Interesting Video

Grace: Non Flammable

I first saw this on the Contemporary Calvinist blog, and had to laugh. :)

Delight yourself in the Lord

Delight yourself in the Lord,

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

-Psalms 37:4

What is your delight? Is it your family, your home? What about your job or your car? If you look close and you look hard you will find your true delight.

In the 37th Psalm, God (through David) tells us we are to delight in the Lord. Setting all other things to the side and focusing solely on God. Second, David shows us the delight that will bring the desires of our heart.

Before God can be your focus, your delight, you must see Him for who he truley is.

He created us

Walk out this evening and look up at the stars.

How long will it take you to count them?

It only took God one day to create them.

Think about the taste of a ripe orange pulled from the tree.

How did those wonderful flavors come out of rain and dirt?

Look all around you to witness the glory of God. Every created thing screams out to you, testifying to the majesty and greatness of God. We try to ignore the creation all around us, treating it as common. But that very act of ignoring the creation is sin, separating us from our creator.

He sustains us

We are so fragile. How long would we last without a sustaining God giving us food each day, air drawn in with each breathe, and water to quinch our thirst? The common grace he gives to each of us shows his love and his glory.

He loves us

We see the love of God all around us, testifying to his grace and patience toward us, But God has sent us a great gift. The air we breathe, the food we eat, and the created beauty that is before us is a gift that is undeserved, however it pales in comparison with this gift. To understand this gift that stems from Gods love, we must first understand that God is not only loving, but also just.

The Justice of God

We spend our lives in disobedience to God. This disobedience cannot be overlooked by God. His justice does not allow for disobidience without punishment. Gods perfection demands that any transgression be punished by an eternity of damnation. The instant our life ends God will look at us and we will either be punished for our sins or we will spend eternity in heaven. Sinless perfection is the measure by which we are judged. No matter how hard we try we will never measure up. God send his Son as our Savior.

He is the Savior

Jesus Christ was sent from heaven. The Bible says that Jesus was "with God" and He "was God". Christ was born to a virgin, and being fully man and fully God, was punished in our place. Christ lived the perfect life, and was crucified by man, and punished by God, so that we who lived a sin-filled life might be cleansed. If we repent, believe that Christ died for our sins, and allow Him to be the Savior and Lord over our life, we will be forgiven of our sins. We are not forgiven because of our actions or abilities, but because of Christ actions and the righteousness that God has found in him.

Our Delight

With such a God, how can we help but delight in him? Every minute of every day is in His hand. Our lives are insignificant apart from Him. Why do we try to delight ourselves in anything less than the one true God? When God is truly our delight we bring Him the very thing we were created to bring. Glory. That glory becomes the desire of our heart.

Delight yourself in the Lord,

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

-Psalms 37:4

The Cross of Christ and Abiding Faith

And He said to him, " 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' - Matthew 22:37

My "heart" turns to my family and home. Without Christ, both are fleeting and meaningless.

My "soul" is deprived; dark with sin. The best I have to offer is like a small spark held up against the sun.


My "mind" focuses on the work of my hands instead of the Savior that provides life. Will I become Judas who is simply counting silver? Or would the anger of Christ come down on me as I am driven from the temple?

My hope is found in Christ alone. There is no hope without His regenerating work.

"For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." - Philippians 1:6

God started this work in my life. I did nothing. There is no good within me that can take any credit. I have walked in the counsel of the wicked, stood in the path of sinners, and sat in the seat of scoffers. Now, I am found in Christ, strengthened by the faith He has given.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;" - Ephesian 2:8

But what about balance? If I seek and search balance between my life and my faith I will lose both. If I am not continually focused on and satisfied in Christ, I will be cast away.

5"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
6"If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned." - John 15:5-6

I pray for abiding faith.

"Jesus isn't Important"

Three words. Just three simple words, summed up my failure as a parent.

I have succeeded in providing my family an American lifestyle. A home filled with stuff. Stuff that isn't important. Furniture, toys, food, televisions, games, dolls and even a few Christmas trees. All of which pales in importance when compared with Jesus. Yet, my daughter says that Jesus is not important.

She was angry.
She doesn't understand.
She's only 4.
Her siblings provoked her.

My mind raced with excuses, and they were all just excuses. A way for me to minimize the sin in my life, and pardon the sin in hers. What happened next was and act of mercy and grace from God. My mind stopped traveling this path, and I was convicted. I thank God for that conviction. In this conviction I was shown God's grace toward me. My daughter had shown me a glimpse into my own heart. It was ugly, and I despise it.

I have let Christmas become trivial, when it is truly a miracle of God.
I have let the things of this world become an idol for myself and my family.
I have been shown the love of God through Christ by way of the heretical words of a 4 year old girl.

Gods grace toward me came in a realization that I have not told my daughter of the importance of Jesus.

Never before have I explained what sin is. Or the punishment that comes from our sin. Sure, she understands the idea of right and wrong, and that punishment stems from wrong actions. But I had never sat with her and explained that her sin results in an eternity of punishment from God that takes place after we die.

It is a hard truth to share with a young child, and it would be impossible if it were not for Christ. I thank God for the chance to tell her about Jesus. Not the infant Jesus who importance ranks with her toy dolls, but the Jesus of the bible. The one that Peter calls "The Christ of God". The one whom conquer death on a cross, being punished for every sin I have or will commit. Through this Christ, we can be saved.

I do not know the result of my words with her that evening. After being shown my failure, I was faithful to share the truth. The truth which God can use (if it pleases Him to do so), to change the heart of a sin filled child in the same way He uses the truth to change the heart of this sin filled parent.

I have failed my family this Christmas, but but Gods grace triumphs over my failures.

Praise be to God.