I am a Canadian citizen
and a Canadian resident.
And for those freedoms and privileges I am grateful.
Yet lately,
more than ever,
I have felt the weight of my eternal citizenship, which is in heaven.
What does it look like to be a Kingdom citizen here on earth, in Canada nonetheless?
Am I living in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ (Phil 1:27)?
I desire to proclaim, with the apostle Paul that for me, “to live is Christ” (Phil 1:21), but does my life resound with that proclamation?
I long to live - and even to die - for His sake.
But sometimes I struggle with what that looks like on a daily basis.
What does it really mean to “die to self” and "live for Christ" in the daily, “mundane” tasks of life?
Lord, how do you want me to serve you, for the sake and glory of your name?!!
Friday, March 14, 2008
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
more good stuff
At the risk of becoming redundant, here is some more really good stuff from pastor Piper....
“God created me – and you – to live with a single, all-embracing, all-transforming passion – namely, a passion to glorify God by enjoying and displaying his supreme excellence in all the spheres of life. Enjoying and displaying are both crucial. If we try to display the excellence of God without joy in it, we will display a shell of hypocrisy and create scorn or legalism. But if we claim to enjoy his excellence and do not display it for others to see and admire, we deceive ourselves, because the mark of God-enthralled joy is to overflow and expand by extending itself into the hearts of others. The wasted life is the life without a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples” (page 31).
“God created me – and you – to live with a single, all-embracing, all-transforming passion – namely, a passion to glorify God by enjoying and displaying his supreme excellence in all the spheres of life. Enjoying and displaying are both crucial. If we try to display the excellence of God without joy in it, we will display a shell of hypocrisy and create scorn or legalism. But if we claim to enjoy his excellence and do not display it for others to see and admire, we deceive ourselves, because the mark of God-enthralled joy is to overflow and expand by extending itself into the hearts of others. The wasted life is the life without a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples” (page 31).
Sunday, March 02, 2008
so there, MOM!
Well, Mom, now it's true!
I was quite kind in my selections, might I tell you! ;)
Any thoughts, now?
Is this "light-hearted" enough?
He he he.
Monday, February 25, 2008
don't waste your life
“It was becoming clearer and clearer that if I wanted to come to the end of my life and not say, ‘I’ve wasted it!’ then I would need to press all the way in, and all the way up, to the ultimate purpose of God and join him in it. If my life was to have a single, all-satisfying, unifying passion, it would have to be God’s passion. And…God’s passion was the display of his own glory and the delight of my heart” (page 28).
Piper, John. Don’t Waste Your Life. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2003.
I'm not far into this book, but it is quickly becoming a favourite....!
Piper, John. Don’t Waste Your Life. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2003.
I'm not far into this book, but it is quickly becoming a favourite....!
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
pursuing holiness
"But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written, 'Be holy, because I am holy.'" 1 Peter 1:15-16
What does it mean to live a holy life, specifically, in the infamously affluent North America? This question has been on my mind for quite some time. Jerry Bridges offers some good, solid reflection material in his book The Pursuit of Holiness. Filled with Scripture, challenges, and encouragement, he walks the reader through the precarious balance between the work Christ already did to make us holy (a promise we can hold to) and the command we must live out to be holy.
I know my quotes won't do justice to his overall message, and there are too many good ones to pick out. :) However, they're a start for your reflection on the command of the Lord to be holy.
"...every time we sin, we are doing something God hates. He hates our lustful thoughts, our pride and jealousy, our outbursts of temper, and our rationalization that the ends justifies the means. We need to be gripped by the fact that God hates all these things. We become so accustomed to our sins we sometimes lapse into a state of peaceful coexistence with them, but God never ceases to hate them" (32).
"The holiness of God is an exceedingly high standard, a perfect standard. But it is nevertheless one that He holds us to. He cannot do less. While it is true that He accepts us solely through the merit of Christ, God's standards for our character, our attitudes, our affections, and actions is, 'Be holy, because I am holy.' We must take this seriously if we are to grow in holiness" (34).
"God has provided all we need for our pursuit of holiness. He has delivered us from the reign of sin and given us His indwelling Holy Spirit. He has revealed His will for holy living in His Word, and He works in us to will and to act according to His good purpose....Surely He has not commanded us to be holy without providing the means to be holy. The privilege of being holy is yours, and the decision and responsibility to be holy is yours. If you make that decision, you will experience the fullness of joy which Christ has promised to those who walk in obedience to Him" (157-158).
Bridges, Jerry. The Pursuit of Holiness. Colorado Springs, CO: Navpress, 1978.
What does it mean to live a holy life, specifically, in the infamously affluent North America? This question has been on my mind for quite some time. Jerry Bridges offers some good, solid reflection material in his book The Pursuit of Holiness. Filled with Scripture, challenges, and encouragement, he walks the reader through the precarious balance between the work Christ already did to make us holy (a promise we can hold to) and the command we must live out to be holy.
I know my quotes won't do justice to his overall message, and there are too many good ones to pick out. :) However, they're a start for your reflection on the command of the Lord to be holy.
"...every time we sin, we are doing something God hates. He hates our lustful thoughts, our pride and jealousy, our outbursts of temper, and our rationalization that the ends justifies the means. We need to be gripped by the fact that God hates all these things. We become so accustomed to our sins we sometimes lapse into a state of peaceful coexistence with them, but God never ceases to hate them" (32).
"The holiness of God is an exceedingly high standard, a perfect standard. But it is nevertheless one that He holds us to. He cannot do less. While it is true that He accepts us solely through the merit of Christ, God's standards for our character, our attitudes, our affections, and actions is, 'Be holy, because I am holy.' We must take this seriously if we are to grow in holiness" (34).
"God has provided all we need for our pursuit of holiness. He has delivered us from the reign of sin and given us His indwelling Holy Spirit. He has revealed His will for holy living in His Word, and He works in us to will and to act according to His good purpose....Surely He has not commanded us to be holy without providing the means to be holy. The privilege of being holy is yours, and the decision and responsibility to be holy is yours. If you make that decision, you will experience the fullness of joy which Christ has promised to those who walk in obedience to Him" (157-158).
Bridges, Jerry. The Pursuit of Holiness. Colorado Springs, CO: Navpress, 1978.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
fighting the lies within
Set up Thy standard, Lord, that we
Who claim a heavenly birth,
May march with Thee to smite the lies
That vex Thy groaning earth.
Yet who can fight for truth and God,
Enthralled by lies and sin?
He who would wage such war on earth
Must first be true within.
O God of truth for whom we long,
O Thou that hearest prayer,
Do Thine own battle in our hearts,
And slay the falsehood there.
~ Thomas Huges
** This poem is exerpted as found in Sinclair B. Ferguson's Discovering God's Will (1982). However, I did notice there are a few variations of Hughes' poem / hymn on the internet...but I just quoted it as it was in the book.
Who claim a heavenly birth,
May march with Thee to smite the lies
That vex Thy groaning earth.
Yet who can fight for truth and God,
Enthralled by lies and sin?
He who would wage such war on earth
Must first be true within.
O God of truth for whom we long,
O Thou that hearest prayer,
Do Thine own battle in our hearts,
And slay the falsehood there.
~ Thomas Huges
** This poem is exerpted as found in Sinclair B. Ferguson's Discovering God's Will (1982). However, I did notice there are a few variations of Hughes' poem / hymn on the internet...but I just quoted it as it was in the book.
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