Sunday Leftovers (4/22/07)

On the priority of a personal walk with God —

If you are unhappy and discontent or even angry with God, it is the fruit of a heart that has fed too lightly and too little at the table of God — you have learned to be happy with things that cannot satisfy.

Modern Christians lack symmetry. They know almost nothing about the inner life. They are like a temple that is all exterior without any interior. Color, light, sound, appearance, motion — these are thy gods, O Israel.

'The accent in the church today,' says Leonard Ravenhill, the English evangelist, 'is not on devotion, but on commotion.' Religious extroversion has been carried to such an extreme in evangelical circles that hardly anyone has the desire, to say nothing of the courage, to question the soundness of it. Externalism has taken over.…The old question, 'What is the chief end of man?' is now answered, 'To dash about the world and add to the din thereof.' [A. W. Tozer, The Root of the Righteous.]

On discipleship —

We speak often of discipleship yet at times we minimize the consequences of discipleship (or the lack of it). Two corollary thoughts must be considered:

1. There is much to be gained when we live life faithfully (consider 1 Tim. 4:12b). That is, never underestimate the value of a well-lived life. You may be unaware of those who watch and are encouraged by your life of obedience.
2. There is much to be lost when we live life unfaithfully (consider 2 Tim. 2:17-18). Never underestimate the tragedy and sorrow that results from your wasted life. The tragedy is not just that your own life has been wasted, but you may also be discouraging the faith of others, compounding the tragedy even more. When tempted to sin (or tempted to remain in sin), it is always wise to consider the detrimental effect of your sin on the lives of others.
   

On marriage —

Is God sufficient for even a difficult marriage? The truth of the glory of God demands that He is.

If your dream for your marriage were to crumble, if your marriage were to appear dry and bare, could you still rise and say, 'I am full of joy because the Lord is Lord of my life, and gloriously, in the midst of struggle, I have him'?…Here's the reality: God's goodness, love, power, strength, and glory — and his call to you — do not change when your situation seems bleak and empty. He is there and he still satisfies. [Paul Tripp, Marriage: Whose Dream?]