His Faithfulness

Beginning to read through Deuteronomy, I noticed the frequent verses and examples of God's

faithfulness to the Israelites and His covenants with them. His promise was spoken in verses such as this one: 

For the Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them (Deuteronomy 4:31, ESV).

And Yahweh demonstrated His faithfulness in these ways, places, times, and manners:

The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness, where you have seen ho wthe Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you ame to this place (Deuteronomy 1:30-31, ESV).

For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He knows your going through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing (Deut.2:7, ESV).

...the Lord your God...went before you in the way to seek you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night and in the cloud by day, to show you what way you should go (Deut.1:33, ESV).

For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? (Deut.4:7, ESV).

But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day (Deut.4:20, ESV).

His faithfulness was proven to His people over and over again. Yet, when they went astray and worshiped false idols, it was because they did not keep His promises in the forefront of their minds. Forgetting God's covenants leads to false worship.

Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another tation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides him. (Deut.4:33-35, ESV)

December Quotes

Christianity preaches the infinite worth of that which is seemingly worthless and the infinite worthlessness of that which is seemingly so valued.

-Dietrich Bonhoeffer

You never go away from us, yet we have difficulty in returning to You. Come, Lord, stir us up and call us back. Kindle and seize us. Be our fire and our sweetness. Let us love. Let us run. 
-St. Augustine

“Is it true, O Christ in heaven, that the highest suffer the most?

That the strongest wander furthest and most hopelessly are lost?

That the mark of rank in nature is capacity for pain?

That the anguish of the singer makes the sweetness of the strain?” 

-John Milton

A holy woman's object in life is a perfect union with the will of God, perfect conformity. And as we are conformed to the image of Christ and conform our wills to God, we will find that our joy is greater and greater. Humility and surrender can be your gateway to joy.

-Elisabeth Elliot

Pray that this year you may be holy, humble, zealous, and patient and have closer communion with Christ. Pray that you may be an example and blessing to others, and that you may live more for the glory of your Master… Let January open with joy in the Lord, and December close with gladness in Jesus.

-Charles H. Spurgeon

I choose to believe the Bible because it is a reliable collection of historical documents, written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. They report supernatural events that took place in fulfillment of specific prophecies, and they claim to be divine rather than human in origin.

-Dr. Voddie Baucham

Here we have a picture of God’s ideal woman…Faith in God that sees beyond present bitter setbacks. Freedom from the securities and comforts of the world. Courage to venture into the unknown and the strange. Radical commitment in the relationships appointed by God… It is a beautiful thing to watch a woman like this serve Christ with courage.

-John Piper

The point of your life is to point to Him. Whatever you are doing, God wants to be glorified, because this whole thing is His. 

-Francis Chan

Let us banish every fearful thought, and rejoice with exceeding great joy, in the prospect that this year we shall begin to be "forever with the Lord. 

-C. H. Spurgeon

But friends, as we face a new year, let us take heart! Let us find courage! -not in the strength of our own arms, but in the power of our resurrected Lord who sits in the heavens and does whatsoever He pleases (Ps.115:3)! Let us persevere in hope! -not because we see the light at the end of the tunnel, which we may not--but because our King has guaranteed a harvest in due season if we faint not (Gal.6:9). And when we do feel like fainting, let us remember that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but to those who are weak in Christ--because when we are weak, then are we strong (2 Cor.12:10).
-Neil Craig

August Quotes

Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.

-Benjamin Franklin 

Arrogance doesn’t come from having convictions; it comes from having the wrong convictions about how to treat people who don’t share them with you. Humility doesn’t come from not having convictions; it comes from having the right convictions about the importance of gentleness and respect.

-Unknown

There must be those among whom we can sit down and weep and still be counted as warriors.

-A. Rich

We live in a culture that exalts human autonomy above God's sovereignty and sets the individual’s freedom of expression above God's law.

-Paul Washer

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

-Winston Churchill

Ministry is… 

Giving when you feel like keeping; 

Praying for others when you need to be prayed for; 

Feeding other souls when your own soul is hungry; 

Living truth before people even when you can’t see results; 

Hurting with other people even when your own hurt can’t be spoken; 

Keeping your word even when it’s not convenient; Being faithful when your flesh wants to run away.

-Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth

Trust is earned, respect is given, loyalty is demonstrated. Betrayal of any one of those is to lose all three.

-Unknown

Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.

-Elizabeth Stone

Rest in this—it is His business to lead, command, impel, send, call or whatever you want to call it. It is your business to obey, follow, move, respond, or what have you.

-Jim Elliot

It is sweet to know that our tears are understood, even when words fail. Let us learn to think of tears as liquid prayers, and of weeping as a constant dropping of importunate intercession which will surely wear its way right into the very heart of God's mercy, despite the stony difficulties which obstruct the way. My God, I will "weep" when I cannot plead, for You hear the voice of my weeping! 

-Charles Spurgeon

In the pursuit of joy through suffering, we magnify the all-satisfying worth of the Source of our joy. God himself shines as the brightness at the end of our tunnel of pain. 

-John Piper

Loving one’s enemies leads disciples to the way of the cross and into communion with the crucified one. 

-Dietrich Bonhoeffer

We should learn to look at the blemishes and faults of others--only through the eyes of love, with sympathy, patience, and compassion. We do not know the secret history of the lives of others around us. We do not know what piercing sorrows have produced the scars we see in people's lives. We do not know the pains and trials which make life hard, to many with whom we are tempted to be impatient. If we knew all the secret burdens and the heart-wounds which many keep hidden beneath their smiling faces--we would be patient and gentle with all people.

 -J. R. Miller

Faith is neither a trust nor a belief in the unknown, but the firm knowledge that God is God, that He is true to His word, and, that what He has promised He will bring to pass.

R.J. Rushdoony

I have learned that breezes are always the precursors to wind. And winds usually push in storms. And we all know Who can calm storms. 

-D. Harrison

A Bigger Picture, Part Three

The assignment I'm sharing here today is one question from a larger assignment. I was required to read Mark 5:21-43 and then note the differences and similarities between the stories of Jarius and the woman who had been sick for 12 years. See if you can find the comparisons and contrasts before reading my answers. It's a bit challenging at first, but the more you think about it, the easier it is. Enjoy! :)

Mark 5:21-43 (NASB)

When Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around Him; and so He stayed by the seashore. One of the synagogue officials named Jairus came up, and on seeing Him, fell at His feet and implored Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death; please come and lay Your hands on her, so that she will get well and live.” And He went off with him; and a large crowd was following Him and pressing in on Him.

A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse— after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Himand touched His cloak. For she thought, “If I just touch His garments, I will get well.” Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of heraffliction. Immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the powerproceeding from Him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My garments?” And His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’” And He looked around to see the woman who had done this. But the woman fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.”

While He was still speaking, they came from the house of thesynagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; why trouble the Teacher anymore?” But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid any longer, only believe.” And He allowed no one to accompany Him, except Peter and James and John the brother of James. They came to the house of the synagogue official; and He saw a commotion, and people loudly weeping and wailing. And entering in, He said to them, “Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is asleep.” They began laughing at Him. But putting them all out, He took along the child’s father and mother and His own companions, and entered the room where the child was. Taking the child by the hand, He said to her, “Talitha kum!”(which translated means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). Immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astounded. And He gave them strict orders that no one should know about this, and He said that something should be given her to eat.

	Jairus	Bleeding Woman
1	a man	a woman
2	goes to Jesus for help publicly	goes to Jesus for help privately
3	Likely well-to-do financially	Spent all she had on medical doctors
4	Needed healing for daughter	Needed healing for herself
5	Daughter gets worse and dies	Woman  suffers more and gets worse
6	Wanted Jesus to place hands on daughter	Wanted to touch Jesus herself
7	Led the crowd	Followed in/with the crowd
8	Daugher  had shorter sickness	Sick for 12 years
9	Weaker faith	Strong faith
10	Wailing and mourning for girl	Silent suffering
11	Girl lying down	Walking/standing to get to Jesus
12	Called “little girl” by Jeuss	Called “daughter” by Jesus
13	Family all around her	No one else with her (that we know of)
14	Outward sickness/death	Inward bleeding
15	Pleaded verbally for daughter’s healing	Silently touched Jesus’ clothing
16	Daughter 12 years old	Sick for 12 years
17	Only 3 disciples witnessed	Witnessed by crowd
18	Daughter healed after death	Healed before death
19	Jesus laughed  at by mourners	Jesus scoffed at by disciples
20	Synagogue ruler	Poor woman
21	Daugher’s physical healing	Woman’s faith healed her
22	Falls at Jesus’ feet while pleading	Falls at Jesus’ feet while trembling
23	No internal dialogue recorded	Internal dialogue recorded
24	Saw Jesus in the crowd	Heard about Jesus
25	Daughter dies first	Instantaneous healing
26	Jesus questions the crowd as to who touchedHim	Jesus questions mourners as to why they were wailing
27	Jesus went up to dead girl	Went up to Jesus herself
28	Jesus healed girl by speaking	Jesus healed her by power leaving His body
29	Ordered not to tell anyone	Healing observed by crowd
30	No apparent fear of Jesus’ presence	Trembled with fear

Hope in His Love

I noticed an interesting thing, typical of poetry, in Psalm 33 this week. Verse 18 says this, Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love. This psalm is a song of praise displaying God's attributes and telling how nature and humanity bow to His supreme authority. We're to be joyful in His
power and providence over history and and creation. He created the heavens and the earth just by the breath of His mouth. His Word is upright and faithful. The earth is full of His steadfast love. He moves the seasons and oceans and times of man. He abolishes human counsel, but His counsel stands forever. The king and warrior aren't delivered by their army or strength, but rather it's those who fear and hope in His steadfast love that have His watchful eye protecting and providing for them.

The fear of the Lord is our wisdom and understanding, and the hope of eternal life and a Savior who remains with us always is our responsibility if we desire the Lord's deliverance. We must actively known His character in order to fear Him. We must read His word to have hope in His love. Our works demonstrate our salvation (but they don't save us), and God seeks out those who fear and hope in Him. To fear God is, first of all, to have faith in His saving power to deliver from sin. To fear Him as a believer then, is to love Him and obey His commands.

To hope in His love is to know His presence with us in a real and tangible way. It's to know and cling to the promises that His love remains despite our faults. That His forgiveness is certain when we repent. That He takes our weaknesses and makes them our strengths, and that His love is the binding factor between fellow believers.

Verse 22 gives us a slightly different angle on the same thought: Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, even as we hope in you. Though we might hope and fear in God, ultimately, it's His work to place that His overwhelming love in, on, and through us. It's a plea that God would and continue to have His love flow through us as we live. It's God's work in us that produces the hope and fear. It's our responsibility, yes, but it's God's work. That love stems from a hope in God. We hope in a God who is love, and if we are being conformed to His image (as all believers are), then we will become more and more the instruments and ambassadors of that love. May we also pray that His steadfast love would be on us as we continue to hope in Him.

The love of God is greater far

Than tongue or pen can ever tell;

It goes beyond the highest star,

And reaches to the lowest hell;

The guilty pair, bowed down with care,

God gave His Son to win;

His erring child He reconciled,

And pardoned from His sin.

When years of time shall pass away

And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,

When men who here refuse to pray,

On rocks and hills and mountains call,

God's love so sure shall still endure,

All measureless and strong;

Redeeming grace to Adam's race--

The saints' and angels' song.

O love of God, how rich and pure!

How measureless and strong!

It shall forevermore endure--

The saints' and angels' song!

"The Love of God"

From my mother's womb

You have chosen me

Love has called my name

I’ve been born again, into Your family

Your blood flows through my veins

You split the sea, so I could walk right through it

All my fears were drowned in perfect love 

You rescued me, so I could stand and sing 

I am a child of God

"No Longer Slaves"

Gospel of John, Part 4

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Should the resurrection of Jesus be considered one of the "signs" of the Gospel? Why or why not? (This is not asking you if the resurrection is important to Christianity.)

John’s Gospel records seven of Jesus signs before His resurrection and one sign after His resurrection. These signs were displayed by Christ to manifest His glory, turn unbelief to belief,[1]  test faith,[2] and proclaim His deity.[3] John’s eight signs, however, were not the only ones Jesus performed. Surpassing even these miraculous signs was Christ’s resurrection: a miracle demonstrating His power over His own physical body and over the sting of death.[4] The resurrection should be considered one of the signs of the Gospels because it also accomplished the same results as the other signs.

In the resurrection, Christ manifested His glory by demonstrating that He had power over death.[5] Satan thought He had conquered Christ by slaying His human body, but just as God had promised hundreds of years before, Christ would crush the Serpent’s head by His resurrection.[6] After His resurrection, Christ’s glory was displayed even more fully in His ascension to the right hand of the Father.[7]

The resurrection was one of Christ’s signs to turn unbelief to belief. Though Jesus had often spoken of His death and resurrection to His disciples, they didn’t not understand it nor grasp the full meaning until His ascension. The resurrection was meant to bring about ultimate saving faith in those who would believe.[8] The disciples did eventually believe. The women who followed Jesus believed. The centurion at the cross believed. The thief crucified with Christ believed. Countless others also followed the Savior and many gave their lives because of this one sign. The other eight signs recorded by John were meant to bring about faith in a Person. The resurrection was a sign of that Person meant to confirm faith.

The resurrection tested the faith of Christ’s followers. Mary, blinded by her emotions, had her faith tested when the “gardener” spoke to her. Peter’s faith was tested through his denial. The disciples were tested in the Garden of Gethsemane and during the three days and nights after the crucifixion. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus were tested by Jesus Himself when He scolded them for not remembering the words of the Old Testament Prophets. Thomas faith was tested when he saw the Lord’s pierced hands and side. The resurrection was the one great sign that tested faith to the utmost, determining whether a person’s faith would stand or fall. Many had believed in Jesus previous signs and wonders, but the sign of the resurrection laid the foundation for saving faith. Without saving faith, there is no salvation, forgiveness from sins, or eternity with Christ.[9]

The resurrection, like Jesus previous signs, also proclaimed Jesus’ deity. Only the Giver of Life could break the chains of death and work a physical and spiritual miracle in raising Himself from the grave. No other had done this, and no others would. In raising Himself from the dead, Christ demonstrated His equality with the Father, for God is the Author of Life.[10]

The resurrection was Christ’s greatest sign to believers and unbelievers alike, that Jesus is the Christ.[11] Those who believe today don’t have the blessing of seeing Christ’s physical miracles. Though John and the other Gospel authors recorded the miracles of Christ, our faith today rests completely on what Christ has already done and in our faith in the miracles that others witnessed. Thomas had the advantage of seeing in order that he might believe, but we are blessed because we haven’t seen, yet we believe.[12] The resurrection was also written that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that in believing we might have life through His name.[13] The resurrection stands in the past, present, and future as the greatest sign of the Bible.[14]

---

[1] Elmer Towns, The Gospel of John, 208.

[2] Merill Chapin Tenney, Topics from the Gospel of John, 157.

[3] John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, John 1-11, 83.

[4] 1 Corinthians 15:54-55.

[5] 1 Corinthians 15:26-27.

[6] Genesis 3:15.

[7] Philippians 2:9-11.

[8] Merill Chapin Tenney, Topics from the Gospel of John, 158.

[9] Leon Morris, Jesus is the Christ, 186.

[10] John 2:18-22.

[11] John MacArthur,  The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, John 12-21, 386

[12] John 20:24-29.

[13] John 20:31.

[14] 1 Corinthians 15:1-20.

March Quotes

Better suffer anything than do wrong.

-C.H. Spurgeon

Do you want honest, upright, able men to guide our country's future? Those men are sitting in high chairs today in your dining room.

-Jenny Chancy

There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.

–C.S. Lewis

God never witholds from His child that which His love and wisdom call good. God's refusals are always merciful -- "severe mercies" at times but mercies all the same. God never denies us our hearts desire except to give us something better.

-Elizabeth Elliott

If God is for us, then the opposition, which inevitably comes against us, is ultimately of no account. 

-Alistair Begg

Why would we want fame, when God promises us glory? Why would we be seeking the wealth of the world when the wealth of heaven is ours? Why would we run for a crown that will perish with time, when we're called to win a crown that is imperishable?

 -Paul Washer

He comes to the dry and thirsty land of the human heart in its wild and desperate struggles for survival. He comes to the wilderness of our lives, and a furrow at a time he reclaims the land, restoring something of the Paradise that has been lost. He comes to the weary heart to give it rest. To the lonely heart to give it friendship. To the wounded heart to give it healing. To the sad heart to give it joy. And if no joy, at least the companionship of someone who has known what it's like to be sad, wounded, lonely and weary. 

-Ken Gire

True faith rests upon the character of God and asks no further proof than the moral perfections of the One who cannot lie.

-A.W.Tozer

Lord, I give up all my own purposes and plans, all my own desires and hopes and ambitions, and accept Thy will for my life. I give myself, my life, my all utterly to Thee, to be Thine forever. I hand over to Thy keeping all my friendships; all the people whom I love are to take a second place in my heart. Fill me and seal me with Thy Holy Spirit. Work out Thy whole will in my life, at any cost, now and forever. 

-Betty Stam

Psalm 56:3 says, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.” 

Notice: it does not say, “I never struggle with fear.” Fear strikes, and the battle begins. So the Bible does not assume that true believers will have no anxieties. Instead, the Bible tells us how to fight when they strike. 

-John Piper

Godly households are the greatest martial assets of the Kingdom of God. Establishing and maintaining them is a matter of spiritual warfare. 

-Andrew C. Romanowitz

The day is gone from us--and is with You. We leave it in Your hands. Whatever we have done that was not according to Your will--may You graciously forgive. The things that pleased You--may You bless. 

-J.R. Miller

Look for yourself and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.

-C.S. Lewis

How do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on, when in your heart, you begin to understand, there is no going back? There are some things that time cannot mend.

-J.R.R. Tolkien

May your convictions be deep, your love real, your desires earnest.

-C.H. Spurgeon