Losses and Gains

 Paul says in Philippians 3:7, "But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ." (NASB)

As I was reflecting on this verse and the verses that follow it (which I strongly encourage you to read) I thought about all of the things that Paul counted in the previous verses as loss.  His religious birth, his obedience to the law, his energy and vigor in following God, his own righteousness.  He counted all of these things as loss.  It was as if they counted against him rather than for him.  What could make such glorious things count against him rather than for him?  Only Christ Jesus.  And when compared with the work of Jesus Christ, these things that formerly he boasted in now are removed and all that is left for boasting is Jesus.  

I wonder in our lives if we take too much credit and count too much these things that when compared to Christ do not matter.  Do we talk about how much we give to the church?  How much time, how much money, how much service we give to the church as if our time and money and service can even compare to the sacrifice that Christ would make.  Do we talk about our Christian upbringing as if we have something to brag about compared to those who did not have it?  Do we think that we are better than others by virtue of any form of comparison?  All of these things fail when it comes to the work of Christ.

As I think about it, part of the problem is my attachment to a whole list of earthly things and often I fail to see the grandeur of what Christ has accomplished because I am not looking for grandeur, I am hoarding things that I should be counting loss.  Don't hoard losses.  Claim Christ's gains!

Being Established

 "Now to Him who is able to establish you. . ." Romans 16:25

Paul ends his book to the Romans with praise to God who is able to establish you.  This is an interesting way to speak to the body of Christ.  The word itself means to make more firm.  Kind of the idea of taking root and being firmly decided about a course of action.  What is interesting to me are the things that God says he will use.  

1. The gospel

2. The preaching of Jesus Christ

3. The revelation of the mystery revealed

4. The commandment of the eternal God

These things are not the things we might first think of, but when we are assured of these things, we can have hope because they are certain, and therefore we can be firm in our assurance that God is working for us.  

An Old Prayer

 I found this prayer in John Piper's book When I Don't Desire God: How to Fight for Joy.  It is a prayer from Anselm.   I thought I would share it with you.

"I pray, O God, that I may know You and love You, so that I may rejoice in You.  And if I cannot do so fully in this life may I progress gradually until it comes to fullness.  Let the knowledge of You grow in me here, and there [in heaven] be made complete;  let Your love grow in me here and there be made complete, so that here my joy may be great in hope and there be complete in reality.  Lord, by Your Son You command, or rather, counsel us to ask and You promise that we shall receive so that our 'joy may be complete.'  I ask, Lord, as You counsel through our admirable counsellor.  May I receive what You promise through Your truth so that my 'joy may be complete.'"

What a prayer! 

School is Starting

 School is starting again.  I used to dread this time when I was a student.  It was never that I hated school, I actually really enjoyed it, I just liked the freedom that summer provided more.  I think that for a lot of students that is a down-side to schooling - the lack of freedom.  And perhaps this year more than other parents are increasingly aware of a genuine lack of freedom that is growing in our school systems beyond the general lack of freedom whereas school is less free than my choices in summer.

This attack on freedom is happening on a number of fronts.  I will not here talk about masks or responses to Covid as these issues (though related to freedom) as these fail to compare to the real issue - a philosophical movement (teaching that human freedom to be whomever the individual thinks they are) is attacking freedom.  Interesting it is that in a desire to teach the freedom of individuals is actually restricting freedom.  It is restricting free speech.  They tried to make it much harder to speak religiously in the context of a public school, but if the religious speech is agnostic or atheistic and humanistic philosophy it is not only allowed but being promoted by students and by teachers and by administrators.  It is restricting freedom of belief as some belief systems are marginalized because of a perceived marginalization of groups in the past.  It is restricting a balanced look at history and instead rewriting and redefining history through the lens of the value system of the present culture.  It is in these ways and many more, restrictive.  So with this kind of attack, how do we as Christians respond?

1. Biblically.  We respond by holding fast the the truth of God's Word.  

2. Prayerfully.  We ask God to do what only God can do - change hearts and minds.

3. Trustfully.  We trust that God is on the throne and will bring about His purposes.  The way that things seem does not mean that they are as bad as we might think they are.

4. In True Freedom.  Understanding that true freedom is not freedom as our world or our country has defined it.  True freedom is the freedom to love our enemy and do good to those who would harm us.  True freedom is the freedom to act like Christ when the world is acting like the world.  True freedom is found in Jesus and in Jesus alone.  And so we preach and teach and hold fast to the Source of true freedom.  We cling to Jesus.  

In case you need a reminder - pray for the students and teachers who go to our schools who cling to the true freedom they have in Christ.  The school is becoming a place of increasing attack on Christians.  So pray that they would have courage and be equipped with the armor of God to stand firm against the attacks of the devil.  

Song Lyrics for Worship

 Just a quick song to think about.  O Worship The King by Robert Grant

O worship the King, all glorious above, and gratefully sing His wonderful love; our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of Days, pavilioned in splendor and girded with praise.

O tell of His might, O sing of His grace, whose Robe is the light, whose canopy space!  his chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form, and dark is His path on the wings of the storm.

Thy bountiful care what tongue can recite?  It breathes in the air, it sines in the light, It streams from the hills, it descends to the plain, and sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.

Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail, in Thee do we trust, nor find Thee to fail, Thy mercies how tender, how firm to teh end, Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend.

The Mercies of God

 Paul writes in Romans 12:1, "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God. . .".  I wonder sometimes if we take enough time to ponder the mercy of God.  I think that far too often I find myself thinking that I somehow deserve goodness from God, or that I, based on how good or bad I do, have earned favor with God.  Biblically we know this is not true, and yet we do not operate or truly believe that it is.  It is hard enough for us to understand grace - the unmerited favor of God, but I think sometimes we focus on grace at the expense of mercy.  If God were to truly give us what we deserve, we would be dead.  We would have nothing but our own selfish pride.  And we would be lost without hope.  And yet God showed mercy to us.  He did not give us that which we deserved.  He instead gave that which we deserved to another by his mercy and then applied the righteousness He had earned to our accounts by grace. What a glorious God.  

Every morning his mercies are new.  This means that every day I don't deserve to live but instead deserve to receive the full brunt of the wrath of God.  And yet because He poured that wrath out on Jesus I live and breath and rejoice in the goodness and mercy of God.  

The Word of God does not fail

In Romans 9, Paul says these words in verse 6, "But it is not as though the word of God has failed."  This is reminiscent of Isaiah when he said in Isaiah 55:11, "So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it." (both quotes NASB)  But when Paul says it, he has a slightly different perspective as he is looking at things that look like it might be possible to believe that God's Word has failed.  

Sometimes in our lives we encounter situations and circumstances that we question whether or not God and His promises are real.  If you have been fortunate enough not to know anyone struggling with cancer, or depression or the loss of a close friend of family member, just wait a bit.  When these terrible things (among others) occur, we are driven to ask questions and some of those questions will inevitably be about the faithfulness of God to His promises.  When these times occur, it is important to remember that even when it seems like it might be true, the word of God has not failed.  It cannot fail.  

This means that in those dark moments what we need to do is to cling to a promise that even though it may seem like God and His word are somehow missing the mark, it is not Him who is in error, but our perspective.  And if something needs to change it may not be our circumstances but our response to them.  And if something seems and feels out of place perhaps we have misread and misunderstood the promises of God and maybe made too much of ourselves and not enough of our God.  It is interesting that many of God's chosen messengers go through these dark moments.  Moses did.  Elijah did.  Jeremiah did.  And the list goes on.  And yet the character and nature of our God remains unchanged and all of those who went through the darkness would testify to the glorious light of the One who proclaimed Himself to be the Light of the World.  

So struggle through the darkness with so many faithful men and women of old.  Struggle through and cling to Jesus.  Because God is faithful and His Word cannot fail.