From God, For God

We tend to focus on what we do not have, but forget or take for granted what we do have.

"The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him." - Acts 17:24-27a (ESV)

"What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?" - 1 Corinthians 4:7b (ESV)

"He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil - this is God's gift to man." - Ecclesiastes 3:11-13 (ESV)

Everything we have (and do not have) is from God, for God.

The Road Ahead

One man on an island

One drop in the sea

All it takes to set a wave in motion

Is a single word, an action

A hope that we can be

The change that we've been longing to see

For our home, our land, our family

It's all within our reach

See this island, every grain of sand

Hear this anthem, it's the voices of our friends

Come whatever on the road ahead

We did it before, and we'll do it again

When the moments turn to hours

And the day's last light is gone

Look around us always and remember

There were times we were uncertain

But we just kept walking on

It's always darkest just before the dawn

See this island, every grain of sand

Hear this anthem, it's the voices of our friends

Come whatever on the road ahead

We did it before, and we'll do it again

Our home, the home we share

Where the garden always grows toward the light

Though the road ahead is daunting

I know we're gonna be alright

See this island, every grain of sand

Hear this anthem, it's the voices of our friends

Come whatever on the road ahead

We did it before, and we'll do it again

See this island, every grain of sand

Hear this anthem, it's the voices of our friends

Come whatever on the road ahead

We did it before, and we'll do it again

Everyday Faithfulness

"When we seek to abbreviate God-ordained waiting, we lose an opportunity to learn that He is the source of contentment."

- Glenna Marshall, Everyday Faithfulness

None Like Him

"Our greatest need has been dealt with once and for all. How much more will He supply all our lesser needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus?"

"The antidote for anxiety is to remember and confess that we can trust the future to God."

- Jen Wilkin, None Like Him

35

I decided to make a list of 35 things to thank God for as I turn 35. I couldn't stop at 35!

Trust and Obey

Just remember: the Lord wants His will and mission and purpose to be accomplished in your life more than you do. And as you abide in Him, as you are totally surrendered to Him, He will lead and guide and direct your steps. You go through the obedience of what God puts in front of you day by day by day by day. And trust that He is going to lead and guide those steps in a way that will make His glory known in wonderfully creative ways.

- David Platt, Finish the Mission

Jesus is our strength

"We are free to confess weakness because Jesus is our strength." - Paul David Tripp, Lead

Grace and Gratitude

Be grateful to your gracious God.

It has been truly said that in the New Testament the doctrine is grace and the ethic - that is, the prescribed behaviour - is gratitude. And the gratitude is prompted by both the knowledge of the grace of Christ in one's head and the power of that grace in one's heart, with Christ as the centre of attention at all times in both.

"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9). Giving to God should ever express unending gratitude for almost unbelievable grace.

- J. I. Packer, Weakness Is the Way: Life with Christ Our Strength

Weakness Is the Way

My own recognition that the Christian way of life and service is a walk of weakness, as human strength gives out and only divine strength can sustain and enable, may well be rooted in my youth. A solitary and rather somber child, I had to wear at school, for ten years, a black aluminum patch covering a hole in my head, the result of a road accident, and hence I was unable to play outdoor games. During those years I felt out of most of what mattered, which is of course one form of the feeling of weakness.

This sense of things, sinful as it is in many ways, has hovered in the background throughout my life, and it has certainly been deepened over the past three years by the experience of a hip disintegrating (two years of hobbling and wobbling discomfort, leading to a year of steady but slow recovery from its surgical replacement). I was told that since the surgery was invasive, its initial impact would be to shock the system - like being knocked down in the street by a truck - and full recovery for mind and body would take time, with creativity (in my case, power to write) at first noticeably in abeyance.

During these three years, my firsthand awareness of physical and cognitive weakness has grown, as has my acquaintance with Satan's skill in generating gloom and discouragement. My appreciation of 2 Corinthians has also grown, as I have brooded on the fact that Paul had been there before me, and this little book is the result. Its contents have helped me, and I hope will help others too. 

- J. I. Packer, Weakness Is the Way: Life with Christ Our Strength

The Death of Death in the Death and Resurrection of Christ

Death is the ultimate showstopper. But Jesus has defeated death!

"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8:38-39 (ESV)