Category Archives: Faith and Practice

A Sure Save

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“For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.  He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.” Psalm 62:1–2 (ESV)

 I spent the better part of the afternoon yesterday getting ready for the Senior High Youth Group rehearsal for our Easter Sunrise service.  These are always great events: a handful of half-asleep teens, leading us in praise and worship of the Risen Lord at the crack of dawn!  Always an adventure.  (I actually had one student ask if we could just have the Sunrise Service in the afternoon.)

To prepare for the service, I put together an overhead Worship Guide.  There were slides that led the congregation in praise of God for creation, incarnation, sacrifice, and resurrection.  There were slides that not only displayed the words of the songs we’ll be singing, but I actually figured out how to get the accompaniment tracks to play from this program (MediaShout is awesome!).  I have to admit, I was geeking out at my superior prowess with all things technical – that is until we made it to the sanctuary to practice.

It would seem that I forgot to save the file.  When I opened my computer, it restarted, and I lost all the work I had done that afternoon.  It was gone… forever.  Frantically I tried to put things back together so that we could rehearse.  Meanwhile, the Youth are graciously reminding me, “You know that’s what a ‘save’ button is for!”

Thankfully, my savior is not as absent minded as I.  God alone is the source of my salvation, He is my rock, my salvation, in Him, I will not be greatly shaken.  While this world may move and shake around me, while I can depend on the undependability of my own strength and assurances; God will never be moved, and my salvation is secure in His hands.

The psalmist goes on to say in Psalm 62, “Once God has spoken; twice I have heard this: that power belongs to God, and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.”  My friends, at times it may seem that we are standing on shifting sand, but know this: Power belongs to our God, and our God reigns with steadfast love.  In Him, we will never be lost like my abandoned files, we will always be saved, kept, and secure!

SDG

A Theology of Suffering

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“So we do not lose heart.  Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.  For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison…”  
II Cor. 4:16-17

This week I’ve heard from several brothers and sisters in Christ who are struggling and suffering from sickness, disease, and hard times.  I just want to remind you that God is faithful and good, and that nothing we face can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ.  In fact, it is often in the midst of hardship that we come to know the love of God in a more personal, sustaining, and soul satisfying way. 

I thought I’d share with all of you some thoughts on suffering, as detail by Murray Harris in The New International Greek Testament Commentary on II Corinthians:  In II Corinthians 1:3-11, several principles emerge from Paul’s discussion:

  1. Suffering patiently endured deepens our appreciation of God’s character, in particular his limitless compassion and never-failing comfort (1:3-4).
  2. Suffering drives us to trust God alone.  Paul’s desperate plight had undermined his self-reliance and compelled his total dependence on a God who raises the dead and therefore can rescue the dying from the grip of death (1:9).
  3. Suffering brings identification with Christ.  Paul could identify his sufferings as the “sufferings of Christ” (1:5) probably because they befell him as a “person in Christ” (12:2) who was engaged in the service of Christ (4:11).  They were Christ’s sufferings because they contributed to the fulfillment of the suffering destined for the body of Christ or because Christ continued to identify himself with his afflicted church.
  4. The experience of God’s comfort in our sufferings qualifies, equips, and obliges us to comfort others undergoing any type of suffering (1:4, 6).  The apostle’s thought seems to imply four stages: Paul’s own sufferings (= Christ’s sufferings) (1:4), his experience of God’s comfort mediated through Christ (1:5), the Corinthians’ sufferings, and their experience of God’s comfort mediated through Paul (1:6-7). 
  5. Suffering is not forever.  In comparison with the weighty and eternal glory that is produced by suffering patiently endured, suffering is relatively insignificant and momentary (4:17).  Glory follows suffering.

Don’t lose heart!  Keep your eyes fixed on that eternal glory that God has promised and we know in Jesus Christ our Lord!

Grace and peace,

SDG