love of God

I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy...

When I was brought low, he saved me...

For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling...

You have loosed my bonds

~Psalm 116:1,6,8,16

Do I love the Lord? Sure, I praise Him. Sure, I worship Him. Sure, I thank Him. Sure, I commune with Him. But do I love Him?

Does He captivate my thoughts? Does He stir the affections of my heart? Do my emotions gravitate toward Him? Is He what I long for? Is He the One I pursue?

All of the Lord's marvelous deeds in my life and throughout the course of history should spur me to love the Him. It is what the psalmist in saying in Psalm 116. And at the very root of it all is my salvation. If I am not drawn to love God as a result of what Christ has done for me, then something is dangerously wrong.

I spent the last year studying God. And that is only the beginning. For the next three years, I will continue studying Him. And in the midst of all my studying, I found it surprisingly easy to make love not a factor. I could read and read about all of who God is (from the human perspective, which is still vastly limited) and walk away without my love for Him expanding. I could taste His goodness to me again and again without thinking twice about it. I was able to isolate my brain and my heart from one another. Reading and studying lead to knowledge, but knowledge often failed to bring about fear and love.

I want to love God: Father, Son, and Spirit. I am not satisfied with a label (Christian, seminary student, etc.). I am more than capable of successfully fitting any of those molds and leaving love for God out of it, for it is my natural bent. I want to love Him for as He is. I want to love Him for what He has done. I want to prayerfully and boldly proclaim.

I love the LORD

reign

You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel.


I finally got around to seeing The Avengers last night. I grew up a superhero fan (Spiderman in particular), so naturally, I tend to gravitate towards the superhero movies. In addition to their entertaining quality, they typical hold to more than a few redeeming qualities.

The above quote is the villain's announced plan for all human beings on earth. He wants their subjection and humiliation. He wants to break them. But more than that, he wants the power and fame that comes with ruling over his subjects. He wants to make a name for himself. He has grown tired of living in the shadow of his half-brother (who just so happens to be Thor of the Avengers). He is bitter. He is jealous. He is angry. He has no qualms about how he gets the power he craves.

As I watched that scene and the rest of the film, various passages started running through my head. They each coincide with the grain of truth captured in this man's evil and self-absorbed plan.

The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice ~Psalm 97:1

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. ~Isaiah 6:1

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. ~Philippians 2:9-11

Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. ~Revelation 19:6

In one sense, the bad guy was correct. Human beings were made to be ruled. And one day, all will kneel, only it won't be before any man or power, but the crucified and risen Jesus Christ. The Bible is clear about each of these two points. However, the reign of the Lord God is worth rejoicing. In the movie, no one rejoiced in the villain's reign. For God is not bitter, jealous (in the sense that He wants something someone else has), or angry (in the sense that He hates those He rules over). God, our King, is good. He is the only King worth kneeling before and capable of ruling.

The LORD is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

The LORD is good to all,

and his mercy is over all that he has made. 

~Psalm 145:8-9

another video

My brother sent me a link to the following video. I wrote about Josh Hamilton once before, and he always seems to impress me. Whether it's his conduct on the field, his unashamed confession to play for the glory of God, his dedication to his family, or even his confession and repentance when he stumbles Josh Hamilton depicts more than merely an admirable athlete. He is someone I can learn from as a fellow brother in Christ. He knows the struggles of sanctification, the wonder of God's grace, and the assurance of His forgiveness in Christ. He is a picture of how the gospel of Jesus Christ transforms people unlike anything else on this earth.

(Somewhere around the middle of the interview is where Josh brings Christ to light, but the entire interview is a wonderful testimony to Christ's work in the life of a former drug-addict/alcoholic turned Christ follower)

Not to mention, he's also a fantastic baseball player, maybe even the best one in the game today.

wow

I watched the following video on the Between Two Worlds blog. There isn't really much that I can say regarding it, because the video says it all.



I've read John Piper's book Desiring God and I love the theme of it which the video includes at the end. "God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him." It's catchy and easy to remember, but not so easy to live out. There are so many things promising full and complete satisfaction, many of which are good and beautiful, like marriage. But as this couple displays in amazing fashion, only in God do we find the satisfaction our souls desperately long for.

For as I read in Psalm 36 this morning,


How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light do we see light.

~Psalm 36:7-9

He restores my soul.
~Psalm 23:3

I am physically tired. I have been flying at lightning speeds since the end of June. I am mentally tired. I have been reading mass amounts of literature I often fail to understand. I am spiritually tired. When God becomes the object of your academic study it is a constant wrestling match to grow in intimacy with Him. It can be extremely difficult to keep Him the object of my affection, adoration, and faith when my approach to Him is centered in academia.

Therefore, I have found myself in constant need of restoration. My body, mind, and soul are weary. I was warned (probably not the best word) about this by many before beginning my studies at seminary. Everything I am wrestling with seems to be the struggles of everyone who has ever gone through seminary. But it is hard to know exactly when people are talking about until you actually experience it. I know understand. And I know it will be a constant hardship as I talk with those ahead of me, and those who have been doing ministry for most of their lives. This is why Psalm 23:3 has become crucial for me.

I seek restoration all the time. I do a variety of different things hoping to restore my body, mind, and soul. While many of these will work, they will never give me the restoration I am in the most need of. They will all fail. And I have found this out often. Only my Great Shepherd can restore. Only in His presence will I find the peace and rest my soul needs. I find my restoration as I follow Him wherever He leads.