When I Call ...

Life is full of difficulties, and difficulties come in all shapes and sizes. We all have faced difficult situtations and will again. We all know difficult people and will never be completely free of them. Events, times, people, situtations- difficulties come in all shapes and sizes.

In Psalm 138:3 the David says, "When I called, you answered me, you made me bold and stouthearted."Translated: When I called to you God, you answered me, and gave me the encouragement I needed to stand up and deal with the difficulties I faced.

We all need to be bold in difficult times, and stouthearted is even better.

Too many times I have given into doubt. I have questioned my own ability by asking myself if I have the heart to stand fast. Often I have tried to lean on others, hoping they might help me with the load I bear, but finding they were not dependable or trust worthy. Yes, I have struggled and I will continue to do so.

Yet, I have learned where to seek encouragement and comfort. Psalm 138:8 David continues,"The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me." Yes, there will be difficulties, but my God is not confined by the difficulties of the world. He is the creator of all things, he holds my life and all that is connected to it in his hands. I am reminded in his word that his love endures forever and he will not abandon the works of his hands - that includes me!

So, like David, I will continue to call to him for I know he will answer and he will have his way. He will not abandon me but will reach out his might hand and make me bold and stouthearted.

RefRev

ReformedRev's Quote of the Day

"To the one who has faith, no explaination is necessary.
   To the one without faith, no explaination is possible."  
                           - Thomas Aquinas

People of the Book

         

Christian are people of the Book. That is to say as believers we believe the Bible is a living Book. Living in that God speaks through his Word and his Spirit works with power from the Word of God, which is contained in the sixty-six books of the Bible. So Christians, those who have come to God through Christ by faith, are people of the Book.

As people of the Book we are a Scripture based movement, for in the Scriptures we find doctrine, direction, guidance, and grace, just to name a few of the benefits. For us, the Book is our lifeline to God and from it our relationship with God is nourished on a daily basis.

The Puritan pastor Thomas Watson, speaking over 200 years ago about the Word of God said, “Come to the Word with a holy appetite and a teachable heart. Sit under the Word attentively, receive it with meekness, and mingle it with faith. Then retain the Word, pray over it, practice it, and speak it to others about it.”

It is the calling of a pastor to be a person of the Book and feed upon the Word of God.  It is the first duty of a pastor to feed the flock by the diligent preaching of the Word of God from the Book. We would call this biblical preaching.

For Puritans like Watson, biblical preaching was not just hinged to Scripture; it quite literally existed inside the Word of God; the text is not the sermon but the sermon is the text. So listening to a sermon was being in the Book. They pondered the rich truths revealed in the Scriptures as a gemologist examines a ruby or a diamond.

We can all learn a great deal from this approach. The Puritans sounded a clarion call, as people of the Book; we should strive to become Word-centered in our faith and its practice. Then all those we touch will know we are people of the Book.

RefRev

Pluck Up

Pluck Up

How do you handle the difficulties of day-to-day life? This is a question I have often asked others and it is a question I often ask myself. After all, life does have its difficult moments, and none of us can expect to be completely spared.

There are difficulties that fall upon us that we cannot control. Yet there are also others that come from poor decisions we have made and these are the ones I am speaking about, the ones we have brought upon ourselves.

Some folks get angry, feeling they deserve a life free of difficulties, and struggle to cope when hard times fall upon them. Others take a more pessimistic view, believing they have somehow been assigned to failure, by a divine presence that cares little about them. Still others seek to place the blame on the perceived callousness of their environment or society as a whole.

Today there is little talk of the fall of mankind and the sinfulness that entered the world at that moment and continues today. We are often tempted to blame the difficulties we create by the choices we make on anything or anyone but ourselves, even God himself. It often seems the act of taking responsibility is not a popular course of action to follow. I believe we have all been guilty of this type of thinking at times.

Stepping up, taking responsibility, and acknowledging our failures is always the right way to go. It is a huge part of our maturing process as Christians. It keeps us balanced and on the straight and narrow path. It reminds me of some of my favorite lines in John Bunyan’s classic book, The Pilgrim’s Progress. As Christian begins his climb up the Hill of Difficulty he recites these words to himself,

“The Hill tho’ high, I covet to ascend,

 The difficulty will not me offend;

 For I perceive the way of life lies here:

 Come, pluck up, Heart, let ‘s neither faint nor fear;

 Better, tho’ difficult the right way to go,

 Than wrong, though easy, where the end is wo.

Pluck up and keep moving, it’s always the right way to go.

RefRev

ReformedRev's Quote of the Day

"A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship
        Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the
                word "darkness" on the wall of his cell."
                                      -  C.S. Lewis

The ReformedRev's Quote of the Day

     "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
        will rest in the shadow of the Almighty."
                       - Psalm 91:1 (NIV)

ReformedRev's Quote of the Day

         "A man's self is his greatest Cross."
                    - Fancois Fenelon