Holiness

God is holy.  More than any other trait, His holiness is espoused and confirmed in the Bible.  Jesus, as the second member of the trinity, is holy.  Man is, because of sin, not holy.  In truth, the flesh of man is opposed to holiness.  Jesus, in His perfectly sinless life and atoning death, makes the unholy holy.  Our holiness is found solely and only in Christ.  

Moreover, believers are called to holiness, commanded to be holy (2 Cor. 7:1; Eph. 1:3-4; 5:27; 1 Thes. 4:7; 1 Pet 1:15-16).  Holiness is not to be taken lightly.  As God's people, He calls us, "be holy, for I am holy."  This immediately begs the questions: "what is holiness? and, what does it mean to be holy? and, how do we become holy like God"

In a very real sense, because He is holy and we are His, we are to be holy.  We are the representation of God's character on the earth, therefore, we are required to be holy.  This is daunting.  To simplify, we should remember that apart from Him we cannot be holy.  The awesomeness of this reality is that if we are in Him, we will be holy.  But what is holiness?

Holiness is a trait of God, a divine characteristic.  Only God is holy.  Above all other descriptions of God, none carries with it as much theological import as holiness.  God is wholly and outright different from us.  He is transcendant and sovereign.  To say that God is Holy is to speak of His supremacy, His sovereignty, and His righteousness.

When Christians strive for and pursue holiness, we are tapping into the character of the divine.  Because holiness is God's alone, any pursuit of holiness must first seek after Him.  Therefore, when God commands that we be holy as He is holy, He is asking us to draw close to Him as He is the sole source of any and all holiness.

Jesus is the source of our holiness.  Once we convert through confession and belief (Rom. 10:9), we are made holy due to the work of Christ.  The story of holiness doesn't end there, though.  Our holiness is a steady and constant process of (re)fixing our gaze on He that is holy and who is the origin of all holiness.  Only in and through Jesus are we able to be holy in any regard.  Ergo, we should live in a constant pursuit, not of holiness, but of the One who makes us holy: Jesus.

The Power of Quiet

We live in a world where quiet and stillness are a priceless commodity.  We are constantly bombarded by noise and dissonance, distraction and diversion.  Finding time to be quiet or to enjoy the quiet is all the more important today than it has ever been.  Quiet.  Stillness.  The sense of liberation from urgency and freedom from the rush of this life to a place of quiet is essential.

Psalm 37:7, 46:10, and 62:1 speak of the importance of silence, of the quiet.  Quiet is not so much an environment as it is a state of mind.  It is easy to turn off the television and the phone, it is much more difficult to turn off our minds.  Quieting our thoughts is more than challenging, for some, it is nearly an impossible endeavor.

The focus should not be on completely silencing our thoughts to nothingness.  Simplification is the focus of the quiet.  Instead of grabbing hold of every thought that enters our minds, we should reduce the thoughts to one, simple, irreducible thought: the Lord is God.

This seems simple enough but it is the irreducible, perfect assertion that is the key to achieving biblical quietness.  Thinking is like building.  One thought adds on to another and to another, until an idea is formed.  These ideas then build upon each other in interrelation and the richness of the mind.  This is the noise and dissonance that biblical quietness seeks to overcome.  The goal of quietness is to tear down the building of thought in order that it may be remade on the firmest of foundations: God.

Quiet then is not based on the cacophony that is the external world.  Instead, biblical quietness is the noise of thoughts and ideas that fill our minds and cloud our ability to sense that irreducible, irreplaceable, and self-evident truth: that God is God.  Apart from this assertion, all life is useless and worthless.  It is this basic building block idea that goes on to inform and guide every thought that makes up our lives and our world views.  

The cornerstone, laid as the surest of foundations, is Christ (Psa. 118:22; Isa. 28:16; Eph. 2:19-20).  When we seek out the quiet, we are intentionally seeking to (re)assert that Christ is the cornerstone, not just of the church but of our lives.  Quiet does not happen passively.  Our fleshly selves is unable to achieve the quiet.  In reality, our fleshly selves is wholly opposed to the quiet because it is spiritually attained.  Therefore, seeking quiet is invaluable in the life of the believer.  Because it is in the quiet that we are reminded of that which is most important, God.

Taming the Tongue

The tongue is a tool, a small one at that.  But, like any tool, it can be used for good or bad.  Taming our tongues is one of those distinct challenges to Christian growth and sanctification.  James, in his epistle, spends a good deal of time discussing the immense importance that taming the tongue has for believers, especially teachers (James 3).  James describes the tongue in three basic ways: a bridle, a rudder, and a fire.

The tongue as a bridle.  Horses are mighty creatures, capable of remarkable feats of strength and of great endurance.  However, horses, in all their majestic strength, are controlled quite simply by placing the horse's head into a bridle and a bit in its mouth.  Thus a horse can be reined by its master.  Interesting that James would use a bridle as an indication of taming the tongue because, if we are the horses that are bridled, logically, we cannot simultaneously be the rider of the horse.  The master is God, the bridle is His Word.  Bible study and the Holy Spirit are to be the bridle that guides our tongues, taming them to be godly and true.

The tongue as a rudder.  When James describes the tongue as the rudder of a ship, he is rightly giving the tongue its due importance.  Although a ship can be massive and its rudder relatively small, the rudder  guides the ship, turning it to and fro.  In this way, the tongue is not the entirety of the ship but it can serve immensely important purposes.

Think of a ship just off harbor whose rudder chain is detached.  It will not be able to complete its mission.  Moreover, the rudder mechanism must be repaired and, if not done with urgency, the ship raises the risk of running ashore or adrift because it is unable to steer itself.  Similarly, the tongue has usefulness but if not connected properly to the Word and the Holy Spirit, can more often lead to disaster.  In this is it is so important to keep watch over the tongue because it is the wheel that steers the ship of our lives.  God is the one to turns the wheel and steers the ship but if our rudder is damaged or faulty, He cannot very well guide us to our intended courses without serious rudder repair.

The tongue as a fire.  Fire has definite uses.  However, fire has a tendency towards consumption and destruction.  James is quite clear that fire lends itself more towards destruction than building, although this is not fire's intended purpose.  Fire is intended to bring warmth and light to places of cold and darkness.  Similarly, our tongues are meant to bring warmth, healing, and light to a cold and dark world.  We can use our tongues to illuminate and refresh those around us or we can use our tongues to burn and destroy people and relationships.  Our tongues were given to us by the Lord for the former though the latter is our fleshly bent.

Acknowledging the enormous responsibility and power that our tongues yield is overwhelming.  It is a significant challenge to tame the tongue but one commanded by the Scriptures.  The hope is to form good habits that avoid slander, flippancy, insincerity, and rudeness while striving for grace, kindness, and gentleness.  Jesus is our example.  He was kind and gentle even unto death.  Although He often called the unrepentant to the task, He maintained a sense of grace and gentleness throughout.  This should be our intention in taming our tongues: to be honest and honestly gracious.

Struggle for Sanctification

Sanctification is hard.  Sanctification is the process of growth by which believers are made into the image and likeness of Jesus.  It is a life-long journey, one in which we assess who we are in light of His Word, repent of that which is not inline with it, and fix our eyes upon Jesus' example.  What makes sanctification so challenging is that we start to see ourselves clearly and honestly.  This can be utterly devastating.

Getting face-to-face with those parts of ourselves that are opposed to Christ is what sanctification is all about.  Unfortunately, this means that we have to confront what is most undesirable within our own depths.  More than unsettling, this is terrifying.  In each of us, behind the layers of propriety and pretense, each of us has a root sin nature.  It is this sin nature that tugs and pulls us to make poor decisions.  Sanctification seeks to strike at the root of sin with the axe of the Word, cutting out the parts of ourselves that are at odds with Christ's desires.

Sanctification is God's work.  He does it by the power of His Word and the action of the Holy Spirit (John 15:3; 17:17; 1 Thes. 5:23; 2 Thes. 2:13).  Practically speaking, there is a two-part method in dealing with the Word.  First, consistent reading and disciplined, guided interpretation is essential to mine the wealth of riches that is the Word.  Second, the principles and truths of the Bible must be applied to our lives.  In both of these steps, the Holy Spirit guides and causes everything to occur.  However, we do play a role in the process.  We are to be obedient and active in the process.

The process of sanctification is what separates mature Christians from immature Christians.  Apart from  sanctification, no believer can grow into the person God intends them to be.  It is this process that helps us develop beyond our current state and past the stumbling block that is our sin nature.  The Lord wants so much for us and He promises to deliver us from our lowly states.

He wants us to devote ourselves to Him, hook, line, and sinker.  The difficulty is that it requires us to address the reality of ourselves in light of what God wants of and for us.  This tough and crippling.  Luckily, the Lord heals us by His Word and helps us to overcome our shortcomings.  Praise be to God, for He is the plumb line to guide our ways!

More than Milk

When children are infants, they do not yet have the ability to take in solid food and so must be fed through liquids, particularly milk.  Not until they have teeth and stomachs to handle the complexities of more substantial food are they able to eat anything more than that.  This is true in spiritual matters as well.

Prior to belief, at conversion and shortly after, we are infants, unable to intake or digest the full weight and substance of the Christian life.  We need milk.  Milk is made-up of the basic, elementary tenets of faith: repentance from dead works towards faith in God, belief in Christ’s resurrection from the dead, and the reality of eternal judgment and grace, et al (Heb. 6:1-3). However, when we are ready, we are supposed to move beyond these basics towards more substantial matters of faith.

The more substantial food is the Word.  The Bible, the Word of God, is not an easy read nor is it possible to understand its richness apart from faith.  Although it is an amazing literary work, the wealth within its pages is not accessible apart from the work of the Holy Spirit.  It is the very Word of God.  Many major biblical scholars have made huge inroads of scholarship that can shed light into the Bible but, apart from the work of the Holy Spirit working in the hearts of faithful readers, the Bible is nothing more than another anthology, no different from any other book ever written.

The substance of Christianity is found in Christ.  Christianity is just another worldly religion if it is severed from its head which is Jesus.  The revelation of Jesus is found in the Bible, the whole Bible.  From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible speaks about Christ.  Therefore, any Christian that desires maturity must be in the Bible.  The substance that propels Christians towards maturity is found in the Bible, is applied by the Holy Spirit, and is accountably practiced in a body of believers.  

Without the Word, the Holy Spirit working, and regular communion of believers, maturity will not happen.  In this case, one of two things will occur: (1) the believer will spend the whole of their Christian existence stuck on the milk and never maturing; or (2) the believer will look outside of Christianity for spiritual food because the “real” spiritual food simply lies outside of their human grasp.  This points to the necessity for devout, mature spiritual mentors to walk alongside believers to help guide them to maturity.

Lastly, Christian maturity has nothing, not one thing, to do with age.  There are many young believers that, by the grace and power of God, are more mature than the older generations.  Age is void as a determinant of spiritual maturity.  Rather, spiritual maturity is assessed spiritually.  If a person exhibits the signs of wisdom, patience, joy, hope, and a passion for God and His Word, they are mature.  We should all strive and aim to spiritual maturity for it is a good goal and, in the least, it will bring us closer to God.

Holy Humility

Humility is hard.  It goes against every natural impulse.  Putting away pride and selfish ambition is part of humility but true humility is so much more.  It is not just an attitude, it is a way of life.  In many ways, humility should be though of as a constant anti-self that rubs against the natural grain of who we are.  There is a discipline to humility but, at its core, true humility is about imitating Christ.

Jesus is the Son of God, the second member of the trinity, and the Word by which all of creation came into existence.  He is the radiance of God's glory (Heb. 1:3-4).  God, in His infinite sovereignty and plan, had Jesus condescend into human form.  Jesus eschewed His infinite and eternal divinity to become a man.  Born of a virgin out of wedlock, He became the illegitimate stepson of a carpenter.  He lived a low-income, rural existence.  In His adulthood, He spent His time with reprobates and societal dregs.  Ultimately, He was tried, convicted, beaten, and crucified fraudulently.  True humility.

When we think of humility, Jesus is to be our example.  This is a steep example to strive towards.  Even though Jesus is, in His very nature, God, He made Himself lower than all in order to save all (Phil. 2:5-7).  There is simply no place in Christianity for pride.  If Christ truly is our example, then we are to be conformed to His likeness in humility.

Jesus tells us that those who wish to be first will make themselves servants of all (Mark 9:35Luke 18:9-14; 22:24-27.  Moreover, Jesus tells us that we should not seek the praise that comes from man but should only earnestly seek affirmation from our Lord (John 5:44).  In this way, Jesus is telling us that humility is about serving God because it is right, not for accolades or self-exaltation.  Rather, everything we do is to be like a street sign that points to Him.  Exalting the Lord should be our goal.  

Needless to say, humility is difficult.  But we should not let the task daunt us from what is required.  Also, God lifts up those who put themselves low.  The old adage: "God helps those who help themselves" is not Scriptural in the least (it's Benjamin Franklin).  Instead, He helps those who seek after Him first.  Humility is about seeking after Him first.  It can be painful but it is right.  And, humility has a funny way of blessing us when we least suspect it.  Because we won't be looking for accolades, when we receive encouragement, it will be like a wind that refreshes the soul.  Praise God through whom all humility comes.

Thanks for Thankfulness

Thankfulness.  Being full of thanks.  It is foundational and lovely.  Thankfulness is not merely gratitude, in fact, it involves so much more.  True thankfulness is more a matter of praise and reverence than it is about appreciation.  Perhaps an all-too-brief synopsis of what we should be thankful for is in order.

The Lord God, Yahweh Elohim, created the heavens and the earth by the power of His Word.  He is perfect, just, and holy.  Therefore, He is unable to be in the presence of sin.  Mankind, on the other hand, is fallible, fickle, and sinful.  And so there was a sin-debt that separated man and God that needed to be paid to restore right relationship.  There was a grave and great chasm that separated man and God and disallowed any lasting relationship between humanity and God.  Yet God, in His infinite wisdom and mercy, sent His Son, Jesus, to pay the sin-debt for all mankind.  Therefore, man was able to enter into a right relationship with the Lord because of God's grace given through the work of Christ.

The heart of thankfulness.  Additionally, being full of thanks is not just an attitude or a divine character trait, rather, it is a command.  We are to be thankful (Col. 2:6-7).  We are to be overflowing with thankfulness (Eph. 5:20; 1 Thes. 5:18).  Also, thankfulness is to be the manner of conduct for our entering into the divine gates (Psa. 100:4).

Moreover, our thankfulness is in reaction to the goodness of God (Heb. 12:28).  The two, God's goodness and our thankfulness, are proportionally related.  As God, in His very essence is only good, then we should, in the very depths of our beings, be filled with thankfulness.  It is not a matter of working towards thankfulness.  Instead, when we are focused on the Lord, we will be thankful.

Lastly, thankfulness should never be the aim of Christian life.  God is our aim.  Thankfulness is our natural reaction to God.  We should strive to be focused on the Lord, who He is, what He has done, and what He continues to do then our thankfulness will be pure, holy, and natural.  Thankfulness is to be synonymous with praise.  It should not ever be severed from its source which is Christ.  So, when we are thankful, we should be thankful to Him.  Thanks be to God for He is great and worthy of all praise and thankfulness!

Obedience then Blessing

There is a basic principle at play throughout redemptive history that is all but ignored in modern Christianity.  It is the fact that blessing follows obedience, not the other way around.  The reality is presented throughout the Bible, particularly in regards to the covenants.  The Scripture is replete with if-then language that should not be overlooked.  At the onset, it is essential to point out that this is not works-based-righteousness.  No one can ever earn salvation.

At its most fundamental, think of Rom. 10:9: "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."  There are conditional qualifications to salvation: confession, belief, then salvation.  All of this points to an implied order or sequence to redemption.

The Word is pregnant with this concept, again, especially in regards to the covenants.  For instance, Noah had to build an ark in the desert but was then blessed, just as Abraham had to leave his home and family but was later blessed.  Similarly, Moses had to lead the Israelites through the Exodus before they were blessed with the covenant.  Joshua and the Israelites had to be obedient to the command to take the Promised Land before it was given into their hands.  And David was not blessed with full kingship until after he had been obedient under Saul for a period of time.  Elijah had to arrange the situation on Mount Carmel and drench the altar before God showed up to burn the offering.  Sense a theme?  However, in many ways this is much more than a thematic element, it is a basic truth to Christian life.

There is relevance to this in the life of believers too.  Many people have conversion experiences but for some reason they fall away from the faith and never reach the full blessings promised and delivered through Christ.  It can be called backsliding.  The reality is much starker though.

When people who claim Christ do not receive their full share of the blessings, unfortunately, it is indicative that they have not followed-through their conversion with obedience.  In many ways, the conversion experience is a mere taste, just a sample of the riches of God to be found in Jesus.  If we want the whole meal, we need to be obedient.  Think of it logically, if salvation's joy is about gaining a relationship with the Almighty, then it makes sense that non-obedient negligence should not be rewarded with the gift of relational blessing.  Needless to say, this is a challenging teaching but it is biblical.  Blessing requires obedience.

It is true that whoever seeks after and pursues God will be blessed; however, receiving the full blessings promised by the Lord through Christ requires obedience over time.  Many disciplines are at play: patience, wisdom, strength, perseverance, waiting, etc.  But the point is simple: if we are obedient to Him and to His Word and we will be blessed.

Powerful Meditation

Focused mediation is of vast importance to the Christian life.  Throughout the Scripture, particularly the Psalms, meditation is exhorted and exalted as a primary function and pursuit of believers (Psa. 1:1-2; et al).  Because of the literary real estate given to the importance and role of meditation in the life of believers, it is worth examination.

In preparation for the wandering Israelites entering the Promised Land, Joshua explains the purpose and the practice of meditation (Jos. 1:8).  Meditation is to focused on the Word of God, day and night, for it will guide the way and prevent waywardness.  Joshua also adds that meditation can have significant and prosperously positive effects.

Because of the historical context of this bold plea by Joshua prior to entering Canaan and destroying the inhabitants, it is striking that Joshua would point to the importance of maintaining meditation.  The Israelites were about to enter into a fierce genocidal wartime in which, with God as their great King and commander, they would vanquish the Canaanites and finally inhabit the Promised Land.  Still, Joshua tells the Israelites that the measure of success that will be portioned to them will be in relation to their constant meditation on the law.  This has immense importance.

If we, as Christians, are to be sojourners in this world, then we are not unlike the Israelites.  Also, the principle at play in Joshua's time is still at play today.  The degree of our growth in the Christian life is in direct proportion to how much effort we are putting into it.  It makes sense.  If we are truly meditating on (inputing) the Word of God and His will, we will naturally begin to output the Word and will of the Lord.

A word here about technique is in order.  Since the middle of the 20th century, when eastern philosophy made huge inroads into western college campuses, our understanding of meditation has been dominated by an eastern, buddhist identity.  This is not biblical meditation.  In eastern meditation, the goal is nothingness; it is a meditative process of severing self and holding no thought.  Through this process of deconstruction, enlightenment and inner peace is achieved.  Quite literally, the object of eastern meditation is nothing.

In contrast, biblical, godly meditation has the Lord as its focus.  The process of biblical meditation is to focus on the Lord and His Word for the purpose of growing closer to His Son, Jesus.  There is a clear object of meditation: God.  If meditation does not have God as its object it is not only useless, it is sin. It is sin because we are not using our God given faculties and capacities for their intended purposes.

At the final analysis, meditation is a necessary practice for Christians.  It takes dedicated time. The amount of time is not important because we are to be doing it all the time.  The reality is that it was probably easier to spend all day in meditation in an agrarian society that lacked much social contact.  Unfortunately, in our corporate, service-focused world, interpersonal communication is seemingly unavoidable.  This presents definite issues for meditation.  For this, remember that the goal of Christian life is to be God-centered.

Practically speaking, this means that even when we may not be able to meditate continuously on the Word of God, we will be disciplined as to keep our focus on Him throughout our interpersonal communications and will be thinking about Him as much as is possible.  This is not an easy teaching but again, we should not ever allow the challenges reckoned by the Christian life detour us from striving towards a better, more biblical Christianity.

Right Thinking

One of the most difficult aspects of the Christian life is controlling our thoughts.  Out of our thoughts come our actions.  Out of thinking comes sin.  In fact, even wrong thinking is sin (Matt. 5).  It is not enough to know the truth, we must cultivate a mind that thinks the truth, that thinks right.  Right thinking is not only a matter of content but also of methodology.  When we are thinking about right things, we should make sure we are thinking about them rightly.

In regards to content, right thinking must involve the Lord.  If we are not thinking about the Lord and His will, then He is not filling the most intimate parts of ourselves.  No one can know a man but the spirit of that man (2 Cor. 2:11).  We must "let" the Lord into our thoughts.  Moreover, the thoughts of man are to be the lamp of the Lord, the place of residence of the Lord Most High (Pro. 20:27).  Because of this we need to be on guard as to what we let into our minds as what dwells in our minds becomes us.  If we dwell on lust, lust becomes us as it does with anger, worry, malice, conceit, pride, etc.  What we allow our thoughts to linger upon is of great importance and has significant ramifications, good or bad, depending on the content thereof.

The content that we fill our minds with can be quite revealing to the state of our sanctification.  If our thoughts are constantly on wickedness, pride, lust, ungodliness, etc. then we are not letting the Holy Spirit in.  More profoundly, if our thoughts are wicked, our whole selves are too (Pro. 15:26).  In contrast, if we truly are being sanctified, we will be thinking about godly things, our thoughts will be spent on the Word, and we will be equipped to discern the good and perfect will of God (Pro. 16:20).  If this is insufficient to compel us to use our intelectual faculties to think about godly things, the apostle Paul exhorts believers to only think about that which matters (Phil. 4:8).

Additionally, the methodology of our thinking should also be under examination.  The Word should be the focal and aim of our whole beings, including our minds.  Our thinking should be determined and molded by the Scripture, never the other way around.  The Bible determines what we think, what we think should never determine what the Bible says.  This means that we encounter the Word with a discipline to be malleable to it.  This is extremely challenging because we can be very emotionally attached to what we think about Scripture, to dogma.  This is dangerous.

Dogma has a way of letting us see only what fits that dogma and justifying that which disagrees with it.  Instead, we should be humble enough to come to the Word with a childlike sense of wonder, acknowledging that the Word has its own rules.  This means that we will be willing to change with the Word and not be so stiff as to not allow the Word to do its sanctifying work.

Right thinking is part and parcel to righteousness.  As righteousness is only found in Jesus, then right thinking must be Christ-centered and Christ-like.  Again, we are image-bearers of Jesus and are being transformed into the Word.  It is not enough to merely read the Scriptures, we are to become the Scriptures.  This takes discipline of the mind as to replace the fleshly-thinking of world with the right-thinking of the Lord.  In order to be like Christ we need to think like Christ.  This does not and cannot happen apart from Bible study and the work of the Holy Spirit.  But it is not to be an arduous or undesirable change in thinking.  In fact, having our thoughts change to the thoughts of the Lord is extremely beautiful and such a blessing.

The Great Sustainer

God created and sustains all of the universe through His Word, which is Jesus (Psa 33:6; John 1:1-3;  Rom. 11:36; 1 Cor. 8:6; Col. 1:16-17; Heb. 1:2).  Nothing that has been made has been made without Him.  This is hard teaching but it is one of the most fundamental truths in all of Scripture, continually reaffirmed and asserted; God is the great creator, and He sustains His creation by and through His Son, Jesus.

God is our Great Sustainer.  He sustains creation.  Logically, this means that all of creation is kept and held by Him from moment to moment.  This is not just in terms of sheer matter, but also, and more importantly, He sustains us spiritually.

In Calvinism, spiritual sustaining is oft referred to as the perseverance of the saints.  Simply put, God keeps and sustains those who are His.  God protects and prompts the spiritual status and growth of believers.  He accomplishes this purpose by propelling the spiritual growth of His children by His Word and the Holy Spirit, but He also acts in propelling the obedience of His children.

Salvation is certain in Christ.  That being said, salvation is not and cannot be guaranteed apart from believers adhering to His will.  "Once saved, always saved," is a common and pervasive heresy that should be quickly and decisively thrown out for the blasphemy it is.  On the contrary, the biblical account of salvation is quite clear that salvation can be lost due to disobedience to Christ (Matt. 7:21; John 15; Rom. 8; Col. 1:21-23; Gal. 5:4;  Heb. 10:26-29; Jam. 5:19-20).

The last two verses, Heb. 10:26-29 and Jam. 5:19-20, speak to this provocative truth directly.  If we do not follow-up our belief with a life that conforms to the mind of Christ and the will of the Holy Spirit and the Holiness of God, then we will not be saved.  There are conditions to the New Covenant which is in Christ (Jer. 33:31; Heb. 10).  Luckily, we have the Holy Spirit, an advocate and helper that sustains us so that we can meet those conditions.  Therefore, if the Holy Spirit is not working in our hearts, minds, and lives, we will not be sustained.

This is challenging doctrine.  Our salvation is sustained and secure only in Him but it is made faulty and tenuous only in us.  The conditional requirements of the Covenant of Christ are, in their minimum: confession, belief, repentance, and sanctification.  In each of these steps, the Lord is the center and sustainer.  The Lord, by the Holy Spirit, reveals sin which causes confession.  He is the object of belief.  He is the holy Lord who we repent towards as we repent away from ourselves. And He is the powerful working sanctifier who works in the lives of believers, continually causing growth in holy consecration.

Therefore, God truly sustains His children.  We, as His children, simply need to believe in who He is and act out that faith by obedience and discipline to Him.  He is our Great Sustainer and should be understood and praised for it.  We, as His agents, serve purposes in sustaining by our obedience to His Word and in adhering to its requirements.  By this, we are truly sustained in every circumstance, we are kept through every hardship, and we are continually being remade in His likeness.  This is the ultimate goal of sustaining: that we may be kept in Him, at all times, and in all things.  Praise be to God!  For He sustains His children!

Useful Memory

Memory is an essential part of life because much of wisdom is learning from the past. Peter’s second letter is a treatise on remembering.  Memory can be a powerful ally in keeping us focused, or it can be a fearsome, overpowering foe that weighs us down with regret and shame.  Which role our memories play on the stage of our lives is dependent on both the memories we focus on as well as our attitudes towards our memories.

Every believer is to be born-again (John 3).  If we do not fully understand this basic truth then we will not receive the full riches of Christ.  To be born-again is not just a spiritual change; it is a whole transformation, body, mind, and soul.  It is not a latent, reactive change but is proactive and dynamic.  

The transformation referred to as “born-again” is describing a return to the intended relationship for man and God.  When we are born again, we are consciously marking a turning point in our lives, as in, from here on out everything is different.  Although we begin our new lives at conversion, we are still informed and entrenched by our previous lives.  Enter memory.

The lives we once lived before our conversions remain with us.  We carry the memories of our previous life with us wherever we go.  It is how we think about that life that determines whether we treat our memories as baggage or as grace.  If remembering our previous selves only arouses feelings of remorse or shame, then we are not set free from sin as we should be.  Christ’s work destroyed sin’s grip on our lives, even our memories.  

Instead of feeling guilt when we remember who we were before being born-again, we should view who we previously were as a testament to God’s grace.  When we think of how truly wretched and abased we were before we gave ourselves to the Lord, it should only spurn us to greater devotion.  Acknowledging the reality that only in and through Christ do we have any worth is the purpose of remembering.  Our memories should never haunt us but should act as a catalyst to greater and deeper dependence on Jesus.  

Additionally, memories of our previous lives serve significant purposes in evangelism.  The fact that every believer came from a place of unbelief to a redeemed state of belief means that our previous lives are assets and bridges that allow us to speak honestly about Christ to unbelievers.  We can meet unbelievers where they are because we were once there too.  Therefore, we should be so thankful, and recognize not only that God has saved us through the work of Jesus, but what He saved us from.  In conclusion, praise be to Yahweh for He has saved us from much and brought us to so much more!

Relationship Restoration

Restoration is a return to a previous pristine state.  We speak of restoration referring to the end result of cleaning and shining so that what has become dirty and in disrepair is brought back to its original luster and usefulness.  Jesus is the Great Restorer who restores broken and rusted humans to a previous state of glimmer and intent.

As a concept, restoration makes sense, but it is the reality of its application that can be challenging.  To say that God is our restorer means that He is the One who cleans, fixes, and restores us to a previous state of shimmer and worth.  Implied in this is the fact that we are not in this state currently and we are in need of restoration.  The first step to this is understanding what we are being restored to.

Creation was perfect.  At creation, God deemed that everything was good.  It was at the Fall (Gen. 3) when creation fell into less-than-perfect status.  Before the Fall, mankind was in perfect relationship and communion with God, we were naked, free, and unashamed.  The tragedy of the Fall has nothing to do with the benefits and blessings of Eden that were lost.  No.  The heartbreak of the Fall was that mankind, because of unfaithfulness and disobedience, was no longer able to have perfect relationship and communion with the Lord Almighty.  This is what is restored.

Jesus is our restorer.  It is through the torn veil of Jesus' flesh that our relationship is restored to its original state.  For those who have tasted Christ, this is what continually draws us to Him.  When Jesus bore the burden of our sin and guilt upon the cross, He restored our broken relationship with the Lord to its intended origins.  By delivering us and saving us from our sin, He tore down the wall that separated man from God.  Because of this, we can have the intended relationship of communion with the Lord.

When we are restored to a right relationship with the Lord because of the work of Jesus it is imperative that we maintain our restored state.  This means sustaining our focus on the One who, by His Passion, restores.  Our first state of disrepair and tarnish was as a result of Adam's sin.  But Adam's sin was overcome by Christ's work on the cross, which is applied to humans by confessing with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believing in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead (Rom. 10:9).  However, once we become believers, it is our responsibility to prevent any corrosive element to enter in and rust our restored right relationship.

Because of our natural compulsion to entropy and towards corrosion, a constant and consistent awareness of the state-of-affairs in our relationship to God through Christ is essential and necessary.  As Jesus is our restorer, if we ever find that we are not focused on Him and we fall into neglect, we can easily backslide into rust, disuse, and ruin.  It is only when we remain focused on Jesus, our Great Restorer, that we will be able to maintain the right relationship that was intended at creation.

Dragnet Darkness

Jesus is the light of the world who came into the world for the purpose of dispelling darkness and its grip on humanity (John 8:12; 12:46).  Darkness is usually understand as a catch-all for that which is anti-god.  For the biblical world, darkness also referred to ignorance and lack of knowledge.  Jesus came to fulfill that knowledge, the knowledge man has always most lacked, knowledge of God.  Before Jesus, who is the Word, believers only heard the voice of God from His prophets and their writings (Heb. 1:1-2).  But when Jesus came into the world, man was no longer relegated to the darkness, but was able to enter into the light.  The problem is that darkness has a gripping way of keeping people from the light.

When we are in God, we are in the light, meaning that we are authentically and truthfully known.  This can be a terrifying position before a holy and just God.  If we were to stand naked in front of the Lord apart from Jesus covering our transgressions, we would be totally undone and the wretchedness of our selves would be overwhelming.  Because of this, the darkness has a pervasive pull.  Since the darkness holds a place for people to "hide" their sin from God, people naturally choose the darkness (John 3:19).

This is appalling and tragic.  First of all, there is no place that man can hide from God (Psa. 139:11-12; Job 34:22; Dan 2:22).  All of creation and all of reality belongs to Him and thus there is no place to hide from Him.  Hence when we attempt to conceal ourselves from God by hiding in the darkness, we are intentionally adding to the sins that we are covering by trying to cover them.

Also, to think that darkness does not belong to God for His purposes is unbiblical.  Not only does God rule over darkness (Isa. 45:7), but He uses darkness to accomplish His will.  In the first place, darkness is used to conceal His nature from the natural man (1 Kgs. 8:11-12; Psa. 18:11).  This is because the natural, unspiritual man has no need or desire for God and ergo is not fit for His presence (Rom. 8:7; 1 Cor. 1:18; 2:14).  Additionally, Jesus explains the depths of eternal judgment in terms of the darkness (Matt. 8:112; 22:13).  Under either of these divine uses of darkness, it should be avoided at all cost.

God's Word and thus Christ is the only sure deterrent and lightener of darkness.  Jesus is the light, and His Word is the lamp that guides the paths of righteousness (Psa. 119:105; John 8:12).  Therefore, in order to know that our paths are sufficiently lit so that we will be sure to follow only the Lord's course, we need to dedicate our lives to consistent devotion to Jesus and to His Word.  When we do this, the snares and traps that trip humanity in the darkness will be exposed by the shining light of Christ.

Discerning to Decide

What causes us to make decisions?  What is the driving force that most determines which decision we are going to make in any situation?  If we are believers, the answer to these questions is clear, God.  The Lord is to be the motivation behind every choice we make.  Tapping into the Lord is what life is all about.  Our utter dependance on God to guide our decisions is one of the fundamentals of Christian life.  The Lord is the giver of life and the creator of the universe, this means He knows exactly how life should be lived.

Think of it in mechanical terms.  If my car was in disrepair and in need of maintenance, the best and most qualified person to take it to would be a mechanic educated in the workings of my car, who could determine what was wrong and what would be the best course of correction.  In a similar way, but qualitatively different, God should be the mechanic of our lives.  He made us so He knows exactly what each of us needs to run most effectively.

Proverbs 3:5-6 and Haggai 1:5 both equate relying on God for direction with the correctness of our paths.  Logically, if the One who guides our path is right and perfect, we will always be on the right and perfect path.  In fact, it is when we make choices apart from God and make decisions based on ourselves, this is when we run into trouble.  In contrast, when we rely on the Lord to guide every and all of our decisions, it is obedience and faithfulness.

Additionally, we have a helper, the Holy Spirit, who guides us in the way of righteousness (John 16:13).  The Holy Spirit teaches us and helps spur us on to the will of God.  He does this through the Word and through time spent in prayer.  Practically speaking, this should slow the process of decision making.  We should be intentional and deliberate when we make decisions, particularly when the decisions can mean dramatic change.

Decision making should be paired with discernment.  God is not the only one who wants to guide and motivate our decisions.  The enemy, Satan, also wants for us to listen to his voice to make our decisions.  This fact makes discernment so important.  Discernment is the ability to tell whether something is from God or not.  When we are faced with a decision and there are voices telling us to go this way or that, it is imperative that we test those voices (1 John 4:1; 1 Thess. 5:21-22).  Holding potential choices up to the Word of God often reveals the will of the Lord.

The Lord is God.  There is no other Lord but Yahweh.  He is the maker of the universe, the creator of mankind.  These facts alone mean that He knows exactly and precisely how mankind should work.  Therefore, we should continually look to Him to be the one who guides our decision making.  When we keep our gaze fixed on Jesus, He will attend to our way and ensure that we are walking in the way of righteousness.  Praise be to God that He is the One who loves us enough to teach and direct us through this life!

Every Prayer Answered

A common misconception is that there are unanswered prayers.  This is incorrect and totally unbiblical.  Every prayer is answered.  Repeat: every single prayer is answered.  Understanding that no prayer is neglected is a foundational part of living a full Christian life.  The question is then not whether the prayer is answered but rather, what is the response?  There are basically three responses to prayer: yes, no, and not now.

By way of introduction, prayer is simply speaking with God.  Jesus taught the disciples how to pray as a means of communicating with the Father (Matt. 6:9-13).  Prayer is about honoring God for who He is and depending on God to provide for us.  On numerous occasions, Jesus states quite plainly that whatever a believer asks in His name will be provided (Matt. 7:7-8; Mark 11:24; John 14:14, 15:7, 16).  Paramount to this is recognizing that God will bestow upon those who are faithful and who abide in Him.  This cannot be overstated.  If you abide in Him, what you ask for from Him will be in step with His will.

The easiest and most exciting answer to prayer is yes.  When God says "yes" to the requests of humble prayers, He is administering His sovereignty in creation.  Additionally, when God provides the desires of the obedient He is in fact affirming His covenant promises. God promises much and all of His promises find their "yes" in Jesus (2 Cor. 1:20.  Therefore, no prayer will be fulfilled apart from Christ, not one.  This should be enough to promote faithfulness and obedience.

An answer to prayer that is more difficult to accept is no.  Often times, what we desire and want is not inline with God's plan.  For instance, Moses spent forty years leading the Israelites to the Promised Land but it was not in God's plan to allow Moses to enter.  Or, the dream of David's life was to build a temple for the Lord in Jerusalem but it was God's desire to have Solomon build it after David's death.  In both of these occasions, God answered "no" because of sin.

This is a hard realization.  God is not obligated to answer every prayer with a "yes."  Instead, God wants us to be focused on a faithful life of obedience.  Oftentimes, when He says "no," it is for the purpose of drawing us closer to Him and to prompt us towards repentance and devotion.  This points to the next and most difficult prayer answer to stomach: "not yet."

Sometimes we can desire something, a situation or advancement, that we feel is in God's plan, it just is not yet.  This is troubling but intentional.  When prayers are answered "not yet," the Lord has plans for us that require growth.  Waiting (Psa. 37:7).  Waiting can be the exact device that God uses to sanctify His children for His purposes.  Therefore, when the response to our prayers is "not yet," we should be excited for what God has planned for us in the future.

The Lord wants to provide for His children.  He delights in fulfilling the heart's desires of His people.  We need to ask Him.  Not only is it imperative that we are honestly communicating with the Lord but He requires us to ask Him for our provisions.  This is a lovely thing.  Recognizing how our prayers are being answered is a necessary part of the Christian life.  Sometimes, it requires godly counselors and friends to help us interpret God's responses; this is the power of the body of Christ.  Ultimately, praise God for He always answers prayer.

Old Testament for a New Covenant

For many Christians, the Old Testament seems like a distant country where the people speak a different language, they eat different foods, and we have little in common with them.  As a result, many Christians simply neglect studying the Old Testament in favor of the New.  However, we cannot fully understand Christ apart from the Old Testament.

In fact, Jesus plainly said that all of the Scriptures spoke of Him (John 5:39-40).  Moreover, after Jesus rose from the grave, He showed His disciples how all the Scriptures spoke of Him (Luke 24:44-45).  One thing is sure: the Old Testament is about Jesus.  Therefore, if we want to learn more about Jesus we need to study the Old Testament.

The Scriptures are God's revelation to mankind, His son being the perfect revelation.  Because God reveals Himself to us through the Word and His nature is unchanging and His character immutable, the revelation of the Old Testament is just as relevant for understanding the new covenant made in Christ.

This being said, the Old Testament does present some distinct challenges to interpreters today.  The most important obstacle to overcome is historical context.  The books that comprise the Old Testament are individual works each written by unique authors in distinct historical contexts for a specific reason.  Moreover, the history that the books address happened several centuries ago.  This makes it intensely challenging to simply open up the books and interpret.  There are some key strategies to employ when dealing with the Old Testament.

First of all, figure out what you are reading: is this poetry, prose, historical narrative, prophecy, wisdom literature, apocalyptic, parabolic, etc?  Figuring out what genre you are reading is the first step to making an interpretation.  Without knowing what genre a particular book or passage is, there is almost no way to correctly understand what it was originally intended to mean.

Remember, we are attempting to get at original intent and then applying that original meaning to ourselves.  Think about it, if we were reading poetry as if it were history, we would have no idea what the author was talking about.  Figuring out generic traits can go a long way in garnering the most accurate interpretation.

The next step is to assess the historical contexts of the author, the audience, and the events chronicled.  An example would be Ezekiel: understanding that Ezekiel was an exiled Judean priest, exiled before Jerusalem was wholly razed by Babylon in 586 B.C. gives a significant amount of important background into the purpose and content of his book.  Historical context matters.  Luckily, there are a number of great commentaries and contextual resources that can help.

Lastly, the Old Testament is a wealth of richness that has been, is, and will remain relevant for the life of believers.  It is full of theology and rich revelation of God's character.  It is important to not over "Christianize" the Old Testament though.  Yes, it does speak of Christ, but each book was written several centuries before Jesus was born and have significant things to say that should not be severed from the historical contexts in which they were written.  The Old Testament is about the Lord.  Therefore, we need to be reading it to more fully understand the Lord.

Hope

Once we confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved (Rom. 10:9).  God then pours parts of His character into us, love, grace, and hope.  Hope will be the focus of this discussion.

Because hope, as a word, is used so frequently it has lost some of its meeting.  Therefore, a basic definition is in order.  Hope can be simply defined as assurance of expectation, meaning that one who is hopeful is sure of the current situation and is expecting a future end.  A cancer patient who is hopeful recognizes their current state of disease with an expectation that the future will find him/her cancer free.

In reference to Christ, hope refers to an unflappable confidence not only in a present state of salvation but more so in the future state of redemption.   In other words, we are saved, being saved, and will ultimately be saved.  There are many verses that discuss hope and its role in the life of believers.  Paul talks about hope in nearly all of his writings (Rom. 5:1-5; Eph. 1:18-19; Col. 1:4-5, 27; Tit. 2:13).  That being said, the first place to look for the importance and gravity of hope is Hebrews 6.

For the writer of Hebrews, hope is not a nice Christian word, but it is full of theological import dealing with the certainty of God's fulfillment of His promises.  This is the major point of hope: we have certainty that God has and will fulfill His promises.  Because hope's source is found in God's character of fulfillment, our hope is secure.

For Paul, hope is a certain attitude and a particular wisdom that Christians are striving towards.  In this sense, hope is not only something that is given, it is also made complete by the transformation of character that is directed by the Word of God and achieved by the work of the Holy Spirit.  Simply put, hope is now and to be.

There is a distinct usage of hope.  Hope is that character trait to be relied upon when doubt creeps and when life throws challenge.  It is hope and its source that is to be our strength because it is God who watches over those who hope in Him (Psa. 38:15, 43:5, 71:5).  Our hope is sure not as a result of any strength held within a person but is kept secure by the Lord Himself.  Hope is then most accurately to be seen as our utter reliance on the Lord.  The most accurate understanding of hope is worship.  Because hope is trusting in the Lord, His faithfulness and His steadfast character, hope is ultimately praise.  Praise God and hope in Him.

Joy

Abounding joy is the joy that comes only from the Lord.  Joy in this sense refers to a right relationship with God.  When people delight in the Lord, they will find joy in the founder of joy.  Also, God does not withhold joy from those who seek their joy in Him.

Therefore, when we desire Him to be the source of our joy, He will not let us down but will fill us with joy beyond comprehension.  Part of the issue with understanding biblical joy is the breadth of vocabulary our culture employs to refer to joy: happiness, euphoria, pleasure, etc.  This is dangerous because an improper understanding of joy can allow for people replacing joy with pleasure.

Joy is not and should not be defined as pleasure.  Although, both terms refer to degrees of satisfaction and contentment, these terms are not wholly synonymous.  Pleasure is a feeling, it is a fleeting and contingent response to stimuli that pleases.  Because pleasure is dependent on pleasurable inputs, it is externally-supported, meaning that pleasure is sustained from sources outside of a person.

On the other hand, joy is internally-fueled and supported.  This is not to say that every human being has it within them to have insurmountable joy.  Rather, no human being has the capacity for joy apart from the Lord putting the joy into the person.

Think of a dry well: no matter how much the pump is primed, if the well is empty, no water is going to come out.  We are born with a well within us but it is dry.  Totally scorched, empty, and dry.  Pleasure seeking is simply trying to pour water bottles into the well.  This speaks to the fickle and unfulfilling nature of pleasure seeking.  Instead, when God, the source of joy's water, pours His living water into our wells, we will overflow with His joy (John 4:14, 7:38).

Although it is true that joy can have similar pleasurable sensations associated with it, it is the source of joy that distinguishes it from lesser forms of satisfaction.  To say that joy is not externally influenced begs the all-important question: "how does joy get there?"  Simply, joy comes from God.

In John 15, Jesus plainly states that He is the source of joy and that those who abide in Him will be filled with joy.  When we come to God for our joy, trusting that Jesus is the source of joy, we will be filled with unsurpassed, inimitable joy.  This is the crux of joy: Jesus.  Joy is not and should never be our focus.  Rather, joy is a side effect of delighting in the Lord.  When we find our hope, our love, and our lives in the Lord, we will be made overflowing with joy, His joy.

Presenting Our Bodies

In Romans 12, Paul exhorts believers to present our bodies to God as a living sacrifice, which is our spiritual act of worship.  He also says that we should not be conformed to the pattern of this world but that we should be transformed by the renewal of our mind.  Furthermore, our bodies are God's temples to be used to glorify Him (1 Cor. 6:19-20).  There is a basic principle at play here: we belong to God, body included.

Therefore, we should take care of our bodies, understanding that we are stewards of the resources that God has entrusted to us.  This is worship.  We are consciously declaring praise to He whom we belong to by honoring the gifts that He has given, i.e. taking care of our bodies.  As a result, when we exercise regularly, we do it to Him; when we are nutritionally responsible, it honors Him; when we abstain from hedonistic activities, we are praising His name.  The Greatest Commandment speaks to this, that we are to love God with every part of ourselves (Matt. 22:37).

Additionally, our bodies are to be instruments of righteousness.  This means that our bodies themselves are to be consecrated, set apart for His purposes.  This is why it is so important to care for our bodies.  If our bodies are gifts from God, how we treat are bodies correlates to what we think of the Lord.  When we neglect caring for our bodies, we are in fact neglecting God.  When we take care of our bodies, we are honoring the Lord.

An important distinction should be made here in regards to motivation.  If the motivation for caring for our bodies is self-serving, as in, because we want to exalt ourselves, then we are sinning.  The only motivation for caring for our bodies should be worship.  God does want us to care for our bodies because it is proof through action that we worship and praise Him.  This means that we should be diligent and responsible in stewarding our bodies: regular physical activity and responsible nutritional eating habits.  The beauty of the Lord's design is that when we are responsible stewards in this respect, we will feel better biologically. 

We should exercise regularly, and we should watch what we eat, but not because it makes us look or feel good.  Rather, we should care for our bodies because God can more effectively use people who are physically capable than those that are not.  For instance, if we are to serve our communities, we need to be physically ready at all times to do that.  The Lord desires us to worship Him in body, mind, and soul, with all of our strength.  One major way to do that is by caring for our bodies in order to present them to the Lord.

About Obedience

There are few things so definite within the Scriptures as obedience.  Obedience refers to doing what needs to be done when it needs to be done.  Naturally, obedience cannot be totally separated from discipline and the two should be considered in tandem, like two sides of the same coin.  For Christians, the object of obedience is God.  The Bible is God's revelation of Himself to mankind for the purpose of our lives being transformed into alignment with His character.  Needless to say, Jesus and the Holy Spirit play central roles throughout this process.

In all things that require obedience and discipline, the point to remember is that these two traits are only needed when there is resistance to doing what needs to be done when it needs to be done. Think about it, unless there is resistance to doing right, there is no need to be obedient to what is right.  It is the resistance to righteousness that necessitates obedience.

The resistance that demands obedience for believers is the world.  It is the fact that the world and its fleshly nature stand in utter opposition to God and the Spirit that believers are commanded to be obedient.  Obedience, in its rudiment, deals with aligning and adhering to God's holiness, i.e. His righteousness.  Realizing the object that bars and inhibits our obedience is often the first step to overcoming the world with obedience.  If a particular addiction or obstacle is hindering obedience: assess, repent, and change.

Again, the focal object of obedience is Christ and the Word.  Obedience is the actualization of these two.  Obedience is doing the Word in becoming what Jesus commands.  In a very real sense, obedience is what sets apart the narrow gate of righteousness with the wide road of destruction (Matt. 7:13; Rom. 2:13).  There are many people who will claim to be Christians yet due to a lack of obedience will not be called Christians by Christ Himself (Matt. 7:21-22).  Obedience to Christ, His commands and His Spirit, is the mark of a true Christian (John 15:10-11; 1 John 2:5-6).  It is also the determinant that sets believers apart from those who claim to be believers.

Ultimately, to hear and know the truth is not enough.  We are explicitly commanded to do the truth; it requires action much more than mere intellectual ascension (Matt. 7:24-25; James 1:25).  Additionally,  obedience is to be closely associated with discipline.  Discipline is the muscle that lifts the weight of obedience.  Without discipline obedience is all but impossible.

Remember, the key to obedience is recognizing the resistance that necessitates it, repenting of the distraction(s) that lead astray, and keeping our eyes firmly fixed on Christ, who "for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb. 12:2).  Christ was obedient to the Father and disciplined in overcoming the world, even to death.  If He truly is our example, this should be our like-minded attitude and action of obedience and discipline.

Pupil of Wisdom

Wisdom could be defined as the knowledge of how to live right.  It is not attained by chance or through osmosis.  Instead, wisdom comes from God and through training.  Proverbs, the book of wisdom, deals primarily and thoroughly with obtaining.  Although there is much to say about wisdom, the purpose of this dialogue is training in wisdom.

Before getting too far ahead, seeking God's hand of favor in wisdom is the proper place to start in the search for wisdom.  James 1:5 says that we should ask God for wisdom and that He desires to give it to us generously.  Think of Solomon, God granted his request for wisdom because the request so pleased God's ears (1 Kgs. 3:14).  

It pleases God that we would seek Him first in our search for wisdom.  God desires that we should seek Him for all wisdom, and God, being gracious, will bless us with wisdom.  However, there is more to gaining wisdom than just asking God for it, we also have to train, to practice wisdom.

For anything worth working towards, training and practice are the essential components of growth. A major part of this is having good teachers that can guide our training.  With wisdom this is especially true.  We are to seek, to pursue godly and wise mentors who can guide us in all wisdom (Pro. 13:20).  Learning about wisdom from men and women who are wise is how we become wise.  

Much like a piano student needs a skilled piano teacher to inform the student what has to be done for growth, a seeker of wisdom needs a wise mentor.  In order to grow in wisdom, the one who pursues wisdom must be disciplined and diligent, but also must have people to advise them in wisdom.  Moreover, the student of wisdom must have people around them with whom they can discuss and dialogue about wisdom (Pro. 27:17).

Again, obtaining wisdom is not a passive process.  It involves asking God, seeking godly mentors, and discussing wisdom with like-minded, wisdom-focused friends.  Wisdom takes time.  This is a simple but forgotten truth.  Wise people tend to be older people.  This is not by accident, it is by design (Pro. 16L31; 20:29).  It seems that we spend our whole lives learning how to live yet by the time we attain some level of competency, the mortal coil expires.  Remember, fearing God is the beginning, but for wisdom to complete its work, training must ensue.

Becoming Blessed

Being blessed is one of the major questions that the Scriptures seek to answer.  How is someone blessed?  What can I do to be blessed?   Unfortunately, the locus of blessing, the source of blessing is eschewed for a focus on the blessing itself and the discussion dissolves from God-praising to self-serving.  This is wrong and should be avoided at all cost.  The focus should never be on the blessing but on the blesser.  That being said, the question of blessing's cause still stands prominent in the hearts and lives of believers.

First of all, we are blessed by our obedience.  Proverbs and the Psalms are full of the language of blessing.  The "blessed" is held in stark contrast to the "wicked".  The wicked being the person/people who find no joy in the Lord.  The blessed being the person/people that find their joy in the Lord.  The major point made is that there is a distinct blessing in direct proportion to covenant obedience.  So, what is this blessing and how do we acquire it?  To be blessed is to delight in God and in His law (Psa. 1; 119).  This true blessing.  

When we are finding our strength and guidance in the Lord, we are blessed.  This means that we are delighting in Him and who He is.  Moreover, we are blessed by the Lord in that He has given a revelation of Himself to us and for us in the form of the Bible.  To find our joy and delight in that revelation: blessed.

Jesus' famous "Sermon on the Mount" also deals specifically with what determines blessing: character.   Those who are meek,  who are poor in spirit, who mourn, who hunger and thirst for righteousness, who are merciful, pure in heart, who are peacemakers, and those who are persecuted for righteousness, these are the determinants of blessing.  Because blessing is decided by character, it is not externally bestowed but internally determined.  Therefore, blessing, for Christians, is a matter of transformation into the character of the blessed.

Simply put, blessing deals with God's hand of favor.  The blessed person is that person whom God has endowed with favor.  favor has many implications but it should be understood primarily in terms of God's hand of providence and benevolence.  He cares for those who delight in Him. This is not to say that the wicked person, the sinner that is ambivalent or indignant to the Lord is not still sustained by God from moment to moment.  Rather, it is the blessed whom God has chosen to bestow His special blessing upon, namely, the riches to be found in His Son.  

It is when we find our utmost and whole joy in the Lord and in Jesus that we are truly blessed.  Strangely enough, when this is happening, the Holy Spirit works in our lives, transforming us into the blessed character.  Becoming blessed is a real and attainable goal to be pursued.  Aspiring to delight in the Lord is the pursuit of the blessed.  The fact that He has revealed Himself for us to seek is the blessing of the blessed.  It all comes from Him.  To begin becoming blessed is to believe this basic truth.

Greatest Commandment

Jesus spent His entire ministry teaching and relating to people on an intensely personal level.  This manner of piety and faith seemed so foreign to His adversaries that they often tried to trap Jesus by asking provocative questions.  On one such occasion, the Pharisees came to Jesus to test Him, and one, a lawyer, asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was.  Jesus, calm but direct, replies, "You shall love the Lord, Your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (Matt. 22:37)".

This is the greatest commandment and is the funnel by which all Christian life travels through and towards.  It is by no means a light matter.  Instead, Jesus cuts with conviction into every person's inability to fulfill the commandment with the precision of an elite surgeon.  Heart, Soul, and Mind; all of it.  Seriously?  All of it?

Not only is the gravity of Jesus' answer to the religious elitist challenging to every believer, it immediately refers to the Mosaic covenant (Deut. 6:5).  In a concise way, Jesus is saying that God has only ever required the same thing from anyone who wishes to be obedient: everything.  God wants it all.

God created us through Him and for Him (Col. 1:16; John 1:3).  We are sustained by His power from moment to moment.  This is truth and reality.  What Christ is actually asking of us, nay, commanding us, is to ascend to this reality and to confirm it in our very lives, heart, soul, and mind.  Every single part, every nook and cranny, is to be filled with His presence.  But how do we even begin such a momentous undertaking?

Prayer.  True prayer is the highest form of worship.  It is a humble offering of praise to the Lord.  When we are praying, we are intentionally entering into a sacred time of communion with God.  And, although the particulars of location and method are important, prayer can be simply accomplished by constant focus realignment.

Realigning our hearts, souls, and minds on our relationship with God is the basis for prayer and should be the foundation that supports our fulfillment of the greatest commandment.  Only when we are focused and fixed on Christ can we come close to devoting all of ourselves to Him.  Fortunately, God is God.  If we are empty or void of focus, it is because we are not concentrating on Him when we are stuck on ourselves.  He is beyond any spatial comprehension but one thing is clear, when we are focused on Him, He will overfill us with His holy presence.  Oh how lovely!

Valuing Time

Time management: how to best and most effectively use time.  Time is, simply put, the most valuable resource anyone has.  There is nothing more priceless than time.  In a very real way, time is the most ephemeral thing in all existence.  It is fleeting by each passing second and as time courses along, moments are lost forever never to return again.  Time.

Paul understands times inherent value and asserts that its passage should never be taken lightly (Eph. 5:15-17).  Time should alway be understood for its intrinsic value and because it is a resource that is entirely dependent on the Lord.  He gives us our time, it is our responsibility to use it properly.

Moreover, once a single moment of time passes, it can never be gotten back.  There is an absolute value of time.  This is a sobering affirmation.  Time cannot be purchased or bought, and it cannot be hoarded or saved for a later occasion.  Every second, for every single person, time passes and time is used.  Although we ascend to the truth that time cannot be purchased and it cannot be stockpiled for later use, time can be wasted.

Wasting time is an extremely real threat.  We are all culpable for every second that the Lord has blessed us with.  The Lord has given us time to be used to give Him glory.  If we are not striving, pursuing Him, we are wasting time.  This is a tragedy, an utter travesty that should be avoided at all cost.  Because we cannot get more time than we have, we should make every possible effort to use our time to its utmost.

Among other things, godly wisdom is based on two things: the fear of God and time management.  Fearing God is the basis for all wisdom; understanding the transient nature of time is the intuitive progression.  Once we see God in His holiness and awesomeness, we will naturally be drawn to use our time to praise and glorify Him.  This is wisdom at its best.

God is gracious in giving us time but He does desire us to use that time for His purpose and for His glory.  This is a serious challenge.  In our world of fragmentation and constant worldly distraction, it takes a serious amount of discipline to keep our focus fixed on Christ.  But, oh what a beautiful task?! Praise be to God for His grace and for His love!  This means, praise Him for the time He has given!

Living a Worthy Life

One of the most important questions any believer has to answer after they become a believer is, “what now”?  The matter at hand is the pervasive and important subject of sanctification.  Holiness.  Sanctification refers to the process by which the believer is sanctified, the task of growing more like Christ. 

There are more than a few verses in the NT that discuss this intensely critical issue.  Although this topic is far too large to discuss in this short of time, two passages that will shed light upon this are Colossians 3 and Ephesians 4.  These are excellent passages that continually challenge and encourage readers in the metamorphosis of sanctification and are worth reading.

These two letters of Paul’s are nearly synonymous in content and in form; clearly, the repetition points to the fact Paul felt very strongly and consistently about how Christians should live.  In a nutshell, two things should occur in the process of sanctification as an outpouring of belief and confession in Jesus. 

Putting away the futile way of life that dominated our lives before we believed first (Eph.4:17-32; Col. 3:1-17).  This is a challenging process to say the least.  

The first hurdle is honest assessment of self before the Word.  Our lives will not be able transform if we are wholly unaware of what need transforming.  Fortunately, we are blessed to be a part of a body of believers.  One of the functions of the body is that there are people who can be honest with us and admonish behavior and lifestyle that conflicts with that of Christ.

Once we are aware of what needs changing, transformation is in order.  Remember, although overcoming our pride and obliviousness is huge, replacing our former fleshly lives with our new spiritual lives is what completes our transformation and causes our sanctification.  This is why a daily dose of the Word is so essential. 

The Bible is the lifeline and our connection to sanctification.  It could be said that our life is the soil, the Word is the seed, and the Holy Spirit is the farmer that tills and grows us.  Again, acknowledging our sin and fleshly lifestyle is of no worth unless we are transformed by the power the Holy Spirit working in us. 

Prayer and consistent Bible study are the necessary catalyst for transformational growth.  God desires for us to align our lives to the example of His Son, Jesus.  This is not a passive alignment but takes discipline and purpose.  Although, the Holy Spirit is the potter, we are the clay that He molds.  The Lord does bless those who pursue and seek Him.  How wonderfully beautiful!

Music with Intent

Music is a vivid and dynamic part of life.  It is a rare bridge that can connect different, even disparate opinions under banners of beauty and community.  There is something unique about music's usage of melody, harmony, and rhythm in that it can transmit deep truth in an accessible way.  Music is truly a gift straight from God.  Like any gift from the Lord, there is a specific purpose and intent to music: praise.  Music is a medium for worship and should be understood as such.

In two separate epistles, Paul gives believers directions as to the purpose and the practice of music (Eph. 5:17-21; Col. 3:16-17).  For Paul, music is a useful platform for expressing truth.  More importantly, music is a way for believers to speak and relate to one another in godliness.

This is huge.  Because music is what it is, theology can be paired with simple, memorable melodies that latch into our hearts.  Think of all the times when there is a song stuck in your head.  This is the purpose of music.  The challenge then is to make sure that the music that we are plugging in to is true.  Not just a truth, but the truth, which is Jesus.  We should strive to be inputting music that speaks theology.  In this way, we are using one of God's greatest gifts in the way that He intends.  But how can we find music that praises Him?

Fortunately, God has gifted the world with a plethora, a cacophony of musical geniuses that write music that is worshipful and focused on Him.  Additionally, every thinkable genre has musicians singing biblically-grounded lyrics.  From metal to rap to country to rock and everything in between, we can praise the Lord in Spirit and in truth in any style of music that grabs us.  This is a beautiful thing.

In choosing music, like choosing any kind of art, the most important thing to assess its content in reference to the Word.  This is part of music's purpose.  Music is a medium for the Word to take root in our hearts and in our minds.  This should not be taken lightly.  Because of the gravity and the great potential for spiritual harm, music should be considered with a sober-mind, not void of music's emotional content, but focused on what the music is actually saying about God.  The purpose is supposed to be worship and praise.  For more on this, read Psalms 145-150.

Sanctified Sleep

Sleep is wonderful.  It is a strange thing, too.  For some reason, we can get the same amount of sleep from night to night and the degree of refreshment differs and, in a certain way, sleep can vary in its effectiveness.  It begs the question: "is sleep worth more than bodily rejuvenation"?  

Psalms speaks about this in a way that can be astounding to modern interpreters.  Throughout the Psalms, the psalmists write about the use of night.  For the psalmist, night should be used to meditate on His Word, that He visits and counsels us at night, and that we sing His praises even at night (Psa. 16:7; 17:3; 42:8).  God uses sleep.  Yes, sleep, to minister to us.  There are many Bible stories that illustrate the divine usage of sleep.

Joseph was given numerous prophecies through dreams.  Solomon was gifted with supernatural wisdom in a dream.  Or think of how Joseph was told of the coming birth of Jesus in a dream.  God uses sleep to speak to His people.  Think about it.  At what other point throughout our days are we totally free and open, no walls or pretense.  Only while asleep.  

God wishes to indwell our sleep with His presence in a very real way, this is what the psalmist is talking about and what Elihu is saying to Job: God uses visions and dreams to speak to us (Job 33:15-18).  This seems radical to an enlightened world that has trouble rationalizing or dealing with the miraculous, the supernatural, and/or the spiritual.

If we are to be meditating on His Word and if He is to visit us with dreams and visions while we slumber, we need to prepare ourselves.  Consecration.  We should consecrate our sleep, sanctify it so that we are ready for God to speak to us.  There are some practical ways to do this that can be effective, not only in protecting us from spiritual attack but also, like prayer, put us in a position for His presence.

First of all, and most importantly, read the Word before falling asleep.  How are we to meditate on His Word if it is not immediately on our minds.  Dedicate time at the end of your day, in bed, to read the Word and contemplate it.  This does not have to be an over-the-top Bible exposition, just get into a couple of verses and really digest them.  Secondly, pray.  Quiet.  Part of this is making your environment quiet.  Just think about Him, His glory and awesomeness.  Remember, this is the Lord we're talking about here.  The Lord.  Keep that in mind.  Lastly, go to sleep.  

In summation, God wants to speak to us.  He desires to minister to us day and night.  We should ready ourselves.  Strive to sanctify your sleep in preparation for supernatural dreams and visions from Him, for Him, and by Him.  Be poised for His presence, for He is faithful and blesses those who earnestly seek Him!

Transforming to Teach

Teaching is a wonderful challenge.  It can be totally frightening, outright exposing, and thoroughly enlightening.  But most of all, teaching reveals both what we know and what we don't.  Teaching can be a natural trait.  It can be a characteristic or aptitude.  It is also a craft, a skill that takes practice and intentional training.  That being said, all believers are called to teach.  The impetus for this dialogue is held within three verses: Deut. 4:9-10, 1Tim. 4:11-13, and 1 Pet. 2:9-10.

In Deuteronomy 4:9-10, Moses commands the Israelites to dedicate themselves to teaching the next generations about the Lord.  Moses is basically saying that if you fail to teach the next generation about the Lord, they won't know the truth.  This is a travesty that should be avoided.  The reality is that if we don't teach the next generations we are failing them.  Because of this not only should we jump at every opportunity to teach the truth; we should want to.  We have the opportunity to communicate about the very God of the universe; what a lovely gift and responsibility!

1 Timothy 4:11-13 is a part of a personal letter from Paul to one of his students, Timothy.  In these verses, Paul is commanding Timothy to devote himself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, and to teaching.  Paul also reminds Timothy that effective teaching is directly proportionate to practicing what you preach, walking the walk.  This is a significant reminder: teaching is not just having the right information, it is much more.  Teaching involves the very way that we live.  Again, when we are truly teaching about the Lord, we are living life in faith and by the Spirit.  Not only is this how we are meant to live, it is the goal of biblical Christianity and the singular pursuit of the Christian life.

In the apostle Peter's first epistle, Peter reminds his audience that believers are "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you [we] may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Pet. 2:9)".  The point Peter is making is clear.  We belong to Him and are like neon billboards that shine in the darkness by declaring His greatness.  This is the essence of true teaching.

We are all called to teach.  What needs to be assessed is the who we are called to teach.  God has made us who are believers to be His children, specifically called to be lights in the darkness and to proclaim His praise (Isa. 43:21).  Moreover, we have a responsibility to preach the Word of truth that is Christ to the unbelieving world. For, as Paul says, how will anyone believe if they never hear? and, how will anyone hear unless the Word is preached (Rom. 10:14-15).

The question of who we are to teach is an important question to answer at numerous times throughout our lives in each various season. However, there is always at least one person that we are obligated to teach constantly: ourselves.  When we read the Word and, by the power of the Holy Spirit, digest theology, we are teaching ourselves.  When we teach ourselves, we are training ourselves in righteousness (1 Tim. 4:7).  We are actively growing in the Lord.

This is a sweet thing and should not be neglected but should be engaged with discipline and an eye focused on godly growth.  It is when we are training ourselves in righteousness that we are being grown and equipped to most effectively train others.  And God, being faithful, is sure to bless our honest pursuit of Him.

People of Praise

Praise.  Such a simple word with beautiful and dense theological undertones.  Praise, by definition, means intense approval or satisfaction expressed towards another.  A simple cursory reading of the Bible, especially the Psalms, identifies praise as one of the single most important activities in the life of a believer.  The last five chapters of the Psalms are of particular importance and should be looked at as a great source for a proper understanding of praise (Psa. 145-150).  Five days, one chapter a day, would thoroughly impress upon anyone a transformed attitude of praise.

In a very real sense, our lives should be full of praise.  Praise is so closely linked to worship that the two are undeniably synonymous and should be understood as such.  Worship could be called the right focus of praise.  We worship the Lord by offering praise to Him and to His name.  When we praise the Lord we are simply affirming what is true: that He is God, the creator and sustainer of all creation, that we are not Him, and that we are full of awe and thankfulness.  The simplicity of this assertion is what often eludes us.

God is a God of truth.  It has been said by many that all truth is God's truth.  When we are praising Him, we are merely, but not glibly, proclaiming truth.  Although praise can happen in the quietness of our hearts, it is to be vocalized and actualized.  Our praise is not just intellectual ascension to truth.  Instead, it is a full-bodied relationship to that truth.

What truth?  That we believe God.  Again, that we believe God.  It is not enough simply to believe in God.  Even Satan and his dominions believe in God.  No, we must believe God; who He is, what He has said, what He has done, and what He has promised.  Believing God requires expression.  This expression is praise, it is worship.

Additionally, true praise should never look cold or complacent.  Praise should be vibrant, full of life, and terrifyingly overwhelming.  It is overwhelming because of who is being praised.  It is God.  Think of that, it is not just anyone or anything that is worthy of praise.  Only God.  Only He is worthy of all our praise.

It would also be useful to acknowledge that when we praise we are affirming truth not for God's sake.  God's throne is surrounded by creatures that praise His name (Rev. 4).  He has no need for us to affirm His truth for Him to be true; He's God whether we ascend to it or not.  We offer sincere praise for our sake.  When we do, we are engaging in a sacred activity in which we are learning about the Lord.  Think of Romans 10:8-9, the Word is in our hearts and in our mouths, and when we confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts that Word, we will be saved.

In other words, praising is inexorably linked to our faith.  Our faith requires praise, audible and inteligible praise.  For this reason the Psalms were written: so that we would have the right words to offer in praise when we don't know how to praise.  This is a joyous activity and a perspicuous opportunity to express our love to Him.  We should be strive for an unceasing state of exulting in exalting the Lord.