Tag: Grace

Week 35, 2022

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Week Thirty-five of Cultivate Delight, where we are actively planning our spiritual endeavors this coming week with the goal of a consistent time spent engaging our hearts with Christ in his word, in prayer, in reflection, and in music. Below are some starting points for reflection, and I hope you find them helpful. The goal is to not just rush through these and then get on with your day. Take your time and reflect throughout the week on these items.

“Faith is the wedding ring in which we have pledged ourselves to Christ.”
– Martin Luther

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Walk As You Were Taught

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Journal Entry // August 23, 2022

Now therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’ (ESV)

1 Kings 8:25

I have always found comfort in the life of David because of passages like this one in 1 Kings where Solomon is praying to the Lord at the dedication of the temple. This promise that the Lord made to David is filled with many points of interest to meditate on, but I find the last portion to be so intriguing and challenging. The example that the sons of David should follow was the life of David. As I have just finished reading through the life of David in 1 and 2 Samuel, I find this promise interesting as David did not live a perfect life. By no means did he live a perfect life. Yet, the thing that David did well was humility and repentance. David’s steadfast trust in the Lord and the understanding of his weakness and dependence upon the Lord is the model his sons should emulate. Not only them but me as well.

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Week 34, 2022

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Week Thirty-four of Cultivate Delight, where we are actively planning our spiritual endeavors this coming week with the goal of a consistent time spent engaging our hearts with Christ in his word, in prayer, in reflection, and in music. Below are some starting points for reflection, and I hope you find them helpful. The goal is to not just rush through these and then get on with your day. Take your time and reflect throughout the week on these items.

“A professing covenant people are under greatest obligations to glorify God, which is done by their faithful obedience to his commands.”
– Samuel Willard (1640-1707)

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Heart Engagement

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Journal Entry // August 12, 2022

For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. (ESV)

2 Corinthians 10:3

What is the misunderstanding that we all make as we make our journey through this world in the light of the gospel of Christ? It is typically that we will often wage war according to the flesh. What I mean by this is that we want to be obedient in our actions as we walk in the flesh and demonstrate our love for Christ through this obedience. This is absolutely good and right. If we love Christ, we will obey his commandments. Where we fail is that we aim to do this through the flesh and not the Spirit. We are led by our self-righteousness and make judgements about others without any consideration of their heart and the leading of Christ through the Spirit. We wage war with the world and with each other according to the flesh using our own understanding as the arbiter of righteousness instead of the Word of God.

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Week 33, 2022

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Week Thirty-three of Cultivate Delight, where we are actively planning our spiritual endeavors this coming week with the goal of a consistent time spent engaging our hearts with Christ in his word, in prayer, in reflection, and in music. Below are some starting points for reflection, and I hope you find them helpful. The goal is to not just rush through these and then get on with your day. Take your time and reflect throughout the week on these items.

“It infinitely concerns all men to make a sure work about their salvation, for when they die they will be great losers; they will lose not only their comforts on earth, but also the joys of heaven, without any hope of recovery.”
– John Jackson (1600-1648)

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Abounding & Sufficient

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Journal Entry // August 11, 2022

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. (ESV)

2 Corinthians 9:8

There is a lot going on in this short verse found in a discussion about generosity and giving with thankfulness. The fullness of God is what Paul is reiterating and emphasizing so that we don’t miss the point. That point being that our God is the Lord Almighty and he is the giver of all good things. Look at the fullness Paul describes: ALL grace abound, ALL sufficiency, in ALL things, at ALL times, EVERY good work. This is not the way we often think about our current situation and the provisions that God has given us. We often grumble and complain and bemoan the circumstances and situations that we are in. We often look at other people and see how richly God has blessed them as opposed to our meagerness. We don’t really take this verse to heart and truly understand that God is able to make all grace abound to us. All grace. Not just a few drops, but an overwhelming flood of grace that will bring us to our knees in thanksgiving and praise.

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Jars of Humility

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Journal Entry // August 5, 2022

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. (ESV)

2 Corinthians 4:7

These jars of clay, a representation of the frailty and weakness of our bodies, have within them the most precious and costly treasure, the knowledge of the glory of God in Christ. Our bodies, which are prone to corruption and the effects of sin, are the chosen storage vessels of this most important and beautiful message. My weakness is on display all the time. This simple jar of clay is so fragile of a vessel for the Spirit of God to abide. Yet, God chooses to unite himself with his children and inhabit the heart of these weak and frail jars of clay. This naturally leads us to ask the question, “Why?” The answer is simple enough. The display of God’s strength and surpassing power is on display in the lives of these weak and frail jars of clay. The weakness of my flesh allows for the power of Christ to be at work and on display daily in my life as he pours out grace and mercy into my heart and works this same grace and mercy through me into the lives of others.

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Week 32, 2022

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Week Thirty-two of Cultivate Delight, where we are actively planning our spiritual endeavors this coming week with the goal of a consistent time spent engaging our hearts with Christ in his word, in prayer, in reflection, and in music. Below are some starting points for reflection, and I hope you find them helpful. The goal is to not just rush through these and then get on with your day. Take your time and reflect throughout the week on these items.

“The happiness which the Lord Jesus procured for believers, includes a perfect freedom from sin, and all afflictive evils, their just consequence, and the fruition of righteousness, peace and joy, in which the kingdom of God consists.”
– William Bridge (1600-1670)

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Week 31, 2022

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Week Thirty-one of Cultivate Delight, where we are actively planning our spiritual endeavors this coming week with the goal of a consistent time spent engaging our hearts with Christ in his word, in prayer, in reflection, and in music. Below are some starting points for reflection, and I hope you find them helpful. The goal is to not just rush through these and then get on with your day. Take your time and reflect throughout the week on these items.

“It is not enough to receive the truth that we might be saved, but we must receive the love of the truth if ever we would be saved.”
– Jeremiah Burroughs, Gospel Worship

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Be an Imitator

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Journal Entry // July 25, 2022

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. (ESV)

1 Corinthians 11:1

I always find it challenging when I read this statement from Paul to the Corinthian church. Initially, I tend to start out thinking that I am unable to make this statement to anyone at the moment. I don’t really want anyone to imitate me, because I myself am not truly imitating Christ. I feel and see the huge disparity between the life of Christ and my own life. I see my sin looming so large and prevalent in my heart. I know the fear that has a tight grip on me. I understand my failure to truly love Jesus with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. I see all this and I don’t want to have anyone imitate me. Yet Paul could tell this church to follow his example and life. Surely Paul was sinful and was afraid. Surely he had moments of doubt and worry. So how could he make this statement? Our imitation of Paul is in a life full of repentance and humility. A life of following after Christ. Not a perfect sinless life of complete obedience, but a life understanding our weakness and dependence upon Jesus for everything. A life filled with the grace and mercy of God.

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