Fighting for Joy

My heart deeply longs for my glory. I long to be praised and exalted. I long to be made much of.

Apart from Christ, there is nothing beautiful in me. Apart from Christ, there is nothing worthy of praise in me. Apart from Christ, I am fallen in every way!

This dying world does not need more of me. This dying world needs more of Jesus Christ. When I reflect myself I do not love, for true love points others to what they need most deeply—namely, Jesus Christ.

Moments of abiding joy are moments of self-forgetfulness. They are moments when I stop living and allow Christ to live through me by His Spirit. They are moments when my eyes are fixed on Jesus Christ not myself.

Jesus glorify Yourself in me, because I cannot. Jesus help me lose myself in bringing You praise. Lord help me worship You not me.

Abiding

Jesus does not call us to do things for Him. He calls us to abide in Him. To know Him. To love Him. When we seek the Lord our hearts will be transformed and our outward actions will increasingly emulate His. He will transform us from the inside out.

"Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." -John 15:4-5

We must remain in relationship with Christ. The moment we step away from Him and pursue religion, we are unable to bear fruit, for fruit is born by Christ alone.

Therefore, in seeking to be more loving, more joyful, more peaceful, more patient, gentler, kinder, and more self-controlled only one thing is certain: failure. It is futile to pursue fruit we cannot cultivate! We instead need to pursue Jesus Christ, the Fruit-Bearer.

May we fix our eyes on Jesus Christ and allow the Spirit to stir our affections for Him. May we rest in our inadequacy apart from Him and our sufficiency in Him.

I Have Been Forgiven Much

³⁶ When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. ³⁷ A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. ³⁸ As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

³⁹ When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”

⁴⁰ Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

“Tell me, teacher,” he said.

⁴¹ “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. ⁴² Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

⁴³ Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”

“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

⁴⁴ Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. ⁴⁵ You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. ⁴⁶ You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. ⁴⁷ Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

Luke 7:36-47

People who do not know the darkness in my heart may look at my life and assume I am a "good" person. NO! I am not a good person! The good you see in me is Jesus Christ. Apart from Him I am incredibly broken and wayward. I cannot even imagine the life I would now be living if I did not know Jesus. It is His grace and love which restrains me from pursing the treasures and pleasures of this world.

Countless times I have rejected Christ. Countless times I have defamed His glory. Countless times I have rebelled against Him. My love and passion for Jesus Christ stem from deep awareness of my own failings. Truly I have been forgiven much!

While I was still sinning against Him, Christ died for me. He who knew no sin became sin for me so that in Him I might become the righteousness of God! Who am I to know Christ? Who am I to know freedom and healing in Him? Who am I to know perfect love? Who am I to know unending joy? Who am I to have the hope of Heaven because I have the Son?

I pour out my life for Christ not to be more spiritual or to be a better person. I pour out my life for Christ because I know how incredibly, incredibly, incredibly unworthy I am to know Him! In response to His free gift of life and forgiveness my heart fills with indescribable gratitude. He gave everything for me; the least I can do is give everything for Him!

"You're With Us" by Hillsong United

Beautiful God

Laying Your majesty aside

You reached out in love to show me life

Lifted from darkness into light

King for a slave

Trading Your righteousness for shame

Despite all my pride and foolish ways

Caught in Your infinite embrace

And I

Find myself here on my knees again

Caught up in grace like an avalanche

Nothing compares to this love, love, love

Burning in my heart

Jesus Help Us Abide!

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." -John 15:5

When our eyes are fixed on Christ and when we are abiding in relationship with Him, Jesus bears fruit in our lives to the glory of God. Consequently, the enemy does not want our eyes fixed on Jesus. He does not want us abiding in relationship with Christ...

The enemy will do everything in his power to draw our eyes from Jesus. He will do everything to make us trust in our own strength. He will do everything to make us believe we are sufficient in ourselves. He will do everything to keep us from God's grace in Jesus Christ.

To accomplish the described ends I believe the enemy deploys three tactics:

First, the enemy uses insecurity, comparison, shame and worry to draw our eyes from Jesus to ourselves. If we are in any of the described states we are not trusting fully in the Gospel and our eyes are not fully fixed on our Savior: If we feel insecure we are no longer finding security in Jesus and allowing His power to be perfected in our weakness. If we are comparing ourselves we are no longer turning to Christ for our sense of worth. If we are living in shame we are no longer finding our identity in Christ's righteousness. If we are worrying about the future we are no longer resting in God's promises, trusting He will provide and work for our good in all things.

If the enemy is not feeding us lies about our inadequacy, he is feeding us lies about our sufficiency. He convinces us we do not need Jesus in our day to day lives. He convinces us we can advance the Kingdom of God in our power. He convinces us prayer is a waste of time. He convinces us we do not need to petition the Spirit of Christ to move; we can move forth in our own power. He persuades us we can produce holiness and we can break free from captivity. He tempts us to trust in our righteousness rather than Christ's.

Finally, I believe the enemy pulls us from relationship with Christ by tempting us to find satisfaction in the world. He tempts us to build broken cisterns that cannot hold water. He tempts us to believe everything is not a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus Christ. He tempts us to trade Jesus for the fleeting pleasures and treasures of this life.

Oh Spirit fix our eyes on Jesus. We desperately need Your power. We are weak and prone to wander. We are easily deceived. Oh Jesus help us abide in relationship with You. Reveal Your surpassing greatness. Help us find satisfaction in You. Perfect Your power in our weakness. Help us decrease that You might increase! Bear fruit in our lives as we abide in relationship with You.

The Fruit of Surrender

The Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). We each are under God's wrath and we each have merited death—or eternal separation from God.

Jesus Christ was God in the flesh. He was tempted in every way and yet He was without sin. He was, therefore, the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all men.

Luke 22:41-42 describes Jesus praying to the Father before His crucifixion: "He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 'Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.' An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground" (Luke 22:41-42).

Jesus knew He was to be crucified. He knew He was to carry the weight of the world's sin. He knew He was to experience the wrath of God and experience Hell on behalf of sinners. In great anguish He pleads for His cup to be taken from Him, but it cannot be removed. He is the only hope for sinners, and knowing this to be true, Christ chooses to submit His will to the will of the Father. This is anything but an easy surrender.

¹⁰ Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
¹¹ After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
¹² Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
-Isaiah 53:10-12

Ultimately, because of Christ's submission to the will of the Father, Jesus justifies many. His obedience was not in vain! Christ's obedience, moreover, provides an example for His followers. As Christians we are called to radical obedience to Jesus. We are called to submit our wills wholly and completely to His.

"Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me." -Luke 9:23

Such a call is not an easy call. It is a call to death and suffering. Like Jesus, however, we can come before the throne of God and express our distress. We can tell Him we do not want to deny ourselves and carry our cross, and we can petition the Spirit of Christ to carry out what we cannot.

Christ's obedience was not in vain, and neither is ours! In dying to ourselves and allowing Christ to live through us our lives bear fruit to the glory of God. This world is not our home. Our lives are but a mist that appear for a little while and then vanish. Our purpose on this earth is to know Christ and make His name known.

In submitting His will to the will of the Father, Christ justified many. In the same way, in submitting our will to the will of Christ, our lives can be used to justify many! What a beautiful and sweet moment it will be to see the fruit of our obedience in Heaven! What a beautiful and sweet moment it will be to cast our crowns at the feet of our Savior!

Let us look to Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith. Let us follow His example in the power of His Spirit. Let us die to ourselves in this life and submit our will to Christ's that others might also be justified by faith.

Healing in Christ

⁴ Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

¹⁰ Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
¹¹ After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
¹² Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.

-Isaiah 53:4-6, 10-12

These words speak life to my soul. Jesus Christ offers so much more than legal forgiveness of wrongdoing and sin. He offers complete healing, restoration and resurrection to new life!

He took up our infirmities.

He bore our sin.

He was pierced for our transgressions.

He was crushed for our iniquities.

He carried our sorrows.

By His wounds we are healed.

Sin—sin committed by us and against us—is the root of all our wounds. To think Jesus died a gruesome death on the cross to heal us of the very things which crucified Him is inconceivable!

How many of us still carry sorrows! How many of us still live in shame, regret and guilt! How many of us have yet to experience forgiveness and how many of us have yet to allow Christ to anoint our wounds!

Jesus is calling to us, "Give Me your pain, shame, and sin. Allow Me to carry your sorrow. Allow Me to take up your infirmity. Allow Me to bear your iniquity."

"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need" (Hebrews 4:15-16). Jesus knows all. We do not need to hide from Him. We can enter His presence and acknowledge every sorrow, wound, sin, fear and doubt to Him. In return we can receive His healing Word and new life.

Let us thus approach the throne of grace.

Lead Us Back to You

Oh Jesus we are harassed and helpless
like sheep without a shepherd
Our wills weak
Our love small

Oh Jesus we are wandering
chasing after other lovers
but You Jesus
—You Jesus we have forgot

I am the good shepherd
the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep
I am the good shepherd
I know my sheep and my sheep know me—
just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—
and I lay down My life for the sheep!

Oh Jesus, You bore our sins
in Your body on the cross
so that we might die to sins
and live for righteousness
By Your wounds we have been healed
for we were like sheep going astray
but now we have returned—
returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls

Oh Jesus take upon Yourself our adulterous love
and give us love anew
Oh Jesus lead us back
—lead us back to You