We should not be entertained by the sins for which Christ died.
HT: @challies
Trials Interpretted by Scripture
Grace Meets Us in New and More Abundant Measures
We often feel as if grace had done its utmost when it has carried us safely through the desert, and set us down at the gate of the kingdom. We feel as if, when grace has landed us there, it has done all for us that we are to expect.
But God’s thoughts are not our thoughts. He does exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think. It is just when we reach the threshold of the prepared heavenly city, that grace meets us in new and more abundant measures, presenting us with the recompense of the reward.
The love that shall meet us then to bid us welcome to the many mansions, shall be love beyond what we were here able to comprehend; for then shall we fully realize, as if for the first time, the meaning of these words, ‘The love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord;’ and then shall we have that prayer of Christ fulfilled in us, ‘That the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.’
It was grace which on earth said to us, ‘Come unto Me, and I will give you rest;’ and it will be grace, in all its exceeding riches, that will hereafter say to us, ‘Come, you who are blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’
The Cross Does Not Solve the Problem of Suffering
We have to learn to climb the hill called Calvary, and from that vantage point survey all life’s tragedy. The cross does not solve the problem of suffering, but it applies the essential perspective from which to look at it. Since God has demonstrated His holy love and loving justice in a historical event (the cross), no other historical event (whether personal or global) can override or disprove it. This must really be why the scroll (the book of history and destiny) is now in the hands of the slain Lamb, and why only He is worthy to break it seals, reveal its contents and control the flow of nature.
John R. W. Stott, The Cross of Christ (Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2006), 320.
Beware of Empty Orthodoxy
You can be as straight as a gun barrel theologically—and be as empty as one spiritually.
HT: challies.com
Love of God
No Dillydallying with Christ’s Commands
There can be no dillydallying around with the commands of Christ. We are engaged in warfare, the issues of which are life and death, and every day that we are indifferent to our responsibilities is a day lost to the cause of Christ. If we have learned even the most elemental truth of discipleship, we must know that we are called to be servants of our Lord and to obey his Word. It is not our duty to reason why he speaks as he does, but only to carry out his orders. Unless there is this dedication to all that we know he wants us to do now, however immature our understanding may be, it is doubtful if we will ever progress further in his life and mission. There is no place in the Kingdom for a slacker, for such an attitude not only precludes any growth in grace and knowledge but also destroys any usefulness on the world battlefield of evangelism.
Grace To Do Good Works
Grace is given not because we have done good works, but in order that we may be able to do them.
The Scriptures Were Given for Transformation
Pray for Your Country Today
People do their country more service by pleading for it in prayer than by finding fault with things they have no power to alter.
HT: Miscellanies
Life Is Worship 