"God Making Much of Us in a New Way"

John Piper sent out a series of twitter tweets over the past few days...and they were profound. Here are all of them.

Why #1: Why does God tell us that his love in adopting us is "for the praise of the glory of his grace"? (Ephesians 1:5-6)

Why #2: Why does God tell us that his love in creating us is "for his glory"? (Isaiah 43:7)

Why #3: Why does God tell us his incarnation love was "so that the gentiles would glorify God for his mercy"? (Rom. 15:8-9)

Why #4: Why does God tell us that Christ's love in dying for our sake is so that we might live for his sake? (2 Cor. 5:15)

Why #5: Why does God tell us that the aim of his love for us in spreading the gospel is for the sake of his name"? (Rom. 1:5)

Why #6: Why does God tell us that his love in sanctifying us is "to the glory and praise of God"? (Philippians 1:11)

Why #7: Why does God tell us that the aim of Christ's love in the 2nd coming is “to be glorified in his saints"? (2 Thess. 1:10)

Why #8: Why is the apex of Jesus' love, in his prayer for us, the request that we would "see his glory”? (John 17:24)

Answer: Because you are precious to God, and he adds this gift: He will not let that preciousness become your God. Only Him.

For more of John Piper on this, check out: http://ow.ly/1enZe

On Learning the Heart of God

Yes…I have felt the sting of life lately…a lot.
Yes...I have felt the urge to shake my fists at the Heavens.

Here’s what I’m learning…

The LORD said, “The more they were called,
the more they went away…
My people are bent on turning away from me…
How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, O Israel?”
-Hosea 11:2,7,8.

“I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me;
I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’
to a nation that was not called by my name.
I SPREAD OUT MY HANDS ALL THE DAY
to a rebellious people,
who walk in a way that is not good,
following their own devices…”
-Isaiah 65:1,2

“Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God! For I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.”
-Psalm 42:5

God help us.

My Eloquence and God's Power

The Lord never ceases to remind me through this slow process of sanctification, the futility of my own abilities and control. My passion for Jesus Christ and His glory can turn my labor into a self-determined authority and “Holy Spirit-less” ministry. I find myself thinking that I have to “do good enough,” “be eloquent enough” or “say just the right things” in order for something eternal to happen in the life of another. What a danger for the pastor, the shepherd, the ministry leader…the Christian.

Here’s the temptation ultimately…to dethrone the Holy Spirit.

I love Paul’s proclamation of this truth in his first letter to the Corinthians:
“And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in wisdom of men but in the power of God.”
*1 Cor. 2:1-5.

God continually humbles me in these things, as my passion for evangelism and discipleship can turn into “Alex’s white-knuckled manipulation to get someone from point A to point B.” I find myself seeing (or actually more of reading) “the plan, the goal, the mission” and then running my hardest toward these things and wanting to labor for the Lord…all the while I have wandered from sitting under the power of God and being His vessel rather than my own idol.

I’m amazed at how much I try to do apart from the Holy Spirit! I wonder if this is why Paul confronts this human tendency when he speaks so boldly and continually of “walking in the Spirit,” “being led by the Spirit,” “living by the Spirit,” “being filled with the Spirit,” in Galatians 5:16-26.

I know that I sit under the waterfall of grace and patience from the Lord. God promises that His grace is sufficient in my weaknesses (2 Cor. 12:9), but in walking with Him, my idolatrous heart in evangelism and discipleship must go at the feet of Christ!

May this encourage you to abide in Him and diligently plead with the Spirit to lead and infect the times and conversations you have with people. For what is not of God will perish.

Grace and Peace in our Lord Jesus Christ.
To Him be the Glory and Honor and Power FOREVER!