Welcome to my blog. I mostly write about Christian Living, but I enjoy the Kentucky Wildcats, New Orleans Saints, and a good cup of coffee.
All in Knowing God
I’m sure we’ve all been in a place where we’d like to know the exact will of God for our lives. I’ve found myself there plenty of times. It’s typically a situation where I have a couple of options and I want to know the right one and I just want him to tell me. Sound familiar? At the same time, I worry that if I choose the wrong one then I could totally screw up my life—and now my wife and daughters’ lives as well. Yet, it seems as though God stays silent…
Earthly adoption provides a beautiful spiritual picture of what God does for us. He brings us into his family. We become heirs with Christ. We aren’t just people who have been forgiven by God, he lavishes his affection on us calling us sons and daughters. I agree with Packer when he says, "To be right with God the Judge is a great thing, but to be loved and cared for by God the Father is a greater."
This was a long chapter, but it was packed with goodness as Packer focused on the heart of the gospel. Packer asserts that at the heart of the gospel is the propitiation of God. Propitiation is a fancy word, but essentially it means that God’s wrath toward sinners and their sin has been pacified or satisfied in so much that God and sinners are no longer enemies, but friends.
Would you ever call yourself a zealot about anything? Is there something you can't shut up about? Is there something you'd defend no matter the conversation and who's putting it down. Maybe it's something like crossfit, a certain band, a certain sports team, a political figure, or something else. We all have things we're zealous about. We all have things that we love to talk about or even may defend.
Every day we get on this planet is due to grace. We all deserve to be in hell right now. The fact that you’re reading this here in this moment means you’re experiencing God’s grace in this very moment. Each day is more than we should have had. These are things with have to keep on our minds as we discuss God’s goodness and severity.
Wrath just sounds like a harsh word, doesn’t it? It sounds way worse than punishment or even anger. It seems more in the category of fury, destruction, and violence. Yet wrath is an attribute given to God. He is wrathful and one day sinners will face his wrath.
We're living in a time where justice is a hot topic. People are crying out for justice for wrongs they perceive as having been done by others. They want it here and they want it now. Yet there are all kinds of injustices that don't even get talked about. There are people in other countries who don't have access to clean water while many of us use tons of it just to bathe or wash our dishes. There are people who don't have a Bible in their language while we English speakers have an abundance of translations. Even more so, there are some people who have never even heard the gospel at all and have no idea that a Savior has come to offer them the most incredible gift ever. Where is the justice in all of this?
Grace is a polarizing topic and it is easily misunderstood. On the one hand, you can be someone who says they believe in grace, but you still feel like God is keeping a "good works tally" on you so you better be doing the right things. In essence, you still kind of feel like you have to earn your salvation. On the other hand, you may be someone who feels like grace is the best news ever and that you can get by with some little sins here or there because God has to forgive you.
A book that has made a big impact on me this year is Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund. It’s all about the heart of Christ and how he loves sinners. Leave it to J.I. Packer to be ahead of the curve on this subject. Chapter 12 was all about the love of God and as I read Packer, I heard much of what I had read from Ortlund…
Absolute truth is something we're consistently being told doesn't actually exist. The world speaks of truth as relative. They say every individual has their truth and that just because something is true for you doesn’t mean it is true for me.
I've always wished that God would be super clear in where he is leading and directing me. After college, I was faced with the next step to take in my life. I had to do a short-term, two year mission trip and had also applied to go to seminary. I got approved for both in the same day. The next couple of weeks were excruciatingly painful. I had no idea which of the two I should choose! Couldn't God be more clear about it? Couldn't he just give me the wisdom to make the right choice?
I’m still tired. I was in the hospital taking care of two different children for a total of six days in the span of a week. At least… I think that’s right. It all kind of became a blur. During that time, my wife and I lost a lot of sleep. When we did sleep, it was in a lot of uncomfortable places. But God, in his infinite wisdom, sovereignly ordained that that’s where we would be. Why did he do it? I don’t totally know.
