Satisfaction & Temptation

I remember seeing an old silent film comic who kept kicking his hat further out as he reached down to get it. He never got what he always wanted because of himself. The ironic thing about our pursuit of happiness is that we find ourselves in a similar predicament--we prolong the pursuit of God-given and soul-satisfying pleasure when we take the detours into sin that cannot truly offer satisfaction. We become great at kicking hats but poor at wearing them. Or to state it plainly, we can become experts at chasing the promise of satisfaction but terrible at apprehending it.

As C.S. Lewis so expertly explains:

But [God] knows, and I do not, how [soul satisfaction] can be really and permanently attained. He knows that most of my personal attempts to reach it are actually putting it further and further out of my reach.

Check out the full post from Dane Ortland containing more from Lewis is well worth your time. Click here to see it.

How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! 

People take refuge in the shadow of your wings. 

They feast on the abundance of your house; 

you give them drink from your river of delights. 

For with you is the fountain of life; 

in your light we see light.

- PSALM 36.7-9

Walls & Doors

Want to know what to do with that frustrating roadblock in your life? Here's some good insight from Pastor Steven Furtick.

I’m convinced now more than ever that perspective can change everything. And this is probably nowhere truer than when we’re talking about the struggles we face in life.

Most of us think of our struggles – our circumstances, obstacles, and enemies –  as walls. They’re there to set us back or hold us back. We avoid them at all costs. When we encounter them, we usually turn back because after all, who wants to climb a wall? Especially a wall that can sometimes seem insurmountable.
But the truth is your circumstances and obstacles aren’t walls. They’re not there to set you back. In reality, they’re there to set you up.

Your struggles are not walls, they are doors.

Check out the full post from Pastor Furtick here. 

Christ Alone

"But remember, sinner, it is not thy hold of Christ that saves thee-it is Christ; it is not thy joy in Christ that saves thee-it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, though that is the instrument-it is Christ's blood and merits; therefore, look not so much to thy hand with which thou art grasping Christ, as to Christ; look not to thy hope, but to Christ, the source of thy hope; look not to thy faith, but to Christ, the author and finisher of they faith; and if thou dost that, ten thousand devils cannot throw thee down, but as long as thou lookest at thyself, the meanest of those evil spirits may tread thee beneath his feet . . . it is not faith, it is not our doings, it is not our feelings upon which we must rest, but upon Christ and on Christ alone." 

- Charles Spurgeon, 24 August 1856, New Park Street Chapel, Southwark, England 

Check out this awesome song to help this awesome truth sink in:  

Not What My Hands by Aaron Keyes

All Truth is God's Truth

All truth is God's truth, no matter where we find it. And we do find it in unsuspecting places. Notice these nuggets culled from the writings of Victor Hugo over at Desiring God. 

This one is my favorite:

"The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves—say rather, loved in spite of ourselves."

Head over to Desiring God for the full post: The Gift of Victor Hugo.  

Perfect Love Casts Out Fear

If perfect love casts out fear--and I believe it does, why do we find ourselves still afraid? Fear comes up in many forms. We are afraid of the unknown or being alone. Some are afraid of death. Others the future. But we all face fear. Dave Dorr gets to the heart of overcoming fear with personal faith in this refreshing post (I encourage you to read the whole thing): 

We cannot underestimate the importance of freedom in our lives. Freedom is one of the top reasons Jesus came to earth: “For freedom Christ has set us free...” (Galatians 5:1).

But what does freedom mean?

Click here for the full post at The Resurgence.

Religious Idols

"An idol is something that we look to for things that only God can give. Idolatry functions widely inside religious communities when doctrinal truth is elevated to the position of a false god. This occurs when people rely on the rightness of their doctrine for their standing with God rather than on God Himself and His grace. It is a subtle and deadly mistake."

        

                                              - From Counterfeit Gods by Timothy Keller, p. 131

"For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." - 2 Corinthians 5.21

Gospel Goof Ups

Every new enterprise starts with great potential and the Christian life starts with the greatest potential. But as with any endeavor the enthusiasm fades, the journey becomes difficult and what was once clear becomes fuzzy. That's why I appreciate, and frequent, blogs like the one below. They help me stay focused and continue in clarity.

Here are some helpful insights to keep us from goofing up the gospel in our lives:

"As I said a few months ago in one of my sermons, there are outside-the-church idols and there are inside-the-church idols. It’s the idols inside the church that ought to concern Christians most. It’s easier for Christians to identify worldly idols such as money, power, selfish ambition, sex, and so on. It’s the idols inside the church that we have a harder time identifying.

For instance, we know it’s wrong to bow to the god of power—but it’s also wrong to bow to the god of preferences. We know it’s wrong to worship immorality—but it’s also wrong to worship morality. We know it’s wrong to seek freedom by breaking the rules—but it’s also wrong to seek freedom by keeping them. We know God hates unrighteousness—but he also hates self-righteousness. We know crime is a sin—but so is control. If people outside the church try to save themselves by being bad; people inside the church try to save themselves by being good."


- From Tullian Tchividjian blog On Earth as it is in Heaven


For a helpful list of ways we goof up the gospel check out the full post here. 

Jesus Christ is Our Home

 "Through the incarnation, Jesus (fully God and fully man in his one Person) became not merely the means but the place—the locale—where communion with and obedience to God happens in all its unimaginable fullness."

- From Dan Cruver in Reclaiming Adoption





The full quote here or order the book here.