Still learning this.
pastor-zach reblogged
Anonymous asked:
What exactly are idols? Just buddhas or statues or can they be people too? How do you know if something is an idol?
I think Jesus said it best: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”(Matthew 6:21)
An idol can be practically anything: success, popularity, comfort, others’ opinions of you, career, money. Some people even make serving or ministry an idol. People serve idols and find their identity/self worth in idols. Whatever people value and treasure above God becomes an idol. A lot of times idols can become our master, we enslave ourselves to them and they rule over our lives.
pastor-zach reblogged
In the Bible, “remembering” and “forgetting” have a spiritual significance. When people in the Old Testament asked God to “remember … your great mercy and love” (Psalm 25:6) or to “not remember our sins” (Isaiah 64:9), they did not believe that God could literally forget what he is like, or what someone has done! What does it mean, then, to “forget” or “remember”? When God is asked: “Remember your great mercy and love,” he is being asked to act according to his character. When someone asks God to “remember not [my] sins,” he or she is asking that God would not act on what he knows.
Therefore, to say that the Israelites “forgot” God is to say that they no longer were controlled by what they knew. We could put it another way. Though they knew who God was and what he wanted, those things were not real to them. This is a spiritual problem today, too. What we know with our heads is not “real” to our hearts and our whole beings. We may acknowledge intellectually that something is true, but in our heart of hearts it does not grab us or penetrate us or control us. So, the reason that the Israelites (like all of us) continually needed revival was because truths about God which were once vibrant and real to them eventually became unreal. Our hearts are like a bucket of water on a very cold day—they will freeze over unless we regularly smash the ice that is forming. Though we know truths about God, we can very easily lose the sense upon our hearts of their reality. We know them, but we don’t “taste” or “see” or “feel” them. Therefore, other things—idols—become more real to our hearts, and we serve them instead.
Timothy Keller (via zacheway)
Don’t follow your heart
“God considered David a man after his own heart (1 Sam. 13:14). Stephen gave us insight into what God meant: “I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will” (Acts 13:22). What qualified David to be king was that he followed God’s heart. And when he did, he did very well. But when David didn’t follow God’s heart, he did not do well.
When David followed his own heart he was on his way to slaughter Nabal and his household, and only Abigail’s quick thinking and wise intervention saved David from this bloodguilt (1 Sam. 25:32–34). When David followed his own heart, he slept with Bathsheba, robbing her of her chastity and Uriah of his wife and life (2 Sam. 11), and brought devastating evil into his household (2 Samuel 12). When David followed his own heart, he took a census that God had said not to take and it resulted in seventy thousand deaths (1 Chronicles 21).
The Bible is full of examples that warn us not to follow our hearts. When Moses followed his heart, he killed an Egyptian (Ex. 2:12) and faithlessly struck the rock (Num. 20:10–12). When Balaam followed his heart, he was rebuked by a donkey (Num. 22:30). When Nebuchadnezzar followed his heart, he ended up eating grass like an ox (Dan. 4:32). When Haman followed his heart, he ended up hanging from the gallows he had built (Est. 7:10). When the disciples followed their hearts, they argued over who was the greatest (Luke 9:46) and in terror abandoned Jesus in Gethsemane (Matt. 26:56). When Ananias and Sapphira followed their hearts, they lied to the Holy Spirit and dropped dead (Acts 5:1–11).
The Bible is clear: we must follow God’s heart, not ours. Today, following God’s heart means to follow Jesus, which means dying to our fallen hearts’ desires and losing our lives in order to find them (Matt. 16:24–25).” — Jon Bloom
pastor-zach reblogged
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
Romans 15:13
pastor-zach reblogged
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
James 1:5-8 (via zacheway)
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pastor-zach reblogged
Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Jesus (matthew 6:33-34)
pastor-zach reblogged
pastor-zach reblogged
If a Christian could lose salvation, then surely the overriding motivation for obedience would be fear. Non-Christians generally do not believe in God’s wrath and thus do not find it very frightening. But we do know about it, so if a Christian believes it is possible to come back under that condemnation, the fear would be immense.
Fear-based obedience is more negative (afraid of punishment) than it is positive (grateful for grace). If fear is the primary motivation for our obedience, we should see the following effects:
1. Our motivation will lose its power over time. Fear as an emotion is very draining. It moves you to great feats at first, but eventually it is exhausting. People who live in great fear experience a numbing effect after a while. Slowly, one becomes too tired to care, indifferent to what happens. Fear-based religion therefore often tends to be short-lived.
2. Also, fear-based obedience has a great deal of trouble with repentance. When we are motivated by fear, we believe that somewhere there is a “line”; if we sin too much, we cross it, and God will condemn us. But we don’t know where that line is. As a result, repentance is not a sweet thing but very bitter. We don’t have the security to admit our sins for fear of reprisals from God, so we do a lot of rationalizing and blaming.
3. Fear-based obedience will always make it difficult to endure suffering or troubles. The fear-based person will either think: God is paying me back! God has abandoned me! Maybe I crossed the line this time… or: This isn’t fair! I obey so that God will bless me, so that these bad things won’t happen! In other words, despair or bitterness will be the result of suffering if one’s Christian life is fear-based.
Timothy Keller, Romans for you (via zacheway)
Darkness comes. In the middle of it, the future looks blank. The temptation to quit is huge. Don't. You are in good company... You will argue with yourself that there is no way forward. But with God, nothing is impossible. He has more ropes and ladders and tunnels out of pits than you can conceive. Wait. Pray without ceasing. Hope. John Piper
Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses. Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins.
Psalm 25:16-18
pastor-zach reblogged
Come as you are.
Come out of sadness From wherever you’ve been Come broken hearted Let rescue begin Come find your mercy Oh sinner come kneel Earth has no sorrow That heaven can’t heal Earth has no sorrow That heaven can’t heal So lay down your burdens Lay down your shame All who are broken Lift up your face Oh wanderer come home You’re not too far So lay down your hurt Lay down your heart Come as you are There’s hope for the hopeless And all those who’ve strayed Come sit at the table Come taste the grace There’s rest for the weary Rest that endures Earth has no sorrow That heaven can’t cure So lay down your burdens Lay down your shame All who are broken Lift up your face Oh wanderer come home You’re not too far So lay down your hurt Lay down your heart Come as you are Come as you are Fall in his arms Come as you are There’s joy for the morning Oh sinner be still Earth has no sorrow That heaven can’t heal Earth has no sorrow That heaven can’t heal
Inbox is open, I'm preparing a series based on questions I receive.
pastor-zach reblogged
The early morning hour should be dedicated to praise: do not the birds set us the example?
Charles Spurgeon
(via lndisher)
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