John 1:1, 14 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

I’ve said it before, and it seems right to say it again – I often feel that my words get in the way of God’s, that the most important truths in anything I ever write will always  come from the scripture included therein.  My words have no power, but the word of God is the Word of Life.  There is not Truth apart from God and His Word, there is no life apart from God and His Word, there is no salvation apart from God and His Word, and there is no joy apart from God and His Word.

Psalm 19:7 – “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.  More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweet also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. 

I, like many of you, have multiple Bibles – some of which collecting dust on a shelf.  When I think about how blessed we are to live in this period of history, where everyone who wants a Bible can have one or many; where everyone can go online to read commentaries and expositions, unfolding the depth of truth of God in His Word, my heart cannot help but to be thankful to God for this grace.  How good of God to bless us in this way.  If also like me, many of you are feeling a sense of conviction at this moment for how little you treasure the Word of God like this often, as we ought to, then my hope would be that instead of pushing that awkwardness and conviction away, we would humbly allow God to rebuke us, and ask Him to incline our hearts rightly again to a high view of scripture and its study.

It is the love of God poured out to you, that you have access to the literal Word of God, your Creator, to find truth, freedom, and peace.  I hope as each of us has opportunity, we are both thankful to God for this gift, and also take full advantage to pursue joy in the Lord in it.

Isaiah 40:8 – “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.”

Grace and Peace,

Adam

In the spirit of Thanksgiving week, I felt it good to consider some things for which I personally am most thankful to God for.  My hope is that by way of remembrance, we can all be encouraged with the great love that God has lavished on us all in salvation.

Psalm 14:2-3 “The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.  They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.

Hebrews 3:12-15 – “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

So today, my encouragement to my own soul and hopefully yours, is that if we hear the voice of God, we should rejoice.  God does not owe us His pursuit of us, but it is an overflow of His love towards us.  It is not chance, it is not your own “good choice or will”, it is literally the calling of God, the Holy Spirit, upon your life, if you are aware of your sin, and turn away from it and towards God.  The voice of God flows from the love of God, and is a mercy to those of us with ears to hear it.  Do not lament what earthly things may be “lost” in following the voice of God, but consider the eternal weight of glory in perfect love for eternity that awaits us with God through Christ Jesus.

Phillippians 3:13b-14 – “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Grace and Peace,

Adam

If you read the gospels, it is easy to look at the acts of Jesus and simply say – “that’s how I should act”.  This is the foundation of the WWJD idea, of acting in such a way that in every circumstance of life you attempt to act as Jesus would.  In itself, that is a futile effort though, and will only lead you to frustration when you realize that you are not Jesus.

Living the life Jesus would have us live entails more than just a series of decisions.  If you look at the life of Jesus in scripture, you will see that surrounding all of the great actions of Jesus, there was time of prayer, communion with God the Father, fasting, and even celebrations.  In the same way that it would be foolish to look at a star baseball player, and then turn to a child and say “now hit that major league fastball just like the star baseball player did”, it is foolish to say to one another just “act like Jesus did”.  It took effort and training in order for the baseball player to be able to hit a major league fastball, and it takes effort and discipline for us to move forward day by day to be conformed into the image of God.  Jesus did not live certain acts in isolation, but those actions of his life were the overflow of his private discipline of communion with God.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 – “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize?  So run that you may obtain it.  Every athlete exercises self-control in all things.  They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.” 

My exhortation today is one of peace.  You do not have to wake up tomorrow and live exactly like Jesus would.  You simply have to pursue Christ seeking to grow into him more than yesterday.  You can rest your heart in the gospel, the finished work of Jesus on the cross for your sin, and resolve simply to do the work of disciplining your life to follow after him.  Day by day, we are to come before God to be renewed, refreshed, and grow more into His likeness.  Our actions will be the overflow of our heart, and our heart will be transformed not as much from individual decisions of what to do or what not to do, but in times no one ever sees; in times in reading scripture, in prayer throughout the day, in periods of fasting, in times in nature alone with God, and in various other ways we will grow our hearts in Truth towards God.

Be encouraged, that even if you are reading this, God has a purpose for you today.  Our race is not a sprint, but a marathon of daily disciplines, one day at a time, step-by-step, and God is with you every step of the way.