Kidism of the day

What is a "Kidism"? Well, clearly that is not a word--I don't think, but it does describe, in a word, the funny things my kids say.

So what is the kidism today?

Silas (my 2 year old) asked for some "flup-flup's" (translation: Fruit-Loops)

Do You Hate God?

Many people, I would assume, would say that "no, I do not hate God." Others would say that they simply do not believe in God, or at least the same God that I believe in. But for those of us who claim to know Christ and for those of you who say that you are a Christian, do you hate God?

I know that might seem like an odd question to ask, but think about what God says in the Ten Commandments.

"You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5 "You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments."

(Exodus 20:4-6, NASU)

In these verses God equates hatred towards Him as loving anything or anyone more than Him.

An idol is anything or anyone "in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth" that you value more than Christ. An idol is not simply a image carved out of stone or wood. An idol is far more reaching than that. Consider the following verses:

"For rebellion is as the sin of divination,

And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,

He has also rejected you from being king."

(1 Samuel 15:23, NASU)

"Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved. 7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, "the people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play. Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did. "

(1 Corinthians 10:6-8, NASU)

"Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry."

(Colossians 3:5, NASU)

A rejection of the Word of God is insubordination and idolatry. Craving evil things, things that are not according to godliness, is idolatry. Immorality, impurity, passion (not directed toward God), evil desire, and greed are all forms of idolatry. These are not images carved out of stone or wood, these are images carved out in our hearts.

A.W. Tozar said, "The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him."

God commands us not to long for and go after those things that we think will make us happy, but we must find our happiness in Him.

"In Your presence is fullness of joy;

In Your right hand there are pleasures forever."

(Psalm 16:11, NASU)

So according to Exodus and the testimony of Scripture, to love anything or anyone more than to love Christ is idolatry which is hatred toward God. Even indifference towards Him and His Word is a form of hatred towards Him because we are commanded to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37). Therefore, someone that has been transformed by His grace and indwelt by His Spirit cannot remain indifferent towards God. To be indifferent towards God is to love something or someone more than Him and to do that is hatred toward God.

Are you loving God or are you hating God? One way you know what you love is by what you say. Your words, your conversations give evidence as to what is in your heart.

"The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart."

(Luke 6:45, NASU)

Father, we are a people who are easily entangled by the desires of our own sinful nature and we are in constant need of Your forgiveness. Strengthen us so that we might stand firm in Your might against all forms of idolatry. Grant us faith to see Christ as more valuable than the thousands of daily pleasures. Give to us the desire to obey your Word, that it might be to us more desirable than gold and sweeter than honey. Stir in us affections for You, that we might love you above everything else and that our worship will be the overflow of our enjoyment in Christ. Awaken us from our stupor to see Your greatness and goodness that we might enjoy Your grace and extend Your glory. In Jesus name, Amen.

Re-Start

Well it has been more than a year since I last wrote on this thing. I think it is time to start again. So this is my official notice of a Re-Start.

A Wedding Poem

Adam gave his rib, so that Eve would have life.
God then gave Eve to Adam to be his wife.
Joining them together, let no man separate
The sign of their covenant is when they consummate

Marriage is more than vows and rings
It is more than promises and ceremonies
It is the mysterious blending of two separate lives,
The creation of God, in joining a man to his wife.

Now there will be days of uncertainty,

disagreements and even strife
But remember that what God brings together,

it is meant for the whole of life.
There are not many things that I can promise you,

but this is one
Make Jesus the treasure of your heart

and you will have a happy home

So tonight we have gather together to celebrate and sing
Not just the marriage of Cacey and Megan,

but to our risen King
Who loved us and died for us,

so that we might see,
That through faith in Jesus

we are made alive, in Him, eternally.

Now let me end by pronouncing this blessing upon you
“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, And the love of God the Father,
And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you.”[1]

“May the Lord bless you, and keep you;
And make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you;
And lift up His countenance on you, and give you peace”[2]

[1] 2 Corinthians 13:14
[2] Numbers 6:24-26

Discerning and Dealing with Sin

Psalm 19 is a wonderful psalm--Decalring the glory of God revealed in creation (vs. 1-6) and displaying the worth of God's Word as more desirable than much fine gold and sweeter than honey from the honeycomb (vs. 7-11), ending with David's instructions on discerning and dealing with the sins that still linger with in our hearts (vs 12-14).

It is in verses 12-14 that we discover how to deal with sin in our life. David categorizes sin into two broad groupings in these verses. The first is perplexing sin and the second is persumptuous sins.

The perplexing sins are those sins that are mysterious to us and often hidden from our eyes. David said in verse 12, "who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults." Perplexing sins are those sins that seem to sneak up on us. We say, think, feel, or do things and dont understand why these things just happened. You say something that you didnt mean to say or maybe you feel some feeling you dont mean to feel. Perplexing sins seem to come out of nowhere. "Who can discern his errors?" Who can get to the bottom of his own sinning? Jeremiah 17:9 tells us, "the heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?" This type of sinning that we must fight against leaves us feeling much like Paul at the end of Romans 7--perplexed!

The persumptuous sins are those sins that we do with forethought and defiance and arrogance. It is those sins that we do from a rebellious heart. David said in verse 13, "Keep back your servant from presumptuous sins." These are those sins that we commit becasue we presume to know better than God--that our sins are no big deal. It is those sins done with an attitude that disregards what God has said to be wrong and harmful and declares "I am going to do it anyways!"

Every born again Lover of God still has lingering sin that we must fight against on a daily basis. They are either perplexing sins or presumptuous sins, but these feelings, and attitudes, and actions, and words are sin regardless and must be dealt with.
So how do we who love God deal with theses lingering sins?

David provides us the answer in these verses. First, concerning the perplexing sins he says "Acquit me of hidden faults." In other words, prayer for God's mercy and forgiveness as soon as the thought, attitude, word, or action is made known to you to be sin. Second, concerning the presumptuous sins David prays "Keep back your servant from presumptuous sins." We must pray for power to overcome. We must plead God to make our heart love Christ more than all other things, that His word will be to us more desirable than much fine gold and sweeter to us than honey from the honeycomb.

Oh that we might fight against these sins by praying for God to forgive us for both preplexing and presumptuous sins and that He might empower us to overcome them both.

There is one last thought. David spent four verses on the value of God's word (vs. 7-11). This is not accidental, but by design. The way we fight sin is with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Eph. 6:17). So we must take the Sword by the power of the Holy Spirit with prayer and strike down our enemies--put to death our remaining sin with in our hearts.

Grace be with you as you fight

Ten reasons why we need the Bible

The Bible is a necessary part of life because it points us to Jesus who is the source and foundation of joy and happiness (John 15:11; 17:13). So the Word is necessary because it is the written expression of the eternal and incarnate Word, Jesus.

Here are ten reasons why the Word is so valuable and why we must mediate on it day and night as the Psalmist says:

1. The Word of God awakens and strengthens faith (Romans 10:17; John 16:13-14)
2. Through hearing the Word, God supplies the Holy Spirit (Gal 3:5; 1Thess 1:6)
3. The Word of God creates and sustains life (John 10:10, 1Peter 1:23-25; John 6:63)
4. The Word of God gives hope (Rom 15:4
5. The Word of God leads us to freedom (John 8:32; John 17:17)
6. The Word of God is the key to answered prayer (John 15:7; 1John 5:14)
7. The Word of God is the source of wisdom (Col 2:3, 3:16)
8. The Word of God gives crucial warnings (Ps 19:10-11)
9. The Word of God enables us to defeat the devil (1John 2:14; 2Tim 2:25-26)
10. The Word of God is the source of great and lasting joy (Ps 119:72, 103, 162)

You can find these with a fuller explaination in John Pipers book "When I dont desire God"

The Sovereignty of God

The absolute sovereignty of God is a difficult doctrine for many to understand and accept. I love this doctrine, it is the foundation for all I understand about God. Johathan Edwards the great American preacher of the 1700 speaks about his journey to believe this doctrine:

“From my childhood up, my mind had been full of objections against the doctrine of God’s sovereignty, in choosing whom he would to eternal life, and rejecting whom he pleased; leaving them eternally to perish, and be everlastingly tormented in hell. It used to appear like a horrible doctrine to me…there has been a wonderful alteration in my mind, in respect to the doctrine of God’s sovereignty, form that day to this; so that I scarce ever have found so much as the rising of an objection against it, in the most absolute sense, in God’s shewing mercy to whom he will show mercy, and hardening whom he will. God’s absolute sovereignty and justice, with respect to salvation and damnation, is what my mind seems to rest assured of, as much as of any thing that I see with my eyes, at least it is so at times. The doctrine has every often appeared exceeding pleasant, bright, and sweet. Absolute sovereignty is what I love to ascribe to God.”(Jonathan Edwards, Selections (New York: Hill and Wang, 1962, 58-59).

Let me ask a question for further reflection of the sovereignty of God. In Ephesians 1:11-12 we find that God "works all things after the counsel of His will.” What do you suppose all things include?