Concierge Edition 63
Articles
Start the Day Happy in God: The Lost Art of Bible Meditation
David Mathis at Desiring God
David Mathis is always helpful when it comes to the spiritual disciplines. This article is no exception. Meditating on Scripture is the best way to find great joy in your reading of the text.
Open the Bible, and turn your attention to the one who is supremely worthy, and keep your nose in the Book, and your mind on Jesus, until your sluggish heart begins to respond like it should.
Wrestle with your own sluggish soul. Direct it. Turn it. Grapple with it until it does what it’s supposed to do, and feels more like it’s supposed to feel about the wonders and horrors of the word of God. Say, in effect, to the God of the word, “I will not let you go unless you bless me,” and discipline your heart to receive the joy for which God made it.
Meditation is the bridge between receiving God’s word (in reading and study) and responding back to him (in prayer).
Worse Than Any Affliction: Why I Refuse to Grumble
Joni Eareckson Tada at Desiring God
You probably know the story of Joni. If anybody has the right to grumble, it would be her. Read about how she avoids it.
My flesh is wasting away, and who would blame me if I complained? Certainly not the world — it’s natural for them to expect an old lady in a wheelchair to grumble over her losses. But followers of Jesus Christ should expect more from me. Much more.
When things don’t go our way and we grumble about it, we are inasmuch stamping our foot, crossing our arms, and demanding, “Lord, are you among us or not!
When God’s people make a habit of complaining, they’ve gone astray and abandoned God’s ways.
Did I have a right to complain? Actually, I possess no real rights. I laid them all at the foot of the cross.
I relinquished my right to complain so that I might glorify Almighty God through my hardships. Anything less shrinks my soul.
A grumbling spirit would only prove from heaven that I viewed his kindness as sorely lacking to me on earth.
Complaining lessens the eternal reward my suffering might have gained. It shrinks my heavenly inheritance.
I don’t want any complaint to dare shrink my soul, dishonor my Lord, diminish my inheritance, or impact others negatively.
And there’s nothing good about a complaining spirit. Yes, followers of Jesus Christ should expect more from one another. Much more.
Visible Grace in Disagreements
Caleb Batchelor at 9Marks
I am grateful for Caleb for more than this article. He is the Assistant Pastor at First Baptist Church Boynton Beach (FL). That was my church home for a number of years.
Paul wasn’t afraid to address sin. Just ask the Corinthians. But what first grabbed Paul’s attention when he thought about that rowdy, discriminatory congregation in Corinth? God’s visible grace (1 Cor. 1:4–9). He was willing to confront, but he was not eager for controversy. There’s a difference.
Quotes
Learn to pray like the Puritan who had nothing to his name but one piece of bread and a glass of water:
“What? All of this and Jesus Christ too?!”
—Scott Sauls
A Christian is not of hasty growth, like a mushroom, but rather like the oak, the progress of which is hardly perceptible, but, in time, becomes a great deep-rooted tree.
—JohnNewton
One of the chief purposes of trial and affliction, is to make us send for our Savior.
—Theodore Cuyler (1822-1909) - pastor of Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn which was the largest in America.
Sermon
This is a sermon from my pastor Landon Dees at NorthPointe Church in Burleson, TX.
Book
Calvin on the Christian Life: Glorifying and Enjoying God Forever
Author: Michael Horton
Date: 2014
I recently finished this book and am thankful for Horton’s work on the Genevan Reformer.
Here is a short review I placed on Goodreads:
For the many who have misconceptions about the person and work of John Calvin, this work by Michael Horton will take you back to the primary sources to learn who the reformer really was. Horton is always worth reading. And Calvin is a worthy subject.
Photo
This is actually a photo of me (in the blue striped shirt), Cindy (next to me), and my new ESV Study Bible, Large Print edition. The new Bible is a 2024 thing to help my aging eyes see the text better. This picture was copied from the Facebook page of our church NorthPointe Church in Burleson, TX.