Sunday morning we talked through 11 possible reasons that God would bring suffering and trials into our lives. I wanted to post those 11 reasons here for those who missed Sunday and also for those who weren't able to write faster than I was talking. Use these truths to strengthen your own faith, but also to encourage the faith of others who are going through trials.
1. Unconfessed sins - 1 Corinthians 11:30; 2 Kings 5:15-27
2. To chasten His children - Psalm 119:67; Hebrews 12:5-11
3. God wants to increase our usefulness ("pruning process") - John 15:2; 2 Corinthians 1:3-9; 2 Peter 1:5-8
4. To help us realize this isn't heaven and we live in a fallen world - 2 Corinthians 4:16-18; Romans 8:22-24
5. To allow us to reap what we sow (a natural consequence to our own choices) - Galatians 6:7-8; Proverbs 5:22
6. To teach us about our own weakness and cause us to depend on God - 2 Corinthians 1:8-9; 12:7-10
7. To have us realize that we have placed our hope somewhere else or have spread it out between God and self/circumstances/other people/possessions. Our hope is to be squarely fixed upon God alone and His promises - 1 Peter 1:13; Hebrews 6:19
8. To enlarge our appreciation of His sufficiency - 2 Corinthians 4:7; 12:7-10
9. To test and strengthen our faith - 1 Peter 1:6-7; 4:12
10. To develop Christlike character - James 1:2-5; Romans 8:28-29
11. To drive us to God's Word - Psalm 119:67, 71, 75
This information was adapted from adapted from a seminar taught by Pastor Brad Bigney, Grace Fellowship Church in Florence, KY.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Leviticus and Our Sin (part 2)
Yesterday I briefly wrote on the Seriousness of Sin as observed in the book of Leviticus. Today I want to share with you a second challenge/encouragement.
2. Sin is Costly. Because sin is serious Leviticus also teaches us that it is costly. In other words there is a price to be paid for sin. In Leviticus we find that a persons sin would cost them a beast of the field, a bird of the air, or some grain (in the case of the poor). But beyond the material cost there was the humiliation of a public confession. Not that the sinner would announce to everyone the specifics of his sin (though he probably did to the priest), but just walking that animal to the tabernacle was probably considered a "walk of shame" because everyone knew that you or someone in your house had broken one of God's perfect commandments.
Because we tend to make light of sin we also tend to forget how costly sin is. We often take for granted the sacrifice of Christ, never considering the high price He paid for our salvation. Also, because we tend to make light of sin we often fail to humble ourselves by confessing our sin to God and even more so to others.
Take some time today and consider the cross; consider the high price that Jesus paid for your sin. Take time to humble yourself and confess your sins to God and to others (certainly those you have offended).
2. Sin is Costly. Because sin is serious Leviticus also teaches us that it is costly. In other words there is a price to be paid for sin. In Leviticus we find that a persons sin would cost them a beast of the field, a bird of the air, or some grain (in the case of the poor). But beyond the material cost there was the humiliation of a public confession. Not that the sinner would announce to everyone the specifics of his sin (though he probably did to the priest), but just walking that animal to the tabernacle was probably considered a "walk of shame" because everyone knew that you or someone in your house had broken one of God's perfect commandments.
Because we tend to make light of sin we also tend to forget how costly sin is. We often take for granted the sacrifice of Christ, never considering the high price He paid for our salvation. Also, because we tend to make light of sin we often fail to humble ourselves by confessing our sin to God and even more so to others.
Take some time today and consider the cross; consider the high price that Jesus paid for your sin. Take time to humble yourself and confess your sins to God and to others (certainly those you have offended).
Leviticus and Our Sin
For those who are following the Scripture reading plan we are now 8 chapters into the book of Leviticus. In these first eight chapters we read of sin, animal sacrifice, blood, alters, priests, guilt, and much, much more.
As I have been reading there are three truths that have challenged/encouraged me and that I hope might challenge/encourage you as you consider Leviticus.
1. Sin is Serious. In Leviticus God takes the sin of His people very seriously, even the sins that they have committed unknowingly (5:14). In Leviticus we see our Holy God demanding justice for those who would violate His perfect commands. This is important for us to understand, because we live in a culture that treats God's perfect commands and our violation of those perfect commands (sin) as a joke; a punchline on a prime time sitcom. Sin is no joke. Sin is rebellion against God. Sin destroys people, families and churches.
If there is one lesson we must learn from Leviticus it is that sin is serious and we must treat it as such. Where are you prone to make light of sin? What do you find non-offensive (maybe even funny) that God finds offensive? Are you giving more attention to Scripture (where we learn of the perfect commands of our Holy God) or the media (where they treat God's commands as a joke)?
More to come tomorrow....
As I have been reading there are three truths that have challenged/encouraged me and that I hope might challenge/encourage you as you consider Leviticus.
1. Sin is Serious. In Leviticus God takes the sin of His people very seriously, even the sins that they have committed unknowingly (5:14). In Leviticus we see our Holy God demanding justice for those who would violate His perfect commands. This is important for us to understand, because we live in a culture that treats God's perfect commands and our violation of those perfect commands (sin) as a joke; a punchline on a prime time sitcom. Sin is no joke. Sin is rebellion against God. Sin destroys people, families and churches.
If there is one lesson we must learn from Leviticus it is that sin is serious and we must treat it as such. Where are you prone to make light of sin? What do you find non-offensive (maybe even funny) that God finds offensive? Are you giving more attention to Scripture (where we learn of the perfect commands of our Holy God) or the media (where they treat God's commands as a joke)?
More to come tomorrow....
Friday, February 17, 2012
Leviticus - How Were the Hebrews Distinct?
As we read through Leviticus it is easy to note that there are some strange cultural differences between our world and the world of the ancient Hebrews - ritual purification, animal sacrifice, priestly classes, and temples are for the most part foreign terms and concepts to us. But what seems foreign to us was quite common to the Hebrews and to their world. The Hebrews lived (at this point wandered) in a world filled with various religions - Canaanite religions and there were some similarities regarding things such as ceremonial purification and animal sacrifices. But despite the similarities that might have existed the Hebrew religious system (as described in Leviticus) remained distinct (remember the key word in Leviticus is "Holy") from other ancient Near Eastern religions. Here are a few differences:
-The idea of direct divine revelation and theophany. (the presence of God)Hill & Walton. A Survey of the Old Testament, pg. 103
-The concept of strict monotheism. (belief that there is only One True God)
-The understanding of the origin and impact of human sin. (the Genesis account)
-The highly ethical and moral nature of Hebrew religion in contrast to the Canaanite fertility cult.
-The holy and righteous character of Yahweh in contrast to the capricious behavior of the pagan deities.
-The prohibition of human sacrifice.
Leviticus
Over the years I have had many conversations about the difficulty of reading through certain portions of the Bible. And it is true that some books are more difficult to read, interpret, and apply than others. This week Meadowview will be reading through what I consider to be one of the more difficult books in the Old Testament - Leviticus. So I thought it might be helpful to provide some insight into the book before we dive in. And since I typically run low on helpful insight I will defer to Andrew E. Hill and John H. Walton's book A Survey of the Old Testament. Here is what they wrote regarding the overall purpose and message of the book:
The central teaching of the book is summarized in the command to "consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy..." (Leviticus 11:44-45). The first part of Leviticus outlines the requisite procedures for worshiping Yahweh (chaps. 1-10), and the second section prescribes how the covenant people of God are to translate the idea of holiness into daily living (chaps. 11-27). Leviticus is basically a manual or handbook on holiness designed to instruct the Hebrew community in holy worship and holy living so that they might enjoy the presence and blessing of God (cf. Leviticus 26:1-13). The laws and instructions were to transform the former Hebrew slaves into a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (cf. Exodus 19:6).Hill & Walton. A Survey of the Old Testament, pg. 104.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Killing Pride & Cultivating Humilty (part 4)
This is the final post regarding killing pride and cultivating humility.
8. Laugh at yourself with others. When you are the object of humor if you cannot laugh at yourself with others pride is normally the root issue. Terry Lindvall writes, "Laughter is a divine gift to the human who is humble. A proud man cannot laugh because he must watch his dignity; he cannot give himself over to the rocking and rolling of his belly. But a poor and happy man laughs heartily because he give no serious attention to his ego" (Surprised by Laughter, pg. 130-131).
9. Cultivate the habit of gratitude. Michael Ramsey writes, "Thankfulness is a soil in which pride does not easily grow." We must discipline ourselves to show gratitude to God and to others. Mahaney writes, "We also want to continue throughout the day expressing gratefulness for the innumerable manifestations of God's grace. It's as if God is placing sticky-notes in our lives as daily reminders of His presence and provision...how perceptive of them are you? An ungrateful person is a proud person" (Humility, pg. 71).
In closing remember the glorious promise of Scripture, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6).
8. Laugh at yourself with others. When you are the object of humor if you cannot laugh at yourself with others pride is normally the root issue. Terry Lindvall writes, "Laughter is a divine gift to the human who is humble. A proud man cannot laugh because he must watch his dignity; he cannot give himself over to the rocking and rolling of his belly. But a poor and happy man laughs heartily because he give no serious attention to his ego" (Surprised by Laughter, pg. 130-131).
9. Cultivate the habit of gratitude. Michael Ramsey writes, "Thankfulness is a soil in which pride does not easily grow." We must discipline ourselves to show gratitude to God and to others. Mahaney writes, "We also want to continue throughout the day expressing gratefulness for the innumerable manifestations of God's grace. It's as if God is placing sticky-notes in our lives as daily reminders of His presence and provision...how perceptive of them are you? An ungrateful person is a proud person" (Humility, pg. 71).
In closing remember the glorious promise of Scripture, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6).
Killing Pride & Cultivating Humilty (part 3)
Today we are going to look at 3 more ways to kill pride and cultivate humility. But before we do I wanted to share this quote from Richard Baxter:
6. Use unflattering illustrations of yourself in the home and at work.
7. Recognize your relative unimportance and prepare to be replaced. The truth we often fail to realize is that we are dispensable. Charles DeGaul once wrote, "Graveyards are filled with indispensable men." Psalm 103 reminds us of this truth: "For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more" (14-16).
In the next post we should finish up the suggestions...like I wrote yesterday feel free to leave your comments and/or questions.
"Pride is a deep-rooted and a self-preserving sin; and therefore is harder to be killed and rooted up than other sins. It hinders the discovery of itself...It will not allow the sinner to see his pride when he is reproved; neither will it allow him to confess it if he sees it; nor...to loathe himself and forsake it....even when he recognizes all of the evidences of pride in others, he will not see it in himself...If you would go about to cure him of this or any other fault, you shall feel that you are handling a wasp or an adder; yet when he is spitting the venom of pride against the reprover, he does not perceive that he is proud; this venom is a part of his nature and therefore is not felt as harmful or poisonous..."5. Invite and pursue correction. How consistently and aggressively do you PURSUE and INVITE correction in your life? Would your spouse and others who are close to you say you are easy to entreat and that you are approachable? If there was something God wanted to tell you through another, could He do it? Proverbs 10:17 says, "He is in the way of life that keeps instruction: but he that refuses reproof errs (also see Proverbs 15:31-32; 29:1)
6. Use unflattering illustrations of yourself in the home and at work.
7. Recognize your relative unimportance and prepare to be replaced. The truth we often fail to realize is that we are dispensable. Charles DeGaul once wrote, "Graveyards are filled with indispensable men." Psalm 103 reminds us of this truth: "For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more" (14-16).
In the next post we should finish up the suggestions...like I wrote yesterday feel free to leave your comments and/or questions.
Killing Pride & Cultivating Humilty (part 2)
Picking up where we left off yesterday here are suggestion 3 & 4 for killing pride and cultivating humility.
3. Study and apply the doctrine of sin to your own life. Romans 1-3 is a revealing set of chapters on the subject of our sinfulness. The Enemy Within is a great book written by Kris Lungaard (it is actually a modern synopsis of John Owens classic work The Temptation and Mortification of Sin). But more important than learning about your sinfulness is doing something about it. Here are some questions you should be asking yourself as you apply the doctrine of sin to your own life: Are you specifically confessing sins to the appropriate individuals, as well as your present temptations? Are you confessing sin specifically? Are you confessing your sin fully? Or is your confession selective and partial (which means that ultimately it is misleading)? Remember that pride works to blind us from our sin (1 Corinthians 10:12) and it's consequences (Numbers 32:23). Start fully confessing your sin because God resists the proud (the non-confessors) and gives grace to the humble (the confessors).
4. Consistently practice the spiritual disciplines. Practicing the spiritual disciplines of Scripture meditation, prayer, and Bible memorization makes a huge statement: "GOD I NEED YOU!" It is a statement of my need for Him and my dependence upon Him, which kills pride and cultivates humility. But if you turn the tables and avoid the spiritual disciplines you are saying by your actions: "GOD I DO NOT NEED YOU!" And that is the essence of pride.
Tomorrow we will introduce 3 more suggestions...feel free to post comments and/or questions.
3. Study and apply the doctrine of sin to your own life. Romans 1-3 is a revealing set of chapters on the subject of our sinfulness. The Enemy Within is a great book written by Kris Lungaard (it is actually a modern synopsis of John Owens classic work The Temptation and Mortification of Sin). But more important than learning about your sinfulness is doing something about it. Here are some questions you should be asking yourself as you apply the doctrine of sin to your own life: Are you specifically confessing sins to the appropriate individuals, as well as your present temptations? Are you confessing sin specifically? Are you confessing your sin fully? Or is your confession selective and partial (which means that ultimately it is misleading)? Remember that pride works to blind us from our sin (1 Corinthians 10:12) and it's consequences (Numbers 32:23). Start fully confessing your sin because God resists the proud (the non-confessors) and gives grace to the humble (the confessors).
4. Consistently practice the spiritual disciplines. Practicing the spiritual disciplines of Scripture meditation, prayer, and Bible memorization makes a huge statement: "GOD I NEED YOU!" It is a statement of my need for Him and my dependence upon Him, which kills pride and cultivates humility. But if you turn the tables and avoid the spiritual disciplines you are saying by your actions: "GOD I DO NOT NEED YOU!" And that is the essence of pride.
Tomorrow we will introduce 3 more suggestions...feel free to post comments and/or questions.
Killing Pride & Cultivating Humilty
On Sunday morning at Meadowview we talked about the danger of harboring pride in our lives. I believe it was John Stott who said that pride is our greatest enemy and humility is our greatest friend.
Several years ago I attended a conference where one of the breakout sessions was on the subject of Killing Pride & Cultivating Humility. That session was worth the entire conference, and over the next few days I want to share with you some practical suggestions for killing pride and cultivating humility. I must give credit where credit is due so I'll mention that this information was taken from C. J. Mahaney's tremendous book titled Humility: True Greatness. So without further ado, here is suggestion one:
1. Study the attributes of God. You see the more aware we become of the infinite distance that exists between us and God, the more humility we will experience and express. This distance is created by God's Holiness (purity, and also what I sometimes define as His 'differentness' - see Psalm 50:21) and our lack thereof. So the suggestion is to study the Scriptures and be humbled by the greatness of God. One of my favorite texts that I would encourage you to consider reading is Isaiah 40:9-31. Beyond scripture there are some great books: The Knowledge of the Holy (Tozer); Knowing God (Packer); The Pleasures of God (Piper); Gripped By the Greatness of God (MacDonald) also most Systematic Theology books have a section on the attributes of God (I recommend Wayne Grudem for this particular subject).
2. Every day survey the cross on which the Prince of Glory died. As was stated on Sunday, it is hard to be arrogant standing close to the cross. When we are close to the cross our own sin and need for forgivness is evident, therefore we are more apt to extend forgivness and grace to others. Apart from the gospel accounts of Jesus death here are some great passages to read: 1 Corinthians 1:8; Galatians 6:14; Philippians 2:8; Hebrews 12:2-3; Isaiah 53:4-5, 10-11. Beyond scripture there are some fantastic books: The Cross of Christ (Stott); Living the Cross Centered Life (Mahaney); The Cross He Bore (Leahy); The Murder of Jesus (MacArthur).
Let's chew on these suggestions for today and I will provide 2 more tomorrow.
Several years ago I attended a conference where one of the breakout sessions was on the subject of Killing Pride & Cultivating Humility. That session was worth the entire conference, and over the next few days I want to share with you some practical suggestions for killing pride and cultivating humility. I must give credit where credit is due so I'll mention that this information was taken from C. J. Mahaney's tremendous book titled Humility: True Greatness. So without further ado, here is suggestion one:
1. Study the attributes of God. You see the more aware we become of the infinite distance that exists between us and God, the more humility we will experience and express. This distance is created by God's Holiness (purity, and also what I sometimes define as His 'differentness' - see Psalm 50:21) and our lack thereof. So the suggestion is to study the Scriptures and be humbled by the greatness of God. One of my favorite texts that I would encourage you to consider reading is Isaiah 40:9-31. Beyond scripture there are some great books: The Knowledge of the Holy (Tozer); Knowing God (Packer); The Pleasures of God (Piper); Gripped By the Greatness of God (MacDonald) also most Systematic Theology books have a section on the attributes of God (I recommend Wayne Grudem for this particular subject).
2. Every day survey the cross on which the Prince of Glory died. As was stated on Sunday, it is hard to be arrogant standing close to the cross. When we are close to the cross our own sin and need for forgivness is evident, therefore we are more apt to extend forgivness and grace to others. Apart from the gospel accounts of Jesus death here are some great passages to read: 1 Corinthians 1:8; Galatians 6:14; Philippians 2:8; Hebrews 12:2-3; Isaiah 53:4-5, 10-11. Beyond scripture there are some fantastic books: The Cross of Christ (Stott); Living the Cross Centered Life (Mahaney); The Cross He Bore (Leahy); The Murder of Jesus (MacArthur).
Let's chew on these suggestions for today and I will provide 2 more tomorrow.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)