VIDEO Heading to Christian Perfection

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfect… —Philippians 3:12

It is a trap to presume that God wants to make us perfect specimens of what He can do— God’s purpose is to make us one with Himself. The emphasis of holiness movements tends to be that God is producing specimens of holiness to put in His museum. If you accept this concept of personal holiness, your life’s determined purpose will not be for God, but for what you call the evidence of God in your life. How can we say, “It could never be God’s will for me to be sick”? If it was God’s will to bruise His own Son (Isaiah 53:10), why shouldn’t He bruise you? What shines forth and reveals God in your life is not your relative consistency to an idea of what a saint should be, but your genuine, living relationship with Jesus Christ, and your unrestrained devotion to Him whether you are well or sick.

Christian perfection is not, and never can be, human perfection. Christian perfection is the perfection of a relationship with God that shows itself to be true even amid the seemingly unimportant aspects of human life. When you obey the call of Jesus Christ, the first thing that hits you is the pointlessness of the things you have to do. The next thought that strikes you is that other people seem to be living perfectly consistent lives. Such lives may leave you with the idea that God is unnecessary— that through your own human effort and devotion you can attain God’s standard for your life. In a fallen world this can never be done. I am called to live in such a perfect relationship with God that my life produces a yearning for God in the lives of others, not admiration for myself. Thoughts about myself hinder my usefulness to God. God’s purpose is not to perfect me to make me a trophy in His showcase; He is getting me to the place where He can use me. Let Him do what He wants.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The life of Abraham is an illustration of two things: of unreserved surrender to God, and of God’s complete possession of a child of His for His own highest end. Not Knowing Whither, 901 R

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Put On Your Running Shoes – Philippians 3:12-16 – Skip Heitzig

Who You Are

Set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. 1 Timothy 4:12

In 2011, after a decade of childlessness, my wife and I chose to start afresh in a new country. Exciting as the move was, it required my leaving a broadcast career, which I missed. Feeling lost, I asked my friend Liam for advice.

“I don’t know what my calling is anymore,” I told Liam dejectedly.

“You’re not broadcasting here?” he asked. I said I wasn’t.

“And how is your marriage?”

Surprised at his change of topic, I told Liam that Merryn and I were doing well. We’d faced heartbreak together but emerged closer through the ordeal.

“Commitment is the core of the gospel,” he said, smiling. “Oh, how the world needs to see committed marriages like yours! You may not realize the impact you’re having already, beyond what you do, simply by being who you are.”

When a difficult work situation left Timothy dejected, the apostle Paul didn’t give him career goals. Instead, he encouraged Timothy to live a godly life, setting an example through his speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity (1 Timothy 4:12–13, 15). He would best impact others by living faithfully.

It’s easy to value our lives based on our career success when what matters most is our character. I had forgotten that. But a word of truth, a gracious act, even a committed marriage can bring great change—because through them something of God’s own goodness touches the world.

By:  Sheridan Voysey

Reflect & Pray

Who has touched your life and what qualities did they have? How can you set an example of faithfulness today?

Dear God, help me to remember that the work I do isn’t as important as the person I become. Please make me more like You.

Discover more about who you are in Christ.

Let Us Consider One Another

The King James Version of Hebrews 10:24 reads:

“And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works.”

This version uses the word provoke, a strong word that typically has a negative connotation. I think it was used deliberately in order to make us think. What do we usually provoke from other people? Anger or jealousy. But we are to provoke to “love and to good works.”

The Greek word translated “provoke” is the same word from which the English word paroxysm is derived. Do you know what a paroxysm is? It is an absolutely uncontrollable outburst of emotion, such as anger, or even laughter.

Although the word provoke often suggests something bad, in this context, it is turned to the good, for we are to provoke one another to love and good works. And let me just point out that there are certain people whom you’ll have to provoke if you want them to do the right thing. Moreover, you will have to consider how to provoke them.

This is one of my weaknesses. I don’t like having to consider people’s personalities. With a military background and a rather logical mind, it is sufficient for me just to tell the person to do something. But the Bible tells us to consider how to tell them, because if you want the right result from one person, you have to tell him in quite a different way from the way in which you might tell another person. Anybody who has children knows this is true—you cannot treat them all the same. You can scold one child and get the right result. But if you scold another child, you might just discourage or defeat him.

Prayer Response

Thank You, Lord, that You help me to love others. I proclaim that I consider how to provoke others to love and good works. I shall consider others. Amen.

The First and Second Advents

 … that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. — Philippians 2:10-11

During the Advent season—Christmas time—we remember the Advent of the Son of God. The term “advent” is taken from the Latin, ad ventre, which mean “to come to.” We remember that over 2,000 years ago, the eternal and uncreated Son of God came to this world, which He had fashioned with His own hands.

At Advent, we are reminded that there is another Advent of which the Scriptures speak. He who came once will come again. He who came as a tiny and weak babe in a manger will come as a conquering king with clouds of glory. He who came in humility, seen only by a few shepherds, will one day come in great splendor and majesty and every eye shall see Him. This is a great truth of the Scripture.

We live between the first and second comings of Jesus Christ. Note how He impacts history. We count time according to how many years ago He was born, and history is marching toward His return—the climax of all history.

At the first coming, we saw His humility. At the second coming, we will see His glory. As we go through the Advent season, which calls to mind His first coming, let us also remember to prepare ourselves for His second coming.

The Holy Spirit Is a Person

When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself. —John 16:13

The Holy Spirit is often thought of as a beneficent wind that blows across the Church. If you think of the Holy Spirit as being literally a wind, a breath, then you think of Him as nonpersonal and nonindividual. But the Holy Spirit has will and intelligence and feeling and knowledge and sympathy and ability to love and see and think and hear and speak and desire the same as any person has….

Many of us have grown up on the theology that accepts the Holy Spirit as a Person, and even as a divine Person, but for some reason it never did us any good. We are as empty as ever, we are as joyless as ever, we are as far from peace as ever, we are as weak as ever.

What I want to do is to tell you the old things, but while I am doing it, to encourage your heart to make them yours now, and to walk into the living, throbbing, vibrating heart of them, so that from here on your life will be altogether different. HTB012-013

If we should know the full comfort of the Holy Spirit we must cooperate with Him. WCC082

Logically Necessary

Give thanks to the God of gods. His love is eternal.—Psalm 136:2

The Trinity is implicit in the whole Bible from the beginning, though it might not be evident to someone unfamiliar with the Book who started reading at Genesis until they had reached the books of the New Testament.

Ian Macpherson, in his book The Faith Once Delivered, says that when the island now known as Trinidad was discovered by Columbus, he thought at first it was three islands, as all he could see were three hills silhouetted against the sky. When he got closer, however, he found that what he had seen was not three islands at all but just one island. From a distance it looked like three, but close up it was only one. Hence he named the island “Trinidad”—Spanish for “Trinity.”

That is the kind of experience you get when reading the Bible. At first it seems to be talking about three Gods, but as you go deeper into the Scriptures you discover there are not three Gods but one—one God in three Persons.

It must be noted, though, that it is not only in isolated texts that one encounters the doctrine of the Trinity. The very concept of God’s love presupposes plurality in the Godhead. Love, to be love, must have an object. Self-love is love’s opposite. Since God is eternal love, He must have had objects of eternal affection. The objects of His affection were the Son and the Spirit. The doctrine of the Trinity, therefore, is not only theologically but logically necessary to an understanding of the nature of the Deity.

Prayer

Father, help me understand that a being fully comprehended could not be God. In Your unfathomable depths all my thoughts are drowned. Symbolically I remove my shoes, for I sense I stand on holy ground. Amen.

Further Study

Eph 4:1-6; Dt 4:35; Ps 83:18; 1Co 8:4

What did Paul confirm to the Ephesians and Corinthians?

What was the psalmist’s conviction?

Profitable for…

All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.—2 Timothy 3:16–17

All Scripture is profitable! Knowing this, we cheat ourselves when we do not access every book, every truth, every verse, and every page of our Bibles for the promises and commands God has for us. Because every verse of Scripture is inspired by God and gainful to us, we should not pick and choose which verses we will read and study. We should not claim verses we like and ignore those that convict us! If we are to become mature disciples of Jesus, we must allow every Scripture to speak to us and teach us what God desires us to learn. Scripture enables us to evaluate the soundness of doctrines that are being taught. Scripture ought to be the basis for any reproof or correction we bring to another.

If you are not firmly grounded in God’s Word, you will be bombarded with an assortment of doctrines, lifestyles, and behaviors, and you will have no means to evaluate whether or not they are of God. You cannot develop a righteous life apart from God’s Word. Righteousness must be cultivated. As you fill your mind with the words of God, and as you obey His instructions, He will guide you in the ways of righteousness. Scripture will equip you for any good work God calls you to do. If you feel inadequate for a task God has given you, search the Scriptures, for within them you will find the wisdom you need to carry out His assignment. Allow the Word of God to permeate, guide, and enrich your life.