Key Connections (January 19, 2018)

Lord, Revive My First Love (Jon Bloom, Desiring God)

Pleasures never lie. We can fool ourselves and others in many ways, but pleasure is the whistle-blower of the heart, because pleasure is the measure of our treasure. We know that what we truly treasure is what we truly love because Jesus said, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). So it’s “not what we dutifully will but what we passionately want [that] reveals our excellence or evil” (The Pleasures of God, 4).

3 Reasons You Shouldn’t Say ‘Reading the Bible is Easy’ (Trevin Wax, The Gospel Coalition)

We believe that God is the ultimate author of this Book. Once we see this book as the revelation of God’s character and his saving acts, we are no longer studying in order to merely figure out the text’s meaning; we are reading in order to better know and love our Creator. As John Piper has said, God will not simply be analyzed; he will be adored.

Disciple Making (Stephen Johnson, Summit Church)

The charge to make disciples wasn’t a new idea for those close to Jesus. In fact, when he picked the very first disciples, he stated that outcome clearly: “Follow me, and I will make your fishers of men,” (Matthew 4:19). Notice, though, that Jesus’ call starts with an invitation to personal discipleship. That’s important. In order to make disciples, you must first be a disciple. Do you love to follow Jesus? Are you a student of God’s Word? Do you long to worship him? Are you filled with gratitude because of his love for you? Does that gratitude drive you to obey his commands?

Putting the Evangel in Evangelicalism (Eric Davis, The Cripplegate)

Salvation comes through being called. Embracing the evangel is also extremely passive. You cannot be convinced, you have to be called. God has to do all the work by acting on your dead, lifeless, rebellious soul. No one ever had difficulty understanding that, only accepting it.

The Easiest Sin to Justify (Tim Challies, Challies.com)

There’s more to this process of sanctification. Even before we put sin to death, we discover an increased awareness of what our sin is, what it does to us, and how it affects others. We stop making excuses for our sin and confront it as the evil it truly is. But not always and not all the way. From observation and hard experience I think there is one sin more than any other that we tend to continue to justify. It’s the sin of unrighteous anger.

Counting on Mercy in Suffering (Lianna Davis, Unlocking the Bible)

In my times of illness and grief, I am not troubled by the mysterious providences of God. For my suffering here, no matter how severe, could never graduate me from being utterly, moment-by-moment requiring of God’s mercy. To not be presently consumed by his wrath is evidence I look upon often—and do not fathom. And this is mercy Christ suffered for me to joyously receive.

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