Making God's Thoughts Our Thoughts

    "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
        neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
    For 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)

"'For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?' But we have the mind of Christ" (2 Corinthians 2:16).

It struck me (anew) this morning how important the scriptures are in our knowing God. When God said through Isaiah that his thoughts are not our thoughts, he wasn't saying we can't know his thoughts (you can really see this when you read that chapter in its entirety). He is saying that the thoughts that spring up in our minds from our own desires, from our own schemes and ambitions, fall far short of his plan; we should abandon them! It's like what happened with dear Peter. "From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man” (Matthew 16:22-23).


The great thing is that we can learn (as Peter did!) what God's thoughts are and what his ways are, and start to think with his thoughts and ways--we can have, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians, the mind of Christ. All the Scriptures are Christ's words and mind and thoughts, recorded for us to read and understand by the help of his Spirit within us. Remember that God is trinitarian-- He is three Persons in one essence-- and all three persons of the trinity are at work to help us have the mind of Christ. God wants us to know and understand him, and he has decided that we will do so through the words declaring his thoughts and ways in the Scriptures.

His thoughts are not our thoughts, how true! So let's be about the work of recognizing this, and of trading our poor thinking and ways (as wonderful as we once thought they were) for the far better thinking and ways we learn through the words of Scripture. "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).

Our Wanters Are Defective

Our wanters are defective. When we read in Romans 8:26-30 that "God causes all things to work together for good to those who love him", we so want the "good" promised to be an end to the current pain, sorrow, or affliction. That's just natural for us; pain and sorrow and affliction can be crushing, and feel like death to us. We know, instinctively, that we really weren't meant for it. We want to hold on to hope that life will get better.

A careful reading of Romans 8, though, shows that the "good" promised there is conformity to "the image of his Son". Paul is taking great pains to reassure his readers that this is a good that will surely come about, even by way of the pain and sorrow and affliction. A funny kind of reassurance this is-- not exactly what we were hoping for-- unless we've learned to want God's will to be done above all else.

This is where our wanters are defective, and why prayer is so important. Our prayers are to be all about God's will being done-- not speculative ideas about what his will might be in some certain area of life, but the sure revelation of what his will is, revealed to us in the scriptures. This is all God requires of us-- to know and understand that will. And to want that will to be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

If (when) we find that our wanters don't match up with God's plans, God has provided help. We must pray very earnestly, as sincerely as we can, that he will change what we want, and trust that it's his kind intention to do so. He can and will change our desires to match up with his desires. This kind of praying is right in line with his revealed will for us in the Bible. This kind of praying gets answered "Yes" by him.

To change our wanters, to conform us to the image of his Son who came to do the will of God (Hebrews 10:7) is the purpose of all the pain, all the sorrow, all the affliction. Without it, I'm afraid it's true that I would simply enjoy his blessings and not care so much about what his real purposes are for me, for his church, and for the world. God is able, willing, and more than that, determined to change our defective wanters. Because he is our Father, and we are adopted, and are being prepared for a great inheritance (Romans 8:12-30) and he loves us.

Grieving the Holy Spirit: Watch Out!

"And He said to the man with the withered hand, 'Come here.' And He said to them, 'Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?' But they were silent. And He looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, "Stretch out your hand.' He stretched it out, and his hand was restored" (Mark 3:3-5).

"And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you" (Ephesians 4:30-32).

I think the idea of "grieving the Holy Spirit" may be a bit misunderstood in the American church. Don't we tend to have an image of Him sitting by sorrowfully, perhaps with dejected, downcast demeanor, wishing we would pay attention to Him and "let Him" do what He wants to do in our lives? Maybe our ideas area little better than that, but still, do we have the understanding that by grieving Him, the Bible means that we...gulp...make Him angry?

In the passage from Mark, Jesus' anger stemmed from His being "grieved at their hardness of heart." The passage from Ephesians shows that we grieve the Holy Spirit by our bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander and malice toward one another in the Church. In both cases we see two things: it is the arrogant and unloving treatment of one another that brings on this "grief," and this grief is His righteous anger toward our hard and ignorant hearts!

I see that I should not take Ephesians 4:30 as a verse taking up for, or trying to protect, some sort of defenseless, easily wounded or shy Holy Spirit. Instead I should see it for what it is, a warning! "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God," for His anger is kindled by our hard, unloving hearts! Because He loves us, God's discipline will be sure to follow.

Every High Priest Must Offer Something

Hebrews 8:3: "For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest to have something to offer."

Hebrews 10:10: "And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

Chasing the Wind and the Words of the Preacher

I needed Ecclesiastes this week. Life is real and life can be painful, and God was good to let me hear Alistair Begg on the radio teaching a little from that book the other day. So I decided to turn to its pages once again and am so glad I did.

The message of Ecclesiastes is a confirmation that no, you're not crazy, and yes, the creation is in trouble and all our lives reflect that. It is because of the fall of Adam in the garden, because of the disastrous effects of sin. We're all now subject to the vanity of all worldly pursuits. They are all "fleeting, ephemeral, and elusive," as the ESV Study Bible introduction to the book puts it; the word translated "vanity" (over 38 times) in Ecclesiastes is literally "vapor." It is the same word and idea Paul uses in Romans 8 as he explains that in the Fall, the "creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it" (Romans 8:20).

We all know this, deep down. We may forget it for periods at a time, we may push it to the backs of our minds, but it only takes the right difficult circumstance to remind us vividly that the world is broken, and so to a great extent are our lives. It is a fact too painful to be acknowledged apart from hope. Some of the philosophers acknowledged it and came up with observations and solutions that lead nowhere but to a stoic bearing up under it all until death comes in relief. Some of the philosophers ended in despair. But that's not where Ecclesiastes goes. Thank God!

The message of Ecclesiastes is the greatest of news for the weary, the hopeless, the one who has "eyes wide open" and does not want to sugar-coat this life. The good news is this: God has told us all that he expects of his people (Micah 6:8). It is not too hard for us! (Deuteronomy 30:11-14, Romans 10:6-8, Matthew 11:28-30). That is because of Jesus Christ, God in the flesh who "came near" to make a way for us to heaven and to the resurrection (John 14:6). (Yes, I know Ecclesiastes doesn't know all this yet, but this is the way the Bible interprets itself.) More good news, straight from the pages of Ecclesiastes:

"He [God] has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I [the Preacher] perceived that there is nothing better for them [the children of men, that's us] than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil--this is God's gift to man" (Ecclesiastes 3:11-13). Isn't that such kindness from God?

God is sovereign over all our affairs, whether we have abundance (materially) or little: "In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him" (Ecclesiastes 7:14). Quit trying to play God, and relax! Trust him who holds all these things in his sovereign hands.

Don't labor and toil for vain things, but do toil: "Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot [there's God's sovereignty again!]. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil--this is the gift of God. For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart" (Ecclesiastes 5:18-20).

The message of Ecclesiastes is that there is so much about God's ways and his decretive (secret) purposes we don't know, that therefore we should live the short life we have on this earth humbly, in recognition of that, but in gratitude for the blessings of work, and family and God's provision for us (Ecclesiastes 9:7-9), whether little or a lot (it's always enough!). We should not be puffed up and "think more highly of ourselves than we ought to" (Romans 12:3). All mankind is in the same boat--the end of us all is the grave (Ecclesiastes 9:1-2). All this wisdom and truth of Ecclesiastes is to be understood in the New Testament revelation of Christ and what God did through him to win our salvation. For those who have received the truth of the gospel there is Heaven to look forward to.

Ecclesiastes ends with this: "The end of the matter: all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment with every secret thing, whether good or evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:13). This is the key to living. Life is complicated and fraught with difficulty, even evil, but God has given us a compass that points true North as we journey through: "Fear God and keep his commandments." He gave us the best motivation to do so, as well: "For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil." In between those two things lies our life, to be lived in simple, glad obedience, trust and gratitude.

I'm so thankful for Ecclesiastes. It's words are like "goads" (Ecclesiastes 12:11), the sharp, pointed sticks that keep the flock to the right path, and they are like "nails firmly fixed" (12:11), providing "moral and intellectual stability" (from the ESV Study Bible explanatory notes). It has been that for me over the past few days. Vanity, vanity, all is vanity apart from Christ. All flesh is as grass; the grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord, it lasts forever (1 Peter 1:22-25).

All I Have is Christ

Growing older stinks sometimes. I often am aware that I've brought a lot of the difficulty of this time of life on myself. It is all too true. But yet...

There's grace. My Lord loves me; he thought of me before the foundation of the world was even laid and determined to have me for his own child. He purchased me out of the world with blood-soaked mercy. I am forever his.

I am a mess-up in many ways, but Jesus Christ redeems mess-ups just like me, swoops them up out of the pit of despair they've dug for themselves and makes them part of his story, to the praise of his glorious grace, as it says in Ephesians 1:3-10. He is sure-handed and able to do everything I cannot. All I can do is fall on him for mercy and grace for help in time of need.

Growing older is another way God is using to make me see that it's in Christ alone my hope is found. Some young people out there are sure able to put that into words very well! Here's one example. When I'm young and when I'm old... all I have is Christ.




Sovereign Grace's Devon Kauflin

Becoming A Pure Vessel

Have you ever prayed and asked the Lord to purify your heart--to purify your motives and your secret thoughts and desires? You should! We all should do this, because this is why he chose us... to "purify for himself a people for his own possession"(Titus 2:14). He does this purifying by exposing the secret thoughts and intentions of our hearts by the use of His word--through the Bible! Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

Let the word of God do its discerning work, rooting out the impurities and exposing them to yourself; for this to happen you must read it, seeking diligently to learn what is right and true before God, asking him by his Spirit to make you willing to take action on what he shows you (James 1:22, 23). Only in this way can you become one who is zealous for good works, a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.

The Cost of Discipleship

"And they said to him, 'The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.' And Jesus said to them, 'Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days'" (Luke 5:33-35).

"When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed" (Acts 14:21-23).

"Jesus takes it for granted that his disciples will observe the pious custom of fasting. Strict exercise of self-control is an essential feature of the Christian's life. Such customs have only one purpose--to make the disciples more ready and cheerful to accomplish those things which God would have done" (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, quoted by John Piper in A Hunger for God).

Fasting is a lost discipline of Christ's church. May we recover it for his glory.

Piper on Mental Health

"While I was a student at Wheaton College, a very wise and deep and happy teacher of literature, Clyde Kilby, showed us and taught us this path to health. Once he said, 'I shall not demean my own uniqueness by envy of others. I shall stop boring into myself to discover what psychological or social categories I might belong to. Mostly I shall simply forget about myself and do my work.'

"He had learned the deep significance of this outward-oriented self-forgetfulness from C.S. Lewis and drew our attention to it often. Mental health is, in great measure, the gift of self-forgetfulness. The reason is that introspection destroys what matters most to us--the authentic experience of great things outside ourselves."


from "The Clouds Ye So Much Dread Are Big With Mercy--Insanity and Spiritual Songs in the Life of William Cowper", The Hidden Smile of God by John Piper, pg. 112

Photo by Nelson~Blue

To Break Thy Schemes of Earthly Joy...

As my daughter Jennie would say, I fail at blogging! I've had a stubborn case of "nothing to say," at least not in a public way. I've had plenty of thoughts clanking around in this brain but they haven't seemed very worthy of setting down in permanent form. I have learned something, though, during this dry spell, and it's something more of grace, and something more about myself. If I'm not writing something somewhere, I'm usually struggling around with something somehow. So I suppose that a new blog post is a good sign!

There are some things that go on with me that I cannot (as of yet, anyway) communicate very coherently... often wrapped up, one way or another, with the journey I'm on since the death of my son. Grief seems to take one through cycles of apparent strength, only to plunge one back into weakness; this has continued to surprise me. I think I have not known myself. I don't think God calls us to know ourselves in any narcissistic way, but I do believe His word reveals that we need to know and understand ourselves in a true way... to see ourselves as He sees us, as His word describes us, and what I'm learning is that His word describes us as being very weak indeed. Weak, that is, in our own resources, our own native strength and ability. Oh, how we keep trying to give the lie to this assessment of ourselves from Him! We acknowledge it with lip service, then plunge ahead in reliance on a strength and ability we do not really possess. It is His kindness to allow us to trip up, to fail and to grow frustrated and even despairing if we must, if that's what it takes to see things as they really are. It seems to take this, over and over, for me! (I think I am a slow and perhaps stubborn learner.)

But what sweetness to be laid low enough to see it once again. What freedom, to put off a mask (of cheerful competency) and put on the sheer grace of God once again. I think--I hope--I trust that I'll be taught by these cycles to remember better who and what I am, to look to who and what He is, for longer stretches of time. I believe that for all of us these times of forgetting how weak and unable we are apart from His grace and truth, which lead inevitably to painful places, will not be wasted, but will serve in comforting others with the same comfort with which we've been comforted.

I Asked the Lord

I asked the Lord that I might grow in faith and love and every grace,

Might more of His salvation know and seek more earnestly His face.

‘Twas He who taught me thus to pray and He, I trust, has answered prayer,

But it has been in such a way as almost drove me to despair.

I hoped that in some favored hour at once He’d answer my request

And by His love’s constraining power subdue my sins and give me rest.

Instead of this He made me feel the hidden evils of my heart,

And let the angry powers of Hell assault my soul in every part.

Yea more with His own hand He seemed intent to aggravate my woe;

Crossed all the fair designs I schemed, cast out my feelings, laid me low.

“Lord, why is this,” I trembling cried. “Wilt Thou pursue thy worm to death?”

“Tis in this way,” The Lord replied, “I answer prayer for grace and faith.”

“These inward trials I employ, from self and pride to set thee free,

And break thy schemes of earthly joy, that thou mayest seek thy all in me.”

~ John Newton 1779

What God Enjoys

From Dr. Erwin Lutzer, senior pastor of Moody Church in Chicago:

"God enjoys being believed."

Let the ramifications of that truth slowly seep down and spread through every recess of your heart, becoming a fruitful bough in all you say and do for the rest of your life.