stones from the quarry

We love because, He first loved us. 1 John 4:19

How can we love? Not by looking at anything we can do, in fact don’t even be concerned with how. Instead, focus on Him— His love for us. When I genuinely focus on how much Jesus loves me and the way he demonstrated His love to me, love will come as an outpouring that He brings forth in me.

Psalm 37:4-6 “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.”

I’d like to stop and look at this scripture closely. We do have key words that have promised results.

Delight! Get into His company, sit at His feet, learn of Him. We will find our desires begin to reflect His. Our heart’s desires begin to transform. We begin to desire the things we didn’t before and we let go of the things we once held tightly; all because He first loved us and we acknowledged and confessed this love. Christ’s love is brought forth in us.

Commit! Transfer your way to God’s way. Hold nothing back. Are you clinging to anything of your own? What have you not committed to God that may be holding you back from experiencing His love more deeply, and more abundantly? Is there a fear you are holding on to? Is there a resentment in your life? Was there a past wound that you are holding onto and you are saying “you can have all Lord, but that. I’d like my own way in this area, I know best.” Are you clinging to your intellect? your possessions? your health? your comfort? your pride? your status? man’s approval? The gifts God gave you? When He says “Commit” He means EVERYTHING!

Trust Him! We are in His company, and we have laid it all at His feet transferring our ways to His ways. Trust Him. “Faith looks away from itself to the object of faith, even to Christ” SpurgeonBy keeping our eyes on Him, our faith grows, not by looking at faith itself. We can’t look at faith itself. When Peter stepped out of the boat, as long as he kept his eyes on Jesus he was able to walk without sinking, but as soon as he took his eyes off of him and started looking at himself and his circumstances, he began to sink.

He will bring forth! When we delight, commit and trust in Him, He will bring forth. I want to stop there, because He is the one that compels, He is the one that enables, He is the one who brings forth, not me. What will He bring forth? My righteousness because, I am covered in His righteousness and it becomes my righteousness. He will bring forth His light in me so that I can shine for His glory. Our acts of righteousness are a direct result of His bringing it forth in me. I will find that my love for God and others will be a direct outpouring of Him bringing it forth. I love because He first loved me. Hosea 10:12 says, “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in steadfast love.”

Do you know this love that Jesus has for you? There is nothing you can do to earn it. You could never do enough. Our own righteousness is as filthy rags. Even though you were far off. Even though you were alienated from Him. Even though your heart rejected Him. Even though you rebelled. All have gone astray, everyone has turned to his own way (Isaiah 53:6). Out of love, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). He gave us a way back into relationship with Him, by His sacrifice on the cross. He took our sins upon Himself and paid our debt so that we could be rescued from the judgment of God. We now are free in Him and have peace with God. This is a free gift. Do you acknowledge and confess this gift?
God brings forth life and love.(John 11:25-26)Sin brings forth death.(James 1:15)
We were dead in our sins, BUT GOD! God in His great love for us made us alive (Ephesains 2:1-10). We were dead and He brought us forth out of death. He removes our heart of stone, and says, “Come forth” We can then give glory to God, I was once dead, but now I am alive! I am set free from death! Read the story of Lazarus( John 11)

He will bring forth!
Let us simply, acknowledge and confess Jesus as Lord of all. Delight, commit and trust in Him all for the glory of God alone! To Him be praised!

Joyful are the people with integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord” Psalm 119:1

“The meaning of “joyful” here may include happiness, but it’s deeper than that. It’s contentment, peacefulness, gratefulness, no matter our circumstances.

We all want this and we search for it in all kinds of things except nothing fits and satisfies that this world can offer.

St. Augustine said, “O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.”

We were created to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

The psalmist gives the solution to a life of Biblical joy.

“Joyful are the people with integrity”

First let’s talk about the word “integrity”

We say things about integrity, like “doing the right thing”, “he has honest character” Why do we makes these statements and on what grounds?

We all acknowledge in this statement that there is a right and a wrong, and there is a true and a false.

Integrity can’t live in a world of relativistic thinking.

Integrity can only operate if there really is an absolute truth that exists. There would be no logical explanation for it otherwise.

As C. S. Lewis showed us, “A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line.”

The Psalmist doesn’t just say “Joyful are the people with integrity”

The Bible doesn’t leave open equations for you to figure out your answer.

The answer is, “who follow the instructions of the Lord.”

Which instruction manual are you following?

When you follow an instruction manual to build something, you know you can’t follow the wrong manual or else it is going to be a big mess.

God created us to worship and follow Him and Him alone and we have the instruction manual, His Word.

So how are we to be joyful? Have integrity. And how do we have integrity? By following God’s Word.

God is holy and perfect and demands perfection. This may sound harsh, but the truth still remains.

Being good is not good enough.

No matter how much good we do, on its own it will never be good enough.

We are not better than the next person because of all the good things we do and all the bad things we don’t do.

So how in the world can we satisfy this perfect God?

This is how:

Philippians 2:5-7

Have this same attitude in yourselves which was in Christ Jesus [look to Him as your example in selfless humility], 6 who, although He existed in the form and unchanging essence of God [as One with Him, possessing the fullness of all the divine attributes—the entire nature of deity], did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped or asserted [as if He did not already possess it, or was afraid of losing it]; 7 but emptied Himself [without renouncing or diminishing His deity, but only temporarily giving up the outward expression of divine equality and His rightful dignity] by assuming the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men [He became completely human but was without sin, being fully God and fully man].

Ephesians 2:5-7

even when we were [spiritually] dead and separated from Him because of our sins, He made us [spiritually] alive together with Christ (for by His grace—His undeserved favor and mercy—you have been saved from God’s judgment).(A) 6 And He raised us up together with Him [when we believed], and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, [because we are] in Christ Jesus, 7 [and He did this] so that in the ages to come He might [clearly] show the immeasurable and unsurpassed riches of His grace in [His] kindness toward us in Christ Jesus [by providing for our redemption].

The short answer is we will never meet the standard, but God in His great love gave us a rescue plan, a Gift and that Gift is Himself.

God entered into our humanity. In the beginning was the WORD and the Word was WITH God and the Word WAS God. The “Word” is Jesus. Read that again and replace “Word” with “Jesus.”

God entered into humanity becoming one of us, fully man, but He remained fully God. He was fully man but without sin.

He came for one purpose, and that is to die.

Because we could never be good enough or holy enough to meet the judgement that was upon us, God the Son sacrificed himself in our place to satisfy the debt we could never pay.

We just have to repent which means surrender and turn around, and accept the free gift and believe. We are then given abundant life free from the chains that bind us.

If you are burdened by trying to meet the standard of good to earn your way and you are tired and weary…Jesus said, take my yoke upon you and I will give you rest. Harness up to Jesus, He will lead you, you don’t have to go through this life alone.

During this upcoming Christmas season think on this:

In the words of the sacred Christmas carol, O come O come Emmanuel. Emmanuel means God with us.

Trust in Jesus today! He loves you.

I am a Christian, Christ follower, and it’s not just a belief/faith, it is my identity—my whole self.

I hear some Christians talk as if there is a secular/sacred divide. For instance, I go to church and I do these things in my sacred life and than my work and play is over here in this secular corner. Even more concerning is Christians whose worldview is separated from God’s Word. For example, those that say politics, culture and what’s going on in the world is in my secular corner and should not mix with my sacred life.

How does this make any logical sense? This idea may be the main reason Christians can be ineffective in their influence in the world.

Yes it is true, we are Christians living in the world not of the world but that doesn’t mean that our view of the world is to be seen through a different lens.

C.S. Lewis said, “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it but because by it, I see everything else.”

Our identity in Christ will shape our worldview. It is through this identity that we can discern and see everything else.

It would make no sense that the Creator of the universe would have us view the world through different lenses. The Bible(God’s breathed Word) is our guide.

The closer we align ourselves with God’s Word the more His Word is living through us, in our beliefs, thoughts, actions and motivations across our entire lives. It will help me to discern in all areas the Truth from the false.

When we stray from keeping His Word as the central lens then this is where we will easily be led astray from His Truth. Beware of adding to or taking away from the authority of Scripture.

If you are finding contradictions, and holes in your worldview, don’t let it go and pass that off as, “oh that must go in the secular corner.” Do the work. Pray. Wrestle. Let the Light of God’s Word shine His Truth on it.

His Word is a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your path.
Seek and you shall find! Knock and the door will be opened. Seek Him first.

A fear of mine and somewhat of a fascination is the open waters and outer space.

It sends chills when I watch people going in a submarine miles below the surface or to outer space.

There is something terrifying about the deafening silence and expanse.

Why is this? I think it’s the fear of the unknown, the inability to see a beginning and an end. It requires a submission. It exposes our finiteness, our lack of ultimate control. It strips any notions of the world revolving around us and forces our submission.

We don’t like submission, so we don’t allow ourselves to be put in a position where this is thrust upon us, yet we inevitably can’t run from it.

Is this an intersection of the free will of man and the sovereignty of God? 

I can be afraid and choose not to go to outer space so I can stay comfortably in control, but even though I may believe and feel I’m in control by not choosing to go to outer space, outer space still remains and I’m still just as finite and not in control in my safe space as I would be in the expanse of the galaxy. We make choices, yes, but our choices don’t change truth and reality.

We can choose to take our own path, but really there is no other path. We are ultimately at the mercy of this absolute so our choices will ultimately come under this authority and we will find we had no choice.

Our freedom then is in submission to the Truth not apart from it. When we have submitted to our creator and trust Jesus as the author and finisher of our faith we can live in abundant life the way we were designed. No more fighting for something we weren’t designed for in the first place. 

A fish was designed to swim in water and not to live in the desert. No amount of choosing to try to make a fish live on dry land will change the fact that it was never meant for that. Only death will come from living out of God’s will.

Below is a poem written by Johann Wolfgang Goethe around 1795. It paints a masterful picture of the contradiction of the alarming deep dark silence and how this makes way for the joy of the sighted land.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 1 Peter 5:6

“Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you. Job 22:21

Quiet Sea

Deep quiet rules the waters;

motionless, the sea reposes,

and the boatsman looks about with alarm

at the smooth surfaces about him.

No wind comes from any direction!

A deathly, terrible quiet!

In the vast expanse

not one wave stirs.

Fortunate Voyage

The mist is torn away,

The heavens turn bright,

And Aeolus unfastens

The bonds of fear.

There, the winds rustle,

the boatsman stirs.

Quickly! Quickly!

The waves rise up again.

The distant view draws close,

Land ho, I call!

—Johann Wolfgang Goethe

America was founded on an authoritative objective morality outside of ourselves.

And though not all the founding fathers were Christians, The Bible was the foundation for this thinking. We simply can’t take this fundamental truth out of our history. You can try to rewrite history but all will fall apart when you rip away its foundation.

Some things are not meant to see through.

Lewis writes in the Abolition of Man,

“The whole point of seeing through something, after all, is to see something through it. One looks through a window in order to see the street or garden beyond. Similarly, it makes no sense to try to see through first principles. A world in which everything is transparent is an invisible world; thus, seeing through everything is the same thing as not seeing at all.

Trying to get beyond these principles results in the destruction of society as we know it. When we think we are seeing through foundational principles, we are actually losing our ability to see wisely at all.”

Lewis is inclined to believe that history does not show many examples of people who stepped outside of traditional moral structures and then used their power benevolently.

Lewis also says, “When there is no longer any objective sense of “It is good,” all that remains is “I want. This means that the conditioners are motivated only by their own pleasure. When there are no objective measures of value, then conditioners cannot value one emotional impulse over another, except by the impulses’ relative strength.”He further claims, “…they have sacrificed the sense of being part of traditional humanity in order to decide for themselves what “humanity” really is.”

So what does it mean to be human?

“…but when humanity has won the victory of making itself whatever it desires, what has it really won?”

A yard stick is objective. If my yardstick is 36” and yours is 42” whose measure should we use to determine a yard? What if someone comes along and says my yard stick is 24”?

If we have the right to redefine everything, how are we to communicate with each other?

If the founding fathers had not used an objective standard of morality, America would have never been founded?

We are on a slippery slope by trying to get away from an objective morality.

This is to our destruction because all our good and benevolent acts have no concrete authoritative basis and are left to crumble at our impulses and feelings. How can we live in agreement without boundaries and an objective standard?

So you say, my body, my rights, my feelings, my truth, my life?

This is the beginning of the end. This is the destruction of each individual and society as a whole!

There are absolutes and we are at the mercy of them.

I have been convicted to say this. I believe God laid this on my heart.

I can tell you one thing, God’s kingdom is not of this world and though we should fight to always uphold the truth in love and stand up for what is right, we should take caution to get fixated on anything but the gospel of Jesus. This is the main thing.

It’s people’s souls, we are talking about. May we be careful to not boast in anything but the cross of Christ and our weakness and need for Him.

His authority and power is absolute. God’s got this all under control.

Let not your heart be troubled. Be anxious about nothing, pray about everything. May we humble ourselves before Him. Surrender to His will. His will is perfect. May we check in with our motivations and our hearts to see if we have our priorities in order. Love the Lord your God, and Love your neighbor as yourself.

You can be sure that whatever happens in this election, God is the only One that can be trusted 100% of the time. And even when things don’t seem to go the way we would like, He cares so much for us that He will do whatever it takes to bring His children closer to Himself. What have we been idolizing that He may have to pry from our hands?

Christians, it’s time to get real!

God is calling His people to wake up!! Declare to the world the love and hope and abundant life that is only found in Jesus.

This is of eternal consequence.

Don’t be discouraged of the circumstances. Don’t be cast down! Don’t let the cares of this world overwhelm you.

Stand up for Jesus!

Let His light shine in the darkness! Darkness has to leave when the Light of the World shows up!

Holy! Holy! Holy! Lord God Almighty. The whole earth is filled with His glory! Isaiah 6:3

If ever we needed to know the difference, it is now!! Read this below from John Eldredge👇🏻It’s a powerful truth. 🙌🏻

Side note- John Eldredge quotes CS Lewis Screwtape which is an allegory about the nature of temptation, the story is told through letters from senior demon Screwtape to his nephew Wormword, a demon charged with luring the soul of “the patient” on to Satan’s path.

“And so Screwtape reveals the Enemy’s ploy—first make humans flabby, with small passions and desires, then offer a sop to those diminished passions so that their experience is one of contentment. They know nothing of great joy or great sorrow. They are merely nice.”
CS Lewis The Screwtape Letters

Christianity has come to the point where we believe that there is no higher aspiration for the human soul than to be nice. We are producing a generation of men and women whose greatest virtue is that they don’t offend anyone. Then we wonder why there is not more passion for Christ. How can we hunger and thirst after righteousness if we have ceased hungering and thirsting altogether?

As C. S. Lewis said, “We castrate the gelding and bid him be fruitful.”

The greatest enemy of holiness is not passion; it is apathy. Look at Jesus. He was no milksop. His life was charged with passion. After he drove the crooks from the temple, “his disciples remembered that it is written: ‘Zeal for your house will consume me'” (John 2:17). This isn’t quite the pictures we have in Sunday school, Jesus with a lamb and a child or two, looking for all the world like Mr. Rogers with a beard. The world’s nicest guy. He was something far more powerful. He was holy.”

My thoughts on the difference between kindness and niceness.

I just thought how the word “kindness” gets thrown around and really they don’t mean “kind” they mean “nice”.
Kindness just might very well offend. The cross is offensive to those perishing. Jesus didn’t come to be nice but he was kind.
Biblical kindness is of the Spirit under the first virtue “love”
All the other fruits of spirit fall under the first which is Agape love—an active sacrificial love that seeks the highest good of another person. This love and the other fruits of the spirit don’t come natural in our sinful state.
Satan is an imitator and he will try to disguise himself in a false mask of these fruits—an “angel of light”
We can only have the fruits of the spirit by being connected to The Vine. It is the Holy Spirit in us. Apart from Him we can do nothing.
It is all Jesus.
Is Jesus glorified in our kindness?
Is the gospel elevated in our kindness?
In all we do, do all to the glory of God!

He is making us more like Himself. He is making us holy.

Speak the truth in love. Don’t fear man! It is none of our business how they respond. We are just told to proclaim the gospel. This is kindness. ❤️
Let us go about the Father’s business not the world’s business.

Take my life and let it be consecrated Lord to thee. Take my moments and my days. Let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my hands, and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love;
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee,
Swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice, and let me sing
Always, only, for my King;
Take my lips, and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee,
Filled with messages from Thee.

Take my silver and my gold;
Not a mite would I withhold;
Take my intellect, and use
Every power as Thou shalt choose,
Every power as Thou shalt choose.

Take my will, and make it Thine;
It shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart; it is Thine own;
It shall be Thy royal throne,
It shall be Thy royal throne.

Take my love; my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure-store.
Take myself, and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee,
Ever, only, all for Thee.

The train whistle is blowing! Do you hear it? It’s loud and clear!

Have we gotten on the train or are we running along side it trying to keep up and catch it at the last minute? Are we still at the train station?

It’s exhausting running alongside it. The train is faster, than your feet can go. It’s stronger than you. You can run and run and run and you will never keep up. You will be tired and weary all the time.

Getting on the train on the other hand has protection from the elements. It’s true the train may go through storms, it may hit some obstacles to overcome. If you are outside running alongside, you are left to deal with the elements on your own, but if you are on the train, you have a seat to rest in as you journey to your destination. No heavy burden trying to keep up. No need to be weary.

The train also has community. On the train there are others on the way to the same destination as you that will comfort and encourage you. And when the train goes through the storm, you won’t have to go it alone. You will have fellowship and others to lean on. You will be able to encourage others too.

Most importantly, the train has a conductor. We aren’t driving the train, but when we choose to get on, we trusted that this conductor would get us to our destination. We don’t have to worry about the details of the journey, because the conductor has it all under his authority.

If you choose to run alongside the train, you are left to your own devices to get you to where your going. You won’t have the guidance and security that the conductor gives.

My question to you is, where are you? Are you running along side the train, wanting to do things your way, but still trying to keep up with the train and maybe try to hop on in the last minute?

Are you still at the train station just waiting for the train that you like? There is only one train that will get you to your destination and that is a 100% secure. All other trains can’t be trusted.

How will you know which train is the right one? It’s simple, it will have a huge sign that you won’t miss that says, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. It won’t be a fancy train with all the bells and whistles. It might look rather simple, and by worldly eyes not all that appealing, but there is no other way. All other trains lead to a dead end. Some trains will be so fancy, state of the art, it will be tempting to say that’s the train on want…beware and do not be deceived.

The Way, Truth and Life Train is waiting for you to get on! Get on today! Stop running! Stop waiting! Stop delaying! Stop making excuses! The conductor, his name is Jesus, and He wants to give you rest. Trust Him. Admit your need for Him. Admit your rebellion and then take the one way ticket and hop on! It’s the best decision you will make in your life!

All aboard!

Whoever has ears, let them hear. Matthew 11:15

I have some encouragement for you. If you are getting beat up either by your own introspection and/or the enemy condemning you, I am here to tell you put it in it’s place and say, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus.

I quite often get in a battle through my own introspection and the enemy sees this weakness and tries to sabotage me. I get thoughts like, “you just need to shut up!” Look at you, you are so unholy, you don’t have any business preaching and teaching. Look at all this stuff you need to clean up? You’d be better off keeping your mouth shut and working on getting your life together. You think God is proud of you? HAHA!” These thoughts are an outright assault.

My dad and I had a wonderful talk this morning about walking in faith and not your feelings. I was so greatly encouraged. My word of encouragment is don’t wait for the feelings, just act. The Christian life is not about cleaning yourself up and waiting for the right feelings. It is about stepping out in faith in spite of the feelings.

Oswald Chambers said, “To be surrendered to God is of more value than our personal holiness. Concern over our personal holiness causes us to focus our eyes on ourselves, and we become overly concerned about the way we walk and talk and look, out of fear of offending God, but perfect love cast out fear, once we surrendered to God. We should quit asking ourselves, “Am I any use?” and accept the truth that we really are not much use to Him. The issue is never of being of use, but being of value to God Himself. Once we surrender to God, He will work through us all the time.”

CS Lewis said, “Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means at the point of highest reality.”

We can’t have courage without a fear of something. Having courage requires stepping out in faith despite the feelings. We will find that acting in faith, the feelings of fear will disappear and will be replaced with love. The Ten Booms were most certainly facing great feelings of fear in hiding the Jews during the Holocaust but they were courageous and acted despite the feelings. They acted out of love.

Jesus said love the Lord your God and love your neighbor, don’t wait for the feeling, just act. If the thought occurs to you to do something kind for your neighbor, do it. Don’t analyze it. Just do it. If the thought occurs to you that you should show a kind turn to someone that maybe was not so kind to you, then do it. Don’t wait for the feeing, don’t say, well I need to wait for the right motivation. Just do it! All we have is right now. Tomorrow is not promised.

Let’s help each other live a bold and courageous life in Christ, walking by faith.