14

2) God can never be praised enough. He is worthy of praise and worthy to be praised.

We don't have to look any further then the Gospel too tell us that.

God came into the world, lived a sinless life, suffered and died on a Cross to save us from our own sinfulness, give us new life, give us His Spirit and redeem us as His children. Then He rose again on the three days later to just prove Himself as God.

Once we repent and trust in Christ, He grants us new, eternal life.

I say this because the Gospel should be the foundation of our worship and prayer towards God.

I was actually just read this from Titus 2 in my time in the Word this morning:

"For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good."~Titus 2:11-14

But, the best advice I can give you is too stay in His Word, pray continually, stay in fellowship of a local Biblical Church, and share your faith with others.

Last thing that I would like to encourage you with comes out of the book of 2 Peter.

"His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins." ~2 Peter 1:3-9

Pray this encourages you!

Keep doing what you're doing and walk with the Lord! God Bless!

A Couple Of Thoughts (and a Challenge) About Prayer

 I have recently been inspired to begin work on a custom Gospel Tract in response to the “Can I Pray For You?”challenge by H.L.Hussmann. Whether or not this project becomes an effective ministry is up to the Lord, but it’s an idea I feel should at least be worked on.

This has inspired me too write blog about prayer. Something I haven’t really touched on too much yet. Don’t consider this a “prayer guide.” But more of a prayer 101 with some additional thoughts.

Let start with what prayer is. Prayer is simply communication with God.

We are meant to come to God to ask, to thank, and exalt God.

The Bible has a lot too say about having faith and it’s power. But, a caution, when reading those verses (such as Matthew 21:21-22 etc..) remember that God doesn’t answer prayers outside of His Will (1 John 5:14-15) and that ultimately God gives us what is best for us, if we are ready for it (Matthew 7:7-12). God is Sovereign and doesn’t need our prayers to work in life, God already knows whats going on in our lives, but it is apart of our relationship with our Father. (Matthew 6:8) (I’ll talk more about this relationship in coming posts)

I mean, just think about it. How could you say you have a relationship with a friend if you never took the time to call them and tell them whats going on in your life?

The Bible says that we should pray continually (1 Thess. 5:16-18), pray for others (Colossians 4:12), for bold and clear Gospel proclamations (Colossians 4:4), which comes through the Holy Spirit. The Bible also teaches to pray in trouble and in sickness (James 5:13-20). We are also meant to follow the example of Jesus in prayer. He prayed for Himself, those close to Him and the world (John 17)

The teachings of Jesus on prayer have a lot to say about it.  Lets look at Matthew chapter 6. We’ll look at the Lords prayer and work backwards. Jesus, just in the Lords Prayer (verse 9-13) teaches us a few things.

1. Put God first in your Prayers. (9)

2. Come into pray expecting to be challenged through the Holy Spirit (11-12)

3. Have faith and expect God to move (notice how Jesus prayed that it would happen, remember my above caution though about “faith and prayer”)

Jesus, within the Lords Prayer, says a statement that is sung in countless worship songs and prayed countless times in the World. “Your Kingdom come…you’re will be done.”

A thought about this:

When we pray “Your Kingdom Come…” we expect an immediate change in the world. But, in reality, His Kingdom must first come into our hearts, before we’ll ever see a change in the world.

Prayer puts wheels into motion, but luckily God controls the directions.

So, yes, we have the power to change the world around us. But let’s expect God to change us into servants before we expect the next great Revival (Remember what Jesus said about the plank in our own eyes? See Matthew 7:1-5).

As some final thoughts, lets look at the opening of Matthew 6.

1. Do it for God, not men. (6:5)

2. It’s about the words, but the heart (6:7)

3. Make sure to have private prayer time. (6:6)

Corporate prayer is important and powerful. All of God’s Church calling out for change in our world is an inspiring image and is guaranteed to bring a change.

But, a quote from A.W. Tozer really shows us the importance of private prayer, “Social religion is perfected when private religion is purified.” (check out the rest of this awesome quote in his book “The Pursuit of God”)

The Church will never bring God’s Kingdom to Earth until we make it come into our hearts.

One final thought. Maybe you’re reading this and your skeptical of prayer. Or maybe you don’t even believe in God or Jesus and just happened by this. This word from Jesus is for you too.

In Matthew 6:6 tells us that God sees everything we do, even in secret. Isn’t that a scary thought? The Creator and Judge of the universe sees and hears our every idle word, thought and emotion. Our hate for our neighbor, our darkest, most sinful of thoughts. One day all people must stand and give an account for these thoughts. God is Holy and will punish sin. He will send them to Hell, an eternal place of torment and Judgement.

But God is rich in mercy. He loved us so much as to go to a Roman Cross for us. God came down in the Person of Jesus Christ too pay our fine before the Holy Judge. Now we can go free and be saved from Hell, if we repent and trust in Jesus Christ ALONE for salvation.

Skeptical of prayer? Sincerely call out to God for forgiveness and trust in Christ and He will give you a new heart with new desires. Then you will see for yourselves the power of prayer and the power of the Gospel.

“if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” -2 Chronicles 7:14

Hope you found this helpful. Also, check out and except the “Can I Pray For You?” Challenge! An amazing way to encourage others and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (link at the top)

God Bless!

(Image Link)

Tales Of The Fearful Fisherman: A Fear Of Sharks

"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." ~Matthew 4:19

When Jesus gave this call to His disciples there are three things He lift off; for good reason I might add.

He never said:

1) It would be easy.

2) It would come quickly.
3) They would never make mistakes.

Why didn't Jesus say these things?  I mean, it certainly would have comforted the disciples and made them want to follow Him more, right?  Well, we forget, Jesus is Truth. 

He didn't say things to His disciples because they weren't the Truth.
If fishing for men (that's Christian for "sharing our faith") was meant to be easy, Jesus would have never left this promise at the end of the Great Commission "...And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” ~Matthew 28:20b  Would Jesus have said this if He knew we wouldn't struggle and ultimately need Him to complete taste He had set before us; which was to "go and make disciples of all nations"?
I struggle with what I call "a fear of sharks."