To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

1 Timothy 1

To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 1 Timothy 1:2

I continue with my study of 1 and 2 Timothy. This morning, I lean on DesiringGod.com's Look at the Book video series, watching the video for 1 Timothy 1:1-2, Part 4. Excerpts from the video entitled The Fatherhood of God and the Lordship of Christ:

John Piper begins the video by examining, as the title of the video explicitly implies, 1 Timothy 1:2, and the references to God the (our) Father and Christ Jesus our (the) Lord. Excerpts from the video:

• Piper wants us to experience God as Father, and as Lord, and for this to sink in what this experience truly means to us; these experiences are mediated to/for us through the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is the worker in the Holy Trinity (see also Romans 8:14-17, Galatians 4:4-6).  The meaning of being a Christian is that Spirit of Jesus Christ fills our hearts.  See also 1 Corinthians 12:3 where we can't say Jesus is Lord and mean it without truly experiencing it by the Holy Spirit.
• 1 Corinthians 8:5-6; both Father and Lord together in this text and God the Father is both the ultimate source and goal of all things and the Lord Jesus is the person through whom all things come and exist, including ourselves.  See also 1 John 1:1-3.  All things were made from the Father and through Jesus.  Looking at Paul's reference to grace, mercy and peace in v2 of today's text, Piper refers us to Titus 3:4-7.  Grace and mercy are God's goodness provided to someone who is both undeserving and in need of care, and God justifies us, providing peace with Jesus (see also Romans 5:1). 

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for helping gain a deeper understanding of Yourself and the Holy Trinity.  Thank You for giving me life and for the Holy Spirit working in my heart.  I am not deserving of such blessings.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from such sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others. 

And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him--a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Ecclesiastes 4:7-12 and 5:10-6:12

And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him--a threefold cord is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4:12

I continue my study of Ecclesiastes using the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for this book.  Today, my focus is a commentary-assisted review of Ecclesiastes 4:7-12, which covers the first part of second division of the commentary chapter titled Money Is Meaningless without Jesus - this second division specifically is referred to in the commentary as Antidotes to Satisfaction in Money, with the first part referred to as Meaningful Relationships.  The commentary offers one key new insights above and beyond my post yesterday, by sharing in reference to v12 that "no three-cord strand is superior to our Triune God! Never forget. Jesus who was sent by the Father and empowered by the Holy Spirit died for a church, not just individual souls. We were created and redeemed for community, a community beautifully displayed in our Triune God."  To unpack this further, I reviewed these resources - DesiringGod.com: The Trinity of Persons and Cru.org: Understanding the Trinity: How Can God Be Three Persons in One? to help me better understand The Trinity as it is not something I have previously understood well. Rejoice in the Trinity as a perfect example of community for believers!

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My Prayer: Thank You God for Your amazing grace and for the community You provide through the Trinity, the church, other believers, etc. I am not deserving of such incredible blessings.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from he side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent[a] that the Lord set up, not man. They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.”

Hebrews 8

Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent[a] that the Lord set up, not man....They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” Hebrews 8:1-2, 5

This morning, my focus is DesiringGod.com's Solid Joys daily devotion, where John Piper seeks for believers to prepare our hearts for Christmas.  Today's Solid Joys daily devotion marks day 13 of Advent, and today John Piper once again uses Hebrews 8:1-2 (see also post yesterday) to emphasize how Jesus is our great High Priest, and unlike the high priests of the Old Testament, He is not just a shadow or foretaste of God but God Himself. Piper builds on yesterday's devotion by also using v5. Piper sums it up by saying: "Jesus deals directly with God the Father. He has a place of honor beside God. He is loved and respected infinitely by God. He is constantly with God. This is not shadow-reality like curtains and bowls and tables and candles and robes and tassels and sheep and goats and pigeons. This is final, ultimate reality: God and his Son interacting in love and holiness for our eternal salvation." Rejoice that believers have this final, ultimate reality of having the triumvirate Father, Son and Holy Spirit!

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for serving as the Great High Priest so that I could have life to the full now, and forever with You in Heaven.  I am not deserving of such a sacrifice - the greatest gift of all time.  My sin is great it continues.  Please forgive me, help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM."

Exodus 3

God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." Exodus 3:14

I pause this morning from my studies of Proverbs and Isaiah to listen to DesiringGod.com's Solid Joys daily devotional - which today focuses on believers' "unspeakable privilege of knowing Yahweh as our Father - I AM WHO I AM[.] The words from God in Exodus are pulled from God's conversation with Moses where God is speaking to Moses in the burning bush and telling Moses to go rescue the Israelites from bondage in Egypt. Moses, feeling quite uneasy and reticent about such a task, asks God what is he to say when those in Egypt ask who sent him. The devotion refers us also to John 8:56-58 and Psalm 9:10 for us to see how Jesus, when responding to the Jews who were questioning Him, refers to Abraham when He tells the Jews “[t]ruly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am." In making this connection, Piper wants us to see that we have the "unspeakable privilege" of knowing - in Jesus - the One True God:

• who exists
• whose personality and power is owing solely to himself
• who never changes
• from whom all power and energy in the universe flows
• and to whom all creation should conform its life.
  

We are urged to not only see how Jesus is the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant, and to trust in Him.

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My Prayer: Jesus, You are an amazing God - the One True God who created all things, is in all things, is before all things, and who holds all things - including my life - together.  You saved me while I was hostile to You, an enemy - thank You Jesus!  I am of course not deserving of my salvation, nor any of the blessings that You pour out for me daily.  My sin is great and it is daily.  Please forgive me Jesus, help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me. Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day. 

Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere: “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them.” Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.

Pages: 87-98

Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere: “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them.” Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him. John 12:37:41

This morning, I continued with John Piper's Reading the Bible Supernaturally: Seeing and Savoring the Glory of God in Scripture, covering chapter five - Reading to See Supreme Worth and Beauty, Part 3. Here, Piper continues with the third of six implications that flow from the ultimate goal of reading the Bible (as listed here); the third of the six implications is "that we should always read his word in order to see this supreme worth and beauty[.]" In this chapter, which is the third of three to explore this specific implication, Piper seeks to make it explicit that "we should always read God's word in order to see his supreme worth and beauty," emphasizing the word "always." He states straight-away that "the relationship between God and all things is such that nothing can be rightly understood apart from its connection with God.  And since God intends for scripture to be rightly understood, therefore, we should always aim to see everything in it in relation to God."

Piper seeks to demonstrate the above statement by pointing to scriptures that state:

• God is the origin and ground of all things (Hebrews 2:10, 1 Chronicles 29:14, Revelation 4:11)
• God owns all things (Psalms 89:11, 24:11)
• God holds all things in being (Hebrews 1:3, Colossians 1:17, Acts 17:28)
• God designs the purpose of all things (Proverbs 16:4)
• God governs all things according to his will (Ephesians 1:11, Psalms 119:91)
• God's purpose in creation is to make all things new (Revelation 21:5)
• God appointed his Son heir of all things (Hebrews 1:2)
• God is the end and goal of all things (Hebrews 2:10, Romans 11:36)
  

Similar to my post yesterday, Piper points to 2 Corinthians 4:4, 6 to see how we are to "aim" to read the Bible "to see, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the glory of the Father and the glory of the Son, which are one glory." Piper also uses John 12:36-43 while stating that "wherever the glory of God shines forth in the Bible, it is not just the glory of the Father, but also the glory of the Son, for they are one glory."

Piper wraps up this chapter (as well as the preceding two) by writing that "in all the details of what we find in the Bible-Old Testament and New-the aim of reading is always to see the worth and beauty of God."

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an amazing God who loves me and who is always showing Your glory in Your Word, in creation, and in every moment of every day of my life - You are worth my ceaseless praise and worship and You bless me immeasurably!  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You saved me and bless me.  I worry.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You. Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith. Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.