God the Father

Today I was feeling very discouraged and distant from the Lord.  I opened my Bible and read Romans 8:16: "The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children."  God is the creator of all but only those who have come to faith in Jesus Christ are called His children.  Adoption is such a radical doctrine in the Bible.  We who were enemies and alienated from God have been brought near.  Upon regeneration--coming to faith in Jesus Christ--we are treated and indeed become God's children. He is our Father in the very real and intimate sense.  He is close and personal and we are under His personal care.

God is our providential provider and our protector.  Such a truth helped me to rest in His heavenly care with childlike trust.  He works all things for good which means a growing likeness to Jesus Christ. He hovers near and sorts and sifts everything through His loving, sovereign and wise hands. It is here under His aegis that we are permitted to be vulnerable and emotionally transparent. We can lay our hearts bare before Him for He cares about us. That's what I did and the tears flowed down my cheeks. I came to Him with heartfelt needs. I cried for some time as I poured out my heart. He met me in that place. He moved quickly to comfort and to calm and I rest assured in His grace for that moment. 

As I pondered my relationship with the omnipotent God I was grateful that He did indeed call me His child.  He tenderly considers all that concerns me.  He is my Abba which translates "Daddy." It is a strong word and indicates a personally intimate relationship.  The Spirit we receive when we come to faith in Jesus sets the Father's heart on us as His own children. Here we have an antidote to anxiety and aloneness. We are His in the most intimate of ways. And even more amazing He is our Father in the most true sense of the word.

The Joy of the Lord

I've been on a quest the past few months to find the joy of the Lord. Actually I could say it's been a lifelong search. I believe I'm saved and on the night the sweet Lord entered my heart I knew a peace and joy I'd never known.  Since then however joy eludes me.  I mean the great delight that is the gladness of heart.  I long for the happy state that results from knowing and serving God.  I covet that deep, abiding, inner-rejoicing in the Lord or to rejoice and be glad as the Scripture indicts.  That joy of the Lord is our strength. Perhaps that explains the weakness of my faith.  My life, without the joy of the Lord is dull and dry.  It is depressing to the point of despair.  There's the lack of the strength that comes and brings an incredible surge of power in your own daily walk. The Joy of the Spirit is given to those who ask and are in close communion with Him.  The Spirit releases the joy and keeps it running consistently and on a regular basis when you are in sweet fellowship with the Triune God.

I've been reading Charles Spurgeon's "Joy in Christ's Presence."  It is a meaty book stuffed full of truth.  I envy the descriptions Spurgeon makes of his own sweet communion with the Lord and those available to all who love Him.   It seems to elude me however.  The author wrote a chapter on one of my favorite verses, Matthew 11: 28: "Come to Me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest." He speaks of rest for the heart, the conscience and the mind.  He writes that the Spirit who is our Comforter and our Sympathizer is real and present in every form of temptation.  Spurgeon states: "A disciple should know neither grief nor joy that he could not reveal to His Lord."

Spurgeon ends the chapter by giving reasons as to why we should have this rest.  These include that Jesus Himself gives it.  It refreshes us.  This rest improves our focus and is necessary for our growth.  It enables us to testify for the Lord. It also prepares us for heaven and the author states that the "streets of heaven begin on earth."  Spurgeon explains that to get such rest we must come to Christ, yield to Him and learn of Him.  As I LEARN more about the joy of the Lord I pray that I HAVE more of it. 

A Gospel Primer

I'm reading a book called "A Gospel Primer for Christians--Learning to See the Glories of God's Love."  It's short and to the point but it has some life changing principles in it. It's written by Milton Vincent. At the end of the book he does a marvelous job of putting the Gospel in poetic form.  I thought it might be very trite but it instead was very powerful.  Focusing on the Gospel saved Milton's spiritual life and the book grew from the process he undertook to remember to focus on the Gospel every day and often throughout the day. 

I admit that the concept of preaching the Gospel to myself is relatively new to me. I was much better to present it to unbelievers.  As I read and study more and examine the huge rut of my own walk, I see the need to preach God's unchangeable truths to ourselves consistently throughout the day.  The focus ends up being God's love for the sinner rather than the wrath so many believers still expect from God.  I dare say that far too many American Christians still employ some form of works based righteousness when it comes to relating to God.  At least in a functional way.  Like Milton we worry about our position before God. We engage in a barter system with the Lord. "If you do X, I'll do Y".  Yet God calls us and loves us in Jesus Christ. He poured out His wrath on His Son. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  None. Now only if I could truly believe it.....

Our Identity in Jesus

I had a conversation a while back with a friend right after a major league football player committed suicide.  My friend, who is very knowledgeable about sports and played some himself, said that for many athletes their identity is solely as an athlete.  There is nothing else but the game, sport or event.  When they get into their last years and no longer in their heyday often depression, despair and even death can result. 

Tonight I worked on some counseling homework. I'm to discover in the Scripture the identity of a Christian in Jesus Christ.  Here's some of what I found:

• Adopted
• Forgiven
• Saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ
• Justified
• A new creature
• Led by the Spirit of God
• Transformed by a renewed mind
• Redeemed
• Sealed by the Holy Spirit
• Able to take every thought captive
• Healed, worthy and capable because of Jesus Christ
• Filled with laughter and rejoicing
• Rooted and grounded in love
• Holy and blameless
• Chosen and Predestined
• Seated with Christ in the heavenly places
• The "far off " now brought near
• An inheritance
• Made alive while dead in sin

There are so many verses especially in Ephesians Chapters 1 to 3.  They are all such rich promises of God's grace.  I want to end with Ephesians 3: 20-21:  "Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, 21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen."