Repairer of Broken Walls and Restorer of Streets (Isaiah 58)

As the Israelites camped below Mount Sinai preparing themselves to meet God (Exodus 19), I have been camped in Isaiah 58 for months now wrestling with this, meeting the Lord there.


When you want something (or just the opposite), you start to see it and notice it everywhere.  As I’ve been spending time in this text and talking about it with others, I’ve continually been surrounded by it. As if I were about to pack up camp thinking I was done here, the Lord comes in and just shows me that “no, we’re staying here a little longer.”

I have a tendency to be a “doer”. God is always doing a work in my heart to free me from any appearance or performance to sitting and resting in what He has already done. 

Here are the things this chapter has stirred, challenged, deepened in me from some commentaries on this chapter I’ve been reading. Take some time to read the chapter and after you read it, listen to an audio of it, you’ll hear it fresh and new every time.

The discipline of fasting in this text can be any spiritual disciple we practice. Is it for show, appearance, approval or from a genuine authentic heart after the Lord?

Isaiah 58:1-3
“Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins. For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’ ”

God describes the appearance and how the people felt God was unfair to them. They are asking is everything we are doing in vain, what is the point of this if you are not answering OUR prayers? Seem eager – they have the appearance, but not the heart.

Isaiah 58:3-5
“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?”

God did not accept their fasting when it wasn't connected with a sincere heart of obedience. They fasted for needs certainly, but selfish needs. Though their prayer was accompanied with fasting, it was still a selfish, even wicked prayer - that God did not answer. The purpose of their fasting was to glorify themselves. The answer isn't to stop fasting, but to get right with God and make your fasting more than superficial. Real, selfless, prayer and fasting that is partnered with real repentance has great power before God.

Empty doing. Outward obedience without an inward heart and affection is meaningless.

Colossians 3:1-3 tells us that since our old life/nature/flesh died with Christ, we are also raised with Him who is seated at the right hand of God. Our life is hidden in Christ…Hebrews 4:16 tells us to then approach the throne of grace with confidence.

Being at the right hand of a king meant intimate fellowship, meant you have the very ear of the king. We are all things in Christ. We are seated with Christ at the right of God. We have the ear of the King! What am I doing with that? Intentional? Selfish? Petition for the needs of others, our city, nation? Aligning my heart and prayers with His?

Isaiah 58:6-7
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?”

Getting right with God begins first by stopping the evil we do towards others. Getting right with God continues by doing loving things for others. 

Isaiah 58:8-12
“Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.”

v. 10 "your light will raise in the darkness" - it's an enlightened life
v. 11 "the Lord will guide you continually" - it's a guided life
v. 11 "satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land" - it's a satisfied life
v. 11 "like a well-watered garden" - it's a fragrant life
v. 11 "like a spring of water, whose waters never fail" - it's a freshly sustained life
v. 12 "you shall build up the old waste places" - it's a productive, healing life

The picture of being called “Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.” (also Isaiah 61:4) is beautiful and something I want my life to be about. I want a life ministry of reconciliation, restoration, refreshment. Jesus came to restore and repair what was broken.



Isaiah 58:13-14
“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” The mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

God calls them to take delight in the heart and the purpose of the Sabbath, to honor Him, trust Him, not doing your own thing your own way, laying down your efforts. The rest we enter into, as Christians is something to experience every day, not just one day a week. The Sabbath commanded here was a shadow of things to come, the substance is of Christ. We have a rest in Jesus that is ours to live in every day. Though we are free from the obligation of the Sabbath, we dare not ignore the importance of a day of rest, God has built us so that we need rest. An important aspect to this chapter is showing is that what we don't do isn't enough to make us right before God. Our walk with God shouldn't only be defined by what we don't do.

Grace leads to justice. Because Jesus met the conditions of the law, we are free to be unconditionally loved and accepted by that very covenant that He fulfilled on our behalf. When are hearts grasp this incredible, beautiful, undeserved grace, love, service and acts of justice outwork themselves.

“With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings?...He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require (desire) of you? To ACT JUSTLY and to LOVE MERCY and to WALK HUMBLY with your God.” Micah 6:7-8

There is SO much more I want to share about this chapter, but would love to hear what this text works in you. What does it look like to act justly? What does repairing broken walls and restoring streets look like in our city today?


What issues stir your heart greatly with “this is not as it should be?” and pray about what the Lord wants to do with that. Feel guilty? Maybe...but guilt is not lasting. A heart so warmed by the gospel cannot help, but act in such a way of meeting the needs of those in needs. Matthew 25:31-46

Posted in: on Tuesday, May 29, 2012 at 1 comments

He is Able...


I love word studies. I have been processing through and dwelling on these verses to be reminded who He is and what He is able to do when life is hard, confusing, uncertain, new; when sin is deceiving, devastating, and destructive, ruining lives and families. I choose to dwell here, because He is ABLE!
I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is ABLE to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.  2 Timothy 1:12
Now to Him who is ABLE to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us. Ephesians 3:20
God is ABLE to make all grace abound toward you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 2 Corinthians 9:8
Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, He is ABLE to help those who are tempted. Hebrews 2:18
ABLE to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7:25
ABLE to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.  Jude 24
'Do you believe that I am ABLE to do this?' They said to Him, 'Yes, Lord.' 'According to your faith let it be to you.'  Matthew 9:28-29
Do you believe He is able? He is. Even when I forget or get discouraged or lose sight from the weight and uncertainities of life are pressing on me. His shoulders are bigger and enough to carry it all. 
The Lord doesn't force Himself upon those who are not receptive to Him. He didn't create us robotic to His every command. He created us for relationship and what is a relationship if one is forced to love without choosing to be in relationship with someone? That's not a relationship. That's slavery. And He has set us free from the mastery and slavery of sin and death and given us new hearts to be free to be His. Do you believe He is able He and life remains such a mystery to you? Tell Him. Ask Him. Seek Him. For He is ABLE to meet you and I am confident that 'He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6
Dwelling on what you know to be true of the Lord allows you to persevere through any circumstance, any feelings. 
When your faith is tested, by disappointment, discouragement, devestation, look to Him to produce perseverance in you (James 1:3) which builds character (Romans 5:4) and godliness (2 Peter 1:6) that leads to hope that does not disappoint (Romans 5:5) !
What is the foundation of your life built on? The solid, unwavering, unshifting rock of Christ or the unstable shifting sand ideals of the world?
Dwell on what you know to be true of the Lord, start small, seek it in the Bible, speak it, share it, wrestle through it, and see what He does, stirs, and grows in you! He is able. He reigns over all. He is greater.
I'm letting go because He is ABLE. 





"We Exalt Your Name" by Kari Jobe
Spirit come and change the atmosphere  
Convict and open hearts to hear  
The anthems that the angels sing  
The Worship of the King of kings

For Jesus Reigns, Over all He reigns
We exalt Your name, High above the heavens  
We exalt Your name, All of creation sings praise
Your presence fills and satisfies.  
Tears down the walls we hide behind  
Oh, God of every aching heart, we long for You in light and dark

For Jesus Reigns, Over all He reigns

We exalt Your name, High above the heavens 
We exalt Your name, All of creation sings praise

Posted in: on Thursday, March 15, 2012 at 0 comments

The Acacia Tree


January has been one incredibly filled month. Started with venturing to the Holy Land and walking the heart of the Lord in Israel. Forever changed from it. Ended by buying a house. Been a crazy process and thankful that this long escrow finally closed Jan 31st with keys in hand!

I do want to process through each day in Israel on my blog, but for now I want to share about this tree and it's significance that we learned about days before we left for Israel. After Dan Goetz, who led our trip, shared this I wanted to jump on the plane right then and go, but it would only be a few days until my eyes would be forever change.

In Genesis 13, Abraham and Lot were separating because their livestock and possessions were too great to share one area. Abraham let Lot choose where he went, trusting wherever he went the Lord would guide and provide. Hadn't He thus far proved Himself faithful, why wouldn't He continue to do so? Oh to live by this faith.

Lot choose the direction of Sodom and Gomorrah that was a lush thriving land at that time. He went for what looked good (Genesis 3:6; 1 John 2:15-16). Lot started on the outside of the city, progressed to living inside the city then at the city gate (the place of influence for the city). The sin and morality of Sodom and Gomorrah was so severe that God destroyed these cities. Through Abraham's intercession Lot was spared, though he was reluctant to leave that life behind.

God rained down "burning sulfur" and destroyed these cities (Genesis 19). Nothing there could survive the wrath of God's judgment. No man. Nothing. When you drive in the desert area around the dead sea you can see what appears as mountains and walls, which they are, but many are made of solid salt. The sea is called the dead sea or salt sea because everything in that area was once covered in salt and still has the effect of that. No life can spring or grow there because of that. Not much of anything can be sustained in that soil and nothing in that water.

In the Hebrew text, there were many "types" of Christ, pointing to Jesus. For example, the known stories of David and Goliath, Samson, etc. were examples of deliverers for Israel, all pointing to Jesus who would come and ultimately be our deliverer and redeemer.

Every piece in the tabernacle and temple point to Jesus. The laver that washes away the sin before entering, Jesus' sacrifice and blood washes away our sin. The table of bread, Jesus is the bread of life. The lampstand, Jesus is the light of the world. Those are just a few. The Ark of the Covenant represented the presence and the intercession through blood needed to be right God. Jesus came to fulfill that and His blood was in a sense poured on the "mercy seat" that covered the Ark of Covenant separating between man and God's presence. Blood spilled intercession. Christ is our ultimate and final intercessor!

The Ark of Covenant was made of two parts. Acacia wood first, then covered in Gold. Acacia and Gold. Jesus was both fully man and God. Man and God. Acacia wood represents Christ coming as man, man is from the earth as acacia wood is from the earth. Gold represents the deity and holiness of God. Fully man and fully God. Acacia and Gold.

As you drive in the desert area surrounding the Dead Sea, the only natural life you will see (besides some weed bushes) are Acacia trees!

thanks to Ryan C. Froese photography

Christ, came down as a man to bear the wrath of God on our behalf. No one can withstand the wrath, but He took it upon His shoulders for us. The only trees in the area where nothing could stand to God's wrath proclaim Christ, standing tall, proclaiming Him to be the One who could! The land speaks. The land proclaims Him! I hope that grips your heart like it does mine!

As that land proclaims Him, may my life proclaim Him in all things! I just got keys to the house I bought. I want that home, those walls to proclaim Him and be a place of refuge, refreshment, for every person that enters and leaves knowing and loving Him more by being there.



This is just a glimpse of how each new sight brought new life to scripture. Stay tuned for my processing through those days and keep me accountable to it!

Posted in: on Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 0 comments

I shall not want

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want...I shall not want.

Lately when I read, think, dwell on, Psalm 23 I stop there; I shall not want (ESV).

I shall not be in want (NIV). There is nothing I lack (HCSB).  I have all that I need (NLT). I shall not lack (AMP). 

Why do I often find myself in want; wanting something, longing for something different and/or more? Is it the Shepherd or does this sheep often follow the wrong shepherd?

This last month as I've been preparing to leave January 1st, to walk the pages of the Bible, where God meet, called, rasied up, lead, provided for and to countless insignificant sheep, to follow Him to do mighty things in Israel, the first line of Psalm 23 keeps beating in my heart.

I could list all the wants; what I want to be, what I want to experience, know, have. I bet we'd all have a long list. I want to go to Israel and the Lord will make that a reality in just a few days. I'm estatic. But I also know if I put all my hope and want in something else, in an experience, a trip, possessions, or in someone I will always end up disappointed wanting more.

I hear my Good Shepherd whisper to me, 'I am your Shepherd, you have all you need and lack nothing, you shall not want.' And I feel the weight and grieve of my own disappointment in still wanting. He never fails. He never disappoints. He is faithful and trustworthy. He is unwavering. I have all that I need in Him and I rest and cling to that in such a dissatisfied world. I can let go of any worry if something will disappoint because yes it may, but He never does. All my fullness is in Him.


When I remember and dwell on that, it's like I'm breaking through the water after struggling to get to the surface from the deep. He is light. He is refreshing. His burden is light.

The reality of battling wants is part of the daily battle of my flesh in this world and my spirit longing to be with Him, being sanctified with every step here.

"I will always have unfulfilled longings this side of heaven...if I will accept them, unfulfilled longings will increase my longing for God and for Heaven." Nancy Leigh DeMoss

"He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out...his sheep follow him because they know his voice...I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep...I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me." Jesus, the Good Shepherd, John 10



What shepherd do you know and listen to? What shepherd knows you and has your ear? One that is unwavering and trustworthy, brings fullness of joy, peace, strength, sustains you? Or is it the shepherd of the world that disappoints and never has enough for you?

Brings me back to "Those who cling to worthless idol forfeit the grace that could be theirs." Jonah 2:8 from a previous post. When I'm wanting, where and to whom do I turn to? Am I clinging to worthless things that cause me to forfeit his grace, Lord, Shepherd my heart always.

The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me], I shall not lack (AMP).

He is my Shepherd, I shall not want.

I long to go meet my Shepherd in the very fields and places He spoke and called Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Samuel, David, the disciples, Paul, ...Ashley. He meets me here, right now, right in this moment. In every moment. I hear Him. I know Him and His voice and I look forward to meeting Him there in Israel.

"we can succeed because the Lord is our Shepherd. God designed us as we are so that we would see our need of Him. In Him, we find all that we need." Kay Arthur

In Him I have all that I need. When I follow the Good Shepherd I shall not want and I don't need to stop there because when you follow this Shepherd, you have the rest of Psalm 23 as well..

1 The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
 3 he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
   for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk
   through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
   for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
   they comfort me.
 5 You prepare a table before me
   in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
   my cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me
   all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
   forever.


Posted in: on Thursday, December 29, 2011 at 0 comments

Psalm 119

Psalm 119

I have spent these past few week dwelling in Psalm 119. This is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible. It's like fresh rain coming down on a dry and weary land. Life giving. I have spent time both reading the pages and listening to it on audio Bible. I have found such a love of listening to the Word audibly speaking to me. Reading and listening to it in different versions brings a fresh word every time.

I want to put every verse here for you to read, instead I'm hopeful this will point you to spend time in it yourself, so here are just a few. And this song, I Will Exalt keeps ringing in my heart, mind, and spirit as I've been dwelling on these words.

The Psalmist uses different terms for the law or the Word of God: law, statutes, ways, precepts, decrees, commands, laws, ordinances, word, path, promise, utterance. Every verse except verse 90, 122, and 132 mentions at least on of these terms.


Read it. Study it. Discuss it. Memorize it. Meditate on it. Live it. Teach it. 

119:1-2 "Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord. Blessed are they who keep his statutes and see him with all their heart." 

119:9 "How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word."

119:18 "Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law." My hearts prayer every moment I'm reading, dwelling, thinking on the Word.

119:29-32 "Keep me from deceitful ways; be gracious to me through your law. I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart on your laws. I hold fast to your statutes, O Lord; do not let me be put to shame. I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free."!

119:33 "Teach me, O Lord, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end." 

119:34-38 "Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart toward your statues and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word."

119:54 "Your decrees are the theme of my song."

119:89,91 "Your word, O Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens...Your laws endure to this day, for all things serve you."

119:103-104 "How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth; I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path."

119:88,93,116,149,154 "Preserve my life according to your love...I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life...Sustain me according to your promise, and I will live; do not let my hopes be dashed...preserve my life, O Lord, according to your laws...defend my cause and redeem me; preserve my life according to your promise.

119: 111 "Your statues are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart."

119:114 "You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word."

119:130 "The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.

119:165 "Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble."

Posted in: on Monday, November 28, 2011 at 0 comments

a challenge and a reminder for gratitude and eucharistic living

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for his steadfast love endures forever. 2 Chronicles 16:34

We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks, for your name is near. Psalm 75:1


November, the month of giving thanks.
...it's the month of thanks and I have chosen to begin an intentional journey of cultivating a heart of gratitude. I'm going through the book One Thousand Gifts and have started my own list.




1,000 gifts may sound daunting to list, but I challenge you to start a day at a time. List 7 things a day, for 7 days you are thankful for and see as gifts. Be specific. There is power in naming something.

I will give thanks to the Lord will all my heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. Psalm 9:1


I have a great little booklet to carry around in your wallet or purse to keep with you always to write things down as they come to mind during the day. You can do your own list or if you want this here is the link to the booklet PDF to print and fold (there's a trick so I can show you)


The Lord is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trust, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.  Psalm 28:7

I have started my list. Here I will make my list of a thousand gifts and things from the book as I'm reading it. Watch a heart of gratitude and thankfulness grow, your perspective change, and your affection and gratitude for Christ grow, for He is our greatest gift!


But we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise. Psalm 79:13


And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them...Luke 22:19

he gave thanks in the original greek is Eucharisteo, this word contains the greek word for grace, charis  and chara means joy. Eucharisteo - thanksgiving - always precedes the miracle.

Eucharisteo...thanksgiving, grace, and joy living. Eucharistic living, that's what I want to cultivate in my heart and life.

"The brave who focus on all things good and all things beautiful and all things true, even in the small, who give thanks for it and discover joy even in the here and now, they are the change agents who bring fullest Light to all the world. When we lay the soil of our hard lives open to the rain of grace and let joy penetrate our cracked and dry places, let joy soak into our broken skin and deep crevices, life grows." p.58


and whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the same of our Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Colossians 3:17

We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. Revelation 11:17

Posted in: on Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 1 comments

recent pages


the recent pages of this year have done a work in me. To live a better story, be a willing/intentional instrument of change, to remember eternal perspective, of what a maturing Christian looks like, remember my need for grace and the gospel everyday,  and truth...

"A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" by Donald Miller

As Donald Miller was approached about making his book "Blue Like Jazz" into a film, he learned and processed what makes a good story to be made into film and seeing that played into his reality; he saw he was not living a very good story and desired to live out a better story. 
Knowing the elements that made a story meaningful [are] the same that [make] a life meaningful.

This was such a great refreshing look on the stories we are living. Reminding me to process what truly makes a life a good story and am I living that? Am I giving of myself?
If I have a hope, it's that God sat over the dark nothing and wrote you and me, specifically, into the story and put us in with the sunset and the rainstorm as though to say, 'Enjoy your place in my story. The beauty of it means you matter and you can create within it even as I have created you. 
We were designed to live through something rather than to attain something and the thing we were meant to live through was designed to change us. 
People love to have lived a great story, but few people like the work it takes to make it happen. But joy costs pain.   
The stuff I spent money on indicated the stories I was living...stuff I spent money on was, in many ways, the sum of my ambitions...the ambitions we have will become the stories we live.  
Misery, though seeming ridiculous, indicates life itself has the potential of meaning, therefore pain itself must also have meaning. 
A good storyteller doesn't just tell a better story, he invites other people into the story with him, giving them a better story. 
What do I want to be known for? Christ's love and grace. Refreshment. Life giving. Eternal perspective. Approachable. Giving.  Joy. Intentional.  Others minded. Authentic. Teachable. Trustworthy. 
I was a tree in a story about a forest and it's arrogant of me to believe anything differently...the story of the forest is greater than the story of the tree. 

"Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands" by Paul David Tripp

We are all people in need of change. We are all in process. In that process we get to join, encourage, push, and walk alongside those also in process. 
Suffering belongs to the Lord. It is an instrument of his purpose in us and for others. The way we suffer must put Christ on center stage. The Redeemer own our disappoint, fear, rejection, aloneness, etc. It all belongs to Him for His purpose. 

The purpose of our sanctification, making us more like Christ and the purpose to draw people out of darkness to point them to Christ, the hope of glory!

There's purposeful suffering to experience God's comfort with the ability to comfort others to offer a community of hope.  
2 Corinthians 1:3-5

Love - Know - Speak - Do

LOVE
Enter the person's world
Incarnate the love of Christ
Identify with Suffering
Accept with Agenda - God's grace is always grace leading to change. 

KNOW
Knowing a person Biblically
The Situation - What is going on?
The Responses - What the person does in response to what is going on?
The Thoughts - What does this person think about what is going on?
The Motives - What does the person want out of, or in the midst of what's going on? 

SPEAK
Rebuke is the word the Bible uses for bringing truth to where change is needed. 
We all need loving, honest rebuke because of:
the deceitfulness of sin
wrong and unbiblical thinking
emotional thinking
view of life tends to be shaped by personal experience

In the confrontation process, first filter through whose agenda drives your confrontation.
Confrontation process:
Consideration - what does this person need to see that they do not see? 
Confession - if people have looked at themselves in the mirror of scripture, they should have identified sins of heart and behavior that need to be confessed.
Commitment - the first step of the "put on" phase
Change - focuses on the how. How should these new commitments be applied to daily living?

DO
We do want people to see, know, and understand, but we also want them to apply that insight to their daily life...Here we teach people to be dissatisfied with the gap between their confessional and functional theology. 


"Heaven" by Randy Alcorn

Understanding Heaven doesn't just tell us what to do, but why. What God tells us about our future lives enables us to interpret our past and serve him in our present. 
We are pilgrims in this life, not because our home will never be on Earth, but because our eternal home is not currently on Earth. It was and it will be, but it's not now.  


Perspective is life changing. It changes the way you look at life, at everyday, at the people you are surrounded by,  at the situations and circumstances of life you have no control over, at the unfulfilled longings of our hearts. Eternal perspective is something I so desire to always walk in and regularly talk about and want to encourage others in. 

I had put off reading, tackling, this book for awhile because it was intimidating in my mind. How can I grasp heaven and eternity from a book. This book did wonders as God has been growing in me the last several years a greater eternal perspective and greater longing for what I was made for. I'm not going to spend the amount of time here on this book as I really would like because there is sooooo much I want to chew on and share and process here with you but I think i'll write later a post just about eternal perspective and will probably use this book a lot there. 
God is the source of all joy - all other joys are secondary and derivative...God designed us to need each other. What we gain from each other is more of God because we're created in His image and are a conduit for his self-revelation. 
Desire is a signpost pointing to Heaven...Every longing for romance is a longing for the ultimate romance with Christ. Every desire for intimacy is a desire for Christ. Every thirst for beauty is a thirst for Christ. Every taste of joy is but a foretaste of a greater and more vibrant joy than can be found on Earth as it is now.  Our desires simply correspond to God's intentions, because he implanted his intentions into us in the form of our desires. 
I know our instincts tell us that this fallen world isn't our home - we were made for someplace better.
Not only will death separate us from Christ -  it will actually usher us into his presence. Then, at the final resurrection, Christ will demonstrate his omnipotence by turning death on its head, making forever alive what appeared forever buried...If you believe this, you won't cling desperately to this life. You'll stretch out your arms in anticipation of the greater life to come. 
In order to get a picture of Heaven - which will one day be centered on the New Earth - you don't need to look up at the clouds; you simply need to look around you and imagine what all this would be like without sin and death and suffering and corruption.  
Following Christ is not a call to abstain from gratification but to delay gratification. It's finding our joy in Christ rather than seeking joy in the things of this world. Heaven - our assurance of eternal gratification and fulfillment - should be our North Star, reminding us where we are and which direction to go. 

"Spiritual Maturity" by J. Oswald Sanders

This is the part of great series, Spiritual Leadership, Spiritual Discipleship, and the third Spiritual Maturity. I have re-read the others and hope to always come back to these rich books on Leadership, Discipleship, and Maturity. A reflection from scripture for practical principles of spiritual growth for ever believer. 

A look at the each person of the Trinity; at their character and what practical applications and implications this should look like for maturing believers. The overruling providence, prostrating vision, undiscouraged perseverance, discriminating disciples, perfected strength, moral antipathy, and satisfying compensations of God. Christ's supreme vision, transcendent worthiness, unfinished work, ideal of character, and His terms of discipleship. The Spirit-Breath of God, the transforming power, purging fire, mighty dynamic, missionary passion, giftings, and empowerment of the Holy Spirit. 

Awed to repentance by the infinite holiness of the Father. Challenged to surrender by the triumphant humility of the Son. Energized to service by the transforming power of the Spirit. 


"The Great Exchange" by Jerry Bridges & Bob Bevington
My Sin for His Righteousness

What an undeserving, beautiful exchange it is, and offered to all! This is an exposition of the atonement of Jesus Christ patterned after the apostles doctrine of the atonement. 
He was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:5
This book took me awhile and I'm glad I slowly went through this one. I'm a doer. The tendency of my flesh is to want to earn my way, to "do" the right things that give me value. I need the gospel daily. 

This book works through our total depravity and need for Christ's atoning work on the cross, reconciling us to the Father. He died in our place as our substitute and representative. 

After walking through what sin is, pointing to our need for Christ, the foreshadowing of Christ in the Old Testament through sacrifices and prophecies, then a walk through most of the New Testament starting with Acts and working through most of the epistles showing the position and focus in each book of His righteousness, for my sin, what an exchange. 
What is sin?...missing the mark...failure to live up to the righteous standard's of God's holy law...a rebellion against authority...sin is a rebellion against God's sovereign authority, a despising of his Word and his person, and even a defiance of God himself.  
All our efforts toward spiritual growth should flow out of the realization of what he has already done to secure for us our perfect standing before God. 
We fail to see that our anxiety, our discontentment, our ingratitude towards God, our pride and selfishness, our gossip, our unkind words to or about others, our preoccupations with the things of this life, and a whole host of other subtle sins are an expression of rebellion against God and a despising of his Word and person...the truth is that even most mature believers continue to sin in thought, word, deed, and especially in motives. 
The term reconciliation refers to a state where two alienated parties are reunited by the satisfactory removal of the cause of estrangement or offense.  


Salvation rescues us, pulls us out. Redemption is to buy us out from something and into something. Propitiation is the satisfactory price that has to be paid. Justification is to be declared right with God, free, giving us the Righteousness of Christ.  Justification depends on redemption. Redemption depends on propitiation. All an outpouring of His grace, given to us personally by faith through the work of Christ on the cross. 


By the work of Christ on the cross, we are offered salvation, rescuing us from the power of sin over us, redeeming us from sin and into new life because Christ blood is a propitiation, a satisfactory payment, our ransom to redeem us, so we could be declared right, be justified, have right standing with God, called righteous, to be sanctification, on going process of making us more like Christ during our days here until glory. 

1. This righteousness is actually an accomplished fact.
2. The twofold nature of the Redeemer as God-man was necessary in order to accomplish the transfer of the righteousness of God to sinners.
3. Though operating through aspects - his life and his death - the righteousness of God transferred by the God-man is one, indivisible, finished work of one Christ.
4. The standard of this righteousness is the law of God and divine justice.
5. The righteousness of God is substitutionary righteousness, lived out by Christ in our place and for our benefit; the death of Christ is a substitutionary death. 
6. Sinners are born spiritually dead and remain dead and incapable of any aspect of sanctification until faith unites them to Christ. 
Our eternal life is in Christ. It is from Christ as the source, through him as the means, and to him as the ultimate destination. 
Our deliverance from the law of sin and death is a unilateral act of God. This deliverance is not due to something we have done; it is due to something God has done. God is the originator and source of the atonement. He sent his son. It was his act. It emanated from him like water from a fountain.
Ransom is the purchase price, and redemption is the purchase process
1. The buyer is the God-man, Christ crucified. 
2.  The price - the ransom for our deliverance from captivity to sin's curse and dominion - is too high. We cannot pay it ourselves. 
3. The receiver of the ransom is God. 


The fact that we are ransomed means that our old ways will necessarily change. We become the property of the one who redeemed us. We have a new master - Christ. We can never be the same once our lives are touched by his precious redeeming blood...Christ offers us redemption from all these dead-end rabbit trails, false treasures, and broken cisterns that will never satisfy.

"Total Truth" by Nancy Pearcey

After all the truth and studying and refuting and supporting a biblical worldview, I love how she ends the entire book with the last section "What Next? Living It Out."  In all that you can study, know, defend, debate, at the end of the day, if your life does not match the gospel you preach, you loose all credibility and effectiveness in bringing people into the Kingdom. 

"We may do a great job of arguing that Christianity is total truth, but others will not find our message persuasive unless we give a visible demonstration of that truth in action." p. 354

"A verbal presentation of a Christian worldview message loses its power if it is not validated by the quality of our lives." p. 355

"How do we know whether we are producing life or death? By whether our lives exhibit the beauty of God's character. When people see the way you live, are they drawn closer to God or are they alienated from God? When they observe the way you treat others, do they find the gospel more credible or less credible?" p. 361

"Having a Christian worldview means being utterly convinced that biblical principles are not only true but also work better in the grit and grime of the real world." p. 370

"The church is meant to be the "plausibility structure" for the gospel. When people see a supernatural dimension of love, power, and goodness in the way Christians live and treat one another, then our message of biblical truth becomes plausible." p. 355
"The church is called to be a witness to the gospel through an authentic demonstration of love and unity." p. 378

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