DG Conference: Power of Words and the Wonders of God

I just returned from the 2008 DG conference. Paul Tripp, one of the speakers blew me away and I wanted to share some notes that I took during his talk. His and the other conference videos can be found at http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1423_conference_video/

I highly encourage you to listen to them.

You may not understand all the quotes, and that is okay. I pray that these are enough to spark an interest in you that you will watch the video.

"The very first words were spoken by God not man."

"If God does not rule in the mundane parts of your life, then he does not rule you at all, becasue that is where you live."

"Word problems are heart problems."

"We want to believe that communication problems are not an inside (heart) problem but and outside of "me" problem."

"I AM my greatest communication problem"

"I live in the claustrophobic confines of my self."

"How much of your anger has anything to do with the Kingdom of God?"

"Grace does not improve your kingdom, it calls you to a new kingdom."

"Word/heart problems are not fixed horizontally but vertically."

"Love is willing self-sacrifice for the redemptive good of another that doesn't demand reciprocation, or that person being loved is deserving."

"Do your words make others want to draw near you and trust you, or do they devour others?"

Priority List

I believe I have used incorrect terminology in the past and I would like to take a moment and correct it. With regards to prioritizing things in our lives, I know many times I have said and have heard others say God first, family second, work third, and so on. But that is wrong. God is not at the top of our priority list, He is our priority list. He is what makes our priority list. Philippians 1:21 says, "for to me to live is Christ …" Everything in our life is to be lived in a way that glorifies Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. I was reading a book titled, "The Leadership Dynamic" and it said, "Believers' lives should be Christ-centered and Christ-consumed. As the lordship of Christ transforms us, the priorities of life will, of necessity, be established by him as our Lord. Personal formation, family formation, church participation, and community impact will be the result. Leaders show the way by their Christ-centered and Christ-consumed lives framed by Christ-given priorities as we live our lives fully and completely given to him" (pg. 57).

I hope this challenges the way you think as I know it has challenged me.

Faith that results in praise, honor, and glory

During my personal worship time today I was reading through the book of 1 Peter. I had not gotten very far when I read verses 6 and 7:

⁶ In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷ These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

After I read these verses I found it hard to continue reading without really thinking about the meaning and importance of these two verses. Perhaps because I feel as though I am going through many trials in my own life right now I knew I could not continue without really meditating on what God had to say to me through His word in these verses.

Peter uses the word "trials" here because he is not talking about persecution but the very things that we go through each day. The troubles we may have with a co-worker, family problems, financial struggles, consequence of poor decisions, etc… is I believe what he is referring too. Notice that in the beginning of verse 6, Peter says we are to be rejoicing. Is he crazy? How can he say our attitude needs to be one of joy when we are going through things that cause us to "suffer grief"?

The answer is given in verse 7 when he says that these trials we are going through validate our faith. Trials prove not to God (he already knows) but to us and others the genuineness of our faith. And when we see that our faith is genuine and that we are growing closer to God on a daily basis we will have even more joy. The trials are really a means of producing more joy in our lives. I know that sounds crazy and impossible but it is true. We understand this more when we began to understand what it means for gold to be refined. In order to obtain precious pure gold it must be refined and that means it must be placed in the fire. The reason gold is placed in fire is so that all the dross (impurities or waste) might be removed. It is said that the goldsmith would keep the metal in the fire until he could see his face in it, then he would know it was pure. Likewise, God uses trials in our lives as fire so we might properly reflect the glory and beauty of Jesus Christ.

But hold on, we are not done yet we must read the last part of verse 7. The result of us going through trials is so our faith might be proved genuine and so when Christ returns he will bestow praise, glory, and honor upon us. We can see the truth of this in the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:21 where Jesus says, "'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'"

MacArthur says, "true saving faith and its resultant good works always receive divine commendation". Yes, I will rejoice in trials knowing that Jesus is increasing my faith and making it even more precious and pure than it was before. Not only should I rejoice in trials but I should feel honored that God is drawing me closer to Him through the trials. I pray that this is encouraging to you as you may be going through various trials. Be sure to share with other Christians the trials you are going through so that you might have more prayer and support as the impurities of your faith are being removed. To God be all the glory.

Spiritual Discipline of Waiting on God

I believe it is very important to develop spiritual disciplines in our lives as Christians. We need to learn to read and study the Bible. We must know the importance of self-denial, fasting, and fellowship. There are many others but currently I have been learning the discipline of waiting on God.

I have begun reading a devotional called The Believers Secret of Waiting On God by Andrew Murray. Murray used a military illustration to show the importance and necessity of waiting on God. He said a military unit will not advance until it has the proper instructions and provisions. How true that must be for our lives also. How can we really live for God without waiting on Him for instruction and provision. We must be filled with the Spirit before we ever take a step.

This waiting on God does not come naturally to us. We as humans often forget how truly dependent we are on God. We wake in the morning, eat breakfast, go to work, do a few errands, eat dinner, spend time with our family and friends, go to a movie, sleep and then we repeat the whole cycle the next day. Human beings are an amazing creation but because of our God-given abilities we at times forget we must completely depend on God. I want to share quote by Murray on how he says we are to cultivate a spirit that waits on God.

"Before you pray, bow quietly before God, to remember and realize who He is, how near He is, how certainly He can and will help. Be still before Him and allow His Holy Spirit to waken and stir up in your soul the childlike disposition of absolute dependence and confident expectation. Wait on God as a living being, as the living God, who notices you and is longing to fill your every need. Wait on God till you know you have met Him; prayer will then become so different.
And when you are praying, let there be intervals of silence, reverent stillness of soul, in which you yield yourself to God, in case he may have something He wishes to teach you or to work in you. Waiting on Him will become the most blessed part of prayer, and the answer to your prayer will be twice as precious since it is the fruit of your fellowship with the Holy One. God has so ordained it, in harmony with His holy nature and with ours, that waiting on Him should be the honor we give Him. Let us bring Him the service gladly and truthfully. He will reward it abundantly." (pg. 28-29).

Psalm 62:5 "For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him."