Prayer

This past month , my Bible reading plan has focused on the topic of prayer. I do not want to write a book on prayer here, becasue many great books have covered this topic. I just wish to express some of the things that stood out to me from all of Scripture on the action of prayer. I read from Moses on prayer, David on prayer, saw the examples of Hezekiah and Elijah on prayer, I worked through the teaching of Jesus on prayer and saw how even the book of Revelation has much to teach us on prayer. The very action and life of prayer is in the Bible from the very beginning to the very end.

The first thing that jumped out to me on prayer was the truth that prayer is not an action we do as God lovers, but a life we live. We have heard the analogy that prayer is like the hot line to the White House or prayer is like a life line in the middle of the storm. The problem with those analogies is that they make prayer seem like a one time action or something we can turn to when we need to find reliance on God. But just a beginning glance through the life of David shows that prayer, to him, was not an action but a life. To both the shepherd boy and the King, prayer to David was a life of continuous and purposeful communion with His lover and God. David loved God above all else, which is why he is called a "man after God's own heart". So David, being the lover of God, was always in communication with Him. That is truly what prayer is, a life of perpetual fellowship, love, and communion with God.

The second aspect of prayer that I found amazing this month is the truth that prayer is an act of faith and trust. When we view prayer as an activity we do when we need to turn to God for strength, wisdom, or help, we tend to view prayer as an activity that will strengthen, grow, or keep our faith and trust in God. Prayer is in the most basic sense an act of faith already. When we commune with God in prayer and communication, we are already showing faith and trust in Him. Yes, God will respond and do things to our faith when we pray. But prayer is the simplest and easiest action of faith and trust that we can do. We need not make prayer more complicated or mystical than it truly is.

And the final thought on prayer that I found this month, is that, prayer is really about God and not us. The sad state of our Christian life is, the truth that we think our Christian life, our salvation, and our sanctification is about us. When in reality the Bible is very clear, everything is about God and more importantly about His glory. We were saved for His glory. We grow for His glory. And we pray and communicate with Him for His glory. When we come to God in prayer, we are either coming to confess, praise, gratitude, or ask something of God. In every single one of those areas, God's glory is the bottom line. Even when we come to ask God for help or bring a request to Him, God will answer it the way he chooses for His glory. This means that our prayer life will always be for His glory, not our betterment. So when we approach prayer for the glory of God, our prayer lives will look, not like a hot line for help, but like a lover basking in the glory of the one they love. Prayer is and must always be about God.

Piety

When we hear the word piety what comes into our minds? I would guess, either one of two images pop into our minds when we hear this word. First, when we think of piety, we might think of a monk in a monastery in some European village. We see the monk going about his daily rituals and living a life in seclusion that is all about worship but lacks any contact with the outside world. Second, when we hear the word piety, we might image an old traditional religious type of faith that is connected to the medieval church that was full of liturgical and ritualistic actions that seem to have no real meaning. What both of these images have in common is that when most Christians hear the word piety, negative thoughts or pictures probably come to mind. And this creates, in the mind of the Christian, a thought that piety is not something we need or even want today in our lives of following Jesus.

The problem is, piety is an amazing word and way a life that every Christian must have, if they are to live a life for the glory of God. I recently have been reading John Calvin's thoughts on piety and have come to understand that all Christians must have a pious life or, in fact, they are not even christian's at all. The word piety comes from the Latin word, pietas. Pietas means, "having the right attitude toward God". So to have piety in our lives as Christians, means that we have the right view and attitude towards God. To live a pious life, means to live life with the right view and understanding of who God is. And then a pious life would respond in actions accordingly, to this view and attitude toward God.

Here are the ways Calvin describe a person that was full of piety; true knowledge of who God is, a heartfelt continuous worship, a saving visible faith, a reverent respectful fear, a life of prayerful submission, and a deep overflowing love. All of these attributes of a person full of piety are attitudes, actions, and thoughts towards God. If we were to describe ourselves in all of these ways, we would be calling ourselves a Christian. Every single Christian wants to fully understand and know the truth of who God is and what He is doing in this world. Every single Christian would claim to live a life that is bent towards the glory of God through a life of worship. All Christian would in their lives, show their faith and trust in God through action and taking risk. I hope all Christian have a respectful fear for God becasue He is the only one who can save and judge. The heart of every Christian is a heart of prayer that fully depends upon the power of God and prayer is the clearest way to show submission to God. And finally to be a Christian is to be a lover of God becasue a true Christian knows that they can only love God becasue He first loved us. So these attributes of piety I would hope and pray describe every Christian.

So with this understand of true piety, I hope we can say that piety is not an old traditional monkish faith that has no place in the real world. To be a person full of piety, based upon this definition from Calvin, is to be a true believer in God. So we would all say, if we are truly lovers of God, that we are a people of true piety. Now we just need to ask, are we truly a people of piety or is this an area that we need to grow in, in our lives and love for God?

Methods of growing into the image of Christ

I recently finished reading through a book on Christian discipleship and spiritual growth. This book discussed the many different ways that we as Christian can grow in our godliness and Christ like image. It spent much time talking about Bible reading, prayer life, accountability, evangelizing , and using spiritual gifts in the local church. But this book also pointed out a few areas and actions that Christians can find growth in, that are not normally seen. The book stated that we as Christian can find growth in a few places that we might not expect. We can grow more like Jesus in a few actions that we might not be ready to find growth in. I wanted to think about three of those places that we do not ordinarily look to for help in our Christian growth.

The first place that surprises many Christians in helping produce growth in their life, is ordinary means of grace. Many times it is the simple act that we do in our lives that will produce growth. Most times, as God's children, we tend to think big, broad, and even miraculous for growth. But God more times than not uses the simple actions and activities in life to produce growth. Baptism and the Lord Supper are two of the simple activities and ordinary means of God's grace that will produce growth. When we go through baptism or participate with our local church in communion, growth will be produced and it will produced to the point that we might not even notice it. But as the author states, through our baptism and witnessing continuous others baptism or through the frequent and continuous participation in the Eucharist, God will produce growth into our life. But God also uses other ordinary activities of grace to produce growth. God will use our helping an old lady across the street, a thank you card, a fellowship meal, or even a quiet date with our spouse, to bring growth in our lives. These are all means of God's grace in our lives, and we as God's children, should not only see these things as good gifts from God, but also ways that He will produce growth.

A second way that God brings growth to our lives is through the participating with our local church. This act is simple. We show up for church each and every week. We sing the worship songs to God. We surrender in the act of worship through tithing. And we listen intently as the Word of God is taught. Yes, we are to participate much deeper than this, but in more ways than one, simply showing up each an every week will produce growth in our lives. Making the gathered body of Christ, not only the most important thing in the week, but also the activity that dictates the rest of the week, will bring about growth and a godliness to the life of a Christ lover. We tend to think much deeper at times in searching for growth, but just visibly making God's gathered people first will bring growth. We need to realize this area of growth becasue if we don't, when our "duty" ends for a period, we will miss the opportunities that God wants us to grow by just simply showing up. Our church body growth can be much deeper than just the Sunday service attendance, but it will always start here and go from there. We can't miss the value and growth found in being there for our church body, each and every week.

The final area that will produce growth in our lives for Jesus, that we miss more times than not, is looking to the coming of Jesus. We as Christians in the 21st century, live, post Cross. This means Jesus is right now seated at the right hand of the Father in total control of everything. And one day, God the Father, is going to turn to His Son, and say it is time to gather the body. Then Jesus will return for His bride, in all His glory and revealing, and as they say, "the rest is history". We as Jesus lovers must look towards this day with an anticipation. In looking towards the return of Christ, we will find and produce growth in our lives. We will find the truth that we are aliens in this world. We will see that we are here on a mission in a foreign country. We will produce perseverance and courage in the face of opposition. We will produce a dissatisfied contentment. And this is all growth found in the view of looking forward. Yes, we must be looking to make disciples here and now. But we must also be looking towards the coming of the King. And this view will produce growth in our lives, if we let it.

So these are 3 areas in the life of a Christian that will produce growth, that we might not have thought of. The question now is, do we see and live in these 3 areas to find growth in Christ? Or are we missing so many ways that God will produce growth in our lives, if we let Him?

Principles of giving

I have recently been reading in my spare time some writings on giving. I have wanted to come to a better understanding what it means to give, why giving is important, being commanded to give, and how giving unfolds in a life that is strapped for cash. Reading many different resources on the topic of giving (with the help of one resource in particular) I have found 4 important principles for giving.

1)The Stewardship Principle
Nothing is my own. God owns everything single thing. God being the creator and then commander of the universe, means that He owns everything. My life is not my own. My house is not my own. My car is not my own. My paycheck is not my own. My education is not my own. My family is not my own. This means that it is my job to take care, steward, and be a wise manager of what is all God's. This means the clearest way I worship God and give to God is by being a wise, honorable, godly steward for Him.

2)The Treasure Principle
I was born naked with nothing. I will die naked with nothing. This means that I can't take anything with me and nothing material is eternal. I can however store up treasure for myself, by living a life of worship and giving to God. When I give to the work of God, I am storing up in heaven a treasure. When I pour my life into another person, I am giving to God and storing up in heaven. This means that I must live life with an open hand and think about life in the view of the eternal.

3)The Giving Principle
Since nothing is truly mine, and God commands me to give, the only things I get to keep are the things I give away. God has commanded me to give and tells that His children will give. This means that if I love Jesus, I will delight and desire to give. This also means that when I store up my treasures in heaven, that is what is truly mine. Since we live in the eternal, the giving of life is what we have. And it also shows that what I try to keep for myself, God, if I am His, will take it from my hands and give it to another, who will steward and give from it. God's children will live sacrificially and give at all cost, as much as they can.

4)The Source Principle
Since everything is God's, we can only store up treasures in heaven, and we are commanded to give, we are simply a conduit for God to give to others through us. We are simply instruments in the hand of God. God does not need us, but will use us if we let Him. So we must be open and ready for God to give through us. When we give, God is giving His resources through us. When God leads us to sacrifice greatly from ourselves, we are simply letting God give what is His through us in an act of worship. Giving means that it is God working through our worship to bless and give grace to others.

The Narrative

As I think of a story, I tend to think of the characters and how they relate. The story of human history, the Bible, characters and how they relate to one another is important. There are no bigger character relationships in the story of the Bible than the relationship between God and mankind. If I were to describe this relationship in one word, that word would be covenant. Webster’s dictionary defines the word covenant as; a formal binding agreement between multiple parties. Covenant is an important word for describing the relationship between God and mankind, because since the very beginning of the story God has been in a specific purposeful promised agreement with man. As the covenant relationship between God and mankind unfolds, so too does the story with God and mankind. So to understand the Biblical narrative, we must understand the flow of the covenant relationship we have with God.

The first covenant that the story of the Bible comes to is the covenant of works. God has just created the entire universe, including human beings, and now sets out to establish His rule through man in creation. God covenants with Adam and tells him to get to work. Genesis 1:28 states, “God blessed them and said to them, ‘be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth’”. This is the first command given by God to mankind and it includes working hard to rule in the place of God and spread His glory over all of the earth. God makes His first promise to man, if only man can keep his end of the agreement.

But the problem with Adam was that he was not perfect and disobeyed God immediately after this covenant was established. God, being a loving and gracious God formed another covenant with Adam and the human race, a better covenant. This is the covenant of grace and throughout the remainder of history, this covenant continues to unfold. This covenant of grace finds its very beginning in Genesis 3:16. In this verse God tells the now sinful man and woman, “I will put enmity between you [the serpent/Satan] and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel”. This is the first promise in the covenant of grace, that God guarantees one will come who will destroy the work of sin and eventually lead mankind back into a right relationship with the covenant God.

But the covenant of grace has depth beyond what Genesis 3 teaches. In the story of Noah, God adds to this covenant when He declares another promise to mankind in Genesis 9:11, “I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth”. Now God in His covenant relationship with mankind has declared a promise in that He will never destroy the earth again by a flood and gives the sign of a rainbow as a promise symbol.

God deepens the covenant, in the story with Abraham. In Genesis 17:7 God declares, “And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you”. The Covenant of Grace through Abraham, now adds the fact that blessing will come in the future deliverer and that God will be God to all of Abraham’s generations. This adds to the covenant of grace an element of future blessing and eternal security.

The covenant of grace gets more beautiful when the children of Israel come onto the scene. In Exodus 19:5-6 God adds the element that the other party in this covenant of grace will be his holy possession. God states, “now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation”. This covenant of God is through a people, for a people, to fully make a people His own.

In the story of King David, we find our next element of the covenant. Not only do we see the promise to King David in a promised redeemer who will come through David’s family, but we also find out this coming Messiah will also be a King. God declares to David, “And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever” (2 Samuel 7:16). This means that the covenant of grace given to David will be enteral and the coming King will reign for all eternity.

But even with God adding layers to the covenant of grace throughout the centuries, mankind still needs help to keep their end of the agreement. God makes a promise that one day He will make a way, through the redeemer, for His holy possession to have the ability to keep their end of the covenant. God through His covenant mouthpiece, states, “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they shall be my people” (Jeremiah 31:33). God finally tells his people that in His grace, he will give them a heart transplant that will enable them to declare with their lips He is Lord and have the ability in their lives to keep the covenant.

The covenant of grace comes into full view when the promised mediator arrives. Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah comes as a better Adam, Noah, Abraham, child of Israel, and King David. This means that Jesus is the only true one that will keep the human part of the covenant. But even though Jesus comes as the only perfect covenant keeper, He dies like a covenant breaker so that all the other covenant breakers are given a way back to God. As Galatians 3:13 states, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law (covenant stipulations) by becoming a curse for us (the lawbreakers). So for those who believe in Jesus, life can be enjoyed through the covenant of grace.

Because of Jesus and His covenant keeping life, the covenant of grace can come full circle. The covenant of grace began in the garden of Eden when God had to make a better covenant because Adam broke the first covenant. One day, thanks to the life of Christ keeping the first Covenant, all of those who have trusted and believed in Him, who are given the covenant of grace, will be able to enjoy the perfect garden again. When the perfect mediator and covenant keeper returns for His holy nation, the covenant of grace will be no more, as God will have no need for a covenant as His creation is once more restored into a perfect life for all eternity. In fact, all of eternity will be a celebration of the covenant of grace.

Funeral Help

A friend recently asked me for helping in finding good passages from the Bible for a funeral or memorial service. Being involved with a service like this can be very challenging. But I have found, the more I let God speak, through His Word, the better the service will be in glorifying Him and encouraging those who have lost a loved one. So today I thought I would share a good list of the different passages that could speak into a funeral service. I have listed each passage under different topics that would be included in a service like this.

Shortness of Life
-Job 8:9
-Psalms 39:4-5; 90:1-17; 103:15-18
-James 4:13-15

Death or loss of life
-Job 9:23-26
-Ecclesiastes 5:15; 12:1-8
-Hebrews 9:27
-Revelation 1:18

Heaven
-John 14:1-3
-1 Corinthians 2:9
-2 Corinthians 4:13-18; 5:1-5
-1 John 3:2-3
-Revelations 14:13; 21:1-4, 9-27; 22:1-5

Protection
-Psalms 23; 27:1-5; 46:1-11; 91:1-16; 121:1-8
-Romans 8:26-39; 14:8-9

Resurrection
-Daniel 12:2-3
-Matthew 28:1-15
-Mark 16:1-13
-Luke 24:1-49
-John 5:25-29; 11:21-27; 20:1-23
-1 Corinthians 15:12-20
-Philippians 3:20-21
-1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
-1 Peter 1:3-5

Suffering or hardship
-Romans 8:18
-2 Corinthians 4:16-18
-Philippians 1:29; 3:10

I pray this list of God's Word and passages that would help in a funeral service, encourage you and help in having the right focus and perspective during a challenging time like loss and death.