The City

"YOU are the light of the world. A CITY that is set on a hill cannot be hidden...Let YOUR light so shine before men, that they may see YOUR good works and GLORIFY YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN." (Jesus Christ)


If you wonder where the increasingly common terminology of the church being described as, "a city within the city" comes from, this is the verse. Jesus says that His people (plural) are His "city" within the world (cities) in which they live. They are planted there collectively to do good things that show the goodness of the God who sent us for the good of our city in His world. My prayer is that Refuge, and all local gatherings of Jesus' people, will see this and together serve in good service to our cities so God can get major glory thru us, in Jesus name. Let it be, Jesus. Amen.

The Beatitudes: The Lifestyle Jesus Shapes in His Followers

The Beatitudes

The Lifestyle Jesus Shapes in His Followers

 

Part I: Introduction

Today, unlike any other time in the history of the world, followers of Jesus have access to an almost innumerable number of ways to hear good Bible teaching. Where in the past people could primarily only listen to Bible teaching at their local church, or wait for popular evangelists to come through their hometown, this is far from the case in most of the world at the time of this writing in the year 2010. A few examples of tools which are used to distribute biblical messages in culture today in addition to the local church are DVDs, books, radio, television, concerts, conferences, internet blogs, streaming audio and video online, podcasts, and other forms of digital media.
    Even as different forms of communication are born through the continual advancement of modern technology, one method of experiencing good Bible teaching that always remains popular is the attendance of Christian conferences. Conferences abound of all types and sizes for people to go to and enjoy. Within the Calvary Chapel Movement, of which this author is a part, there are probably close to a hundred conferences a year all over the world for people to utilize.
    It's awesome to get together at conferences in a movement like Calvary Chapel. Often times the attendee is able to listen to some of the best Bible teaching available. Yet, in spite of how wonderful conferences and all the cool and innovative ways Christians can listen to Bible teaching today, there probably isn't a Christian in the world who wouldn't trade in their iPod, and every conference experience they've been able to enjoy to be able to sit in on a teaching session which took place on a little hill in the country-side of Israel about two-thousand years ago. In approximately A.D. 33 a group that might be considered some of the most privileged people on the planet got to listen to the greatest Bible teacher who has ever lived just outside of Jerusalem. They had the blessing of listening to Jesus Christ, God in human flesh, preach a sermon! The content they heard Him teach was what is commonly known by Christians all over the world today as, "the Sermon on the Mount."
    The awesome thing is that, while a person cannot go back in time and sit on that hill, they can listen to the words which Jesus spoke as they read the pages of the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus is that good! He made sure that His people through the ages would be able to partake of all the wisdom He shared that day with His disciples by inspiring the Apostle Matthew to record it in great detail in the written word of God, the Bible.
    One of the most impacting sections in the Sermon on the Mount is recorded in the first twelve verses of Matthew chapter five. This passage is home to what are called, "the Beatitudes." The Beatitudes are eight short statements of spiritual truth that are either convicting or comforting to the person who hears them, depending on where they are at in their life with Jesus when they hear them. There is a ton of truth in these words of Jesus to unpack, which is what will be attempted at this point.
    As Matthew began his record of the Beatitudes he wrote, "And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them…" The first thing to note about the Beatitudes is that they encompass teaching that is only meant to be applied to people who have already committed their lives to following Jesus. Matthew states that the audience who was sitting under the teaching of Jesus on that day was comprised only of His "disciples." Disciples were people who had believed in Jesus and chosen to follow His teaching. George Peters described the concept of a disciple as a person Jesus has called, "to a decisive and radical separation from former relationships, positions and ways of life; to concrete association with Christ in daily living; to humble submission to Christ in a life of instruction; to ready obedience to the command of the Master in all matters of life; to conscious imitation of the Master in His life and teaching." It is to a group of this type of people that Jesus taught the Beatitudes.
    This is important to point out because if it isn't understood that Jesus is speaking to Christian disciples a person might think He is teaching works salvation. Jesus isn't teaching how to become a Christian in the Beatitudes; He's describing the marks of a true disciple! The way a person becomes a Christian is faith in Jesus Christ alone. If a person receives Jesus as Savior, their life will begin to display the principles that are described in the Beatitudes.
    The late J.C. Ryle questioned, "Do we want to know what kind of people Christians ought to be? Do we want to know what type of character at which Christians ought to aim? Do we want to know the outer way of life and inner habit of mind which suit a follower of Christ? Then let us often study the Sermon on the Mount." On the one hand Ryle is correct. Christians should seek to live out the principles in the Beatitudes. On the other hand, if Ryle and others who take his approach to teaching the Beatitudes aren't careful, they could lead people to think that the Beatitudes describe the character people need to somehow come up with on their own to please Jesus. This is why this author has the opinion that it is best to study the Beatitudes as general principles that naturally are growing progressively in the life of disciples of Jesus who have been born again by the Holy Spirit.
    Having said all that, it's time to actually get into the Beatitudes themselves. As already mentioned, Jesus taught eight straight forward marks of a Christian side by side with eight blessings that disciples of Jesus will experience growing in their life as they walk with Him.
First of all Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." The Greek word which is translated blessed throughout the Beatitudes literally means happy. So, another way to say what Jesus has said here would be, "You're happy if you're poor in spirit, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to people who are poor in spirit." What could make a person happier than knowing that the kingdom of heaven in some sense belongs to them?
Well, what does it mean to be poor in spirit? A.W. Tozer has some helpful comments here:

"The blessed ones who possess the kingdom are they who have repudiated every external thing and have rooted from their hearts all sense of possessing. These are the 'poor in spirit.' They have reached an inward state paralleling the outward circumstances of the common beggar in the streets of Jerusalem. That is what the word poor as Christ used it actually means. These blessed poor are no longer slaves to the tyranny of things. They have broken the yoke of the oppressor; and this they have done not by fighting but by surrendering. Though free from all sense of possessing, they yet possess all things. 'Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.'"

That's an awesome description of what it means to be poor in spirit! People who are poor in spirit may technically own a lot of things, but the posture of their heart is that they own nothing. They recognize that as disciples of Jesus everything they own really belongs to Him. The only thing on the shrine of their heart is Jesus Himself, not even the blessings He gives! The person who has such a heart owns the kingdom of heaven. Even if they were to lose all literal material blessings in this life, they have the kingdom of heaven spiritually right now, and they may look forward to enjoying Jesus for all eternity.
    So looking at this first beatitude we have to ask ourselves some questions: Are we poor in spirit? Do I really see everything in my life as the possession of Jesus Christ, because I myself am in fact a possession of Jesus Christ? Do I look at my daughter and wife and see possessions of Christ? Do I look at my house and see a possession of Christ? Do I look at my bank statements and see the finances of Christ? Does His ownership over these things mold in the slightest way how I steward them all? Do I find myself simply using my own logic to decide where "my money" or "my time" or "my resources" should go, or do I consult Jesus on His desires for the use of all these things as the default habit of my life?
    If our lives are defined by a growing pursuit and experience of saying "yes" to the above questions, we are people whom Jesus is making poor in Spirit. We are growing in these things because we know that no matter what we have or loose in this life we have "the Kingdom of God" because we have the God of the Kingdom in our lives! If you don't feel your generally living the life of the poor in spirit I would encourage you to seek the Lord with me now. Ask Him to show you the deep value you have as an owner of the Kingdom of God because of your relationship with Jesus Christ, the king of the Kingdom, so your heart can be set free from clinging to the fleeting things of this life that tie us down and even render us fruitless. When the Son sets us free, we're free indeed!

    Lord Jesus, help us understand afresh today the treasure we have in You. Help us truly live in the reality that Your kingdom belongs to us because we belong to You. Let this better reality purify the desires and affections of our easily tempted hearts. Knowing that You'll answer with freedom, and in Your good name we pray! Amen!

THE BEATTITUDES: The Lifestyle Jesus Shapes in His Followers

THE BEATTITUDES

The Lifestyle Jesus Shapes in His Followers

Today, unlike any other time in the history of the world, followers of Jesus have access to an almost innumerable number of ways to hear good Bible teaching. Where in the past people could primarily only listen to Bible teaching at their local church, or wait for popular evangelists to come through their hometown, this is far from the case in most of the world at the time of this writing in the year 2010. A few examples of tools which are used to distribute biblical messages in culture today in addition to the local church are DVDs, books, radio, television, concerts, conferences, internet blogs, streaming audio and video online, podcasts, and other forms of digital media.

Even as different forms of communication are born through the continual advancement of modern technology, one method of experiencing good Bible teaching that always remains popular is the attendance of Christian conferences. Conferences abound of all types and sizes for people to go to and enjoy. Within the Calvary Chapel Movement, of which this author is a part, there are probably close to a hundred conferences a year all over the world for people to utilize.

It's awesome to get together at conferences in a movement like Calvary Chapel. Often times the attendee is able to listen to some of the best Bible teaching available. Yet, in spite of how wonderful conferences and all the cool and innovative ways Christians can listen to Bible teaching today, there probably isn't a Christian in the world who wouldn't trade in their iPod, and every conference experience they've been able to enjoy to be able to sit in on a teaching session which took place on a little hill in the country-side of Israel about two-thousand years ago. In approximately A.D. 33 a group that might be considered some of the most privileged people on the planet got to listen to the greatest Bible teacher who has ever lived just outside of Jerusalem. They had the blessing of listening to Jesus Christ, God in human flesh, preach a sermon! The content they heard Him teach was what is commonly known by Christians all over the world today as, "the Sermon on the Mount."

The awesome thing is that, while a person cannot go back in time and sit on that hill, they can listen to the words which Jesus spoke as they read the pages of the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus is that good! He made sure that His people through the ages would be able to partake of all the wisdom He shared that day with His disciples by inspiring the Apostle Matthew to record it in great detail in the written word of God, the Bible.

One of the most impacting sections in the Sermon on the Mount is recorded in the first twelve verses of Matthew chapter five. This passage is home to what are called, "the Beatitudes." The Beatitudes are eight short statements of spiritual truth that are either convicting or comforting to the person who hears them, depending on where they are at in their life with Jesus when they hear them. There is a ton of truth in these words of Jesus to unpack, which is what will be attempted at this point.

As Matthew began his record of the Beatitudes he wrote, "And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them…" The first thing to note about the Beatitudes is that they encompass teaching that is only meant to be applied to people who have already committed their lives to following Jesus. Matthew states that the audience who was sitting under the teaching of Jesus on that day was comprised only of His "disciples." Disciples were people who had believed in Jesus and chosen to follow His teaching. George Peters described the concept of a disciple as a person Jesus has called, "to a decisive and radical separation from former relationships, positions and ways of life; to concrete association with Christ in daily living; to humble submission to Christ in a life of instruction; to ready obedience to the command of the Master in all matters of life; to conscious imitation of the Master in His life and teaching." It is to a group of this type of people that Jesus taught the Beatitudes.

This is important to point out because if it isn't understood that Jesus is speaking to Christian disciples a person might think He is teaching works salvation. Jesus isn't teaching how to become a Christian in the Beatitudes; He's describing the marks of a true disciple! The way a person becomes a Christian is faith in Jesus Christ alone. If a person receives Jesus as Savior, their life will begin to display the principles that are described in the Beatitudes.

The late J.C. Ryle questioned, "Do we want to know what kind of people Christians ought to be? Do we want to know what type of character at which Christians ought to aim? Do we want to know the outer way of life and inner habit of mind which suit a follower of Christ? Then let us often study the Sermon on the Mount." On the one hand Ryle is correct. Christians should seek to live out the principles in the Beatitudes. On the other hand, if Ryle and others who take his approach to teaching the Beatitudes aren't careful, they could lead people to think that the Beatitudes describe the character people need to somehow come up with on their own to please Jesus. This is why this author has the opinion that it is best to study the Beatitudes as general principles that naturally are growing progressively in the life of disciples of Jesus who have been born again by the Holy Spirit.

Having said all that, it's time to actually get into the Beatitudes themselves. As already mentioned, Jesus taught eight straight forward marks of a Christian side by side with eight blessings that disciples of Jesus will experience growing in their life.

First of all Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." The Greek word which is translated blessed throughout the Beatitudes literally means happy. So, another way to say what Jesus has said here would be, "You're happy if you're poor in spirit, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to people who are poor in spirit." What could make a person happier than knowing that the kingdom of heaven in some sense belongs to them?

Well, what does it mean to be poor in spirit? A.W. Tozer has some helpful comments here:

"The blessed ones who possess the kingdom are they who have repudiated every external thing and have rooted from their hearts all sense of possessing. These are the 'poor in spirit.' They have reached an inward state paralleling the outward circumstances of the common beggar in the streets of Jerusalem. That is what the word poor as Christ used it actually means. These blessed poor are no longer slaves to the tyranny of things. They have broken the yoke of the oppressor; and this they have done not by fighting but by surrendering. Though free from all sense of possessing, they yet possess all things. 'Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.'"

That's an awesome description of what it means to be poor in spirit! People who are poor in spirit may technically own a lot of things, but the posture of their heart is that they own nothing. They recognize that as disciples of Jesus everything they own really belongs to Him. The only thing on the shrine of their heart is Jesus! The person who has such a heart owns the kingdom of heaven. Even if they were to lose all literal material blessings in this life, they have the kingdom of heaven spiritually right now, and they may look forward to enjoying for all eternity.

The second thing Jesus said to the disciples intently listening to Him that day was, "Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted." In other words, followers of Jesus who experience a lot of sorrow in this life can simultaneously experience a deep happiness. This is because they know they can experience the comfort of the Lord as His disciple, and they will ultimately be comforted for time unending in eternity. Their causes of mourning are ultimately temporary even if they are with them during their entire stay on earth!

Even followers of Jesus are not immune to intense suffering during their lives. This will be demonstrated later on in the text by Jesus, and it is demonstrated in the lives of real Christians every day. If you were to survey the average Christian congregation you would find every possible to type of hard situation and human affliction common to mankind. Christians experience disease, divorce, rejection, and abuse as much or sometimes more than non-Christians. So what's so great about being a Christian then?! Christians have eternity with Jesus to look forward to, during which all cause for mourning will cease to exist! The unbeliever has the opposite destiny. They will not be with Jesus, and suffering will never end. Followers of Jesus have His comforting presence in this life through the Holy Spirit who lives in them. Unbelievers are left to foster comfort from other temporal places.

The third thing that Jesus said is, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." Alright, before going any further it needs to be pointed out that meekness isn't the same thing as weakness. Jesus isn't saying that true Christians are a bunch of pushovers and cowards! Too many Christians think that being a faithful follower of Christ is equivalent to being an oversensitive human doormat. This is in large part due to the fact that many Christians view Jesus in that way.

Rest assured, Jesus was meek, but He was, and is, anything but a doormat! As Mark Driscoll so eloquently pointed out:

"Jesus was a dude. Like my drywaller dad, he was a construction worker who swung a hammer for a living. Because Jesus worked in a day when there were no power tools, he likely had calluses on his hands and muscles on his frame, and did not look like so many of the drag-queen Jesus images that portray him with long, flowing, feathered hair, perfect teeth, and soft skin, draped in a comfortable dress accessorized by matching open-toed sandals and a handbag. Jesus did not have Elton John or the Spice Girls on his iPod, The View on his TiVo, or a lemon-yellow Volkswagen Beetle in his garage. No, Jesus was not the kind of person who, if walking by you on the street, would require you to look for an Adam's apple to determine the gender."

Driscoll's point is unmistakable, and correct. Though Jesus was meek, He was certainly not week.

What does it really mean to be meek? To be meek is to be humble, plain and simple. Jesus displayed both humility and boldness during His earthly ministry. At one point Jesus made a whip of chords and thrashed people out of the temple because they were using it as a place of business instead of a place to worship God, and assist others to worship God. Yet, the very fact that Jesus was on earth to do that in the temple implies the greatest act of humility, or meekness, which has ever been undertaken. It implies that God Himself stepped off the throne of heaven, came into human history, took on human flesh, served, and ultimately died for the sins of those who hated Him! That is meekness! This is why Jesus is presented in the Bible as both a lion and lamb. He is absolutely humble, but absolutely, devastatingly powerful and glorious as well.

Meek people are not cowards. They possess the spiritual confidence in the Lord to bluntly, though lovingly, call sin exactly what it is. On the other hand, they model the humility of Jesus in their own life by not asserting and fighting for their personal rights. Instead, like Jesus, they are willing to step off of their proverbial throne as their Lord has done, and serve people with love even though they may be totally unworthy. That's what meek Christians do, and Jesus says of them that they will, "inherit the earth."

Regarding the idea that the meek will, "inherit the earth," one commentator said Jesus merely means that, "they will go to heaven." This author has to disagree. Now, certainly Jesus has in mind that though a person may meekly give up everything they have in this world in service to Him through service to others, they ultimately have heaven to which they may hopefully look forward. But there is something more that Jesus has in mind. Disciples, who are identified by a living a life of meek service and sacrifice, will inherit the present earth during the time of Jesus' thousand year reign over the earth which begins at the time of His Second Coming. At that time, Jesus returns to the earth with His previously raptured church to rule the world in righteousness for a millennium. The meek, His true disciples, will reign with Christ over the current earth during that time. That's awesome! What a glorious day!

The fourth thing Jesus said to His disciples, and by default the church today was, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall see God." There are a lot of things to which people can devote their time, energy, and resources to pursuing, but righteousness isn't naturally a pursuit for unregenerate people. This isn't true for the true disciple of Jesus. They hunger and thirst for righteousness. Jesus essentially tells them that, "the person who thirsts for righteousness will be happy because they will be satisfied."

Jesus wants His people to be righteous. When His disciples make righteousness the goal of their life because they want to please their Savior, there goals come into sink with the heart of Jesus. So of course He will grant their desire. He will produce in them the righteousness they desire. He will fill their life with His righteousness.

This should be encouraging for followers of Jesus. Christians are aware of the fact that God wants them to live exemplary Christ-like lives for the glory of God. What many are not aware of is how to actually live a more righteous life. Jesus says here that the disciple's job is to pursue righteousness. On the other hand, Jesus says the actual production of the righteousness will by implication be the work of Jesus! Here the unity between human responsibility and divine sovereignty may be observed. Disciples are responsible to pursue righteousness, but God is the one who will fill their lives with the righteousness for which they strive. That makes the life of a Christian much more encouraging when they realize Jesus is ultimately going to produce in them the righteousness He requires from them. All they have to do is get hungry!

The fifth thing that Jesus told His disciples was, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." The more followers of Jesus extend the mercy they have received from Christ to those around them, the more mercy they can expect to receive. Even if people never return them mercy for mercy, Jesus will definitely bring merciful blessings into their life. After all, you can't out-give Jesus, the ultimate giver!

The sixth Beatitude Jesus stated was, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." As Christ's people choose not to veil the eyes of their heart with pornographic material, or sexually sinful relationships, they will enjoy clear intimacy and connection with God as if they can see Him face to face! Habitual sin, specifically impurity, has a way of causing a person to lose an awareness of God's presence in their life. It can make a person almost feel that they are not saved. In that sense, it creates a spiritual veil over their spiritual eyes, and they find themselves searching for a clear glimpse of God working in their lives. They become like a blind man without a guide searching for a light switch.

As long as a person persists in impurity they can expect to miss out on intimacy with God. This not true for those who repent of sexual sin, and turn their eyes to Jesus. They enjoy the blessing of a sense of God's presence in their lives. They have no veil of impurity on their heart. They can hear the Lord's direction more clearly. They see God.

The ninth thing Jesus told His disciples was, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." Committed disciples are peacemakers. They aren't looking for a battle, or argument. When other people begin to fight about with malice their hearts are grieved. They want to see reconciliation in fractured relationships. As they seek to make peace between warring parties, they immolate the character of their God and Savior Jesus Christ. He is the great Reconciler who came to make peace between sinful humans and a holy God. Therefore, when disciples do the same, they are called sons of God. This is a principle I've been in which I've been slow at growing. I cringe when I think of the attitude I had when I debated theology with other believers early in my life with Jesus! I was basically a jerk. But because God's Spirit is at work in me I'm slowly becoming more able to control self-righteousness and pride in my life. I don't get it perfect all the time, but I can definitely see the growth the Lord has caused in my life as His disciple. Jesus wants to transform all of His people this way.

Lastly, Jesus finished His Beatitudes with statements many find difficult to swallow:

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My name's sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Many today teach that true Christians who have enough faith won't suffer.

That is utter nonsense, and totally contrary to the teaching of Christ. Jesus suffered persecution and eventual martyrdom from a human perspective. He promised His followers a life marked by the same. But along with the suffering, He promised reward!

Throughout church history, and in the present age, Jesus' words here have been illustrated. Many thousands of disciples have been persecuted, beaten, and martyred, including eleven of the men who were there to hear Jesus verbally deliver these teachings. Yet, the world can rest in confidence that, though many Christians have been martyred for Christ, they also now enjoy their reward in heaven which He promised here! They are in the presence of Christ Himself century by century acting as the welcoming committee for the faithful departed. For all the world took from them, they lost nothing! The same will be true for us as we continue to focus on Jesus as the truest source of fulfillment in our lives.

Personal Application

It's been a blessing for me to do this study in the Beatitudes. I have read them many times, but never study them in depth as I had to for this. The first Beatitude is always particularly impacting to meditate on. I was challenged all over again with the concept of being poor in spirit. I have to confess that sometimes I don't exactly live the poor in spirit lifestyle. There are things which I enjoy, like a comfortable home that would be hard for me to lose and keep perspective. I pray that as I lose things that are important to me, which is bound to happen, I will remember that I own a sort of time-share in the kingdom of heaven, so I can live the poor in spirit life.

Along with my awareness of my fight to be poor in spirit comes encouragement though when I meditate on the fourth Beatitude. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled." I have realized that when I'm expressing a desire to be poor in spirit, I'm expressing a righteous hunger. Jesus' promise to me in this verse is that my hunger to be poor in spirit will be satisfied! I'm doing my part and hungering so I am sure that He will do His part and fill me! He is faithful to do what He has promised! This gives me hope in the struggle.

Another thing that impacted me from this study was thinking about the affect purity has on my ability to see God. If I allow my brain to be filled with idols of lust, I will not see God clearly in my life. This is a good fighter truth in the lust battle in which the enemy is constantly engaging God's people. I have to do a lot on the internet, and I am amazed at how much risqué advertising, and out and out filth there is flying in my face all the time. I know that only the Holy Spirit gives me the victory when the battles come, but Jesus' teaching here is even more incentive to stay strong in the fight. If I give in to temptation it will negatively affect my ability to see the Lord. This would be tragic for my relationship with Christ, my wife, and the church I serve. There is so much to lose over something so cheap and ultimately unsatisfying. I know the Lord will use this Beatitude about purity and it's blessing as another weapon to use in fighting off inevitable temptation.

Psalm 150 Devotional

Key Verses: 1, 2 and 6 "(1) Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in his mighty firmament! (2) Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His greatness!...(6) Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!"

Spurgeon Insight: "Jehovah, the One God, should be the one object of adoration…His works of creation, providence, and redemption all call for praise; they are His acts, and acts of might; therefore let Him be praised for them…'Let all breath praise Him': that is to say, all living things. He gave them breath—let them breathe His praise."

I praise a lot of things. I praise talented musicians of various genres. I praise majestic views in the beautiful state of Utah where I live. I praise painters and even chefs on my favorite cooking shows on the Food Network. I praise the work of human architects when I get to do things like tour the world famous Hungarian Parliament building in Buda-Pest as my wife and I did on our honeymoon. I praise authors like Brian Brodersen, Chuck Smith, Mark Driscoll, and others for writing books I enjoy.

In all that praising that goes out from my heart and mouth I need to remember who it is that REALLY deserves the praise behind all of these people, and all of these things. Unless God blessed musicians and artists with their talents they would have none. Unless God gave architects their capacity to envision and build great things, they wouldn't be able to do those things. Unless God had spoken creation into existence, it would not exist. Unless God had spoken me into existence, gave me a brain to process, eyes to see, and life itself, I wouldn't be able to enjoy any of the things that I find so amazing. Everything that is beautiful, productive, useful whatsoever has it's ultimate enablement and source in Jesus, the Creator of everything good (John 1:1-3). That is why "everything that has breath" should "praise the LORD" (Psalm 150:6 and James 1:17). Do you need a praise alignment today? I pray the Holy Spirit would direct our worship to Jesus for every good thing we enjoy in this life. None of it is here without Him! Every good thing we enjoy is a tangible expression of His love for us today! Pray with me…

Father, we pray that You would continue to help us enjoy every good thing that You have given to the world. But never let us forget that every good thing is a gift from You. Help us to always give You the credit for anything beautiful we get to experience, at the end of the day. There is nothing good apart from the work of Your hands. Thank You for Your blessings our God. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

A Look at the Life and Ministry of Saint Patrick

    Saint Patrick, the great fifth century Christian missionary to Ireland, has historically been a most intriguing and obscure figure to the Christian church, as well as the entire world. Countless myths and legends have been told about this man. Many poems and stories have been written about him. Many theologians and missiologists have debated extensively on his religious allegiance, and missionary philosophy. The question is can anything be agreed upon about Saint Patrick? In all of the hype and interest generated by his life and mission, is there anything that can be known for sure about him in the twenty-first century?

    This project is an attempt to give an account of the facts generally agreed upon by students of this intriguing man in an attempt to paint as accurate a picture of his true life and ministry as possible. The life and ministry of Saint Patrick are a most fascinating and edifying study, and this author is excited to share some of what can be known about them.

    Patrick was born sometime in the late fourth century between the years 385-390 A.D. in the area known today as northeast England. His people were called "Britons." They were a Celtic people that had been Romanized under the Christian Roman Empire that in part encompassed modern day England. Thus, Patrick was culturally very Roman and disconnected from his Celtic roots. The Britons spoke mainly Latin and an early form of Welsh. Patrick was born into an aristocratic, wealthy, and religious family. His father, Calpurnius, was a deacon in the Roman Church and owned at least two estates. Not much is known about his mother.

    Patrick seems to have been a fairly average boy in his early childhood. He went to school where he learned Latin, the common language at the time due to the influence of Rome, and Welsh, which was the more native and peasant tongue of the British Isles. Though his parents were actively involved in church and Patrick had grown up going to Mass, Patrick was at best a very lukewarm Christian in his younger days. Through a series of tragic events set in motion when he was a young man, his life, and especially the state of his lax Christian devotion, would change forever.

    When Patrick was just sixteen years old he was taken captive, along with many of his family's servants, when Irish pirates raided one of his father's estates near the west coast of Britain at a town called Bannavem Taberniae. Patrick was forced onto a ship which sailed away to Ireland where he was sold in the slave market to a tribal chief and Druid named Miliuc Moccu Boin. The chief put Patrick to work tending his cattle herds in the Irish countryside.

    Patrick remained enslaved for six years. It was during this time that Patrick came to know the truth of Romans 8:28-- "And we know that God causes all things work together for good to those that love God, to those that are called according to His purpose…"-- in experience. In his book, The Celtic Way of Evangelism: How Christianity Can Reach the West Again, George G. Hunter writes about the three key things that Patrick went through during his time in captivity:

During his years of enslavement, Patrick experienced three profound changes. First, the periods when Patrick was isolated in the wilderness herding cattle connected him with what theologians call the 'natural revelation' of God. He sensed with the winds, the seasons, the creatures, and the nights under the stars the presence of God; he identified this presence with the Triune God he had learned about in the Catechism. In his more or less autobiographical 'Declaration' Patrick tells us, 'After I had arrived in Ireland I found myself pasturing flocks daily, and I prayed a number of times each day. More and more the love and fear of God came to me and my faith grew and my spirit was exercised, until I was praying up to a hundred times every day and in the night nearly as often.' Patrick became a devout Christian and the change was obvious to his captors.

    Second, Patrick changed in another way during the periods he spent with his captors in their settlement. He came to understand the Irish Celtic people and their language and culture…Third Patrick came to love his captors, to identify with them, and to hope for their reconciliation to God. One day, he would feel they were his people.

    Thus, Patrick was converted, and now God had plans for him. In the sixth year of Patrick's captivity he received a vision from God in which he was told that he was to escape his slavery, and that a ship was waiting to take him home to Briton. A voice said to him, "You are going home! Look! Your ship is ready!" Patrick rose from his sleep and fled from his captors to find a ship waiting for him. He attempted to acquire permission to sail home on the ship but the captain refused him. Patrick began praying and he tells us in his aforementioned "Declaration" that before his prayer was even completed God had changed the captain's heart and he began calling Patrick to come aboard. So Patrick made the 200 mile trip back to his homeland and people in Briton.

    Once back home Patrick had hardly been settled in when he would receive another word from God, this time functioning as his call to be the first missionary Bishop to Ireland, his place of captivity. John Holmes documents the extraordinary event:

     One night he had a vision in which he saw a man named Victoricus coming to him with a great number of letters. He read the title of one which said, 'THE CRY OF THE IRISH' and at that moment he seemed to hear the voice of the people who lived by the Wood of Volcut which is by the western sea. Unitedly they said, 'Holy youth we are asking you to come and walk among us again.' Patrick was so moved that he could read no more…It would seem that from that moment there was born in his heart a burden to bring the Gospel to that nation from which he says, pointedly, 'I was only just able to escape.'

    Upon receiving this divine commissioning, Patrick determined to prepare himself for his destiny as a missionary to Ireland. He began studying the Celtic people and Irish language intently as his heart flamed for them. He also began to be very active in his local church. He became a Deacon and in short time was elevated to the office of Bishop. Shortly after receiving his bishopric, he left his homeland again for Ireland; this time not as a captive of pirates, but as the slave of Christ for the Gospel to the Irish. It was the year 432 A.D.

    The Irish people that Patrick would serve were, in Roman terms, very much uncivilized. They had no organized cities, no real road systems, and they had no unified form of government. They moved in small nomadic groups through the rough countryside and forests of Ireland living off the land. The people lived in tribes (clans) that consisted mainly of extended family. Patrick knew that he would have to be innovative when it came to ministering to them. He would not be able to simply plant parish churches in the traditional sense near a populated city as the Church had done everywhere else. There were no such cities. He had to figure out a different method to reach a different culture.

    So what did he do? Patrick's method of reaching these tribal nomadic people was what we would call "contextualization" in missiological terms today. It seems that his practice was to seek out the leaders of the tribal settlement he went into in hopes of either converting them, or at least getting permission to serve amongst them for strategic purposes. Next, he would engage people in conversation and service ministry for relationship building, looking for receptive individuals within the clan. He would pray for physically impaired and demon possessed people as well as assist in mediating conflicts between tribesmen. He would also engage in open air preaching. In all of this he did a great deal of contextualizing. For example, the Irish people were also very musical and poetic, so Patrick employed the use of these art forms which made sense to them culturally in an attempt to communicate the truth of God's word in ways they would understand. He wrote worshipful lyrics set to Celtic tunes for them to sing, and portrayed biblical images for them in Celtic forms of visual arts. This enhanced his ability to communicate the message of Jesus to them effectively.

    As groups of people began to be born again through Patrick's gospel teaching, instead of forcing them to become culturally Roman, he would allow and encourage them to express the essence of real Christianity in Celtic forms. The most fascinating way he did this was by creating what Hunter calls "monastic communities" instead of Roman cathedrals. These were essentially the native Irish version of a church plant. The monastic community lived the Christian life together in a circularly built fort. They would meet multiple times a day for worship and prayer, and in the evening for a message every night. They lived together, worked together, ate together, and worshiped together. It was an extremely tightly nit body of believers that lived all of the Christian life in vibrant spiritual community. In his book Church History in Plain Language, Bruce Shelley said of these communities that, "…the monastic community, maintaining itself on the land, fitted the agricultural communities of the Celts better than the parish-church system so common in the Roman Empire."

    The main method of outreach from within the monastic community was that of hospitality. They had a guest house in a sectioned off portion of the community that was by far more comfortable than any other dwelling used by the believers themselves. They would love and serve every visitor that came to them and live the life of Christ out before them. Patrick considered himself and the believers in these communities accountable to God to serve this way out of the conviction that believers are each a "letter of Christ." He wanted the message of the love of Jesus to be communicated without words to unbelievers through their lifestyles of love and grace. They wanted to influence the lost into the faith by extending the love and person of Christ to them in behavior, and community.

    Patrick's method of contextualizing the gospel in presentation, as well as the essence of Christian community in Celtic cultural expression, proved very successful in the conversion of massive amounts of Irish people. Though much of Ireland is said to have remained unconverted upon his death in 460 A.D. there is thought to have been thousands of Christian converts in Ireland due to his ministry. Some estimate that there may have been as many as a thousand believers in some of the larger monastic communities alone.

    However, in spite of Patrick's success in Ireland, his missionary years spent there were not all easy. In his Declaration Patrick writes of being persecuted, slandered, and even enslaved as many as three more times during his ministry. Things weren't always easy for his converts either. In fact, one of the two original writings of Saint Patrick (unanimously held as authentic by scholars) that the world has access to today, is a letter in which he rebukes a local ruler for allowing his men to brutally murder and pillage a group of freshly baptized believers, and to sell the young women.

Clearly the most cutting opposition Patrick endured during his ministry was that of the disapproval of his tactics later expressed by the very church and people who had once affirmed and sent him out to serve Ireland. The traditional minds of the people in his hometown did not accept Patrick's replacing of the culturally Roman aspects of Christianity with culturally Celtic expressions. Patrick clearly wrote from a distressed heart in addressing this issue in his Declaration.

     The far-reaching missional impact of Saint Patrick's ministry is impressive. Historians point to Ireland as becoming a mission work launching pad for years to come after the death of Patrick. It served as the home base for missionary endeavors for the eventual evangelization of Britain, Germany, and Switzerland to name a few. An example of the great Irish missionaries that are said to have been products of Patrick's work years earlier were men like Columbanus. A century after Patrick, Columbanus led the missionary charge into the above mentioned countries and established them as centers for evangelistic efforts.

    Something else that has been perpetuated throughout history ever since Patrick's death is what seems to be a never ending debate between Catholics and Protestants, over whether or not Patrick was what people today would consider a good Catholic, or if he was more of today's evangelical theological persuasion. Patrick seems to be an interesting mix of both camps. While he was certainly an ordained Bishop in the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Roman Empire (which certainly means he had practices and beliefs in common with today's Catholicism), even a quick reading of his Declaration gives the clear understanding that his single most emphasized teaching was that of the gospel of grace. That fact shows that he was very evangelical even though the term was not yet used. It seems he was Roman Catholic by tradition, but evangelical in the essence of his gospel faith. This is abundantly clear from this quote taken from his Declaration, where he wrote of his purpose and success, "For I am very much God's debtor who gave me such great grace that many people were reborn in God through me and afterwards confirmed, and that clerics were ordained for them everywhere, for a people just coming to the faith, whom the Lord took from the utmost parts of the earth as he once had promised through his prophets." The words, "grace…reborn…and faith," in this quotation say it all.

    Patrick's life has serves as a reminder to us that our circumstances are never out of the plan, or control of God. Patrick was taken prisoner when he was just sixteen and was in captivity until he was twenty-two. I think Patrick must have been confused and lonely and must have wondered at times, even after his conversion, if God could and would help him. Yet, by the end of Patrick's life it is absolutely clear that Patrick's time in captivity is exactly what he needed to go through to become the missionary warrior God wanted him to be. God was there the whole time working things out for His glory, and Patrick's good, no matter how bleak things probably seemed at times.

I have certainly never experienced anything like being taken captive for six years, but I have been through things like family divorce, physical affliction, and more. So in terms of application, I believe God has been reminding me through this whole study that my past is not an accident. God has allowed or caused everything that I have come into contact with whether good or bad because he wants to use it now, or in the future, for serving others to His glory. The same is true of your hardships.

 

Bibliography

Holmes, J. M. The Real Saint Patrick. Belfast, N. Ireland: Ambassador Productions, 1997.

Hunter, George G. III. The Celtic Way of Evangelism. Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 2000.

Shelley, Bruce L. Church History in Plain Language 2^nd Edition. Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995.

 

Psalm 146 Devotional

Key Verses: 3, 5, and 10 "(3) Do not put your trust in princess, nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help…(5) Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God…(10) The LORD shall reign forever—Your God, O Zion, to all generations."

Spurgeon Insights: "People are always far too apt to depend upon the great ones of earth, and forget the Great One above…Man is a helpless creature without God…He is happy in help for the present and in hope for the future who has placed all his confidence in Jehovah, who is his God by a covenant of salt."

In January of this year (2009) President Barack Obama was sworn into the office of the President of the United States of America. At the celebration which took place on the night he won the Presidential election over his competitor John McCain, people went crazy! They were crying, shouting for joy, and even singing songs. They believed he was going to solve all the current economic problems America has been facing. They hailed him as America's savior.

As I watched the celebration on television I couldn't help but think about Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey presenting Himself as the Messiah and King of Israel 2000 years ago. He was God in human body. He is the true Savior or the world. He is the only answer to the worlds suffering and destruction. Not too many people wanted to give Him a party when He came, though. They crucified Him instead. Today, people still don't often celebrate when they hear that Jesus wants to be their King and Savior.

Jesus is the only Person who can set things right in our lives, families, churches, and country. Not Obama, McCain, or any other man. The world will not be in the state that it is today forever. Jesus will bring in a time of peace and righteousness on the earth when He returns. We all need to remember that no man deserves to be worshiped as the Savior of the nations. It hasn't taken long for America to see that not even Obama has turned out to be the savior many hoped he was. Only Jesus will be that. Those of us who know Jesus need to share the hope of the return of Jesus with those the LORD puts in our path, especially during times of national fear. Those who may read this who have been trusting in someone else to right the problems of the world need to avert their love and faith toward Jesus. He will come through for you and me today, and the world in His perfect time. Pray with me…

LORD, imprint the truth that You are the hope of the nations on our hearts. Bring it out of our mouths when we come into contact with those who are afraid as they look at the state of the world. We pray you would help us continue not to view any human leader as the one who will do for this world what only Jesus can do, whether they are liberal, or conservative. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Psalm 142 Devotional

Key Verses: 4-5 "(4) Look on my right hand and see, for there is no one who acknowledges me; refuge has failed me, no one cares for my soul. (5) I cried out to You, O LORD; I said, 'You are my refuge, my Portion in the land of the living."

Spurgeon Insights: "It is something to have Jehovah for our refuge, but it is everything to have Him for our portion."

There are a lot of people who want to claim God as their refuge. Even people who aren't followers of Jesus claim some type of protection from God. When suffering comes into their life they say they are hoping God will help them. They don't even know what to call God but they hope that He will be their refuge if He truly exists.

In Christianity things don't look much different sometimes. Most evangelicals are really happy to call God their refuge. They believe Jesus is their Savior. He is the One who helps, shields, and protects them when they are in need.

What is uncommon is to hear people, even Christians, get excited about God being their "portion" as David does in Psalm 142. He wrote this when he was on the run. People were trying to kill him. At such a time David didn't merely take comfort from the fact that God was his refuge, but he was comforted with the reality that God was also his portion. God was the gift he had no matter what people were trying to take from him.

When I have God, I have everything. I have Jesus as my Savior, but I also have Jesus as my portion. When I suffer, both of these truths are equally important. Jesus will protect me from absolute destruction in a sense because He is my refuge. If I lose everything else this world has to offer, I have Jesus as my superior possession anyway. If I really get both sides of this I will be able to stand against the attacks of my enemies, both spiritual and physical, no matter what type of opposition they bring against me. You will too. Christ wants to be your refuge, to be sure. But even further, He wants to be your prized possession, your portion. Pray with me…

Father, we pray that You would open our eyes to see You not only as our refuge, as important as that is, but also our portion. Divorce our hearts from taking refuge in temporary things. Separate our hearts from holding anything as a greater gift than Your presence in our lives. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Psalm 138 Devotional

Key Verses: 1-2 "(1) I will praise You with my whole heart; Before the gods I will sing praises to You. (2) I will worship towards Your holy temple, and praise Your name, for Your loving-kindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above all Your name."

Spurgeon Insights: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but the Divine Word will not pass away. It is His Word which creates, sustains, quickens, enlightens, and comforts. As a Word of command it is supreme; and in the Person of the incarnate Word it is set above all the works of God's hands."

There are movements today that make a big deal out using particular names for God when we speak of Him. The Jehovah's Witnesses and others say for example that we must only use the name "Jehovah" for God. Interestingly enough the name Jehovah isn't found in the Bible. For the name of God in the Old Testament the letters YHWH are found. The vowels that go between these consonants are unknown. The reason for this is that the Jewish people and scribes believed God's covenant name which He revealed to Israel was too holy to be pronounced out loud. Scholars decided to add the vowels from Adonai, another name for God in the Bible, in between the consonants YHWH. Doing this they came up with the name Yahweh.

When the Bible was translated into Latin Yahweh became Jehovah. In Latin the letters y and w don't exist. Their Latin equivalents are j and v. Thus, the Hebrew name Yahweh became Jehovah, and this is the rendering of this name that most English speaking people have adopted. But here's the point: Whether you say Yahweh or Jehovah you are calling God by a name that is only speculative. We aren't even sure that Yahweh is the Hebrew pronunciation of that particular name of God, let alone it's Latin counterpart, Jehovah! Clearly God would've made sure that the exact pronunciation of His name was recorded in the inspired Scriptures if He was really that concerned about us getting every single letter and accent of this particular name right!

Another problem with the idea that we must call God one particular biblical name is that He refers to Himself by many names in the Bible. Yahweh, Elohim, and Adonai are just a few. The biblical names of God communicate to us truth about His essence. What is important above all is that we trust in the God of the Bible. The only name we are commanded to be specific about in the Bible is the name of the Savior, Jesus (Acts 4:12). Whether you call Him by His Hebrew name Yeshua, or His Latin name Jesus, You must trust in the Son of God and call upon Him by name to save you. Yet even in this case, to believe in the name of Jesus is to believe in the person and character of the Jesus of the Bible. We must assign the name Jesus to the biblical Jesus, and choose Him as the object of our faith if we want to be in a relationship with God. Why? There is no other God. If someone wants a relationship with me they must come to this Kellen Criswell. If they want a relationship with God they must go to Jesus Christ.

After all this we see even more in the above verse. The Psalmist says of God, "You have magnified Your Word above all Your name." God is far more concerned that we know His character, nature, and means of saving us than He is that we pronounce His name in a particular dialect, or whatever. If my daughter slightly mispronounced my name when she tells me she loves me I wouldn't get upset and punish her. I would be happy that she knows me, loves me, and trusts me, even though she can't pronounce my name with exact annunciation. God is the same way with us. We should honor God's name in all it's biblical forms. They are each important. But above that we must obey His Word and know Him personally through faith in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, or if you rather, Yeshua Messiah.

Father, teach us to trust in You. Help us to focus on Your character, love, and means of salvation. Help us to focus on knowing You, not just Your titles. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Psalm 122 Devotional

Key Verses: 6 and 9 "(6) Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; 'May they prosper who love you…(9) Because of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your (Jerusalem's) good."

Spurgeon Insights: "We may well seek her good in whose walls dwells God who alone is good."

When the LORD blessed Abraham, and made a covenant with him and those who would descend from him as the nation of Israel, He gave him a promise: "I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Genesis 12:2-3).

I believe the Psalmist who wrote Psalm 122 knew God's promise to Abraham well. He prayed for the peace of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the center of the nation which God created through Abraham. To pray for the peace of Jerusalem is to pray for the peace of God's chosen people Israel.

The apostle Paul teaches us that God desires Gentile (non Jewish) Christians to bless the Jewish people, and particularly Jewish Christians (Rom. 15:25-27). Those who bless the Jewish people will be blessed by the LORD. Those nations who oppose them will miss out on God's blessings. That isn't to say that we need to affirm the political decisions that the government of Israel makes. It means that we need to support the Jewish people group, their existence, and their place in the land which the LORD has given to them. Lets pray for the peace of Jerusalem together…

Father, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem. We know that Jesus is the true peace of Jerusalem and that they will only enjoy lasting peace when He reigns over Jerusalem on earth for a time. We pray for their peace and blessing today, though. We pray that many of Your chosen ones would believe in their Messiah, Jesus, and be saved. We pray that You would lead us in whatever way You would like us to bless Israel. For Your glory, and in Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Psalm 121 Devotional

Key Verses: 1-2 "(1) I will lift up my eyes to the hills—From whence comes my help? (2) My help comes from the LORD who made heaven and earth."

Spurgeon Insights: "It is wise to look to the strong for strength…Help comes to saints only from above…Satan will endeavor to keep our eyes upon our sorrows that we may be disquieted and discouraged; be it ours firmly to resolve that we will look out and look up, for there is good cheer for the eyes, and they that lift up their eyes to the eternal hills will soon have their hearts lifted up also."

This Psalm was written as a praise to the LORD, as well as an encouragement to the LORD's people who may be going through a tough time. We are all tempted to look to our own resources to get us out of difficult situations. We look to other people, money, doctors, and whatever else to help us out. There isn't anything inherently wrong with utilizing these things. The problem is that sometimes we look for help in these things more than we look to God. God is our help in the hard times. We can never forget that, though all humans turn away, though all our money run out, though a storm wipe our house off the map, we have Jesus! He is our help.

I praise God for this reminder. I have relied on other things besides Him to help me many times when I should've been looking to the LORD. I am being tempted to do that as I write this regarding an issue in the life of my family. I want to trust in the LORD. I hope that any who read this would look to the LORD to move in their life in a fresh way over their difficulties right now. He waits to give you soul rest. He will give you all you need to be satisfied in Him and fulfill His plans for your life. Go to Jesus now! Pray with me…

Father, bless our hearts to know that You are our truest help in all times, all seasons, and all places. We come to You for mercy and help in our time of need. Pour out your provision on us. Pour out Your Spirit in power. Grant clarity, faith, trust, and peace to our hearts. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Psalm 119 Devotional

Key Verse: 160 "The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever."

Spurgeon Insights: "God's Word has been true from the first moment in which it was spoken…There is not one single mistake either in the Word of God or in the providential dealings of God."

I think that Psalm 119 is my favorite chapter in the entire Bible. It is structured in an amazing way using the Hebrew alphabet. Each verse in each section of the Psalm begins with the same Hebrew letter. With each new section of verses a new Hebrew letter is used at the beginning of each verse in that section. Eventually every letter of the Hebrew alphabet is used to begin the verses in Psalm 119 as the sections of the Psalm progress. The Psalm works through the entire Hebrew alphabet making declaration after declaration of truth concerning the nature of God's written Word. The Psalm is about the benefits of having, understanding, and living out the realities found in the Word of God.

When I was thinking about searching for a key verse that would encompass what this Psalm is about I was a little bit overwhelmed. I knew the whole thing was about the Word, but I didn't know if I could find just one, or even a few verses, that wrapped up the essence of what this Psalm is saying. Then it happened! I found verse 160. I love the beginning of this verse which says, "The entirety of Your word is truth."

Second Timothy 3:16-17 tells us that, "All Scripture is God breathed and profitable…" That is the testimony of the Bible through and through. All Scripture is inspired by God. God intends every portion of it to nourish us spiritually. He intends it to be utilized for growth in our personal, family, church, and national life with Him. I believe that this is why the Apostle Paul made teaching the entirety of completed Scripture available to the first century church in the new fellowships which the LORD used him to plant (Acts 20:26-27).

As a teacher of the Bible this verse really excites me. It challenges me to remain faithful in giving the entire Word of God as well as I can to those God calls me to teach. It is His Word, the, "entirety," of His Word and, "every one," of His judgments found in the Bible that people need if they are to be nourished and complete spiritually (II Timothy 3:17).

Has the LORD called you to oversee His people and feed them His Word? Be faithful and teach them the entire Bible the best you can. Are you a part of a local church? I encourage you to value the faithful teaching of the whole counsel of God more than cool music, tasty lattes, and the communication of what you want to hear, though it may not be what you know you need to hear. If you desire a return to the teaching of the Word in our local churches, pray with me…

LORD, help me stay the course! Keep me in Your Word. Keep me committed to feeding Your people, Your Word. I pray that You would revive a commitment to teaching the entirety of Your Word to the people You love in churches who have gotten away from this. I pray you're your people would desire to hear the teaching of the whole Bible from their leaders as well. Keep us faithful God. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Psalm 103 Devotional

Key Verses: 1, and 10-12 "(1) Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name!...(10) He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. (11) For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward those who fear Him; (12) As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us."

Spurgeon Insights: "Jehovah is worthy to be praised by us in that highest style of adoration which is intended by the term 'bless.' Our very life and essential self should be engrossed with this delightful service, and each one of us should arouse his own heart to the engagement…We have never suffered as we have deserved to suffer…Sin is removed from us by a miracle of love!"

This is a Psalm which praises God for the mercy and grace He shows sinful people when they repent of their sin. God removes their sin from them, as far as their salvation is concerned. He removes it as far as the east is from the west, meaning, He removes it totally from His mind. He removes it from their spiritual credit score entirely. The distance between east and west cannot be measured, unlike the distance between north and south. Our sin is gone from the LORD's perspective.

Jesus is the One who truly makes this Psalm applicable to me. He took the sin and shame I bring into this world on Himself when He died on the cross. He paid for all my spiritual crimes. Because of my trust in what He did for me, and the face that I've asked Him to come into my life, save me, and change me, my sins are blotted out as well. He doesn't hold one of them against me! He has further begun changing me from the inside out helping me live victoriously over sinful temptation, from the heart. Praise Jesus!

Do you know Jesus personally? Worship Him with all that is within you right now, and be available to His desires for you today. Do you want to experience the reality of your spiritual crimes against God and people being totally wiped away from God's perspective? Do you want Him to see only the goodness and righteousness of Jesus when He looks at you? Do you want to know that God doesn't hold your sin against you anymore, but views you with love and acceptance? Ask Him for forgiveness for living as if you are God, and He is not, and start following Jesus today! Let's go to Him together in prayer…

Father, thank You for sending Your Son to die for my sin. Jesus, thank You for voluntarily taking my sin and shame on the cross. Holy Spirit, thank You for showing me my need for Jesus and making me new from the inside out. Thank you for removing my guilt from your sight, and crediting me with the righteous perfection of Jesus Christ, now and forever, in spite of who I am, and have been. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Psalm 92 Devotional

Key Verses: 1, 4, and 10 "(1) It is good to give thanks to the LORD, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High…(4) For You, LORD, have made me glad through Your work; I will triumph in the works of Your hands…(10) my horn You have exalted like a wild ox; I have been anointed with fresh oil."

Spurgeon Insights: "If we consider either creation or providence, we will find overflowing reasons for joy; but when we come to view the work of redemption, gladness knows no bounds…The believer rejoices that he will not be allowed to perish, but will be strengthened and enabled to triumph over all his enemies, by the divine aid."

In the Bible the anointing with oil is symbolic of the empowering of the Holy Spirit. When He comes upon a person He supplies them with the power of God so that they can more effectively serve Jesus (Acts 1:8). One of the reasons the Psalmist praised the LORD in this Psalm is because the LORD decided he would be "anointed with fresh oil."

Symbolically, the person in the Psalm was empowered by the Holy Spirit afresh. We all need that so much! Christians in the Book of Acts were empowered by the Holy Spirit multiple times. We need to experience the power and dynamic of the Holy Spirit as often as we can, as often as it's needed.

I don't think I have depended on fresh outpourings of the Holy Spirit in my life enough to this point in my walk with Jesus. Sometimes I have relied on myself to do what only the LORD can do in, and through me. This is stupid. I need the power of His Holy Spirit to come upon me if I'm going to live for Jesus effectively in the world. The same is true for you. Do you need to enter into a new way of relying on the Lord by acknowledging the need for the Spirit's power in your life today? Many Christian's are never told they need to consciously rely upon fresh outpourings of the Spirit's power in their life to be faithful witnesses for Jesus. It is true and available for you right now! If you sense a lack of boldness in your witness, or Christ-likeness in your lifestyle today, ask for and receive the empowerment of the Spirit now. Go forward knowing God has provided all you need through the Holy Spirit who lives in you, and desires to come upon you. Pray with me…

Father, thank You so much that I have access to the empowering work of Your Spirit in my life. I praise You because all Your people have access to Holy Spirit dynamic. I pray for a fresh anointing of Your Spirit in this moment. I receive it by faith and look forward to what you're going to do in and through my life today. Thank You, Lord. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Psalm 86 Devotional

Key Verses: 1 and 15 "(1) Bow down Your ear, O LORD, hear me; For I am poor and needy…(15) But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering and abounding in mercy and truth."

Spurgeon Insights: "When our prayers are lowly by reason of our humility, or feeble by reason of our sickness, or without wing by reason of our despondency, the Lord will bow down to them…Are we sorrowful? We find the Lord full of compassion. Are we contending with temptation? His grace comes to our aid. Do we err? He is patient with us. Have we sinned? He is plenteous in mercy. Are we resting on His promise? He will fulfill it with abundant truth."

All of God's people experience low points in their lives. We can get to some really dark places in the soul. Sometimes it feels like we don't even have the strength to pray. Sometimes we are so broken over sin in our lives that we marvel that God would really care if we lived or died. He does though! These are some of the realities found in Psalm 86 that are true for the follower of Jesus. The Psalmist knew how unworthy he was of God's interest. But he also knew he had God's interest, because God is gracious, patient, and merciful!

Because of my theological upbringing I struggle with why God would listen to me sometimes. Other times I feel like He is just waiting to drop the cosmic hammer on my joy. I am wrong when I think like this! "Every good and perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shadow of turning." He is the giver of good things. He doesn't change! I am poor and needy for sure, but, as the Psalmist figured out, God is full of compassion, He is gracious, patient, and bursting with mercy and truth toward me because of my relationship with Jesus Christ. Those are the reasons why the infinite God of the universe concerns Himself with this little man on the earth. That's just who He is!

He is just as concerned with you today. He loves you in spite of who you are, no matter where you are. He loves you! Revel in that mystery, and let your heart burn with joy at the eternal grace that will never leave you! He is that good! Pray with me…

Father, I pray You would enable me to see You correctly with my heart. I thank You that You aren't waiting to smash me. Thank You that You love me, as small as I am, and that I can experience Your love because of Jesus. Thank You for always taking time for me every day, as Great as You are, in any moment! I love you with my heart, mind, soul, and offer you my strength today! In Jesus name I pray. Amen.