The Best Preacher

Wouldn't you like to know who the best preacher of the Bible is? Be savvy of the guy who guarantees you a pure, simple, and profound look at the Bible every single Sunday? How about have constant access to the expositor who knows exactly how to tailor the Word to your soul and circumstances?

No, I shan't be comparing the Pipers and Sprouls and MacArthurs and Carsons of this world to see who comes out on top. This is not a shameless plug for my dad's sermons (oh, wait, don't look now, but...) or for my list of favourite preachers and authors.

Draw near in a snowy sunrise

This is me reminding me, and maybe you as well, of the wonderful gift of entry we have to the Best Preacher that ever was or will be. This is me exhorting me to faithfully draw near, and often.

Perhaps by now you have an inkling of Who it is I am alluding to ~ and, no, C.S. Lewis does not come anywhere near close.

Yes, my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, you and I who belong to God have a free and unlimited subscription to the Holy Spirit. We don't need to go on YouTube, we don't need to pay any online streaming fees, we don't need to buy the latest books. The message of the Gospel is that God makes it possible for God to live in us so that we can live in Him. Guys, the gift of faith gives us the Spirit of God. We already have the best Preacher.

The Spirit of the Comforter, the Spirit of the Father, the Spirit of Truth, indwells us by God's matchless grace. I don't know how to make it sound exciting, but, think about it: God has given us HIS SPIRIT to live inside of us! No Piper can touch our heartstrings in the way that the Holy Spirit, who knows us, can speak to our souls. No Carson can shed the light of doctrine to our very own unique minds in the magnificent way that the Holy Spirit imparts truth to our souls. No Lewis can explain and sanctify our desires in the way that the Holy Spirit radically transforms our souls. The Best Preacher is with us, all the time, everywhere. This is news of inexpressible joy, is it not, my friends? Let us not ignore or neglect that gift.

But O how often do we do just that! See, the Spirit is God and the Spirit brings Truth. That means He always acts in accordance with the Word of God. The present of the Spirit is that He uncovers, unbinds, enlightens, convicts, applies, and comforts us in the Word of Truth, the Bible. But how frequent are the days where we do not give the Bible a second glance, apart from maybe doing a quick word search to send a friend some encouragement or gobbling a chapter down just in time for that weekly Bible study. How often do we slight personal enrichment in Scripture! The fact is, if there is no Bible before our eyes, there is no Spirit working in our hearts. The Two, the Person and the Word, go together hand in hand. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit gives us a love for His Word so that it is a delight to be pierced by His sword and strengthened in all truth. If the Spirit lives in us by God's grace, He will always draws us back to Scripture...eventually.

Draw nigh when life seems to be a bed of roses

So do I love His Word or do I balk at it, or, as is often the case, do I forget about it? Do I read it? Am I starving myself of His truth in my life? Am I denying myself the food He provides me through the work of His Spirit in the Word? Again, let us not ignore the gift of the Spirit speaking directly to our hearts through Scripture. That's something no earthly preacher can do.

I mean, peoples, this is why Jesus Christ ascended into Heaven! He said it was better for us to have the Holy Spirit during this season. Don't believe me? Slide down to these excerpts from John 14-16 (well, really, if you have time, just read John 14-17 in its entirety...like all the time. But for now, portions will have to do):

'“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. ... These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you."' [John 14:15-20, 26]

"“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me."' [John 15:26]

'"But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you."' [John 16:5-15]

And draw nigh in the cloudy skies

So you see? Christ Himself assured His disciples, and thereby us, that, as shockingly dreadful and terrifying as it may sound, Christ leaving to be with the Father was actually a good thing. As always, God leaves us with the best for our life. The best for us is the Comforter, the Being who knows us individually and grows us into unity; the Person who unlocks the secrets of our hearts to convict us of sin and open us to righteousness; the Spirit who is 100% with us so we don't have to go on a pilgrimage to Israel to meet the Christ. These are just a few of the blessings we have in the Holy Spirit, and it is with Him that Jesus chose to console His disciples upon His departure. Let us be consoled and reassured as well, and let us take advantage of the incredible gift we have in this Spirit of Truth! Let us go to the Preacher daily. Let us do so with relish and in joy. May the Scripture he illuminates fill us with delight.

Aka: Read. Our. Bibles.
And He fills us with His truth and wisdom. And we will have The Best Preacher Ever: a Heavenly one, the Spirit of God.

But one last thing. Although I am trying to not disclaim myself all the time (hehe), I think this post merits a disclaimer. Jenn Jenn is NOT ~ I repeat: by no means ~ telling you to chuck out your church and your pastor and your good books to just "go it alone" with you and your independent lil self. God gives us a love for His Word, and a love for His People. He designed us to grow in Community and under Biblical Counsel. Is Scripture sufficient? Absolutely. Are we hermits with a Book and a candle in a cave? Absolutely not. So don't quit church. Christians don't quit church. Christians read their Bibles ~ not as a duty, but as a delight. Capisce? Good. Thanks. You may go now.

Photo discredit Jenn Jenn

On Mary and Martha, or, On Hospitality

"Christ in the House of Martha and Mary" by Diego Velásquez, 1618

"Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her."
~Luke 10:38-42

There are so many lessons to draw out of this text, as many people already have, so I will not here try to be exhaustive, but just focus on one thing.

Hospitality. Hospitality, that is, in Christ.

Usually when I have seen this text expounded upon, I come out thinking Martha and Mary are pitted against each other on all levels and Martha is horrid for serving drinks while she should be listening to Jesus. "Chip the glasses and crack the plates! Just sit at Jesus' feet!" At least, that is what I hear (perhaps mistakenly, I admit).

Anyhow, whenever I do hear that, my little toe spazzes and my eyebrows yank and my ear twitches. As in, I am bothered. Mayhaps 'tis because I have so often identified with Martha, mayhaps 'tis because I like practicality and never understood the whole "Let them eat cake!" mentality. I mean, people still need water and food to keep breathing, whether they worship God or Vishnu. And Jesus knew that. So I could never bring myself to believe that what Christ actually wanted Martha to do was to throw out the vittles and live on the dew of the universe as she sat enthralled at His feet. There had to be something else, or maybe something more.

Let's take a peek at the text, and see if anything pops up. First, what exactly does Martha do? She welcomes Jesus into her house. That's something, no? How many people do you think were welcoming a hunted Pharisee-infuriating Rabbi? Nevertheless, after that good start, Martha became "distracted with much serving." Ouch! She was missing out on the very thing she spent so much time and energy to facilitate: welcoming the person of Christ into her home. On the other hand, Mary sat at Jesus' feet to hear whatever He came to say in the first place. But Martha was distracted with serving.

What was her problem? Was it the food? Was it the dusting? Was it the napkins folded like swans and the spoons set in the proper order, or preparing the perfect menu and making sure The Rabbi ate local and organic? (Okay, so maybe those were not exactly first-century problems, but you get my point.) Nope! The service and the meal and the cleanliness were not Martha's sin. They may have been her headaches, but they were not her problem.

Read that one sentence again. "But Martha was distracted..." Ohhhhh. She was distracted. As in, she was totally off-tract (track). Yes, her problem lay not in the glasses and the plates, but in her purpose with those glasses and plates, in that purpose which was letting the food get in the way of The Food. Martha's focus, goal, vision were all wrong.

You know what? I think Martha could have served a superb spread in a beautifully clean house without bringing Jesus' loving rebuke upon herself. The problem was not her hospitality, but her heart. And you know what also? I think Mary was probably a great help around the house. I bet she wasn't some ascetic dreamer who eschewed dusting as some low, insignificant calling. See, Mary's heart was right, so her hospitality could be pure, too. If only Martha's heart were in the right place, with the right focus, she would have been able to be a lovely hostess and a loving listener as well.

But her heart wasn't in the right place. It was distracted, remember? She let her soul bend on the cutlery and the preparations, and that was her undoing.

What is the remedy, for me and for her and for you? Yeah, you are smart. You guessed it. The "one thing that is necessary": Christ.

If Martha's focus had been on Christ, she would have provided what was needed to better enable her guests, and herself, to drink in His words. Instead of worrying about how the floors reflected on her housekeeping skills, instead of agonizing over whether the meal showed off her culinary achievements to their greatest advantage ~ in short, instead of being "anxious and troubled about many things" ~ Martha could have gladly and simply served the Master with a selfless heart so she could sit at His feet, too. Will people need water and some bread on this hot and dusty day in order to better focus on Jesus? Yes? Alright, we will provide some. She could skip the caviar happily if that meant allowing Jesus to shine brighter in her home. She could leave out the crystal and china if their requisite care would have "distracted" anyone (including herself) from what Jesus had to say. Basically, if it helped Jesus be big in her house, it was a go, and she could relax and rejoice. However, if it shoved Jesus away from her house, it had to go, and she could still relax and rejoice!

Mary grasped this concept. She chose the better thing and focused on the Master, knowing that everything domestic was already in order for Him to be the center of attention. Any more fussing over details would have only been superfluous and distracting to the whole point of their hospitality: Christ, the One Thing Necessary.

What does this mean for our hospitality, then?

It means that all the fiddling we do with the plates, the menu, and the dusting must have one purpose and one purpose only: making much of Christ. It means you can be a Martha. You can be a Martha with a Mary heart, a Mary vision, and a Mary desire. You can relish in folding your cloth napkins into swans or in having your toddler try his best to make a triangle with paper towels. You can serve an ∞-course meal (like in Babette's Feast) or grab a casserole out of the freezer.
Should China dishes only distress and prevent you, and therefore your guests, from beholding Jesus in the midst of your home, crack the China. Should your use of China dishes bless you and your guests by showing the generosity and love and splendor of Christ to those coming over for the evening meal, then, by all means, break out the China (not, ahem, literally) and delight in the afternoon-teaness of it. Whatever serves to exalt the name of God in your home, whatever most shows the love and grace and truth and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ to His guests at your house is precisely what you ought to do.

Remember, we are simply stewards left for a while on this earth to glorify the King and bless His name. That's what your welcome mat is for. That's what your pocket-book is for. That is what your broom is for, and your pots and pans, and disposable plates and crystal jars. They are all the King's, loaned to you as tools for making Him known on His earth while you are here. Go ye therefore, brothers and sisters, and use those instruments for their one purpose: to make disciples in His person and truth.

So the next time you are flying frantic "getting the house clean for company," please remember to prepare the necessary things to magnify the One Thing Necessary. Believe me, your frantic state is not on the necessary list. In other words, turn your eyes upon Jesus, friends, and make sure you can look full in His wondrous face as you overview the table-settings, bathrooms, kitchens, and front door. Because, really, those things of earth grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.

On Crutches, or, A Vindication of Real Life

Over the past month, the two major crutches of my recent life have suddenly been thrust out from under me, and I have found myself standing uncomfortably alone. Truly, the removal of these crutches are really an occasion for celebration but, I must admit, you my blog readers are more oft to see the reflections that follow my celebrations. This is one of those more often than not instances (which is not to say I have not done my share of celebrating). 

The first crutch to kick the bucket list was GAPS. I thoroughly enjoyed being on it, and it genuinely helped make me well. In fact, if I could come up with an excuse to stay on the diet, believe me, I would; but the fact is that my body has kicked into all high functioning gears, and I am ready to get on with improved health. There is simply no means left to justify my staying on the diet. 
Now, if you know me well, you might understand why my fledgling legs feel a wee bit woozy. After all, three years of this plus two years of this could well nigh turn anyone's suddenly-free food life into a roller coaster ride without the rollers coaster rails. It could feel like free fall. Restrictions were my safety net for not getting fat, not losing discipline, not growing up into a hoodlum, and not doing a host of similar silly "not"ables. But this crutch has been duly kicked.

The second crutch to meet its forkless fork in the road was college. Although I "graduated" in April and finished classes in July (neither of which markers I saw fit to blog about ~ cue facesmack), it was only in recent weeks that all that bothersome paperwork filled itself out. Again, although definitely a huge cause for merrymaking, this development has left this girl rather weak in the knees. You see, college was something to do, or, more importantly, something I could tell others I do. Just as it seems that every good woman is on some diet plan, it seems that every good girl is on money-producing or credit-crunching schedule, and it ought to be some sort of program that can, in a very few seconds, satisfactorily answer the ever-vague but ever-present "What are you up to?" question. College used to be my smart-sounding, accredited answer, but, alas, that crutch has sailed...or floated ~ you get the drift.

So this is me sorting through my crutchless existence and vindicating Real Life instead.

First, on Real Life: it has been short-changed for "stuff." Instead of measuring our days by the life we live, we ~ or at least I ~ tend to measure our days by the things we do, the places we go, the lists we cross, the trophies we gain, the money we earn.... In short, the stuff we accomplish. Again, at least for me, life is so much more easily viewed in what I did and what I can say I do. But giving up college has rather smacked me in the face with this sorry reality. Now there is nothing particular for me to tell that others I do, and it is up to my personal integrity in Christ to make sure I am doing something worthwhile, even if that something is not expressible in a twenty-second sound bite. As I was fumbling through all these thoughts in my head, my ever wise brother mentioned that I needed to learn something: Real, Rich Life is not composed of crossed off lists of stuff, but the simple things God does through us with others as we grow into better vessels of His grace. "And, Jenn, most of the times the things God will call you to do as a wife, mother, daughter, sister will be things nobody sees." How true! And how humbling. Keeping a house clean, sharing warm meals, having the time and sanity to offer someone love, counselling a brother (and, obviously, being counselled by him), helping out a friend ~ these are the stuff of Real Life, so often neglected because never worth the telling.

Living Real Life does not have to involve a high-paying job or a ministry ready to go on the back of a book cover or even attaining perfect health. Living Real Life simply involves living, and living well (see 1 Peter 1:3-9, below).

Now I am not saying we should not work and be lazy and just take in "life" as "life" sweeps us along. Proverbs 21 is quite clear in that respect: "The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor. All day long he craves and craves..." (verses 25-26). But are our works the sum total of our lives, or is His Life the reason for our working? Basically, are we living by grace? If Real Life is passing me by as an offering on the altar of "stuff," then mayhaps I am not.

It was so easy to rely on my crutches of stuff ~ college and diet restrictions (although very good and beneficial things in their own right)~ as an alternative to grace, as insurance against my provenly unsteady gait. But, the problem is, crutches are for cripples.

And Christians are anything but crippled. We do not need a Crutch because we have Christ, the Christ who is our life and our righteousness. Remember Proverbs 21? The rest of verse 26 offers the contrast, "but the righteous gives and does not hold back." Even better, this righteous giving finds its foundation in verse 21. "Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honour." Whoever pursues righteousness (and we know may only find righteousness in Christ) will find life, Real Life. It's all about grace.

Here's to grace, then, which has the lovely quality of being portable, flexible, innovative, and always applicable. So whether you are working an intense job, rendering the kitchen deliciously fragrant, or reading that classic you've always wanted to eat in one sitting, Christ's grace, as a Christian, ought to go before you.

For this is the stuff of a gracious, hopeful, crutchless Life:"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 honour 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

Christ's Righteousness in Our Stead

Today's post is a guest post, written by one of my quickly-growing-closer friends, Robert Traill. Of course, it would be that Jenn's friend has been dead for 300 years, but that is of no matter in regards to the sweet truth he speaks. This is the third sermon in a series of six on Galatians 2:21 which has truly blessed and refreshed this girl's heart over the past week. I would give it a better introduction, but it speaks for itself, I assure you. 

Do Not Seek Righteousness by the Law

“I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” ~Gal. 2:21.

When I first entered on these words, I told you what the scope of the apostle was in this epistle: he is here brining forth arguments against that error that the Galatian churches were plagued with; and arguments for that truth of the gospel that he had planted amongst them, and taught them. The truth was this, That the righteousness of a sinner for justification was only in Christ. The error of the Galatians lay in this, That something of the righteousness of the law was to be mixed therewith. My text contains two arguments against this error, drawn from a common natural head of arguing against error, by the absurdities that necessarily flow from it. Now there are two grand absurdities that flow from this doctrine of the law in point of justification, 1st, That it frustrates the grace of God; 2dly, That it makes Christ’s death to be in vain: and two more abominable things cannot be well thought of; and people have great need to fear, and to take heed of any doctrine that hath any tendency to either of them. The first of these the apostle expresses in his own person: “I do not frustrate the grace of God.” And here he speaks as a believer, and not as a minister nor an apostle; so he discourses from ver. 16, speaking of himself and the rest of the godly, like ordinary believers, that betook themselves to this way of relief by Christ’s righteousness alone. I propose four observations to speak to.

1st, That the grace of God shines gloriously in the justifying of a sinner through the righteousness of Christ: and this I have spoke to.

2dly, That frustrating the grace of God is a great and horrible sin; for so it is expressed by the apostle, “I do not frustrate the grace of God.” As if he should have said, “B1essed be God, I am not in that road; I am not one that frustrates the grace of God; I am saved by it.” How the grace of God is frustrated, and how great the sin is, I spoke to the last day. The revelation of the grace of God, and the tender of it, and the urging of it, may be frustrated, and is, by many: but the grace itself, in its powerful conveyance by the Holy Ghost on the hearts of men, always reaches its end. The grace of God is irresistible in its thorough powerful application: this I also spoke to; and would only add a word or two further about the greatness of this sin of seeking righteousness by the law, and thereby frustrating the grace of God.

1. This is a sin that but few in the world can commit. The greatest part of them that go to hell cannot commit this sin; they never frustrated the grace of God. Indeed all that are finally guilty of it go to hell; but all that go to hell are not guilty of this sin. The greatest part of the world never frustrated the grace of God, for they never heard of it; and, therefore, our Lord pronounces a woe against Capernaum, against Chorazin and Bethsaida, and tells them that they were in a worse case than Sodom and Gomorrah, than Tyre and Sidon, (Matt. 11:21), because the grace of God was never offered them as it was to the others. Sirs, let me tell you, the worst quarters in hell are for those persons that are nearest to Christ, and yet not in him by faith: of all sinners such drop deepest into the pit.

2. The devils are not guilty of this sin. There is not a devil in hell, nor out of it, that is so guilty of this sin of frustrating the grace of God, as thousands of professors in London are. The devils are haters of the grace of God; but the grace of God was never tendered to them: they only hate the grace of God as it is tendered to men, and envy it; but the grace of God was never offered to the devils. The way of preserving the holy angels, and the way of justice to the damned spirits, proclaim greatly the wonderful privilege that we have in the gospel. The holy angels are kept, and they received grace, for the election of grace fell on them: they are called the elect angels. When that great apostasy was in the upper house, all the reprobate angels fell of their own accord, and all the elect angels stood: and that election of grace towards angels ran through Jesus Christ, who was to be their preserving head. There is something that looks like this in the word of God.
But recovering grace to angels was never given; the angels that stood had preserving grace given them, to keep them in their first station; but the angels that fell had no recovering grace given them, “Christ took not on him,” saith the apostle, “the nature of angels, but was born of the seed of Abraham.” And thence it came to pass, that the devils themselves are not guilty of this sin of frustrating the grace of God. Surely then people had need to take great heed that they be not guilty of a worse sin than that which the devils can commit. There is no creature that hath frustrated the grace of God, but that creature that hath the offer of the grace of God.

3. Frustrating the grace of God is a sin that none that are in hell are guilty of. All that are finally guilty of it on earth are sent to hell, but none that are in hell are guilty of it; for when once that last sentence is executed upon them, the door of grace and mercy is for ever shut upon them. So that it is the gospel-sinner only who can frustrate the grace of God, who is guilty of that sin; and that but a small part of the world are guilty of it; that the devils in hell are not guilty of it, that all the damned in hell are not guilty of it, though they rage, and roar, and blaspheme; and ail sorts of wickedness we may well conclude to be in their miserable state: but frustrating the grace of God is a sin not to be found in hell, because grace enters not there. So much shall serve for this second point of doctrine, That it is a horrible sin to frustrate the grace of God. I come now to speak to the next doctrine.

3dly, To seek righteousness by the works of the law, is to frustrate the grace of God: for this is the scope of the apostle’s argument. It is to shew that there is no righteousness to be had by the law; and this is one argument that he proves it by, “I do not,” saith he, “frustrate the grace of God.” It is, as if he should have said, “If I sought righteousness by the works of the law, I should frustrate the grace of God; but I do not seek righteousness by the law, for I am dead to the law, and therefore I do not frustrate the grace of God.” There are two things under this doctrine that I would speak to — 1st, What is it to seek righteousness by the law? 2dly, How doth it appear that seeking righteousness by the works of the law is frustrating the grace of God? For they that are guilty of this sin of seeking righteousness by the works of the law, they are very loath to take in this, that they frustrate the grace of God: they will say, that they give all respect to the grace Of God; even the self-righteous Pharisee could claim to have the grace of God, (Luke 18:11), “God, I thank thee that I am not as other men;” “I thank God, that I am so good as I am;” when he was a poor, vain, self-conceited man all the while.

1. What is it to seek righteousness by the works of the law? By law here I mean the holy spotless law of God. The law of man hath nothing to do in the point of righteousness before God. This seeking of righteousness by the law is righteousness in God’s sight; the apostle states the matter so. No man is justified by the law in the sight of God. That a man is justified by the law in the sight of men, nobody can deny. We should be very careful to justify ourselves in the sight of men by the law, and our conformity to it; but this righteousness here spoken of is righteousness in the sight of God, and righteousness by the law of God; and it stands in three things.

1st, Righteousness by the law is that which obtains a man’s acceptance with God. That is righteousness by the law that procures a man’s acceptance with God; upon the account of which he stands before God as a righteous man, and is dealt with accordingly. Now, he that seeks righteousness by the law in this sense, is one who dreams, that by doing and obeying what the law requires, he may work out that for which he may stand righteous and accepted in God’s sight. And that is one way this sin is committed.

2dly, In this righteousness before God by the works of the law, there is an expectation of impunity for all that is past in transgressing the law. And we find that this must necessarily be the righteousness of a holy man, who stands in a state of acceptance with God; but the righteousness of a man who hath been once a sinner must be by having that which may bring him into a state of impunity and safety of all the transgressions that he hath been guilty of before. Now, men are guilty of seeking righteousness by the works of the law this second way, when they do, or think to do, that for which God will forgive all their transgressions, and forget all that they have done: and of this the Pharisee made no question: though he was a sinner, yet he comes and prays, and expects acceptation in God’s sight, and the forgiveness of his sins, upon the account of the good that he had done.

3dly, In this righteousness by the works of the law there is a title to eternal life. He that, by what he doth, expects to have a right conferred upon him to eternal life, is a man that seeks righteousness by the law: “Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” said the poor young legalist, (Matt. 19:16). I would gladly have eternal life, and would gladly have a right to it: Master, tell me what good thing shall I do to get it. These are the three ways by which men seek righteousness by the law:—To do that whereby a man may obtain acceptance before God: To do that for which he may obtain pardon and impunity from God: To do that for which he may have a right conferred on him to eternal life. But, you will say, this is so gross Popery, that there is no Protestant guilty of it. Alas! alas! every natural man is guilty of it; and it is only the almighty power of the Spirit of God that can erase it out of their hearts. I will offer you some plain proofs of this.

1. How many are there, when their hearts are examined, must acknowledge that their eyes are altogether on the precepts of the law, and not a thought on the promises of the gospel? How many poor creatures are there that begin to be thoughtful about their salvation, insomuch that they make people that are about them, who are ignorant and charitable, think that they are hopeful Christians. But try these people this way, and you will find that all the exercise of their religion is about the precepts of the law, and they have no exercise at all about the promises of the gospel, he that minds only the precepts, is only a doer; and he that minds not the promise, he is no believer: for the precept is the rule of practice; but it is the promise that is the foundation of faith. Now, how can that man be reckoned a believer, that hath no heart-exercise about the promises?

2. A great many people are mightily taken up about their own works, and but very little about Christ’s. Our righteousness doth not stand in our own works; but stands in Christ’s works, what Christ did, and suffered for us in his life, and death, and resurrection; therein stands our righteousness. Now, how many poor creatures are there that reckon it a great matter, and glory mightily in their own doings: if they pray, and hear, and read, and can but make any sort of reformation in their conversation, how big do these things appear in their eyes! But Christ’s life and death, and all his great performances for our salvation, are mean and low, and of small esteem with them. And do not these sort of people seek righteousness by the law? Aye surely.

3. They look for eternal life, but they look for it as a reward of works, and not as an inheritance given by gift and grace; and all servants and slaves must do so, and all natural men are slaves, they are children of the bondwoman, (Gal. 4:31); they work for fear of punishment, and in hopes of the crown: they work for wages; the wages they love, and would have, but the work they hate. Whereas the believer acts just the contrary; he loves the work, and he expects the wages as the gift of grace from the blessed Father he serves. The apostle makes a great distinction between these two; “Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ, (Gal. 4:7). Every man that is for righteousness by the works of the law is a servant; he looks upon God as his master, and the law as his master’s will, and he sets about obeying with all his might. Now, is not this a good servant? Yes. But all such servants go to hell: you must be children, for none but children are saved. And, indeed, there are none true servants to him, but they that are children: they are but slaves, and are cast out, that do not serve with their love, and expect the inheritance only as a gift of grace. So much for that first thing, What it is to seek righteousness by the works of the law.

2. I am now to shew you, that seeking righteousness by the works of the law, is to frustrate the grace of God: and I would shew it — first in point of doctrine — and then in point of practice.1st, As to point of doctrine. In the matter of righteousness before God, the law and the gospel are perfectly opposite, and they are only so in this point. The law and the gospel agree sweetly together in all things else; but in this point of the righteousness of a man before God, the law and the gospel are quite opposite one to another. The gospel comes to bring in another salvation than the law thought of; and the law destroys the salvation of the gospel. The law and gospel, in point of righteousness before God, are exactly opposite; “And if by grace, then it is no more by works, otherwise grace is no more grace; but if it be of works, then it is no more of grace, for otherwise works were no more works,” (Rom. 11:6). Grace and works, in the point of righteousness before God, are perfectly opposite; “You are saved by grace,” saith the apostle, “not of works, lest any man should boast,” (Eph. 2:8, 9).2dly, Let us bring this matter into practice, and you will find that all men express this in their attitude; both the self-righteous man, and he that is not so. Not only is it asserted in point of doctrine, that works and grace are thus inconsistent, but we always find it, even in the spirit and temper, both of the one and of the other.

1. He that seeks righteousness by the law, is a man that never saw his need of grace: and you may be well assured that that man will frustrate the grace of God, who never saw his utter need of it. He was never so far emptied, but he expects and imagines that he shall be able to work out a righteousness for himself, and so is not brought under any conviction of his utter need of the grace of God; whereas he that is for the grace of God in Christ alone, is a man that hath a great need of the grace of God, and sees himself undone without it.

2. This self-righteous man sees no glory in the grace of God shining through the righteousness of Christ; there is no excellency in it to him. Every natural man is in this mind; he sees a great deal of glory in his own doings: in a beautiful conversation, in brave gifts, and in a shining walk before men; he sees a great deal of beauty and glory here. Every natural man thinks there is a great deal of glory in his own performances. The self-righteous Pharisee came boasting in his own performances; “God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican: I fast twice a week, and I give tithes of all that I possess,” (Luke 18:11, 12). These were great things in the man’s esteem, and so they are in the eyes of every natural man. But for that righteousness that is lodged in Christ, that is wrought out by a man without him, by one that came down from heaven, and is gone up thither again; that hath all this righteousness seated in him, and gives it forth to us by mere grace; no natural man thinks any thing of this. But the believer is a man that hath an high esteem of the righteousness of Christ. How doth the apostle Paul speak of this? “I count all things but dung, that I may win Christ; and be found in him, not having on mine own righteousness,” (Phil. 3:8, 9).

3. Every natural man is averse from the grace of God, and therefore he must needs frustrate the grace of God. He is averse from it: but every believer is just of another mind. Sirs, if all men’s hearts were known to us, as they are to God, here is one thing that would determine every man’s state, What way do you best like to go to heaven in? “I would gladly be very holy,” saith the poor man, “that I may be very happy when I die.” Saith the believer, “I would gladly be clothed with Christ’s righteousness, and get eternal life as the gift of his grace; and I know that by being in Christ I shall be sanctified.” But no believer seeks sanctification as his righteousness, and title to glory: it is a preparation for glory, and the way that leads to glory, to all them that are saved according to that blessed method, “Whom he justified, them he also glorified,” (Rom. 8:30); and by glorification there, both sanctification and eternal life are well understood by most. — So much for the third doctrine, That seeking righteousness by the works of the law frustrates the grace of God.

I would now speak a few words to the fourth doctrine, and then make some application of both together.

Doctrine 4. No true believer in Jesus Christ can frustrate the grace of God. The apostle is here speaking of it in the account that he is giving of the grace of God working in him: “I through the law,” saith he, “am dead to the law, that I might live to God;” and “I live by Christ, and by faith in him, and, therefore, I do not frustrate the grace of God.” He is not speaking of the great attainment that some few Christians arrive at; but he is speaking of that which is common to the state of all Christians: “I do not frustrate the grace of God.” Before I come to the proof of this, I would lay down a few cautions, to prevent mistakes.

1st, It must be allowed that a great many who have been made Christians have been long enemies to the grace of God; and there is not a greater instance of this than the good man that speaks in my text, the apostle Paul. He was a great heart-enemy to Jesus Christ; and he was an enemy to Christ, if I may so say, with a good conscience, according to the real light that the poor man’s blinded conscience had: “I verily thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth,” (Acts 26:9). “I never heard a name that I hated so much as the name of this Jesus of Nazareth; and I hated it from the heart, and my conscience prompted me to it.” When our Lord met him by the way, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” little did the poor man think Christ died for him, and should be a blessed fountain of life to him. A believer may be a great enemy to the grace of God, before the grace of God makes him a believer.

2dly, It may not be denied but that a true believer may take in doctrines contrary to the grace of Christ in their tendency, though he perceive it not. I should be loath to think that all these Galatians, that are here so sharply reproved by the apostle Paul, were rotten-hearted people; there might be many sincere people amongst them, imposed upon by the cunning of them that lay in wait to deceive. There may be, through darkness, perplexed heads in many honest hearts, about several points concerning the grace of God, It is not for us to measure, anybody’s state according to the principles that they profess, unless they be very bad.

3dly, It is not to be denied but that in a fit of temptation, even a true believer may abuse the grace of God; he may turn it into wantonness, and may grow light and vain, because of his mistaking the nature of the grace of God. Several have done so, and God knows how to tame them that do so; and the severest fatherly rebukes of the law are upon them that wax wanton because of his kindness. These things being premised, I would briefly shew how it is that a good man cannot frustrate the grace of God.

1. Because good men are all grace’s captives. Every believer, as a believer, and when he is made a believer, is made a captive of the grace of God. How are men saved, think you? We cannot see which way they are saved; the word goeth forth, and people hear it; but we do not know who gets good, and when they get good by it. I will tell you when men are saved; when the grace of God comes and lays hold of them, and claps hold of a poor sinner —"This man shall be my captive, and I will save him.” All believers are captives to the grace of God, and, therefore, they cannot frustrate the grace of God; they are all subdued by this grace, and made “willing in the day of his power.” (Psalm 110:3).

2. No believer can frustrate the grace of God, because he is dead to the law, as the apostle’s word is in the context, (Gal. 2:19). And there are two things needful to make a man dead to the law; — to know the law; and to know himself: and whosoever knows both these, is a man dead to the law. He that knows the purity, and the spotlessness of the law of God, and he that knows his own heart, and its vileness, this man will naturally draw this conclusion, “Surely this law can never do me any good. I can never fulfil it, and it can never save me; if there be not another way of salvation than by the law, I am gone for evermore.” “I through the law am dead to the law,” saith the apostle; “I need no more, to make me despair of life by the law, than to see the law: it commands what I cannot do, it threatens what I cannot avoid nor bear; and therefore, I am dead to the law, that I might live to God;” — “my life must come in another way than by the law.”

So much shall serve for the opening of these truths. It would now follow to make some Application; which I shall do in two things, respecting all the doctrines that I have raised from this former part of the verse. By these doctrines here delivered by the apostle, you are called to try the spirits, to try the doctrines you hear, and you are called to try your own state; for every doctrine that is contrary to the grace of God is a doctrine that Christians should hate. And your eternal state is to be determined by these things — What are your heart-thoughts of the law of God? What are your heart-thoughts of the righteousness of Christ? And what are your heart-thoughts of the grace of God? And every one that knows truly what his inward sense of these things is, may soon come to some conclusion concerning his spiritual state: but I shall speak more fully to these things the next opportunity.

Our Living Hope and the Trials We Face

"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 honour 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

Although we learned about so many things in the studies during our time in the Dominican Republic, I think our entire team can agree that this passage was iconic of our trip. In it are contained the catchphrases about which we still joke and which will ever remain seriously dear to our hearts. So, to give you a taste of what we were really doing on that Caribbean island, and hopefully to encourage you with the concepts which left us feeling so much richer in our faith, I decided to share with you my edited notes from studies on this text. Ready? Here goes!

First, we discussed the characteristics of this living hope that Peter seems to regard as so very important. Peter hinges the rest of his epistle, intended to establish and inspire his brothers in a time of distress, on the actuality and beauty of the living hope that is ours in the faith. Obviously, it is important for us today to become acquainted with this, our inheritance!

Peter describes our inheritance, our living hope with three characteristics, which should each bring us immeasurable joy and comfort:

• Imperishable ~ Our inheritance cannot go bad like last week's roast does. It cannot rot; it is something neither moth nor rust can destroy.
• Undefiled ~ Our inheritance cannot be contaminated; it is pure, of one essence. Purity means purely one thing. There is nothing that mixes with this inheritance to devalue its worth, like what happened when we left the gold standard.
• Unfading ~ Our inheritance is strong, bright, and stands out. It is a beauty that never will pass away.

        Why did God inspire Peter to use these three words in his portrait of our inheritance? Because this is the only inheritance that can boast of these characteristics, making our inheritance unique among all other possible goods in the world. Think about it! All other hopes and dreams we can cherish here on earth are perishable, contaminated, and fading away. Our living hope, on the other hand, is beautifully wondrous and it is the only one of its kind.
Now, Satan will use all sorts of counterfeits to distract us from it. Here our group camped for a while to talk specifically about relationships. Any relationship that distracts us from our inheritance needs to be reevaluated, changed, perhaps eliminated. All relationships should make you more like Christ. Don’t waste your relationships. See, every aspect of our life must be seen though the lens of this living hope, including and most especially our friendships and loves.

Our Study Group Buddies...minus Patricks :(
(All photos courtesy of Emily Knepper)

But back to the living hope itself. The text goes on to say that our inheritance is reserved in Heaven for us, for it is Christ, our portion, the glorious one. He is our inheritance! When we think of everything we are and everything He is, everything we cannot do and everything He has already done, this highest of all condescensions and deepest of all wisdoms and greatest of salvations grows incredibly precious and undeserved in our eyes. Why oh why would the Son of God give Himself to me as my inheritance? Read on.
“It is reserved in Heaven for you.” Who is "you"? Those whom God has saved, whom He guards for all eternity. That includes me and it might include you. He has the care of our well-being.
        How does He guard? Through His power and mercy. There is no sin that Christ’s sacrifice was not enough to cover. That is power and mercy indeed! To live perfectly, to go to the cross and die, and then resurrect to give us life to live and the means to live it. Not only is He our pattern for practice and author of this great salvation, but He also lives today to give us life and be our sustenance. This is the power and mercy of God.
"By the power of God through faith.” Hebrews 11:1. We see the power, but what is the faith? Faith is the faculty God gives us to believe, so the exercise of faith is belief. Yes, God gives us the faith and grants us the belief, which is how He guards us and our inheritance. See, God does not waste time on people who will get lost, so He does all the work. Saving grace suddenly and beautifully becomes sustaining grace.
        If God gives faith and guards us so we might enjoy this living hope, many people ask, "Why not sin always, then?" One answer is that there is a future aspect of salvation ~ it is after all a living hope. Although we whom God has saved do indeed grasp our living hope right at this very moment, nobody has yet attained it all. Nobody knows yet the fullness of it. Abraham is not fully enjoying his salvation. Hebrews 11:39-40; Revelation 6:10-11. We must all await our resurrected bodies! Because Christ is the perfect human as well as God, Christ cannot relate to someone unless that person has a perfect soul and body. In short, He can only commune with those who are like Him. Since we are not perfect, we cannot commune with Him fully. But one day we will, and we are becoming more like Him now, delving deeper and deeper into communion with Him as the years pass. Thus it is a living hope.
        So, what is our present salvation then? Ephesians 1:12-14. The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee of our inheritance. He is the signet ring of the King, the stamp impressed on the legal Will containing our inheritance, and He impresses it on our hearts so that we, like the wax of a seal, start taking on His mould, start looking more like Him. Yes, this Holy Spirit warrants our beautiful inheritance of living hope. There is not a better safe than the one kept by God in Heaven.

        We have established the Who and the How of this living hope, but the Why of it remains unanswered. Why should I be in Heaven? Look at Ephesians 1:5 ~ Because God wanted it out of the pure pleasure of His will. He did not have to save me and does not have to explain why He saved me. That makes Him God. This is not to say that He is a capricious Zeus, for examine the words again: “the counsel of His will." His will accords to His good and beautiful and righteous attributes. For some spectacular reason that only God can understand, but sure does make Him look indescribably awesome, He chose to choose us. And that is Why His children can spend eternity with Him, worshipful of that incomprehensible majesty.
        What choice do we have left but to rejoice in this living hope!? In fact, rejoicing is a command for a Christian. But would it not be natural to rejoice in this living hope that is an imperishable, undefiled, unfading inheritance kept in Heaven by God for me? In this I must rejoice! And, goodness, in this I want to rejoice.

The Study Buddies in action. Oh, yeah.

        In all this rejoicing, though, Peter does not forget to whom he writes. He writes to believers who will suffer here on earth. Yes, we are commanded to rejoice even though we must face trials of various kinds.
          At this point, our study group paused to talk about trials. Trials are not problems. They are realities of life with which our souls must interact in a thinking manner. Our problems arise in our reactions to those trials. We are going to face hard circumstances ~ Jesus promised and warned us of this ~ but the circumstances do not create what we moderns call "problems" or "issues" (basically something bad that we are left with to deal and struggle with for the rest of our lives). No, all our trials are gifts of God for our growth. Do you not love how Christianity does not deny or ignore suffering, but neither does it leave us in despair? Take a glance at these scriptures to prove it.
        Read 1 Peter 1 in the first-person singular.
        James 1:2-4 ~ “Calculate” those trials as joy!
        What is the purpose of my life? Of Him giving me salvation? Romans 8:29-30. To be conformed to the image of His Son. He predestined us to become like Christ! Remember the whole point of this conversation about trials? The point is our living hope, which is Christ, and the sanctification that enables us to one day enjoy Him fully forever. Our life is to become like Christ, because of and for this living hope! Trials make us stop disparaging Christ to instead start reflecting Him by carving away at us in a certain given area. When our sinfulness in one area is resolved, another area appears, and thus we go, looking more and more like our kind Sculptor each time.
          Hence we can count it as joy when we face trials of various kinds: because we want to commune with Christ. Trials are instruments in God’s hands to make us like His Son. What looks like Mt. Everest now, rest assured, will not look like Mt. Everest next year because He strengthens us with each passing difficulty. Again, problems do not exist, except for one: how you interact/react to the trial. Are you reacting to a hardship with sinful bitterness and anger? Or are you interacting with the hardship as though it were a gift from God through which He will sustain you to make you more like His Son?
        That is how we rejoice in trials. Counting them as tools to make me more like Christ. Here are two questions to ask in trials: How do I act Biblically in this situation to glorify God? And how is God using this situation to make me more like Christ? The answers to these questions will give you the right perspective, give you hope, and give you joy.
         After all, look at the analogy Peter sets up in verse 7. God sends us trials like a metalworker fans fire to purify gold, burning away all the impurities that would devalue gold's enticing loveliness. Well, trials purify us so that we have one belief: God, the most enticing of all lovelinesses. What are beliefs in my life that need to be burned away so I can be pure, single-minded? Here are some common false beliefs that our group came up with which would be better burned to make us pure gold: 1) I love this person so much that I cannot live without him or her, 2) I need to make sure people like me, whether by looks or smarts or any other "successes," 3) The notion that Christians need "self-actualisation," that we must complete a list of actions to be fulfilled. These are actually lies from Hell, lures that Satan uses to distract us from our living hope.

        Taking it all together, then, trials make my faith pure so I believe only God, and can be complete in Him. John 15:1-17; Col 2:8-10. After all, in Him dwells the full godhead and He has grafted me (and you?) into His very own vine, and thus in Him I am now fully complete. I am His and He is mine. I lack nothing. Can you see how very wondrous is our inheritance, and how wondrously real our living hope in Christ is? Even pure gold perishes, but our treasure does not pass away, and so our faith is more precious still.

"Lord, you are more precious than silver. 

Lord, you are more costly than gold." 

"What wondrous love is this, O my soul? 
What wondrous love is this, that God who dwells in bliss, 
Should bear the dreadful curse for my soul?" 
"No condemnation now I dread; Jesus and all in Him is mine.
Alive in Him, my living Head, and clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach the eternal throne, and claim the crown through Christ my own."

"Behold our King! Nothing can Compare. Come, let us adore Him!"

        The only way to overcome sin is to find the beauty of Christ over the ugliness of sin. To be totally drawn by attraction to Him. No struggle, just surpassing joy. That is our living hope.

A Funeral and a Wedding

Van Eyck's Arnolfini ~ a Jenn favourite

So, today, a day smack dab in the middle of a series of absolutely beautiful weddings, I went to a funeral.

It was the funeral of a man who had loved the Lord with all his might while he was here on earth, and had suddenly been taken Home to go on doing that for eternity. But what was on my mind during his funeral was marriage. You see, he and his wife, a lovely homeschooling couple, had enjoyed a sweet marriage. Not a perfect one, not an all the time sappy one, but one that stayed focused on Christ and showed Christ here on earth. For a Christian, that is a good marriage. 

But today was the husband’s funeral. And seeing a loving wife walking behind her loving husband’s coffin is just all wrong. It is like seeing a person with one part dead and the other part still breathing. 

So I thought about marriage. And about my friends who have just gotten married. And about my friends who will be getting married. And I thought about just how serious this whole sugary romance thing is. 

Marriage is not about staring into each other’s deep >insert colour of choice< eyes until it feels like eternity has passed away. It is not about holding hands and posting the cutest sweetest “daw” inducing comments on social networks. It is not about love’s first kiss. It isn’t even about spending the rest of your life with your best friend. Sure, marriage can and probably should include all of these things. But that is not what it is about. 

It is about saying “I do” to someone with whom you can live a life that allows you to, decades down the road, stand next to their coffin and, weeping, know that you two lived a life full of Christ together. It is about being the person who grew in grace while united to another. It is about knowing that, even if there were causes for regrets, those causes were washed in grace because you two were both being clothed together in His righteousness. 

I hate to be a downer. But I do not think that in the long run I am being a downer. Sure, go on. Enjoy the romance and the sappiness and the hugs and the comments. Nevertheless, what I was left thinking about today was what marriage looks like at the end: a woman keeping on living in Christ when her husband is gone, because she knows they both lived completely in Him from beginning to end. Because giving herself to her husband was just another way of giving herself to her God. 

Because marriage is serious. Marriage is about the Gospel. And that sort of marriage love is beautiful because it foretells of the real thing: the wedding of Christ and His Bride, which will never end in a coffin. 

On Sickness: A Glass Darkly

Hello, again! My Mumsie prompted me to update my blog, with good reason! Having the first words seen on my page read "I am pregnant," when I most certainly am not, can be a little strange. And besides. I have not posted in a good long while.

So, here goes.

In the long, long silence that has marked this blog over the past months, God has been teaching me so many things. Through school, through friendships, through words (of course), He has placed another and another concept in my "to learn and live" basket of memories. Recently, He has been using health especially. Now, you know from other posts that my health has not always been that great, but that I am working to get better.

Well, I've had a real brainwave.

This world is broken. I know, it took me long enough to apply it to myself, right? This hit me when my doctor asked me, "Before we start, do you believe you can get better? Do you believe you can be perfectly healthy?" I got to thinking about that question, and so much of the emphasis in the natural/holistic/integral circles revolves around your ultimate belief that you can get better. Even Christians start mimicking it: "God made our bodies to work well, and if we just live like we are supposed to, we can trust to see everything work out alright." Sure, there is truth to that in spots, but, like I said, Jenn had got to thinking, and that means I was going to question much.

It dawned on me that there is sin in this world, and that sin mars a whole lot more than my soul. In fact, all of creation groans out of misery, brokenness, just-plain-not-rightness, and my body joins in the chorus. Living for perfect health on this earth is a dream ~ or a nightmare ~ because it is not what we are supposed to be living for! Our bodies right now, they are just going to die, and we will have to get an entirely new outfitting in heaven! They are not fit for eternal glory and never will be, no matter our diet, our exercise habits, the kind of shoes we wear, our healthcare system, or our farming techniques. Nothing short of Christ's salvation and the eucatastrophic End of all earthly things will thrust us into beautiful, whole health. And by that time we won't be concentrating on our beautiful, whole health, but on Him!

So what is the point? To admit defeat in my quest for perfect earthly health may sound depressing, but I am quite the opposite! My health was something that I was holding on to, and anything we hold on to apart from Christ turns into a burden. Now that I see my bodily health is of naught on this earth, that it is a pursuit only leading to a dead end, I can lift my eyes to the Maker. For so long I have been thinking, "Alright, Lord, I will do the best I can to get better so that I in my body will be able to serve you best." But that is not the way it is at all! The right attitude, I have come to realise, is, "Alright, Lord, be glorified in me now and through this sickness now, so I will be able to glorify you in another way at another task later." The purpose of my health is not to heal my body, but to have Christ formed in me so I can receive my heavenly body, have a sanctified self, and know Christ! This life on earth is merely seeing through a glass darkly, looking into a mirror all fouled and muddled and dim. But living for the eternity in which I will see Him clearly, now that is something worth living for.

Am I going to call it quits on doctors and foods and tests? 'Course not! Because taking care of my body for His glory is something important He commands me to do. But I will not be going about it as though it were my body, my health. I have been bought with a price, and He can do whatever He will in this soul that belongs to Him, this body that belongs to Him, this mess of a health case that belong to Him. The point is not for me to be healed to do more things for God, but for God to make me holy through the illness as I glorify Him through the illness. Joy does not have to wait for the better side of health. Joy is here. Glory can be found here. Praise can be given here. 

So. I won't worry my life away. I won't grasp on to the health that is His regardless. Rather, I will know genuine happiness in the battle because the battle is preparing me for something better and because I catch glimpses ~ more than glimpses!~ of grace through it. My life is His life and He is doing everything to perfection to bring me to know Him. That humbles, awes, wonders me. That brings me laughter, joy, peace.

My health is not about getting my body back together, but about surrendering it to God for His glory. And after a few days of trying out this new perspective, I can tell you the surrender is sweet.

Love-in-Idleness

Here is yet another happy circumstance when school and blog coincide. Does that ever happen to you?

Love-in-Idleness, or Heartsease

A few days ago, as I was reading A Midsummer Night's Dream for the I-don't-know-how-many-nth time, the scene where Oberon orders Puck to light the love potion upon the eyes of an unhappy youth struck me with a few new thoughts. I had never payed much attention to this flower juice's name, but during this last reading it jumped out at me: Love-in-Idleness. Interesting name, do you not think? Especially so when you read the results of the potion on Oberon's fairy queen, Titania. She ends up falling for a donkey and makes herself look pretty ridiculous in the process. 


We laugh at her antics, and Puck's, to be sure, but have you ever thought about how we fall for the same thing Titania did? It seems I am often guilty of those very same insanities she showed. Love-in-Idleness caused her to woo a donkey, yet, oh, the hapless things our hearts seek when our loves wander listlessly on, as idle as can be!


We have all heard the saying about the space in our soul only God can fill, the love which only He can give and the satisfaction only He can guarantee. Nevertheless, too many a time, our hearts forget their first Love and become regrettably idle. Purposeless. Doubtful. Hungry. Before we know, we find ourselves grasping after donkeys, just like poor Titania. Granted, most of the time our "donkeys" are not so ludicrous or obvious as is that of the fairy queen, but I am sure to God the idols our idle hearts chase are sorry substitutes for His majesty and love - ludicrous indeed. So, while our lovely selves may not look so silly to friends and family (not to mention us), we probably appear rather absurd to our Heavenly Father, after all He did for us. 


Have you ever paused to consider what "donkeys" are capturing your soul through an idle heart? TV, trashy books, gaudy music, and the "opposite sex" are all commonly cited examples, but Satan usually likes to be slightly more subtle. It may take some time to figure out; it certainly will take me a while!


So what is the remedy to our donkey infatuation? Well, lets wind back towards the love potion that starts all this featherbrained behaviour. Love-in-Idleness. Ahhh....that idle heart of ours. To keep our souls from courting barn animals, the stupor of our hearts must be cured. 


And that cure is Christ. There is no other.


Only when we see Christ for who He is, awesome, beautiful, radiant, glorious, the perfect example of perfect manhood, sovereign, powerful, and loving - in short, when we become infatuated with Him - will our hearts stop their wanderings. Yes, when we behold and treasure Him alone, then all our donkeys will appear as what they really were all along - donkeys. Then shan't they be left in the dust?


Better yet, our souls will not thirst and our hearts will not hunger when His vision becomes our vision. We will enjoy life at its fullest. He will guide your steps and use you for His amazing purpose. Yeah, purpose. No more disillusionment. Instead of Love-in-Idleness, let us take a dosage of Love-in-Life, Christ's life.

Becoming a Fair Lady in Deed

   This is the last post in our Becoming a Fair Lady series, but it is certainly not the last post about becoming a Fair Lady! I am trying to decide on the next series' topic. Would you like to read more about something already mentioned, or do you have an itching desire for another subject? Drop me a comment and let me know!

   Ah, "Becoming a Fair Lady in Deed". This could turn out to be a pretty dull post, do you not think? We have all sat through books and speakers full of helpful advice on acting with kindness, keeping a pleasant tongue in your head, and cleaning up the spilled milk even when your dog can do a better job as mopper. How many of us have heard about going the extra mile for our brother and being a good Samaritan? Exactly. So I shall attempt not to dwell on the acts of service themselves, but more on the heart attitude prompting the service. You may notice a theme nesting in this blog, that the "heart of the matter is the matter of the heart" as a pastor friend would say. Yes, one cannot step in any good direction if the heart is pulling one back, so here the spotlight shall fall, or at least that is my hope.

   A good introductory question, then, is, "What is a heart of service?" As with all verbose writers, I have to start by describing what it is not. There are two traps awaiting prisoners when it comes to the realm of service. One is the outlook of a sniveling servant, the other of pompous self-deprecation.

   Let's examine the first pseudo-servant. Here we meet Ella*, a girl surpassingly meek, excruciatingly mousy, and furiously busy. She rarely graces the world with a smile because a look of agitation has long since settled on her face. She never complains but neither does she contribute any positive thought to her acquaintances. "Happily useful" is how she describes herself but others would more likely call her wretched. Yet she can get things done, and done well. So she acts like a victim, but she cleaned the church floor without being asked and without leaving a speck! Well, now. What does Scripture say about someone with this kind of servility? For one, Romans 7:6 explains we serve with joy, in the Spirit:

"But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we may serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the way of the written code."

No moping around this verse! But the next one, 2 Corinthians 9:12 and, is even more direct about the correct attitude of service.

"For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God."

So we really ought to be happy when we serve, and thankful, because we serve the Lord's people in the name of our Father. It puts scrubbing dishes in a different light, do you not think? Ella's grimacing heart makes Christian service impossible because Christians serve with joy.

   Then let's saunter over to the other pseudo-servant. Enter Emma*, a pretty, engaging, comfortable young woman who flits about doing this and that to serve others. Everyone likes her, and she likes everyone else. Perfectly polished, she does not find it beneath her to dirty her prim hands in a crowd. She serves well and enjoys it to boot - that is, when there are enough eyes in the room. You guessed it, Emma is our "look at how well I washed the pot-providence dishes" servant. We all know this kind; oh, please, we have all been this kind! Emma finds it a joy to serve and share when people are watching, but look out if she feels slighted by not receiving praise! A public "thank you" is all she wants because that is what she deserves, right? Where would all these people be without her? In her head runs a frenzied list of the messy kitchens, crying babies, undecorated sanctuaries, etc., had it not been for her. The list is frenzied because she remembers every little thing she ever did for anyone else, and stores in her heart the names of those who did not give Emma her due. This is not a happy heart, either, is it? At least with Ella we knew her agony, but Emma is the volcano waiting to explode! Scripture speaks of pompous service rather harshly, while upholding humility as the gift most to be sought. Ephesians 6:5-7 and Matthew 23:12 deal the death blow to Emma's way of thinking:

"Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free."

"Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted."

   And then we have that perfect example of Jesus, humbling Himself through becoming a man, leading a life of poverty, washing the feet of those who would betray Him, and finally dying the ignominious death of crucifixion. This is to what we should aspire. This is a heart of service.

   So, what is the true heart of service? It is one of joyful captivity, contented slavery, worshipful homage. Joyful captivity takes away all distaste from service, no matter how distasteful it may be. It rejoices in the position of servitude, it wants for no other. Contented slavery excludes grumbling and complaining, leaving in their place a quiet, peaceful longing to be used. Worshipful homage brings forth a servant who feels it an honor to serve. He is completely overwhelmed with awe for his King and sees it as a mercy to wipe the floor after His footsteps. Little does he seek for a word of praise. Why should he be praised when His King is here? He knows he is safe and privileged where he stands because his King is Christ, the God Almighty. This servant grasps how great his Master is, but even more amazing, beholds what that Master did for him. The King rescued the worthless wretch. How could this wretch now not serve with his whole heart, with everything he has, with surpassing joy? That is the true heart of service. When we live for our King and only our King, when we live in the light of What has been done for us, when we see just how much we can never pay back, service then becomes a blessing - a means to praise, not be praised. Then we will be able to go the extra mile and wipe away the spilled milk - because the King wiped away our tears.

And that concludes this series.

*Ella, you know, Cinderella? And then Emma is inspired by Austen's heroine. If you have no idea what I am talking about, don't worry.