Grace will Lead Me Home

I'd like to share some thoughts from and about Morning and Evening (Charles Spurgeon) for September 22 Morning.  It struck me the other day, so I wanted to share it with you now.

"When my heart is faint...lead me to the Rock that is higher than I."

- Psalm 61:2

The central focus of Spurgeon here was on Christ "leading" us to Himself, the "harbor of weather-beaten sails."  He comments that "the helm does not answer to our puny hand; [God] alone can steer us over the bar between the sunken rocks and safe into the fair haven."

That made me think about something that comes up a lot in my godly conversations--the fact that man, on his own, cannot choose or come to God.  Along with what Kole was just talking about in the last post!  Man is incapable--he has a "puny hand."  Man needs God to lead him heavenward.

This is true in the sense that man needs God to call him to Himself initially (salvation), but it is also true for people who have already been saved.  Christians still need God to lead them toward heaven--without Him, our "puny hand" would allow the sea of the world to pull us into the rocks and drown us in its depths.

Just a few profound thoughts from Spurgeon.  I recommend his writing, especially the twice-a-day devotional Morning and Evening.  It is thought-provoking and is well worth the read for the Spiritual benefits it provides by pointing to God and His word.

On the non-spiritual side of things, I'm having computer problems that will end today by me sending my computer to HP.  This is nice because my computer problems will go away.  This is bad because I will be without a computer for two weeks.

What is a guy like me to do?  I do school on the computer, I entertain myself on the computer, I make money with the computer (making websites and Flash applications/games), I make music on the computer, I even exercise on the computer (I run Dance Dance Revolution through the computer).  Pray for me.  This is God's way of saying "stop relying on the computer, you geek."

I might have small windows of time at least every other day to check my email and reply to comments, but nothing beyond that.

Well, that's all I've got.  Comment!

Luke

Why we Forgive

Why do we forgive people? Why don't we hold a grudge?

Well, the main reason for the saved is... "Forgive just as your Father in heaven forgave you." The only way we can really realize God's grace and mercy, is if we realize how much God has forgiven us. And if we really know how much God has forgiven us... why shouldn't we forgive others?

You probably know the parable where the a man had a humongous debt, one that he could never pay... but yet, the king forgave him. However, when the man went away... he choked one of his servants for ten-cents! And that's how we are when we don't forgive others.

So if we really know how much Christ has forgiven us, we can forgive anybody for anything!

All Christ,
~Kade

How much do we need God?

I haven’t posted in awhile, but I’ve had something to say—I just keep forgetting or neglecting to share it with you. But I finally thought about it and did something about it, and here it is!

I was thinking the other day about how much we need Christ. I was reading in a book that spoke about how the grace needed to save and sustain a sinner (a sinner who is one of the elect of God) is incredibly great. But not only does God do that for one day for one sinner, but for all eternity, every day, all the time, for all the millions that He chose to save.

And then I realized that I needed so much from God. Not only did I need that abundant, huge amount of grace daily, but I also needed Him to put it on me. When I thought of the grace of God as an incredible rainstorm on a parched desert (with me in it), I realized that even though I was parched and thirsty—I, on my own, would never open my mouth to receive God’s grace. Not only do I need Christ to give grace, but I also need him to open my mouth to receive His gift.

I also applied that to the Armor of God. He’s given me the belt of truth, the sword of the Spirit, the helmet of salvation, and all the other parts of the armor, but I need Him to go beyond giving them to me—I don’t know how to equip them. God alone can equip me with my armor. I am a helpless, unprepared soldier without armor until God both gives me the armor and equips it for me.

So pray that God would open your mouth to receive His blessings, His will, and His calling, and that daily He would equip you with all that you need to serve Him well.

Luke

Our High Priest

Last Sunday we had Communion at our church, and we have the men (or in this case, young men) share something for Scripture before we partook of Communion. I found something that I wanted to share and after being encouraged by my dad and mom, I stood up and shared this. Hebrews 4:14-16 says, "Therefore, since we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may find Mercy and find grace to help in time of need." These verses tell us of two personal benefits that people who have trusted in Christ have. First, We have someone who can "sympathize with our weaknesses" because He "has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin". And two, we can "come come confidently to the throne of grace," because God knows our need.

Grace, Mercy, and Peace, From God the Father & Christ Jesus our Lord,
-Kole

"The Sinner"

A few nights ago my family was watching a movie by Francis Schaeffer, How Should We Then Live, and we learned about the Renaissance; and the next night, about the Reformation. It was talking about the humanistic view during the Renaissance, and how it can be seen in the paintings of the time, with the self-portraits and pieta's of art. It is seen in Michalangelo's pieta in Florence, of him carving his own face in the carving of Nicodemus, bringing Christ down from the cross. Below is a picture of the pieta. The Reformation, however, showed a change, from the humanistic way of life, to a biblical view of salvation by grace. Again, the views of the time can be seen in the paintings or pieta by the people of that time. Below is a painting by a man by the name of Rembrandt.

Rembrandt, is the man highlighted (bringing himself out) in the middle with his painters hat on, holding up the cross of Christ. Rembrandt understood that it was his sins that had sent Christ to the cross (among other things), and he knew that he had put Christ upon the cross. Rembrandt was "THE SINNER" in his own eyes, even as the publican called himself the same name. And I thought this morning, "I don't consider myself "THE SINNER" enough." If ever I do. It was I who was an enemy (or the enemy) of Christ. There is always someone else worse than us to compare ourselves too. I need to understand that I was the man in the middle of this painting holding up the cross of Christ.

-Kole