Restoration Road Church

We exist to see people restored by the Gospel

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Marriage: Physical Intimacy - Sermon notes

1 Corinthians 7:3-5

The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4 For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does.Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. 5 vDonot deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, wso that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

I wanted to give helpful definition of sex and it’s purpose from meaning of marriage written by Tim Keller…

“Indeed, sex is perhaps the most powerful God-created way to help you give your entire self to another human being.  Sex is God’s appointed way for two people to reciprocally say to one another, “I belong completely, permanently, and exclusively to you.”  You must not use sex to say anything less.”

It is with this posture that we are going to approach this subject today. Physical intimacy is a way of covenant renewal in a marriage, physical intimacy should be a priority in marriage, and physical intimacy offers protection in marriage.

Physical Intimacy as Covenant Renewal

A Tim Keller points out in his book “The Meaning of Marriage”, the Bible is filled with Covenant renewing Ceremonies. In the Old Testament we see this through sacrificial ceremonies that would remind the people of the covenant that was in effect, between God and Man. These covenants were economic, personal, legal, and psychological. These ceremonies would be renewal of the covenants communicating that God still loved His people and His people still loved Him. We see this with the institution of the Lord’s Supper/Communion, it is a covenant renewing ceremony that signifies that there is still personal love, legal commitment, economic faithfulness, and psychological intimacy that is being renewed in the marriage. Physical intimacy is a way of renewing the covenant of love between husband and wife.

When a marriage is functioning in healthy manner, there is kind communication, there is forgiveness in a marriage, and there is a tender hearted posture towards one another, that results  regular and healthy renewing of the covenant of marriage. In other words sex would be described a more frequent not as scarce when the marriage is in a healthy place.

When I talk to married couples that have healthy and holy sex lives, there love and commitment to one another is usually expressed regularly and you sense that they have a powerful love for one another, and gratitude for there spouse. This results in renewing the love in the marriage through having sex regularly. when I talk to couples who have an unhealthy sexual lives, it is often as a  result of lack of kind communication, regular forgiveness, and a tender heartedness towards there spouse.

We can once again use the covenant renewing practice of communion as an example. When someone understand and cherishes them love towards them that exists  in the Gospel, they freely except the spiritual act of grace that is communion is, and they partake in the covenant renewing ceremony that is the Lord’s supper. when someone is living in a sin that they are not willing to repent of, they will many times not partake in communion because they know they are violating the covenant through unrepentant sin.

Many times this same thing happens with physical intimacy in marriage, love and forgiveness equals healthy sex life and sin and selfishness equals unhealthy sex life.

Physical Intimacy as a Priority

There are many reasons we might give for not renewing the covenant regularly in our marriage through physical intimacy. Some common ones are, I am too tired, I am too busy with work, or too busy taking care of the kids. It is possible that these are unknowingly cover ups for the real reasons we are not having sex . Which could be unforgiven or unrepentant sin, selfishness, or lack of understanding of how important it is too have sex in marriage.

The scriptures teach us that having sex in marriage is a need. It is a need that the husband should not deprive his wife of, and the wife should not deprive her husband of.

Having sex in marriage fulfills a need to say, “I still love you, I still want you, and I am still committed to you”.

In clearer terms God directly speaks to all married couples and says, make sex a high priority in marriage.

It is so important that the Bible says only to abstain from it when it is agreed on by both spouses for a certain time. The reason it says to abstain from it is “devoted prayer”.

So there needs to be mutual agreement for abstaining from sex for time and the leading reason should be prayer. As I pondered this I have never heard a couple say that they are not having sex because they are too devoted to prayer.

Of course, there will be other times of abstaining through mutual agreement from physical intimacy but they are the exception not the general practice. These times might include illness, traveling, tragedy, etc. But both husband and wife should agree on the reason and the time with love and humility.

Some might say, “What if I don’t feel like having sex when my spouse does?” I believe the scripture answers that question with, and I am paraphrasing and drawing out meaning, "You are not going to always feel like having sex with your spouse but a husband or a wife serves there spouse sexually by fulfilling there sexual needs because of their love for their spouse.

John Piper argues that these verses kind of puts both husband and wife in a steel mate of satisfying the other and if both spouses are operating in this manner, there is mutual satisfaction.

This is why many couples who are waiting for the right moon, perfumes, quiet, poetry, and slow jams, might find there sex life lacking.

Sometimes, it is , I am doing this because I love my spouse but I would rather be sleeping or watching Netflix.

Married Couples, I want to ask you these Gospel centered questions regarding physical intimacy…

Are you willing to make it your goal to serve more in the marital bed than receive?

Are you willing to offer up your body to your covenantal spouse with the goal of your spouses’ satisfaction before your own?

Do you look at being intimate your husband our wife as a way to renew the covenant and say, “I Still love you, accept you, and want you on the deepest level?

A marriage that operates on these terms with have a healthy sex life that is overflowing with joy and brings glory to God.

Physical Intimacy as Protection

When a married couple has a healthy sex life is provides Gospel fortitude in the marriage that protects from the temptation to look outside of the marriage for sexual satisfaction.

When a spouse is sexually satisfied through the frequency of sex in a marriage, the quality of sex in a marriage, and the intimacy of sex in the marriage, then a marriage is safe from the snares of the evil one.

When we serve our spouse by being there to satisfy each other’s sexual needs we are setting ourselves up for a successful marriage.

When our hearts are full from a sexually satisfying marriage we do not want give into eating of the forbidden fruit of extra marital affairs, pornography, sinful fantasies, or virtual partners.

What grace God had given to us! We can love our spouse through being one with them physically, emotionally, and psychologically so that they do not run to dirty fountains to drink because they are so filled with there own fountains in the marriage.

It says in Proverbs 5:18-20,

Let your fountain be blessed and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely deer, a graceful doe, let her breasts fill you at all times with delight, be intoxicated always with her love, why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden women, and embrace the bosom of an adulteress.

Today I want to speak that same grace and Gospel to all those married at Restoration Road. Our sex lives may not be where they should be, maybe we needed to think of our sex lives in deeper Gospel terms such as a regular renewal of the covenant, maybe we need forgive our spouse of some things, so that you can be frequently intimate again, maybe you need forgiveness in Christ for violating the marital covenant, maybe you need to make physical intimacy a priority in your marriage. Today there is grace and the Gospel is true.

You can listen to the sermon here https://www.buzzsprout.com/5988/750907-marriage-physical-intimacy.mp3?download=true

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Sermon Notes- Marriage - Communicating Kindly

The Pastoral team’s hope for this series is that these biblical and applicable messages on marriage, help the marriages at Restoration Road thrive and reflect the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our marriages are meant to mirror the relationship between Christ and His Church, the husband acting like Christ, and the wife acting like the church, in turn marriage becomes one of the most powerful evangelistic and joy-giving tools at our disposal.

We pray that this will be the story of our marriages at Restoration Road, we would be liars if we said there are no rough patches, but we are right in knowing God will fulfill His purpose in our marriages through his grace, and our marriages will be marked by kind communication, forgiving communication, and tender hearted communication.

Communicating Kindly

What does it mean to be kind? I have thinking about this for the past few years and I am still on the investigation. Kindness is not a word I even hear much. We know kindness when it happens but I don’t know if I heard anyone give a definition of kindness in everyday life.

I do hear people say, “that was kind”… when someone does a kind act. It is intrinsic in us to recognize kindness. Why is that?

The most satisfactory answer to what kindness is that I have found thus far, is given by a person name Rana DiOrio (She is an CEO, Developer, and Author)

“Being kind means having the courage to treat others the way you like to be treated”

This is a helpful definition and makes sense of why we recognize kindness when it happens to us. It is when someone treats us the way we would like to be treated.

Now, we bring this into communication in Marriage and we intentionally speak to our spouses the way we would want to be spoken to.

The goal of communicating kindly is not to be right but to be kind and get to a God glorifying and soul refreshing solution.

When I am speaking and listening kindly. I am not trying to win an argument, I am trying to treat my spouse with dignity and love. Our goal is to be one after the conversation and to get to a holy and loving solution. Not to come out the “champ of the the discussion.

When we are kind in communication it reflects the Glory of Christ and His Church! When we speak kindly in marriage it opens up our spiritual eyes to the beauty of the Gospel.

When a Husband speaks encouragement to his wife because of her gentleness, care, and faithfulness God is exalted and joy is felt in a marriage. When a wife praises her husband because of his integrity, holy grit, and commitment then God is exalted and joy is felt in the marriage.

When Adam saw Eve for the first time, he spoke or maybe even sang these kind words…

“This is at last bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh, she shall be called woman because she was taken out of man”.

These words are kind because they get to the heart of what kind means. She is me and I am her. We are no longer two but we are one. I will treat her as my own flesh and soul. I will treat him as if there is no separation between us because in eternally profound way there is only unity between us, we are of the same kind, even, possibly, the same essence.

I want to ask you this question… "is your marriage filled with kind words and communication”?

If it is, Praise God… if not, there is grace. Look with the eyes of grace and find ways to speak kind exhortations to your spouse that will life the marriage to it’s joyful heights and bring glory to God as we show off the Gospel.

Maybe today some of you need to go buy a card and let your spouse know through written words how much you love, and appreciate them, because that is how you communicate best.

Maybe some of you need to show kind affection to your spouse that you have not shown because that is how you communicate best.

Surely, all of us can find kind words even today to speak to our spouse to show them how much we love them and treat them kindly.

If you are wondering what to write, show, or say, be kind and communicate what you would want to hear.

Communicating Forgiveness

Kindness might seem more easily attainable if we did not face the reality that both husband and wife will wrong each other and sin against each regularly, even daily. We are naturally selfish creatures, so when you put us into an institution such a marriage, that is built on sacrifice and service, it causes a lot of burn on one’s selfish ambition.

Selfish ambition is many times a powerful motivator for sin. When we express our emotions to the detriment of our spouses we sin. This is why God very clearly says, "we will give an account for every word we speak”. This makes us more careful with out words.

Actually, as I was preparing this sermon it hit me that much of the sin, not all, that is committed in marriage is through the words we speak to each other. Whether that are angry words, lying words, demeaning words, ungrateful words, or hurtful words.

This is because our words are just reflection of our hearts.

In fact, maybe many of you have experienced the sinful impulse to get in the last word or insult to usurp your dominance in the marital relationship. This is also sinful. The infamous “last word”.

In a Christ- exalting marriage the last word should always be one of forgiveness.

Some might say but “my spouse does not deserve forgiveness”! I would say, “I agree”… that is why grace is the only way to forgive. Even further, we do not forgive because our spouse because they deserve it, we forgive them because they don’t deserve it, but we don’t deserve the forgiveness that God gives us.

Communicating with a tender heart

You see, we can only be kind and forgive if we have tender hearts, this is why the scriptures tell us to be tender hearted to one another and our spouses.

The question becomes “how do I keep a tender heart”? This world can make it callous, our own selfishness can make it hard, and being hurt over and over again can make it stone. Not only do we have the power of the Gospel, we have the very words of God spoken in scripture.

As I was reading my daily Psalms this week, one of the chapters was Psalm 29, it talked about the voice of the Lord, it thunders, is powerful, is full of majesty, breaks the Cedars, even the Cedars of Lebanon, makes animals leap and give birth, flashes forth like a flame of fire, shakes the wilderness, strips the forest bare.  As I pondered this, I also realized, only the voice of the Lord, the word of God, softens and tenderized a hard heart.

Of all the things that seem so strong and unbreakable, the heart of man is still the hardest thing to make tender or break. Tt is only when a man is humbled by the words of kind communication of God that his hardening heart can be softened, and made tender, to offer constant forgiveness to his or her spouse.

Conclusion

Kindness does not mean that Jesus acted like our sin was not real or there, he did not act like there wasn’t a dragon in the world. He brought Satan to the forefront and defeated him through His cross and His resurrection. He did not deal harshly with us, but through the kind communication of Himself laid bare on the cross, he makes our hard hearts tender with his beautiful communication of forgiveness. He the great husband says to His great Bride the Church, kindly , I love you, I forgive you, and I want to be with you.

Let that pattern govern our communication with each our spouses… let our communication be kind, forgiving, and tender hearted.

You can listen to the sermon here https://www.buzzsprout.com/5988/745474-marriage-communicating-kindly.mp3?download=true

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How do I treasure Christ?

Jesus utters these words, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”. These are some of the most impactful and revelatory words in all of scripture.

What is the heart? It is the central facet of our immaterial being that dictates our thoughts, actions, words, and worship, according to what it treasures. This is why Jesus is making it so clear in an implicit way to take inventory of our heart to make sure we are treasuring that which is of greatest value. That which is of greatest value is without question, Christ.

The questions then becomes “How do I treasure Christ”?

This short list and their summaries is of course not exhaustive but never the less important.

Set you eyes on the wonders of the cross

To behold Jesus on the cross dying for my sins, is to set my eyes on that which is the most wonderful. Awe is felt as our eyes of faith see the Son of God, pinned to a tree, bleeding, gasping for ear, and suffering to reconcile me and you to Himself.

There are a million and one observations that can be seen when one surveys the greatness of the cross of Christ. His wonders never cease and to live in that wonder is to treasure Christ.

Set your ears on the beauty of scripture

To treasure any person we must set our ears to hear the words they speak. Through speech we get to know somebody and discover the beauty of who they are. When we listen to the words of Jesus, spoke through scripture, we engage with the most beautiful speech that has been ever uttered from the person whose very words are drink and food to our soul. To set our ears to scripture, is to treasure Christ.

Set your heart on the power of Jesus

Milton Vincent wrote in his book the Gospel Primer, “Outside of Heaven, the power of God in its greatest density is found in the Gospel”. Wow, to interact with the Gospel is to understand that Jesus is the most powerful. When I rightly evaluate “That Christ died and that Christ rose again, according to the scriptures” I am blown away by the power of God.

That God would become Flesh to bring salvation, by grace, to all who believe in Him, is sheer power, to set our hearts on the Gospel, is to treasure Christ.

Restoration Road, may we make Christ our greatest treasure and be merry. Let’s set our eyes on the wonders of the cross, set our ears on the beauty of scripture, and set our hearts on the power of Jesus, let’s treasure Christ.

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Yes, we should spend time with our RR Family, now, how?

I love everyone’s response to the sermon this past Sunday about our Value of “being a Family”. How wonderful it is to live in the truth that God is our Father, Jesus is our brother, and we are brothers and sisters through the binding of the Holy Spirit. Many said, “the spending time” application point was both a joyful reality and a convicting reality. The reaction was yes, I love that we are called to be family because of the Gospel, but no, I haven’t been spending enough time with my church family. I thought it would be helpful to give some practical ways to answer the question, “how can I spend more time with my church family?”

Join an RR Group

One of the primary ways we grow as a family at Restoration Road is by being a part of an RR Group. Right now we have two, one that meets weekly on Tuesday nights, and one that meets monthly after church, on the first Sunday of each month. We need more people, leaders, and lunch/dinner makers :)

A typical RR group meeting consists of having a meal together, discussing the sermon/scripture, soul care, prayer, and mission projects.

These groups have been fantastic and are really now beginning to thrive. But we need your help so that these group can continue to grow and remain healthy. Our hope is to one day have an RR Group that meets on every day of the week. Will you help us make that happen?

Join us for Sunday Services

What a joy it is to gather every Sunday for the family meal (Communion), to hear God speak to us through the preaching of His word, to sing songs to him with thanksgiving, to give financially to support our family, and to encourage one another through fellowship.

Our presence on Sunday morning is not only for the worship of God but for the building up of fellow believers. Think about it, one of the things we look most forward to on Sunday is seeing those people who will be happy to see us, speak encouragement into our lives, and let us know that we matter to this family.

We are aiming to create a culture in which our Sunday Services are a priority to our family. Would you help us create that culture?

Set a date to grab coffee, breakfast, lunch, or dinner with an RR member?

As we talked about on Sunday, time is one of the most important currencies we have. When we  make time in our schedule to spend time with our family, we are fulfilling the greatest commandment God has given us, “to love one another”.

Who has God been prompting you to invite over the house for dinner, ask to meet up for coffee, or schedule a lunch with? Would you answer that call and grow in knowing the church Family that God has placed you in?

RR Family, let’s continue to grow as a family, counting it a privilege and a joy to spend time with each other.

You can listen to the full message here https://www.buzzsprout.com/5988/687087-vision-and-values-family.mp3

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Why this Friday is so “Good”

It is a strange thing to have a capital punishment instrument as an emblem of goodness. Tonight millions of christians will gather and declare this day “good”, because a person was executed. Here are a few reasons why this Friday is that “good”.

The person on the cross was the Son of God

The Second person of the Trinity took on Flesh and took our place that day. The most loving, sacrificial, gentle, caring person that has ever existed was executed on that cross.

Simply stated the only person that is “good” in the perfect definition of the word was on the cross that day. To define love is to define Christ.

The person on that cross was sinless

No one has ever lived sinless except for the Christ. No one has ever acted towards his fellow man with perfect love for his whole life, and no one would have been a sufficient substitute except for Jesus.

There is only one who could perfectly pardon our transgressions and that was the person who never transgressed. That person is Jesus.

The person on the cross offers reconciliation to all who would believe in His person

Jesus is the door to to God, Jesus is God. All who would place their trust in his perfect sacrifice are reconciled to Him through the shedding of his innocent blood.

We deserve death, He gives life. We deserve punishment, He give peace. We deserve death, He gives life. What Jesus did on the cross that day made an instrument of death an instrument of love and life. That is why this Friday is so “Good”.

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Why Does the Resurrection of Jesus Matter?

Why does the Resurrection of Jesus Matter?

This Sunday millions  will gather to worship a Risen Savior. Crowds of people will fill church seats to hear a sermon about the empty tomb. Believers abroad will lift their voices to sing songs with words echoing the truth that Jesus overcame the grave. Followers of Jesus will revel in the truth that Jesus lives.

Why does Jesus resurrection matter?

Jesus resurrection matters because it confirmed His identity. Jesus was not murdered because He was nice guy or gave to the poor. He was slaughtered because He claimed to be God. He claimed to be divine. The religious leaders off the day were infuriated by this claim and plotted His execution. The resurrection of Jesus was a confirmation that He indeed was and is God.

Jesus resurrection matters because it means our sins are really forgiven. In the biblical book of Romans it states that Jesus was “delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification”. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, we would still be dead in our trespasses, awaiting the judgment of God. It is only through the miraculous resurrection of Christ that we can live pardoned and forgiven of our sins.

This is glorious news because the forgiveness of our sins leads to reconciliation with a Holy God.

Jesus resurrection matters because it means that we will experience eternal life. Death has no sting for all those who believe in the resurrection of Jesus. I recently attended a memorial service for a friend that passed away. He was devout Christian and believer in the Gospel. The service did not have the taste of death but rather was filled with the aroma of life. Many of those who loved him talked about how they were confident that he was with God experiencing heaven. They wore smiles of their faces and each person’s voice resonated with hope. It is only because of the resurrection that we will receive life forever.

The implications of the resurrection will endure through out eternity. The resurrection matters…

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Pushing Back on Isolation

Proverbs 18:1- A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.

One of the common themes of the ministry trip I took recently was the concept of not being isolated. We are naturally bent towards isolation because we are bent towards our own selfish desires.

Unfortunately, isolation robs us of so much joy and victory. Friendship, community, and cooperation are beautiful things to be a part of. The Psalms declare “ Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity!”

As a person who would spend much of his life alone if not for the Gospel, I would like to make a few recommendations on how to, “ Push back on Isolation”.

Recognize that isolation is selfish

The greatest commandment is to love God and others. They are so closely connected that Jesus said you can’t have one without the other. It is impossible to love others when we are never around them.

People need our presence, our encouragement, the laughter we bring, and our love. We always have an opportunity to bless people by spending time with them. When we give our time to a community of people, we are walking in the will of God and fulfilling one of our greatest purposes, to love others.

Understand that Isolation is not good for you

After God made everything he declared it “good”. There was only one things that he revealed was not good, and that was for man to be alone. Therefore, God made a woman so that man could be in relationship/community.

God’s love is experienced in deep ways when we are part of a community. This is the way God designed us. Our lives were meant to be interconnected in love so that we could worship God and enjoy him forever.

Being a present part of other people’s lives brings emotional and spiritual health. Furthermore, we even feel better physically because emotional health breeds physical wellness. Isolation gives us that “Gollum” look.

Commit to Community

I would never argue that it is easy to be part of a church family or any kind of community. I would actually say the opposite. It is irritating at times and it will test your devotion to love and  the “christian ethic”. But it is just this kind of environment in which the Gospel centered life can thrive!

Being committed to community gives us the opportunity to be patient, forgiving, and loving towards other image bearers of God. Our sanctification accelerates when we are a regular part of a church family, because others sharpen us to love and we sharpen others to love.

We mirror God when we love being around people

It takes a heart melted by the Gospel to love people. When we love to be around people and interact with others, we are being godly because God has always existed in community. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit have always interacted with love towards each other.

Make yourself leave the house and spend time with people. Make yourself go to social events. Make yourself go to small groups regularly. Push back on isolation and enjoy the benefits of a social life and community, that is the way God intended it.

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The Lord is responsible for all that is wonderful (Psalm 104 Meditation)

Surveying the beauty of creation should cause our heart to praise the creator. Unfortunately, this is not always the case as I here people praise science (the study of God’s creation) rather that the creator of what is being studied. Statement’s like “science” is amazing (which it is when placed properly) take place of “God is Great!” “How wonderful are His works?”

It is said that we should take time to observe beauty everyday. This is good for the soul. God is the author of all things wonderful and we see this beauty in all its grandeur in his created world. Whether it is the skies he created, the mountains he brought forth, the oceans he set boundaries on, or the animals he created. They leave us in a state of wonder.

Science is not responsible for the greatness of creation, nature itself is not responsible for it own beauty, it is God who is responsible for all that is amazing. It is through His Spirit that all these things were brought to life, “When you send forth your Spirit, they are created”.

When we ponder these things it should cause us to sing and praise the Lord!

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To Love God is to Hate Evil (Psalm 97 Meditation)

“O you who love the Lord, hate evil! He preserves the lives of his saints”

We see woven through scripture the bi-products of loving God include loving neighbor, forgiving others, letting go of anger rooted in bitterness, and in this Psalm we learn that hating evil is directly tied to loving God.

The godly out love for God despise evil acts that hurt society. A simpler way to put this is we hate sin because of what it does to others. I hate when Fathers abandon their children because of the devastation it causes the children, I hate when people steal from the government because it takes advantage of our system crippling our economy, and I hate when people give into drunkenness and drive because many people are killed as a result of this sin. These are just a few examples to hate evil. We hate evil because evil acts destroy people’s lives.

The greatest commandment is to love God and people. To love God is to want righteousness and good for all people including even our enemies.

Hatred of evil will place a righteous passion in you to combat evil.  Christians should exist to oppose that which is wicked.

The more we experience the love of God through the Gospel, the more we will abhor evil.

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Learning to Ascribe Glory to God ( Psalm 96 meditation)

Who do you give credit to? Where do ascribe glory? When you receive a raise at work, do you ascribe strength to yourself? When you received an unexpected gift do you think you deserved it? When doors open for good things to happen in your life how do you respond?

The proper and holy response is to ascribe the Glory to God because all blessings come from him. When a trial passes and we stood the test we ascribe strength to his name because he is the one who carried us through the storms.

We are undeserving but God’s name is deserving of ascribed praise, “ ascribe to the Lord the glory that is due His Name. I love that word “due” in this case. Righteousness demands that we are a people of praise.

Complaining is the opposite of praise. When we adopt a “murmuring” lifestyle we through action and word are proclaiming God does not deserve praise for “this”, we are subconsciously stating, “my life is not good enough, my expectations are not met, and there is nothing to be grateful for”. This attitude is anti-Gospel.

We always have something to praise God about because of the Gospel. Even in our hardest times we can ascribe glory to God for the work of Jesus.

I challenge to your to ascribe glory to God for three things today starting with the Gospel. Let’s get it.

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When the cares of my heart are many ( Psalm 94 Meditation)

From my experience, there are very few days when the cares of our hearts are light. It has been said, that life is defined by trouble, and I have yet to gather enough evidence to dispute that proposal. On this side of heaven I don’t think we ever get to a place where there are no “cares” that will weigh on our hearts. I do believe we can exist in the place in which we can live with joy even though the cares of our hearts are many, “When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul”.

What bring cheer to a weighed down soul? God’s consolations rooted in His steadfast love for us. God is love and His love overflows to us even when our souls are overwhelmed. When we meditate on  His love our souls experience joy.

I love how the Psalmist explains that his foot slipped but the Lord, “held me up”. This is what our good heavenly Father does, he hold us up when the weight of our souls causes us to trip.

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Mightier than the waves of the Sea ( A Meditation on Psalm 93)

The ancient Hebrews viewed the Sea as powerful and very chaotic. The sea was a place of great power and it’s waves could overcome great ocean vessels such a ships, was filled with creatures that were dangerous and unknown, and the sea itself was chaotic and could easily destroy any human being that got caught in its power.

To be honest even with our modern understanding of the ocean it is still scary, powerful, and there is much we don't know about it. To understand this Psalm in context we must first understand how the seas were viewed as one of God’s most powerful creations.

For the Psalmist to write that God is mightier than, “ the thunders of many waters and mightier than the waves of the sea”, was to declare God far more powerful than the most powerful thing they could observe.

We use human terms and human comparisons to express the greatness of God. For example we say, “He is higher than the highest mountain”, “Stronger than the most impenetrable wall, deeper than the deepest part of the sea, and closer than the breath we breathe. This is called anthropomorphic language and used describe God’s attributes and being in human terms. In this case the Psalmist using the ocean to communicate God’s omnipotence.

I love one of his final revelations as the end of this Psalm, “The Lord on High is Mighty!” So simple yet so powerful”.

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It is Good to be grateful to God (Psalm 92 Meditation)

Gratitude is powerful tool of worship and happiness. The holy and spiritually response to God’s care for us is thankfulness.

Singing of God’s goodness with a spirit of thanksgiving is an wonderful thing both in glorifying God and living in the joy of our salvation. I would recommend approaching God with joyous praise in the morning, “I declare your steadfast love in the morning”. This gets our day started right. Our spiritual breakfast is just as important as our physical one.

This Psalm causes me to ask myself the question, “Does God make me glad?” And if not, “Why”. If God is not the root of my joy it is because I am not basking in the glory of his Gospel not because He is not joy-inspiring.

We must ponder the, “the works of God’s hands”. In doing so our affections are driven to thankfulness and our being driven to worship.

What has the Lord done for you lately? Have you meditated on the Glory of the Gospel? Have you considered how great his works are? If you have, you will be a happy and grateful person.

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God’s Angels will Protect Us (Psalm 91 Meditation)

It is revealed through God’s word that there is a spiritual realm filled with heavenly hosts. Many of these heavenly creatures are angels created by God to worship Him and do His bidding. We see Angels throughout scripture at key points acting on God’s behalf. One of the most famous instances is when the Angel (Gabrielle) appears to Mary to let her know that she will have God’s Son.

Now, it seems that scripture reveals that there are an innumerable amount of angels. What are all these beings up to? This Psalmist appears comfortable with asking God to send Angels to protect him from harm. What a notion, God assigns spiritual entities to protect us during times of trouble. This text explains it like this, “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard in you in all your ways.”

What a comforting prayer in periods of anxiety? “Heavenly Father, I know you love me so much as your child, would you send your angels to guard me in this time of danger?” God in response to our prayer of faith, commands his Angels to “go and guard”.

Those who follow Christ do not battle against Flesh and Blood but rather against Principalities and Powers. Our weapons are not physical but are spiritual. Our greatest guardian is not physical but Spirit (God). His armies are not physical but spiritual (angels). We must be aware of this reality and operate and function in it through prayer.

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A wise man thinks about the shortness of his life (Psalm 90 meditation)

It is foolish to treat this earthly life as if it will never end. It is cowardly not meditate on our mortality. Those who treat this life as anything but temporary will not live eternally fruitful lives. Those who live in denial when it comes to our frailty will be counted among the idiotic.

Why should we number our days? Although the answer to this question is complex, to soberly evaluate the shortness of our time on earth causes us to cut back on “wasted days”. We tend to waste things that we think there is a unending supply of. On the contrary if something is limited, we guard it and make the best use of it.

The author of this Psalm is Moses and he writes, The years of our life are seventy, or by reason of strength eighty, yet there span is but toil and trouble, they are soon gone, and we fly away. As I approach forty, I am becoming more aware that I am most likely half way through my life span. I only have so many days on this earth to love my wife, my children, my family, my church, and to advance the Gospel of Jesus. This kind of urgency and limitation drives my to be a good steward with my time. Time is one of the most valuable commodity anyone has, we must use it wisely and for godly purposes.

Some of the things Moses prays for after his Holy Spirit inspired realization of our lives limitations are, for us to be satisfied with God’s steadfast love, that our children would know the glorious power of God, that the favor of the Lord would be upon us, and that he would establish the work of our hands. May our days be filled with these things.

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At the Set Time the Lord will judge with equity (Psalm 76 devotional)

The Lord keeps steady the earth pillars (verse 3). He judges with equity even when the earth totters (fancy way to say unsteady).

This is a reality that our minds need to cling while living in such a seemingly unstable world. Our assessment can at times be that everything is out of control in the wicked are getting away with the horrible. When all is said and done, no evil deed will go unpunished, and the innocent will be vindicated.

Meditate on this.

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I Almost Slipped (Psalm 73 Devotional)

This Psalm is from Asaph. He was a Levite that was in charge of leading singing in the House of God (Yahweh). He writes, “I almost stumbled” and “I nearly slipped”. The answer to the question of why he almost stumbled is one I believe that many of us can relate to, “I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked”.

The heart can quickly covet the things obtained by wicked men… the vanity of the living for the exterior, the sinful pleasure of living sexual immoral, pride in possessions, the indulging of the flesh, the lack of restrain when it comes to their words, and their ability to live according to their own will. If we yearn for these things our hearts are close to slipping.

Asaph expresses a raw emotion that many of us feel sometimes when we view people who walk in their own way, “All in vain have I kept my heart cleaning and washed my hands in innocence”. Sometimes we feel that a life committed to purity of heart and holiness is a waste. What’s the point? We might think, “They are getting everything they want while I am suffering.”

The realization that helped Asaph work through this, as he invested much thought into this mental conundrum was, “Then I discerned their end”. The Psalmist became aware of the reality that even though the rebellious against God were “living it up now” there end was destruction. They will perish.

A christian’s hope is that by grace we walk like Jesus in this world forsaking passing sinful pleasures for eternal and forever rewards. The greatest treasure becomes being near to God, “But for me, it is good to be near to God.”

As Asaph prays to God his heart works it all out, “there is nothing in all the earth that I desire besides you.” When we live with this “pure of heart” prayer, we will not slip.