Month: July 2015

Finding Life

/ adamrenken / Leave a comment

Matthew 16:24-27 “Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?  For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.”

Luke 9 23:26 – “And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?  For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”
 
Being a follower of Christ is marked not by a past belief in the gospel of Jesus, but a daily denial of self to pursue Christ and His Word’s direction for your life.  It’s difficult.  It’s difficult for me, it’s difficult for everyone.  We’re sinners, with passions in our flesh, desires of our heart that are at war with God.  At times, following Christ means making very very difficult decisions, that can almost feel like death.  It can mean that we distance ourselves from individuals we’ve loved who are drawing us away from God, to instead pray for them from afar.  It can mean that we turn down a “better job” because it would harm our family life and ability to serve God outside of work.  It can mean that we sacrifice a great deal of “comfort” that the world could offer us, because we instead choose to spend our time and money for the Kingdom of God.  I’ve had to do all of those things, and if I’m honest with myself, there are a great many times I’ve chosen the world over God, choosing comfort rather than Christ.  
 
I don’t despair in my failures, because I know who my God is.  I know Jesus who loved me while I was a sinner, who died to reconcile me to God, and the Holy Spirit who wages war with me against the sin that still dwells in me to better conform me into the image of Jesus, where everlasting joy is found.  Its difficult to choose Christ, even knowing that in the long run, lasting joy is only found in Him and in His will.  We are not alone though, our God knows the difficulty we face.  Hebrews 4:14-16 – “ Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”  
 
In the passages above from Matthew and Luke, Jesus’s words are perfect and intentional.  Specifically that each day we have to make a choice to deny ourselves, that denial of self and choosing to carry the cross of Christ will come at a cost.  As the world around us continues to reject God, this cost will come into greater focus, and greater measure.  Daily, we’ll have to make the decision of whether we will follow Christ.  My encouragement to all of us, is that our labor in this time, is not worthy to be compared to the glory of God that awaits us.  The fullness of joy in Christ for eternity.  In the business of our lives, sometimes we forget to stop and remind ourselves that this is not our home.  God has reconciled us to Himself through the blood of Christ, and He has prepared a home for us with Him in eternity.  Make the most of each day, knowing that tomorrow is not guaranteed, but take time also to remind yourself of the goodness of God.  Think on the perfections of God displayed in nature, the goodness of God to give us His Word, and the promises of God to us found there.  Each of us is unique, chosen by God, and infinitely valuable and beautiful.  Surround yourself with your brothers and sisters in Christ to challenge and encourage you daily as you walk the path God has for you.  The life you lose will not compare to the life you gain.  
 
Grace and Peace,
Adam

Reconnecting with the Gospel pt. 59 – Saving Belief is a Matter of the Heart

/ adamrenken / Leave a comment

Romans 10:8-13 – “But what does it say?“ The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.  For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”  For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.  For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

This passage is quoted often as a simple explanation of what it means to be saved as a Christian, namely believing in the gospel of Jesus.  The good news, that God, desiring to reconcile sinners to Himself, in love took on flesh and came down as a man, to die, to pay the penalty of man’s sin on the cross, and rise triumphantly 3 days later giving evidence of His victory over sin, death, and the separation between God and sinful man.  Salvation is truly that simple, but it isn’t easy.  Salvation isn’t a matter of the head alone – that is, it isn’t simply knowing the gospel of Jesus and saying you trust and love Him.  Believing is a matter of the heart.  Read again slowly the passage above, it says “with the heart one believes and is justified” (declared righteous before God).  Then is says “with the mouth on confesses and is saved”.  The words are an overflow of the heart, for someone who truly is saved.  
 
What does your heart say about God?  Your actions will give evidence to what your heart believes.  Many Christians, myself included will talk about how we struggle with sin, and that we are resting in the grace of God through the blood of Jesus.  Simply meaning, we trust that our righteousness is in Jesus.  That is 100% true – if your heart truly believes on Jesus.  Believing is not a matter of head knowledge, “knowing God”, or even being able to recite scripture or the gospel, saving belief is a declaration from your heart.  In my own life, I can mark periods of time when my heart was closest to God – and it was marked by two overarching emotions of my heart, love for God and a hatred of sin in my own life.  
 
My love for God overflowed in my heart to desiring to know more about him from the Bible, to love others in a way that I would see Jesus love others in scripture, to pray for my own heart and those around me, and to seek to push back darkness in the world around me in whatever small way I could by serving the poor, helping those where I could, and fighting for justice.  
 
My hatred of sin overflowed in my heart to a declaration of war on sin in my life.  Being careful to recognize the difference between mere behavior modification and real heart change, I would put up boundaries in my life.  Instead of waiting to see how close I could get to sinning without sinning, I would put up boundaries to make sure I couldn’t get close.  I would talk to my own soul, ask myself questions about why I was desiring the things I was desiring, what was it that I really wanted, and why was I pursuing those things outside of God?  I would then fight lies with Truth, whatever I was searching for – love, affection, affirmation, purpose, etc. through sin, I would surround myself with God and His Word to remind myself of how those things are met fully with God, and how things will go better for me following God and trusting Him vs. my own desires apart from God.  Thankfully or unfortunately, I have many examples to draw from to see how life goes bad when I pursue my desires apart from God.
 
I love the end of this passage, because God wants us to hear this clearly from Him.  There is no difference between a seemingly righteous person (Jew) or a seemingly unrighteous person (Greek) – every one of us has the same God and every one of us is in need of the same salvation.  The Lord is Lord of all, and loves all who come to Him. Every one who believes on God from the heart will be saved.  
 
I’ve enclosed a link below to a 7 minute message from John Piper on Declaring War on Sin.  I commend it to you.  Stay encouraged, God is with you, for you, loves you, and desires to grow a closer relationship with you today.  Let yesterday be yesterday, and don’t worry about tomorrow, press into God today.  
 
 
Grace and Peace,
Adam