My Reflections on Five Things Every Christian Needs To Grow by Dr. R.C. Sproul (Part 7)

'We don’t always think about service as a means of grace, but we grow as we serve. The more we are able to serve in the kingdom of God, the more Christ-like we become.'


'Service is not an optional aspect of the Christian life. All believers are called to be servants of God. It may not be professional or paid service, but each of us is to serve in some way.'

'This is a glorious story (Ex. 3:7–12) of redemption, but there is great irony here. We see what God redeemed His people from, but we must not miss what God redeemed them to. He called His people out of Egypt, out of slavery, not to become autonomous or to do whatever they please. He called them to serve Him. The Israelites were called out of service to Pharaoh and into service to God.'

'Jesus Himself said, “No one can serve two masters” (Matt. 6:24). We can serve the living God and Christ, but if that “seems evil,” that is, if we don’t want to do that, we can serve Satan or the interests of this world. The commitment and motto of every Christian should be, “As for me and as for my house, we’re going to serve the Lord with single-minded devotion.” '

'I remember wrestling with that afterward and thinking, “You’re supposed to be a Christian, and here you were upset because someone regarded you as a servant.” I knew that as a believer I was commanded to be a servant, but I didn’t like being treated like one.'

'If we serve out of an effort to earn our way into the kingdom of God, we’re deceiving ourselves. The motivation for Christian service is love for God. We serve not to earn salvation, but because Christ already has purchased salvation for us.'

It should be our delight to obey God. We should be motivated to serve Him out of joy for what He has done for us, not out of grim obligation or as a means to gain heaven.


I would say that the greatest weakness in the church today is that many pastors keep looking over their shoulders for the approval of men. But as soon as pastors become slaves to human opinion, trying to please human beings instead of God, the message of Christ is compromised. No man-pleaser preaches the whole counsel of God.

- Five Things Every Christian Needs To Grow

On service, we often need to ask - what is the motive behind the person who offers himself or herself to serve? Is it as a form to gain salvation? Is it as a means to earn praise and to please men? Is it as a means to get accepted in a church? Sometimes I feel that the church is re-inforcing such faulty concept because those who volunteer to serve are often praised and accepted into the inner circle, while those who refused to help us out in church are often frowned upon.

A Surefire Investment | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction

A Surefire Investment | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction

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My comments:

Philip Yancey has written this article on how to pray during this financial crisis. In this article, he uses the example of Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane and how the prayer line changed from "Take this cup from me" to "May your will be done."

This article explores on the foundations we have been building our lives on, moving on to how we should move beyond our pain and struggles to the greater struggles of our neighbors.

God can use anything we allow Him

God can use anything we allow Him.
Commit to Him our businesses, our careers, our professionals tools

Forgiveness is for our benefits as well

Forgiveness, the Way to Freedom
- by Henri Nouwen

To forgive another person from the heart is an act of liberation. We set that person free from the negative bonds that exist between us. We say, "I no longer hold your offense against you" But there is more. We also free ourselves from the burden of being the "offended one."

As long as we do not forgive those who have wounded us, we carry them with us or, worse, pull them as a heavy load. The great temptation is to cling in anger to our enemies and then define ourselves as being offended and wounded by them. Forgiveness, therefore, liberates not only the other but also ourselves. It is the way to the freedom of the children of God.

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In another devotional article:

Forgiving Ourselves
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2
by Os HillmanWednesday, January 28 2009

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

The murderer was condemned to life in prison. Then one day something amazing happened. The guard came and opened the jail cell. "You are free to go. Someone else is taking your place," said the guard. "How can this be? I am still guilty!" said the prisoner. "Your debt has been paid. You are free to leave," said the guard once more. The prisoner decided not to leave. "I cannot allow another to pay my debt," said the prisoner. Because of his pride he chose to remain in bondage.

Imagine the guilt Peter must have felt when he betrayed the Son of God three times by saying he never knew him. Imagine what he must have felt the moment he reunited with Him after the resurrection.

The hardest person to forgive sometimes is ourselves. It is especially hard for high achievers to forgive themselves. We think we are above such failure. However, the Bible says we all sin and it is impossible to remedy that sin by ourselves.

"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives?" (1 John 1:8,10). The question is not whether we will sin, the question is what we will do when we do sin.
There is only one thing for us to do. Go to the cross. Jesus paid for that sin by dying on the cross. Picture yourself writing your sin on a white piece of paper, then pinning it to the cross. Now, leave it there. The cross is for sinners. When Jesus looks at you, He no longer sees your sin. He cannot see the sin because He can only see the cross.

When you come to Jesus with your sin, there is nothing more you can do besides confessing and renouncing your sin. Sometimes it may require restitution with others. However, once you confess your sin and ask forgiveness, it is no longer on the ledger of debts.

Why not choose to walk free. The cell has been opened.

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My Reflections on Five Things Every Christian Needs To Grow by Dr. R.C. Sproul (Part 6)

The problem with idolatry is that it involves producing a substitute for the true God. Although we don’t make idols of stone and wood anymore, we are all too prone to take the biblical revelation of God, look at those attributes of God that we find distasteful, such as His sovereignty, holiness, justice, and wrath, and toss them aside. We then construct a god who is all love, grace, and mercy. In other words, we create a god who is not God. That god is an idol. But the only God we are to worship is the God who reveals Himself in sacred Scripture, and true worship focuses on the whole counsel of God, not on isolated aspects of God with which we are comfortable.

- Five Things Every Christian Needs To Grow

We need to see God as He is.
As mentioned by Dr. R.C. Sproul, we enjoy focussing on attributes of God that we like.
That's why it is so important that we need the Word of God.
The Word of God to tells us who the Author is.

In fact, according to a Barna study, by a three-to-one margin (71% to 26%), Americans are more likely to develop their own set of religious beliefs than accept a comprehensive set of beliefs taught by a church or denomination. George Barna observed a growing number of people are serving as their own "theologian-in-residence," resulting in Americans embracing an "unpredictable and contradictory body of beliefs." Leading the pack are those under age 25—82% of them have developed their own blend of beliefs rather than adopting a set offered by a church. Although born-again Christians are the least likely to adopt an "a la carte" approach, 61% say they have mixed their set of beliefs.

(Church Intelligence Report, 28 January 2009)

In another part of the same chapter of the book Five Things Every Christian Needs To Grow, Dr. R. C. Sproul outlined several practical steps to help us as we approach the Holy God in worship:

1. Prepare our hearts
We need to prepare our hearts - and that is to physically quieten down, reminding ourselves that we are approaching a Holy and just God.

Although Hebrews 4:16 reminds us that we may come boldly before the throne of God, as Dr. R.C. Sproul reminds us, this must be balanced by the fact that we are approaching a Holy God.

The incident of the sudden death of Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, as recorded in Leviticus 10:1-3 serves as a grim reminder to us that as we approach the Holy God, we need to approach Him on His terms, not our terms.

Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to his command. So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. Moses then said to Aaron, "This is what the LORD spoke of when he said: "'Among those who approach me I will show myself holy; in the sight of all the people I will be honored.'" Aaron remained silent. (Lev 10:1-3 NIV)

In the very first place, we need to remind ourselves that by our own efforts, we can never approach the Holy God. The veil that separated the Holiest of Holy from the Holy Place was never torn because of our own self righteousness but through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

So, friends, we can now--without hesitation--walk right up to God, into "the Holy Place." Jesus has cleared the way by the blood of his sacrifice, acting as our priest before God. The "curtain" into God's presence is his body. So let's do it--full of belief, confident that we're presentable inside and out. (Heb 10:19-22 MSG)

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. (Heb 10:19-22 NIV)

To quote Max Lucado:
"Christ lived the life we could not live and took the punishment we could not take to offer hope we cannot resist."

Dr. R.C. Sproul also reminds us that there is a difference between coming boldly into the presence of God and coming arrogantly.

2. We need to encourage each other to come together in worship.
Again the advice given here is a very important.
We need to remind ourselves at times when we don't feel like coming to church to worship that being able to come to church is a privilege. It is a privilege to have an audience with any earthly kings of the nations, how much more it is a privilege for us to be able to come and approach the King of kings.

That's why we need the encouragement and exhortation of fellow believers.
The Christian life is never meant to be lived alone.

Hebrews 10:25 talks about that:
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Heb 10:25 NIV)

Note: The image above is taken from www.heartlight.org

My Reflections on Five Things Every Christian Needs To Grow by Dr. R.C. Sproul (Part 5)

Many years ago, I heard a sermon in which the minister gave a detailed description of starving people around the world. When he reached the crescendo point of his sermon, he leaned over the pulpit and said, “Now you people have to do something about this.” I remember walking out of the room feeling guilty but also feeling a bit befuddled because I didn’t know what to do. So many times that’s what we ministers do to people.

We tell them, “You ought to do this or that.” We lay guilt trips on them, but we never show them how to do what we are exhorting them to do.

- Five Things Every Christian Needs To Grow

If we are not careful, we can do likewise. Laying guilt trips on people.
Instead of leading the way to the saving grace of Jesus Christ, we may drown them to the bondage of condemnation.


Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us around. It gets us back in the way of salvation. We never regret that kind of pain. But those who let distress drive them away from God are full of regrets, end up on a deathbed of regrets.
(2Co 7:10 MSG)

My Reflections on Five Things Every Christian Needs To Grow by Dr. R.C. Sproul (Part 4)

".....marriage involves mutual delight in each other and an ongoing persistent state of affection. Two people who have an ardent, passionate affection for each other take delight in being with each other and in each other’s presence.

We didn’t write those (love) letters because we had to. We wrote those letters because we wanted to. I wanted to express to her my affection for her and my desire to be close to her, and she wrote to me for the same reasons. Our letters weren’t newsletters, they were love letters. That’s what prayer is. It’s a communication of love from the bride to the Bridegroom."

(Five Things Every Christian Needs To Grow by Dr. R.C. Sproul)

This passage challenges me in my prayer life.
We must enjoy praying.
Praying must never be seen as a chore. It should be a delight.

Few helpful model prayers that help us focused when praying.
One of them is the Lord's Prayer. This is also mentioned in this book by Dr. R.C. Sproul.

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory. for ever and ever. Amen

In this Lord's Prayer model, it begins by seeing who God is - our Father, yet a Holy Almighty God who is in control of all circumstances. Instead of beginning praying by focusing inwardly on ourselves, we begin by focusing on who our heavenly Father is. As Dr. R.C. Sproul rightly said:

"So we need to begin our prayers by bowing in reverence before our God, acknowledging Him as our loving and holy heavenly Father. And just as the Lord’s Prayer emphasizes the kingdom of God and His glory, so should our prayers. This means praying beyond our own circumstances and needs—seeing the bigger picture and praying for God’s work in the rest of the world."

(Five Things Every Christian Needs To Grow by Dr. R.C. Sproul)

The other model mentioned in the book is ACTS model.
Adoration
Confession
Thanksgiving
Supplication