Excellent Fullness

Edwards:

I have sometimes had a sense of the excellent fullness of Christ, and his meekness and suitableness as a Savior; whereby he has appeared to me, far above all, the chief of ten thousands. His blood and atonement have appeared sweet, and his righteousness sweet; which was always accompanied with ardency of spirit; and inward strugglings and breathings, and groanings that cannot be uttered, to be emptied of myself, and swallowed up in Christ.

Jonathan Edwards, Personal Narrative in the Letters and Personal Writings, WJE Online, vol. 16

"You No Longer Have to Spend the Rest of Your Life Chasing Your Tail"

Galatians 2:11-16

"For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. For I id not receive it from any man, nor was I thought it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me..."


No explanation needed.

Gateway Gospel vs. Pathway Gospel

The gospel is not something that merely "gets us into Christianity" and then is to be forgotten as we graduate on to self resourced "sanctification." That's just not it. The gospel is both the ignition to and the fuel for the Christian life. In a recent sermon Dane Ortlund made this very clear by focusing on the "gateway gospel" versus the "pathway gospel." Here are some gospel soaked excerpts...

"The gateway gospel forgives your past sins and sets you on a new road of doing more and more for Jesus. The pathway gospel forgives your past, present, and future sins and sets you on a new road enjoying more and more what Jesus has done for you."

"The gateway gospel draws you to the idea of forgiveness. The pathway gospel draws you to the person of Jesus."

"The gateway gospel is a march. The pathway gospel is a dance."

"The gateway gospel was at work in us believers. The pathway gospel is at work in us believers."

 

 

Your Own Making

"The depth of the wound is your own making" -Tim Keller

Whatever you are going through in life--whatever consumes your thought, soul, and deed in a negative way, is ultimately, our fault.

All external factors in this life can and will impose themselves on us, yes, in a negative way. The particular action--job loss, failure as a parent, failed class, broken relationship, unrequited love, broken or troubled marriage, general anxiety, physical illness, general disappointment, faulty finances, overworked, etc.-- may have been imposed on us in an unjust way to the point where we are the victim by any standard.

But-- to the extent that we let that event ravage our soul, to the extent that our okayness--our feeling of being justified--is linked to that particular event is our fault. 


The depth of that wound is a direct reflection of our distrust in Christ's sufficiency. Every time we are met with a form of struggle, we must filter it through the gospel. The world imposes it on us and it may be unjust, but the moment it reaches us the gospel is thoroughly sufficient to ease the anxiety of our souls.

Here's the beauty. The only thing that will ever span the chasm of our wounds are His wounds. Isaiah 53. period. Our hope is external. Our idolatry--no matter how rampant--cannot cannot cannot affect our ravishing hope that is in Christ Jesus. If it were up to us to apply that filter, we would be absolutely wrecked. Christ makes his glory and mercy so evident that he directly intercedes on our behalf. If it were up to me, I'd be screwed. Seriously. Praise be to God.

1 Peter 1:3-9 - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith--more precious than gold that perishes through it is tested by fire--may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Valley of Vision - "The Spirit's Work"

Help me to find in his death the reality and immensity of his love.
Open for me the wondrous volumes of truth in his, 'It is finished'.
Increase my faith in the clear knowledge of
     atonement achieved,
     expiation completed,
     satisfaction made,
     guilt done away,
     my debt paid,
     my sins forgiven,
     my person redeemed,
     my soul saved,
     hell vanquished,
     heaven opened,
     eternity made mine.
O Holy Spirit, deepen in me these saving lessons.
Write them upon my heart.


.........I agree with the puritan

The Battleground

I've found the premier battleground of idolatry is my bed. Lying awake, attempting to sleep, where does my mind wander? What do I trail off about in the middle of my prayers? What happened that day, or day before that seeps into my thoughts and plants itself firmly?

What does your mind keep coming back to when you lie awake in bed?

Its a battleground.

At ease soldier...

"O God whose will conquers all, there is no comfort in anything apart from enjoying thee, and being engaged in thy service...I am well pleased with thy will, whatever it is...I rejoice to think that all things are at thy disposal, and it delights me to leave them there." - Valley of Vision, "God The All"

Psalms 1:2: but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.


Psalms 4:7: You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

How Delightful it is

How delightful it is! When my heart is gracefully, violently torn from the grips of wandering affections and centered firmly on the glory of Christ.

How delightful it is! When Christ shows me the true depth of His sufficiency.

How delightful it is! That I can never out-sin grace, nor escape the pursuit of my great Savior

How delightful it is. That by grace, through the cross, day by day, Jesus liberates me from the shackles of Adam's inheritance, and brings me to Himself.

How delightful it is