Author: Lissa Eggleston

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Extravagant Grace

After reading Barbara Duguid’s book, I found myself recommending it to everyone. I would use phrases like “paradigm shifting,” and “life changing” to communicate the importance of this read in my life.  

Before I read this book I thought I understood grace. However as I read page after page of this 228 page book,  I experienced Mrs. Duguid uncovering and kicking the legs out from under my non-stop tendency to try to please God and “win” His approval by means of my own goodness. In fact, she gets in the face of every Christian with statements like,

You will never be able to find steady joy in this life until you understand, submit to, and even embrace the fact that you are weak and sinful.

Let’s be honest: if the chief work of the Holy Spirit in sanctification is to make Christians more sin-free, then he isn’t doing a very good job.

Having spent years soaking in the writings of John Newton, Barbara Duguid has written a tremendously helpful work that challenges us to believe that our God has sovereign purposes in allowing our sin and failures to remain. Beyond that, as Tullian Tchividjian says, “we need more and more books like this that remind us that the focus of the Christian faith is not the life of the Christian but Christ.” 

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Post-Election Perspective

It has been clear in the aftermath of this presidential election that we Christians need help to think biblically about current events. Our inclination to publish fear driven status updates and mean spirited rehashing of tired political catch phrases suggests we believe political leaders are our real Savior. Let’s remember what we know to be true and stand by faith rather than fear. Let’s honor our God and resist the temptation to dishonor man.  This blog post by Scott Sauls is the deep thinking help we need.

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Pleasure Seekers

3803641762_0dce488fdaTo many people, the pursuit of pleasure and being fully devoted to God are mutually exclusive endeavors.

If we are truthful we are people who believe that pleasure is found anywhere and everywhere but in God.Yet the testimony of Scripture is that pleasure is found only in pursuing God.

Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.  Psalm 37:4

I said to the LORD, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.” Psalm 16:2

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Hebrews 11:6

Jon Bloom writes

Pleasure is the meter in your heart that measures how valuable, how precious someone or something is to you. Pleasure is the measure of your treasure. If something sinful gives you pleasure, it’s not a pleasure problem. It’s a treasure problem.

What lesser treasure have you settled for?  What lesser treasure has failed to sustain your happiness and sent you on a search for new pleasure?

Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

 

Pleasure

is

the

Measure

of

your

Treasure!

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The Pursuit of Pleasure

fulfillmentThis week our Songs Along the Way class considered Psalm 16.

The Psalmist makes a stunning declaration in verse 2 and verse 11.

For him, maximum joy and pleasure is found in pursuing his relationship with God.  The following Daily Bread devotional develops this thought.

The United States Declaration of Independence says that one of our unalienable rights is “the pursuit of happiness.” I think we would all agree that pleasure, the agreeable reaction of our senses to some stimulus, is a king-size ingredient of happiness. Most people spend much of their leisure time pursuing pleasure in the hope of finding happiness.

Scripture doesn’t say that we shouldn’t enjoy life. Indeed, Paul affirmed that God has given us “richly all things to enjoy”—like food and drink and the ability to sing, laugh, and make music (1 Timothy 6:17).

Paul also warned us that excessive indulgence in God’s good gifts may have a killing effect on our enjoyment of the supremely good. “[The widow] who lives in pleasure,” he wrote, “is dead while she lives” (5:6). And the writer of Ecclesiastes learned that pleasure cannot satisfy (Ecclesiastes 2:1).

Anyone who makes pleasure the main goal of life becomes desensitized to earth’s greatest delight—fellowship with God—which is also the abiding joy of heaven. As David wrote in Psalm 16:11, “In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” No pleasure can rival that of fellowship with God—a pleasure that is a foretaste of heaven.

A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord,
A wonderful Savior to me;
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock,
Where rivers of pleasure I see. —Crosby

Fellowship with Christ is the secret of happiness now and forever.

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Like A Tree–Psalm 1

Tree by the river 28jun08In week one of “Songs Along the Way” we considered how Psalm 1 contrasts the “two ways” of life. 

The way of the wise was described as a tree planted by a stream.  The way of the wicked described as chaff being blown away by the wind.

Here is a song setting of Psalm 1 by Justin Rizzo.  He clearly meditated on the words of this Psalm and is not afraid of repetition! Repetition is a learning strategy that helps us remember.

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A Place to Die

Harry W. Schaumburg wrote a blog post entitled “Sexual Sin in the Ministry”.   He makes a strong case that our “diagnosis determines the treatment” and suggests that nothing short of the cross will heal people caught in sexual sin.

“The cross isn’t a recovery program, the place to improve on what good is already there. It is a place to die.  It is not a question of giving up sexual sin, but of giving up one’s rights.”

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Psalms–Songs Along the Way

Psalms Study

Kathleen Buswell Nielson believes that our basic problem in Bible studies is that we have forgotten how to read.  We are often in too much of a hurry and want to rush into the Bible–grab some ready wrapped truth like we grab a fast food meal. 

“We’ve disowned that process of careful reading . . . observing the words . . . seeing the shape of a book and a passage . . . asking questions that take us into the text rather than away from it . . . digging into the Word and letting it speak! Through such a process, guided by the Spirit, the Word of God truly feeds our souls. Here’s my prayer: that, by means of these studies, people would be further enabled to read the Scriptures profitably and thereby find life and nourishment in them, as we are each meant to do.”

A group of dedicated women will begin a journey into the Psalms beginning May 10th.  Using Kathleen’s clear, concise questions we will engage personally with the Scripture and then come together to discuss and learn more together.

May God reveal Himself to each of us as we seek Him in His Word!