refuge of repentance | Stray Thoughts

Some of the good reads found this week:

Why Pray Prayers of Adoration? “Why do we need to pray prayers of adoration? In my unceasing love for efficiency, I’ve asked this question many times. Doesn’t God already know who He is and what He’s like? Why do I need to remind Him repeatedly of His own character? Maybe you’ve quietly asked questions like these at some point in your life with God. When your to-do list includes more items than your day allows, it can feel like spending whatever minutes you have petitioning God for needed help makes the most sense, not naming His many attributes. The truth is our need to adore God is greater than any other need.”

I Will Most Gladly. “Rather than being in danger of losing myself as I served my family, I usually faced the opposite danger of holding myself back, of measuring out my service. Too often I’ve missed the blessing that comes from giving all I have, then witnessing the Lord’s provision as he meets me at the bottom of the empty barrel and gives me more to spend. So I set these words where I would see them daily.”

The Refuge of Repentance. “These song lyrics by author Michael Ledner, made popular by the musical group Selah, are based on Psalm 32:7: ‘You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah‘ (Psalm 32:7 NASB95). Surprisingly, though, the context of those words is not deliverance from an enemy but from sin through confession.”

Hiding from God. “Unfortunately, when one discipline goes haywire, it affects others. Prayer, for instance. I’ve realized that when I feel I’m failing at my Bible reading plan, I tend to avoid prayer, as if God won’t want to hear from me because I lost three weeks in Leviticus and can’t seem to make up the difference in a timely manner. In a sense, I’m attempting to hide from God like he’s an angry, disappointed father, although I know that’s a lie. This desire for spiritual perfection is really a cancer in my walk with Christ, because it keeps me from experiencing the joy and abundant life that Jesus came to provide for me. That rest and peace is right in front of me, that delight in God’s word, that life-giving truth, but I can’t see it for the list of rules that I impose upon myself. I identify with the Pharisees, except I do see Jesus for who He is.”

Winter’s Cold and Heaven’s Joy. “There are views, scenes, and landscapes that are almost too beautiful to behold. But few things move me more deeply than a Christian who holds joyfully steadfast under severe trial. Few things are more supernatural than a person who knows the Lord’s providence has directed a great loss, yet who continues to love and serve him all the more. True faith is especially vivid and beautiful when it takes the form of unshakable joy.”

What Does It Mean to Live at Peace with Everyone? “Jesus didn’t say, ‘Blessed are the conflict avoiders.’ He said, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers’ (Mt 5:9). Peacemakers are active, intentional, and sometimes face uncomfortable situations.”

Wear Your Own Armor, HT to Challies. This is written to pastors, but applicable in many ways to all of us. The author uses David not being able to use Saul’s armor in his fight against Goliath as a metaphor for not trying to model our ministry for the Lord like other people do.

Why Nietzsche Was Wrong About Weakness, HT to Challies. “Paul’s calculus is upside down: More suffering in my life means more of Jesus at work in me. This logic collides with our culture’s instincts. We’re obsessed with bravado, with bullying, with pathetic claims to power that must look so small to the God of the universe.”