Inner Strength Promised and Godliness Defined

Following is an excerpt from yesterday's Tabletalk devotion based on Ephesians 3:16-17. God always knows when to provide the encouragement I need!

...that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. —Ephesians 3:16-17a

The term riches suggests inexhaustible resources—our God has a well of gifts and treasures that never runs dry; He can give us lavishly without holding back, never having to worry that that the storehouse of His power will be emptied. Indeed, we can be ever-confident that God will grant any request we have to be strengthened in our inner-being. The Holy Spirit will grant power and strength to our hears and minds, enabling us to endure any trial, encouraging us when we are down (Acts 1:8).

Specifically, Paul asks God to grant strength "so that Christ may dwell in [our] hearts through faith" (Eph. 3:17). This request seems perplexing at first because Jesus already dwells in believers' hearts, but the apostle is not referring to the initial indwelling of Christ by His Spirit at conversion. Instead, he asks that believers might become people in whom the perfect Savior feels fully at home. Essentially he prays for advancement in our sanctification—our growth in personal holiness—that we might bring Him no shame as we profess Him as Lord and live before a watching world. We never reach a point in this life where such a prayer becomes unnecessary. John Calvin writes: "Believers have never advanced so far as not to need further growth. The highest perfection of the godly in this life is an earnest desire to make progress."

PRAISE THE LORD!

Thoughts from Hosea

I read the following verses this morning in Hosea:

When Ephraim saw his sickness,

and Judah his wound, 

then Ephraim went to Assyria,

and sent to the great king.

But he is not able to cure you

or heal your wound.

For I will be like a lion to Ephraim,

and like a young lion to the house of Judah,

I, even I, will tear and go away;

I will carry off, and no one shall rescue.

I will return again to my place,

until they acknowledge their guilt

and seek my face,

and in their distress earnestly 

seek me.

Hosea 5:13-15

The message is clear. In our sinfulness,we tend to resort to means other than our Father in Heaven to find cures, healing, fulfillment. But God will not rescue us from bondage to the things of this world until we acknowledge our guilt and earnestly seek Him. This cannot be a half-hearted seeking that is simply a thinly veiled (not to God, of course) attempt to get our own way. We must be broken, contrite, and repentant. And we must know in our hearts that nothing else in life really matters but our relationship with the Father. In my experience, we may have to demonstrate this mindset to God for some time before He finally and decisively rescues us from ourselves, but when He determines we are ready, it is worth the wait.

A More Efficient Way of Sharing Online Items

I have been tinkering with how to better share items I read online that I think will encourage you. As you see in my last post, I tried the daily approach, but the script setting keeps adding more items rather than allowing me to post certain items each day. Therefore, I have added a widget in the sidebar that displays links to the posts I recommend. The disadvantage of this approach is that you cannot receive the links as a single post via email. You will have to check the blog to see the recommended items, or you can go directly to my Google Reader Shared Items page. You could simply bookmark that page and check it regularly to see the items I am recommending.

I promise not to bombard you, but to only include what I think will be the most meaningful articles.

Blessings,
Katy

Redirect 7-4-11

Sorry, to post so many at once. I'm caught up now! :)

Heal Us, Emmanuel

Heal us, Emmanuel, Hear our prayer; we wait to feel your touch;
deep wounded souls to you repair, and Savior, we are such.

Our faith is feeble, we confess we faintly trust your word;
but will you pity us the less? Be that far from you, Lord!

Remember him who once applied with trembling for relief;
"Lord, I believe," with tears he cried; "O help my unbelief!"

She, too who touched you in the press and healing virtue stole,
was answered, "Daughter, go in peace: your faith has made you whole."

Like her, with hopes and fears we come to touch you if we may;
O send us not despairing home; send none unhealed away.

—William Cowper

John Piper on How to Kill Sin

Following is a sermon series by John Piper that I highly recommend. You can read or listen.

How to Kill Sin, Part I

How to Kill Sin, Part II

How to Kill Sin, Part III

Thoughts on Prayer

The brethren asked Abba Agathon: "Amongst all our different activities, father, which is the virtue that requires the greatest effort?" He answered: "Forgive me, but I think there is no labor greater than praying to God. For every time a man wants to pray, his enemies the demons try to prevent him; for they know that nothing obstructs them so much as prayer to God. In everything else that a man undertakes, if he perseveres, he will attain rest, but in order to pray, a man must struggle to his last breath."

— Sayings of the Desert Fathers


Now, if it was part of the sacred discipline of the Incarnate Son that he should observe frequent seasons of retirement [for prayer], how much more is it incumbent on us, broken as we are and disabled by manifold sin, to be diligent in the exercise of private prayer! ...

In the morning we should look forward to the duties of the day, anticipating those situations in which temptation may lurk, and preparing ourselves to embrace such opportunities of usefulness as may be presented to us. In the evening we ought to remark upon the providences which have befallen us, consider our attainment in holiness, and endeavor to profit by the lessons which God would have us learn. And, always, we must acknowledge and forsake sin. Then there are the numberless themes of prayer which our desires for the good estate of the Church of God, for the conversion and sanctification of our friends and acquaintances, for the furtherance of missionary effort, and for the coming of the kingdom of Christ may suggest. All this cannot be pressed into a few crowded moments. We must be at leisure when we enter the secret place.

 —David McIntyre, The Hidden Life of Prayer: The Life-blood of the Christian