tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-911867211175057323.comments2009-11-15T17:00:51.786-08:00Edification and EncouragementFor Your Edification and Encouragementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01075870999715096949noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-911867211175057323.post-14217951815162673012009-11-15T17:00:51.786-08:002009-11-15T17:00:51.786-08:00Thank you, Carl. Interestingly, this fits rather t...Thank you, Carl. Interestingly, this fits rather tightly with my latest few posts. God wants more of us; I pray we (I) want more of Him.Paul D. Adamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18213551311029058377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-911867211175057323.post-88049051129842451432009-11-04T05:41:06.455-08:002009-11-04T05:41:06.455-08:00Carl..You led me to the Lord on August 29, 1990 in...Carl..You led me to the Lord on August 29, 1990 in Columbia, SC. I finally found you to say ....THANKS!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13008043427791628193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-911867211175057323.post-85023956799295016462009-07-16T17:22:42.132-07:002009-07-16T17:22:42.132-07:00Answers:
Question 1: Yes, I have eternal life.
Qu...Answers:<br />Question 1: Yes, I have eternal life.<br /><br />Question 2: Not as much as me having it.<br /><br />Question 3: Occasional moments of peace deep within. Solid, consistent praise and communion to and with God.<br /><br />Question 4: It sees me as weak but seeking strength; episodic failures but consistent in victory over sin<br /><br />Question 5: I don't know. Maybe you can answer that for me ;->Paul D. Adamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18213551311029058377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-911867211175057323.post-39432120622425467902009-03-02T05:56:00.000-08:002009-03-02T05:56:00.000-08:00"The world has the full capability of crushing and..."The world has the full capability of crushing and extinguishing (or rendering useless) any measure of faith in you, and you are the one required to prevent that from happening."<BR/><BR/>The frog in the kettle comes to mind.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-911867211175057323.post-3118184768377468512009-02-23T06:07:00.000-08:002009-02-23T06:07:00.000-08:00"Jesus, my All-in-all Thou art –My rest in toil, m..."Jesus, my All-in-all Thou art –<BR/>My rest in toil, my ease in pain"<BR/><BR/>reminds me of Hebrews 4:10<BR/><BR/>"for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his."<BR/><BR/>Praise God for his salvific rest!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-911867211175057323.post-78650711795977356962008-12-24T05:27:00.000-08:002008-12-24T05:27:00.000-08:00Thanks for your comment, Paul. Yes, Arndt's view i...Thanks for your comment, Paul. Yes, Arndt's view is (as best as I can make it out) that whatever is not of God is of the flesh or devil. This includes false teachings, which, regardless of their source, require the fleshly (at the time, godless) disposition to have appeal and acceptance to people. This is also regardless of what version of false teaching we are viewing. And, I believe you are correct: The way these verses are used today may be suspect. God bless brother.For Your Edification and Encouragementhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01075870999715096949noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-911867211175057323.post-80849321041207888472008-12-22T06:18:00.000-08:002008-12-22T06:18:00.000-08:00Hum...As I read Rev. 2:12-17 the context suggests ...Hum...<BR/>As I read Rev. 2:12-17 the context suggests that what we are to overcome is not our flesh and worldliness, but false teaching. See vv. 14-15 especially. Am I missing something here?<BR/><BR/>Of course, we could say that it is "fleshly" or "worldly" to hold to false teachings, but that would not be in keeping with the current domain in which these vices are used today. Did Arndt have something in mind when he used these terms related to false teaching? Otherwise, seems to me he's using Rev. 2:17 out of context. <BR/><BR/>As for your initial thought, the fact that we know we struggle may be indicative of our true "separateness," since those who do not know the struggle would likely not be set apart unto Christ. <BR/><BR/>Just thinking...<BR/>PaulPaul D. Adamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18213551311029058377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-911867211175057323.post-54257930026552503522008-12-01T21:27:00.000-08:002008-12-01T21:27:00.000-08:00John 15:1-5 comes to mind here. "I am the true vin...John 15:1-5 comes to mind here. <BR/>"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."<BR/><BR/>I wonder if Paul realized Jesus' admonishment when he writes: <BR/><BR/>"I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength."Paul D. Adamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18213551311029058377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-911867211175057323.post-37362559312662757902008-11-19T20:24:00.000-08:002008-11-19T20:24:00.000-08:00Thanks, Carl. Though my head is entirely aligned w...Thanks, Carl. <BR/>Though my head is entirely aligned with God's sovereignty over all things, I long to grasp that "nothing happens by mere chance, but all is wisely ordered by thy providential care to our good; firmly believing, if anything goes contrary to expectation, that something better will follow in its stead." God give me eyes to see and ears to hear this wonderful truth that it may anchor my soul now and tomorrow.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-911867211175057323.post-87348540719143676292008-10-02T06:20:00.000-07:002008-10-02T06:20:00.000-07:00"In Him we live, and move, and have our being." --..."In Him we live, and move, and have our being."<BR/> -- GodPaul D. Adamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18213551311029058377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-911867211175057323.post-27604930189067821442008-09-21T20:11:00.000-07:002008-09-21T20:11:00.000-07:00Spot on, Amen!Spot on, Amen!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-911867211175057323.post-13463934329393493392008-09-21T16:52:00.000-07:002008-09-21T16:52:00.000-07:00Couldn't agree more, Pat and Carl. Lamentation is ...Couldn't agree more, Pat and Carl. Lamentation is all but missing from the pulpit and the church's worldview. However, lest we forget, lamentation over our sin-ridden soul is a means to an end for believers. Could it be that the fact of our awareness of sin actually is a sign of true life? Consider another perspective offered by a wise, elderly seminarian prof to a young, growing believer to encourage a balanced, biblical view toward a healthy end...<BR/><BR/>“Since becoming a Christian, you have become more and more aware of the sin in your life, and you are discouraged by it. But what discourages you, I see as a sign of life—not the sin itself, but the fact that you are discouraged by it. If you professed faith in Christ and it did not make any difference to your values, personal ethics, and goals, I would begin to wonder if your profession of faith in Christ was spurious (there are certainly instances of spurious faith in the Bible—for instance, John 2:23-25; 8:31ff.).<BR/><BR/>But if you have come to trust Christ, then growth in Him is always attended by deepening realization that you are not as good as you once thought you were, that the human heart is frighteningly deceptive and capable of astonishing depths of selfishness and evil. As you discover these things about yourself, the objective ground of your assurance must always remain unfalteringly the same: ‘if anybody does sin we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One’ (1 John 2:1). Let your confidence rest fully in that simple and profound truth.<BR/>What you will discover with time is that although you are not as holy as you would like to be or as blameless as you should be, by God’s grace you are not what you were. You look back and regret things you have said and thought and done as a Christian; you are embarrassed perhaps by the things you failed to think and say and do. But you also look back and testify with gratitude that because of the grace of God in your life, you are not what you were. And thus, unobtrusively, the subjective grounds of assurance also lend their quiet support.”<BR/><BR/>From <EM>Letters Along the Way</EM>, D. A. Carson and John D. Woodbridge, Crossway, p. 23.<BR/><BR/>May God give us lamentation unto sanctification of our souls!Paul D. Adamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18213551311029058377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-911867211175057323.post-62698836919129935262008-09-21T15:45:00.000-07:002008-09-21T15:45:00.000-07:00Yes, you highlight an incredibly difficult but imp...Yes, you highlight an incredibly difficult but important message. Very seldom do Evangelicals clearly understand and encourage a Scriptural perspective. It seems too often what we hear, is either a destructive Keswick sort of self conflaguation or a superficial Evangelical flippant notion of repentance and lament. <BR/><BR/>Lamentations is still found Scripture, howbeit never, or nearly never, preached or taught. Being a Christian for 40 years I have heard only one message on Lamentations. That one was from Doug Groothuis several years ago in a student chapel. <BR/><BR/>Thanks for the reminder, I need it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-911867211175057323.post-21675748220502470312008-09-08T05:37:00.000-07:002008-09-08T05:37:00.000-07:00Well said, Carl. "Life for you has been divinely r...Well said, Carl. "Life for you has been divinely redefined. A devote and pious life are the natural disposition of a proper awareness of this divine repositioning and the nature of having a new life." Seems to me this is the crux of our new life in Christ. Not only grasping it in our head, but clinging to it in our hearts is the beginning of living as Christ's redeemed. <BR/><BR/>Verse 5 is critical here. "For this very reason" clearly refers back to vv. 2-4 and, were it not for the foundations of being given "all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us," we would have no hope of realizing these divine qualities in our lives. That all believers have been so imbued and endowed from heaven's courts gives us every resource necessary to experience them in increasing measure and the certain hope that they will continue growing in our lives.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-911867211175057323.post-91424332579619884132008-09-01T07:17:00.000-07:002008-09-01T07:17:00.000-07:00Thanks, Carl! An inspiring passage indeed. That Go...Thanks, Carl! An inspiring passage indeed. That God has supplied all that is necessary to live uprightly before him is good news. He not only saves us from "the wrath to come" but sanctifies us for the glory to be revealed. <BR/><BR/>Not only Peter, but Paul too speaks of God's enabling power when he prays that the Ephesians believers would know God's power, which is "the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead" (Eph. 1:19-20). In this sense Easter can be celebrated everyday and not merely once a year. <BR/><BR/>The crux, however, as you note relates to living accordingly. Knowing this truth is inspiring, but living it is inspired by God's Spirit alone. <BR/><BR/>For me, option (5) is what I struggle with more than any of the others. I believe it, I want it, but prefer "my life" better than the occasional heavenly successes of a life pleasing to God. In other words, flesh rules over Spirit. Obedience, therefore, to contra Rom. 8:12-14 is paramount. And, not just episodal obedience, but habitual obedience. I must put this into my live daily until Christ is formed in me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com