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Your standing with the Father today is not based on your performance, but on the perfectly obedient performance of the Son.
~ Paul David Tripp
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The cross is the centre of the whole Christian faith. All the evil that was due us was thrust on Jesus. All the good that was due Jesus was made available to us. At the cross, 8 exchanges took place.
1. Jesus was punished that we might be forgiven.
2. Jesus was wounded that we might be healed.
3. Jesus was made sin with our sinfulness that we might be righteous with His righteousness.
4. Jesus died our death that we might receive His life.
5. Jesus endured our poverty that we might endure His abundance.
6. Jesus bore our shame that we might share His glory.
7. Jesus endured our rejection that we might have His acceptance with God the Father.
8. Jesus was made a curse that we might receive the blessing.
from // Derek Prince – 8 exchanges which happened at the cross.
elevation church have amazing creative people on their team… i was incredibly moved by this easter presentation, a wonderful analogy of jesus, the sin remover, the life giver
On a Friday morning, two thousand years ago, Jesus stood before the people, and Pilate declared, “Behold the man!” It was the sixth day of the week, the day God created man. And now the second Adam was undoing the first Adam’s sin.
Adam was always meant to wear a crown. Now Jesus would wear one.
Adam had been sentenced to toil among the thorns. Now Jesus would have those thorns twisted into His brow.
Adam was ashamed of his failure and sought to hide behind fig leaves. Now Jesus would wear the purple robe and hear the taunts of the mockers.
The hands of humanity that reached out for the forbidden fruit were the fists that beat the face of the precious Savior.
“Behold the man!” Pilate didn’t know what he was saying, but John the apostle did. Jesus is the perfect man. The image of the invisible God, the beginning and the end, the One in whom all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. The one who shows us what God always intended humanity to be like. He is the One who takes the shame of our sin and bears the mockery of evil.
::: go read the whole article by Trevin Wax here at The Gospel Coalition
last week i said i *wanted* to make some homemade cream eggs. well i did. they were fiddly and you had to be fast or the innards would melt… but they taste good. esp the next day! the kids thought i was super mum. okay, i think i’m super mum making them!
also Totally Loving:
All Sons & Daughters
Ungled by Lysa Terkeust
Butter Chicken by Magi (dairy and gluten free!)
Fringe
and as always. i love Jesus with all i am and all my heart and all my soul and all my days. For His glory and the building of His kingdom and the rescue of the lost. so what are you totally loving this week?
… check out what other peeps are loving whatever day of the week it is over at MNM’s BLOG
If you don’t get that He loves you, if you don’t understand that He has an affectionate love for you, then on those days where you struggle, on those days when the Accuser or your own voice calls you worthless, calls you a screw up, calls you a failure, calls you unlovely, when you don’t understand that He loves you and that love is built upon Christ and not you, then I don’t know that you’ll ever really run towards Him.
~ Matt Chandler
God is not in love with some future version of you. It’s not you tomorrow that He loves and delights in. It’s not you when you get your act together….If you believe that Christ’s love for you is a future love for you, then you dismiss the cross of Christ.
Matt Chandler
Your blood makes the deaf to hear right now
Your blood takes away the curse right now
Your blood heals every disease right now
Your blood sets the addict free right now
And I still believe You’re the same yesterday, today and forever
And I still believe Your blood is sufficient for me
Your blood mends the broken heart right now
Your blood compels me to forgive right now
Your blood transforms my mind right now
Your blood brings the dead to life right now
And I still believe You’re the same yesterday, today and forever
And I still believe Your blood is sufficient for me
[x2]
You’re the higher power
Darkness cannot stand
No longer bound to sin, I am free
this year in housegroup i think i’m feeling led to focus on a few main things:
LEADERSHIP
WHAT WE BELIEVE aka doctrine
LIFE AP
i believe that what you believe then leads to how you live
you have to live out your faith and make it real in every day life
a right belief about God will lead to a right living for God
and how you approach life and obstacles is influenced majorly by what you believe
orthodoxy is important because it leads to good God pleasing, world changing, fruit growing orthopraxy
believing affects being and being affects doing, attitudes, lifestyle ~ kevin conner
“When we know the truth about God, it fills us with wonder. If we fail to understand his true character, we’ll never be amazed by Him. We’ll never feel small as we stare up at Him. We’ll never worship Him as we ought. We’ll never run to Him for refuge or realize the great love He’s shown in bridging the measureless distance to rescue us.” Dug Down Deep / Joshua Harris
"Doctrine is important and theology is important, but it’s only important insomuch as it informs us and fuels our love and passion for Jesus that works itself out as we love and patiently walk with others inside the family and outside the family." ~ Matt Chandler
looking at the WHAT we believe is also really great for those who are young adults and finding their own faith and belief outside of their family and youth group and are being perhaps challenged in their peer group, work or study situations. Orthodoxy matters because the Christian faith is not just a cultural tradition or moral code. Orthodoxy is the irreducible truths about God and his work in the world.
plus it never gets old to to talk about God and His greatness and His salvation! to me doctrine isnt crusty and old or dull but its about magnifying the greatness and goodness of God, setting the foundation of faith in which to springboard into the adventure of knowing God and making Him known
Ive come to learn that theology matters. And it matters not because we want a good grade on a test but because what we know about God shapes the way we think and live. What you believe about God’s nature- what he is like, what he wants from you, and whether or not you will answer him- affects every part of your life. Joshua Harris
so i’m taking a highlighter to my FOUNDATIONS OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE (by Kevin Conner) book and am prob going to pillage the library of tim keller, john piper and mark driscoll books, have brought my own copy of DOCTRINE by mark driscoll, and DUG DOWN DEEP by Joshua Harris (which i think was one of those God appointed books, was a 4 for $40 deal at the local christian bookshop and i had 3 books chosen but couldn’t find a fourth so was browsing elsewhere then asked God to help me find the fourth… and then boom, saw this one, its tagline is “unearthing what i believe and why it matters” – exactly what the aim is for housegroup, yay God)… along with re reading THE EXPLICIT GOSPEL by matt chandler – basically feeding my mind and heart with anything i can find that fits my brief and wraps language around what we believe and why
When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” John 11:4
the timing of God can sometimes be hard. sometimes i struggle to remember that He has perfect timing and that i can trust Him, even when i don’t understand what is going on. if i was mary or martha or Lazarus i am not sure what my comprehension level would look like… would i have peace? would i be pacing? would i be demanding a miracle, or confident in the love and grace of God towards me? would i be assured of the greater plans and purposes in my suffering?
in the midst of suffering and confusion and difficulties God is with me and for me. He has a plan and a purpose. He is at work. I am never abandoned. I am never alone. I am never drifting.
“Note Jesus’ perspective….Heavens perspective and ours are often miles apart….we are calling things dead when they are sleeping.” Charlotte Gambill
Sometimes the purpose of our suffering, of our difficulty is to reveal God to those around us.
and you know… are we just sunshine christians? just following God in the good times and putting Him at arm lengths when He doesnt act the way we think He should?
We have to be confident in the character of God" Sy Rogers
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9
God is bigger than we can imagine. He breathed out the stars. He knows the path of the lightening. He knows how many hairs you have on your head and how many hairs you have on your toes. He fashioned the mountains and knows the path of the lightening. Unfathomable greatness.
And because of that and those omnis – He knows all and sees all and is out of time – He has perspective that we as finite beings don’t have.
God’s ways are higher. His wisdom is higher. His perception is higher. His love is higher. And because we can’t grasp it all, God sometimes seems mysterious and unpredictable.
But what we can know, even though the mysteriousness and even though the unpredictability is what He has revealed to us – we can trust and be confident in those things He has put out there in black and white about who He is.
You see one of the things you can stake your life on and that never changes is that God is good.
All the time.
God is good. In every action and in every day and in every moment God is good.
even this situation above with Lazarus.
It’s okay to feel a little mad and a lot confused. Our God is big enough to handle our honest feelings. But don’t let your feelings lead you away from God or away from His truth. Press into Him. Praise Him. And put yourself in the company of truth. As you stay with God in these ways, you will become ready to receive His answer when it comes. lysa terkeurst
One Passion One Devotion 