Category Archives: Devotion & Spiritual Growth

Victory in Christ

by Devotion & Spiritual Growth

I ran across this incredible John Calvin quote today as I was reading Rid of My Disgrace, by Justin Holcomb. Take a few moments to read it, be encouraged and may it cause you to worship Jesus:

Every good thing we could think or desire is to be found in this same Jesus Christ alone. For, He was sold, to buy us back; captive, to deliver us; condemned, to absolve us; He was made a curse for our blessing, sin offering for our righteousness; marred that we may be made fair; He died for our life; so that by Him fury is made gentle, wrath appeased, darkness turned into light, fear reassured, despisal despised, debt canceled, labor lightened, sadness made merry, misfortune made fortunate, difficulty easy, disorder ordered, division united, ignominy ennobled, rebellion subjected, intimidation intimidated, ambush uncovered, assaults assailed, force forced back, combat combated, war warred against, vengeance avenged, torment tormented, damnation damned, the abyss sunk into the abyss, hell transfixed, death dead, mortality made immortal. In short, mercy has swallowed up all misery, and goodness all misfortune. For all these things which were to be the weapons of the devil in his battle against us, and the sting of death to pierce us, are turned for us into exercises which we can turn to our profit. If we are able to boast with the Apostle, saying, O hell, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting? It is because by the Spirit of Christ, we live no longer, but Christ lives in us.

 

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by Devotion & Spiritual Growth

Our natural desire to pray comes from Creation. We are made in the image of God. Our inability to pray comes from the Fall. Evil has marred the image. We want to talk to God but can’t. The friction of our desire to pray, combined with our badly damaged prayer antennae, leads to constant frustration. It’s as if we’ve had a stroke.

Paul Miller | A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World

Do You Have an Anger Problem?

by Devotion & Spiritual Growth

It’s not just the title of this post. It’s a question worth asking yourself. Do you have an anger problem?

I recently ran across a helpful post on the CCEF blog, written by Ed Welch, on the topic of anger. In it, Welch provides seven questions that we should ask ourselves as we attempt to answer the question above.

Think you don’t have an anger problem? This post is written especially for you.

Keenly aware of the fact that you have an anger problem? This post will be helpful for you as well.

I certainly wouldn’t claim to be blameless in the anger department. That said, I’ve found these questions to be helpful in a number of ways. First, I’ve realized that I may have underestimated the depth and extent of my anger problem. Second, it has helped me in my effort to discover the “sin beneath the sin” and identify the root issue under my sinful anger. Finally, it has helped me to invite my wife to be a part of this process and to understand the ways my sin may have impacted her.

Here are a few of Welch’s questions:

  1. Do you stretch and enlarge the category of anger so it includes you? I know a man who doesn’t think he is angry even though every hour or so he threatens to rip off someone’s head. His narrow definition of anger? An angry person actually rips off someone’s head. Since he only wants to rip off someone’s head, he isn’t angry.
  2. Have you enlarged the spectrum of your anger by filling in some of the details from the Sermon on the Mount? (Matthew 5:21-22) For example, at one extreme is murder, at the other is our internal muttering, “what a jerk.” What’s in between? Of course, everything on this spectrum is murderous.
  3. In the last six months have you confessed your sin of anger, to both God and the injured person?

Read the entire post and the rest of the his questions HERE.