Spirit of Christ

Scotty Smith:  A Prayer of Praise for the Many Ministries of the Holy Spirit

     For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. Rom. 8:5-9

Heavenly Father, this portion of your Word lands on my heart today like refreshing dew from heaven, like living water in a dry desert, like a fountain of grace for manifold weakness. It’s a gift to know our need. It’s a greater gift to realize everything you do for us through the ministries of the Holy Spirit.

Just as assuredly as Jesus stood outside of Lazarus’s tomb and said, “Come forth,” so you sent the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel to my heart and I came out of the tomb of my sin and death, raised to newness of life in Jesus. How I praise you for your sovereign goodness and power. Unless you had breathed new life into my dead spirit, I would’ve never, could’ve never believed the gospel.

Indeed, you baptized me with the Holy Spirit, making me a member of your family and Christ’s bride. You sealed me for eternity by the Spirit, marking me as your very own possession. Your Spirit is the firstfruits and guarantee of the full inheritance of the salvation that Jesus earned for us.

Now the Spirit lives as a permanent resident in my heart—to constantly preach the gospel to my heart, convict me of my sin, make me like Jesus, and tell me over and over again that I’m your beloved child. What a generous and loving God you are, Abba, Father!

Though it doesn’t always seem this way to me, according to your Word, I’m controlled by the Holy Spirit, for the dominion of sin in my life has been broken. And you’ve given me every Spirit gift I need to live as a functioning member of the Body of Christ, and a caring servant in your kingdom. Forgive me for whining about what I don’t have. You’ve enriched me beyond my wildest dreams through the work of the Spirit.

Blessed Father, make my theology my doxology—my confession my possession.  I don’t just want to “right” about the Holy Spirit; I want to be filled with the Spirit, keep in step with the Spirit, know the joy of the Spirit, bear the fruit of the Spirit, experience more of the power of the Spirit!  Right now, by faith, I set my mind on what the Spirit desires. Bring much glory to yourself and freedom to my soul. So very Amen I pray, in Jesus’ beautiful and bountiful name.

What Everyone Needs

Ray Ortlund post:  Gospel + safety + time

It’s what everyone needs.  Everyone.  Gospel + safety + time.  A lot of gospel + a lot of safety + a lot of time.

Gospel: good news for bad people through the finished work of Christ on the cross and the present power of the Holy Spirit.  Multiple exposures.  Constant immersion.  Wave upon wave of grace and truth, according to the Bible.

Safety: a non-accusing environment.  No finger-pointing.  No embarrassing anyone.  No manipulation.  No oppression.  No condescension.  But respect and sympathy and understanding, where sinners can confess and unburden their souls.

Time: no pressure.  Not even self-imposed pressure.  No deadlines on growth.  No rush.  No hurry.  But a lot of space for complicated people to rethink their lives at a deep level.  If we relax, trusting in God’s patience, we actually get going.

This is what our churches must be: gentle environments of gospel + safety + time.  It’s the only way anyone can ever change.

Who doesn’t need that?

Fradulent Success

Ray Ortlund post:  Success and Jesus

In a world of secrets, outward success is everyone’s goal.  If we can just succeed, we won’t have to face ourselves.  No wonder that doesn’t work.  It can’t work.  The reality of what we are will always topple this house-of-cards persona we so earnestly wish were true.

The gospel is not God’s way of giving us an even better self-improvement goal.  The gospel is God’s judgment on our better selves and his replacement of it all with Jesus.

Every one of us thinks, “If only I could do __________ or be __________, then I would arrive.”  So, what does “arrival” look like to you?  If it isn’t Jesus, the risen Lord himself, every arrival you achieve is only another set-back.

If you make financial security your arrival, you are already trapped in anxiety.  If you make a thin body your identity, you will hate yourself more.  If you make a porn-free life your okayness, you are doomed to compulsion.  God’s remedy for you is not more money or better looks or perfect control.  God’s gift to you is Jesus.  With Jesus, we are saved.  Everything is going to be okay.  Without Jesus, we are damned.  Nothing will go right.

Forsake all fraudulent success.  Make Jesus your goal, your arrival, your identity, your comfort, your okayness, and he’ll gladly give himself to you — and on terms of grace.  But reach for anything else, and it will turn into its opposite and betray you.

To paraphrase the apostle Paul, “I’ve lost everything, and I don’t even care, because now I get Jesus” (Philippians 3:8).

Keep Circling

Mark Batterson post:  DAY 17

On the seventh day you are to march around the city seven times.

Joshua 6:4

Can I ask a counterfactual question: what would have happened if the Israelites had stopped circling Jericho on day six? The obvious answer is this: they would have forfeited the miracle right before it happened.  The wall of Jericho would not have fallen and the promise would have remained unclaimed.

Nothing has changed.

I wonder how many of us have forfeited promises, forfeited miracles, forfeited dreams because we quit circling too soon.  Please don’t read that and get depressed.  God is the God of second chances!  It should inspire us to pray through.  Or to borrow vocabulary from The Circle Maker: keep circling!

Let me share a prayer testimony from someone who attended NCC for many years while they lived in DC.  They just read The Circle Maker and shared a few of the prayer circles they’ve drawn over the years.  This one involves a piece of legislation.  See if it doesn’t inspire you to keep circling!

In 1994, I authored legislation that forced the cable industry to fully scramble their pornography channels.  In our community, the Spice Channel was just one click away from the cartoon channel.  Congressman Duncan Hunter allowed me to use his office as a base camp as I prepared to personally visit all 435 Congressional offices and all 100 Senate offices.  It took me a week to visit all 535 offices, delivering the legislation and video evidence to each one. Every morning before starting my trek I did a prayer walk around the US Capitol 7 times and prayed for the spiritual walls of evil to come down.  And on the last day, at the end of the last circle, (a little concerned about how the Capitol Police would respond) I shouted loudly for the walls to come down.

A few days earlier I was in the Longworth Congressional Building and had just left the220th Congressional office totally depressed.   In almost every office that I visited I was told that I was too late; Chairman Dingle had finished the Telecommunication’s Bill and there was no way that he would ever reopen it for an amendment, because if he opened it for mine, it would open it for everyone else’s, and that wasn’t going to happen. I was in the lobby on the second floor of the Longworth, went over to a window, sat on its cold marble sill, and hung my head in defeat.  I said to myself, I should stop wasting my time and go home to San Diego.

Never before, and never since, has God spoken to me so clearly. While I sat there looking down at the marble tiled floor, totally dejected, these words were spoken to me as clear as a bell, “Who is doing this, you or Me?” I can’t explain how I felt when I heard those words, but I straightened up and responded, “You are Lord!”  Instantly I was filled with more excitement than when I had first begun and at each of the following 215 offices, my presentations were given with power and faith.

I was in the Canon Congressional Building, and had just made my last presentation to the last Congressional office (I am not exaggerating when I tell you this); as my leg crossed the threshold as I exited the 435th office, my pager rang.  Chairman Dingle had just agreed to allow my amendment to be added to his Telecommunication’s Bill.

Maybe you’ve been praying for the salvation of a loved one what seems like an eternity.  Maybe you feel like you can’t handle the financial stress or relational tension any longer. Maybe you feel like your dream is as distant now as it was a decade ago.

My advice?  Keep circling!

What other option do you have?

To pray or not to pray.

That is the question, isn’t it?

Don’t just pray. Keep praying.  Then pray some more!

For free resources or bulk discounts, visit www.thecirclemaker.com.

Theological Infographic

Tim Challies post:  Visual Theology:  The Attributes of God

A couple of weeks ago I released the first infographic in a series I am titling “Visual Theology.” What I appreciate about infographics is their ability to display information visually. Just as there are many words that can be used to describe any one fact, there are also many ways to display facts.

Today I have the second infographic in the series, one that focuses in on the attributes of God. When we talk about God’s attributes we do so to answer questions like Who is God? and What is God like? It is the way we seek to wrap our minds around just little fragments of who this God is. We have sought to represent some of that in this graphic (which, incidentally, would probably make quite a nice desktop background).

Note: If you click on the graphic you will be able to see it full-size.

You can also download this infographic in a high-quality PDF (8 MB). As with the last infographic, you are free to print it, copy it, distribute it, and so on. Just don’t sell it, please.

If you have other ideas for theological infographics, please feel free to leave a comment.

Union with Christ

John Piper post:  The Stupendous Reality of Being “in Christ Jesus”

Being “in Christ Jesus” is a stupendous reality. It is breathtaking what it means to be in Christ. United to Christ. Bound to Christ. If you are “in Christ” listen to what it means for you:

1. In Christ Jesus you were given grace before the world was created. 1 Timothy 1:9, “He gave us grace in Christ Jesus before the ages began.”
2. In Christ Jesus you were chosen by God before creation. Ephesians 1:4, “God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world.”
3. In Christ Jesus you are loved by God with an inseparable love. Romans 8:38–39, “I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
4. In Christ Jesus you were redeemed and forgiven for all your sins. Ephesians 1:7, “In Christ we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses.”
5. In Christ Jesus you are justified before God and the righteousness of God in Christ is imputed to you. 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For our sake God made Christ to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
6. In Christ Jesus you have become a new creation and a son of God. 2 Corinthians 5:17, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” Galatians 3:26, “In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.”
7. In Christ Jesus you have been seated in the heavenly places even while he lived on earth. Ephesians 2:6, “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
8. In Christ Jesus all the promises of God are Yes for you. 2 Corinthians 1:20, “All the promises of God find their Yes in Christ.”
9. In Christ Jesus you are being sanctified and made holy. 1 Corinthians 1:2, “To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus.”
10. In Christ Jesus everything you really needed will be supplied. Philippians 4:19, “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
11. In Christ Jesus the peace of God will guard your heart and mind. Philippians 4:7, “The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
12. In Christ Jesus you have eternal life. Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
13. And in Christ Jesus you will be raised from the dead at the coming of the Lord. 1 Corinthians 15:22, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” All those united to Adam in the first humanity die. All those united to Christ in the new humanity rise to live again

How do we get into Christ?

At the unconscious and decisive level it is God’s sovereign work: “From God are you in Christ Jesus” (1 Corinthians 1:30).

But at the conscious level of our own action, it is through faith. Christ dwells in our hearts “through faith” (Ephesians 3:17). The life we live in union with his death and life “we live by faith in the Son of God” (Galatians 2:20). We are united in his death and resurrection “through faith” (Colossians 2:12).

This is a wonderful truth. Union with Christ is the ground of everlasting joy, and it is free.

Religion and Voting

Ed Stetzer post:  New Research: Nearly 70% of American Voters Take Religion into Consideration When Voting for a Candidate

One of the underlying themes in the media coverage of the current race for the Republican Presidential nomination has been the religious beliefs of the candidates themselves. But should it be? Do Americans really take issue with a political candidates religious beliefs?

LifeWay Research has just released new findings in which nearly 70 percent of American adults say their votes are impacted, either positively or negatively, by the religious conviction of a candidate. In fact, the research shows that a candidates religion can be more of a detriment to their campaign than a benefit. Nearly twice as many (30%) voters are less likely to vote for a candidate because of the candidate's religion than they are to vote for them (16%). USA Today featured the research in the wake of Newt Gingrich's win in this weekend's South Carolina primary.

When asked, "When a candidate running for office regularly expresses religious conviction or activity, how does that impact your vote?", 16 percent are more likely to vote for a candidate who regularly shares their religious beliefs, 30 percent indicate they would be less likely to vote for a candidate expressing religious activity, and 21 percent of Americans say it would depend on the candidate's religion. 

In fact, just 28 percent say it would have no impact on their choice of candidate.

Some other highlights from the research include:

• Younger Americans ages 18-29 (24 percent) and ages 30-49 (24 percent) are more likely to select "depends on the religion" of the candidate.
• Those age 65 and over are the most likely (37 percent) to say a candidate's expression of religious conviction or activity would have no impact on their choice of candidate.
• Americans who consider themselves to be a born-again, evangelical or fundamentalist Christian are more likely (28 percent vs. 11 percent) to select "more likely to vote for the candidate" expressing religious conviction compared to Americans who do not share their religious beliefs.
• Similarly, these Christians are more likely to select "depends on the religion" compared to those who do not identify with these beliefs (36 percent vs. 20 percent). 
• Americans who never attend a place of worship are most likely (67 percent) to say a candidate's expression of religious conviction or activity would make them "less likely to vote for a candidate." Only 3 percent would be more likely to vote for the candidate. 
• African Americans are most likely to be put off by a candidate's religious expression - just 2 percent say they would be "more likely to vote for the candidate." 
• Hispanic Americans (41 percent) and African Americans (43 percent) indicate they would be less likely to vote for a candidate expressing religious conviction or activity. 
• Two-thirds of Americans who never attend a place of worship appear to flee from candidates who repeatedly put their religion in front of them and 4 in 10 Hispanic and African American adults take it as a cue that the candidate is not for them.