Simply put, God’s will is your growth in Christlikeness. God promises to work all things together for our good that we might be conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:28-29). . . . God never assures us of health, success, or ease. But He promises us something even better: He promises to make us loving, pure, and humble like Christ. In short, God’s will is that you and I get happy and holy in Jesus.

So go marry someone, provided you’re equally yoked and you actually like being with each other. Go get a job, provided it’s not wicked. Go live somewhere in something with somebody or nobody. But put aside the passivity and the quest for complete fulfillment and the perfectionism and the preoccupation with the future, and for God’s sake start making some decisions in your life. Don’t wait for the liver-shiver. If you are seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, you will be in God’s will, so just go out and do something. (61)

~Kevin DeYoung, Just Do Something

HT: DG blog

If you haven’t heard by now, I’ve joined those who actually run for “fun.” I’m even training to run a half-marathon (13.1 miles) race in Nov. If you think that’s crazy, well…you’re not exactly wrong. (And for those who knew me several years ago, don’t feel bad for laughing. Even I’m still surprised that I’m doing this).

Craziness aside, I’ve learned quite a bit about this new hobby. Here are some of the lessons I’ve learned so far:

• Have the right gear—good shoes are a given and the right clothes, but I’ve even bought a fancy water belt for the longer distance runs
• Training is not optional—the closer the race gets the more important I realize regular training is
• Setting goals is a must—of course, the big goal is completing the race, but on a normal run, even small goals of “getting to that next stop sign” really help
• Running is a team sport/community effort—even though I’m doing most of my training alone, I’ve had several others who also run to encourage and educate me on the do’s and don’ts
• Get rid of distractions/hindrances—kind of obvious, but more important that I first realized
• Running is just as much, if not more, mental than physical—the longer my run is, the more I know this to be true; my thoughts begin to argue with what my body is saying

All these are valuable lessons and have helped immensely. However, the most important lesson so far is that I’ve come to understand more fully the Apostle Paul’s comparison of the Christian life as a race. I heard it all my life, but the reality of that illustration has sunk deeper now that I’ve begun running. At the risk of stating the obvious or making too much of the comparison, let me point out some similarities to the lessons I’ve just listed.

Scripture tells us that God has given us all we need for life and godliness. We have been given specific gifts that equip us to complete the Christian life and finish well. Yet, we know that we are still responsible to train ourselves in godliness at the same time and work to lay aside weights and hindrances that would keep us from finishing or that would slow us down or divert us off course. The Spirit, of course, enables us to do this, but He has also blessed us with a community—the church—to support us along the way. They are there to encourage when things are going well and to push and prod when we want to quit. And how do they do this?  By speaking the truth of God’s Word into our lives as we battle sin and allow the Spirit to renew our minds. Here again the race is not just physical but mental and spiritual.

For me, though, the most significant parallel has been the idea of setting goals and thinking on how I want to finish my race. I believe this is the comparison that we often have the hardest time understanding or at least remembering in our daily lives. I know that until I committed to running a half marathon, I was not very serious about my running, but now that my goal is to be able to finish (and finish well!) my view of all these other elements has changed. The same should be true in our Christian life. Sadly, we do not generally live with eternity in mind, nor do we live in the reality of the coming New Creation. Instead of looking to Jesus and the joy set before us, we look everywhere else. Our faith is small so our view of the finish line isn’t always sure or clear. But if, by the Spirit’s enabling through faith, we really did catch a glimpse of the glorious goal of final salvation—of being one day completely changed into the image of Christ—how much different would our months, weeks, even days be? Wouldn’t we take more advantage of the gifts we’ve been given to succeed. Wouldn’t we take our training more seriously—actively fighting sin and pursuing holiness? Wouldn’t we recognize our desperate need to rely on the Spirit to finish this race?

If for no other reason than to learn that, I’m thankful for running, even if it does seem a little crazy to do just for fun.

*photo from www.sau.edu

Let us then examine ourselves. Do we long and desire to see the reality of Christ’s glory in heaven? Are we meditating on that perfect image of Christ’s glory given to us in the gospel? Or are we too filled with this world and its concerns? As believers, beholding the glory of Christ in the glass of the gospel, we are changed into the same image and likeness by the Spirit of the Lord. So those beholding the beauty of the world and the things that are in it through the cursed glass of self-love are in their minds changed into its image. But we have not so learned Christ Jesus.

~ John Owen
The Glory of Christ, p. 107-8
ed. R.J.K. Law, The Banner of Truth Trust, 1994.

From the title you might be thinking this post will be about how many shopping days are left until Dec. 25th–that is unless you know me well enough to remember that I’m always a last-minute shopper.

So no, this post isn’t about shopping deals–far from it. Earlier this month as I was listening to a Christmas CD in the car, (yes, you can listen to Christmas music  before Thanksgiving!) it occurred to me that as believers we easily fall prey to the secular commercial calendar. When that happens, the significance of the reason we celebrate Christmas becomes mired in sentimentality and materialism.  As a result we can (and often do) trivialize “the reason for the season.” Caught up in how we feel about the time of year or who we still have to buy a present for,  we end up neglecting to think deeply, and often, about the year-round implications of the Incarnation.

So here are some thoughts now on the Incarnation that I hope you will meditate on in the coming months, perhaps guarding you from the all-too-common emotionalism and consumerism that will be here before we know it.

Some Implications of the Incarnation:

1. A fuller understanding of the gospel–Many times even as we are celebrating His birth we are reminded of His death as the reason He came. However, the Incarnation also points us to the perfect life he lived in between these two events. Remembering this helps us understand that justification is both forgiveness of sins and imputation of his righteousness to me. In my union with Him, His righteous sinless life is credited to me. So the Incarnation reminds us that before he died as our substitute on the cross, he obeyed and fulfilled the law  in our place too. In Christ, the Father has forgiven our disobedience and sees the Son’s obedience. Isn’t that encouraging, as you think of the times you already failed to obey this week?
2. A greater recognition of Him as our mediator and high priest–thinking about the Incarnate Christ comforts us in our trials and temptations. He really does understand and He can relate! He dwelled among us, tempted as we are. This gives us great hope in our race and strengthens our perseverance, giving us confidence that we can look to Him and find grace in time of need.
3. A greater faith and confidence in His return–We get so caught up in the temporal. What’s going on this weekend or maybe next week.  Yet, Jesus called us to be watching and eagerly anticipating His return and the renewal He will bring. As we reflect on His birth that demonstrated the fulfillment of the prophecies of His first coming, it also grounds our faith in His second coming! Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
4. A greater glimpse of His glory– Puritan preacher John Owen says “The glory of Christ’s humiliation [becoming man] was the result of the divine wisdom of the Father as well as of the love of the Son. It was the highest evidence of God’s loving care towards his sinful human creatures. What can be compared to it? It is the glory of Christianity and the life-giving power of all evangelical truth.” (The Glory of Christ, p.47)
5. A greater grasp of grace–Jesus did not think equality with God a thing to be grasped but made himself in the form of a servant (Phil. 2.6-7). He condescended to come to us His enemies so that he could lift us up to sit with him as brothers and fellow heirs in the heavenly places. What marvelous grace this is!

How Sweet the Day

How sweet the day when Christ was born

When God Himself took human form

He came to wash our sins away

Our death to die, our debt to pay

How sweet the day when Hope appeared

The One who frees us from our fears

He came to break the power of sin

And give us power to follow Him

Chorus

Oh sing for joy, lift up your voice

Let us sing for joy, the whole earth rejoice

Let us sing for joy to the Son

For Jesus our Savior has come

How sweet the day when Christ returns

We’ll see the One for whom we yearn

Then we’ll look full upon His face

Our hearts will burst with songs of praise

Come, Lord Jesus, come

Words and music by Stephen Altrogge

© 2006 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI).

The glory of Christ’s exaltation cannot be seen or understood in this world except by faith fixing itself on divine revelation. We cannot behold the glory of Christ by conjuring up pictures of him in the mind and by trying to form the shape of a person in heaven in our imaginations. The way to behold the glory of Christ is by the steady exercise of faith on the revelation of this glory of Christ given to us in Scripture. It is our duty, therefore, constantly to meditate on the glory of Christ. This will fill us with joy which will, in turn, move us to meditate on his glory more and more.

~ John Owen
The Glory of Christ, p. 67
ed. R.J.K. Law, The Banner of Truth Trust, 1994.

Blogger and author Trevin Wax reflects on turning 29. I saw myself mirrored in this paragraph:

That’s not to say that I am better than anyone else. No… sin is often subtle. My temptations resemble those of the older brother in the story of the prodigal son. I battle self-righteousness, pride, and self-centeredness. I find myself drifting back into a moralistic understanding of the gospel, and so I feel the constant need to splash the cold, but refreshing water of gospel truth in my face every morning.

Thanks to Google Reader, I’m able to keep up with a few different blogs. One I’ve begun reading regularly over at The Gospel Coalition is Kevin DeYoung’s, author of Why We Love the Church and Just Do Something. He is also a pastor in Michigan. Last week, he had several very helpful and encouraging posts that I wanted to pass on to those of you who may not read his blog. After you read these, I hope you’ll make it over to his blog more on your own. It’s worth it!

Are Christians meant to feel guilty all the time?

Why Christians need confession of sin

Confidence or Condemnation?

A word of encouragement for those going through difficult trials:

If our faith is worth anything, it will stand the test when trials come. The true jewel fears no test. It is a weak faith which can only trust God when friends are true, the body full of health, and the business profitable. True faith holds by the Lord’s faithfulness when friends are gone, when the body is sick, when spirits are depressed, and the light of our Father’s countenance is hidden. A faith which can say in the direst trouble, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in Him” (Job 13:15) is heaven-born faith.

The Lord is greatly glorified in the graces of His people. When “tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope” (Rom. 5:3-4), the Lord is honored by these growing virtues. … We would never discover the sweet perfume of cinnamon if it were not pressed and beaten or feel the warmth of fire if the coals were not utterly consumed.

The wisdom and power of the great Workman are discovered by the trials through which His vessels of mercy are permitted to pass. There must be shades in the picture to bring out the beauty of the lights. Could we be so supremely blessed in heaven if we had not known the curse of sin and the sorrow of earth? Peace will be sweeter after conflict and rest more welcome after toil. The recollection of past sufferings will enhance the bliss of the glorified.

~C. H. Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 283. Whitaker House, 1984.

I’m only a few chapters into Joshua Harris’ new book Dug Down Deep, but already I know it will be one of my favorites. Here is one of many worthy quotes; in this one, Harris gives us some significant reasons to study theology:

God’s attributes are not merely a list of facts and features. They are truths that inform belief and inspire faith. God reveals truth about himself in his Word, not for the sake of knowledge, but for the sake of relationship with us. He tells us about himself so we will put our faith in him, so we will treasure and worship him and not waste ourselves on man-made idols. He wants our souls to soar in worship and communion with him–not rot in the pursuit of sin or waste away in worry and fear.

God is different from you and me. He is utterly different. And that is utterly wonderful.

There is surprising comfort in the realization that God is so unlike you and me. The fact that he’s not like us is the reason we can run to him for rescue.

Harris, Joshua. Dug Down Deep: Unearthing What I Believe and Why it Matters, p. 44-45. Multnomah, 2010.

I read this quote a few days ago and after sharing it with a few friends thought it was something I should post here too.

A pastor in Michigan, Kevin DeYoung in his book on the will of God called Just Do Something (pp. 47, 48) says this:

We obsess about the future and we get anxious, because anxiety, after all, is simply living out the future before it gets here.

We must renounce our sinful desire to know the future and to be in control.  We are not gods.  We walk by faith, not by sight.  We risk because God does not risk.  We walk into the future in God-glorifying confidence, not because the future is known to us but because it is known to God.  And that’s all we need to know.  Worry about the future is not simply a character tic, it is the sin of unbelief, an indication that our hearts are not resting in the promises of God. (HT  Pure Church by Thabiti Anyabwile)

When discussing with a friend of mine, however, I was reminded that in our “Christian-ese” language we can talk around things without thinking more deeply on how to apply them.

So what are the promises of God we should be resting in? Please share a specific promise you’ve used in your life to deal with anxiety or some other sin or struggle.