July 18 – Unjust Punishment

~ Beejai

He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God. (Romans 4:25)

Relate: Some times life just is not fair. I had a strong sense of the injustice of the world even at a tender age. I was probably eight at the time. I was making some toast in the kitchen when my sister came in and got a drink. She came in through the dining room door, poured herself a glass, then left out towards the office without shutting the fridge. Not thirty seconds later my mom appeared in the kitchen through the dining room door. She saw the open door and me buttering my toast and set in on scolding me for leaving the door open. My protestations of innocence only added lying to my crime which made the entire situation far worse. I don’t remember what my punishment ended up being… probably I had to wash the dishes for the next few days. All I remember was the injustice.

Growing up, I was the brat, my sister was the angel. If I did something wrong I would get in trouble. If she did something wrong, if there was even a sliver of uncertainty of who the culprit was, I would get in trouble. Though she will deny it to this day, we both know there was more than a few times I took the punishment on her behalf. The thing is, I don’t ever think I took that punishment voluntarily. Let me take that a step further: I am absolutely certain there was not one instance where she was getting in trouble and I volunteered to take her place. To be fair, the opportunities for me to take her punishment were few and far between. I was getting punished far more often than she was but despite the far greater number of opportunities, she never volunteered to take my place either.

We didn’t because people don’t. It just isn’t done. Maybe on occasion a spouse or a parent or child will take this noble walk, but even then it is a very rare thing. Yet we were strangers to God when He took our place. We were considered his enemies when He died for us. That is beyond my comprehension.

Continue reading:

https://theriverwalk.org/2017/07/18/july-18-unjust-punishment/

4 Essentials for Spiritual Maturity

From Kent Hughes

When the New Testament addresses spiritual maturity, it uses the common Greek word teleios, which means “perfect” or “complete.” When it is applied to Christian growth, it indicates spiritual maturity in contrast to childlike immaturity as, for example, in this command from Paul: “Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature (teleioi).” (1 Cor. 14:20; see also Heb.5:13–6:1). Sometimes it indicates perfection, as in Jesus’ summary command in the Sermon on the Mount: “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly father is perfect” (Matt.5:48). Spiritually, it always references solid, biblically informed understanding and conduct in Christ—spiritual adulthood.

Significantly, the job description for pastors is freighted with the responsibility of bringing the church to spiritual maturity, as stated in classic words to the church in Ephesus:

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ, until all attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature [teleion] manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. (Eph. 4:11–13)

The question for all pastors and elders is How? Here, we suggest four essentials.

Read them: http://www.ligonier.org/blog/4-essentials-spiritual-maturity/

If You Don’t Care for the Poor, You Don’t Understand the Gospe

Karl Marx famously called Christianity the opiate of the people, but I think it’s actually the smelling salts. Because when you really understand God’s grace, you wake up to injustice, and you are moved by compassion.

The reverse is true as well: When you are blind to the needs of the poor, it raises the question of whether or not you’ve actually ever believed the gospel, because you are unaware of your own pressing need for God’s merciful attention to you in your sin.

A failure to show concern for the poor shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the gospel.

When the prophet Amos confronted the nation of Israel about their neglect and oppression of the poor, the excuses they gave may sound familiar to us today.

First, the Israelites said, “But we are God’s chosen people” (Amos 3:2). In other words, “We’re forgiven; we’re God’s favorites.” But God responded, “That makes your sin even worse! You not only knew me as lawgiver; you knew me as Father and Redeemer. To whom much is given, much will surely be required.”

Then they tried their second excuse: “Our religious zeal makes up for our moral shortcomings” (Amos 5:21). At this point in their history, Israel went to church all the time and put on a bunch of feasts. But God responded, “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.”

We use the same excuses today when we fail to show a concern for the poor: “Well, thank God that he accepts us by grace!” or “We’re not perfect, just forgiven.”

But we can’t excuse ourselves with grace. If we’ve really been forgiven, we’ll be more passionate about caring for the poor and fighting injustice, not less. Forgiveness is not a license to avoid these things. It’s a catalyst to drive us deeper into these things.

Amos 6:1 says, “Woe to those who are at ease in Zion”—those who are playing through life when so many around them are suffering.

Charles Spurgeon identified three groups that are “at ease in Zion”:

Continue at: https://jdgreear.com/blog/dont-care-poor-dont-understand-gospel/

The 9 Irrefutable Laws of Followship

In Jared Wilson’s new (and in my opinion, best) book, The Imperfect Disciple, he wrote a chapter called, “The Nine Irrefutable Laws of Followship.” In this chapter (pp. 147-73), he explains how the nine attributes that make up the fruit of the Spirit remind us that “We are gifted with the holiness into which we have been called.” In other words, the Holy Spirit has been given to us through union with Christ to mold us into the holiness God calls us to.

Below are “the nine irrefutable laws of followship,” with some quotes from the book.

1. Be Ye Loving

“Only the gospel gives us the security (of union with Christ) to risk reputation and hurt in order to love others sacrificially and boldly.”

2. Be Ye Joyful

“God is not expecting us to muster up happiness in him from the void of some nebulous religious reservoir. He puts the joy inside of us that he demands from us.”

Continue at: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/brandondsmith/2017/07/9-irrefutable-laws-followship/

Ways to Love God with the Mind

By: Jason Kline

Loving God with all of our mind is what I believe to be a Biblical command. Apologists often defend the practice of apologetics using Luke 10:27 and loving God with all your mind. However, we cannot also neglect to love the Lord with all your heart and soul and strength (Luke 10:27). Loving God with all your mind and only with your mind COULD led you too much pain and agony (burnout) if not downright insanity and spiritual bankruptcy. God rescued me through the lives and works of scholars like J.P. Moreland, Dallas Willard, A.W. Tozer, Dr. Tim and Lydia McGrew and my personal friend and mentor, Brian Chilton. These folks supplied pastoral care in helping me see the forest through the trees when times of confusion set in, helping me keep the main thing the main thing.

Proving that God exists is not enough. I know of many atheists who can make a strong case for Christianity, yet they remain atheists. Apologetics is not a discipline in which we aim to win arguments. It is a discipline in which God uses, through us, to win souls and to lead one into communion with God. Without the discipline of prayer, the battle is already lost.

Loving God with the Mind Through Worship

Read more at: https://bellatorchristi.com/2017/07/17/ways-to-love-god-with-mind/

“One Thing Remains” Kutless

The Purpose of Man: Designed to Worship

The one great obsession of A.W. Tozer’s life was worship. Many have written about worship, but Tozer surpassed them all in simple passion and supreme purpose. Compiled from material never before published, this book presents A.W. Tozer’s systematic teaching on worship, the subject close to his heart. One of the first in evangelical circles to call attention to the doctrine of worship, Tozer knew worship as the purpose of man and the expectation of God. His thoughts on this subject were deeply rooted in biblical doctrine and historic writings, blending Scripture with some of the great devotional writers throughout history. Like sitting down with Tozer, The Purpose of Man delivers Tozer’s soul cry on worship and will inspire readers to not only understand worship, but also experience it in his or her own heart. “This will be the best teaching in my ministry. I want to deliver my soul as a prophet of God to the people, and to explain why we were created and why we are here, not to the satisfaction of the needed appetite only but to something bigger, grander and more eternal, that we might worship God and enjoy Him forever.” A.W. Tozer