...and a warning on the back!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
God’s Holiness and Moral Perfection
Is God just a case of "wish fulfillment? It is fashionable in atheist circles to suggest that mankind "invented" the concept of God to give them comfort in times of peril. Do dangers from nature, weather, or natural disasters drive us to create a god who will take care of us? In light of the tenuousness of our lives, have we fabricated a "sky daddy" who can hold us and comfort us?
While this seems plausible, here's the rub: if mankind dreamed up the concept of God, it would not be the God we encounter in the Bible. Yes, the Lord God Almighty is a refuge and a help to us. But he is also awesome in his holiness! This God causes more fear than he resolves! As we saw last Sunday, the universal response to an encounter with the holiness of God is awesome fear and stunned silence, and a crushing sense of our sinfulness.
"Herein we find proof for the Divine inspiration of the Scriptures. The unregenerate do not really believe in the holiness of God. Their conception of His character is altogether one-sided. They fondly hope that His mercy will override everything else. "Thou thoughtest that I was altogether as thyself" (Ps. 50:21) is God's charge against them. They think only of a "god" patterned after their own evil hearts. Hence their continuance in a course of mad folly. Such is the holiness ascribed to the Divine nature and character in Scripture that it clearly demonstrates their superhuman origin. The character attributed to the "gods" of the ancients and of modern heathendom are the very reverse of that immaculate purity which pertains to the true God. An ineffably holy God, who has the utmost abhorrence of all sin, was never invented by any of Adam's fallen descendants." A.W. Pink
Our God is perfect in his holiness – something mankind would never have invented! That is why we are never so grateful for the mercy and compassion of the Lord as when we are wholly aware of his holiness. Against the backdrop of his Holiness (and justice!), the cross of Christ shines as a lighthouse of refuge!
"The Lord reigns. Let the peoples tremble!" Ps. 99
(Click here for passages to meditate upon this week)
The well wisher of your soul's happiness,
Pastor Tom
Friday, October 9, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
God’s Love and Compassion: a prayer
"…Pour out your heart before him, God is a refuge for us"
Psalm 62:8
"O Lord, you call me to pour out my heart before you, and I will pour. I ask of you, Lord, reveal my own heart to me. It has been so long since I poured out my heart to you. My heart has become backlogged, stagnant from the debris that has clogged it.
O Lord, to pour out my heart I have to know my hearts needs. I also have to know, without question, your willingness to be "poured upon". And yet who would ask another to "pour out your heart to me", but one filled with love and compassion?
O Lord, so pour I will! I pour out my yearning for you. I want so much to experience spiritual renewal, but it alludes me. The mire of distractions and responsibilities squeezes me.
So I pour out my heart for your help, O Lord. Bring me to a place of intimacy with you – to bask in your love, to experience your pleasure. I would seek you with all my heart!
I also pour out my heart in confession. Not the "big sins" but the small compromises have bogged me in the way. So help me to break out, to reignite the flame to burn again. You can change things in an instant! O lord, change my heart, change my focus. Great God of love and compassion – hear the "pourings" of my heart!
(Click here for passages to meditate upon this week)
The well wisher of your soul's happiness,
Pastor Tom
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
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