Category: Devotional

Devotional thoughts for my benefit and yours from here, there, and everywhere

Our Time is Short

~ fundyreformed ~ 5 Comments

I just found out that, Larry Lawton, a regular commenter on my blog, passed away this Sunday. He was a close blogging acquaintance and online friend. He frequently commented over at Sharper Iron.

He leaves behind a wife and young son (2 years old, or so, I think). His obituary is here. From this Sharper Iron discussion, I learned he died of an infection coupled with his having no spleen. He was just 37 years old.

I know Larry loved Jesus and loved studying the Bible. He was a good father and cared for his family, even as he pursued theological education. He will be missed.

Larry’s death reminds us that our time is short. It also calls us to face the realities of life and death. It argues that we should all live with eternity in view, as we have no sure bet that we will be here tomorrow, next week or next year.

Recently, my oldest daughter, has been learning about death. Her friends’ grandfather died a few weeks ago, and then on Saturday we attended the funeral of her great grandmother. She’s been growing through all of this and her simple faith is encouraging. As we drove away from the funeral, Saturday, she made up a song, and the words go something like this:

When someone dies, I won’t be afraid.

I won’t worry. I won’t be sad, I’ll be happy.

I’ll just trust in God.

In the face of death — and I can only imagine how hard this must be for Larry’s wife and family — we all can do no better than follow the advice of my daughter’s song. Since Larry knew Christ, let’s not worry or fear, let’s trust in our God!

Living a Life Worth Living

~ fundyreformed

My gifted friend, Nathan Pitchford, just posted a personal manifesto. If you’ve ever read some of Jonathan Edwards’ life resolutions, Nathan’s list of goals will seem quite similar.

And while he does craft his resolutions to his specific life-calling, Nathan’s principles and goals will serve to encourage, inform and edify you. They challenged me, even as they excited me.

If you have a few minutes, you really should check out his post, and prayerfully contemplate just what God would have you do with your life.

Approaching a Fearsome God — through Christ

~ fundyreformed ~ 3 Comments

Sunday Mediations — posts encouraging us all to meditate on the things of our Savior, on His day.

I don’t have a healthy enough view of God. I’ll be the first to admit that. I don’t comprehend his ultimate greatness, his “otherness” and transcendence. His awful holiness. Yes “awe-ful” and terrifying, holiness.

The Bible repeatedly calls on us to fear God. Yet fearing God is foreign to our nature. We live and breathe as if God isn’t. No wonder we don’t fear him.

And for those raised in Christianity (like me), we assume that we can approach God. We assume that we shouldn’t have to fear Him. And isn’t Christianity all happy-go-lucky anyway? What’s this about fear? Why should we tremble before God, don’t we have our ticket to heaven already?

With these thoughts in mind, lets approach a text this morning:

And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for your sake, who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. (1 Pet. 1:17-21)

I’ve been teaching through 1 Peter in our small group class every other Sunday night. This passage was a bit perplexing.

“Conduct yoursleves with fear” is one of four commands in this passage (“set your hope”–v. 13; “be holy”–v. 15; and “love one another”–v. 22 are the others). And I knew that the passage beautifully illustrates the relationship between Biblical imperatives and indicatives. Each command is expressly connected with facts that are true because of who we are in Christ.

So I was puzzled by the connection between vs. 17 and the verses that follow. In light of the preciousness of your redemption, fear God? That didn’t seem to follow, unless we are talking a debtor’s ethic where because of Christ’s sacrifice we should go on and labor in fearing God out of debt.

In looking at the text, it also seems to be disconnected. Fear God, knowing you were ransomed, not with perishable silver and gold, but with Christ. And Christ is like a lamb without blemish, foreknown and manifest for you, who believe in God. The main point of all this is still “fear God” so how does it all fit?

As I scanned through Calvin’s comments on this passage, his discussion of vs. 21 grabbed me. Here’s an excerpt:

…as faith unites us to God, we shun and dread every access to him, except a Mediator comes who can deliver us from fear. For sin, which reigns in us, renders us hateful to God and him to us. Hence, as soon as mention is made of God, we must necessarily be filled with dread; and if we approach him, his justice is like fire, which will wholly consume us.

It is hence evident that we cannot believe in God except through Christ, in whom God in a manner makes himself little, that he might accommodate himself to our comprehension; and it is Christ alone who can tranquillize consciences, so that we may dare to come in confidence to God.

As I really grasped the glory of what was being said in vs. 21, everything clicked. We are to fear God, and this is impossible in ourselves. So we are reminded that we’ve been ransomed from our futile ways. And not just ransomed with a fool’s gift of gold, we’ve been ransomed by the precious blood of Christ. The very Christ who like the Paschal Lamb of old, was foreknown and chosen to suffer wrath in our place. This Jesus came and died “for [our] sake”. And thus through him we believe in God. And God’s resurrection of Jesus was all designed “so that [our] faith and hope [would be] in God”.

We can fear God, and reverence him, not as a vanquished foe trembles before Him. Rather because of the sacrifice accomplished for us, and because God himself has worked so that our faith and hope are in Him, we reverently fear God with Christ at our side. Because of our mediator we can approach this fearful God. And from Jesus, we can learn the true extent of God’s wrath which should cause us to tremble, while we also learn that all of that wrath was taken away for us in Jesus.

Oh how happy we are to have such a glorious mediator! Let us respect and reverence, yea fear, our Holy God more. Yet we need never shudder at this command, because we remember that God is accepting us, yea welcoming us to come boldly before His throne (which for us is a throne of grace) by the new and living way of Christ our crucified and Risen Savior! (Heb. 4:16, 10:19-21).

Reminding Ourselves of the Cross

~ fundyreformed ~ 1 Comment

Sunday Mediations — posts encouraging us all to meditate on the things of our Savior, on His day.

The Gospel isn’t just for those who are outside of Christianity. Christians must remind themselves and others of the beauty of the Gospel, day in and day out. This is how we live. We need the Gospel.

Listen to C.J. Mahaney (of Sovereign Grace Ministries) in a recent post on the importance of preaching the gospel to ourselves:

We awaken each day with a tendency to forget that which is most important: the gospel. All of us should assume this tendency and be aware of this tendency. Because of the Fall and due to the effects of remaining sin, we have a daily tendency and temptation to forget stuff in general and to forget that which is most important in particular.

Assuming this tendency, we must create practices that will enable us to remember what we must not forget””the cross. So each day I seek to spend time in a location where I am not distracted, unhurriedly reading and meditating on Scripture and finding my way in Scripture to a hill called Calvary to meditate each day on Christ and him crucified. Each day I need to remind myself of the gospel. I cannot live on yesterday’s recollection of the gospel. I need to review and rehearse the gospel each day or I will assume the gospel, forget the gospel, and prove vulnerable to all manner of temptation and sin.

Take these words to heart. And for some great book recommendations, read the rest of C.J. Mahaney’s post.

We Believe (#14): Death, Resurrection, and the Coming of the Lord

~ fundyreformed ~ 2 Comments

Part 14 in a series of Sunday posts celebrating the glorious Truth we believe as Christians. The readings are quoted from the Elder Affirmation of Faith, of my church, Bethlehem Baptist (Pastor John Piper). I’m doing this because every few weeks our congregational reading is an excerpt from this document, and every time we all read aloud the truths we confess, my soul rejoices. I pray these posts will aid you in worshiping our Lord on His day.

Death, Resurrection, and the Coming of the Lord

We believe that when Christians die they are made perfect in holiness, are received into paradise, and are taken consciously into the presence of Christ, which is more glorious and more satisfying than any experience on earth.

We believe in the blessed hope that at the end of the age Jesus Christ will return to this earth personally, visibly, physically, and suddenly in power and great glory; and that He will gather His elect, raise the dead, judge the nations, and establish His kingdom. We believe that the righteous will enter into the everlasting joy of their Master, and those who suppressed the truth in unrighteousness will be consigned to everlasting conscious misery.

We believe that the end of all things in this age will be the beginning of a never-ending, ever-increasing happiness in the hearts of the redeemed, as God displays more and more of His infinite and inexhaustible greatness and glory for the enjoyment of His people.

*Taken from the Bethlehem Baptist Church Elder Affirmation of Faith, paragraphs 14.1-14.3. You are free to download the entire affirmation [pdf] complete with Scriptural proofs for the above statements.