Lacking No Good Thing

"Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack!
The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing." Psalm 34:9-10

As we all know, the Christmas season is a time for gift giving. It is the time of year where we all make lists for all the 'stuff' that we so desire. It is the time of year to ask others, "what do you want for Christmas?" Not that giving gifts is bad in itself, but the consumeristic nature of modern Christmas does reveal something about our hearts. The craving for more 'stuff' and newer 'things' shows the deep longings that exist in our hearts. It shows that no matter how much 'stuff' we have, we will still want more.

However, as Psalm 34 points out, those who fear and trust fully in the LORD live with a deep sense of contentment. They lack no good thing. They have everything they could possibly need, because everything our human hearts long for are ultimately found in Jesus. Therefore, more than gift giving and shopping, Christmas should be a reminder that Jesus Christ has come, and with his coming, we have been given every good thing. Truly, since we have Jesus we lack nothing. The ultimate gift that truly satisfied has been given to us.

Counterfeit Gods

An Ocean of Glorious Truth

A quote from John Piper found in the video I posted yesterday.

"Give yourself to this. It's my plea! Give yourself to this. Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. Pray that God would show you these things in his word. Swim in the Bible everyday. Don't just give it a little touch before you leave to do what you really like to do. Swim in the Bible everyday. It is an ocean of bright, glorious, weighty, all-satisfying truth from the one from whom you were made!"

Something I need to be reminded of, and something I long to return to.  

I Asked the Lord that I Might Grow

A great hymn by written by John Newton (guy who wrote Amazing Grace). I don't think there has been a time in my life where these words have been so true. Here is a video of the song with the lyrics. They are well worth listening to and meditating upon.

"These inward trials I employ

From self and pride to set thee free

And break thy schemes of earthly joy

That though mayest seek thy all in me"

And They Ate and Were Satisfied

"In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat.  And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.” And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?"  And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.” And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd.  And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full."

Mark 8:1-8

A couple quick thoughts on this passage:

As I read, I was struck by the crowd. Keep in mind these are real people. Four thousand people are following Jesus for three whole days. I'm sure they had jobs, things to do at home, and friends to see. Think of what it would be like to leave everything behind for three days to follow someone around on foot. Not to mention, they hadn't yet eaten during these three days. I'm sure they were tired. Yet, they were willing to follow Jesus. 

These 4,000 people weren't following Jesus out of comfort and convenience. Quite the contrary, they were following Jesus out of faith. When they were following him, they had no guarantee that he would provide a huge meal for them, thus satisfying their hunger. Yet, they followed anyways; because they had faith that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. And if Jesus is who he says he is, he's worth following. If he is the one who can bring salvation, he's worth being hungry for three days, getting blisters on your feet from walking miles, being away from the comfort of your home. 

I love verse 8, "And they ate and were satisfied". Wow! These people did not know Jesus would satisfy them: but, their faith was rewarded. I'm amazed at the provision Jesus makes for his followers. Following him wasn't easy, as these 4,000 knew. They were almost at the point of fainting! Yet, because they had faith, Jesus satisfied them, and on top of that, provided in abundance. What does this mean for us?

Doesn't Jesus call us to follow him in faith? Doesn't he say that being a true disciple of his will take you out of comfort and convenience? Doesn't he say it will be hard? Doesn't he say that he will take you places you may not want to go? Yes and Amen. And so we are called to follow Jesus as the 4,000 did. 

Further, we have the promise that Jesus will satisfy us and provide for us. Jesus called himself the 'Bread of Life', who will bring true satisfaction. He called himself 'The Life', who comes to bring true abundant life. Jesus gives assurance that he will never leave nor forsake us. Where these 4,000 didn't even have the full revelation of these promises, they still had faith. Now, we, who have God's word, and have read and heard of all that he has done, have the promise. We have the promise of the word. We know that 

he lived, died and resurrected for our salvation. We have the promise that when we follow him, though it may be hard, and may leave us to the point of fainting, Jesus will provide and satisfy us in a supernatural way. He has compassion on us and cares for us. He offers us true life in Himself, and invites us to partake in this true life by following him in faith, and trusting in him for everything. 

A Fish Out Of Water

"When a fish leaves the water, which he was built for, he is not free, but dead."--Tim Keller

As humans, we all seek freedom. We seek true life. The Bible's is God's Word to us, that this inner longing we have for true life and true freedom exists because we were created by God, to know God. True life and true freedom are only found when we are found in him. It is what we are made for. That is why the idols of this world, (power, success, respect, fame, wealth, security, comfort, love), never REALLY satisfy. We seek them, in hopes of gaining freedom and life, yet they always disappoint. All those things point us to the only thing which can truly satisfy our hearts. Just as Keller says, when we seek freedom in these other things, we think they will give us just that, freedom, but rather, they lead to death. 

That Which Does Not Perish

"When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?" Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal." Then they said to him, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent."

John 6:25-29

A couple things.....

1) We all labor for some form of food

         No, this passage is not primarily talking about physical food, but rather what we fill our souls with. Every person on the planet tries to fill their lives with something. We all look to something to find our purpose, significance, security and life. We all look to find satisfaction in something. Here, Jesus confronts his audience by putting a fork in the road.

          In one direction, is the life in pursuit of perishable food.  This could be a number of things. Especially prevalent in American culture are financial security, academic prestige, vocational success, physical appearance, a care-free life, and happiness. For many of us, we look to these things daily. We eat of them daily with the hope that they will give us life; with the hopes that they will give us purpose, meaning, significance and security. The perishable food we pursue often time takes the form of obvious sin, but it is important to realize that not all perishable food has a marred appearance. In fact, many of the perishable things we pursue can be good things. Many of us look to relationships, to family, to love in order to fill us. These things certainly make a good appearance. However, they are in fact perishable. They do not give life. They do not satisfy. They only end in death. Imagine the crowd following Jesus in this story. They continued to follow Jesus because he miracously provided them with physical bread. Yet, they completely failed to realize the purpose of this miracle. It was to point them to Jesus the Savior, the only one who could give them real life. The crowd was completely ignorant to this and foolishly followed Jesus hoping to get more physical food. That is why Jesus asks them why they are seeking perishable food when imperishable food is offered to them. We are the same way. We ignorantly pursue perishable food, hoping it will satisfy us, hoping it will give us life. But we fail to realize that the Bread of Life has himself been given to us, to fill us, and to give us life as it was intended. 

2) Jesus as the Bread of Life

         Later in John 6, Jesus refers to himself as the Bread of Life. He himself is the imperishable food. Someone who eats or fills themselves with imperishable food eats of it, and it is never enough. They come back again and again. It doesn't stick. It doesn't fill the void. In Jesus' interaction with the following crowd, he offers himself as the source of this imperishable food. Jesus freely offers himself to those who seek him. Why then would we eat of anything else?

3) Jesus is only one qualified 

          How is it that Jesus is the one who can satisfy the hearts of men? Well, he answers this very question. Because the Father has set His seal on Him. Since Adam, mans heart has been restless. We have been trying to fix this, but something just isn't quite right. No matter how much success, comfort, prestige, happiness we have, we still are empty. Like Adam and Eve in the garden, we try to cover our shame. Deep down, we all know that there is lack of true life in us. That is because we are out of the fellowship for which we were created. Jesus is the only one qualified to restore this all-satisfying fellowship. All our desires and wants in this life only point to the one true desire for which we were created, and which will truly bring us satisfaction. Jesus gives true joy, true hope, true peace, true life. He is qualified to give this because from eternities past, the Father has set His seal on Jesus to be the Savior of the world. He is the one who is to restore the earth. He is the one whom the Scriptures speak of. THe Old Testament tells of His coming. By Christ's life, death and resurrection, a return to an all-satisfying fellowship is possible. This is what we were made for. We were made to eat of this food. Why tarry?

4) How do we eat this bread?
           Jesus tells us what it means to do the work of God. Actually, the answer is sort of contradictory. Doing the work of God is actually believing in the One whom he has sent (Jesus). It is our human tendency to think what we can actively be doing to be right with God. However, Jesus tells us to do the work of God, is to believe in Him. It is a resting in Jesus. We eat of this bread by trusting in Christ and the work he has done. There is no work we can do to earn this imperishable bread. Therefore, to labor for imperishable food is to believe and trust in Jesus. Doing the work of God means to lean more heavily upon the Break of Life. 

Not Mere Improvement

I am continually struck at the vivid language the Bible uses to describe the transformation that a Christian undergoes. The Gospel is not mere improvement, it is a complete overhaul. It is complete newness. It is an eternal change in identity. It is a sad reality that many life long church goers have not experienced this eternal identity change. For the most part, Christianity is merely viewed as an elevated moral code or a set of guidelines for an improved life. Both of these rob the Gospel of its radical call to new life.

One doesn't need to search hard to find the Bible's elicit use of transformational language. Notice the vivid contrasts, the complete newness, the eternal identity change. A Christian is one who, by the Gospel was

Dead in their trespasses but now made alive with Christ (Ephesians 2:5)

an enemy of God, but now reconciled (Romans 5:10)

alienated from God, far off, but now brought near (Colossians 1:21, Eph. 2:13)

walking in darkness, but now is in the light (Isaiah 9:2)

orphaned, but now adopted (Romans 8:15)

under condemnation, now free (Romans 8:1-2)

a slave to sin, but is now redeemed (John 8:34, 1 Peter 1:19)

guilty, but now justified (Romans 3:10, Galatians 2:16)

spiritually bankrupt, but now filled with the riches of God's grace (Eph. 1:7)

hungry, but now satisfied (John 6:35)

The list goes on.....

The Gospel Equals Getting Jesus Himself

As I've been reading Saint Augustine's 'Confessions', I am blown away by his understanding of grace and his satisfaction in God. In describing his early years, specifically his education, Augustine recalls how he had a hunger in his soul, but instead of being fed with what his soul really longed for (God himself), he was fed with different forms of religion. In this specific quote, it is astrology. He was being fed God substitutes.

This makes me ask myself, "What am I feeding myself with rather than God?" What do I look to to fill my soul other than God himself? As Augustine asserts, religion, regardless of what form it takes, is a 'halluination'. It is not the real thing. It has the appearance of godliness without any connection to the real source. It is phony. Like Augustine says, everything in this created order isn't an end in itself, rather it points to the source. The good things in this life aren't meant to satisfy us. Only God, and God himself can do that. Check this quote out.

"Those people used to sound off about You to me frequently and repeatedly with mere assertions and with the support of many huge tomes. To meet my hunger, instead of you, they brought me a diet of sun and moon, your beautiful works, but they are your works, not you yourself, nor indeed the first of your works. For priority goes to your spiritual creation rather than the physical order, however heavenly and fully of light. But for myself, my hunger and thirst were not even for the spiritual creation but for you yourself, the truth. The dishes they placed before me contained splendid hallucinations.....You were not those empty fictions, and I derived no nourishment from them, but was left more exhausted than before."

The Gospel is good news because in it, we receive God himself. Religion doesn't get us to God. We can't get to God through ideologies, good works, tolerance, moralism or church stuff. Only the Gospel gives us God himself. Why would we settle for anything less? Why would we eat on stale bread crumbs when the most extravagant feast is placed before us?

The Act of Recollection

From Augustine's Confessions,

"I intend to remind myself of my past foulness and carnal corruptions, not because I love them but so that I may love you, my God. It is from love of your love that I make the act of recollection. The recalling of my wicked ways is bitter in my memory, but I do it so that you may be sweet to me, a sweetness touched by no deception, a sweetness serene and content. You gathered me together from the state of disintegration in which I had been fruitlessly divided....

At one time in adolescence I was burning to find satisfaction in hellish pleasure. I ran wild in the shadowy jungle of erotic adventure. 'My beauty wasted away in your sight I became putrid' (Daniel 10:8), by pleasing myself and by being ambitious to win human approval.

The single desire that dominated my search for delight was simply to love and to be loved....I travelled very far from You, and You did not stop me. I was tossed about and split, scattered and boiled dry in my fornications. And You were silent. How slow was I to find my joy!.......

Your intention was that I should seek delights unspoiled by disgust and that, in my quest where I could achieve this, I should discover it to be in nothing except you Lord, nothing but you."

Whiter than Snow: Sin is a Relationship

"The desire to be God rather than to serve God lies at the bottom of every sin that anyone has ever committed. Sin isn't first rooted in a philosophical debate of the appropriateness or healthiness of a certain ethic. No, sin is rooted in my unwillingness to find joy in living my life under the authority of, and for the glory of, Another. Sin is rooted in my desire to live for me. It's driven by my propensity to indulge my every feeling, satisfy my every desire, and meet my every need...Because sin is about the breaking of relationship, restoration of relationship is the only hope for us in our struggle with sin. It's only because God is willing to love us in our struggle with sin. It's only because God is willing to love us in a way that we refuse to love him that we have any hope of defeating sin. It's through the gift of adoption into relationship with him that we find what we need to gain power over sin. And what do we need? A greater love for him than we have for ourselves. His love is the only thing that has the power to produce in us that kind of love for him."

- Pastor Paul Tripp, Whiter than Snow

The Gospel is about God, not Us

"The dangerous assumption we unknowingly accept in the American dream is that our greatest asset is our own ability. The American dream prizes what people can accomplish when they believe in themselves and trust in themselves, and we are drawn toward such thinking. But the gospel has different priorities. The gospel beckons us to die to ourselves and to believe in God and trust in his power. In the gospel, God confronts us with our utter inability to accomplish anything of value apart from him. This is what Jesus meant when he said, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Even more important is the subtly fatal goal we will achieve when we pursue the American dream. As long as we achieve our desires in our own power, we will always attribute it to our own glory. To use Adam's words, we will be "recognized by others for what [we] are." This, after all, is the goal of the American dream: to make much of ourselves. But here the gospel and the American dream are clearly and ultimately antithetical to each other. While the goal of the American dream is to make much of us, the goal of the gospel is to make much of God."

...

I have only read three chapters of the book written by David Platt titled Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From The American Dream. It is wonderfully refreshing, and presents the life-giving truth of the gospel.

Infinite Joy

" If there lurks in the most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept if from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea. We are far too easily pleased."

C.S. Lewis