He is The Radiance of The Glory of God... Heb 1:3

This morning is quiet and calm. It is cold and rainy. I love it. As I sat in my office this morning I was reading Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ by Dr. John Piper. This whole book is about the Glory of Christ. I recommend it to everyone.

In our culture we glorify things that are fleeting. We put time and effort into so many things that just simply do not matter. We exchange God's glory for lesser things (Rom. 1:23). Everything we glorify over God will in the end be no more. Psalm 102:25-27 says it perfectly like this "Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end". No matter how much we take care of our stuff, everything will pass away. Christ is the only one who will remain.

Dr. Piper talks about glory in this way, "We are all starved for the glory of God, not self. No one goes to the grand canyon to increase self-esteem. Why do we go? Because there is greater healing for the soul in beholding splendor than there is in beholding self". We were created to worship and glorify. No one can deny this. We desire to be apart of something bigger then ourselves, that is why we seek things like fame and money. The problem is when we attain those things we still feel empty.

Christ is our prize and our only hope. We will never be fully satisfied until He returns. But while we are here on this earth we are called to do everything for His glory and be satisfied in Him.

Hebrews 1:3 He (Christ) is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His Power.

Come quickly Lord.

Merciful Lord,

Forgive me for exchanging your glory for lesser things. You are my only hope and I have no life apart from you. Help me Lord. My soul is restless in waiting for you to come. Amen.

David Crowder "How He Loves"

This is David Crowder's new song "How He Loves". The words are rich and spoke to me deeply. The words are below, go listen to it and buy it on itunes! Lord, thank you for loving us so deeply and passionately! Teach us to have the same love for you. Amen.

He is jealous for me,

Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,

Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.

  When all of a sudden,

    I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,

And I realize just how beautiful You are,

And how great Your affections are for me.

Pre-Chorus:

And oh, how He loves us so,

Oh how He loves us,

How He loves us all

Chorus 1:

Yeah, He loves us,

Whoa! how He loves us,

Whoa! how He loves us,

Whoa! how He loves.

Yeah, He loves us,

Whoa! how He loves us,

Whoa! how He loves us,

Whoa! how He loves.

Verse 2:

We are His portion and He is our prize,

Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,

If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.

So Heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss,

And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,

I don’t have time to maintain these regrets, 

When I think about, the way…

Fear

So I can't believe it has been this long since I have posted anything! Man I am a slacker! I want to talk about something that has been on my mind a lot lately and that is fear. Fear is a funny dangerous thing. We fear so many things like animals, pitch dark, being alone, or as my beautiful wife fears, little bugs. I think the fear that has haunted me the most and continues to haunt me is, the fear of not knowing.

Not knowing for me is horrible. I am the type of person who wants to know everything before it happens. I want to be in control of it all, because in some aspect it makes me feel better because then I have nothing to "fear". My father's health for the past year has not been good, he seems to be continually in and out of the hospital, and the worst part about it is I cannot control any of it. His health is out of my hands and is even out of the doctors hands. Our being and our existence rests solely in the hands of Jesus. He is the one who controls, heals, and takes care of us. I have no control over anything. Those times that I feel like I have control or I force things to happen, are the times when things usually fall through. Psalm 46 talks about God being our refuge and strength and help when we are in trouble. It says "Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way..." I am trying to rest in His promise.

Fear has revealed my heart and where my faith really lies at times, which is in myself wanting to know, wanting to control. My heart is wicked, and doubtful at times, but thanks be to Jesus who restores and saves and loves me.

Lord, forgive me. Forgive me for relying on myself and not trusting. Help me God, you are my only hope, you are the only one who gives life, and heals and rescues us.

Amen

Good Friday:

Good Friday calls us to remember. To remember the sacrifice that was made in order that we may live free and gain the ultimate gift of salvation, and to be in a deep intimate relationship with Jesus. On this day over 2000 years ago, our precious savior was beaten beyond recognition (Isaiah 52:14), His flesh ripped, His body bruised, and then was placed on an old rugged cross covered in other men's blood sweat and tears. Nails were driven into His hands and feet, He was then raised up on the cross to be cursed at, spit on, and mocked all the while saying "Father, forgive them for the know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). Then Jesus absorbed the wrath of God and bore our sins in order to fulfill the scriptures. Let us not forget and always remember why we have life, and a Savior who passionately loves, forgives and pursues us. 

Oh Lord, how we forget so easily the sacrifice that you made. Forgive us for forgetting. Help us to always remember. We do not deserve you oh God. Lord save our wicked hearts and restore them to you. Thank you for your never ending Grace and Mercy. We long to love you so much more then we do, so help us Lord. Thank you for saving me from myself and sacrificing so much that I may live with you for eternity. Amen

Hallelujah, God is Here!

Worshiping God through Prayer

Theologian and Pastor John Piper says this about worship: "true worship comes from people who are deeply emotional and who love deep and sound doctrine. Strong affections for God rooted in truth are the bone and marrow of biblical worship. Biblical worship involves some kind of outward act. The very word in Hebrew means to bow down. Worship is bowing, lifting hands, praying, singing, performing rites of eating, cleansing, ordaining and so on."

Worship stirs affections for our God. Worship is not just singing it is a way of life. One of the most powerful ways we can worship is through prayer. Through prayer we show gratitude and adoration, we come and bow before Him and lay ourselves at His throne, prayer is a very precious and intimate time of worship with our Lord. David through the Psalms shows us what it is to worship God through prayer.

In Psalm 69:1-3 we see David crying out to the Lord to save and restore him:

"Save me, O God, for the waters have threatened my life. I have sunk in deep mire, and there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and a flood overflow me. I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched; my eyes fail while I wait for my God...." This verses shows the great worth of our God, and how David feels about Him. David is saying here that no matter what happens to him and how bad life may get, that the potential, the very thought of God is better then any substance of anything else. David is worshiping God; he is acclaiming his worth and greatness. The book of Psalms are prayers worshiping God, knowing that He is far greater, that His ways and thoughts are higher then ours and there is nothing better. (Isaiah 55:9)

God created us to worship. Every time we pray we are worshiping, even if our prayers are crying out in grief, anger, or joy they are still glorifying God. As we pray may we not forget that we are worshiping, I pray we take the time to engage Him and allow Him to speak to us. As we come in on Sunday mornings for a time of corporate worship, may it be an overflow of what God has done and revealed to us that week. 

Lord, thank you for who you are and all you do. May we worship you in all ways of our life. Thank you for hearing our prayers and allowing us to worship you. Help us Lord! Amen.

Hallelujah, God is Here!

The Cross:

The cross, what does it mean? Is it simply a piece of jewelry that we hang around our necks, put on our fingers? This is what our culture tells us it is, it has lost all of it's meaning and we have become desensitized to it. The crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ is the most important event in all of human history. Crucifixion is the single most grotesque, horrific, and disgraceful way of execution Deuteronomy 21:22-23, this is where we get the word excruciating which literally means the cross. After Jesus' trial the bible said they had him scourged, something so painful that most men died just from being scourged. 

Jesus' hands where tied above his head to expose his back and legs to the executioners whip. The whip was made up of metal balls, metal hooks and sharp bones to torture the body of Jesus. Jesus was beat so bad the the bible said he was not even recognized by any man Isaiah 52:14. He then carried his own cross to his death. Since lumber was so expensive back then Jesus would have carried a cross that many men had already died upon. The cross would have been covered in those other men's blood sweat and tears. He was then laid on the cross where 5 to 8 inch nails were driven into his hands and feet; nails that as a carpenter Jesus had driven himself  to build many things. He was then lifted up to be mock, cursed at, and spit on. Years later Jesus disciple Peter was to be crucified and he requested to be hung upside down because he said he was not worthy enough to die like Jesus. That is amazing to me, as horrible and disgraceful as the crucifixion was Peter says " I am not worthy to die like my Savior, so hang me upside down!"

I spoke recently on the topic of the cross and as I studied more many emotions flooded my heart and mind. I was so grateful, I was saddened, and  I was sickened. I called my wife one of the days that I was really in deep study about the cross and I told her that I did not even feel worthy to even speak of the cross. So where do we go from here? In our culture it is so easy to simple forget and become numb. The bible calls us to remember; that's why we take communion, to remember the cross and what was sacrificed. We deserve death and that is something we should rightfully get, but instead we get Christ who says no I love them, I will intercede and take the wrath of God for their sins on me. So in our culture how do we remember? Well, I think we actively pray that God would make us remember, that we would be studiers of his word, and that we would surround ourselves with the things that stir our affections for Him.

Lord, forgive us for forgetting so easily, help us to remember. Thank you for sending your son to sacrifice on our behalf, we long to love you so much more then we do so help us Lord. Amen.

Hallelujah God is Here!

Stan

A great book on the cross is Death by Love by Mark Driscoll. 

Thoughts

So, when I started this blog I promised myself that I would write at least one entry a week. Well, it has been over a month since I posted anything. I really am going to try and get better at it. So I am sitting here this morning with a nice cup of coffee, my bible and some good music. I take times like these for granted so much. Just sitting and being silent and listening to what Christ is saying to me. I listened to a sermon by Matt Chandler not to long ago and he said "find the things that stir  your affections for Christ and cling to them, and find the things that rob your affections for Christ and run from them." I love that. But it is so convicting to me as well. I find myself more often then not running after the things that rob my affections. But in the times like these with a hot cup of coffee, a quiet house, my bible,  and great music, I find my heart thankful for the affections God stirs in me towards him. These times turn out to be so rich and fulfilling.

Today in our present time we are scared. There are many unknowns. There are jobs being lost, money being lost. And as we watch our world it seems the overwhelming situations are not getting better anytime soon. But the great and amazing thing is we serve and worship a God who is bigger then all of this. Who knows our hurts, our needs, and our desires. I admit it is very scary right now, and I have to remind myself of how big our  God is and no matter what he will take care of me and my family. I leave you with a verse in Matthew. "But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? For the gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Matthew 6:30 & 32-33.

Lord, thank you for who you are and how you provide for us. Forgive us for making you small. Help us Lord we need you desperately. Thank you for these rich times in your word, and thank you for continuing to chase after our hearts even when we run. We long to love you more and much much deeper, so help us oh God. Thank you for being a great Father. Amen. Hallelujah, God is Here!

Grace and Love,

Stan

My Beautiful Bride

This is my Beautiful Bride Julie! I love her with all of my heart and soul! I thank God every day for her. He is so good!

Romans 8

So this morning I read Romans 8. Man what a great chapter! It talks about life in the spirit and death in the flesh. I find myself more and more struggling with things my flesh wants. Romans 8:7 says "For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed it cannot". This just shows where most of our hearts lie, and that whenwe are striving after things of our flesh it only leads to death! And our hearts are hardened as so far form Gods. I love Paul, in Romans 7:24-25 he says "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but my flesh I serve the law of sin". Paul is saying I have such a wretched heart and I can do nothing good without the Grace and Mercy of Christ! I love Paul beacuse he is so real. I say all of this because I have been thinking so much lately about how I don't get it, we have the word of God which is perfect in everyway and lays out everything we need to do in plain view, yet we stray so far away. Thank you Lord that you forgive us, that your grace and mercy pours out upon us. Even when we stray you are always there to take us back and Love us as we are! Thank you for your perfect word and forgive me for falling so short of it.

I leave you with this last verse that I feel really put some things into perspective for me. Romans 8:18 "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us". Everything that we desire here on this earth is fleeting, and do not compare to the life and glory that is in Christ. Halleujah, God is Here!

Grace and Love,

Stan Rhoden