When your child isn’t doing well in the Lord

Mark Altrogge offers the following suggestions to parents when their children (of any age are not doing well in the Lord):

• based upon whether they love Jesus or you
• Continue to try to model Jesus Christ to your child
• We should be more grieved that our child does not see the glory of Jesus than we are by their sin.

He goes on to mention a few ways God could be using this trial in our lives:

• It humbles us
• It help us rely on God not methods
• It exposes our own sin – anger, pride, fear of man, looking down on or judging others
• It makes us more compassionate and merciful
• It stretches our faith
• It teaches us to do good to those who sin against us expecting nothing in return
• It drives us to seek God in prayer – for our child’s salvation, for wisdom, for grace
• It produces patience, perseverance and long-suffering
• It gives us an infinitesimal taste of what we’ve done to Christ and what God experiences every day from mankind
• It reminds us of our own past sins against our parents
• It reminds us that only God can save

Read the full article here.

Read Full Post »

Good things happen when we confess sin

Paul Tautages explains based on 1 John :8-2:1  that when we confess things lots of powerful things happen:

1. I acknowledge my innate sinfulness, not merely my “sins.” This is a very important reminder. I am not a sinner because I sin. Rather, I sin because I am sinner. My sinfulness is directly linked to my connection with Adam (Rom 5:12). If I ever get to the point of believing that I “have no sin,” then I have deceived myself.
2. I demonstrate that God’s truth is at work “in me.” To deny my innate sinfulness, or guilt concerning my sins, is to deny God and His truth and to admit that neither is in me.
3. I fully agree with God that my thought, word, deed, motive, attitude, or any combination of them falls short of His glory. To “confess” means to say the same thing; that is to agree with God that His judgment concerning my sin is accurate. Sin is anything within me, or an action produced by me, which fails to bring glory to God who alone is always worthy (Rom 3:23).
4. God’s faithfulness and righteousness go to work on my behalf. When I agree with God concerning my sin then He acts according to His promises that He made on my behalf. When He forgives, God manifests that He is faithful and just.
5. God releases me from my debt. To “forgive” me means He lets go of my sin as an offense to Him. He no longer holds it against me or seeks to punish me because He has already punished His Son, which displayed His amazing love (Cf. Rom 5:8).
6. God washes my sinful heart and conscience. He “cleanses” me from all sin. That is, He washes me again—in a fresh way—in the blood of Jesus, which was shed once for all (Heb. 7:27).
7. I testify of God’s truthfulness. When I stubbornly refuse to humble myself and agree with God then I “make Him a liar.”
8. I confirm that God’s Word is at work “within me.” Dealing honestly with my sin before God and others is one of the evidences of my “new creature status” as a regenerated believer (2 Cor 5:17; James 1:18).
9. Jesus steps up to be my righteous “advocate with the Father.” Jesus acts as my defense lawyer, bringing forth His wounded hands and feet as proof that my sin has already been paid for.
10. I rest in the astounding sufficiency of the blood of Jesus, my propitiatory Sacrifice. Each and every time I rightly agree with God, concerning the accuracy of His assessment of my sin, my wearied soul finds rest in the wondrous truth that my Jesus has already satisfied the righteous demands of the Father and absorbed His wrath. I also testify that the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross is sufficient for the sins of every man, woman, and child who ever has been or will be.

That’a an amazing list, isn’t it?

Read Full Post »

The crucifixion lead to coronation!

Crown Him the Lord of love, behold His hands and side,
Those wounds, yet visible above, in beauty glorified.
No angel in the sky can fully bear that sight,
But downward bends his burning eye at mysteries so bright.

Crown Him the Lord of life, who triumphed over the grave,
And rose victorious in the strife for those He came to save.
His glories now we sing, who died, and rose on high,
Who died eternal life to bring, and lives that death may die.

–Charles Wesley

Read Full Post »

God’s mercy in not telling us everything

Jon Bloom:

“God is merciful not to tell us everything. He tells us enough to sustain us if we trust him. But often it does not feel like enough. We really think we would like to know more.

In her book, The Hiding Place, Corrie Ten Boom recalls a time when, as a young girl, she was returning home on the train with her father after accompanying him to purchase parts for his watch-making business. She asked him to explain how children are conceived. Her father stood up and took out the suitcase he had brought along:

“Will you carry it off the train, Corrie?” he said. I stood up and tugged at it. It was crammed with the watches and spare parts he had purchased that morning. “It’s too heavy,” I said. “Yes,” he said. “And it would be a pretty poor father who would ask his little girl to carry such a load. It’s the same way, Corrie, with knowledge. Some knowledge is too heavy for children. When you are older and stronger you can bear it. For now you must trust me to carry it for you.”

God is also a wise Father who knows when knowledge is too heavy for us. He is not being deceptive when he does not give us the full explanation. He is carrying our burdens (1 Peter 5:7). If we think our burdens are heavy, we should see the ones he’s carrying. The burdens he gives to us to carry are light (Matthew 11:30).

God is very patient and merciful with us. Someday, when we are older and stronger, he will let us carry more of the burden of knowledge. But until then let us happily keep letting him carry our burdens.”

Read more here.

Read Full Post »