Being Kevin

A Word for My Friends - 1/14/2012 - 1 Peter 1:3-9

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:3-9 ESV)

Morning Meditation - November 1, 2011

Galatians 5:16 - 18

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

For as many...

"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God" - Romans 8:14

Recently in my personal time I've been chewing on this passage a lot. What I've come to realized is that we do a very good job in coming up with rules, specific or vague, based on Scripture. What we don't do a very good job of is following the lead of the Spirit of God or even teaching others to follow his lead. What does it really mean to be led by the Spirit of God? 

Now it would be pretty arrogant of me to even think that I could answer that question at this point but in my studying I found in R.C. Sproul's commentary on Romans something that gave me some clarity. 

If we want to know if we are in state of grace, if we want to know if we are children of God, we can look here for the answer. The first test we have as to whether we are children of God is whether we are led by the Spirit.

If any biblical concept has been thoroughly muddled in our day, it is this concept of what it means to be led by the Spirit. A danger in the Christian community is that we devise and begin to use Christian jargon, and that jargon becomes the norm that defines our theology rather than the Word of God. The way in which our jargon functions, in many instances, often has little relationship to how the same words are used in Scripture. With the enormous impact of the charismatic movement during the last century came the idea of being led by the Spirit, which is why the concept figures largely into today’s Christian jargon.

When people say, “The Spirit of God led me to do this or that,” what they usually mean is that they have been guided or are being directed by the Spirit to go here or there, to take this job or that job, to make this decision or that one. We use the language of “being led by the Spirit” to speak of concrete, specific guidance from God in which he opens or closes doors for us. There is nothing wrong with the idea that God leads his people where he wants them to go and into experiences that he wants them to experience, but that is not the primary biblical meaning of being led by the Spirit.

The question that I hear more than any other from Christians is, “How can I know the will of God for my life?” I explain that we have to distinguish in the Bible among various ideas of the will of God. On the one hand, there is the sovereign, efficacious will of God that we sometimes refer to as his hidden will, that which God ultimately has in view for our life and destiny. When people come to me and ask, “How can I know that will for my life?” I say, “You cannot. Quit worrying about it, because it is none of your business. If it were your business, it would not be in the hidden will of God.” God has chosen not to reveal certain things.

When the Bible speaks of the will of God for our lives, it does so very differently from what we hear in Christian jargon: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Thess. 4:3). If we would spend less time worrying about whether to marry Jane or Mabel or Ellen and more time trying to apply the biblical revelation of what God wants from his people, we would be much happier and more fruitful as Christians. The Bible is not magic. It is not a crystal ball by which we ask the Spirit to guide us into the hidden places. Where the Spirit guides his people is on the path of righteousness to holiness. Paul has in mind those whose lives are being directed toward the righteousness of God. If our lives are being directed by the Spirit, it is a sure and certain sign that we are children of God, because that is what the indwelling Spirit does. He inclines our hearts. He gives us a hunger and thirst for obedience to Christ. He gives us an affection by which we respond to Jesus’ statement, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” ( John 14:15).

We must ask ourselves whether we have any inclination to follow the Spirit’s leading in obedience to Jesus. If we ask whether our hearts are fully, totally, and absolutely disposed toward following the Spirit into holiness, the only answer we can give is no, but if there is a sense in which our spirits are directed to the things of Christ—any at all—it guarantees us that we are indwelt by the Spirit of God. The flesh never is inclined whatsoever to the things of God. 

 

Sproul, R.C. (2009-10-31). Romans (p. 261 - 262). Good News Publishers/Crossway Books. Kindle Edition. 

I don't know about you but that gives me some peace. It gives me peace because we spend so much time trying to fulfill the expectations of others who define for us what it means to follow Christ that when we don't meet those expectations we find ourselves questioning who we are whose we are and find ourselves lost. So have we as a community of believers here in America lost the real meaning of what it means to be led by the Spirit of God? I agree with R.C. Sproul, I think we have. 

Scandalous: James 2:1-9

[The Sin of Partiality]

[2:1] My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. [2] For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, [3] and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” [4] have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? [5] Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? [6] But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? [7] Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?

[8] If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. [9] But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

(James 2:1-9 ESV)

Variant

I can't believe your fickleness-how easily you have turned traitor to him who called you by the grace of Christ by embracing a variant message! (Galatians 1:6 MSG)

I wonder what Paul would say to us today concerning the flavor of the gospel we teach and hear in America.

Note to Self: Psalm 91

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place-- the Most High, who is my refuge-- no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot. "Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation."

http://bible.us/Ps91.1.ESV

Note to Self: Psalm 27:1 - 6

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident. One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock. And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the Lord.

http://bible.us/Ps27.1.ESV

Morning Meditation 6/10/2011 - 2 Corinthians 4:1 - 6 (The Message)

Since God has so generously let us in on what he is doing, we're not about to throw up our hands and walk off the job just because we run into occasional hard times. We refuse to wear masks and play games. We don't maneuver and manipulate behind the scenes. And we don't twist God's Word to suit ourselves. Rather, we keep everything we do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, so that those who want to can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God.

If our Message is obscure to anyone, it's not because we're holding back in any way. No, it's because these other people are looking or going the wrong way and refuse to give it serious attention. All they have eyes for is the fashionable god of darkness. They think he can give them what they want, and that they won't have to bother believing a Truth they can't see. They're stone-blind to the dayspring brightness of the Message that shines with Christ, who gives us the best picture of God we'll ever get.

Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we're proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you. It started when God said, "Light up the darkness!" and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful.

Psalm 103

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments. The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all. Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word! Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers, who do his will! Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul! http://bible.us/Ps103.1.ESV

Another excerpt from David Martyn Lloyd-Jones' "Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure"