Settle Down Don’t lose your passion and energy; take charge of it Scripture:

The “restless” aspect of the Young, Restless, Reformed movement is something of a mixed blessing. Restlessness per se is is of course no great virtue. But the energy, intensity, drive, and passion that underlie the restless tendencies of our young adult years are wonderful assets that hold great potential for good. They can be-and should be-harnessed and put to work for Christ’s kingdom. As a matter of fact, a lively enthusiasm for spiritual things is one of the best features of the YRR movement, and it is precisely what the church of Christ needs after a few generations of increasing indifference about sound biblical doctrine. Apathy is malignant. It breeds lukewarmness, which is more despised by our Lord than either complete coldness or fiery fanaticism (Revelation 3:16). So I’m grateful for the keen interest the YRR movement has shown in gospel-centered doctrine and preaching. I understand the value of the energy and enthusiasm young adults seem to bring to every conference and each conversation I have with them. My encouragement to them is this: Don’t squander your youthful vigor on mere restlessness. Apply yourself to humble service for the cause of Christ within the context of the church. Remember that “whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all” (Mark 10:43-44). Meanwhile here are three crucial biblical virtues to cultivate. These will keep us from becoming unsettled and restless: Steadfastness One mark of spiritual health and stamina that gets far too little notice these days is steadfastness. Stability. Constancy. Firmness of heart. Those are qualities Scripture repeatedly and emphatically commends. The righteous person “is like a tree planted,” while the wicked “are like chaff that the wind drives away” (Psalm 1:3-4). Paul told the restless Corinthians, “Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58). In Colossians 1:23, he encourages believers to “continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard.” Firmness of faith is a grossly undervalued quality (Colossians 2:5; 3:14). To be sure, there is a variety of stubborn obstinacy that is carnal and sinful, but true steadfastness-unwavering commitment to the truth God has revealed in His Word-is high virtue. Secular culture tells us that is not the case. In fact, one of the few remaining taboos our culture more or less universally insists on nowadays is the unwritten social ban against believing that the Bible really is the authoritative Word of God. Sadly, even in the church, real steadfastness is a pretty rare commodity. I know a few Christian leaders who take pride in shifting their theological stance every few years or so, renouncing the very truths they formerly were best known for. One man who does this on a fairly regular basis published an article a few years ago, explaining that in his view the quintessential mark of true humility is a tendency to change one’s mind. That is far from the biblical perspective, of course. But it highlights one of my concerns about the current popularity of the YRR movement. Does this movement truly respect rock-solid convictions on the part of its adherents, or is it just another temporary fad? No less than Time magazine cited “The New Calvinism” as one of ten ideas currently changing the world. At first glance, that certainly seems a reason to celebrate. If, on the other hand, the current popularity of the YRR movement is merely a passing fad (like its immediate predecessor, the so-called Emerging Church movement), it could leave serious disaster in its wake. Such an outcome might have a negative impact on the health of the church for years. Don’t follow trends just because they are trendy. More specifically, don’t affirm any doctrinal stance just because it happens to be in vogue. In fact, an appeal to what’s stylish is a very good reason to regard a movement with the utmost suspicion. We’re not to be blown about by every wind of doctrine (Ephesians 4:14). But hold fast to your confession of faith with rock-solid conviction and without wavering (Hebrews 10:23). If we truly believe as we should, when the truth of God’s Word falls far enough out of fashion, we must be willing to die for our faith. That is precisely what Jesus meant in Matthew 10:38, when He said, “whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” Seriousness That reminds us what a serious business it is to serve Christ and be faithful to the gospel. Despite what you may have heard, Christ’s call to follow Him is not an invitation to a party. Following in His steps is not a light-hearted jubilee-not on this side of heaven, anyway. He calls us to sober-minded maturity and serious self-sacrifice: Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, “This man began to build and was not able to finish.” Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? (Luke 14:27-31). Scripture is full of commands to be sober-minded, circumspect, grown up in our thinking, mature in our understanding, and fully grounded in sound doctrine: “Think with sober judgment” (Romans 12:3). “Do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature” (1 Corinthians 14:20). “We [should] no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine” (Ephesians 4:14). “Let us keep awake and be sober” (1 Thessalonians 5:6). “You ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child” (Hebrews 5:12-13). “Always be sober-minded” (2 Timothy 4:5). That is just a small sampling of texts that stress this truth. Sobriety is counter-cultural nowadays. Even the most-watched “news” programs on television are those that parody everything. To follow that pattern in our thinking-much less our public ministry-is to disobey many clear commandments of Scripture. Self-control Finally, there is perhaps no more important or more valuable application for youthful energy than the pursuit of self-control. Scripture instructs us to flee youthful lusts (2 Timothy 2:22). That admonition includes an emphatic warning against every kind of sexual immorality, of course (1 Corinthians 6:18). But it is by no means limited to that. We are likewise commanded to flee the love of money (1 Timothy 6:10-11); flee idolatry (1 Corinthians 10:14); and flee every other kind of fleshly passion that wages war against the soul (1 Peter 2:11). The reason Paul refers to such things as “youthful lusts” is that we never feel those passions more powerfully than when we are in that young-and-restless stage of life. Postmodern Western society thinks it’s a good thing to indulge in youthful passions-particularly in one’s youth-and sadly that mentality has to a very large degree crept into evangelical culture. That’s the main reason so many church programs and activities aimed at students for decades now have emphasized fun and games at the expense of biblical teaching. Over the long term, that approach has been disastrous. It has stunted the growth and spiritual prosperity of the church. One of the bright hopes of the YRR movement is that it presents us with a golden opportunity to see a true change of direction. Though the world expects and encourages people to indulge youthful lusts, we know that God demands something different. May He empower you to live out such a difference. Available online at: http://www.gty.org/blog/B110823 COPYRIGHT (C) 2011 Grace to You You may reproduce this Grace to You content for non-commerical purposes in accordance with Grace to You’s Copyright Policy (http://www.gty.org/connect/Copyright).

i found myself reading Revelation 22 and the words uttered by the Lord in verses 7, 12 and 20, captivated my heart. Those words were “I AM COMING SOON”, normally we’re all excited about the latest stuff coming out in the market, like the iPad 2, the latest movie, book or fad, but when it comes to the coming of our Lord it seems like we’re not that excited.

I’ll be the first to admit that I am also one of those who feel afraid, but when i read verses 12-16 of Revelation 22 the Lord changed something in my heart. The Lord says “I am coming soon! MY REWARD IS WITH ME, AND I WILL GIVE TO EVERY ONE ACCORDING TO WHAT HE HAS DONE…”

And while I was meditating on these verses i found myself thanking God and worshipping Him. I know that the motivation for being excited for the Lord’s coming should not just be the reward, but i believe we who are believers are like soldiers who come home after a long tour of duty and finally experience the reward of rest, who finally get to reap the rewards of their labor in the battlefield. Same goes for us, ours will be a homecoming that celebrates the victory that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And the person who is picking us up to go to that homecoming is none other than JESUS CHRIST Himself, coming to take us home after a long tour of duty here on earth. I pray that we will be like Paul who fought the good fight, who kept the faith and finished the race.

Jesus is telling us “I am coming soon!” hold on a little more, so let us lay up for ourselves treasures in Heaven not on the earth.

“When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, ‘the Lord has done great things for them’. The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy… those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.

To be set free must be one of the most surreal experiences that any man can experience. As verse one tells us “they were like men who dreamed” or in some “men restored to health”. These verses relate to us the joy that the Jews felt when they were finally set free from Babylonian captivity. And narrates to us as well OUR own emancipation from slavery. Brethren, we too were once captives and slaves, captives of the lusts of our hearts and slaves to sin.

We did not want God, and the worst part of our slavery to sin was that we did not know it. Were it not for the grace of God, we would not have known that we were slaves. But thank God, that at some point in our lives God opened our eyes and hearts to see the true nature of our condition, and then we cried out for freedom, TRUE FREEDOM.

It was freedom from the bondage and pleasure of our sins that we were freed from! Sins that offended the holiness and majesty of God.

And when we were set free, we too were like “men who dreamed” “men restored to health”, because we were renewed by the grace and mercy of God. Our tongues were filled with laughter and songs of joy, we were celebrating! Indeed the Lord has done a great thing for us, and we are filled with joy.

Brethren the measure of a man is not found in the material things that he gains, for what profits a man if he gains the whole world but forfeits his soul?  Our joy is not found in what we could have, but rather on WHAT WE DO HAVE, and what we have is the Pearl of Great price, We have Christ who is our all in all.

God has done great and mighty things, and the greatest and mightiest of all is the salvation and reconciliation of sinners like you and me, when sin abounded God’s grace abounded even more.

May we all draw near to the cross of Christ and continue to meditate on the Salvation that has been graciously given to us, and may the truth that we know in our minds engage and captivate our hearts,

Many times in a Christian’s life, Christ fades into the background of life, and suddenly we get so used to Him being in our life that Christ becomes routine. Just recently all that changed for me and major repenting happened in my life, because of that simple statement, “WE’RE DOING BETTER THAN WE DESERVE”, you see ultimately if you are a genuine Christian, no matter what you are going through in life, when you look at who you are in Christ and what He has done for us WE ARE DOING BETTER THAN WE DESERVE.

Many times we think that we’re not getting what we deserve, but frankly speaking if got what we deserved we would have been in hell last week, but we’re not.

Let us continue to look at life from an eternal perspective and set our sights on the LORD.

My meditation of Psalm 33 particularly verse 13 has brought so much joy and encouragement in my heart that i commend you to read and meditate on it as well.

I love the part in v.13 where it says “From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind” ALL MANKIND! I had to stop at this point because this truth just floored me, can you imagine, God sees All mankind, and I’m not just talking about events, but more importantly He sees ALL that pertains to mankind. And this point brought peace to my heart. How? Because as a child of God, as we journey on this earth from day to day isn’t it true that many times we experience pain, joy, sadness and a whole other truckload of emotions? It gave me peace in my heart to know that God knows, He knows what I am going through, He knows my fears, my insecurities and what nots. To have a God who knows my condition and my plight gives hope in my heart, and most of all it gives me a deeper appreciation, no let me correct  myself here, it gives me a deeper love for the gospel and my salvation.

Because it made me realize, that the only reason why I am able to take comfort in the fact that God is watching me is because of the fact that He first chose me. He chose me to be His child even before time ever existed, and this, despite knowing PERFECTLY well who I am and would be. God saw from Heaven my need of Salvation and from a distance He condescended and came down to the earth in the person of Jesus to live the perfect life for me, and to die for me, and to live again to defeat my greatest enemy sin and death.

I came to realize that precisely because “From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind” He sent His Son to the earth for the greatest rescue mission of all time. He rescued us not only from hell, but from ourselves.

I hope and pray that as we continue in this life as sojourners, that we continue to thank God for the cross and to continue to marvel and be amazed at the glory of God.

To God be all the glory!

I recently taught on this passage at our youth fellowship and one of the things that has struck me is the intense hunger that David had for the presence of the Lord. A brief background check on this Psalm reveals that during this time David was in the desert hiding from his son who wanted to kill him and take his throne. Wow! talk about family breakdown, i would assume that not only was David in distress physically, but more so emotionally because his own son wanted to kill him, and yet despite this here we find the man after God’s own heart just wanting one thing.

He wanted the nearness of God, he cries out “O God you are MY God..my body longs for you”, talk about hunger. And this is my exhortation to all of us for this post, “Are you Hungry?”. In our lives we go through many trials and temptations, but more than the relief to our sufferings, do we seek God’s presence IN THE MIDST OF THE SUFFERING that we may gain a deeper understanding of the word “grace”?

Because the God that is being longed for by David in this passage is a God who is alive, who is Awesome in majesty, unequaled in strength, gracious, loving, holy, just, righteous…and we can go on until we run out of adjectives and still we will not be able to fully describe Him. HE IS THE PERFECTION OF EVERY BEAUTY. I believe that this is why David longed for God, because he knew that only God can satisfy.

Like David, we too “have seen the power and glory” of God. Every time we have our quiet times, go to church, worship, open our Bibles (and read it), when we go to youth group or Bible study. And yet for all that we have learned and known through all of these things, has it led us to want more of God?

A true glimpse and experience of the glory and presence of God makes us want more of Him. Again my dear friends, ARE YOU HUNGRY? or is all that we know a mere intellectual knowledge that satisfies those around us?  I hope not.

I pray that we will experience more of God and His overwhelming greatness and grace that we may truly see a generation for Jesus.

Isn’t it the same way with God? many times in our lives God “Rocks our World” so that we are reminded of His glory and awesomeness. Many of the most intense times of our lives, in terms of trials have taught us much about God and His love and grace.

God, in His infinite goodness, when He moves in our lives and wants to teach us something makes sure that we will not forget it, it makes a definite impression in our lives and is engraved in our hearts.

While meditating on Psalm 18 this morning I was once again brought back to a realization that God is a God who answers prayers and shows us how great and mighty He is. I believe that this psalm is a picturesque example of how much God cares for His children, in verse 3 we find the psalmist crying out to God for help, then in verse 7 God hears him, and in apocalyptic and armageddon (i hope i spelled it right) type descriptions, the writer of the psalm tells us how God reacts to His child’s plea for help in the face of unjust treatment by His enemies. You really have to read and meditate on this passage to get what I am saying. And in verse 17 we find the most majestic rescue from the face of adversity.

God, “rocks the world”, to save His child. And that is what God did for us when He chose us to be His children, the Cross of Christ literally “rocked our world” and turned our whole life upside down in order for us to taste and see that the Lord is good.

Are you going through trials? feeling depressed and alone lately? Try meditating on The Cross. I assure you it will ROCK YOUR WORLD.