Jesus Culture - Who Can Compare (feat. Mary Kat Ehrenzeller)

Authentic Personality

Being a people person, I so enjoy observing people, and thinking about what makes them "tick". My current class, Personality Theories, has only added to my fascination. As I have read through the different theories, ranging from Freud to Allport (one of my favorites so far), I have been given the unique opportunity of looking to the Bible to find what God has to say about the subject of personality. Indeed, the Bible has much to say on this subject, but I think God is absolutely clear that as believers, we are to be like Christ.

In 2 Peter 1 we find...

3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

I love that in verse three we are reminded that through the work of the Holy Spirit, He has given us everything we need to be conformed to the image of Christ. Matthew Henry beautifully states what occurs in the lives of those who are being conformed to Christ. He says,

“Those who receive the promises of the gospel partake of the divine nature. They are renewed in the spirit of their mind, after the image of God, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness; their hearts are set for God and his service; they have a divine temper and disposition of soul…” 

Through the promises of the Gospel, a believer's entire personality has been changed which allows his or her temperament and disposition to radiate Christ! Paul implores the believers to pursue character traits which will allow them to be the person God created them to be.

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.

I believe the ordering of these traits is hardly coincidental. As believers, it is vital for us to first have a foundation of faith.

Once we have this foundation, we must add to it goodness which is the Greek transliterated word areté, meaning virtue, moral excellence, or perfection.

Adding such a characteristic to our lives will then allow us to pursue knowledge....knowledge of God, discernment between good and evil, understanding God's will for us.

When we more fully understand God's will for us, we will be more able to exhibit self-control through all of the temptations which life brings.

As we become self-controlled we will be enabled to persevere, to continue on in our faith in Christ regardless of what comes our way.

Continuing on in godliness, our heart's response toward God will be one of reverence.

Knowing how God desires that we love one another, it makes sense that out of reverence for God, we would be filled with a brotherly love for our family in Christ. 

Colossians 3:14 says, "And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." 

The word love, found in both verses, is the Greek transliterated word agapé. Only God can truly work this benevolent, sacrificial love into a person's life. It is the love which Christ exemplifies when He died for us while we were still sinners and wanting nothing to do with Him (Romans 5:8).

Continuing on we read,

8For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

As Christians, through God’s grace, we ought to strive after building the aforementioned character traits into our personality. As we learn His Will and live out His Will, our growing knowledge of Him will allow for our personalities to be conformed to Christ so that we can be effective and productive for His glory.

Thus, regardless of what has been done to you, where you have been, what you have done, what biological characteristics influence your behavior, how you have been trained, or what inborn traits influence your behavior, Christ is bigger than all of that and His divine power has given you everything you need to have a personality which is conformed to the image of Christ.

"The more we let God take us over, the more truly ourselves we become- because He made us. He invented all the different people that you and I were intended to be... It is when I turn to Christ, when I give up myself to His personality, that I first begin to have a real personality of my own." 

-C.S. Lewis

Thoughts from Valentine's Day

As I was reading in 1 John today, my heart was so encouraged by the reminder of the {reality and richness} of God's love for me.

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 John 4:9, 10 NIV84)

Oh the heart of my God! Gracious, merciful, and filled with a love so {selfless and pure} is the heart of my Father! Only His is a heart filled with a love so powerful that it would cause Him to pursue my heart with all of His being, even to the point of giving His own life for mine. What an example! Truly, only His love can ever restore and fulfill the dark, lonely crevices of the wounded, broken human heart!

{So blessed to be His!}

Hebrews and James: Faith Without Works Is Dead

As I have studied the Bible I have been continually {amazed} by the way God conveys His messages through His Word.  Studying Hebrews and James together was eye opening.  Faith cannot {and will not} exist without works.  Faith without works is like a tree without fruit.  It is dead...it is not reality.  Get this people... JESUS {RADICALLY} CHANGES YOU.  When Jesus is in your heart, you are {FOREVER} changed.

So how do Hebrews and James fit together?

In Hebrews we are encouraged to stand strong in our faith in the Work of Christ.  Instead of living a rebellious life, we are to be so {enamored} with the grace of Christ that we {reject} our sin in favor of honoring God.  The author of Hebrews gives examples of people of the Old Testament who stood firm in their faith.  Interestingly, the author of Hebrews does not simply state that, “Abraham had faith”, rather, he focuses on the work that was provoked by his faith.  

Faith produces fruit and this theme is apparent...

Abraham offered his son as a sacrifice, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, Noah built an ark, and Rahab did not perish because she followed instructions to stay in her house. (Check out Hebrews 11 and this post to see more examples of beautiful faith!)

Jesus Himself {perfected} our faith and is the example to which we ought to look.

Likewise, James makes it very clear that faith does not exist without works.  He goes so far to say that {faith without works is dead}. Does this mean we must work to earn our salvation?  

Absolutely not!  

Essentially James outlines the fact that true faith in Christ is not a stale and unchanging faith, but instead a {life-altering renewal} which changes us from the inside out. When we place our faith in Christ, we will be given the grace to {love} those we once hated, to {think} before we speak, and to {overcome} the temptations of the flesh even when the world scoffs at us.  Knowing that Christ is both the author and finisher of our faith, we can live out our changed lives, out of love for Him.

...looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

~Hebrews 12:2

Thoughts from Thessalonians

I cannot read Thessalonians without being reminded of how wonderful it is that my identity is found in Christ.  As I marvel at God's greatness, I cannot help but to be reminded of my...well...my nothingness. Here is one lesson I learned from the study of Paul's letter to the Thessalonians...

   

Basing our self-esteem on ourselves is vain, imprudent, and comparable to building a house on the sand.  

As humans we are imperfect.  

When we believe that we are great based on our own works, we are setting ourselves up for depression when something does not go our way and our self-fabricated life comes crashing down.

Contrarily, basing our self-esteem on God is like basing our self-esteem on a rock.  

Finding our esteem, not in what we have accomplished through our own determination or hard work (or for that matter our failures),

but rather in the work of Christ 

is vital, as regardless of what happens in our lives, 

our status before God will never change. 

What hope, what joy, what sweet freedom may be found in this astounding truth! 

Don't Waste Your Life-Risk-Piper

Therefore risk is woven into the fabric of our finite lives.  We cannot avoid risk even if we want to.  

Ignorance and uncertainty about tomorrow is our native air. 

 All of our plans for tomorrow's activities can be shattered by a thousand unknowns whether we stay at home under the covers or ride the freeways.  One of my aims is to explode the myth of safety and to somehow deliver you from

 the enchantment of security.  

Because it's a mirage.  

It doesn't exist.  

Every direction you turn there are unknowns and things beyond your control.

~John Piper

Esther risked her life...

"Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day.  I and my young women will also fast as you do.  Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish." ~Esther 4:15-16

...and she saved a nation.


Joab risked Israel's forces trusting that the Lord would do what was best...

"Be of good courage, and let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, and may the Lord do what seems good to him." ~2 Samuel 10:12

...and he won a battle.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego risked their lives...

"O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.  If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.  But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.  ~Daniel 3:16-18

...and showed Nebuchadnezzar the power of God.

Mary risked her reputation and even her life...

""I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her." Luke 1:38

...and was used by God to bring into the world our Savior.

Ezekiel risked his reputation and his life...

He said: “Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very day. The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn.Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’ And whether they listen or fail to listen—for they are a rebellious people—they will know that a prophet has been among them.  And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or be terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people. You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious. ~Ezekiel 2:3-7

...and was used by God to be a messenger to God's people.

Abraham risked.  Ruth risked.  Joshua risked.  Gideon risked. Rahab risked.  Paul risked.  The disciples risked. 

Did these people know the outcomes of their risks?

No.

Did these people always end up on the other side of the risk unharmed?

No.

Were they right to risk?

Yes.  For if they had not taken those risks....those risks which were taken through "sanctified wisdom", as John Piper says, they would have been incapable of bringing glory to God.

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Matthew 5:16

Our sole purpose is to bring glory to God.

We bring glory to God, then not by avoiding risks, but trusting God in those risks. 

As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." ~Romans 8:36-29

Piper warns that risks must not be taken out of selfishness or self-reliance. 

"Without Christ, we are all legalists or lechers at heart--wanting to do our own thing, or wanting to do God's thing in our way to prove our own ability.  Since we are wired this way, we need protection.  God has given us another way to pursue risk.  Do it "by the strength that God supplies--in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 4:11).  And the way God supplies his strength is through faith in his promises.  Every loss we risk in order to make much of Christ, God promises to restore a thousandfold with his all-satisfying fellowship."

"It is not the impulse of heroism, or the lust for adventure, or the courage of self-reliance, or the need to earn God's favor.  

It is simple trust in Christ--that in him God will do everything necessary so that we can enjoy making much of him forever.  

Every good poised to bless us, and every evil arrayed against us, will in the end help us boast only in the cross, magnify Christ, and glorify our Creator.  Faith in these promises frees us to risk and to find in our own experience that 

it is better to lose our life than to waste it."

~John Piper

Thankfulness

Let us thank God heartily as often as we pray that we have His Spirit in us to teach us to pray. Thanksgiving will draw our hearts out to God and keep us engaged with Him; it will take our attention from ourselves and give the Spirit room in our hearts. ~Andrew Murray