Category Archives: Daily Walk

Twixt Gleams of Joy and Clouds of Doubt

Posted by Jay on January 19, 2012 6 comments

Every once in a while you come across an old hymn that is rarely sung in church and you wonder why it isn’t. In God’s providence and perfect timing, I remember sitting in church not too long ago and my pastor quoted a few lines from an old, obscure hymn and I immediately related to it. The glorious truths that the hymn points to bring us to Scripture over and over as we relate to the promises of comfort alongside the promises of suffering and trial. (Philippians 1:29) It’s that wonderful picture of our Shepherd in Psalm 23 walking along with us in the dark valley discipling and comforting us at the same time.

The lyrics to this hymn below by John Campbell Shairp are some of my favorites. I must admit that I printed out a small copy of them and they are taped to the front inside cover of my Bible. This hymn really describes the reality of the Christian walk and our need to remember that it’s not my grasp of Christ that matters most to my comfort but His grasp of me. What glorious truth!

‘Twixt gleams of joy and clouds of doubt
Our feelings come and go;
Our best estate is tossed about
In ceaseless ebb and flow.
No mood of feeling, form of thought
Is constant for a day;
But thou, 0 Lord, thou changest not:
The same thou art alway.

I grasp thy strength, make it mine own,
My heart with peace is blest;
I lose my hold, and then comes down
Darkness, and cold unrest.
Let me no more my comfort draw
From my frail hold of thee,
In this alone rejoice with awe—-
Thy mighty grasp of me.

Out of that weak, unquiet drift
That comes but to depart,
To that pure heaven my spirit lift
Where thou unchanging art.
Lay hold of me with thy strong grasp,
Let thy almighty arm
In its embrace my weakness clasp,
And I shall fear no harm.

Thy purpose of eternal good
Let me but surely know;
On this I’ll lean—let changing mood
And feeling come or go—
Glad when thy sunshine fills my soul,
Not lorn when clouds o’ercast,
Since thou within thy sure control
Of love dost hold me fast .

—John Campbell Shairp

The Birds of the Air

Posted by Jay on January 16, 2012 4 comments

“Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more valuable than they?” Matthew 6:26

I am a worrier. I make no bones about it. It’s a besetting sin that I have struggled with most of my life. Anxious thoughts and the feeling of impending doom has plagued me for as long as I can remember. When the Lord graciously saved me a little over five years ago, the darkness lifted but remnants of sinful anxiety remain in the flesh. I’m convinced that most all believers struggle with what the Puritan’s titled ‘besetting sins’. It may be different for you, but for me it’s anxiety and fear.

The verse above from Jesus’ great sermon on the mount has given me great comfort over the years. Like other examples of our Lord’s teachings, He uses a lesser to greater analogy. If God so cares for those little birds how much more will He care for His adopted children who are in Christ? It’s about right thinking theologically which leads to practical living.

My anxiety can stem from ridiculous scenarios I create in my mind to worry about the mundane things of this life. My anxiety can also stem from my sin. But at it’s absolute core, anxiety (no matter the cause) is sinful for a believer. Anxious thoughts and worry is tantamount to telling God, “I don’t believe You and I don’t trust You.” That stings. But the reality is if we didn’t have the sinful tendencies as redeemed children of God then there would be no need for the Lord to tell us not to worry. We still battle the sinful flesh. It’s one of the reasons that for the believer, death is that final step in sanctification that finally and fully releases us from sin. In a way only understood by Christians, death is the doorway to glorification and the removal of this body of sin and death to a new glorified body free from sin. I can’t wait! But until then, the battle rages on. We are called to mortify the flesh. We are called to fight the good fight and set aside the sin that so easily entangles us. (Hebrews 12:1) We do this by walking by the Spirit. And that begins by taking the very sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.

You may deal with anxiety as I do. You may deal with it so severely that you feel crippled by it. (Believe me, I’ve been there.) What our Lord tells us is to trust Him. Realize that the very One who spoke and brought all things into existence from nothing is Your heavenly Father. He will work all things out for good for those who love Him. (Romans 8:28) That may mean experiencing His Father discipline as His children. We must realize that our Father’s concern is not foremost for our happiness but our holiness and conformity to the image of His Son.

Think about what Jesus is telling believers in this passage. When you are worrying, anxious or fearful simply stop and look out the window at the little birds flying about. They neither store nor reap. They simply rest in the care of God. God feeds them. They don’t run about anxious and fearful of where their next meal will come from. Jesus’ point is if God provides for those little birds how much more will He provide for His adopted children. How much more will He provide for the elect whom He has given to His Son. We are co-heirs with Jesus Christ. In Christ, we are adopted into the kingdom and we now, by the Spirit, call God who resides in unapproachable light “Father”. This is enough to bring us to our knees. What glorious grace and love. As John writes in 1 John 3:1, “See ywhat kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”

This my friend is the cure for anxiety. It is only available to true believers – to those in Christ. Yes, we will battle sin until we die or until Christ returns. But we are to fight the good fight and renew our minds on the truths of God’s Word and His promises. Biblical theology produces doxology and right thinking – which in turn produces practical living. I admit that I so often forget these great promises. I am thankful for the Church and for wonderful godly friends and family who remind me of these truths and exhort and rebuke me when needed.

Marvel at the love of Christ to His family. Cast all of your anxiety on Him, for He cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7) Obey His loving command to look at the little birds and be reminded of how much your Father loves you in Christ Jesus.

Soli Deo Gloria

The Sovereignty of God in the Sin of Believers

Posted by Jay on December 24, 2011 No comments

by John Piper

No temptation has overtaken you but what is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but will make with the temptation also the escape so that you can endure. (I Cor. 10:13, my translation)

Would it be correct to argue from this text, as some do, that since believers do in fact sometimes succumb to temptation, it is solely due to their own self-determination and not at all due to God’s sovereign disposal of events? If this were a valid argument at least two things would follow which in my judgment are contrary to other New Testament teaching.

Tempted and Tried

Posted by Jay on December 9, 2011 No comments

I am working my way through an excellent book by Dr. Russell Moore entitled Tempted and Tried: Temptation and the Triumph and Christ. Below is a snipper from the chapter entitled Starving to Death where Moore gives excellent Biblical insight into the root issues behind sin and how Satan works in the lives of believers. It’s refreshing to see a book that highlites the reality of the war with sin and temptation in the lives of believers and how God often uses that struggle to conform us more into the image of Christ. I also admire Moore’s understanding of how important it is for the community of the church to bear one another’s burdens through a biblical understanding of the struggles with sin in believer’s lives. I highly recommend this book. It’s well written and also gives some very excellent O.T. insight that often has the reader saying, “oh now I see the connection!” I know I’ve already had some “aha!” moments as I plow through this book.

Enjoy this snippet:

Sometimes we actually empower Satan by the way we speak of Christian conversion. We highlight the testimony of the ex-alcoholic who says, “Since I met Jesus I’ve never wanted another drink.” Now that happens sometimes, and we should give thanks for God’s power here. But this liberation is no more miraculous, indeed in some ways less so, than the repentant drunk who says, “Every time I hear a clink of ice in a glass I tremble with desire, but God is faithful in keeping me sober.”

The girl with the same-sex desires might conclude she is doomed to be a lesbian because she isn’t drawn to boys and still fights her attraction to girls. Family members who have to cut up their credit cards to keep from spending every paycheck on what they see advertised may conclude they’re just not “spiritual” enough to follow Christ because they still war against their wants. Nonsense! You are not what you want. You are who you are. And that’s defined by the Word of God. It might be that God frees your appetite from whatever it’s drawn toward, but usually he instead enables you to fight it. This might go on for forty days, for forty years, for an entire lifetime. That’s all right. There must be room then in our churches for a genuine bearing of one another’s burdens when it comes to appetites. Pretending the appetites are instantly nullified by conversion is a rejection of what God has told us – that we are still in the war zone.

True Revival

Posted by Jay on November 1, 2011 11 comments

How often as believers do we want God to change our circumstances but we don’t want Him to change us. I know in my own life I often pray fervently for God to change my circumstances but neglect crying out to Him to change me. How often I forget that God in His mighty sovereignty is using those circumstances to change me and make me more like Christ. I’m reminded as I read through Scripture that God is not primarily concerned with my happiness but my holiness. God’s will for the lives of believers is our sanctification. Far from the false teachings of those like Joel Osteen who proclaim that God wants us to be materially prosperous and happy all the time, Scripture is clear that God’s will for us is to be conformed into the image of His Son. It is appointed for us not only to believe but to suffer for the sake of Christ. (Philippians. 1:29)

Where is the crying out in the church today for sanctification? Where is the mourning over sin and a desire for the Great Physician to take out His divine scalpel and cut away the idols and worldliness in our lives that we think make us happy but actually drive us away from God and from the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)

We do need revival in the American church today but revival does not come about by a church committee or throwing a tent up on the church grounds. True revival begins when the church returns to the true gospel, declares the full counsel of God’s Word, desires true repentance and cries out to God for conformity to the image of His Son.

I am preaching to myself in this post. I too am caught up in the worldly things and so often desire God to change my circumstances and not me.

Lord, forgive our foolish ways and grant us true, constant repentance and a desire to be holy no matter the cost. Conform us more and more into the glorious image of Your Son and drive us away from self and circumstance and help us not only cling to the cross of Christ but carry our own as we seek to die to self and live to You.

Soli Deo Gloria

It Bids Me Fly, and Gives Me Wings

Posted by Jay on October 22, 2011 1 comment

When once the fiery law of God
Has chas’d me to the gospel-road;
Then back unto the holy law
Most kindly gospel-grace will draw.

The law most perfect still remains,
And ev’ry duty full contains:
The Gospel its perfection speaks,
And therefore give whate’er it seeks.

A rigid master was the law,
Demanding brick, denying straw;
But when with gospel-tongue it sings,
It bids me fly, and gives me wings.

- Ralph Erskine (1685-1752)

God’s Sanctifying Crushing Hand

Posted by Jay on September 26, 2011 7 comments

We might well pray for God to invade and conquer us, for until He does, we remain in peril from a thousand foes. We bear within us the seeds of our own disintegration. The strength of our flesh is an ever present danger to our souls. Deliverance can come to us only by the defeat of our old life. Safety and peace come only after we have been forced to our knees. So He conquers us and by that benign conquest saves us for Himself.

A. W. Tozer (HT: A Voice Crying Out)

Are You Amazed at Prayer?

Posted by Jay on June 4, 2011 3 comments

“Far too often, we rush into intercession, asking for God’s help in this or that, without first basking in the fact that we can address Him at all!” – Derek Thomas

I absolutely love the quote above from Thomas’ book, Praying the Saviour’s Way. I remember hearing someone say that we need to pray backwards. This means that our prayers should begin with a real awe in the fact that we can address God as Father and come before His mighty throne of glory all because of Jesus Christ. Because of Christ we’ve been adopted into God’s kingdom and can call God Father. This should astound us. A right view of the glories of the gospel will cause us to marvel at the amazing privilege of prayer.

Sadly, very few in the church pray often. I am no prayer expert and include myself in that statistic, but it breaks me to pieces to think of so great a privilege and yet we neglect it so often. Worse, we focus our prayers on our needs alone neglecting the pattern our Lord’s gives us in the Lord’s Prayer to begin with worship of our Great Heavenly Father who is in heaven.

We truly need to pray backwards and begin in utter awe that we can address the Ancient of Days who is a consuming fire as Father all because of the glorious life, death, resurrection, ascension and exaltation of Jesus Christ the Lord!

Soli Deo Gloria

Did God Cause the Tsunami?

Posted by Jay on March 24, 2011 No comments

Sin in the Sight of a Just God

Posted by Jay on March 8, 2011 No comments

I firmly believe that one of the least discussed Biblical truths in the church today is sin. We are inundated with feel good sermons that tend to focus on your best life now and how to be successful while overlooking what true progress in the Christ life exemplifies: an ever increasing war with sin.

As a street evangelist, one of the most common things I hear is that God is all forgiving and while He may not be too happy about sin He seems to have the magical ability to overlook it. Now let me make an important point – God is forgiving, but God is not unjust. There is a big difference.

The problem today is that the majority of professing believers I run into have created a god in their own image. Instead of allowing Scripture to be their rule and guide to properly understanding and worshiping God, they have allowed the culture and their own minds and hearts to construct a god of their own liking. For example, it is all too common to hear those I witness to tell me that they believe that God is all loving and all forgiving and He will forgive their sins if they simply ask Him. Before I respond to that statement let me first take us back to how the Bible describes God’s view of sin. Sadly, many today even in the church have a very loose view of sin and an even looser view of how God views sin. Our culture and media are bombarding us with so much sinful activity painted as the common life that our minds can become callous to the heinousness of sin. This is where we need to heed the call of the Scriptures to constantly be renewing our minds in the mighty truths of God’s Word.

So, let’s go all the way back to the beginning. In the book of Genesis we learn that God created all things and said that it was good. God created man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to work it and then gave to him his wife, Eve. All of this takes place in the first two chapters of the first book of our Bible. However, in the very next chapter we read of what is called The Fall. It is in this chapter that Satan tempts Eve to disobey the one rule God had put in place. Now here is where we really need to stand back and see the full picture of the sinfulness of sin. Adam and Eve commit one sin. That’s right – one sin. Because of one sin, God places a curse on mankind. Because of that one sin all die. The simple fact that everyone to this day continues to die is proof positive that the covenant God made with Adam is still in force. Not only did mankind receive the curse of death and God’s wrath but we also read in Genesis that creation also became cursed as well. Paul elaborates on this truth in Romans that all creation groans as it eagerly waits for Christ to return since it too has been affected by the one sin of Adam and Eve. Now this should really help us to see the utter sinfulness of sin. If one single sin against God Almighty brought about the curse from God that affects all of creation why is it that the majority of folks today believe that as long as their good works outweigh their bad that God will simply overlook their sin? It’s because we have an incorrect and often blasphemous view of sin.

The Biblical truth is that every single sin demands an eternal punishment. We sin against a Holy, eternal and just God and thus our sin demands an eternal and just punishment. This now gets us back to that statement that many hold fast to concerning God and His forgiveness. You’ll recall that many today believe that they can just ask God for forgiveness and He will just overlook their sin and excuse it. My friend, if you really believe that then you are flat out saying that God is unjust. Let me put it this way. If God were to just overlook your sin and forgive it without His justice being met He would not be holy and He would not be just. He would actually be unjust – which is the absolute opposite of His character. This is why we must be ever careful to worship God rightly. We must worship Him as He has revealed Himself through His Word and through the person and work of Jesus Christ. Scripture proclaims to us that it is an abomination in the eyes of God to justify the wicked. (Prov. 17:15) This sets up the great dilemma – how can God be just and justify sinners? It’s only through the glorious cross of Jesus Christ that we see this question answered. In fact, to ask how God can be just and justify sinners should be the greatest question we can ask.

When we gaze at the cross of Christ we see the very wisdom, justice, love, mercy and grace of God. The cross of Christ demonstrates to us that God hates sin. The cross demonstrates to us God’s love. The cross of Christ demonstrates God’s wrath. It truly is the lens to view nearly all of the glorious attributes of God at one time. The Lord Jesus Christ came to become sin on our behalf so that we may have the righteousness of God in Him. God is just in forgiving a wicked sinner such as I because God took my sin and imputed it to His perfect, sinless Son and doled out all the eternal wrath and condemnation that I deserve on His Son. Through repentance and faith I am justified and sanctified (and am being sanctified) all because of the finished work of Christ on the cross. It’s also in Christ that death no longer has its sting. This, my friends is the wonder of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

So we learn from the gospel that the only way God can forgive us is through Christ. There are not multiple ways to God and all roads do not lead to heaven. To come to God not trusting in Christ and expecting Him to forgive you because you ask Him is futile. Think about it, if I could simply ask God for forgiveness and He would forgive me then why would Christ need to die at all? What would have been the point of His crucifixion? What would have been the point of the very animal sacrifices all through the Old Testament that pointed to Christ and His sacrifice since the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sin.

We must get the gospel right! If you have been trusting in your own goodness or even if you have believed that God is going to overlook your sin and simply excuse it since you’ve asked Him for forgiveness I urge you to look deeply at the cross of Christ and repent of your idolatry and turn to Christ. Put your faith and trust in Him and Him alone and understand that only through Christ can forgiveness be found. Allow the cross of Christ to demonstrate to you not only the love of God but also His perfect justice and His absolute hatred for sin.

If you are a believer, never look away from the cross. Believers truly can only live a gospel and cross-centered life. It’s by looking at the cross that we are reminded not only of God’s love to us but also His hatred for sin. Allow the cross of Christ to remind you constantly of the wickedness of sin and then remember that it is only by knowing the grand truth that you have died with Christ, you have been raised with Him and you are seated with Him in the heavenly places that you have died to sin. The gospel not only saves us from the penalty of sin which is God’s wrath in hell but also from it’s grip and power. Paul reminds us how shall we who have died to sin continue to live in it. We must remember that we’ve died to sin because we have died with Christ. We are now alive as a new creation in Christ and through walking by the Spirit we are able to put to death the deeds of the flesh.

This is the grand and wonderful truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Sadly, the American church today has watered down or forgotten these great truths. May we cry out to God Almighty for forgiveness and return to a gospel-centered and cross-centered life and proclaim the full and wonderful good news of Jesus Christ. May we also see sin the way that God sees it as He has taught us in His living Word. In the words of the great Puritan theologian John Owen, “be killing sin or sin will be killing you.”

Soli Deo Gloria.

The Pony Express

Posted by Jay on February 11, 2011 No comments

The Pony Express was a private express company that carried mail by an organized relay of horseback riders. The eastern end was in St. Joseph, Missouri, and the Western terminal was in Sacramento, California. The cost of sending a letter by Pony Express was $2.50 an ounce. If the weather and horses held out and the Indians held off, that letter would complete the entire 2000 mile journey in a speedy 10 days, as did the report of Lincoln’s Inaugural Address.

It may surprise you that the pony express was only in operation from April 3, 1860, until November 18, 1861–just seventeen months. When the telegraph line was completed between two cities, the service was no longer needed.

Being a rider for the Pony Express was a tough job. You were expected to ride 75 to 100 miles a day, changing horses every 15 to 25 miles. Other than the mail, the only baggage you carried contained a few provisions, including a kit of flour, cornmeal, and bacon. In case of danger, you also had a medical pack of turpentine, borax, and and cream of tartar. In order to travel light and to increase speed of mobility during Indian attacks, the men always rode in shirt sleeves, even during the fierce winter weather.

How would you recruit volunteers for this hazardous job? An 1860′s San Francisco newspaper printed this ad for the Pony Express: “Wanted: Young, skinny, wiry fellows not over 18 years of age. Must be expert riders willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred.”

Those were the honest facts of the service required, but the Pony Express never had a shortage of riders…

Like the Pony Express, serving God is not a job for the casually interested. It’s a costly service. He asks for your life. He asks for service to Him to become a priority, not a pastime.

- Donald Witney, from Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life

A Constant Sight of Christ

Posted by Jay on December 27, 2010 No comments

“The indwelling of Christ by faith… is to have Jesus Christ continually in one’s eye, a habitual sight of Him. I call it so because a man actually does not always think of Christ; but as a man does not look up to the sun continually, yet he sees the light of it… So you should carry along and bear along in your eye the sight and knowledge of Christ, so that at least a presence of Him accompanies you, which faith makes.”

- Thomas Goodwin (1600-1680)