Desperate Joy

  ALBERT / DVRER / NORICVS / FACIEBAT / AD · 1504 [Albrecht Dürer of Nuremberg made this 1504] Signed and dated on plate Albrecht Dürer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons At times it is difficult, if not impossible, to really comprehend the great heart of our God for sinners such as us. He loves us deeply and passionately and there is no measure to how expansive that love is. If we have caught even the smallest glimmer of his infinite love, we would never cease from praising him and worshiping him. His love would fill our hearts with such joy that we would rejoice in him all our days and for all eternity. What so often prevents us from feeling that love is our own sins. In the dark days of my porn addiction, it was nearly impossible for me to feel God's love. And when other people would express their affection for me, I doubted it, since they did not really know me and how corrupt I really was. My uncleanness weighed me down and kept me from connecting with God and with others...

  The Valley of the Shadow of Death, George Inness, 1867 Looking back across my life and Christian walk, there have been a number of times when I have felt the presence of God in a powerful way. Sometimes it was in my personal time in prayer and meditation, and other times it was during times of corporate worship and large conferences with powerful preaching. It was as though God drew near and my heart burned with passion, joy, and peace, these were indelible, wonderful experiences. But then there have been those times when it felt as if God left me alone in the dark, and I was plunged into "the valley of the shadow of death" (Psalm 23). I would reach out to God but could not feel him. I cried out to him, but my pleas went unanswered. It would be wonderful if we could just stay up on the mountaintop all the time and dwell with God in the bright cloud. But the reality is that God does some of his most important work in us and through us down in the dark valley. Recently ...

  One of the greatest battles we face in the Christian life is with temptation. Satan is always near, whispering in our ears, trying to seduce us and lure us away from the Savior. It is far too easy to fall into these snares. But as we saw in our previous post, if we are fully satisfied in Christ, if we are "filled with the fullness of God"(Ephesians 3:19), then those temptations lose their power. It is easy to say "no" to the cupcake when have just eaten a delicious, healthy meal. But the question remains, how do we go about being filled with the fullness of God? What does that mean, practically speaking? Faith is the first and most important step, "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith..."(Ephesians 3:17) We must first and foremost make a decision to follow Christ and place our complete trust in him. We stop relying on our own resources, skill, wisdom, and power and turn fully to Christ. We humble ourselves and commit ourselves completely and...

  In my family, as with most American families, we gather together at Thanksgiving and have a ridiculously large feast. We will have roasted and smoked turkey, mashed potatoes, rolls, sweet potatoes, green bean salad, stuffing, several types of pecan pies, apple pies, pumpkin pies, and assorted other appetizers, snacks, and candies. By the end of the day, I will be sprawled out on a couch, in a daze, stuffed to the gills. Every craving and appetite fully satisfied, and to excess. You could ask me, "You want a peanut butter cup?" (which is my favorite candy), and I would say, "No, I couldn't possibly eat another bite!"  In that state of satisfaction to near stupefaction, any form of food and drink holds no appeal for me. Gordon Ramsey himself could show up to offer me a gourmet meal, but I would have no desire for it because I was so full. In that state, the thought of eating more almost becomes unpleasant. The devil often comes to us with many delectable treat...

  We are joined in a mighty battle between the spirit and the flesh, Satan, and our Savior. Every day we are pulled away from our Savior and into sin. Many of us make commitments to follow Christ, and yet we struggle with sin and addiction. We want nothing more than to walk in righteousness, but we war with our flesh and unclean desires. The Bible is clear that either we will be killing sin, or sin will be killing us. "The wages of sin is death..." (Romans 6:23) But one of the paradoxes of Christianity is that we do not fight this battle with sin and Satan with aggressive, forward action. It is less of an assault, and more a surrender. We do not go forward in a direct assault. We do not throw punches, thrust swords, or lob grenades. We lay down our weapons and stop fighting. Of course, to surrender to sin is to plunge ourselves deeper into sin and death. Sin must always be resisted, but as we turn away from sin, we look to the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ and we surrender ...