A Valentine's Day (and every day) Prayer For My Daughter

As I held my beautiful daughter, Anna Madeline, on her first Valentines day I began to think of these prayers that I have for her life. _________________________________________________________________________ Anna I pray I will love you in such a way that you will grow to accept and embrace the love of your Heavenly Father. I pray you know you are accepted because you are mine and not because of what you do and that the heavenly Father accepts you the same. I pray you never believe any of the lies the world tells you about what you must do or be to be accepted. I pray I will love your mother in such a way that you will learn the way a husband is to love his wife. I pray if you do seek out a husband he will be one who will love you as God has commanded him to. I pray the grace I give you will lead you to the grace that abounds so much more from God. I pray that you grow up knowing that you are made complete by God alone and that you will know that anything else the world tells you will complete you is a lie. I pray you know you were created for God's glory and that you will live a life that glorifies Him. I pray you will know the atoning sacrifice of Jesus and that the Holy Spirit will work in your life to give you faith to believe. Anna I pray these things today for you and I will always pray these things over your life. I know that I will fail at times. For the many times I fail I pray for God's grace to cover my parenting mistakes. You are such a blessing from God and I love you dearly. --Love Daddy

A Chicken Sandwich Does Not Equal Evangelism

It is a day after the Support Chick-fil-A day. According to reports from those that participated in this day and news reports that covered it some people waited in lines that were an hour and a half to two hours long to support this company and the stance that it’s founder took. I am glad people wanted to take a stand in support of traditional view of marriage. I agree with the founder’s stance and don’t think it is inherently wrong to support a company or organization who takes a stand for something that you agree with. But I do fear that this support Chick-fil-A day can easily get twisted in our minds as to what we were taking a stand for and what impact it had. I think a lot of people took part in this appreciation day for this company because they felt they were taking a stand for Jesus. But I want to remind you that buying a chicken sandwich does not equal evangelism and supporting a company whose founder took a stand for the family values that you agree with is not fulfilling the great commission. Don’t get so wrapped up in an issue that has become politicized that you forget to share the truth of what Christ has done. What if everyone who showed up to the Chick-fil-A appreciation day shared the Gospel of Jesus with someone who is lost? What if instead of us being obsessed with issues like this we became obsessed with sharing the gospel to a world full of people who are dying and going to hell because they do not believe in Jesus Christ? This is not a criticism of the people who participated in the Chick-fil-A events yesterday. I just wanted to remind us all of our calling to share the gospel with the lost. The beauty of the gospel needs to be shared in words not just the support of a company who believes what we believe.

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” Romans 10:13-15

Entitlement?

“And he paid homage and said, ‘What is your servant that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?’” --2 Samuel 9:8 King David wants to find someone from the house of Saul that he can “show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake” and he finds out about Mephibosheth one of Jonathan’s sons who is crippled. David has him brought in tells him that because of Jonathan he will always show him kindness and that he will have a place at David’s table like one of the king’s sons. Mephibosheth’s response is self-abasing which is the part of the story that grabbed my attention today as I read it. This is a grandson of Saul. The grandson of a former king refers to himself as a “dead dog.” If there was to be someone who might have entitlement issues you might think it would be him, however he tells David that he isn’t worthy of the treatment that David is giving him. Today as I thought about his response I felt like that is the response that I should have toward God and toward Christ. It doesn’t take much for me to start to feel entitled; especially in God’s approval of me and his choosing me. I start to feel like I deserve the grace that has been extended to me which of course wouldn’t be grace if I deserved it. In my pride I feel like I deserve more praise and recognition. What a sinful response that is. There is nothing that I can do on my own without Jesus Christ. Jesus tells us this in John 15:5. I need to be reminded of this regularly and when I look to the grace that is extended to me my response should be the same as Mephibosheth’s response to David. “What is your servant that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?” Thank you Father for choosing me, loving me and using me; all in spite of me.

Don't Be Surprised By What God Can Do

Do you ever feel disqualified because of your sin? Does Satan ever remind you of you failures from your youth, or from last year, or from earlier today? It is easy to dwell on these sins and failures and begin to doubt yourself and doubt if God can or will forgive you, much less if God can use you. It can be spiritually crippling. It is in these moments that we must cling to the gospel. Cling to what Jesus has done for us. We have been redeemed. His righteousness has been given to us. The book of Titus says that Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” (Titus 2:14 ESV) Don’t be crippled by your past. Cling to the promises of God’s word and serve God faithfully wherever he calls you.

In 1 Corinthians 15 The Apostle Paul spoke of himself as the “least of all the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” What if Paul had been crippled by his past? What if Paul felt like he couldn’t serve God because of his sins? How did he get past it and become the person who was a faithful servant to his death? We see the answer in the next verse.

“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain.” 1 Corinthians 15:10 ESV

He would cling to the grace of God. He would cling to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And this is what we must do.

Don’t be surprised by what God can do in spite of you.

Epic Beatdown

Love this clip from a Matt Chandler Sermon.

Close But No Cigar

“And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, "Which commandment is the most important of all?" Jesus answered, "The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." And the scribe said to him, "You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.” --Mark 12:28-34 ESV

This scribe, who is a theological scholar, has this discussion with Jesus. Jesus answers his question and it says that the scribe agrees with Jesus about what the greatest commandment is. Then this dialogue ends with Jesus telling him “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” This scribe, knows the teachings of God’s Word. He knows the laws of God and he knows that putting God before all things is more important than any religious activity or practice that he could do. And to this guy who knows so much and understands so much, Jesus says “You are close.” You see the problem is that the scribe doesn’t understand who Jesus is. He is missing it. The problem with that is that close isn’t good enough.

I wonder how many people are sitting in church on any given Sunday, who are close. They know the word, they know the rules, they believe and follow the rules, but they are missing Jesus. That is a scary position to be in. When there are so many things that are right and are in place, it makes it hard to realize that you need something else. And Jesus’ words to them are “You are not far. You just need me.” I fear that the number in churches across the world who this applies to is a lot higher than we think. We need to tell them that faith is not like horseshoes and hand grenades. We need to give them Jesus!

God Is Great!

When we celebrate the gospel of Christ and the love of God, and when we lift up the gift of salvation, let us do it in such a way that people will see through it to God himself. May those who hear the gospel from our lips know that salvation is the blood-bought gift of seeing and savoring the glory of Christ. May they believe and say, "Christ is all!" Or, to use the words of the psalmist, "May those who love your salvation say evermore, 'God is great!'" (Ps. 70:4). Not mainly, "Salvation is great," but "God is Great!" --John Piper from God is the Gospel

Too Small

"A gospel which is only about the moment of conversion but does not extend to every moment of life in Christ is too small. A gospel that gets your sins forgiven but offers no power for transformation is too small. A gospel that isolates one of the benefits of union with Christ and ignores all the others is too small. A gospel that must be measured by your own moral conduct, social conscience, or religious experience is too small. A gospel that rearranges the components of your life but does not put you personally in the presence of God is too small." --Fred Sanders from The Deep Things of God

We Need Jesus Not Gimmicks

"A religious mentality characterized by timidity and lack of moral courage has given us to a flabby Christianity, intellectually impoverished, dull, repetitious and to a great many persons just plain boring. This is peddled as the very faith of our fathers in direct lineal descent from Christ and the apostles. We spoon-feed this insipid pabulum to our inquiring youth and, to make it palatable, spice it up with carnal amusements filched from the unbelieving world. It is easier to entertain than to instruct, it is easier to follow degenerate public taste than to think for oneself, so too many of our evangelical leaders let their minds atrophy while they keep their fingers nimble operating religious gimmicks to bring in the curious crowds." --A.W. Tozer

May we always give them Jesus and never resort to gimmicks.

Effective and Fruitful

Do you ever feel ineffective or unfruitful? Scripture tells us how to make sure that does not describe us.

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:5-8

There is a key word that hit me this morning when I read this passage in 2 Peter. That word is “increasing.” Peter is saying that you need to have faith, knowledge, self-control and all these other things. But we don’t just attain them once and move on. These qualities need to be increasing in our lives. We can’t be comfortable with where we are in these areas. There must always be growth. And if there is growth in these areas we can be certain that we will not be ineffective or unfruitful through Jesus Christ.

Pray over this list of things that Peter mentions. Ask God to show you what areas you are lacking in and how you can grow in each of these and together we can continue to be effective and fruitful through Jesus and For His Glory.

Imperishable, Undefiled, and Unfading

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. –1 Peter 1:3-5

I read through 1 Peter this afternoon. The beauty of the passage above really hit me as I started reading. God has caused us to be born again to a living hope through Christ and the inheritance that we receive as children of God is “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading.” Then later on in the chapter in verse 13 Peter says: “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

We have been given a new hope and here we are instructed to not hope in anything else. “Hope fully on the grace” not hope partially, or hope mostly. Hope fully in the Grace that will be completed at the return of Christ.

Do you find yourself hoping in other things or other people? I want to urge each of us to join Peter as he praises God in this passage for the hope that we have been given through Christ Jesus and urge you to cling to that hope. It is all that we have that is of true value. By clinging to Christ we will receive the treasure that is Imperishable, undefiled, and Unfading.

What Will Change The World?

Love will.

It starts with God's love. "For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die--but God shows his love for us in that while were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:6-8 ESV

Then our love which is rooted in God's Love must be used to reach the lost, lonely, and hurting people. Today I read the following statements on Ann Voskamp's blog. I really liked what they had to say about Love.

Love is the only thing that ever changed me — and Love is the only thing that will ever change the world — and love is the only thing that is the real radical.

Love has no limits and it can’t be contained and when we have a radical love for God, God takes care of the location of where the love flows. --Posted by Ann Voskamp on A Holy Experience blog

Have you felt God's love for you today? Have you shown God's love to another today?

The Covenant of Marital Love

Piper, Carson, and Keller on Sustaining the Covenant of Marital Love from The Gospel Coalition on Vimeo.

Not For Your Sake

"Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” Ezekiel 36:22-27 ESV

It is a beautiful thing that God does to His children. He cleansses us and gives us a new heart and new spirit so that we will follow Him and his rules. It is wonderful to know that He is the one that does this for us because we know that we can’t do it on our own. Find joy in this today. We just need to make sure that we remember why God chooses to do this. Look back at the first verse of the passage that I included above. “It is not for your sake…but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned.” God does not do these things ultimately for us. He does this to vindicate his holy name which we have profaned.

So before we start thinking we are hot stuff let us remember that it is God that has done this work in us and He has done it for his Glory. What are we to do now? Praise God in all that we do to show the nations that He is holy and that He is good.

Grace Upon Grace

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.'") And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. –John 1:14-16 ESV

I love John Chapter 1. It is such a beautiful picture of Jesus. Today when I got to the office, I spent the first 10-15 minutes reading through this chapter and reading notes about this chapter. As I read through this chapter the part I quoted above really stuck out. Especially verse 16. “And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” Isn’t that beautiful? Through the fullness of Christ we have received an outpouring of grace that is like a fountain that just keeps overflowing. Grace upon Grace.

I pray that today you will see the beauty of Christ. If you need some reminders of his beauty, read through John 1. As you think of the beauty of Christ I pray that you will cling to the grace that we have received through his fullness.

Your Father's Good Pleasure

“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Luke 12:32-34

While reading the other day, I came across this passage. I love verse 32! Don’t be afraid because God finds joy in giving you the kingdom. It pleases Him to give this all satisfying pleasing thing to us, to give us the kingdom. He doesn’t just give it to us, but He finds pleasure in giving it to us. Isn’t this wonderful to hear?

So what do we do now that we know God finds joy in giving us the kingdom? We live as citizens in His kingdom. What does that look like? What do citizens of God’s Kingdom live like? Verse 33 and 34 give us part of that picture. We quit living for this world. We are citizens of a kingdom that is to come and we need to live for that kingdom. We don’t do this to earn it. We do this because that is how His people live. The treasures offered in this world have no value compared the treasure given to us in the kingdom to come. When will we start living like we believe that?

Wash Your Hands Of You

"Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?” Isaiah 58:6-7

I have come across this passage a couple of times recently. I wanted to dig into it a little bit and post about it but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to say yet. Then today while reading a post on the Gospel Coalition website, it hit me. Tullian Tchividjian’s post focused on reaching up to God and out to others and how the Gospel causes us do that. The gospel does not cause us to focus on ourselves. Here are a few of the things in the post that I really liked, but click here to read his full post titled Up And Out, Not In.

The gospel causes us to look up to Christ and what he did, out to our neighbor and what they need, not in to ourselves and how we’re doing. There’s nothing about the gospel that fixes my eyes on me.

The more you see that the gospel isn’t about you, the more spiritual you will become.

Real spirituality is forgetting about yourself, washing your hands of you.

He also included in this post a quote from Martin Luther:

God doesn’t need our good works, but our neighbor does.

This brings me back to the passage in Isaiah that I started with. Why do we do these things? Do we do these things to be accepted by God? I fear that the answer is often “Yes.” Is that why we should do them? Absolutely not! I love that quote from Luther, “God doesn’t need our good works.” It is not what makes us right. He doesn’t need them because we have already been made right through Christ Jesus. That doesn’t mean we don’t do these works. We work because people need to hear about God’s Love and feel God’s Love, just as we have.

Don’t do work to make yourself look good. As Tchividjian says, "wash your hands of you" and take people to Jesus. The Gospel will cause you to do that if you let it.

Piper On The Prosperity Gospel

Pierced To The Heart

"Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know--this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.” Acts 2:22-24

This is the day of Pentecost. Peter is preaching the Gospel. He uses the words of the prophet Joel and the Psalmist David to point the crowds to the Good News of Christ. When they hear this verse 37 of Acts 2 says: “they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?”

I loved those words “pierced to the heart.” Thank You God for piercing our hearts with the truth. Continue to pour out your Spirit on us so that we may share this heart piercing truth with others. In your Son's name for your Glory we pray this.

7 Miles

Matt Chandler addresses one of the "secular" explanations of the Resurrection of Christ.

Taste and See

I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together! I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! --Psalm 34:1-9

I needed this Passage today. I just opened my bible and this is the page I turned to. I needed to be reminded that no matter what is going on, I need to "boast in the LORD." I love that we are encouraged in verse three to join with David in lifting up the name of God. Then he speaks of deliverance and salvation that comes from God and follows that with "taste and see that the LORD is good!" That is beautiful! He truly will satisfy all our needs and desires. We just have to cling to Him and let him satisfy us.

Once The Gospel Frees You

What you’ll discover is that once the gospel frees you from having to do anything for Jesus, you’ll want to do everything for Jesus so that “whether you eat or drink or whatever you do” you’ll do it all to the glory of God. –Tullian Tchividjian

The quote above comes from a post titled Rethinking Progress where Tchividjian discusses our works. Why is it so easy to feel like our works is what gets us God’s approval? I guess it really is human nature to become Pharisaical. Even knowing that my works don’t help me get God’s approval, I can still find areas of my life where this train of thought is evident.

It goes against scripture and needs to be excised from our hearts. So how do we fight it? How do we remove this belief that we so easily revert back to? We cling to the gospel! And once we start clinging to the gospel, as Tchividjian says “you’ll want to do everything for Jesus so that “whether you eat or drink or whatever you do” you’ll do it all to the glory of God.”

Heavenly Father: Thank you for the freedom that comes from being in Christ. Thank you for choosing to justify me, knowing that I could never make things right on my own. Help me cling to this truth and learn to work for you because it is truly a delight. I pray this in Christ’s Name and for your Glory God.

It Is Not About Me(or You)

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies--in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. –1 Peter 4:10-11

As I seek to serve God more with my life, one of the things that I know I need to keep fighting is the urge to think that it is about me. The words I speak and the ways I serve need to be rooted in God, not in my own abilities. If I build this up around my abilities to speak or serve, it will eventually come crashing down. But if rooted in God, and only in God, God will be glorified. And as Peter says at the end of Verse 11, “To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Heavenly Father I pray my words and actions will point people to you and away from me. In your Son and for your glory I ask for the strength to get better at this each day of my life.

Overwhelmed by Christ

One of the things Jared Wilson talked about at the Gospel Wakefulness Conference last week was that we should overwhelmed by Christ. He said he thinks of an image of Jesus and coming out of Jesus are all of the names and things that Christ does. All of what Christ is and all that He does should cause us to be overwhelmed even if we just got a glimpse of Him.

When Jared talked about this I started thinking about this passage.

So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, "Whom do you seek?" They answered him, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus said to them, "I am he." Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. When Jesus said to them, "I am he," they drew back and fell to the ground. --John 18:3-6

These soldiers and officers received just a small glimpse of Jesus in His response "I am He" and it knocked them to the ground. This shouldn't just be for the betrayers of Jesus. We should all be floored by the good news. And when we are knocked to the ground by the holiness of our God and Savior, maybe we will place Him in His proper place in our lives.

Father show me more of you and more of Christ so that I will care less about me. In Your Son, through your Spriit, and for Your Glory I pray this.

By the Way if you weren't at the conference you can go to the Gospel Wakefulness link to hear all of Jared's messages. I encourage you to listen to them.

Hosanna in the Highest

"O God, be thou exalted over my possessions. Nothing of earth's treasures shall seem dear unto me if only Thou art glorified in my life. Be Thou exalted over my friendships. I am determined that Thou shalt be above all, though I must stand deserted and alone in the midst of the earth. Be Thou exalted above my comforts. Though it mean the loss of bodily comforts and the carrying of heavy crosses I shall keep my vow made this day before Thee. Be Thou exalted over my reputation. Make me ambitious to please Thee even if as a result I must sink into obscurity and my name be forgotten as a dream. Rise, O Lord, into Thy proper place of honor, above my ambitions, above my likes and dislikes, above my family, my health and even my life itself. Let me decrease that Thou mayest increase, let me sink that Thou mayest rise above. Ride forth upon me as Thou didst ride into Jerusalem mounted upon the humble little beast, a colt, the foal of an ass, and let me hear the children cry to Thee, `Hosanna in the highest.'" --A.W. Tozer prayer from The Pursuit of God