Overcome By Grace

One week later the Hope of the earth has risen. Grace and mercy has come upon us. The Glory of the LORD has risen from the grave and sin and death are defeated. One week later we remember what has happened. No longer is He on the cross. No longer is He in the grave. The Hope of the world has risen.  One week later the rejoicing continues. God’s mercy is never ending and new each morning. The King of all is with us now and death does not separate us from Him.  One week later the Father’s wrath is appeased and we have been propitiated. Not by our work, but by the work of the only One who could ever obtain grace from the Father—His perfect Son.  One week later we look back and see what we could not see before. God’s perfect plan is revealed to us. We see that He was to be bruised for us, wounded for His children, sacrificed to bring a once alienated people to the Father.  One week later we are now made alive by His resurrection. In Him we’ve been raised to new life....

When I look around the world I’m constantly shocked at the evil that is abounding in every place. I look within and see my own thoughts and the sin that I have and I’ m ashamed. It can be so heartbreaking to just think of all the evil that is being unleashed all over the world. But at the same time I thought of all this, I was reminded that God sees even more than I. He sees every thought, He knows every evil intention and action. Nothing is hidden from Him (Proverbs 15:3). Thinking of the latest shooting where people lost their lives and persons carried out horrendous actions, a missing girl whose parents were murdered, a little girl that is caught between abusive family members. It can be so overwhelming. But God sees all this. I can’t do anything. But I can call out to my Father in heaven who sees the evil and the good. He doesn’t sit idly by. His anger is aroused against the evil that is being perpetrated in the world (Romans 1:18). All of it. He is able to see...

It’s about time for another blog post. As summer arrives and work increases (not to mention the NBA playoffs), I haven’t had as much time to keep up my reading. But I’m excited to share with you the review of Praying the Bible by Donald S. Whitney . This book changed the way I pray. Mr. Whitney says that if we are bored with praying, the problem isn’t us, it’s our method (page 12). We tend to pray “the same old things about the same old things”, and that’s the way my prayer life had been before I read this book. If we are true, born again and Spirit-filled saints and we find prayer boring—the problem is how we’re going about praying to the God of the universe. We need a better method. If you’re like me, you most likely pray the same old phrases…over and over and over again. Mr. Whitney shows us a better way in his book. So what is the solution? Whitney says, “ W hen you pray, pray a passage of Scripture, particularly a psalm” (p. 27) .   It’s so simple, but...

“I wish it wasn’t raining.” “Why does it have to be so HOT?!” “When will this winter be over?” “It’s so cold!”             Sound familiar? Most likely this is too familiar. We all murmur and complain about the weather some time in our lives. Even among children you hear, “Why isn’t there snow yet!” or “Why won’t it stop raining so I can go out and play?” This is a problem from the youngest to the oldest among us.             And frankly, it has become the norm. We eagerly chime in when someone complains about the weather. It’s something we can all have common ground on. We’ve all felt dislike toward a particular weather condition. It has become normal for us to grumble about the weather.             This attitude, toward the weather that we are given, isn’t a problem—it’s a sin. Who gives us all things?...

I originally was going to do a section on each chapter from Russell Moore’s book, Tempted and Tried , that deals with the temptations of Jesus, but this would be a long post if I went into all that and what I learned from them, so here are a couple thoughts and takeaways from the first temptation (Chapter 3, “Starving to Death”) and also a powerful section I want to quote from Chapter 4, “Free Falling”. With that said, commence post: Reading Challenge: Tempted and Tried: Temptation and the Triumph of Christ by Russell Moore Temptation is scary. When temptation comes, it’s so hard to look the other way and reject the promise of immediate satisfaction. Not one of us has lived very long in this life without being tempted by some kind of lust, desire, or craving. Our temptations are powerful. Not a single one of us has ever overcome the power of temptation completely, except One. Russell Moore’s book, Tempted and Tried , focuses on the temptation of Christ in the desert....

If you read much of my writing, you will find that I love telling about the amazing fact that God would save a ruined sinner, a rebel to His will, a spiritually dead wretch like me. Here I was, rebelling against the holiness of God, and yet God loved me before the dawn of time. I am stunned that He would look down and have pity when I am in the midst of cursing His holy name. In fact, when I am hanging Him upon that cross, He was atoning for my sin. That should only bring me to my knees in awe. I have many favorite passages of scripture (Ephesians 2, Isaiah 53, Romans 7-8, and Galatians 5) that bring me to that point of awe, but for this I’d like to direct you to a majestic part of scripture, Romans 5:6-11: For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Chr...

So it begins. The first review is here. I have labored through four books to this point. It’s been a big challenge to get the books I’ve been reading finished (I picked four books, one over 400 pages, another at 330, one at 320, and another 240), but it has also been a lot of fun. (If you don’t know what my plan is, you can read the goal for this blog over on my “About Me” page.) Without further delay, let’s get to the first book of the year! (You can find this post’s book over on Amazon.) Reading Challenge:  The Imperfect Disciple: Grace for People Who Can't Get Their Act Together by Jared Wilson             I don’t think I could have started the year off with a better book. Jared Wilson does an amazing job writing an honest take on being a disciple of Christ. This book is for those tired of all the to-do lists for being a perfect disciple. It’s for us losers. It’s for the sinners. This book is for those of us who fail Every. Single. ...