Too Great a Sacrifice?

"If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice that I can make for Him could ever be too great."


By C.T. Studd, Truth for Life Personal Notes/ December 2007

The Greatest Sorrow

“The greatest sorrow and burden you can lay on the Father, the greatest unkindness you can do to Him, is not to believe that He loves you.”
- John Owen
Communion with God

The Tongue is as Dangerous as any Fire

"Today is Monday. That means that I mustn't interrupt anyone today and I must try not to finish anyone's sentence. I should explain. Some time ago, a friend gave me a series of drills in order to help me become a better communicator. Each day I have something to work on. For example:
Tuesday: Don't use more words than are necessary. Try to speak succinctly.
Wednesday: Avoid all lecturing and pontificating. Don't tell anyone what to do or how to do it.
Thursday: Don't be argumentative today, contradicting and correcting others.
Friday: Avoid being "over-definite" in how you state your opinion.
It's usually around lunchtime that I remember the drill and realize to my shame that I have once again failed miserably. Then I recall James's words, "The tongue is as dangerous as any fire..." and understand why Isaiah described himself (prophet of God that he was) as a man of unclean lips. How often do we find our areas of strength becoming the occasion of weakness! That's why I'm grateful for the nine members of our pastoral team to sit with me around the table this morning--we need each other to keep us in line."

By Alistair Begg, Truth for Life Personal Notes/ December 2008

Your Biggest Influence

“I find myself saying it all the time. When people hear it they laugh, but actually I’m being quite serious when I say it. Here it is. No one is more influential in your life than you are because no one talks to you more than you do. You’re in an unending conversation with yourself. You’re talking to yourself all the time, interpreting, organizing, and analyzing what’s going on inside you and around you.”

Paul Trip
From his blog:
http://paultrippministries.blogspot.com/

What God Sends

"Everything is necessary that [God] sends; nothing can be necessary that he witholds."
from John Newton, please email me if you know the source.

Only God's Wounds Can Speak

Jesus of the Scars

If we have never sought, we seek Thee now;
Thine eyes burn through the dark, our only stars;
We must have sight of thorn-pricks on Thy brow;
We must have Thee, O Jesus of the Scars.

The heavens frighten us; they are too calm;
In all the universe we have no place.
Our wounds are hurting us; where is the balm?
Lord Jesus, by Thy Scars we claim Thy grace.

If when the doors are shut, Thou drawest near,
Only reveal those hands, that side of Thine;
We know today what wounds are; have no fear;
Show us Thy Scars; we know the countersign.

The other gods were strong, but Thou wast weak;
They rode, but Thou didst stumble to a throne;
But to our wounds only God’s wounds can speak,
And not a god has wounds, but Thou alone.

Poem by Edward Shillito
http://wmson.wordpress.com/2006/05/19/
poets-corner-jesus-of-the-scars/

God's Love is Not...

"This is shocking. The love of God is not God's making much of us, but God's saving us from self-centeredness so that we can enjoy making much of him forever. And our love to others is not our making much of them, but helping them to find satisfaction in making much of God. True love aims at satisfying people in the glory of God. Any love that terminates on man is eventually destructive. It does not lead people to the only lasting joy, namely, God. Love must be God-centered, or it is not true love; it leaves people without their final hope of joy."

The Goal of God's Love May Not Be What You Think It Is, by John Piper
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Articles/ByDate/2000/1515_The_Goal_of_Gods_Love_May_Not_Be_What_You_Think_It_Is/

What is God's Purpose?

"...when we do ask about God's design, we are too prone to describe it with ourselves at the center of God's affections. We may say, for example, that His design is to redeem the world. Or to save sinners. Or to restore creation. Or the like.
But God's saving designs are penultimate, not ultimate. Redemption, salvation, and restoration are not God's ultimate goal these He preforms for the sake of something greater: namely, the enjoyment He has in glorifying Himself."

Desiring God by John Piper / Multnomah Books / 2003 / pg. 31

The Five Blind Men and the Elephant

"In the famous story of the blind men and the elephant, so often quoted in the interest of religious agnosticism, the real point of the story is constantly overlooked. The story is told from the point of view of the king and his courtiers, who are not blind but can see that the blind men are unable to grasp the full reality of the elephant and are only able to get hold of part of the truth. The story is constantly told in order to neutralize the affirmation of the great religions, to suggest that they learn humility and recognize that none of them can have more than one aspect of the truth. But, of course, the real point of the story is exactly the opposite. If the king were also blind, there would be no story. The story is told by the king, and it is the immensely arrogant claim of one who sees the full truth which all the world’s religions are only groping after."

The Gospel in a Pluralist Society by Lesslie Newbigin (Pages 9-10)
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1989.

Explaining Away the Explanations

"You cannot go on `seeing through things' for ever. The whole point of seeing through something is to see something through it. It is good that the window should be transparent, because the street or garden beyond it is opaque. How if you saw through the garden too? It is no use trying to `see through' first principles. If you see through everything, then everything is transparent. But a wholly transparent world is an invisible world. To `see through' all things is the same as not to see."

- The Abolition of Man by CS Lewis
Chapter 3; http://www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/arch/lewis/abolition3.htm

Can I Diminish God's Glory?

"A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word "darkness" on the walls of his cell. But God wills our good, and our good is to love Him (with that responsive love proper to creatures) and to love Him we must know Him: and if we know Him, we shall in fact fall on our faces."

from C. S. Lewis' The Problem of Pain
Chapter 3, "Divine Goodness,"
New York: Macmillan Company, 1948, p. 41.
Harper, SanFrancisco, 2001.

Sin Canceled by Lawful Living?

"Sin is not canceled by lawful living, for no person is able to live up to the Law. The Law reveals guilt, fills the conscience with terror, and drives men to despair. Much less is sin taken away by man-invented endeavors. The fact is, the more a person seeks credit for himself by his own efforts, the deeper he goes into debt. Nothing can take away sin except the grace of God."

Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians by Martin Luther
http://blueletterbible.org/Comm/martin_luther/Gal/Gal001.html

It Kills and Makes Alive

"Grace brings into the heart and entirely foreign element. That element does not improve and perpetuate. It kills and then makes alive. There is no continuity between the state of nature and the state of grace: the one is darkness, and the other is light; the one is death, and the other is life. Grace, when it comes to us, is like a firebrand dropped into the sea, where it would certainly be quenched were it not of such a miraculous quality that it baffles the waters and sets up its reign of fire and light even in the depths."

Grace: God’s Unmerited Favor by Charles Spurgeon

Whitaker House. 1996. Springdale , PA.

God Doesn't Spoil His Children

“If you are a child of God, note this truth, and accept it with joy: our heavenly Father never pampers His children. We may spoil our sons and daughters, but our Father never spoils His children. If He gives you great happiness and great success and makes you useful, He will every now and then give you a whipping behind the door.

You may think sometimes, “That man is very happy’ he has great blessing resting on his work.” Yes, this man is very happy to tell you that he does not have all sweets to drink, which would make him weak and sickly; but there are bitter tonics in his life, sharp blows of the rod, to keep him right. If we have to bless God more for any one thing than for everything else, it is to thank Him that we have not escaped the rod. Infirmity can be a choice blessing from God. I cannot measure the unutterable good that comes to us often in that way. Losses in business and crosses and bereavements and depressions of the spirit are all so many covenant mercies when we see them in the light of eternity.

The true-born child of God cannot escape the rod, and would not if he could. He gets afraid when does not sometimes feel it. He will not long have to be afraid about it, for it will come in due time.

I think that I hear somebody say, “I do not want that.” Rightly said, because you want worldly pleasure. Perhaps God will let you have it until you have spent all your substance on it, as the prodigal did. Then you will find that it is all weariness and sorrow, and you will want something better.

However, if you will say, “I will take the covenant of grace, rod and all’ for if I can be God’s child, I will very gladly take the rod as part of the mercies of the covenant,” come and you shall have it. Do seek the Lord this moment. Do not give sleep to your eyes nor allow your eyelids to close until you have found Him.

May God grant you all the mercies of the everlasting covenant, for Jesus’ sake! Amen.”

Grace: God’s Unmerited Favor by Charles Spurgeon

Whitaker House. 1996. Springdale , PA.

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