Hope for the Broken

Paul Tripp, in Forever:

The fact that this world is not an endless cycle of dashed hopes and fading dreams but by God's plan is marching toward a moment when all that is broken will be restored can fill you with a reason to get up in the morning and press on. Yes, life is hard and you will face things you never imagined you would face, but this world is not all there is. You are not living in the final chapter of the story. What is broken will be fixed, what has been bent will be straightened, and what has decayed will be restored. Eternity really does give you a reason to continue, even when nothing right now seems as if it is working. Eternity challenges my feelings of futility by reminding me that what I am experiencing right now is not permanent.

Wow, talk about hope! I'm growing more convinced of my need for an eternal perspective and clinging to Christ.
"All that has been broken will be restored." Brokenness does not have the last word. All of creation yearns for the return on the Lord, when he will put everything right. And he gives grace for us to hold on until then. We have hope, and God is with us even now. We live in the reality of the already but not yet.

The hope of the righteous brings joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish.
(Proverbs 10:28)

May I delight and take joy in God's goodness today, for he is very good. I want each day to be a treasure hunt for him.

Taste

"We get a taste of God's good gifts in the here and now to keep us hungering for the full meal that is waiting for us in eternity."
Paul Tripp in Forever: Why You Can't Live Without It

Forgiveness

Excerpts from Tim Lane and Paul Trip in Relationships: A Mess Worth Making; Chapter 9: Forgiveness. (Emphasis added.)

When you forgive someone, you cancel a debt. But, more specifically, you make a conscious choice to absorb the cost yourself. . . . No matter how you spin it, forgiveness is costly. Regardless of how big or small the offense, canceling a debt and absorbing the cost is going to hurt. But the parable [Matt. 18:21-35] shows us that not forgiving also has a price, and it is higher than the price forgiveness demands. . . .

We’re tempted to think that once we have forgiven someone, we’re done. But forgiving someone is not just a past event. It’s something we must continue to practice, even when we are dealing with an offense we have already forgiven. Even if I have forgiven you for something you have done in the past, I need to be careful that I don’t slip into bitterness some time in the future. I need to keep practicing forgiveness every time I see you or think of you. . . .

Mark 11:25 – And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.

Luke 17:3 – If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.

The verses are talking about two different aspects of forgiveness. Mark 11:25 is talking about forgiveness as a heart attitude before God. The context is worship. When I consider someone’s sin as I stand before the Lord, I am called to have an attitude of forgiveness towards the person who sinned against me. This is non-negotiable. I do not have the right to withhold forgiveness and harbor bitterness in my heart. Luke 17:3, on the other hand, is talking about forgiveness as a horizontal transaction between me and the offender. This is often referred to as reconciliation. The point Luke 17:3 makes is that, while I am to have an attitude of forgiveness before the Lord, I can only grant forgiveness to the other person if he repents and admits he has sinned against me. Even if he never does this, I am called to maintain an attitude of forgiveness toward the offender. The vertical aspect of forgiveness is unconditional, but the horizontal aspect depends on the offender admitting guilt and asking for forgiveness.

…It is one thing to gain clarity on what forgiveness is and isn’t; it is another to actually practice it. 

As you ponder your true identity in Christ, do you recognize how wealthy you are? This is the only foundation for the kind of radical forgiveness Jesus calls you to practice. Only by grace can you do this. You can’t read and reread 1 Peter 1 and Matthew 18 and still want to rip someone apart. If you are a beneficiary of God’s costly grace, you will practice costly grace with others.

Let me close with this real life illustration. A Turkish officer raided and looted an Armenian home. He killed the aged parents and gave the daughters to the soldiers, keeping the eldest daughter for himself. Some time later she escaped and trained as a nurse. As time passed, she found herself nursing in a ward of Turkish officers. One night, by the light of a lantern, she saw the face of this officer. He was so gravely ill that without exceptional nursing he would die. The days passed, and he recovered. One day, the doctor stood by the bed with her and said to him, “But for her devotion to you, you would be dead.” He looked at her and said, “We have met before, haven’t we?” “Yes,” she said, “we have met before.” “Why didn’t you kill me?” he asked. She replied, “I am a follower of him who said ‘Love your enemies.’”

By God’s amazing grace, may we imitate this sister in Christ in our lives and relationships. 

photo: construction on the church property today

Sweetness in the Messiness

Today I was reminded of Paul Tripp's conference: Your Walk with God is a Community Project. I went to this last July at Covenant Fellowship Church with a friend. And even though I only attended the first session, it was really good. I took out my notes and here are a couple highlights:

"You are always living out of some sense of identity;""God will take you where you do not want to go in order to produce in you what you could not achieve on your own;""If you want to know the true quality of your relationship with God, look at the quality of your relationship with others;""God calls you to a certain quality of relationships because he means to use those relationships for his purpose."

Even simply checking out the promo video on his site, I was encouraged with the following:

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit - just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call - one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. - Ephesians 4:1-6

When Paul thinks about what it means to live in a way that's worthy of the gospel, the very first thing that comes to mind is relationships. We were not hardwired to live this Christian experience by ourselves.

If you are going to grow and if you are going to be an instrument of growth of others, you have to understand this theology of uncomfortable grace.

I move toward you, not because I trust you. I move toward you knowing that we're both broken and this is potentially messy. I move toward you because I trust the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, and there is hope for us. It's the cross that drives me toward you.

These words speak such helpful truth. I have found them to be true in my own life, and I am faith filled that they will continue to be true in the future, because God's word is truth. God's word is life. Christian fellowship is deeply sweet, through both the happy and messy times.

photo: Grandma & Granddaddy; Grand Canal Venice, Italy 2007

Ambition Restored

Earlier this summer I bought a copy of Dave Harvey's book called Rescuing Ambition. I've only read the first two chapters. But I think it has served me in a unique way, by just bringing up the topic.
God has used the book to restore ambition in me. It's been really interesting. All of a "sudden" (the past month) God keeps bringing up old ambitions that ring true in my heart, desires that I thought had died away a while ago. And my new favorite question to ask my friends, whether one-on-one or in a small group, is "what are some hopes, dreams, desires, and ambitions that you have?" These conversations have been so wonderful! You should try it out. When held in the right perspective, it's incredibly faith building to allow your anticipation to grow for God glorifying ambitions. And I especially enjoy the window it gives into my friends' lives and hearts.

I do not think of myself as an ambitious person. Thoughtful maybe. Cautious, yes. Ambitious? ehh, not so much. That would better describe someone like my brother, or my pastors, or my entrepreneurial and creative friends, or even my big-picture parents who are always up for a new project. But not me. At least that's how I was allowing myself to think, without even realizing that's how I was thinking. But God's been proving me wrong, by reminding me of several interests and desires that I had thought were snuffed out for whatever reasons. And here's the kicker, He's the one who has brought them back into my view. And by doing that so clearly, He's given me anticipation for how He may someday choose to draw them out. My joy is not dependent on seeing any of these blossom or come to full bloom - it is only in God and his relationship to me because of the cross. And because I am secure in his hold of me in the gospel, I am free to have a curiosity and anticipation for what he may bring about without allowing those very things to replace him and become idols in my life. Sweet!
God has used this to help me fight the ho-hum view that my existence in this life is second-rate and the only thing I have to look forward to is heaven (a bit dramatic, but sometimes that is the reality of how I live). This is not true. I have so much to anticipate in meeting my Savior face to face and living in the place he has prepared for me with the fellowship of the Body, free from the struggle of sin and free from suffering - but I also am able to get to know him in the here and now, experience his presence, see him work, and grow in love for him right NOW. He has given me his Word; He has given me his Spirit; He has placed me in his Church; He has given me all I need for life and godliness (verse).

This reminds me of a quote from Paul Tripp that I used on my first post in this blog:

But the Bible never presents our life on earth as a meaningless time of waiting for the good stuff that comes later. The biblical model of waiting is not simply about what you will get at the end of your wait, but about who you will become as you wait. God has promised you real, abundant life in the here and now. We have a Father. We have a home. We are rich. We struggle a great deal, but we can expect much as well.

So, what are some of your ambitions? Have you given that any thought lately? Have you asked anybody else what their ambitions are? I hope that God may use these thoughts to build your faith like he has mine.

photo: Linda and me; early 2008

Grace is Greater

Last Friday night I went to the first part of Paul Tripp's seminar at Covenant Fellowship Church called Your Walk with God is a Community Project. He exhorted us to dive into intentionally intrusive, Christ-centered, grace driven relationships. These relationships are the God ordained means for us to keep our identity in Christ in focus (Hebrews 10:19-31). These points also stood out to me:

There is a significant difference between being amazed at something and putting your faith in something. It's not enough to be amazed by the gospel; you must live the gospel through faith.

Second Peter 1:3 should astound you and draw remarkable faith in you. "His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence." (emphasis added)

And on Monday I listened to the sermon preached at King of Grace Church when some of my family was there on an E-team July 11th.

Are you more aware of God and his goodness than your challenges, or are you more aware of your challenges than God, who is bigger than any challenge you may face? - Paul Buckley

Am I more aware of my sin than the grace of God? Do I underestimate his Spirit's power to work in me to conform me into the likeness of the Son? Then let me gaze at the Cross, where my sin indeed is real and ugly and miserable, but where my sin was taken from me and placed on the shoulders of Christ. My identity is no longer in my sin. My identity is found in Christ and His glory. Because I am in Christ, God is my Father. And in His goodness, my Father sent me His Spirit. My ugly deplorable sin still is actively working in me, each day battling for my desires. But I am no longer a slave to sin - the Holy Spirit is at work in me. God has granted me all things that pertain to life and godliness. Seeing my sin should not lead me to despair or hopelessness, but to amazement of the glorious finished work of the gospel and faith for seeing the glorious gospel continuing to work in me each moment of the day.
Though I may see the pervasiveness of my sin in even the minute details of my heart, God's grace penetrates deeper still.

photo: Charlotte, NC 2009

Reminders

We need to be continually reminded of our status as children of God and our spiritual resources in Christ.

(Paul Tripp, same book, page 267)

photo: our magnolia tree 2010

Engagement

Another quote from Paul Tripp, earlier in the same book:

To Paul, the only way to go through life properly is to understand that we are engaged. We have been betrothed to Christ, and our life now is preparation for the great wedding to come.

This is very encouraging to me on several different levels. I've been thinking of life with this metaphor for a while, but it was wonderful to read it so clearly from someone else - confirmation that the thought is biblical.

photo: Tuscany, Italy 2007

starting up

I thought it would be nice to have a place to put up writings that I come across which speak truth. I also may recount things that go on in my life at times.

So if you come across my blog, I hope you enjoy your visit.

Here is my first quote, taken from Paul David Tripp's book Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands (page 264):

But the Bible never presents our life on earth as a meaningless time of waiting for the good stuff that comes later. The biblical model of waiting is not simply about what you will get at the end of your wait, but about who you will become as you wait. God has promised you real, abundant life in the here and now. We have a Father. We have a home. We are rich. We struggle a great deal, but we can expect much as well.

photo: Salzburg, Austria 2007