Glorifying God in Dissappointment

There are many times in life you don't get things your way. Not that its always what's best, but its because its not what you wanted. And because things doesn't happen your way, it gets frustrating, and naturally the first person we can blame, we do. Most of the time, the blame is always on God (both for Christian and non-Christian alike I observe). I think the first thing that we need to understand is that - every good thing comes from God, but God does not just give us good things. Think about it. If we don't have to right understanding of this concept of God, then we make out a "god" that is not only false, but one that is not an actual description of the God of the bible (for further study, see the lives of Joseph or Job)

So, how do we respond in a way that is both glorifying to God and how do we learn from every frustrating situation?

I am going to make some very key and personal examples. Doesn't mean what I say is all true, but I hope it is most God-focused in its concept;

1. Always always ask God, how do I learn from this?

One of the major things about learning from frustration is basically, not saying "why God" but "how God". Every single situation, I believe can be used to our benefit if we choose to see that it is God's hand at work, and that it is meant to prune and trim us to encourage growth.

2. Do not be bitter about the situation, but trust in God's sovereignty.

Everything that happens, happens for the reason only our sovereign God knows. God sees the picture differently from how we see it. One way to understand it is like us looking at a 2D image while God has a 3D view. As He is above and beyond time, He sees the bigger picture. In that sense "for those who love God all things work together for good" (Romans 8:28). Trust in that.

3. Be gracious and humble.

Don't think that everything revolves around you. Let me just tell it straight, it doesn't. To put it simply, there's a greater and divine purpose that is far beyond us that we probably will never know of. That fact humbles us. It makes us realize that our finite minds cannot comprehend the grandiose nature of it all. Since we cannot comprehend it, graciously accept that fact, and move on.

As much as I know this to be true, reality bites. Sometimes it is painful, and it hurts a lot, because it consumes your whole being, you can react in ways that are plainly not glorifying to God. As a Christian, I have understood that making it as much about God as possible helps in putting things in perspective. God is still God, in as much as He never changes, I need to change to constantly make myself reliant on Him and trust in His sovereignty. "Let Your will be done, Lord". It all begins and ends with Him.

It's tough, but I pray, and really pray, that I will learn to trust God, not be bitter, yet be gracious and humble. That I believe, brings God the most glory when it shows us how much more great is He that is fully in control of every situation and circumstance. And I trust this to be true; that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.

Words can't describe

Design by Joshua Flankenship

Sad story of church leadership

This is honestly, so bad, I have feel it necessary to link it here.

It is a long post, but worth a read at least. The senior leadership at NewSpring church apparently allowed one of their staff members to continually harass a critic of the church, who mind you is a Christian too, so bad that he nearly lost his job, lost that chance for an adoption and being made to endure constant It is a , but worth a read at least. The senior leadership at NewSpring church apparently allowed one of their staff members to continually harass a critic of the church, who mind you is a Christian too, so bad that he nearly lost his job, lost that chance for an adoption and being made to endure constant harassment.

How could these things be allowed to take place? I think the question should and rightly so, be always pointed to the senior leaders and pastors. Honestly, its not the first time we've seen stuff like this happening in churches around the world. But what makes it so sad is the statement given by the critic and professor who started the blog;

Perry Noble, the senior pastor, who continues to demonize his critics. I’ve argued before that when you portray your critics as being unsaved enemies of the church, you do give the green light to people like Maxwell to do what he did, and to all the mid-level folk who took vicarious pleasure in what he was saying

Lessons to be learned here.

Our (only) Hope of Glory

“What hope of glory, of godliness, do we have? Do we have hope that one day, if we just try hard enough and make a detailed list and remember to pray and discipline ourselves, we’ll be godly? No, our only hope of glory is the gospel. The incarnate, resurrected, and ascended Son of God, the Christ, lives in us. Christ is in us, and because he is, his godliness (the only godliness there is) is ours. This mysterious truth is the sweetest, most liberating truth you will ever know. Christ is in you; he’s your hope of glory.”

- Elyse Fitzpatrick, Comforts from the Cross (Wheaton, Ill.; Crossway Books, 2009), 114.

Adapted from Of First Importance.

(Definitely) My favorite chapter in the Bible

I love reading Isaiah chapter 40, especially verses 9 onwards. This is when it starts to describe an unimaginable being, totally great and glorious unlike any other. "To whom then will you liken God".

Especially important is the word - behold. BEHOLD! "Behold, the Lord God comes with might..", "Behold, the nations are like a drop from the bucket..", "Behold, he takes up the coastlands like find dust..". We need to understand what the word means. Behold! What do you do when you behold? You don't just stand there and watch, you become utterly amazed almost speechless! "Behold, your God!"

Now, the reading of the whole of chapter 9 takes another meaning. We're not like this God. In fact, verse 7 describes us like" grass" and verse 22 says we're "grasshoppers". We fade away, we are tiny. That's the reaction we should have when we understand how to "Behold our God". Fade away, be tiny.

Almost incredulously, the author asks, "Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?" (verse 21). In the beginning? Maybe try Genesis 1?

"In the beginning, God...."

The only being without a beginning nor an end - God. He needs no introduction. Forever and ever He was there. "The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth".

Now when we start to think about "forever", it seems like a pretty long time. Maybe that's why the author thought to add in,"He does not faint or grow weary, his understanding is unsearchable". Most of us become weary after a long wait in line. Again, He is not like us. Rather than being faint, "He gives power to the faint". Wow. Imagine that.

The ending just takes you away. I'll let it speak by itself.

³⁰Even youths shall faint and be weary,

and young men shall fall exhausted;

³¹but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.

BEHOLD!

(We did a recording today. It was a song based on Isaiah 40. I'm wowed by the vocals that was produced. Made me wanna read this chapter again and again. I'm pretty sure, it is my favorite chapter in the Bible in its description of God)

The Gospel will always remain strange to us

“To the extent that we remains pilgrims in this life, the gospel will remain strange even to us. Until the day we die, we will struggle to believe the bad news and Good News that God announces to us. We do not just naturally think that we are born in sin, spiritually dead, helpless, and unable to lift a finger to save ourselves or impress a holy God. As a result, it does not just occur to us that our greatest need is to be redeemed, justified, regenerated, sanctified, and glorified by God’s saving work in his Son and by his Spirit.

If the ‘Good News’ that we proclaim is determined by what we already know—or think we know—it isn’t really news. Limited to whatever we already think is relevant, practical, and useful, the message will never be surprising, disorienting, and troubling. It can never throw us off balance or cause us reevaluate our priorities and interpretations of reality.”

—Michael Horton, The Gospel-Driven Life (Grand Rapids, MI; Baker Books, 2009), 19

*Original post is found here at their website.

Love-Based Repentence

“In fear-based repentance, we don’t learn to hate the sin for itself, and it doesn’t lose its attractive power. We learn only to refrain from it for our own sake. But when we rejoice over God’s sacrificial, suffering love for us – seeing what it cost him to save us from sin – we learn to hate the sin for what it is. We see what the sin cost God. What most assures us of God’s unconditional love (Jesus’s costly death) is what most convicts us of the evil of sin. Fear-based repentance makes us hate ourselves. Joy-bases repentance makes us hate the sin.”

- Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods (New York, NY: Penguin Group, 2009), 172.

Original article is found in the website,"Of First Importance"