Hallejuah!

It is finished.

John Piper on Worship

In my quiet time this morning (I'm doing Life as a Vapor), I read John Piper's letter to a man who was against worship because it made God seem 'arrogant', especially since we didn't 'ask' to be created.

Piper mentioned a few things that struck a chord with me. 

He mentioned that, of course, God is more than worthy of our praise. He is greatly to be praised because He is great! "Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised." (Psalm 96:4) Also, Piper says the Bible talks about praise as being pleasurable in Psalm 16:11. This is all undeniable.

But some of my favorite things Piper said was that God demands praise from us because He demands happiness from us. "Deep in our hearts we know that we were not made to be made much of. We were made to make much of something great. The best joys are when we forget ourselves, enthralled with greatness. The greatest greatness is God's." How beautiful is that? He couldn't have said it better - the most joyful moments lie in the moments when we aren't focused on ourselves. Standing before Niagara Falls. Canoeing through the shining lake in Canada. Standing in the Sears Centre with a thousand other people, singing God with Us by MercyMe...just like the picture above. 

Another beautiful thing Piper talks about is that God gifts us with praise out of love. "The reason God seeks our praise is not because He won't be complete until He gets it. He is seeking our praise because we won't be complete until we give it. This is not arrogance. It is love." See, it all makes sense now. Of course God doesn't NEED our praise. He doesn't need anything! It's us that are in need. And so God gives. He gives us the gift of music so that we can feel His presence and revel in His beauty. For me at least, worshiping makes me despise sin. Because in those moments of praise it's so clear: God is so infinitely better than anything our sin promises. Worship is such a gift. An amazing, beautiful gift!

Oh, sing to the LORD a new song!

For He has done marvelous things; 

His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory.
The LORD has made known His salvation;

His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations.
He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth;

Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.
Sing to the LORD with the harp,

With the harp and the sound of a psalm,
With trumpets and the sound of a horn;

Shout joyfully before the LORD, the King.
      
Let the sea roar, and all its fullness,

The world and those who dwell in it;
Let the rivers clap their hands;

Let the hills be joyful together
before the LORD, 

For He is coming to judge the earth. 

With righteousness He shall judge the world, 

And the peoples with equity.

-Psalm 98

The Proverbs 31 Woman

"

"10 A wife of noble character who can find?

   She is worth far more than rubies.

11 Her husband has full confidence in her

   and lacks nothing of value.

12 She brings him good, not harm,

   all the days of her life.

13 She selects wool and flax

   and works with eager hands.

14 She is like the merchant ships,

   bringing her food from afar.

15 She gets up while it is still night;

   she provides food for her family

   and portions for her female servants.

16 She considers a field and buys it;

   out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.

17 She sets about her work vigorously;

   her arms are strong for her tasks.

18 She sees that her trading is profitable,

   and her lamp does not go out at night.

19 In her hand she holds the distaff

   and grasps the spindle with her fingers.

20 She opens her arms to the poor

   and extends her hands to the needy.

21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household;

   for all of them are clothed in scarlet.

22 She makes coverings for her bed;

   she is clothed in fine linen and purple.

23 Her husband is respected at the city gate,

   where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.

24 She makes linen garments and sells them,

   and supplies the merchants with sashes.

25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;

   she can laugh at the days to come.

26 She speaks with wisdom,

   and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

27 She watches over the affairs of her household

   and does not eat the bread of idleness.

28 Her children arise and call her blessed;

   her husband also, and he praises her:

29 “Many women do noble things,

   but you surpass them all.”

30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;

   but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

31 Honor her for all that her hands have done,

   and let her works bring her praise at the city gate."


What does it mean to be all of these things? Times have changed since this Proverb was written. Obviously, there's traits that stay the same throughout time...eagerness to work, sympathy for the poor, strength and dignity. These are important. But there's things that have changed in the modern world. If I don't sew clothes for my family, am I not a noble wife in the sight of God? I love sewing, but there's many women who don't. I don't feel as though that's sinful! If I don't make linen garments and sell them, if my 'trading' is not profitable...is that wrong?


I'm going to pick apart this passage and re-word it in more modern terms. I believe that there's more of an attitude that is being presented here. After all, to just do these actions without any feeling would be legalistic. So I wanted to give my opinion on what attitudes and good duties are stressed here.


10-Who can find a noble wife? She is rare. She is worth so much more than precious gems. 11-Her husband is fully confident that she is good, and his values are good. 12-As long as she lives, his wife helps him, and doesn't harm him. 13-She picks up useful things and eagerly works with them. 14-Like a merchant ship, she brings in food from all over the place. 15-She gets up very early to make sure there is food for her family. 16-With her money, she assesses the things she is thinking of buying and makes use of those things. 17-Her arms are strong as she vigorously works. 18-She makes sure she is spending money on useful things, and she doesn't just drop into bed as soon as it gets dark. 19-She works with useful things to provide for her family. 20-She cares about the poor and gives to those in need. 21-When the weather turns bad, she isn't worried because she has provided proper clothing for her family. 22-She takes care of her house and looks very presentable. 23-Her husband has a good job and is respected by all. 24-She does what she can to provide for her family. 25-She is strong and has dignity, and she isn't worried about the future. 26-She is wise and she faithfully instructs. 27-She takes care of her house and isn't lazy or negligent. 28-She children love and respect her, and so does her husband. 29-He tells her that he's glad that she is his wife. 30-Outward appearance is deceptive and it won't last. A woman who loves and fears the Lord is to be honored. 31-Let everyone honor all she has done.


So, I don't think I need to hold the distaff or sell linen at the city gates to be a God-honoring woman. I need to be strong and eager to do the work in my home. I need to provide food and clothing for my family so they won't be cold or hungry. I need to present myself respectably, but not be too absorbed in how I look because that's shallow. I need to lovingly correct my kids. I need to make sure I've married a good husband who loves the Lord and helps provide for his family. I need to use money wisely. I need to not be lazy, or worry about how I will provide for my family in the future.


And of course, above all, I need to do all these things in His name and glorify Him as long as I live!!

Wisconsin Pictures

First thing's first... I wanted to get around to posting photos from my friend Alex's cabin up in Wisconsin, even though it's been nearly two months. Yikes! In any case, it was a great trip. I'm really blessed to have Alex as a friend, and we had some really great spiritual talks.

Just thought I'd share :)

Tree of Life

"Hope deferred...

                         
     ...makes the heart sick...

...but a longing fulfilled...

                                             
 ...is a Tree of Life."

Proverbs 13:12

Grateful for the Sorrow.

"God sometimes marvelously raiseth the souls of his saints with some close and near approaches unto them -- gives them a sense of His eternal love, a taste of the embraces of His Son and the inhabitation of the Spirit, without the least intervening disturbance; and then this is their assurance. But this life is not a season to be always taking wages in; our work is not yet done; we are not always to abide in this mount; we must down again into the battle -- fight again, cry again, complain again. Shall the soul be thought now to have lost its assurance? Not at all. It had before assurance with joy, triumph, and exultation; it hath it now, or may have, with wrestling, cries, tears, and supplications. And a man's assurance may be as good, as true, when he lies on the earth with a sense of sin, as when he is carried up to the third heaven with a sense of love and foretaste of glory." - John Owen


When I read this today, I was both encouraged and convicted. I've found that Owen's works manage to strike those two prominent feelings at the same time in my heart, and it creates the perfect chemistry. While realizing how hopeless I am, I realize how incredible God is.


Sometimes I think to myself, "When do I feel God most near?" Because when God is most near to me, I am most satisfied. When I ask that, I immediately think of worship. When I sing to God, whether it's sitting in my friend's family room with a lone guitar or literally shouting to the Lord surrounded by thousands of voices at the Sears Centre, I feel His presence so clearly. I think of the times when I get in the car with Laura and turn on praise music to the max. Singing is an enormous part of my emotions, and since I'm an extremely emotional person, an enormous part of my emotions is an enormous part of me, period. I know that God has put this passion into me because He knows it will take hold of me and make me so, so much more aware of His amazing beauty.

Anytime I'm truly upset, it's because I'm having an inner struggle that my sinful mind refuses to hand over to Him. Apathy is the biggest, I think. I won't dig too deep into that, (another post...) but I believe it's the worst thing you can go through. You feel absolutely nothing. No joy, no motivation, no emotion...just blank apathy. So it's definitely those times when I feel most distant from God. 


That could confuse some people. Is apathy worse than emotional pain? To me, yes. And I'll tell you why. I've experienced pain. At one point in my childhood, I had the worst experience of my life, and the pain hasn't gone away and I don't think it ever will. It still haunts me and takes my breath away for all the sadness I feel. And guess what?


I'm grateful. I'm grateful for the sorrow.


Because in those moments of pain - not just pain inflicted by that particular event, but all emotional pain I've ever felt - God is nearer than when I worship and I'm joyful. When I curl up on my bed and cry like there's no tomorrow, I get the most acute sense that He's wrapping his arms around me and it gives me peace that is past understanding. This is something that came to me not too long ago. It hit me like a rock. Realizing it was astounding.


Because up until then, I had dealt with those moments of pain by telling myself that I deserved it. And of course, it's undeniably true. Like John Piper says in "Life is a Vapor", everything we receive here on earth is mercy. Compared to what we deserve, the worst experience on this earth is mercy. Pondering that humbles me. But there's even more.

God, in His amazing, amazing grace, is just in His actions. I deserve much more than that trauma, I deserve hell. But yet...YET...God has used the worst experience of my life for good. I'm serious when I say that the worst thing that happened to me is also the best thing that has happened to me. Of all the joyful things I've experienced in life, nothing has brought me closer to God. Because...nothing else has made me feel my need for Him more than my trials. And that has brought me the most everlasting and satisfying joy. God is just, and He brings trials, and we know we deserve it...and then He uses them to bring us joy. He piles mercy on top of mercy. It's mind-boggling. 


And then I can truly say, I'm grateful for the sorrow.

What is Love?

noun, verb, loved, lov·ing. - a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.

What is love, anyway? How is the world's love and God's love different? How are we supposed to love one another?

I think that once we understand the difference between our kind of love and the world's kind of love, we can better understand the difference between the world's view of God and our view of God. The two go hand-in-hand.

The world often views God as someone who doesn't exist, or an enemy. But I think these people - the active Atheists - are in the minority compared to what I like to call "convenience Christians". These people claim to "know" God, and speak of Him nicely, but they're only getting half of Him. What I mean is that, they prefer to focus on God's grace, mercy and beauty, but when it comes to His (rightful) wrath and judgment, it comes to a halt.

This morning, I was thinking about how closely this relates to the world's take on "love". I've always felt that, as Christians, our view on love is so different than the world's, for many different reasons. And once we crack this whole matter open, we can understand God better, and most importantly, we can understand Him for ALL that He is.

Here are some examples of the world's "love":

• Giving someone what they want in order to make them happy or comfortable. I once heard, on another blog post about a woman who let her high school senior daughter get a boob job certain enhancements because she "just wanted her to be happy". And recently, I was watching the TLC T.V. show called "Toddlers and Tiaras" when I picked up another example. 4-year-old Makenzie still used a pacifier for comfort, and even had a name for her ("Ni-ni! Mommy, I want my Ni-ni! Give me her!"). Her Mom excused her actions by saying "I tried taking Ni-ni away from Makenzie for a couple of weeks, but I felt so bad that I just had to give it back." Yikes.

• Lust, or sexual attraction. This is huge. People these days think that when they feel physically attracted to someone, or they "want" them, it means that they love them. In reality, that's not what real love is. Don't get me wrong - physical attraction is NOT bad. Of course not! God created us to be sexual creatures, didn't He? No, what I'm trying to say is that physical attraction is only part of a relationship, not the foundation or the cornerstone of it.

• Most common, I think, is acceptance and tolerance. This is also huge. While it's important to be loving and patient when keeping someone accountable, there's a fine line between that and letting the matter slip completely. It's all the rage these days..."you can't change who you are." You can be have anger problems, and the world will tell you that it's okay, because you can't change who you are. You can be homosexual, and the world will tell you that's just fine, because of course, that's just the way you are. You can defy authority, indulge in lust, and even murder unborn children and what will the world tell you? That it's just fine, of course. Now, this could easily stray off-topic, so I'll wrap it up: constantly reassuring someone that their sin is "okay" is NOT love. I'll touch base on this later.

The point is pretty clear: the world is pretty messed up on this whole "love" deal. To the unsaved, love is making life comfortable for someone, lusting over them, and reassuring them of their own "self-worth" when they mess up. But the Bible teaches us something very, very different. The way God loves us and the way we are to love each other differs, because only God can truly judge the motives of the heart, and we can only guess. But they're still very closely linked. Here's what God has to say about love:

• God's love is grounded in discipline. God's love isn't making us feel "good" - it's Him doing what He (of course!) knows is best for us. In Revelation 3:19, God tells us that "Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline." And Proverbs 12:1 says " Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates correction is stupid." God wants us to be holy, and He wants us to be satisfied in Him, therefore glorifying Him to the fullest. We need to CRAVE God's discipline, because we know that it's the very best thing for us.
• God's love is everlasting. Psalm 100:5 tells us that "the LORD is good and his love endures forever." His love isn't just a feeling or an emotion. It won't come and go. It will ALWAYS remain - no matter what the circumstance.
• God's love isn't always what we want. This is an elaboration of the first point. Isaiah 55:8 says: "'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,'” declares the LORD." We aren't the ones who know best. God is. He knows that the simple, brief pleasures in life aren't what will sustain us in the end. It's His discipline. It's the knowledge that He is in charge, not us. Although God's love might confuse our sinful minds, it's what our love towards each other must be grounded in.

Now that we have a clear picture of God's love, how are we supposed to take it into account? What are we supposed to do? Like I said, we don't always know the thoughts and intentions of other peoples' hearts. Only God can see within. When we hold them accountable, we can't speak for God. But we can try to mirror the love He shows for us to the best of our ability. And God shows us lots of ways that we are to love each other:

•  Accountability. God disciplines us, but that's different. Discipline is God's job; reminding each other about God's discipline is our job. I've found that unfortunately, many Christians take the liberty to judge others based on their own personal convictions instead of solid, biblical truths. I'm not exempt from this. I've sinned this way in order to feel better about myself. Again, this could easily branch off into another discussion, but I'll leave it with this: Galatians 6:1 tells us that "if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted." The first part is easy - hold each other accountable lovingly. The second part is more challenging - we can't become judgmental or holier-than-thou. Because then we're not truly loving the person we're restoring - we're only trying to make ourselves feel better about our own sin.
• Wanting what's best. Boob jobs for high-schoolers and pacifiers for 4-year-olds are not what's best. Discipline is. The Bible is clear on this: "Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them." Proverbs 13:24. My Dad said that other night, "tough love is the most genuine love." It's so very true. He and my Mom have made sure that my siblings and I know that. The reason they discipline us is because they love us.
• True feelings of affection, not just shallow lust. The Bible very clearly warns us to stay away from sexual immorality (Romans 13:13). When you sin sexually, you aren't just hurting yourself. Obviously, you're hurting the other person, too. Taking away someone's innocence for your own brief pleasure is not love. Waiting until marriage is. Denying the sinful desires of the flesh and submitting to God's authority is love - loving yourself and the one you're in love with.
• And of course, the infamous 1st Corinthians 13 passage: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." When we hold each other accountable, we're supposed to be patient and kind. True love won't be jealous or prideful, it will be selfless and humble. Love won't be committed to dishonor others in sexual immorality, only to satisfy self. Love won't lash out quickly and hold grudges. Love will cling to what is good. Love will defend what is good and put all its faith in what is good. Love will prevail when all else fails.

What is love? This is love.

Happy Valentine's Day... ;-)