Stop nursing past wounds!

Chris Braun not only call Christians to stop dwelling on how others have “wounded” us but he also gives 5 practical suggestions to get over them.

Read and apply here.

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Are you growing in grace?

Thanks to Terry Enns for taking time to compile these. His blog is a blessing to me:

How can you tell if you are growing in the grace of Christ (2 Pt. 3:18)? Scotty Smith regularly offers insights on Twitter (follow him@ScottyWardSmith) about manifestations of the growth of grace in a believer’s life.  Here are some of my favorite over the past couple of weeks.  A sign you are growing in grace:

• You define success less by how much you do in a day & more in terms of how well you love
• You expect to discover more of your need for Jesus today & more of the riches of Jesus.
• The older you get the more you remember stuff your parents actually did right
• There are things you no longer do only because of your love for Jesus
• “Rewards” means throwing crowns at Jesus’ feet, not better furniture for your “mansion”
• Your inwards groans are getting louder and your eager waiting more intense. Rom.8:23
• You know the difference between being obsessively busy and providentially busy
• You know if Jesus is calling you to do 3 things you can’t afford to dabble with 17
• The people who know you best would say you live more of a called life than a driven life
• You know you’re not anywhere close to being as free as Jesus intends
• You’re intentional about not spending all your time with Christians
• You boast IN your weaknesses but you don’t boast about them. They don’t define you.
• You don’t live by the frowns and judgments of professional weaker brothers
• You know when you’re giving God a bit part in your story versus finding your place in His
• You know the difference between dialogue & diatribe when discussing theological matters
• You stop trying to be an chameleon on scotch plaid… trying to keep everybody happy
• Somebody with redemptive wisdom knows about your struggle with sexual sin
• If you don’t know, you don’t pretend you do.
• You don’t appeal to the sovereignty of God as an excuse for your being lazy or foolish
• You don’t feel the need to pose and pretend as often or as much.
• You’re just as excited about what the gospel frees you FOR as what it frees you FROM
• You’re cultivating an informed mind with an enflamed heart and engaged hands
• You love “bracketology” but you REALLY love theology.
• Because of God’s grace at work in your heart, it’s getting harder to gossip, nag & snarl
• The gap between your sound doctrine and your actual discipleship is narrowing
• You repent freely and regularly, to your spouse and children
• You grieve how touchy, pouty and defensive you can be
• People you’re talking with don’t just hear your words but experience your presence
• You recognize quicker when you’re importing last year’s anger into today’s disappointment
• You say “always” and “never” less often, and “I’m so sorry” a whole lot more
• The more you understand your union with Christ the more you crave communion with Him
• Repentance is becoming less something YOU do and more Someone you trust, namely, Jesus
• The word “overcomer” in Revelation makes you think about Jesus, THE Overcomer, not you.
• Your cry for a changed heart is louder than your cry for relief
• There are fewer pages in the little book in which you keep a record of wrongs done to you
• You notice a person’s dignity before you notice their depravity
• You laugh with louder gufaws, & cry with hotter tears, because the gospel is at work.
• You’re learning to repay good for evil without being self-righteous or pious about it.
• The word “godliness” makes you think about what Jesus has done for you, not vice versa
• You don’t have to form an opinion about everything, nor a need to always share yours
• The time lapse between the Spirit’s convicting and your repenting is much shorter
• Your use of caller ID reflects your commitment to love well, not simply avoid people
• What you are behind the steering wheel is a demonstration of the power of the gospel
• When at the “Y” or gym of choice, you do less mirror gazing and more working out
• You don’t violate confidences. You can be trusted with the brokenness of others
• You enjoy, but you don’t flaunt Christian liberty. Act like you been there before
• Prayer walks are yielding as much satisfaction as shopping sprees, maybe more.
• You will do everything you can NOT to do unnecessary damage to a person’s reputation
• Your family and friends can relax around you more than they did last year.
• When in Starbucks, you don’t judge the people who sit in the best chairs for hours
• It takes minutes not weeks to recognize when you’ve fallen back into works righteousness
• Your theology always leads to doxology, not merely to you being more right than others
• Compliments don’t intoxicate you and criticism doesn’t decimate you
• You can enjoy God’s gifts without reservation & share God’s gifts without hesitation
• Your thoughts of heaven are more about the transforming of this world than escaping it
• God’s promises claim you more than you claim them

 

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He does all things well

Do you really believe that Jesus does all things well?  Does your speech reflect that? Does your attitude toward life reflect that?

The people in Gentile-dominated Decapolis witnessed the miraculous, instantaneous power of Jesus in healing a deaf and mute man.  They exclaimed, “Jesus does all things well!”

Believers ought to be saying this and believing it!

Let’s remember this as we look back in our lives and as we look forward to what lies ahead―The great Shepherd of the sheep makes no mistakes. He leads every lamb of His flock by the right way

We will never comprehend the full reality of this statement until we are with the Lord.  We will look back over our lives and know much better then what has happened and why.   We will wonder at our past blindness and marvel that we could ever have doubted God’s love.  We now see through a glass darkly, but then face to face (1 Corint 13:12).  May our testimony be today, “Though I know, whatever befall me, Jesus doeth all things well!”

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Quietness before God: do you struggle?

“People today are afraid to be alone.  This fear is a dominant mark of our society.  Many now ceaselessly sit in the cinema or read novels about other people’s lives or watch dramas.  Why?  Simply to avoid having to face their own existence. . . .

No one seems to want (and no one can find) a place of quiet — because, when you are quiet, you have to face reality.  But many in the present generation dare not do this because on their own basis reality leads them to meaninglessness; so they fill their lives with entertainment, even if it is only noise. . . .

The Christian is supposed to be very opposite: There is a place for proper entertainment, but we are not to be caught up in ceaseless motion which prevents us from ever being quiet.  Rather we are to put everything second so we can be alive to the voice of God and allow it to speak to us and confront us.”

Francis Schaeffer, “Walking through the mud,” in No Little People (Downers Grove, 1974), pages 86-87.

I have calmed and quieted my soul.  Psalm 131:2

HT: Ray Ortlund

 

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