“Be of Good Cheer”
One of the ways God blesses and encourages my heart is through those many, many friends and family He has given Minnie and me through the many years of our life together. So when I returned from those refreshing two weeks with Jon & family in Petaluma, a beautiful town in California, and Jeannine & Chris in their lovely “Evergreen” village in the mountains of Colorado, I was pleased to find so many Christmas cards and Christmas letters and e-mails awaiting me. And I think there will be more still coming. Some of you I hear from only once a year at Christmas time and that’s fine. It’s a good way to stay in contact with many whom we have loved through the years. And I have several that I will be responding to before long.
They were cheerful letters and e-mails and they told a bit of the story of their lives in this past year. (By the way, I have started on my Christmas Letter and expect to finish it and send it before January 13.) So many of you have expressed love and comfort for me in this first Christmas since 1955 without Minnie. And you told me of so many of life’s problems–cancer and other health problems; jobs lost; homes vacated; financial problems; separations from loved ones; children not walking with the Lord; depression and discouragement; uncertainty of the future; some have even faced divorce. And others have had the stability and support of family and friends to help them.
And yet your attitude was one of good cheer and encouragement as you face an uncertain future. (Uncertain in the immediate future, but not uncertain in the longer perspective of eternity.) It seems to me this reflects what Jesus told His disciples just before His death, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” And He gave them His legacy of peace so that they might face the difficulties of life: “ These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace.” “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. . . . Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 16:33; 14:27 We can be of good cheer because He has already won the victory on the cross and His Presence abides with us now and forever. Our future is assured and secure. Take the long perspective.
The Apostle Peter said the same thing: “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy.” 1 Peter 4:12-13
Accept the difficulties of this life as part of the cross we must take up daily to follow Christ and realize that God is accomplishing eternal values in what He, in His providence, brings your way or allows into your life. “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are [temporary], but the things that are unseen are eternal.” 2 Cor. 4:16-18 ESV
Let me offer you a suggestion for the New Year which begins tomorrow: get a copy of Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening and read it every day along with your regular Bible reading. In the morning, as you know, Minnie and I read the Psalms together for 54 years and during her last three years we read and re-read the New Testament aloud together and Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening and other good books. It was such a blessing to both of us and Minnie, even when she was nauseated or suffering, she was always of good cheer. In fact during her last week when she saw the sorrow in our eyes, she tried to cheer us up–and she did!
And one of the ways she cheered those around her bedside was with her thankful spirit. She was thankful for the simple things of life and for whatever came to her from the good hand of our God. Shouldn’t we be thankful that we are not starving or suffering great pain? We are not in a slave labor camp. And you’re not enslaved by drug addiction or alcoholism (at least I hope you’re not!) You have friends and family and adequate resources and a relatively peaceful life to live. Think of the persecuted church in so many places in the world and be thankful for the peace and freedoms we have.
Minnie often said that one day she would see our Lord “face to face.” And now she has! Think of how much better off she is Christmas 2010 compared to what she was experiencing just a year ago Christmas 2009. She would not want to return from the glory she is presently experiencing in the presence of the Lord where all is peace and joy and love. She has complete satisfaction and happiness because scripture says, “As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.” Psalm 17:15
It also says “And I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Blessed indeed," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!" Rev. 14:13 “Blessed” means “favored of God,” but it also means perfect “happiness.”
My oldest great-granddaughter asked me today when we were walking from Walmart to our car what Mimi was doing and did she have a body. And I told her that she would have a glorified body after the Resurrection but now if she is just “spirit,” that it is quite all right because she is with the Lord (“absent from the body, present with the Lord”) and Jesus Himself has told us that He has gone to prepare a place for us. John 14:1 And that place is prepared especially for Mimi and she is very happy where she is living now. (It is so encouraging to me that our 11-year old would ask questions like that. We often speak casually about Minnie and how much better off she is now than when she had pancreatic cancer.)
Anticipate what lies ahead. The future is glorious. We often speak of the return of Christ as “the blessed hope” but we have “another blessed hope,” our anticipation of living eternally in heaven and sharing life with the Lord Jesus and His people. “Hope” in scripture means “expectation” or “anticipation” of what must surely take place. “We shall meet Him ourselves face to face, To the Praise of His glorious grace!”
–Pastor Burnside
http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/morningandevening/550586/
Friday, December 31, 2010
Saturday, December 25, 2010
A Time for Rejoicing and Trusting
Christmas is a time for rejoicing and it's also a time for trusting our Lord to work out His purposes in our lives. "Trust in Him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah." Psalm 62:8 Place your confidence in Him for He is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
He who left heaven's glory to be born as a baby at Christmas time and then redeemed us by dying for us has promised, "Lo, I am with you always." Mt.28:20 To trust Him is to cast yourself on His goodness, His power, His promises, His faithfulness, and His providence. If we cast ourselves on Him by trusting in Him, it is easier for us to "cast our burdens on the Lord and He will sustain you." And this way God will lift us above our fears and discouragements.
"Trust in Him at all times"--during times of rejoicing and prosperity as well as times of adversity. "NOW is a time, not for overgrieving, murmuring, sinking, desponding, but for trusting." Cast your anchor on the Lord. I remember my wife telling me again last Christmas, "What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee." Psalm 56:3
Remember when one of the kings of Israel prayed, "O our God . . . we have no power. . . . We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you." And the response was, "This is what the Lord says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged. . . . For the battle is not yours, but God's.'" And God told him what to do while he was trusting in the Lord to bless his actions and to act on his behalf: ". . . Stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you. . . . Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you." 2 Chronicles 20:12-17 NIV
"Trust in Him at all times and pour out your heart before Him." "Pour out all your trouble before Me" and I will sustain you through the deep waters; they shall not overflow you. "You cannot please Him better than when your heart relies wholly upon Him."
--Adapted from Spurgeon, Treasury of David, II, 59
He who left heaven's glory to be born as a baby at Christmas time and then redeemed us by dying for us has promised, "Lo, I am with you always." Mt.28:20 To trust Him is to cast yourself on His goodness, His power, His promises, His faithfulness, and His providence. If we cast ourselves on Him by trusting in Him, it is easier for us to "cast our burdens on the Lord and He will sustain you." And this way God will lift us above our fears and discouragements.
"Trust in Him at all times"--during times of rejoicing and prosperity as well as times of adversity. "NOW is a time, not for overgrieving, murmuring, sinking, desponding, but for trusting." Cast your anchor on the Lord. I remember my wife telling me again last Christmas, "What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee." Psalm 56:3
Remember when one of the kings of Israel prayed, "O our God . . . we have no power. . . . We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you." And the response was, "This is what the Lord says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged. . . . For the battle is not yours, but God's.'" And God told him what to do while he was trusting in the Lord to bless his actions and to act on his behalf: ". . . Stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you. . . . Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you." 2 Chronicles 20:12-17 NIV
"Trust in Him at all times and pour out your heart before Him." "Pour out all your trouble before Me" and I will sustain you through the deep waters; they shall not overflow you. "You cannot please Him better than when your heart relies wholly upon Him."
--Adapted from Spurgeon, Treasury of David, II, 59
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
"For the mouth of the Lord has spoken it."
That one sentence grounds all our hopes — “For the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.” Our knowledge of the Gospel is not based in human speculation, but in the revealed Word of God. We have not come to know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord by means of syllogisms or rational calculus. We did not come to know salvation by induction or deduction, but by revelation. We know the great good news of the Gospel because the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.
In this great text from Isaiah, we are firmly established in the knowledge of God’s purposes for his people precisely because God has spoken, and we have heard his Word. Of course, in the verses that follow this declaration, we hear the promise of the eternal power of that Word:
--Albert Mohler
www.AlbertMohler.com
In this great text from Isaiah, we are firmly established in the knowledge of God’s purposes for his people precisely because God has spoken, and we have heard his Word. Of course, in the verses that follow this declaration, we hear the promise of the eternal power of that Word:
--Albert Mohler
www.AlbertMohler.com
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Jesus' Legacy to His Children
Jesus’ Legacy to His Children
Jesus left a legacy to us when He died. You know what a legacy is; it’s something “handed down” or bequeathed to someone after a death, often stated in a will. Jesus is now seated at “the right hand of the Majesty on high.” Heb. 1:3 He told the disciples at the Last Supper that he was going “to prepare a place” for them and for us. And now He is preparing us for that place. He sent the Holy Spirit to help make us more like Christ in our character and attitude towards God. The Holy Spirit was the most important legacy that He gave us. “The Comforter, who is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” John 14:26 He is called the “paracletos” “the one called alongside to help.” He is the “earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory.” Eph. 1:14 “Earnest” is the down payment, the proof that the rest of the inheritance will be ours some day.
But Jesus also left us another legacy in the very next verse: He gave us the Solution to the problem of fear and worry. Here’s what He said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27 [Notice the verb leave–that’s the legacy.]
The peace Jesus gives us is His peace, the peace that enabled Him to endure the terrible agony of the cross and its temporary separation from the Father. The peace of Christ enables believers to remain calm even in the mostly wildly fearful turmoil. You remember when Jesus and the disciples were caught in the storm at sea and the disciples were terrified. What was Jesus doing? He was “asleep on a pillow” in the back of the boat! “And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And Jesus was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” Mark 4:35-37
It was a wonderful miracle that Jesus calmed the storm, but wasn’t it also very wonderful that Jesus was able to sleep and have peace in the midst of the storm!
Jesus’ peace enables you to face great difficulties with a calmness in your heart that God gives. “The peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:7 Tranquility of the soul–a settled peace that is not dependent upon outward circumstances, but inner strength from God. There is peace because we know that “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.” Psalm 46:1-3
Jesus said, “I give to you” this peace. So we see God’s grace again. All that we have comes from Him. His legacy is not riches or worldly honor but peace–peace of heart, peace of conscience, peace because we have been pardoned and our sins forgiven, a living Savior, a home in heaven. “He who spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” Rom. 8:32
“Not as the world giveth, give I unto you.” The world can’t give this peace because it doesn’t have it! it’s not in their possession. “There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.” Isaiah 57:21 The world gives you but empty words, a mere powerless wish when it says Peace or Shalom but Christ’s gift of peace is real.
Jesus said “Let not.” Do not “allow” or permit your heart to be troubled. Do not allow it to be afraid. Fear and worry may come, but you can banish them with this promise from Jesus. And remember Psalm 56:3 “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.” Instead of being troubled or afraid, they would rejoice. “If you love me, you would rejoice because I am going to the Father.” In effect Jesus was saying, “If you only believe what I have been saying to you, your cares and fears would vanish, and joy would take the place of sorrow.” “As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. . . .”
Jesus has given us a promise for the future where no foreboding fear of the unknown and dark tomorrow threatens us. Our destiny in the future is secured eternally. We have “an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you.” 1 Peter 1.4
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Jesus gives you a choice: you can either stay troubled and afraid or you can refuse to be troubled and afraid. What will you let your mind dwell on? Your problems–or worries, most of which will never materialize anyway. Fear and worry do nothing constructive. They don’t accomplish anything.
Or will you focus your mind on Jesus and His promises and His command, “Fear not”–no matter how wild the storm or how serious the potential problem. Set your mind and affection on things above–and on Jesus Himself; “fixing your eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.” --Pastor Burnside
Jesus left a legacy to us when He died. You know what a legacy is; it’s something “handed down” or bequeathed to someone after a death, often stated in a will. Jesus is now seated at “the right hand of the Majesty on high.” Heb. 1:3 He told the disciples at the Last Supper that he was going “to prepare a place” for them and for us. And now He is preparing us for that place. He sent the Holy Spirit to help make us more like Christ in our character and attitude towards God. The Holy Spirit was the most important legacy that He gave us. “The Comforter, who is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” John 14:26 He is called the “paracletos” “the one called alongside to help.” He is the “earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory.” Eph. 1:14 “Earnest” is the down payment, the proof that the rest of the inheritance will be ours some day.
But Jesus also left us another legacy in the very next verse: He gave us the Solution to the problem of fear and worry. Here’s what He said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27 [Notice the verb leave–that’s the legacy.]
The peace Jesus gives us is His peace, the peace that enabled Him to endure the terrible agony of the cross and its temporary separation from the Father. The peace of Christ enables believers to remain calm even in the mostly wildly fearful turmoil. You remember when Jesus and the disciples were caught in the storm at sea and the disciples were terrified. What was Jesus doing? He was “asleep on a pillow” in the back of the boat! “And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And Jesus was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” Mark 4:35-37
It was a wonderful miracle that Jesus calmed the storm, but wasn’t it also very wonderful that Jesus was able to sleep and have peace in the midst of the storm!
Jesus’ peace enables you to face great difficulties with a calmness in your heart that God gives. “The peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:7 Tranquility of the soul–a settled peace that is not dependent upon outward circumstances, but inner strength from God. There is peace because we know that “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.” Psalm 46:1-3
Jesus said, “I give to you” this peace. So we see God’s grace again. All that we have comes from Him. His legacy is not riches or worldly honor but peace–peace of heart, peace of conscience, peace because we have been pardoned and our sins forgiven, a living Savior, a home in heaven. “He who spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” Rom. 8:32
“Not as the world giveth, give I unto you.” The world can’t give this peace because it doesn’t have it! it’s not in their possession. “There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.” Isaiah 57:21 The world gives you but empty words, a mere powerless wish when it says Peace or Shalom but Christ’s gift of peace is real.
Jesus said “Let not.” Do not “allow” or permit your heart to be troubled. Do not allow it to be afraid. Fear and worry may come, but you can banish them with this promise from Jesus. And remember Psalm 56:3 “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.” Instead of being troubled or afraid, they would rejoice. “If you love me, you would rejoice because I am going to the Father.” In effect Jesus was saying, “If you only believe what I have been saying to you, your cares and fears would vanish, and joy would take the place of sorrow.” “As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. . . .”
Jesus has given us a promise for the future where no foreboding fear of the unknown and dark tomorrow threatens us. Our destiny in the future is secured eternally. We have “an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you.” 1 Peter 1.4
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Jesus gives you a choice: you can either stay troubled and afraid or you can refuse to be troubled and afraid. What will you let your mind dwell on? Your problems–or worries, most of which will never materialize anyway. Fear and worry do nothing constructive. They don’t accomplish anything.
Or will you focus your mind on Jesus and His promises and His command, “Fear not”–no matter how wild the storm or how serious the potential problem. Set your mind and affection on things above–and on Jesus Himself; “fixing your eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.” --Pastor Burnside
"His peace changes everything."
Minnie Burnside's talk on “Jehovah Shalom” February 14, 2008 at "Heart and Hand" women's group at Sequim Bible Church, Sequim, Washington.
[This was only 7 months since Whipple surgery, July 13, 2007. She had just completed her six months of chemo in January.]
[The first half of her talk was on the use and meaning of “Jehovah Shalom” in the Bible, beginning with its first use at the time of Gideon. She pointed out that Jehovah Shalom means that God gives peace and that He is our peace. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ and then the peace of God in our hearts through the legacy of peace that Jesus left us. And she said, “And His peace changes everything.”]
She read many scriptures on peace including the three “let’s”: John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” with “let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.” Col. 3:15]
She then told in detail the medical events leading up to the Whipple [It took me 5 handwritten pages of notes to record her words.]
Minnie told of two prayers she prayed to the Lord:
1. “Lord, give me your peace. And I said, ‘Lord, whatever happens, it’s OK. And I talked to my grandchildren on the phone and I said, ‘You know if I don’t come through this surgery or if I come through it and then the results are what happens with pancreatic cancer and I go home to be with the Lord, it’s OK.’ If they call you and tell you I’m dead, don’t believe it because I’ll be more alive then than I have ever been. I will be with the Lord.’”
“And I told the Lord the day I went into surgery, I said, ‘Lord, if you want to take me home, that’s OK. If you want to leave me here, that’s OK. I’m OK with that.”
God drove me to the scriptures over and over and over again. And everytime peace was mentioned, I also noticed that the way to have this peace, was through His Word, through His Word, through His promises!”
“So He drove me to His Word and I asked the Lord, I said, “Lord, I’ve prayed to you through these times. I have been thankful. Teach me now to be thankful through the hard times.” [And we all remember the thankful spirit she had during the entire three years, setting us a very strong example to follow.]
2. Minnie continued, “And I don’t like to be taken care of. I don’t want to be waited on. I like to take care of other people. So I knew I was going to have things to learn. And I asked the Lord, ‘Make me easy to be taken care of.’ And from the very time I got sick, never have I felt so much care and so much prayer from my brothers and sisters literally from all over the world. We got letters from Africa, from Belgium, from China, from Korea. People all over the world were saying, ‘I’m praying for you and I’m praying that God will be glorified. . . .’”
[God certainly answered that prayer, too, as I can testify since I was her primary care giver. She was a very easy, appreciative, cooperative patient and so very often thanked me or someone else even for the simple things, like getting her a glass of water or helping her to the bathroom. How difficult it was for her to watch her strength just ebb away. For awhile she was able to be a bit stronger in the mornings and then got so tired in the afternoon and evenings. But she did not complain. Through it all she was thankful to the Lord and we always found something every day to be thankful for. She told me so many times how God had given her His peace and that ruled in her heart.]
--Minnie Burnside (ed. Pastor Burnside)
[This was only 7 months since Whipple surgery, July 13, 2007. She had just completed her six months of chemo in January.]
[The first half of her talk was on the use and meaning of “Jehovah Shalom” in the Bible, beginning with its first use at the time of Gideon. She pointed out that Jehovah Shalom means that God gives peace and that He is our peace. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ and then the peace of God in our hearts through the legacy of peace that Jesus left us. And she said, “And His peace changes everything.”]
She read many scriptures on peace including the three “let’s”: John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” with “let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.” Col. 3:15]
She then told in detail the medical events leading up to the Whipple [It took me 5 handwritten pages of notes to record her words.]
Minnie told of two prayers she prayed to the Lord:
1. “Lord, give me your peace. And I said, ‘Lord, whatever happens, it’s OK. And I talked to my grandchildren on the phone and I said, ‘You know if I don’t come through this surgery or if I come through it and then the results are what happens with pancreatic cancer and I go home to be with the Lord, it’s OK.’ If they call you and tell you I’m dead, don’t believe it because I’ll be more alive then than I have ever been. I will be with the Lord.’”
“And I told the Lord the day I went into surgery, I said, ‘Lord, if you want to take me home, that’s OK. If you want to leave me here, that’s OK. I’m OK with that.”
God drove me to the scriptures over and over and over again. And everytime peace was mentioned, I also noticed that the way to have this peace, was through His Word, through His Word, through His promises!”
“So He drove me to His Word and I asked the Lord, I said, “Lord, I’ve prayed to you through these times. I have been thankful. Teach me now to be thankful through the hard times.” [And we all remember the thankful spirit she had during the entire three years, setting us a very strong example to follow.]
2. Minnie continued, “And I don’t like to be taken care of. I don’t want to be waited on. I like to take care of other people. So I knew I was going to have things to learn. And I asked the Lord, ‘Make me easy to be taken care of.’ And from the very time I got sick, never have I felt so much care and so much prayer from my brothers and sisters literally from all over the world. We got letters from Africa, from Belgium, from China, from Korea. People all over the world were saying, ‘I’m praying for you and I’m praying that God will be glorified. . . .’”
[God certainly answered that prayer, too, as I can testify since I was her primary care giver. She was a very easy, appreciative, cooperative patient and so very often thanked me or someone else even for the simple things, like getting her a glass of water or helping her to the bathroom. How difficult it was for her to watch her strength just ebb away. For awhile she was able to be a bit stronger in the mornings and then got so tired in the afternoon and evenings. But she did not complain. Through it all she was thankful to the Lord and we always found something every day to be thankful for. She told me so many times how God had given her His peace and that ruled in her heart.]
--Minnie Burnside (ed. Pastor Burnside)
Making All Things Right
“Making All Things Right”
What do you think of when you hear the words “judge, judgment, justice, judging”? You need to think of the context in which they are mentioned because they often mean different things. Usually we think of something “judicial,” a judgment of the court, but in the Old Testament “judging” often mean an executive function rather than a judicial (although of course it could mean either depending on the context.) The king was to bring “justice” and that meant not allowing the more powerful to use their authority or economic strength or position to oppress others. Abraham asked the rhetorical question, “shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” Genesis 18:25 And of course He always does because justice and righteousness and holiness are His infinitely. And so is wisdom and patience and goodness and love and kindness.
We belong to God by right of creation and He takes care of His own. Psalms 9 and 10 cry out to God to “judge the world with righteousness” and “judge people with uprightness.” “The Lord sits enthroned forever; He has established His throne for justice.” 9:7-8
Aren’t you amazed and alarmed at the terrible things people do to each other? Don’t you want God to “intervene” and stop the violence and wickedness and cruelty? Doesn’t your heart cry out for justice and righteousness in the world? “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled” (or satisfied). Mt. 5:6 And that’s for us in the midst of this wicked and fallen world in which we live. And of course part of the problem is “us” because we, too, are “fallen creatures in a fallen world.”
And we look forward to the day when God will “judge the earth” and “make all things right.” In eternity future in heaven there will be no evil or lies or sexual immorality or pride and arrogance or oppression of anyone. Perfect righteousness as well as perfect love and complete satisfaction in fellowship with God and our brethren. And all who do not have eternal life in Christ because of their rebellion against Him will be cast into the lake of fire “which is the second death.” Rev. 21:8 The wickedness of this world will not be taken into heaven. It will be destroyed.
But what about “now”? The Psalmist cries out to God “to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.” 10:18 The wicked “say in his heart, ‘You will not “call to account,” “But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands. . . . you have been the helper of the fatherless.” Stop him, Lord! “Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; call his wickedness to account till you find none.” 10:15
God does intervene and protect and we pray for Him to do that, but when He allows the wicked to prevail (though He limits what they can do), God strengthens the person going through the trial: “O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart.” 10:17
One of the ways God limits the power of the wicked and the godless is through poetic justice: they fall into the net they themselves spread. “In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor; let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised.” 10:2 “The nations have sunk in the pit that they made; in the net that they hid their own foot has been caught.” 9:15
The wicked “sits in ambush in the villages; in hiding places he murders the innocent. His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless; he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket; he lurks that he may seize the poor; he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net. The helpless are crushed, sink down, and fall by his might.” 10:8-10
Doesn’t your heart cry out to God when you hear of all the predators and the wickedness in this world, the clever schemes that they draw people into like a trap? Gambling, sex, drugs, covetousness, violence of all kinds. “Arise, O Lord! Let not man prevail; let the nations be judged before you! Put them in fear, O Lord! Let the nations know that they are but men!” 9:19-20
“For it is written, ‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.’ So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.” Romans 14:11-12 “Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” and brings forgiveness to all who sincerely call upon Him in repentance and faith. The keynote is at the beginning of Psalm 9:1-2 ESV “I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.” –Pastor Burnside
What do you think of when you hear the words “judge, judgment, justice, judging”? You need to think of the context in which they are mentioned because they often mean different things. Usually we think of something “judicial,” a judgment of the court, but in the Old Testament “judging” often mean an executive function rather than a judicial (although of course it could mean either depending on the context.) The king was to bring “justice” and that meant not allowing the more powerful to use their authority or economic strength or position to oppress others. Abraham asked the rhetorical question, “shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” Genesis 18:25 And of course He always does because justice and righteousness and holiness are His infinitely. And so is wisdom and patience and goodness and love and kindness.
We belong to God by right of creation and He takes care of His own. Psalms 9 and 10 cry out to God to “judge the world with righteousness” and “judge people with uprightness.” “The Lord sits enthroned forever; He has established His throne for justice.” 9:7-8
Aren’t you amazed and alarmed at the terrible things people do to each other? Don’t you want God to “intervene” and stop the violence and wickedness and cruelty? Doesn’t your heart cry out for justice and righteousness in the world? “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled” (or satisfied). Mt. 5:6 And that’s for us in the midst of this wicked and fallen world in which we live. And of course part of the problem is “us” because we, too, are “fallen creatures in a fallen world.”
And we look forward to the day when God will “judge the earth” and “make all things right.” In eternity future in heaven there will be no evil or lies or sexual immorality or pride and arrogance or oppression of anyone. Perfect righteousness as well as perfect love and complete satisfaction in fellowship with God and our brethren. And all who do not have eternal life in Christ because of their rebellion against Him will be cast into the lake of fire “which is the second death.” Rev. 21:8 The wickedness of this world will not be taken into heaven. It will be destroyed.
But what about “now”? The Psalmist cries out to God “to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.” 10:18 The wicked “say in his heart, ‘You will not “call to account,” “But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands. . . . you have been the helper of the fatherless.” Stop him, Lord! “Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; call his wickedness to account till you find none.” 10:15
God does intervene and protect and we pray for Him to do that, but when He allows the wicked to prevail (though He limits what they can do), God strengthens the person going through the trial: “O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart.” 10:17
One of the ways God limits the power of the wicked and the godless is through poetic justice: they fall into the net they themselves spread. “In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor; let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised.” 10:2 “The nations have sunk in the pit that they made; in the net that they hid their own foot has been caught.” 9:15
The wicked “sits in ambush in the villages; in hiding places he murders the innocent. His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless; he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket; he lurks that he may seize the poor; he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net. The helpless are crushed, sink down, and fall by his might.” 10:8-10
Doesn’t your heart cry out to God when you hear of all the predators and the wickedness in this world, the clever schemes that they draw people into like a trap? Gambling, sex, drugs, covetousness, violence of all kinds. “Arise, O Lord! Let not man prevail; let the nations be judged before you! Put them in fear, O Lord! Let the nations know that they are but men!” 9:19-20
“For it is written, ‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.’ So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.” Romans 14:11-12 “Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” and brings forgiveness to all who sincerely call upon Him in repentance and faith. The keynote is at the beginning of Psalm 9:1-2 ESV “I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.” –Pastor Burnside
Thursday, December 9, 2010
9. 2nd Corinthians Bible Study chapter 7–“God comforts the downcast”
9. 2nd Corinthians Bible Study chapter 7–“God comforts the downcast”
Spiritual struggles accompanied the establishment and growth of the church at Corinth. There were issues of doctrine and issues of truth and personal issues with some of the false teachers who wanted to get rid of the Apostle Paul. “When we came into Macedonia,” Paul wrote, “our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn–fighting without and fear within.” 7:5 We’ve all been faced with that kind of situation sometime in our lives. So it’s a welcome sight to see the next verse: “But God, who comforts the downcast. . . .” What great reassurance for those who are “downcast” to know they will be comforted by God.
He had already told us so in 2 Cor. 1:4 “who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” So who then are the “downcast” who receive this comfort from God?
The word in Greek that is translated “downcast” is tapeinos “depressed, i.e. (figuratively) humiliated (in circumstances or disposition).” Literally it means "that which is low, and does not rise far from the ground." It is “to be brought low in the sense of being humbled, to have one’s arrogance knocked out of him.” To “depedestalise”
An extended meaning is to bow in the sense of walking in a dejected manner as in a period of mourning.
In many different ways we are humbled by our struggles with affliction and often discouraged by them. And it is for us who experience those problems to know that God Himself personally and individually “comforts the downcast.” That is a promise to remember and hold in your mind. The very fact that it is in the Bible should comfort and encourage you. Of course that reminds you of Psalm 42 “why are you cast down, O my soul, and why disquieted within me? Hope in God [look to God and expect Him to help] for I shall yet praise Him who is the health of my countenance and my God.”
The verse continues: “But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus. . . .” So God used other people to bring comfort and encouragement to them. That happens very often. “And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all.” 7:13 God has enabled us to encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ and bring refreshment of spirit to them. “He restores my soul.” Psalm 23:3 And God does that for us daily: “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.” 4:16 Encouraging others should be a major part of our ministry as Hebrews 3:14 NIV explicitly tells us: “Encourage one another daily. . . .”
And when we do, it brings joy to us as well as to those we encourage. Jesus’ desire is “that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” John 15:11 We are now in the Christmas season. How joyful we should be in the Lord. We joy in the Incarnation, in the Cross and Resurrection and that means we share His joy on His terms, meaning we share in His sufferings as He calls us to. Jesus was a “Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” and He experienced pain and suffering. But He endured the cross “for the joy set before Him.” Lift your eyes up beyond your immediate problems to the joy that God has in store for you in the glory that is yet to come.
We have “the sentence of death in ourselves” so that we might learn to “rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” 1:9 “In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help” and He heard me and “brought me out into a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me.” Psalm 18:6,19 So much depends on your attitude towards God when you acknowledge what He is accomplishing in your life, making you more like Christ and preparing you for the future and enabling you to help and encourage one another. Take your eyes off your suffering and direct them to the Lord and what He is doing and what He wants you to do. “Rejoice in our sufferings because suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character and character produces hope (or anticipation) and hope does not disappoint us Romans 5:1-5 because God is really there and His grace is really here with us–“He strengthens us, holds us, and causes us to stand upheld by His gracious omnipotent hand.”
He doesn’t remove the problems or the sorrow or the suffering, but it’s OK. It’s OK, Lord–because you are Lord and we are not. His grace really is sufficient for us. Believe it because it’s true!
–Pastor Burnside
Spiritual struggles accompanied the establishment and growth of the church at Corinth. There were issues of doctrine and issues of truth and personal issues with some of the false teachers who wanted to get rid of the Apostle Paul. “When we came into Macedonia,” Paul wrote, “our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn–fighting without and fear within.” 7:5 We’ve all been faced with that kind of situation sometime in our lives. So it’s a welcome sight to see the next verse: “But God, who comforts the downcast. . . .” What great reassurance for those who are “downcast” to know they will be comforted by God.
He had already told us so in 2 Cor. 1:4 “who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” So who then are the “downcast” who receive this comfort from God?
The word in Greek that is translated “downcast” is tapeinos “depressed, i.e. (figuratively) humiliated (in circumstances or disposition).” Literally it means "that which is low, and does not rise far from the ground." It is “to be brought low in the sense of being humbled, to have one’s arrogance knocked out of him.” To “depedestalise”
An extended meaning is to bow in the sense of walking in a dejected manner as in a period of mourning.
In many different ways we are humbled by our struggles with affliction and often discouraged by them. And it is for us who experience those problems to know that God Himself personally and individually “comforts the downcast.” That is a promise to remember and hold in your mind. The very fact that it is in the Bible should comfort and encourage you. Of course that reminds you of Psalm 42 “why are you cast down, O my soul, and why disquieted within me? Hope in God [look to God and expect Him to help] for I shall yet praise Him who is the health of my countenance and my God.”
The verse continues: “But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus. . . .” So God used other people to bring comfort and encouragement to them. That happens very often. “And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all.” 7:13 God has enabled us to encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ and bring refreshment of spirit to them. “He restores my soul.” Psalm 23:3 And God does that for us daily: “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.” 4:16 Encouraging others should be a major part of our ministry as Hebrews 3:14 NIV explicitly tells us: “Encourage one another daily. . . .”
And when we do, it brings joy to us as well as to those we encourage. Jesus’ desire is “that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” John 15:11 We are now in the Christmas season. How joyful we should be in the Lord. We joy in the Incarnation, in the Cross and Resurrection and that means we share His joy on His terms, meaning we share in His sufferings as He calls us to. Jesus was a “Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” and He experienced pain and suffering. But He endured the cross “for the joy set before Him.” Lift your eyes up beyond your immediate problems to the joy that God has in store for you in the glory that is yet to come.
We have “the sentence of death in ourselves” so that we might learn to “rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” 1:9 “In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help” and He heard me and “brought me out into a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me.” Psalm 18:6,19 So much depends on your attitude towards God when you acknowledge what He is accomplishing in your life, making you more like Christ and preparing you for the future and enabling you to help and encourage one another. Take your eyes off your suffering and direct them to the Lord and what He is doing and what He wants you to do. “Rejoice in our sufferings because suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character and character produces hope (or anticipation) and hope does not disappoint us Romans 5:1-5 because God is really there and His grace is really here with us–“He strengthens us, holds us, and causes us to stand upheld by His gracious omnipotent hand.”
He doesn’t remove the problems or the sorrow or the suffering, but it’s OK. It’s OK, Lord–because you are Lord and we are not. His grace really is sufficient for us. Believe it because it’s true!
–Pastor Burnside
Monday, December 6, 2010
8.2 2nd Corinthians Bible Study Chapter 6–cont.
8.2 2nd Corinthians Bible Study Chapter 6–cont.
We are “workers together with God”–God Himself works through us–and
if we ever get the idea that “we” are doing something in our own strength and then hand our “good deeds” to God as a gift–our efforts will be fruitless. We must NEVER forget where the power comes from. “Without Me ye can do nothing,” Jesus told His disciples.
We are dependent on God as we minister “life-to-life”–from my to yours and from your lives to ours. We are “servants of God”–doulos = “voluntary bond-slaves of Jesus Christ. Aye, and we have a most gracious and generous master! But we do not seek greater comfort and prosperity, but greater endurance.
Paul now gives us nine trials and nine qualities that God produces in His servants, followed by a group of paradoxes for us as Christ’s servants.
Nine trials (in 3 groups of 3) 6:4-5
1. Afflictions, hardships, and distresses–trials and difficulties from which there is no escape.
2. External persecution: beatings, imprisonments, riots
3. Demands of our ministry: labors, sleeplessness, fastings or hunger
Nine qualities God produces in His servants 6:6
. 1. by purity, –righteousness of life & purity of thought
2. by knowledge of God’s Word–control of your mind & spirit in adversity
3. by longsuffering–patient and tolerant with people
4. by kindness = goodness in action; helpful, useful even to those who mistreated him “Let us do good to all”
5. by the Holy Spirit–empowers endurance; filled with the Spirit; had access to the Father through the Holy Spirit; taught by Him; prayed in the Spirit; did not grieve the Spirit or quench Him.
And the Holy Spirit produced in Him
6. Genuine love or sincere love –agape love Romans 5:5 God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
7. by the word of truth–obviously the Scriptures–in this context esp. the truth of the Gospel itself.
8. by the power of God–not with human resources or his own cleverness –only the wisdom and power of God “that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God”
9. by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,
Used the armor of God FOR the right hand and the left–fully armed with the whole armor of God Eph. 6
Paradoxes 6:8-10
1. “By glory and dishonor” = praised and despised; exalted & maligned; flattered and criticized; cherished and vilified. Consequently, some will give “an evil report” about you and others will give “a good report.” Those who are faithful to the truth cannot expect all people to speak well of them. Luke 6:26 “Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.”–slander
2. “Regarded as deceivers and yet true”–as was the Lord Jesus, e.g., John 7:12
“And there was much grumbling among the crowds concerning him: for some said, He is a good man: others said, Nay; but he deceiveth the people.” Satan is the father of lies and seeks to destroy your reputation.
3. “As dying yet behold we live”: seemingly always on the brink of death
2 Cor. 1:8-10 For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: [9] But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: [10] Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;
4. “As sorrowful yet always rejoicing”–deep unfailing joy from the Lord “always rejoicing” Sometimes people say, “But I don’t feel like rejoicing!” Well, do it anyway! “Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say, Rejoice!” That doesn’t mean you “feel happy”! Joy is much deeper than that. Jesus is our example here, too. “Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” but for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame.
5. “As poor yet making many rich”–poor in terms of this world’s possessions; but incredibly rich spiritually. Eternally rich with an eternal inheritance.
2 Cor. 8:9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
Eph. 3:8 the unsearchable riches of Christ,
1 Peter 1:4. 4. to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
6. “As having nothing and yet possessing all things.” We’re poor, appearing to have nothing, but in reality we possess all the eternal things that really matter. –Don’t feel sorry for us!!
1 Cor. 3:21-23 For all things are yours; [22] Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's.
Romans 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
–Pastor Burnside
We are “workers together with God”–God Himself works through us–and
if we ever get the idea that “we” are doing something in our own strength and then hand our “good deeds” to God as a gift–our efforts will be fruitless. We must NEVER forget where the power comes from. “Without Me ye can do nothing,” Jesus told His disciples.
We are dependent on God as we minister “life-to-life”–from my to yours and from your lives to ours. We are “servants of God”–doulos = “voluntary bond-slaves of Jesus Christ. Aye, and we have a most gracious and generous master! But we do not seek greater comfort and prosperity, but greater endurance.
Paul now gives us nine trials and nine qualities that God produces in His servants, followed by a group of paradoxes for us as Christ’s servants.
Nine trials (in 3 groups of 3) 6:4-5
1. Afflictions, hardships, and distresses–trials and difficulties from which there is no escape.
2. External persecution: beatings, imprisonments, riots
3. Demands of our ministry: labors, sleeplessness, fastings or hunger
Nine qualities God produces in His servants 6:6
. 1. by purity, –righteousness of life & purity of thought
2. by knowledge of God’s Word–control of your mind & spirit in adversity
3. by longsuffering–patient and tolerant with people
4. by kindness = goodness in action; helpful, useful even to those who mistreated him “Let us do good to all”
5. by the Holy Spirit–empowers endurance; filled with the Spirit; had access to the Father through the Holy Spirit; taught by Him; prayed in the Spirit; did not grieve the Spirit or quench Him.
And the Holy Spirit produced in Him
6. Genuine love or sincere love –agape love Romans 5:5 God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
7. by the word of truth–obviously the Scriptures–in this context esp. the truth of the Gospel itself.
8. by the power of God–not with human resources or his own cleverness –only the wisdom and power of God “that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God”
9. by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,
Used the armor of God FOR the right hand and the left–fully armed with the whole armor of God Eph. 6
Paradoxes 6:8-10
1. “By glory and dishonor” = praised and despised; exalted & maligned; flattered and criticized; cherished and vilified. Consequently, some will give “an evil report” about you and others will give “a good report.” Those who are faithful to the truth cannot expect all people to speak well of them. Luke 6:26 “Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.”–slander
2. “Regarded as deceivers and yet true”–as was the Lord Jesus, e.g., John 7:12
“And there was much grumbling among the crowds concerning him: for some said, He is a good man: others said, Nay; but he deceiveth the people.” Satan is the father of lies and seeks to destroy your reputation.
3. “As dying yet behold we live”: seemingly always on the brink of death
2 Cor. 1:8-10 For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: [9] But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: [10] Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;
4. “As sorrowful yet always rejoicing”–deep unfailing joy from the Lord “always rejoicing” Sometimes people say, “But I don’t feel like rejoicing!” Well, do it anyway! “Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say, Rejoice!” That doesn’t mean you “feel happy”! Joy is much deeper than that. Jesus is our example here, too. “Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” but for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame.
5. “As poor yet making many rich”–poor in terms of this world’s possessions; but incredibly rich spiritually. Eternally rich with an eternal inheritance.
2 Cor. 8:9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
Eph. 3:8 the unsearchable riches of Christ,
1 Peter 1:4. 4. to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
6. “As having nothing and yet possessing all things.” We’re poor, appearing to have nothing, but in reality we possess all the eternal things that really matter. –Don’t feel sorry for us!!
1 Cor. 3:21-23 For all things are yours; [22] Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's.
Romans 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
–Pastor Burnside
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Stollen Christmas Bread
Stollen
This is a German Christmas bread that is not very sweet. Minnie has a long-standing tradition of baking stollen at Christmas time and giving small loaves to the neighbors. In Taiwan she baked stollen for all the American missionaries on campus at Christ’s College in Taipei. She was so-o-o pleased last Christmas that she had been able to teach me how to bake stollen to give to the neighbors and friends. I plan to continue her tradition and have already bought the fruitcake fruit (candied dried fruit)
2 pkg. yeast–Soften in ½ cup warm with 1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
juice & rind of 1 lemon
2 well-beaten eggs
1 stick melted butter
5 cups flour (apprx.)
½ cup fruitcake fruit
1 cup golden raisins
Soften yeast. Add warm milk, salt, sugar, cinnamon.
Beat in 2 cups flour, eggs, & melted butter.
Add another cup flour. Beat. Add lemon juice & rind.
Now add the fruitcake mix & raisins.
Add flour to make a light dough. Knead lightly.
Let rise about 1 hour.
Divide dough into 2 or 3 parts. Shape into balls. Let rest 10 minutes.
Shape into crescents and fold over like an omelet.
Stretch around to form a crescent.
Bake on cookie sheets covered with parchment paper.
Brush with 1 egg yolk mixed with 2 Tablespoons milk.
Sprinkle with chopped nuts.
Let rise until double.
Bake at 325o for apprx. 30 min.
Glaze with 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons melted butter
½ teaspoon vanilla
2 or 3 Tablespoons milk
This is a German Christmas bread that is not very sweet. Minnie has a long-standing tradition of baking stollen at Christmas time and giving small loaves to the neighbors. In Taiwan she baked stollen for all the American missionaries on campus at Christ’s College in Taipei. She was so-o-o pleased last Christmas that she had been able to teach me how to bake stollen to give to the neighbors and friends. I plan to continue her tradition and have already bought the fruitcake fruit (candied dried fruit)
2 pkg. yeast–Soften in ½ cup warm with 1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
juice & rind of 1 lemon
2 well-beaten eggs
1 stick melted butter
5 cups flour (apprx.)
½ cup fruitcake fruit
1 cup golden raisins
Soften yeast. Add warm milk, salt, sugar, cinnamon.
Beat in 2 cups flour, eggs, & melted butter.
Add another cup flour. Beat. Add lemon juice & rind.
Now add the fruitcake mix & raisins.
Add flour to make a light dough. Knead lightly.
Let rise about 1 hour.
Divide dough into 2 or 3 parts. Shape into balls. Let rest 10 minutes.
Shape into crescents and fold over like an omelet.
Stretch around to form a crescent.
Bake on cookie sheets covered with parchment paper.
Brush with 1 egg yolk mixed with 2 Tablespoons milk.
Sprinkle with chopped nuts.
Let rise until double.
Bake at 325o for apprx. 30 min.
Glaze with 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons melted butter
½ teaspoon vanilla
2 or 3 Tablespoons milk
8.1 2nd Corinthians Bible Study Chapter 6
2nd Corinthians Bible Study Chapter 6
“We then, as workers together with Him, beseech you also that you receive not the grace of God in vain.” 6:1
We are “workers together with God”–God Himself works through us–and of course even more He works completely independent of us–as the day He spoke the universe into existence by the Word of His power. He certainly does not “need” us! He got along quite well before He created us. And in His providence, He still controls events.
But the remarkable truth is that with all His great power and wisdom and omniscience, He has chosen to use us as His ambassadors, as His servants, in the work of the ministry–in which we are ALL engaged.
This is a MAJOR emphasis in scripture–because if we ever get the idea that “we” are doing something and then hand our “good deeds” to God as a gift–our efforts will be fruitless. We must NEVER forget where the power comes from. “Without Me ye can do nothing,” Jesus told His disciples, but “I can do all things (that He calls me to do) through Christ who strengthens me” Indeed, through Christ who lives within me. “I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.”
“For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.” 1 Cor. 3:9 “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
Philippians 2:13 ESV
Returning to Antioch after their 1st missionary journey, Paul & Barnabas, “when they had come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.” Acts 14:27 It was God who directed the work, led the missionaries, and brought conviction to the hearts of their hearers.
The same thing when they went to Jerusalem, “they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them.” Acts 15:4 Paul wrote, “1 Cor. 3:6-7 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. “ i.e., causes the growth 1 Cor. 3:6-7
It is the greatest of honors to be the servant of the Lord, but it causes no pride because we realize that it is God Himself working through us–and apart from us–but He Himself is producing the fruit, bringing about the results. John 15:4 NIV: “No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” So He commands us, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you” or “abide in Me and I will abide in you” KJV–realize your dependence on Him and He will work through you. Depend on the Vine for nourishment, support, strength, and vitality.
Some are self-confident. They depend on their God-given gifts or possessions or position or relationships or their own desires. Some act like it is the earthly church or denomination that is the vine–but it is not. Only Christ Himself is the Vine. So the first point is that God is at work in us and we are privileged to be called “God’s fellow-workers”–He’s doing His part and enabling us to do what we call “our part.”
We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. 6:1. He urged them “not to receive the grace of God in vain”= not to turn away from the gracious opportunity to hear the gospel of forgiveness. He’s also talking to new believers to grow in grace. :Don’t waste your life–but invest it in things eternal: the Word of God, the Gospel, the lives of people, the values that will continue into eternity–and not end up on the ash heap
You CAN “take it with you” for your works shall follow you–and the spiritual fruit that God has worked through you will be there. “And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them. Rev. 14:13
So Paul continues in 2 Cor. 6:2 For he says, "At the acceptable time I listened to you, and on the day of salvation I helped you." Behold, now is “the acceptable time”; behold, now is “the day of salvation.” He’s pleading for them to listen to the Gospel and the Word of God instead of being lured away by the pleasures of sin or the glitter of the world or by false teaching. he tells us how we are to minister:
We give no offense in anything, that our ministry may not be blamed. “Offense” means “cause of stumbling”. There is no substitute for integrity and purity of life. “Stumbling block” =occasion of sin; lit. strike at–as flood waters surging–to trip, don’t make it more difficult for others to live an upright life–don’t try to get them to do something against their conscience–even if it’s permissible within the limitations of Christian liberty. Rom. 14 & 1 Cor. 8
But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: (or servants of God) (bondservant of Jesus Christ, a voluntary slave). Remember he’s not just talking about what is often called “the minister of the church” or the pastor or the preacher because we are ALL ministers of the Gospel. You do serve the Lord, don’t you? You are the servant of Jesus Christ, are you not? Then you are a “minister of God” and he’s talking to you.
What is this whole list that follows about?? Is it not his life that he’s calling attention to? The way he lives. That’s because all of us really minister life-to-life–from my life to yours and from your lives to ours. He is “commending” himself as a servant of God. These come right out of Paul’s life. Servants of Jesus do not seek greater comfort and prosperity, but greater endurance. (to be continued. . . .)
–Pastor Burnside
“We then, as workers together with Him, beseech you also that you receive not the grace of God in vain.” 6:1
We are “workers together with God”–God Himself works through us–and of course even more He works completely independent of us–as the day He spoke the universe into existence by the Word of His power. He certainly does not “need” us! He got along quite well before He created us. And in His providence, He still controls events.
But the remarkable truth is that with all His great power and wisdom and omniscience, He has chosen to use us as His ambassadors, as His servants, in the work of the ministry–in which we are ALL engaged.
This is a MAJOR emphasis in scripture–because if we ever get the idea that “we” are doing something and then hand our “good deeds” to God as a gift–our efforts will be fruitless. We must NEVER forget where the power comes from. “Without Me ye can do nothing,” Jesus told His disciples, but “I can do all things (that He calls me to do) through Christ who strengthens me” Indeed, through Christ who lives within me. “I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.”
“For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.” 1 Cor. 3:9 “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
Philippians 2:13 ESV
Returning to Antioch after their 1st missionary journey, Paul & Barnabas, “when they had come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.” Acts 14:27 It was God who directed the work, led the missionaries, and brought conviction to the hearts of their hearers.
The same thing when they went to Jerusalem, “they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them.” Acts 15:4 Paul wrote, “1 Cor. 3:6-7 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. “ i.e., causes the growth 1 Cor. 3:6-7
It is the greatest of honors to be the servant of the Lord, but it causes no pride because we realize that it is God Himself working through us–and apart from us–but He Himself is producing the fruit, bringing about the results. John 15:4 NIV: “No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” So He commands us, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you” or “abide in Me and I will abide in you” KJV–realize your dependence on Him and He will work through you. Depend on the Vine for nourishment, support, strength, and vitality.
Some are self-confident. They depend on their God-given gifts or possessions or position or relationships or their own desires. Some act like it is the earthly church or denomination that is the vine–but it is not. Only Christ Himself is the Vine. So the first point is that God is at work in us and we are privileged to be called “God’s fellow-workers”–He’s doing His part and enabling us to do what we call “our part.”
We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. 6:1. He urged them “not to receive the grace of God in vain”= not to turn away from the gracious opportunity to hear the gospel of forgiveness. He’s also talking to new believers to grow in grace. :Don’t waste your life–but invest it in things eternal: the Word of God, the Gospel, the lives of people, the values that will continue into eternity–and not end up on the ash heap
You CAN “take it with you” for your works shall follow you–and the spiritual fruit that God has worked through you will be there. “And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them. Rev. 14:13
So Paul continues in 2 Cor. 6:2 For he says, "At the acceptable time I listened to you, and on the day of salvation I helped you." Behold, now is “the acceptable time”; behold, now is “the day of salvation.” He’s pleading for them to listen to the Gospel and the Word of God instead of being lured away by the pleasures of sin or the glitter of the world or by false teaching. he tells us how we are to minister:
We give no offense in anything, that our ministry may not be blamed. “Offense” means “cause of stumbling”. There is no substitute for integrity and purity of life. “Stumbling block” =occasion of sin; lit. strike at–as flood waters surging–to trip, don’t make it more difficult for others to live an upright life–don’t try to get them to do something against their conscience–even if it’s permissible within the limitations of Christian liberty. Rom. 14 & 1 Cor. 8
But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: (or servants of God) (bondservant of Jesus Christ, a voluntary slave). Remember he’s not just talking about what is often called “the minister of the church” or the pastor or the preacher because we are ALL ministers of the Gospel. You do serve the Lord, don’t you? You are the servant of Jesus Christ, are you not? Then you are a “minister of God” and he’s talking to you.
What is this whole list that follows about?? Is it not his life that he’s calling attention to? The way he lives. That’s because all of us really minister life-to-life–from my life to yours and from your lives to ours. He is “commending” himself as a servant of God. These come right out of Paul’s life. Servants of Jesus do not seek greater comfort and prosperity, but greater endurance. (to be continued. . . .)
–Pastor Burnside
Monday, November 29, 2010
A Willing Heart
A Willing Heart
Can you say, as Jesus did, “I delight to do thy will, O God.” In order to do that you must look beyond the immediate to what lies ahead. How did Jesus endure the agony of the cross and all the horrible treatment that was a part of it? “For the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross. . . .” Heb. 12:2
Jesus laid down His life willingly! “. . . I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.” John 10:17-18
And Jesus told Peter, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?” Mt. 26:53 “He could have called 10,000 angels to destroy the world and set Him free!” but how then would we have been saved? It was His love and His grace that contrained Him and motivated Him.
And it is that same love that He gives to us who know Him as Savior “ because God's love (agape love) has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 5:5 We know that love is from God and not from us because our fallen natures are self- centered and preoccupied with ourselves. But God gives a measure of His love to His children. Love is part of the fruit of the Spirit. Gal. 5:22
“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” 1 John 3:16-18 NIV
I share with you the greatest experience of my life when my wife and I experienced God’s love poured into our hearts with a depth we had not known so deeply. We both loved each other a great deal for 54 years. Eros married love, phileo friendship love, and God’s unselfish agape love–God had given all that to us. My wife was by far my best friend in my entire life. But when she was stricken with pancreatic cancer, we both faced by far the greatest test or trial of our lives. And God sustained us with His love, with His peace, and with His joy in the midst of that three-year trial. We prayed together and asked the Lord not only for His sustaining grace and His peace and joy, but also for a depth of love that would carry us through it all. He immediately answered with His approval and we both gained an insight into the depth of God’s love greater even than we already knew.
Those three years were by far the worst experience of our entire lives (and I’m 77) and also the greatest because we experienced a love for each other and for and from the Lord that made it all worthwhile, painful though it was and still is. The apostle Paul experienced tremendous pain and hardship in his life and yet he could pray, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, “I pray that you may . . . grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge–that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Eph. 3:17-19
God gave me such a strong desire to care for and serve my wife in her terminal illness and how thankful we both are that He enabled her to stay at home (except for surgeries and a 12-day hospital stay and later a 22-day stay). What a wonderful gift from God is a willing heart to serve Him and to serve others. If you don’t have it, ask him for it “for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.” Phil. 2:13 It is God who gives you the motivation; you don’t generate it of yourself, but if you realize you are lacking it, then you look to Him and ask Him to change your attitude. “Lord, I believe; help thou my unbelief.”
There’s an additional by-product of all of this. If God’s love is at work in your life as you serve Him and because of your love for Him, you serve one another as He commanded, then you have no room left for discouragement. “We faint not” because “we know that our labor is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Cor. 15:58 “A cheerful heart does good like a medicine” and a willing heart makes a cheerful heart. Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
“My cup runneth over” with joy; let’s pray that it will also “run over” with God’s love. “Bear ye one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Bear those burdens with a willing heart, going the second mile knowing you are pleasing the Lord. “We make it our ambition to please the Lord.” 2 Cor. 5:9 “See that you love one another with a pure heart fervently.” 1 Peter 1:22
[Note: thank you for the parts of this devotional I borrowed from last night’s message at Covenant Church in Siloam Springs, Arkansas.]
–Pastor Burnside
Can you say, as Jesus did, “I delight to do thy will, O God.” In order to do that you must look beyond the immediate to what lies ahead. How did Jesus endure the agony of the cross and all the horrible treatment that was a part of it? “For the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross. . . .” Heb. 12:2
Jesus laid down His life willingly! “. . . I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.” John 10:17-18
And Jesus told Peter, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?” Mt. 26:53 “He could have called 10,000 angels to destroy the world and set Him free!” but how then would we have been saved? It was His love and His grace that contrained Him and motivated Him.
And it is that same love that He gives to us who know Him as Savior “ because God's love (agape love) has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 5:5 We know that love is from God and not from us because our fallen natures are self- centered and preoccupied with ourselves. But God gives a measure of His love to His children. Love is part of the fruit of the Spirit. Gal. 5:22
“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” 1 John 3:16-18 NIV
I share with you the greatest experience of my life when my wife and I experienced God’s love poured into our hearts with a depth we had not known so deeply. We both loved each other a great deal for 54 years. Eros married love, phileo friendship love, and God’s unselfish agape love–God had given all that to us. My wife was by far my best friend in my entire life. But when she was stricken with pancreatic cancer, we both faced by far the greatest test or trial of our lives. And God sustained us with His love, with His peace, and with His joy in the midst of that three-year trial. We prayed together and asked the Lord not only for His sustaining grace and His peace and joy, but also for a depth of love that would carry us through it all. He immediately answered with His approval and we both gained an insight into the depth of God’s love greater even than we already knew.
Those three years were by far the worst experience of our entire lives (and I’m 77) and also the greatest because we experienced a love for each other and for and from the Lord that made it all worthwhile, painful though it was and still is. The apostle Paul experienced tremendous pain and hardship in his life and yet he could pray, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, “I pray that you may . . . grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge–that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Eph. 3:17-19
God gave me such a strong desire to care for and serve my wife in her terminal illness and how thankful we both are that He enabled her to stay at home (except for surgeries and a 12-day hospital stay and later a 22-day stay). What a wonderful gift from God is a willing heart to serve Him and to serve others. If you don’t have it, ask him for it “for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.” Phil. 2:13 It is God who gives you the motivation; you don’t generate it of yourself, but if you realize you are lacking it, then you look to Him and ask Him to change your attitude. “Lord, I believe; help thou my unbelief.”
There’s an additional by-product of all of this. If God’s love is at work in your life as you serve Him and because of your love for Him, you serve one another as He commanded, then you have no room left for discouragement. “We faint not” because “we know that our labor is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Cor. 15:58 “A cheerful heart does good like a medicine” and a willing heart makes a cheerful heart. Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
“My cup runneth over” with joy; let’s pray that it will also “run over” with God’s love. “Bear ye one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Bear those burdens with a willing heart, going the second mile knowing you are pleasing the Lord. “We make it our ambition to please the Lord.” 2 Cor. 5:9 “See that you love one another with a pure heart fervently.” 1 Peter 1:22
[Note: thank you for the parts of this devotional I borrowed from last night’s message at Covenant Church in Siloam Springs, Arkansas.]
–Pastor Burnside
Saturday, November 27, 2010
A Thanksgiving Prayer
A Thanksgiving Prayer
Thank you, Lord, for being who you are, for the marvelous works you have done, and for what you are presently creating for the future glory that awaits us who know you as Savior. May we rejoice in your works and may we be satisfied with what comes to us from the good hand of our God.
And yet, Lord, we know that our full satisfaction will come only when we can say, “ As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be fully satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.”
The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a beautiful inheritance. I thank you, Lord, that you lead me and guide me and give me counsel even in the night watches as I meditate on your goodness and your providence and your grace and you bring marvelous truths to my remembrance from your Word.
You are always with me. Because you are at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices. You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Satisfy us each morning, O Lord, with your unfailing love that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen sorrow and suffering. Let your work and your purposes be shown to your servants and your glory unto our children and grandchildren. And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us and your glorious power demonstrated in our lives.
We pray in Jesus’ Name, Amen *Psalm 17:15; 16:5-11; 90:14-17
Thank you, Lord, for being who you are, for the marvelous works you have done, and for what you are presently creating for the future glory that awaits us who know you as Savior. May we rejoice in your works and may we be satisfied with what comes to us from the good hand of our God.
And yet, Lord, we know that our full satisfaction will come only when we can say, “ As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be fully satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.”
The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a beautiful inheritance. I thank you, Lord, that you lead me and guide me and give me counsel even in the night watches as I meditate on your goodness and your providence and your grace and you bring marvelous truths to my remembrance from your Word.
You are always with me. Because you are at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices. You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Satisfy us each morning, O Lord, with your unfailing love that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen sorrow and suffering. Let your work and your purposes be shown to your servants and your glory unto our children and grandchildren. And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us and your glorious power demonstrated in our lives.
We pray in Jesus’ Name, Amen *Psalm 17:15; 16:5-11; 90:14-17
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
"I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times." Psalm 77:5 We don't have to go quite that far back to remember the good Thanksgiving holidays God has given us in the past. God has made us in His image so we can transcend time and space in our minds and go back and remember so many of God's blessings from the past and the sweetness of fellowship with those we love and laugh together and enjoy each other's company. And do what you can to make the present pleasant and memorable in kindness and cheerfulness towards others. "We spend our years as a tale that is told" so, under God, let's make it a good story!
We are in a special season of thankfulness so thank God for who He is! 1) "For the Lord is good; 2) his mercy is everlasting; 3) and his truth endureth to all generations."--including this one! Psalm 100:5 Share with every generation whatever age God's goodness, His mercy, and His truth. "The counsel of the Lord stands for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations." Psalm 33:11
God was faithful in the past; He is faithful now in the present; and He will always be faithful for He changes not. "The contrast between being and becoming marks the difference between the Creator and the creature. Every creature is continually becoming. It is changeable, constantly striving, seeks rest and satisfaction, and finds this rest in God, in Him alone, for only He is pure being and no becoming. "You remain the same, and your years will never end." Heb. 1:12 Hence, in Scripture God is often called the Rock. . . ." (Herman Bavinck)
Acknowledging our dependence on God is one of the ways we glorify Him. "Be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me. For you are my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me." Psalm 31:2-3 We pray for God to be our Rock because He is our Rock and we look to Him for stability and strength--and then thank Him for His leading and guiding. Leading and guiding are almost the same. "We require double direction, for we are fools, and the way is rough. Lead me as a soldier, guide me as a traveller! lead me as a babe, guide me as a man. . . . lead me by thy hand, guide me by thy Word." and by thy Holy Spirit. (Spurgeon) " He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness." Psalm 23:2-3 --Pastor Burnside
We are in a special season of thankfulness so thank God for who He is! 1) "For the Lord is good; 2) his mercy is everlasting; 3) and his truth endureth to all generations."--including this one! Psalm 100:5 Share with every generation whatever age God's goodness, His mercy, and His truth. "The counsel of the Lord stands for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations." Psalm 33:11
God was faithful in the past; He is faithful now in the present; and He will always be faithful for He changes not. "The contrast between being and becoming marks the difference between the Creator and the creature. Every creature is continually becoming. It is changeable, constantly striving, seeks rest and satisfaction, and finds this rest in God, in Him alone, for only He is pure being and no becoming. "You remain the same, and your years will never end." Heb. 1:12 Hence, in Scripture God is often called the Rock. . . ." (Herman Bavinck)
Acknowledging our dependence on God is one of the ways we glorify Him. "Be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me. For you are my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me." Psalm 31:2-3 We pray for God to be our Rock because He is our Rock and we look to Him for stability and strength--and then thank Him for His leading and guiding. Leading and guiding are almost the same. "We require double direction, for we are fools, and the way is rough. Lead me as a soldier, guide me as a traveller! lead me as a babe, guide me as a man. . . . lead me by thy hand, guide me by thy Word." and by thy Holy Spirit. (Spurgeon) " He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness." Psalm 23:2-3 --Pastor Burnside
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Minnie's Pie Crust
Minnie’s Pie Crust
6 cups flour
2 ½ cups Crisco
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 Tablespoon sugar
About 1 cup cold water mixed with 1 beaten egg and 1 Tablespoon white vinegar
Makes enough for 9 single crusts.
Blend together flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder. Cut shortening in with pastry blender or 2 knives until the mixture is the size of small beans. Slowly add the cold water mixture. Lightly stir it in with a fork. Shape into 9 balls. Wrap in plastic wrap and then put in freezer bag to freeze.
When ready to use, thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature. Roll it while it is still cold.
6 cups flour
2 ½ cups Crisco
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 Tablespoon sugar
About 1 cup cold water mixed with 1 beaten egg and 1 Tablespoon white vinegar
Makes enough for 9 single crusts.
Blend together flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder. Cut shortening in with pastry blender or 2 knives until the mixture is the size of small beans. Slowly add the cold water mixture. Lightly stir it in with a fork. Shape into 9 balls. Wrap in plastic wrap and then put in freezer bag to freeze.
When ready to use, thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature. Roll it while it is still cold.
Mimi’s Chicken Piccata + Dill Pasta
Mimi’s Chicken Piccata + Dill Pasta
I usually buy boneless chicken breasts, freeze them until they are easy to slice and slice them into thin slices. I then lightly pound them before dusting with flour which has been seasoned with salt and pepper.
Spray a saute pan with nonstick spray, add 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil, and heat over medium-high. Saute tenders 2-3 minutes on one side. Be careful of splattering. Flip the tenders over and saute the other side 1-2 minutes with the pan covered. Transfer tenders to another skillet which has been sprayed with pam; when all chicken has been removed, pour off excess fat from the pan.
Deglaze pan with 1/2 cup dry white wine [or apple cider] and add 1 teaspoon minced garlic. Cook until garlic is slightly brown and liquid is nearly gone, about 2 minutes.
Add 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth, 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice, and 2 Tablespoon capers, and drained sauteed tenders or pour sauce over the chicken you have in the other pan.. Cook on low for about 10 minutes. Add more chicken stock or broth if it seems dry.
Finish with 2 Tablespoons butter and fresh lemon slices. Remove chicken to a platter and pour the sauce over the chicken.
Garnish with chopped fresh parsley and serve with grated parmesan cheese on the table.
I serve this with simple pasta. Crush two or three cloves garlic or use the garlic press or chop very, very fine. Add to three tablespoons extra virgin olive oil. Saute for a couple of minutes or just put garlic in the olive oil and leave it for several hours before adding the cooked pasta. Add to the drained pasta (spaghetti or linguini) then put about 3 tablespoons dry dill weed on the top and mix well. Yummy!!
I usually buy boneless chicken breasts, freeze them until they are easy to slice and slice them into thin slices. I then lightly pound them before dusting with flour which has been seasoned with salt and pepper.
Spray a saute pan with nonstick spray, add 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil, and heat over medium-high. Saute tenders 2-3 minutes on one side. Be careful of splattering. Flip the tenders over and saute the other side 1-2 minutes with the pan covered. Transfer tenders to another skillet which has been sprayed with pam; when all chicken has been removed, pour off excess fat from the pan.
Deglaze pan with 1/2 cup dry white wine [or apple cider] and add 1 teaspoon minced garlic. Cook until garlic is slightly brown and liquid is nearly gone, about 2 minutes.
Add 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth, 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice, and 2 Tablespoon capers, and drained sauteed tenders or pour sauce over the chicken you have in the other pan.. Cook on low for about 10 minutes. Add more chicken stock or broth if it seems dry.
Finish with 2 Tablespoons butter and fresh lemon slices. Remove chicken to a platter and pour the sauce over the chicken.
Garnish with chopped fresh parsley and serve with grated parmesan cheese on the table.
I serve this with simple pasta. Crush two or three cloves garlic or use the garlic press or chop very, very fine. Add to three tablespoons extra virgin olive oil. Saute for a couple of minutes or just put garlic in the olive oil and leave it for several hours before adding the cooked pasta. Add to the drained pasta (spaghetti or linguini) then put about 3 tablespoons dry dill weed on the top and mix well. Yummy!!
Mimi's Texas Salsa
Mimi’s Texas Salsa
1 large onion–finely chopped
4 cloves garlic–minced
4 jalapenos–finely chopped + 2 Serano peppers
1 large bunch cilantro–chopped
4 cans (14.5 oz) crushed tomatoes
or use regular tomatoes and put them in the blender–pulse on & off a couple of times
½ cup olive oil or canola oil
½ cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
½ teaspoon cumin
+ a little black pepper
Heat the oil. Add onions & garlic. Cook until they are translucent. Add jalapenos. Stir well for 1 minute. Add vinegar & salt, then tomatoes & cilantro. Bring to boiling point.
Taste. If it is too picante, add another can of tomatoes. If too mild, add another jalapeno or some crushed red pepper.
Put in clean pint jars. Seal. Put in water bath. Bring to a boil and then turn down and simmer for 20 minutes. Let cool a bit and then remove jars from the water. Let cool. Then store on shelves. Once you open a jar, refrigerate it.
Variation: if you only make a pint or so–any amount that will be used within a week or 10 days–you don’t have to put it in the water bath. But keep it refrigerated and don’t keep it too long.
Mimi also suggested you could make the amount called for in the recipe, keep it refrigerated and share it with friends and family. Or you could do a half recipe.
The water bath, though is really not difficult. Be sure to wipe the mouth of each jar with a damp rag because it must be perfectly clean to get a good seal. When the jars are sealed right, the lids will kinda pop downwards a little when they cool. In fact you’ll hear the little popping sound and you can feel it by touch. (Compare to unsealed jar and you’ll see the difference.)
1 large onion–finely chopped
4 cloves garlic–minced
4 jalapenos–finely chopped + 2 Serano peppers
1 large bunch cilantro–chopped
4 cans (14.5 oz) crushed tomatoes
or use regular tomatoes and put them in the blender–pulse on & off a couple of times
½ cup olive oil or canola oil
½ cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
½ teaspoon cumin
+ a little black pepper
Heat the oil. Add onions & garlic. Cook until they are translucent. Add jalapenos. Stir well for 1 minute. Add vinegar & salt, then tomatoes & cilantro. Bring to boiling point.
Taste. If it is too picante, add another can of tomatoes. If too mild, add another jalapeno or some crushed red pepper.
Put in clean pint jars. Seal. Put in water bath. Bring to a boil and then turn down and simmer for 20 minutes. Let cool a bit and then remove jars from the water. Let cool. Then store on shelves. Once you open a jar, refrigerate it.
Variation: if you only make a pint or so–any amount that will be used within a week or 10 days–you don’t have to put it in the water bath. But keep it refrigerated and don’t keep it too long.
Mimi also suggested you could make the amount called for in the recipe, keep it refrigerated and share it with friends and family. Or you could do a half recipe.
The water bath, though is really not difficult. Be sure to wipe the mouth of each jar with a damp rag because it must be perfectly clean to get a good seal. When the jars are sealed right, the lids will kinda pop downwards a little when they cool. In fact you’ll hear the little popping sound and you can feel it by touch. (Compare to unsealed jar and you’ll see the difference.)
Minnie's Cinnamon Rolls
Minnie's Cinnamon Rolls
Cinnamon rolls seem to be everyone’s favorite. Our duplex was next to the chapel at Christ’s College and when students passed by and caught the fragrance of baking cinnamon rolls, it was common for them to find an excuse to ask us a question because they knew Minnie would share the cinnamon rolls with them. She often made them for evening “dorm devotions” when the students would come for Bible study and prayer in our home (8 to 10 at a time). When Minnie goes to her hometown in Texas, everyone expects her to make cinnamon rolls–and she does.
½ cup warm water
2 Tablespoons yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
[Let work for 5 to 10 minutes.]
Add 2 ½ cups milk
Add 3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
Mix well.
Add 1 stick melted butter or margarine
3 eggs, slightly beaten
Add more flour, 1 cup at a time until you have a firm dough.
Work in the flour to make a nice soft dough
Let rest 10 minutes.
Lightly knead until shiny.
Oil pan–turn to bring oiled side up.
Let rise until double.
Punch down.
Divide into two parts.
On a floured surface, roll the dough into a rectangle.
Melt 1 stick butter – spread on dough.
Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Roll up (add raisins if you want to).
Cut into rolls and put on a pan oiled with Crisco or covered with parchment paper.
Let rise until double.
Heat oven to 350o and bake 20 to 30 minutes.
Make icing–
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 stick melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
Add milk 1 Tablespoon at a time.
Ice the rolls.
Remove rolls from pan & dribble on icing.
Cinnamon rolls seem to be everyone’s favorite. Our duplex was next to the chapel at Christ’s College and when students passed by and caught the fragrance of baking cinnamon rolls, it was common for them to find an excuse to ask us a question because they knew Minnie would share the cinnamon rolls with them. She often made them for evening “dorm devotions” when the students would come for Bible study and prayer in our home (8 to 10 at a time). When Minnie goes to her hometown in Texas, everyone expects her to make cinnamon rolls–and she does.
½ cup warm water
2 Tablespoons yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
[Let work for 5 to 10 minutes.]
Add 2 ½ cups milk
Add 3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
Mix well.
Add 1 stick melted butter or margarine
3 eggs, slightly beaten
Add more flour, 1 cup at a time until you have a firm dough.
Work in the flour to make a nice soft dough
Let rest 10 minutes.
Lightly knead until shiny.
Oil pan–turn to bring oiled side up.
Let rise until double.
Punch down.
Divide into two parts.
On a floured surface, roll the dough into a rectangle.
Melt 1 stick butter – spread on dough.
Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Roll up (add raisins if you want to).
Cut into rolls and put on a pan oiled with Crisco or covered with parchment paper.
Let rise until double.
Heat oven to 350o and bake 20 to 30 minutes.
Make icing–
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 stick melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
Add milk 1 Tablespoon at a time.
Ice the rolls.
Remove rolls from pan & dribble on icing.
Minnie's Biscuits
Minnie’s Biscuits
Heat oven to 400o
Sift together:
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
Whisk these together in a bowl.
Mix 1 cup buttermilk with 1/4 cup melted butter or margarine. I always use butter.
Make a well in the dry ingredients–with a fork, lightly mix in buttermilk mixture. You may need to sift in a little more flour or add a little more milk.
Sift a little flour onto your counter or bread board. Turn the dough over in it and make a smooth ball. You may want to knead it a few times.
Pat to about 3/4 inch thick. Cut biscuits. This made 15. My cutter isn’t large.
Put 2 Tablespoons butter + 3 Tablespoons Crisco in your pan.
Put it in the oven to melt & heat the pan.
Turn biscuits over in your pan.
Bake until nice and brown–10 to 15 minutes.
I find that just smoothing the dough with my hands makes a lighter biscuit than rolling the dough. Also do not twist the cutter as that seals the edges and they don’t rise as well.
Heat oven to 400o
Sift together:
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
Whisk these together in a bowl.
Mix 1 cup buttermilk with 1/4 cup melted butter or margarine. I always use butter.
Make a well in the dry ingredients–with a fork, lightly mix in buttermilk mixture. You may need to sift in a little more flour or add a little more milk.
Sift a little flour onto your counter or bread board. Turn the dough over in it and make a smooth ball. You may want to knead it a few times.
Pat to about 3/4 inch thick. Cut biscuits. This made 15. My cutter isn’t large.
Put 2 Tablespoons butter + 3 Tablespoons Crisco in your pan.
Put it in the oven to melt & heat the pan.
Turn biscuits over in your pan.
Bake until nice and brown–10 to 15 minutes.
I find that just smoothing the dough with my hands makes a lighter biscuit than rolling the dough. Also do not twist the cutter as that seals the edges and they don’t rise as well.
Mimi's Cornbread Dressing
Mimi’s Cornbread Dressing
1. Bake fresh cornbread & biscuits 2 or 3 days before. Let it dry.
2. Crumble cornbread & biscuits together–about 8 cups.
3. Mix 1 Tablespoon fresh sage (or less than a teaspoon of dried sage) and 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning & ½ cup minced parsley + salt and black pepper
4. Saute in 1 stick of butter:
2 cups onions–finely chopped
1 cup celery–chopped
5. Use chicken or turkey stock for dressing.
6. Mix stock with cornbread/biscuit mixture.
(Optional: you can mix 2 well-beaten eggs w/stock before adding to dry mixture)
7. Mixture should be fairly moist.
8. Bake at 350o for 25-40 minutes until top has formed a crust. Cover for last 10 min. or so.
[Use drippings from turkey for gravy.]
[Dressing can be put inside either a turkey or chicken for baking.]
She wrote it a little differently at another time so take your choice:
Mimi’s corn bread: Bake the corn bread 1 or 2 days before you make the stuffing.
Whisk together the following:
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup white flour
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
Whisk in another bowl:
2 eggs
1 1/3 cup buttermilk (OR: 1 1/3 cup milk with 1 teaspoon vinegar added)
Add the wet ingredients to the dry.
Stir just until moistened.
Add 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil or melted butter
Bake in a 9x9 or 9x11 inch pan that you spray with Pam or oil.
Bake at 400o for 20 to 25 minutes. A toothpick stuck in the center should come out clean
Mimi’s cornbread stuffing
Crumble the cornbread.
Tear about 6 slices white bread into small pieces. Add to corn bread.
Melt 1 stick butter
Add 2 cups chopped onions
1 ½ cups chopped celery
2 cloves minced garlic
Cook about 5 minutes on low heat.
Remove from heat.
Add: ½ cup parsley (can be dried or fresh)
1 ½ teaspoons dried sage
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3/4 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
Stir into the bread.
Beat 2 eggs. Add 1 cup chicken stock.
Pour this over the cornbread mixture. If it is too dry, add more stock.
You can stuff this into a chicken or just put it in a baking pan that is oiled and bake at
350o Cover for the first 20 minutes. Uncover and bake 20 more minutes.
1. Bake fresh cornbread & biscuits 2 or 3 days before. Let it dry.
2. Crumble cornbread & biscuits together–about 8 cups.
3. Mix 1 Tablespoon fresh sage (or less than a teaspoon of dried sage) and 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning & ½ cup minced parsley + salt and black pepper
4. Saute in 1 stick of butter:
2 cups onions–finely chopped
1 cup celery–chopped
5. Use chicken or turkey stock for dressing.
6. Mix stock with cornbread/biscuit mixture.
(Optional: you can mix 2 well-beaten eggs w/stock before adding to dry mixture)
7. Mixture should be fairly moist.
8. Bake at 350o for 25-40 minutes until top has formed a crust. Cover for last 10 min. or so.
[Use drippings from turkey for gravy.]
[Dressing can be put inside either a turkey or chicken for baking.]
She wrote it a little differently at another time so take your choice:
Mimi’s corn bread: Bake the corn bread 1 or 2 days before you make the stuffing.
Whisk together the following:
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup white flour
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
Whisk in another bowl:
2 eggs
1 1/3 cup buttermilk (OR: 1 1/3 cup milk with 1 teaspoon vinegar added)
Add the wet ingredients to the dry.
Stir just until moistened.
Add 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil or melted butter
Bake in a 9x9 or 9x11 inch pan that you spray with Pam or oil.
Bake at 400o for 20 to 25 minutes. A toothpick stuck in the center should come out clean
Mimi’s cornbread stuffing
Crumble the cornbread.
Tear about 6 slices white bread into small pieces. Add to corn bread.
Melt 1 stick butter
Add 2 cups chopped onions
1 ½ cups chopped celery
2 cloves minced garlic
Cook about 5 minutes on low heat.
Remove from heat.
Add: ½ cup parsley (can be dried or fresh)
1 ½ teaspoons dried sage
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3/4 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
Stir into the bread.
Beat 2 eggs. Add 1 cup chicken stock.
Pour this over the cornbread mixture. If it is too dry, add more stock.
You can stuff this into a chicken or just put it in a baking pan that is oiled and bake at
350o Cover for the first 20 minutes. Uncover and bake 20 more minutes.
Double Duchess Potatoes
Several people have suggested that I post some of Mimi's recipes on our blog, so here's the first one--just in time for Thanksgiving. When Mimi and I both heard of mashed potatoes (specially seasoned) and sweet potatoes (specially seasoned) on the same plate, neither of us thought it a very good idea! But we both changed our minds as soon as we ate them. They are delicious! "Try it! try it and you may, I say!" This goes so-o-o well with turkey and dressing. I have my own herb garden so the sage is readily available and the chives were in our Washington home and I'll plant some here next spring. The notes in the recipe are Mimi's words.
May you have a blessed Thanksgiving. Papaw
Double Duchess Potatoes
[Note: I use fresh herbs so increase the amount. Adjust by taste.
2nd note: you can prepare this dish the day before and then heat at 350o covered with aluminum foil for 30 minutes.]
2 lbs. Baking potatoes, peeled, cut into 1" pieces
2 1/4 lbs. Sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1" pieces
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2/3 cup buttermilk, warmed
½ cup butter or margarine, divided
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1 teaspoon pepper, divided
1/4 teaspoon dried sage
optional: 2 Tablespoons chopped chives for mashed potatoes
Preheat oven to 375o
In separate pots combine potatoes with enough water to cover.
Add garlic to baking potatoes.
Over high heat bring both pots of potatoes to boil; reduce heat to medium.
Cook until tender; drain separately.
Return to pots. Mash baking potatoes and garlic with buttermilk, 1/4 cup butter, thyme, ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper and optional chives until smooth.
Mash sweet potatoes with sage and remaining butter, salt and pepper.
Intersperse mounds of sweet and baking potatoes in ungreased casserole.
Bake until hot, 15 minutes.
May you have a blessed Thanksgiving. Papaw
Double Duchess Potatoes
[Note: I use fresh herbs so increase the amount. Adjust by taste.
2nd note: you can prepare this dish the day before and then heat at 350o covered with aluminum foil for 30 minutes.]
2 lbs. Baking potatoes, peeled, cut into 1" pieces
2 1/4 lbs. Sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1" pieces
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2/3 cup buttermilk, warmed
½ cup butter or margarine, divided
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1 teaspoon pepper, divided
1/4 teaspoon dried sage
optional: 2 Tablespoons chopped chives for mashed potatoes
Preheat oven to 375o
In separate pots combine potatoes with enough water to cover.
Add garlic to baking potatoes.
Over high heat bring both pots of potatoes to boil; reduce heat to medium.
Cook until tender; drain separately.
Return to pots. Mash baking potatoes and garlic with buttermilk, 1/4 cup butter, thyme, ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper and optional chives until smooth.
Mash sweet potatoes with sage and remaining butter, salt and pepper.
Intersperse mounds of sweet and baking potatoes in ungreased casserole.
Bake until hot, 15 minutes.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Sorrow
Sorrow
Sorrow is such a painful emotion with such a sense of loss to go with it. You feel like you’ve been hit in the pit of your stomach and life has suddenly changed forever. Sorrow will come to you again and again and you will need to know how to deal with it. Scripture gives us many great and magnificient truths to help with it and to comfort us and I’ve called attention to many of those promises in my book: Glory in Tribulations: Suffering in the Life of the Believer. Many other books have been written on this vast and vital subject. I’ll mention two in my blog.
Not long after my wife died, our oldest daughter Jeannine gave me The Path of Loneliness by Elisabeth Elliot. I told Jeannine what a blessing the book was to me. One of her first points is very significant--the difference between solitude and loneliness! “Solitude I've always loved and Mom always respected that; loneliness none of us want. . Through the years so often when people talked about me being alone, I would tell them, ‘I'm never alone’ and that awareness has been such a blessing through all the years but particularly now. And I find myself more and more talking aloud to the Lord and He does indeed comfort my heart--though it's amazing how the tears keep coming every so often after so many months. Elisabeth Elliot said the same thing. It sorta creeps in on you unawares and at unexpected times. She knows whereof she speaks. But of course there is a HUGE difference in never being alone because God is with you and Mom NOT being there!”
Somewhere in the book she said something about simply doing the next thing that needed to be done. I did that for weeks by reflex action and it kept me moving along. I still do it a lot. But I have a little more deliberate planning now. Also I knew from long experience in the Word that it was going to be very important not to get into a "pity party." Get your eyes off yourself and on the needs of others. The Lord has taught all of us to do this and we do it with varying degrees of success. Sometimes, yes, sometimes, no. But the point of love and service towards others is fundamental and often made and needs to be made. It's in her conclusion: "the answer to our loneliness is love--"--not finding someone else, but loving the Lord and therefore serving and loving others.” p. 192
“For many years the truths that keep me going and keep me from getting discouraged center on the promises of glory and that all will be well in the glorious eternal future. And we'll see Mom again! I get so excited when I realize how true that is. “We sorrow not as others who have no hope.” 1 Th.4:1
“One more thing that Mom more than anyone or anything taught me so well: how to live one day at a time and the desire to glorify God this one day--and be willing to follow His agenda and not ours for that particular day. Interruptions, unexpected things--all of that is in the providence of God and should be welcomed rather than fretted about. Sometimes we have the right attitude, sometimes, not quite.” Love, Dad
Sorrow is such a painful emotion with such a sense of loss to go with it. You feel like you’ve been hit in the pit of your stomach and life has suddenly changed forever. Sorrow will come to you again and again and you will need to know how to deal with it. Scripture gives us many great and magnificient truths to help with it and to comfort us and I’ve called attention to many of those promises in my book: Glory in Tribulations: Suffering in the Life of the Believer. Many other books have been written on this vast and vital subject. I’ll mention two in my blog.
Not long after my wife died, our oldest daughter Jeannine gave me The Path of Loneliness by Elisabeth Elliot. I told Jeannine what a blessing the book was to me. One of her first points is very significant--the difference between solitude and loneliness! “Solitude I've always loved and Mom always respected that; loneliness none of us want. . Through the years so often when people talked about me being alone, I would tell them, ‘I'm never alone’ and that awareness has been such a blessing through all the years but particularly now. And I find myself more and more talking aloud to the Lord and He does indeed comfort my heart--though it's amazing how the tears keep coming every so often after so many months. Elisabeth Elliot said the same thing. It sorta creeps in on you unawares and at unexpected times. She knows whereof she speaks. But of course there is a HUGE difference in never being alone because God is with you and Mom NOT being there!”
Somewhere in the book she said something about simply doing the next thing that needed to be done. I did that for weeks by reflex action and it kept me moving along. I still do it a lot. But I have a little more deliberate planning now. Also I knew from long experience in the Word that it was going to be very important not to get into a "pity party." Get your eyes off yourself and on the needs of others. The Lord has taught all of us to do this and we do it with varying degrees of success. Sometimes, yes, sometimes, no. But the point of love and service towards others is fundamental and often made and needs to be made. It's in her conclusion: "the answer to our loneliness is love--"--not finding someone else, but loving the Lord and therefore serving and loving others.” p. 192
“For many years the truths that keep me going and keep me from getting discouraged center on the promises of glory and that all will be well in the glorious eternal future. And we'll see Mom again! I get so excited when I realize how true that is. “We sorrow not as others who have no hope.” 1 Th.4:1
“One more thing that Mom more than anyone or anything taught me so well: how to live one day at a time and the desire to glorify God this one day--and be willing to follow His agenda and not ours for that particular day. Interruptions, unexpected things--all of that is in the providence of God and should be welcomed rather than fretted about. Sometimes we have the right attitude, sometimes, not quite.” Love, Dad
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Keeping Perspective in Hard Times
Keeping Perspective in Hard Times
"Therefore we do not lose heart. . . ." 2 Cor.3:18-4:6
How do you deal with massive disappointments and disasters in life?
(Therefore>>because) Because our gaze is fixed on the Glory of God shining in the face of Jesus Christ–we are looking intently at Jesus! That’s what sustains us because as we do that, the Holy Spirit is transforming us into the likeness of Christ. 2 Cor. 3:18 "But we all, with open face (unveiled face) beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being changed (or transformed) into the same image from glory to glory,(from one degree of glory to another) even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.)"
This leads into 2 Cor. 4:6 "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."
So we are looking intently at Jesus. And what are the characteristics of that intent gaze upon Jesus? What is our vision of Christ?
1. It is a clarifying look.: 3:18 veil is removed in Christ. Moses had a veiled revelation of God–but that is removed in Christ. We have full access to God’s glory revealed in Jesus."The mirror of Scripture reveals the face or reality of Jesus Christ."
James 1.22-25 pictures the word of God as a mirror:"like a man observing his natural face in a mirror" –he sees what he is really like in the mirror of God’s Word
Heb. 11 says that God provided something better for us–i.e., the clarity of the vision of God that comes to us from Christ, the mystery unfolded and revealed.
Everytime you listen to a sermon, ask, "where is Jesus in all this?" I want to know my God and He is revealed in Christ.
Suffering weakens our dependence on self so that the power of God can be demonstrated in our lives–as we learn to depend on Him and not on ourselves.
2. It is a transforming look. 3:18 We are NOW being transformed: God is acting on us as we are preoccupied with Christ and gaze upon Him.
3. It is a grateful look. 2 Cor. 4:1 Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not" –overwhelmed with gratitude for God’s mercy–both your salvation and your ministry. God has given you both. You’re there by mercy when you realize the wretched soul you were before God brought you to Himself in Christ. "By the grace of God I am what I am." "I was shown mercy.
4. It is a purifying look. 2 Cor. 4:2 "But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness. . . . "
i. When you see Christ, you will be pure.
ii. There "won’t be two of you"--double-minded –things hidden because of sin and dishonesty
iii. We renounce any hidden secret–my conscience is clear because we so conduct ourselves that we don’t have an accusing conscience.
The more you see who God is, the more you will desire His beauty and holiness to be reflected in your own life–as the moon reflects the glory and light of the sun.
5. It is a truthful look. 2 Cor. 4:2 " nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God." We do not distort the Word of God by ignoring the context or the whole counsel of scripture–instead we compare scripture with scripture; we do not "read into it" something that is not there.
Committed to the pure truth–the Gospel of Grace and nothing else–no deception and no cunning.Ephes. 1:6 "To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved."
6. It is a privileged look. 2 Cor. 4:3-4 Delivered out of blindness, darkness, and unbelief into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Not everyone has the privilege of looking into the face of Jesus as Savior. Many are lost. Jesus Himself said "the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life and there are few who find it." Mt. 7:14 God Himself awakened us as from the dead and regenerated us and made us alive in Christ and accepted in the Beloved.
"My cleverness, technique, or evangelistic strategy cannot break the bonds of sin." It is simply NOT true that "they" will respond to the gospel "if it is presented in a clever enough way." They are in wilful rebellion against God and most will remain that way no matter how much we pray and give them the Word. God is working, drawing them to Himself–by affliction and trouble, knocking out all visible means of support.
But most still harden their hearts. For our part we keep faithfully bringing them the gospel, praying the glorious light will shine through, break their hearts into a broken and contrite spirit, and that the goodness of God will lead them to repentance.
1 Cor. 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
1 Cor. 1:18 "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God."
It is a privileged look when we can see and discern and know Jesus personally.
7. It is a humbling look. 2 Cor. 4:5 "For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake." (That’s church leadership, by the way; that’s the way we all minister if we are going to be useful in the hands of the Lord, "Jesus is Lord" and He alone is Lord.
i. Cannot preach ourselves or our own authority or our message–ONLY CHRIST and Him crucified.
ii. Any true look will humble us the more we realize who He is and who we are in contrast.
iii. We cannot promote ourselves or our own glory–but only the glory of Jesus who alone is worthy of all honor, glory, and praise.
iv. We are "slaves called to a duty"–to preach Jesus and ourselves as His servants for Jesus’ sake. What an honor and privilege to be a servant of the Living God!
8. A sovereignly-granted look. 2 Cor. 4:6
"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."
i. The Sovereign Lord–the Triune God–alone in eternity past with the perfection and blessedness of the relationship among the three persons of the Godhead–Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It was He and He alone who spoke the worlds into existence, who created the universe by the Word of His Power, it was He who said, "Let there be light." "And there was Light!."
ii. This verse points out that the same God who created physical light of course ALSO creates spiritual light the light of the knowledge of the glory of God and where do we see that? in the face of Jesus Christ." Spiritual darkness envelopes the lost. So we pray for them that God will do for them what He did for us when He "delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:" Col. 1:13
iii. Don’t you hear the invitation of Jesus, Rev. 22:17 "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."
Jesus has given you His own personal invitation–but you must respond in repentance and faith and bow your knee before Him as your own Lord and Savior.
The Christian life centers around Jesus, of course, so we fix our eyes on Him, the Author and Perfecter of our faith." Heb. 12:2
Looking to Him begins the Christian life: justification: look and live, my brother live, look to Jesus now and live.
Looking to Him is the basis and the way for living His life in reality in your own life: sanctification–being gradually transformed more and more like Him
Looking to Him will be our joy and delight throughout all eternity future: glorification.
--Pastor Burnside
"Therefore we do not lose heart. . . ." 2 Cor.3:18-4:6
How do you deal with massive disappointments and disasters in life?
(Therefore>>because) Because our gaze is fixed on the Glory of God shining in the face of Jesus Christ–we are looking intently at Jesus! That’s what sustains us because as we do that, the Holy Spirit is transforming us into the likeness of Christ. 2 Cor. 3:18 "But we all, with open face (unveiled face) beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being changed (or transformed) into the same image from glory to glory,(from one degree of glory to another) even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.)"
This leads into 2 Cor. 4:6 "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."
So we are looking intently at Jesus. And what are the characteristics of that intent gaze upon Jesus? What is our vision of Christ?
1. It is a clarifying look.: 3:18 veil is removed in Christ. Moses had a veiled revelation of God–but that is removed in Christ. We have full access to God’s glory revealed in Jesus."The mirror of Scripture reveals the face or reality of Jesus Christ."
James 1.22-25 pictures the word of God as a mirror:"like a man observing his natural face in a mirror" –he sees what he is really like in the mirror of God’s Word
Heb. 11 says that God provided something better for us–i.e., the clarity of the vision of God that comes to us from Christ, the mystery unfolded and revealed.
Everytime you listen to a sermon, ask, "where is Jesus in all this?" I want to know my God and He is revealed in Christ.
Suffering weakens our dependence on self so that the power of God can be demonstrated in our lives–as we learn to depend on Him and not on ourselves.
2. It is a transforming look. 3:18 We are NOW being transformed: God is acting on us as we are preoccupied with Christ and gaze upon Him.
3. It is a grateful look. 2 Cor. 4:1 Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not" –overwhelmed with gratitude for God’s mercy–both your salvation and your ministry. God has given you both. You’re there by mercy when you realize the wretched soul you were before God brought you to Himself in Christ. "By the grace of God I am what I am." "I was shown mercy.
4. It is a purifying look. 2 Cor. 4:2 "But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness. . . . "
i. When you see Christ, you will be pure.
ii. There "won’t be two of you"--double-minded –things hidden because of sin and dishonesty
iii. We renounce any hidden secret–my conscience is clear because we so conduct ourselves that we don’t have an accusing conscience.
The more you see who God is, the more you will desire His beauty and holiness to be reflected in your own life–as the moon reflects the glory and light of the sun.
5. It is a truthful look. 2 Cor. 4:2 " nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God." We do not distort the Word of God by ignoring the context or the whole counsel of scripture–instead we compare scripture with scripture; we do not "read into it" something that is not there.
Committed to the pure truth–the Gospel of Grace and nothing else–no deception and no cunning.Ephes. 1:6 "To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved."
6. It is a privileged look. 2 Cor. 4:3-4 Delivered out of blindness, darkness, and unbelief into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Not everyone has the privilege of looking into the face of Jesus as Savior. Many are lost. Jesus Himself said "the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life and there are few who find it." Mt. 7:14 God Himself awakened us as from the dead and regenerated us and made us alive in Christ and accepted in the Beloved.
"My cleverness, technique, or evangelistic strategy cannot break the bonds of sin." It is simply NOT true that "they" will respond to the gospel "if it is presented in a clever enough way." They are in wilful rebellion against God and most will remain that way no matter how much we pray and give them the Word. God is working, drawing them to Himself–by affliction and trouble, knocking out all visible means of support.
But most still harden their hearts. For our part we keep faithfully bringing them the gospel, praying the glorious light will shine through, break their hearts into a broken and contrite spirit, and that the goodness of God will lead them to repentance.
1 Cor. 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
1 Cor. 1:18 "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God."
It is a privileged look when we can see and discern and know Jesus personally.
7. It is a humbling look. 2 Cor. 4:5 "For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake." (That’s church leadership, by the way; that’s the way we all minister if we are going to be useful in the hands of the Lord, "Jesus is Lord" and He alone is Lord.
i. Cannot preach ourselves or our own authority or our message–ONLY CHRIST and Him crucified.
ii. Any true look will humble us the more we realize who He is and who we are in contrast.
iii. We cannot promote ourselves or our own glory–but only the glory of Jesus who alone is worthy of all honor, glory, and praise.
iv. We are "slaves called to a duty"–to preach Jesus and ourselves as His servants for Jesus’ sake. What an honor and privilege to be a servant of the Living God!
8. A sovereignly-granted look. 2 Cor. 4:6
"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."
i. The Sovereign Lord–the Triune God–alone in eternity past with the perfection and blessedness of the relationship among the three persons of the Godhead–Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It was He and He alone who spoke the worlds into existence, who created the universe by the Word of His Power, it was He who said, "Let there be light." "And there was Light!."
ii. This verse points out that the same God who created physical light of course ALSO creates spiritual light the light of the knowledge of the glory of God and where do we see that? in the face of Jesus Christ." Spiritual darkness envelopes the lost. So we pray for them that God will do for them what He did for us when He "delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:" Col. 1:13
iii. Don’t you hear the invitation of Jesus, Rev. 22:17 "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."
Jesus has given you His own personal invitation–but you must respond in repentance and faith and bow your knee before Him as your own Lord and Savior.
The Christian life centers around Jesus, of course, so we fix our eyes on Him, the Author and Perfecter of our faith." Heb. 12:2
Looking to Him begins the Christian life: justification: look and live, my brother live, look to Jesus now and live.
Looking to Him is the basis and the way for living His life in reality in your own life: sanctification–being gradually transformed more and more like Him
Looking to Him will be our joy and delight throughout all eternity future: glorification.
--Pastor Burnside
Monday, November 15, 2010
"Strength in my soul"--Psalm 138
“In the day when I cried you answered me, and strengthened me with strength in my soul.”
Today’s Psalm is just what we need on a Monday morning–strength in our soul! And we begin as always “with my whole heart”–not half-heartedly following the Lord:
Psalm 138:1 I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
before the gods I sing your praise;
[2] I bow down toward your holy temple
and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. [What God has exalted, we should also.]
[3] On the day I called, you answered me; [He answers us more quickly than we realize sometimes, but He often gives an answer we had not expected–or strength that we didn’t realize He had already given us: “as thy days so shall thy strength be.”]
“and strengthened me with strength in my soul.” (kjv) “My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:2 “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” 2 Cor. 4:7
[4] All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord,
for they have heard the words of your mouth,
[5] and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord,
[Learn His ways so that you will know how to live.]
for great is the glory of the Lord.
[Aye, indeed! Catch a glimpse of the glory and beauty of God and you will never be the same! “Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children. And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us. . . .” Psalm 90:16-17]
[6] For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, [Take your proper place before the Infinite God who made heaven and earth and now holds it in place and sustains the universe just as He gives you life and sustains you. Humility always before our Glorious God.]
but the haughty he knows from afar.
[7] Though I walk in the midst of trouble, [Isn’t that where we all walk?! Thank God when things are going well and pleasantly because it won’t always be so! “But He giveth more grace!”
you preserve my life; [That’s the only way you got this far in life!]
you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
and your right hand delivers me.
[8] The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; [Aye! and He will! But His purposes may not be your purposes. He tells us many of His purposes (and keeps hidden other purposes from us so that we will walk by faith and not by sight.) A major purpose is to make us more like Christ. Romans 8:29 Another is to share with us the glories of eternal life “at home with the Lord”: “Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose. . . .” 2 Cor. 5:5 NIV And yet a third purpose is to “work all things together for good to them who love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28 There’s “purpose” again! God has made so many of His purposes in life clear in scripture if we but have eyes to see and hearts to believe!]
your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. [Do you really believe God loves you! Not because of who you are but because of who He is! “God is love.” “Herein is love not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation [“sacrifice” or payment–atonement] for our sins.” 1 John 4:10 Then live like it! Walk in His love and thank Him for it. And remember, “God disciplines those He loves!” Heb. 12:6]
“Do not forsake the work of your hands.” [How could He do that! He has promised–by His Word, by His past actions, by who He is in His character and attributes–that He will “never leave thee nor forsake thee.” Heb. 13:5]
Be well assured that “He who has begun a good work in you will perform it [or bring it to completion]. . . .” Phil. 1:6 Aren’t you glad that it is God Himself “who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.” Phil. 2:13 NIV
–Pastor Burnside
Today’s Psalm is just what we need on a Monday morning–strength in our soul! And we begin as always “with my whole heart”–not half-heartedly following the Lord:
Psalm 138:1 I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
before the gods I sing your praise;
[2] I bow down toward your holy temple
and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. [What God has exalted, we should also.]
[3] On the day I called, you answered me; [He answers us more quickly than we realize sometimes, but He often gives an answer we had not expected–or strength that we didn’t realize He had already given us: “as thy days so shall thy strength be.”]
“and strengthened me with strength in my soul.” (kjv) “My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:2 “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” 2 Cor. 4:7
[4] All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord,
for they have heard the words of your mouth,
[5] and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord,
[Learn His ways so that you will know how to live.]
for great is the glory of the Lord.
[Aye, indeed! Catch a glimpse of the glory and beauty of God and you will never be the same! “Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children. And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us. . . .” Psalm 90:16-17]
[6] For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, [Take your proper place before the Infinite God who made heaven and earth and now holds it in place and sustains the universe just as He gives you life and sustains you. Humility always before our Glorious God.]
but the haughty he knows from afar.
[7] Though I walk in the midst of trouble, [Isn’t that where we all walk?! Thank God when things are going well and pleasantly because it won’t always be so! “But He giveth more grace!”
you preserve my life; [That’s the only way you got this far in life!]
you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
and your right hand delivers me.
[8] The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; [Aye! and He will! But His purposes may not be your purposes. He tells us many of His purposes (and keeps hidden other purposes from us so that we will walk by faith and not by sight.) A major purpose is to make us more like Christ. Romans 8:29 Another is to share with us the glories of eternal life “at home with the Lord”: “Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose. . . .” 2 Cor. 5:5 NIV And yet a third purpose is to “work all things together for good to them who love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28 There’s “purpose” again! God has made so many of His purposes in life clear in scripture if we but have eyes to see and hearts to believe!]
your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. [Do you really believe God loves you! Not because of who you are but because of who He is! “God is love.” “Herein is love not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation [“sacrifice” or payment–atonement] for our sins.” 1 John 4:10 Then live like it! Walk in His love and thank Him for it. And remember, “God disciplines those He loves!” Heb. 12:6]
“Do not forsake the work of your hands.” [How could He do that! He has promised–by His Word, by His past actions, by who He is in His character and attributes–that He will “never leave thee nor forsake thee.” Heb. 13:5]
Be well assured that “He who has begun a good work in you will perform it [or bring it to completion]. . . .” Phil. 1:6 Aren’t you glad that it is God Himself “who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.” Phil. 2:13 NIV
–Pastor Burnside
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Sorrow turned into joy
[Written in February.] "Your sorrow shall be turned into joy." John 16:20
I'm working on an article with scriptures that enable us to deal with the intense sorrow we are experiencing because of Mimi's homegoing. (She lived beyond the "threescore years and ten" of Psalm 90, but it certainly didn't seem long enough to me! I miss her tremendously--as all my children and grandchildren knew I would.) And yet I'm happy that she's happy and we know she is because "Blessed" is the word scripture uses: "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord." Rev. 14:13 "Blessed" means "favored of the Lord" and that she is! but it also means "happy." So Minnie is happy--and joyful and praising God. Of that we can be confident. And with that we can be comforted.
In both memorial services (in Washington and in Arkansas) I mentioned a couple of ways God gives us to deal with that terrible pain of sorrow. I'll remind you in just a moment. But the other day, Jeannine sent an additional way to help us with our sorrow. She was reading J.I.Packer's wonderful book, Knowing God and came across this quotation from Spurgeon:
> "And whilst humbling and expanding, this subject is eminently consolatory. Oh, there is, in contemplating Christ, a balm for every wound; in musing on the Father, there is a quietus for every grief; and in the influence of the Holy Spirit, there is a balsam for every sore. Would you lose your sorrow? Would you drown your cares? Then go, plunge yourself in the Godhead's deepest sea; be lost in his immensity; and you shall come forth as from a couch of rest, refreshed and invigorated. I know nothing which can so comfort the soul; so calm the swelling billows of sorrow and grief; so speak peace to the winds of trial, as a devout musing upon the subject of the Godhead." (Written by Spurgeon when he was 20 yrs old.)
> In other words meditate on the attributes of God and rejoice in them in order to help comfort you in your sorrow. I find that so interesting because during Mimi's last months of her illness I deliberately often read to her about the attributes of God--from many different books including Knowing God and several by Spurgeon and from Charnock's The Existence and Attributes of God. When we speak of the attributes of God we are talking about who God is, in Himself. That's the glory of God: who He is and what He does--and has done and continues to do. What a great encouragement to us to see the glory of God--even dimly as through a glass.
> At the memorial services I told you that Jesus shows us the way we must deal with sorrow is to look beyond the sorrow to the joy that is yet to come, brought to us by Him who "has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows." Isa. 53:4 "You shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy," Jesus told the disciples. John 16:20 It is one of the most remarkable experiences with God for your heart to be breaking and for you to cry out in agony to God and at the same time experience that supernatural joy that God alone can give in the midst of your sorrow. "As sorrowful and yet always rejoicing." 2 Cor. 6:10 And to calm your spirit, He floods your soul with "His peace that passeth understanding." "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee." Isaiah 26:3
That is precisely what sustained Minnie all during those long, hard months and she often said so. "God has given me His peace, " she would tell those who came to see her or called her on the telephone. "Peace I leave with you," Jesus said, "my peace I give unto you. . . . Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." John 14:27
>
But your sorrow is still painful. And what helps us there is to know that we are not alone. He's with us every step of the way, comforting and strengthening us. Jesus experienced the depths of sorrow, too. He knows it omnisciently, of course, because He is God, but He also knows it experientially. "In all their affliction he was afflicted and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old." Isaiah 63:9
> I mentioned another way to deal with sorrow and bear the pain was to have a thankful spirit. "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." 1 Thess. 5:18 Thankfulness characterized Minnie's attitude all during those months of uncertainty and living "one day at a time." She was always thankful to God and to me and to everyone who helped her, even for the simplest things like a cup of ice to help her with nausea or a pillow to make her more comfortable.
> Be thankful for God's promises. And for His purposes in what He does. And be thankful for God's presence and for His peace that He gives you. But especially hold onto the joy that is yet to come. "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." Psalm 30:5
> Sorrow is temporary--as a lodging in the night and God will renew your spirit and things will seem so different when you're patient in the darkness and wait on the Lord. What joy and glory awaits us in the morning when we are taken home by the Lord Himself.
"So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you." John 16:22
--Pastor Burnside
> We are not alone, God is with us.
> We are never alone, for God is with us.
> Now, through all our days, always.
> Forever and ever, we are never alone.
> And God will make us strong, for God is with us.
> We will press on, for God is with us.
> Now, through all our days, always.
> Forever and ever, we are never alone.
> Our God is with us now.
> --Pepper Choplin
>
>
I'm working on an article with scriptures that enable us to deal with the intense sorrow we are experiencing because of Mimi's homegoing. (She lived beyond the "threescore years and ten" of Psalm 90, but it certainly didn't seem long enough to me! I miss her tremendously--as all my children and grandchildren knew I would.) And yet I'm happy that she's happy and we know she is because "Blessed" is the word scripture uses: "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord." Rev. 14:13 "Blessed" means "favored of the Lord" and that she is! but it also means "happy." So Minnie is happy--and joyful and praising God. Of that we can be confident. And with that we can be comforted.
In both memorial services (in Washington and in Arkansas) I mentioned a couple of ways God gives us to deal with that terrible pain of sorrow. I'll remind you in just a moment. But the other day, Jeannine sent an additional way to help us with our sorrow. She was reading J.I.Packer's wonderful book, Knowing God and came across this quotation from Spurgeon:
> "And whilst humbling and expanding, this subject is eminently consolatory. Oh, there is, in contemplating Christ, a balm for every wound; in musing on the Father, there is a quietus for every grief; and in the influence of the Holy Spirit, there is a balsam for every sore. Would you lose your sorrow? Would you drown your cares? Then go, plunge yourself in the Godhead's deepest sea; be lost in his immensity; and you shall come forth as from a couch of rest, refreshed and invigorated. I know nothing which can so comfort the soul; so calm the swelling billows of sorrow and grief; so speak peace to the winds of trial, as a devout musing upon the subject of the Godhead." (Written by Spurgeon when he was 20 yrs old.)
> In other words meditate on the attributes of God and rejoice in them in order to help comfort you in your sorrow. I find that so interesting because during Mimi's last months of her illness I deliberately often read to her about the attributes of God--from many different books including Knowing God and several by Spurgeon and from Charnock's The Existence and Attributes of God. When we speak of the attributes of God we are talking about who God is, in Himself. That's the glory of God: who He is and what He does--and has done and continues to do. What a great encouragement to us to see the glory of God--even dimly as through a glass.
> At the memorial services I told you that Jesus shows us the way we must deal with sorrow is to look beyond the sorrow to the joy that is yet to come, brought to us by Him who "has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows." Isa. 53:4 "You shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy," Jesus told the disciples. John 16:20 It is one of the most remarkable experiences with God for your heart to be breaking and for you to cry out in agony to God and at the same time experience that supernatural joy that God alone can give in the midst of your sorrow. "As sorrowful and yet always rejoicing." 2 Cor. 6:10 And to calm your spirit, He floods your soul with "His peace that passeth understanding." "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee." Isaiah 26:3
That is precisely what sustained Minnie all during those long, hard months and she often said so. "God has given me His peace, " she would tell those who came to see her or called her on the telephone. "Peace I leave with you," Jesus said, "my peace I give unto you. . . . Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." John 14:27
>
But your sorrow is still painful. And what helps us there is to know that we are not alone. He's with us every step of the way, comforting and strengthening us. Jesus experienced the depths of sorrow, too. He knows it omnisciently, of course, because He is God, but He also knows it experientially. "In all their affliction he was afflicted and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old." Isaiah 63:9
> I mentioned another way to deal with sorrow and bear the pain was to have a thankful spirit. "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." 1 Thess. 5:18 Thankfulness characterized Minnie's attitude all during those months of uncertainty and living "one day at a time." She was always thankful to God and to me and to everyone who helped her, even for the simplest things like a cup of ice to help her with nausea or a pillow to make her more comfortable.
> Be thankful for God's promises. And for His purposes in what He does. And be thankful for God's presence and for His peace that He gives you. But especially hold onto the joy that is yet to come. "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." Psalm 30:5
> Sorrow is temporary--as a lodging in the night and God will renew your spirit and things will seem so different when you're patient in the darkness and wait on the Lord. What joy and glory awaits us in the morning when we are taken home by the Lord Himself.
"So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you." John 16:22
--Pastor Burnside
> We are not alone, God is with us.
> We are never alone, for God is with us.
> Now, through all our days, always.
> Forever and ever, we are never alone.
> And God will make us strong, for God is with us.
> We will press on, for God is with us.
> Now, through all our days, always.
> Forever and ever, we are never alone.
> Our God is with us now.
> --Pepper Choplin
>
>
God, that comforteth those that are cast down.
From Spurgeon this morning: 2 Corinthians 7:6
God, that comforteth those that are cast down.
And who comforteth like Him? Go to some poor, melancholy, distressed child of God; tell him sweet promises, and whisper in his ear choice words of comfort; he is like the deaf adder, he listens not to the voice of the charmer, charm he never so wisely. He is drinking gall and wormwood, and comfort him as you may, it will be only a note or two of mournful resignation that you will get from him; you will bring forth no psalms of praise, no hallelujahs, no joyful sonnets. But let God come to His child, let Him lift up his countenance, and the mourner's eyes glisten with hope. Do you not hear him sing-
"'Tis paradise, if thou art here;
If thou depart, 'tis hell?"
You could not have cheered him: but the Lord has done it; "He is the God of all comfort." There is no balm in Gilead, but there is balm in God.
There is no physician among the creatures, but the Creator is
Jehovah-rophi. It is marvellous how one sweet word of God will make whole
songs for Christians. One word of God is like a piece of gold, and the
Christian is the goldbeater, and can hammer that promise out for whole
weeks. So, then, poor Christian, thou needest not sit down in despair. Go
to the Comforter, and ask Him to give thee consolation. Thou art a poor
dry well. You have heard it said, that when a pump is dry, you must pour
water down it first of all, and then you will get water, and so,
Christian, when thou art dry, go to God, ask Him to shed abroad His joy in
thy heart, and then thy joy shall be full. Do not go to earthly
acquaintances, for you will find them Job's comforters after all; but go
first and foremost to thy "God, that comforteth those that are cast down,"
and you will soon say, "In the multitude of my thoughts within me Thy
comforts delight my soul."
--Charles Spurgeon, 1834-1892
God, that comforteth those that are cast down.
And who comforteth like Him? Go to some poor, melancholy, distressed child of God; tell him sweet promises, and whisper in his ear choice words of comfort; he is like the deaf adder, he listens not to the voice of the charmer, charm he never so wisely. He is drinking gall and wormwood, and comfort him as you may, it will be only a note or two of mournful resignation that you will get from him; you will bring forth no psalms of praise, no hallelujahs, no joyful sonnets. But let God come to His child, let Him lift up his countenance, and the mourner's eyes glisten with hope. Do you not hear him sing-
"'Tis paradise, if thou art here;
If thou depart, 'tis hell?"
You could not have cheered him: but the Lord has done it; "He is the God of all comfort." There is no balm in Gilead, but there is balm in God.
There is no physician among the creatures, but the Creator is
Jehovah-rophi. It is marvellous how one sweet word of God will make whole
songs for Christians. One word of God is like a piece of gold, and the
Christian is the goldbeater, and can hammer that promise out for whole
weeks. So, then, poor Christian, thou needest not sit down in despair. Go
to the Comforter, and ask Him to give thee consolation. Thou art a poor
dry well. You have heard it said, that when a pump is dry, you must pour
water down it first of all, and then you will get water, and so,
Christian, when thou art dry, go to God, ask Him to shed abroad His joy in
thy heart, and then thy joy shall be full. Do not go to earthly
acquaintances, for you will find them Job's comforters after all; but go
first and foremost to thy "God, that comforteth those that are cast down,"
and you will soon say, "In the multitude of my thoughts within me Thy
comforts delight my soul."
--Charles Spurgeon, 1834-1892
"Safely into His Heavenly Kingdom"
"Safely into His Heavenly Kingdom"
"The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen." 2 Timothy 4:18 ESV
Isn’t that a wonderful verse! What greater assurance do we need? Either from death or through death He will rescue us or deliver us and take us home to "the Father’s House," to His heavenly kingdom where we will dwell in perfect safety and joy and fellowship and pleasure throughout eternity. Minnie is there right now enjoying that fellowship with Jesus and with others, especially with her family.
John Calvin wrote, "True salvation [is] when the Lord–either by life or by death–conducts us into His kingdom. And Paul, by ascribing to God this work of ‘preserving us to his kingdom,’ openly affirms that we are guided by His hand during the whole course of our life, till, having discharged the whole of our warfare, we obtain the victory." XXI, p. 271 Calvin, 2nd Epistle to Timothy
We will live in God’s heavenly kingdom in the future in our glorified bodies. ". . . Whom He justified, them He also glorified." Romans 8:30 "Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Matthew 25:34 "For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 1:11
The Apostle Paul "sat alone in a dark, filthy prison, facing Nero's certain sentence of death. He was not bitter but, like his Lord, prayed for his persecutors." He wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, "The time of my departure has come. . . . The Lord will deliver me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom." 2 Timothy 4:6,18
Death was not something fearful to him. It was merely his "departure" and held no peril for him. Death was simply "the laying aside of his earthly dwelling." It was a move from his demanding and painful life on earth to the infinitely glorious life of peace and rest to come when he would forever be with the Lord.
One of the old Bible scholars from years gone by, William Barclay, explained what the word "departure" meant in the Greek language: it is from analusis which has several meanings and gives at least four vivid pictures of how the apostle Paul viewed his last days on earth before going home to be with his Lord:
1. It is the word for unyoking an animal from the shafts of the cart or the plough. Death to Paul was rest from toil. He would be glad to lay the burden down. . . .
2. It is the word for loosening bonds or fetters. Death for Paul was a liberation and a release. He was to exchange the confines of a Roman prison for the glorious liberty of the courts of heaven.
3. It is the word for loosening the ropes of a tent. For Paul it was time to strike camp again. Many a journey he had made across the roads of Asia Minor and of Europe. Now he was setting out on his last and his greatest journey: he was taking the road that led to God.
4. It is the word for loosening the mooring ropes of a ship. Many a time Paul had sailed the Mediterranean, and had felt the ship leave the harbour for the deep waters. Now he is to launch out into the greatest deep of all; he is setting sail to cross the waters of death to arrive in the haven of eternity."
I should add just one word to that beautiful description, that which Jesus promised in John 14:3 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." That word "take" (paralambano) is very strong. It means that the omnipotent, omnipresent Son of God will Himself come for each one of us when His time has come and personally take us home to be with Him. What great comfort Minnie and I found in these great truths. She knew Jesus was coming for her personally. Only a few months before she died, Minnie wrote these words: "Some of us know we are dying sooner rather than later. Others die with no warning. I have had a lot of time to think about death and dying. I know that Jesus will come for me and take me to heaven where I will be reunited with family members who have gone before. . . ." (Minnie’s Journal, p. 170) And He did come for her–one month ago yesterday. And she is with Him now: "that you also may be where I am."
–Pastor Burnside
"The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen." 2 Timothy 4:18 ESV
Isn’t that a wonderful verse! What greater assurance do we need? Either from death or through death He will rescue us or deliver us and take us home to "the Father’s House," to His heavenly kingdom where we will dwell in perfect safety and joy and fellowship and pleasure throughout eternity. Minnie is there right now enjoying that fellowship with Jesus and with others, especially with her family.
John Calvin wrote, "True salvation [is] when the Lord–either by life or by death–conducts us into His kingdom. And Paul, by ascribing to God this work of ‘preserving us to his kingdom,’ openly affirms that we are guided by His hand during the whole course of our life, till, having discharged the whole of our warfare, we obtain the victory." XXI, p. 271 Calvin, 2nd Epistle to Timothy
We will live in God’s heavenly kingdom in the future in our glorified bodies. ". . . Whom He justified, them He also glorified." Romans 8:30 "Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Matthew 25:34 "For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 1:11
The Apostle Paul "sat alone in a dark, filthy prison, facing Nero's certain sentence of death. He was not bitter but, like his Lord, prayed for his persecutors." He wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, "The time of my departure has come. . . . The Lord will deliver me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom." 2 Timothy 4:6,18
Death was not something fearful to him. It was merely his "departure" and held no peril for him. Death was simply "the laying aside of his earthly dwelling." It was a move from his demanding and painful life on earth to the infinitely glorious life of peace and rest to come when he would forever be with the Lord.
One of the old Bible scholars from years gone by, William Barclay, explained what the word "departure" meant in the Greek language: it is from analusis which has several meanings and gives at least four vivid pictures of how the apostle Paul viewed his last days on earth before going home to be with his Lord:
1. It is the word for unyoking an animal from the shafts of the cart or the plough. Death to Paul was rest from toil. He would be glad to lay the burden down. . . .
2. It is the word for loosening bonds or fetters. Death for Paul was a liberation and a release. He was to exchange the confines of a Roman prison for the glorious liberty of the courts of heaven.
3. It is the word for loosening the ropes of a tent. For Paul it was time to strike camp again. Many a journey he had made across the roads of Asia Minor and of Europe. Now he was setting out on his last and his greatest journey: he was taking the road that led to God.
4. It is the word for loosening the mooring ropes of a ship. Many a time Paul had sailed the Mediterranean, and had felt the ship leave the harbour for the deep waters. Now he is to launch out into the greatest deep of all; he is setting sail to cross the waters of death to arrive in the haven of eternity."
I should add just one word to that beautiful description, that which Jesus promised in John 14:3 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." That word "take" (paralambano) is very strong. It means that the omnipotent, omnipresent Son of God will Himself come for each one of us when His time has come and personally take us home to be with Him. What great comfort Minnie and I found in these great truths. She knew Jesus was coming for her personally. Only a few months before she died, Minnie wrote these words: "Some of us know we are dying sooner rather than later. Others die with no warning. I have had a lot of time to think about death and dying. I know that Jesus will come for me and take me to heaven where I will be reunited with family members who have gone before. . . ." (Minnie’s Journal, p. 170) And He did come for her–one month ago yesterday. And she is with Him now: "that you also may be where I am."
–Pastor Burnside
Friday, November 12, 2010
7.1 "A house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens"
“A house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens”
We have many great and wonderful possessions right now in Jesus. But some yet await us when “our hour is come” and it’s time for us to depart and be with Christ which is far better. Then we will pass from life through death into eternal life. “We have” [there’s a present possession] “an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” It’s ours. It belongs to us–given to us by God Himself. But we have not yet entered into that inheritance because we are still in the tent of this body and await our actual entrance into heaven.
But this wonderful passage in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 that we are studying on Wednesday nights tells us when we will enter that inheritance and what we will “have” as soon as we do. It happens when “the tent, which is our earthly home, is destroyed,” i.e., we die and go to be with Christ! Keep reading: “For we know that if the tent, which is our earthly home, is destroyed, we have [now, present possession at that moment] a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” 5:1 ESV While we are still in “the tent” of our body, “we long to put on our heavenly dwelling.” We want to be “further clothed so that what is mortal [i.e.,subject to death] may be swallowed up by life.” –real life–“life more abundantly,” as Jesus put it, eternal life which is perfect and complete. And God made us for that very purpose, He tells us in verse 5–and gave us the Holy Spirit as a guarantee that this was going to happen, as “a foretaste of glory divine.”
Then he said, “We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.” But when we are “away from the body,” then we are “at home with the Lord.” So when we die we immediately go into the Presence of the Lord. “Away from the body” and “present with the Lord.” Indeed it is the Lord Himself who comes to get us! That’s what Jesus said to the disciples the day before He died. He told them He was going to “the Father’s house” to prepare a place for them “and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
And when He takes you to heaven, it is so that you will be with Him in the place He has prepared for you. And where will you be? With the Lord. You will have “a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” Will it be a physical body or a spiritual place or what? We know that after the resurrection we will indeed have a glorified body, a “spiritual body” as it is called in 1 Cor. 15:44 “It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.”
When the Lord takes you home to be with Him will you simply be a “spirit” or will you have some sort of physical or visible form? Well, what do you mean by “visible”? Visible to physical eyes or visible to other spirits, like angels? God is Spirit, angels are spirit (except when God gives them a physical form which He frequently does). God sees. Angels see, but they don’t have eyes. So “not to worry”! We’ll get along just fine in heaven–much better than here. Just leave it with the Lord. Heaven is so glorious that when God took the Apostle Paul to heaven, he wasn’t sure whether he was still “in the body” or whether he was there in spirit: “And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows.”
2 Cor. 12:3 ESV
But there are some things we do know for sure: When the time comes for the Lord to take us home it is Jesus Himself (omnipresent as God) who will take us home, just as He told the thief on the cross who believed in Him, “this day thou shalt be with Me in paradise.” And when the Lord does take us home to be with Him, we will really be “at home” forever, always with the Lord. We will be in the “place prepared” for each one of us. We will be “gathered to our people,” Gen. 25:8, our brethren who know the Lord. And we will have “a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” Praise ye the Lord! “Wherefore comfort ye one another with these words.” We will be with the Lord forever, and forever with all of our loved ones who know the Lord as Savior. They may have gone ahead of you, but you will catch up with them in the journey that God has for you.
–Pastor Burnside
We have many great and wonderful possessions right now in Jesus. But some yet await us when “our hour is come” and it’s time for us to depart and be with Christ which is far better. Then we will pass from life through death into eternal life. “We have” [there’s a present possession] “an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” It’s ours. It belongs to us–given to us by God Himself. But we have not yet entered into that inheritance because we are still in the tent of this body and await our actual entrance into heaven.
But this wonderful passage in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 that we are studying on Wednesday nights tells us when we will enter that inheritance and what we will “have” as soon as we do. It happens when “the tent, which is our earthly home, is destroyed,” i.e., we die and go to be with Christ! Keep reading: “For we know that if the tent, which is our earthly home, is destroyed, we have [now, present possession at that moment] a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” 5:1 ESV While we are still in “the tent” of our body, “we long to put on our heavenly dwelling.” We want to be “further clothed so that what is mortal [i.e.,subject to death] may be swallowed up by life.” –real life–“life more abundantly,” as Jesus put it, eternal life which is perfect and complete. And God made us for that very purpose, He tells us in verse 5–and gave us the Holy Spirit as a guarantee that this was going to happen, as “a foretaste of glory divine.”
Then he said, “We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.” But when we are “away from the body,” then we are “at home with the Lord.” So when we die we immediately go into the Presence of the Lord. “Away from the body” and “present with the Lord.” Indeed it is the Lord Himself who comes to get us! That’s what Jesus said to the disciples the day before He died. He told them He was going to “the Father’s house” to prepare a place for them “and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
And when He takes you to heaven, it is so that you will be with Him in the place He has prepared for you. And where will you be? With the Lord. You will have “a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” Will it be a physical body or a spiritual place or what? We know that after the resurrection we will indeed have a glorified body, a “spiritual body” as it is called in 1 Cor. 15:44 “It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.”
When the Lord takes you home to be with Him will you simply be a “spirit” or will you have some sort of physical or visible form? Well, what do you mean by “visible”? Visible to physical eyes or visible to other spirits, like angels? God is Spirit, angels are spirit (except when God gives them a physical form which He frequently does). God sees. Angels see, but they don’t have eyes. So “not to worry”! We’ll get along just fine in heaven–much better than here. Just leave it with the Lord. Heaven is so glorious that when God took the Apostle Paul to heaven, he wasn’t sure whether he was still “in the body” or whether he was there in spirit: “And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows.”
2 Cor. 12:3 ESV
But there are some things we do know for sure: When the time comes for the Lord to take us home it is Jesus Himself (omnipresent as God) who will take us home, just as He told the thief on the cross who believed in Him, “this day thou shalt be with Me in paradise.” And when the Lord does take us home to be with Him, we will really be “at home” forever, always with the Lord. We will be in the “place prepared” for each one of us. We will be “gathered to our people,” Gen. 25:8, our brethren who know the Lord. And we will have “a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” Praise ye the Lord! “Wherefore comfort ye one another with these words.” We will be with the Lord forever, and forever with all of our loved ones who know the Lord as Savior. They may have gone ahead of you, but you will catch up with them in the journey that God has for you.
–Pastor Burnside
Thursday, November 11, 2010
7. 2 Corinthians ch.5 Living in a Tent
7. 2 Corinthians ch. 5 Living in a tent
2 Cor. 5:1-8 ESV “For we know that if the tent, which is our earthly home, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened--not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.”
We live in a tent! Wouldn’t you rather live in “a building from God . . . eternal in the heavens”? You’re on a journey, but when it’s time to “break camp,” you want to go home, don’t you? “At home in the body” or “at home with the Lord”–which is better? Are you ready for “a building from God . . . eternal in the heavens”? Sounds permanent, doesn’t it? Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you.” Wow! I wonder what kind of place He has prepared for each one of us? Think of what a marvelous job He did in creating the world! Whatever He has “prepared” for us is going to be awfully nice and “just right” for each of us.
“A place for you”–that has a nice sound to it, doesn’t it? We all need “our place” and there’s none like the one Jesus is specifically making for you. You’ll really be “at home” then for the first time in your life! I hope you’ve had a wonderful home here on earth as I have had for 54 years so that you will have just “a little taste of heaven” while you sojourn here on the earth. At home you are loved and you are with your own people and that’s the most wonderful part of it. Minnie and I traveled together so often and when we were away from home, I often told her, “Honey, home is where you are!” And with her there with me I was content. That’s the way it will be in heaven. We will be with the Lord and with the people we love–and what more could you ask? But He does give us more because it’s such a glorious place. We will be “swallowed up by life”–real life. Jesus said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10
“He has prepared us for this very thing,”[NIV: He has “made us for this very purpose”] that we might spend eternity in fellowship with Him “that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” Eph. 2:7
What effect does all this have on our attitude, our strength, and our courage? “ So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.” 5:6-9
–Pastor Burnside
2 Cor. 5:1-8 ESV “For we know that if the tent, which is our earthly home, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened--not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.”
We live in a tent! Wouldn’t you rather live in “a building from God . . . eternal in the heavens”? You’re on a journey, but when it’s time to “break camp,” you want to go home, don’t you? “At home in the body” or “at home with the Lord”–which is better? Are you ready for “a building from God . . . eternal in the heavens”? Sounds permanent, doesn’t it? Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you.” Wow! I wonder what kind of place He has prepared for each one of us? Think of what a marvelous job He did in creating the world! Whatever He has “prepared” for us is going to be awfully nice and “just right” for each of us.
“A place for you”–that has a nice sound to it, doesn’t it? We all need “our place” and there’s none like the one Jesus is specifically making for you. You’ll really be “at home” then for the first time in your life! I hope you’ve had a wonderful home here on earth as I have had for 54 years so that you will have just “a little taste of heaven” while you sojourn here on the earth. At home you are loved and you are with your own people and that’s the most wonderful part of it. Minnie and I traveled together so often and when we were away from home, I often told her, “Honey, home is where you are!” And with her there with me I was content. That’s the way it will be in heaven. We will be with the Lord and with the people we love–and what more could you ask? But He does give us more because it’s such a glorious place. We will be “swallowed up by life”–real life. Jesus said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10
“He has prepared us for this very thing,”[NIV: He has “made us for this very purpose”] that we might spend eternity in fellowship with Him “that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” Eph. 2:7
What effect does all this have on our attitude, our strength, and our courage? “ So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.” 5:6-9
–Pastor Burnside
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
How do you know and how do you know that you know?
We live in an age of tremendous uncertainty. People are not sure of anything and they are not sure that you can know anything with any degree of certitude. In fact, many are quite sure that they know you cannot really “know” anything, but they don’t “know” how they “know” that.
How do you know and how do you know that you know? And what is meaningful in life and what is the meaning of meaning? Who are you? Why are you here, how did you get here, and what are you going to do while you’re here–and why? And then where are you going–and why? How are you going to get there? Why are there so many different things and places in the world? Where is unity within the diversity of life? How did the world and the universe get here? Who put it here and for what purposes? Where did you get the ability to think and reason? But is your reasoning reasonable or valid or logical or true? What is truth? Who or what is the standard for truth? Can people communicate with one another so that they understand? Were you programmed to do all the things you do or do you make meaningful decisions that affect the external form of the universe or that affect human history?
You’ll recognize these questions as some of the basic philosophical/theological questions of life, particularly of epistemology (which means “how we know and how we know that we know.”) How can you find answers to those questions? It may not be as difficult as you think because the Bible claims to have the answers to ALL those questions! Does it? Well, yes it does, but are they the correct or true answers? How do you know? One way to get at this problem is simply to take the Bible at its word and accept the “self-authenticating claims” of the Bible and accept the Bible’s answers to all the above questions.
When you stop to think about it, you really only have two choices: you either accept what the Bible for what it claims to be, the very Word of the Living God, or you reject it and say it is NOT the Word of God; it is only man-made, contradictory fragments–like every other book that has ever been written.
[Read the entire article by clicking on "Certitude in an Uncertain World"]
How do you know and how do you know that you know? And what is meaningful in life and what is the meaning of meaning? Who are you? Why are you here, how did you get here, and what are you going to do while you’re here–and why? And then where are you going–and why? How are you going to get there? Why are there so many different things and places in the world? Where is unity within the diversity of life? How did the world and the universe get here? Who put it here and for what purposes? Where did you get the ability to think and reason? But is your reasoning reasonable or valid or logical or true? What is truth? Who or what is the standard for truth? Can people communicate with one another so that they understand? Were you programmed to do all the things you do or do you make meaningful decisions that affect the external form of the universe or that affect human history?
You’ll recognize these questions as some of the basic philosophical/theological questions of life, particularly of epistemology (which means “how we know and how we know that we know.”) How can you find answers to those questions? It may not be as difficult as you think because the Bible claims to have the answers to ALL those questions! Does it? Well, yes it does, but are they the correct or true answers? How do you know? One way to get at this problem is simply to take the Bible at its word and accept the “self-authenticating claims” of the Bible and accept the Bible’s answers to all the above questions.
When you stop to think about it, you really only have two choices: you either accept what the Bible for what it claims to be, the very Word of the Living God, or you reject it and say it is NOT the Word of God; it is only man-made, contradictory fragments–like every other book that has ever been written.
[Read the entire article by clicking on "Certitude in an Uncertain World"]
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