The distinguishing mark of saving faith is not perfection. The mark of faith is not that I never sin. The mark of faith is that I fight. I fight anything that dims my sight of Jesus as my glorious Savior. I fight anything that diminishes the fullness of the lordship of Jesus in my life. I fight anything that threatens to replace Jesus as the supreme Treasure of my life. Anything that stands between me and receiving Jesus. Faith fights -- not with fists or knives or guns or bombs, but with the truth of Christ.
~ John Piper
O Lord, let it be so in my life.
Showing posts with label Faith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Faith. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Where to Begin
What is a simpleton? Here is the definition as I found it on Thesaurus.com:
Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus
Main Entry: clod
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: stupid
Synonyms: blockhead*, bobby, boor, bumpkin, chump, clown, dimwit*, dolt, dope*, dumbbell, dummy, dunce, fool, imbecile, lamebrain, loon, lout, oaf, rube, simpleton, yokel
That pretty much sums it up. My blog is representative of me: Musings of a simpleton (pick a definition). But, contrary to what you might think, that's not a bad thing. The Apostle Paul said it like this in 1 Corinthians 1:
"Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of
the world?"
and later in the same chapter:
"...but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised, God has chosen, the things that are not, that He might nullify the things that are,
That no man should boast before God."
The older I get the more I come to realize how inadequate all of our acquired knowledge really is. The truth is I don't know much of anything at all. I am totally dependent upon the manifold grace of God. It is by that grace, through simple faith that I can come to Him and be saved. It doesn't take an advanced degree, or a lifetime of wisdom gained by experience. Just simple faith. Jesus called it "Child-like faith".
Foolishness? Perhaps. But it is also the most freeing idea I can conceive of. Think about it: Trusting in One who claimed to be the Son of God, and who proved it by allowing wicked men to crucify Him, and then rose from the dead three days later trumps all of our grand efforts, our scheming, and our creative ways of trying to justify ourselves before God.
I think that's what Jesus meant by these words: "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus
Main Entry: clod
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: stupid
Synonyms: blockhead*, bobby, boor, bumpkin, chump, clown, dimwit*, dolt, dope*, dumbbell, dummy, dunce, fool, imbecile, lamebrain, loon, lout, oaf, rube, simpleton, yokel
That pretty much sums it up. My blog is representative of me: Musings of a simpleton (pick a definition). But, contrary to what you might think, that's not a bad thing. The Apostle Paul said it like this in 1 Corinthians 1:
"Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of
the world?"
and later in the same chapter:
"...but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised, God has chosen, the things that are not, that He might nullify the things that are,
That no man should boast before God."
The older I get the more I come to realize how inadequate all of our acquired knowledge really is. The truth is I don't know much of anything at all. I am totally dependent upon the manifold grace of God. It is by that grace, through simple faith that I can come to Him and be saved. It doesn't take an advanced degree, or a lifetime of wisdom gained by experience. Just simple faith. Jesus called it "Child-like faith".
Foolishness? Perhaps. But it is also the most freeing idea I can conceive of. Think about it: Trusting in One who claimed to be the Son of God, and who proved it by allowing wicked men to crucify Him, and then rose from the dead three days later trumps all of our grand efforts, our scheming, and our creative ways of trying to justify ourselves before God.
I think that's what Jesus meant by these words: "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
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