"Indeed, the devil thinks more true thoughts about God in one day than a saint does in a lifetime, and God is not honored by it. The problem with the devil is NOT his theology, but his desires." There's a short passage in Scripture that I would enthusiastically nod my head in agreement with, but also lower my head in the reality that it isn't often true of me. It's found in the book of Psalms and it goes like this: "Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever" (Psalm 73:25-26). God is the most satisfying thing in the universe. NOTHING on earth compares to knowing Him and walking with Him. Yet, this truth is blurred by so many other voices calling out for our hearts, our minds, our thoughts, our affections. We're like a diabetic living in a candy store. The wafts of temptation are sweet smelling, and leading us to our demise. And sometimes (often??) we "follow our noses" believing the sweet smell to be better than God, better than His truth, better than His way. But God.... Our God is rich in mercy and unending in grace and is forever faithful to us. Though we are vulnerable, He is our Rock and He pursues after us with goodness and mercy all the days of our lives. So even when we stray (God forgive us!) He gives us a bad taste in our mouth for these idols, and gives us a hunger for Him. If you have tasted and seen that God is good, than you will want more of Him. May this be the song of your heart:
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Ray Ortlund is a pastor in Tennessee and a guy who often speaks to my heart through his blog. I would urge you all to frequent his blog and read his short, pithy, edifying posts (click here to check it out right now!). Going along the lines of something I (David) posted last Saturday ("Getting the most out of tomorrow's sermon"), Pastor Ray has posted a provocative (insightful/challenging/edifying/clarifying/etc....) blog post entitled, "Sunday is not a second Saturday". Please take two minutes to read this post and pay special attention to the conclusion. For your benefit, I'll post the entire entry below: If we would stop treating Sunday as a second Saturday, one more day to run to Home Depot, one more day for the kids’ soccer games, another day for getting ready for Monday, if we would rediscover Sunday as The Lord’s Day, focusing on him for just one day each week, what would be the immediate impact between today and one year from today? By one year from today, we will have spent 52 whole days given over to Jesus. Seven and a half weeks of paid vacation with Jesus. He’s a good King. Maybe we should put him first in our weekly schedules. Not fit him into the margins of our busy weekends, but build our whole weekly routine around him. Just a thought. Much has gone on in the last 24 hours following yesterday's house fire at the Roffs. Here's a brief update:
- Jen is home from the hospital and doing well physically; emotionally she struggling; spiritually she is leaning on Christ - Jay has been transferred down to the burn center in Milwaukee - he's expected to be there for a week to 10 days - he's in a lot of pain with first and second degree burns on his arms, neck, and face. Jay's brother Billy is travelling today to be with him. - The kids are doing well - the children had no injuries - The house has extensive damage and is in the process of being reviewed by the insurance adjusters Please pray for the following things: - For strength and wisdom for Jen as she is striving to work through the entire process of recovery from a house fire as well as be separated from her injured husband - For Jay as he is in much pain from the burns and is incapable of leading his family through the recovery process - For the kids to find Christ to be their Rock as they recover from the trauma of this all - For health insurance for the Roff family - it just so happened that they were in between health insurance coverage and are not certain if their current coverage had been approved We will update you with any needs the Roff's may have. It's Saturday, and I (Dave) will be sharing God's Word with our faith family at Country Bible Church tomorrow. I'm still working on the sermon, praying and thinking and praying and thinking and writing and praying....
How about all of you who aren't preaching tomorrow? How are you preparing for the sermon? Nancy Leigh DeMoss is very helpful here; please consider reading this every Saturday for a year in preparation for the Sunday sermon, "How to get the most out of your pastor's preaching". |
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