Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands II

Here’s the next set of quotes I took from Paul David Tripp’s conference. You can find the first set  here.

“If you’re God’s child, your life doesn’t belong to you”

“God’s work is the work of change for His glory”

“I get angry because I don’t value what God is doing in this particular situation. I  get disappointed because I want something different than what God is giving me”

“All the time… you are preaching to yourself some kind of gospel”

“God sent his son to die because of how serious sin is. My problem as sinner is self-righteousness. I can see this when I’m being confronted. Instead of being thankful and feeling loved, I justify and defend myself”

“Your walk with God is a community project”

“Most ministry moments come when you least expect them to come”

“God will not call you to a test he has not enabled you to do”

Tomorrow, I will post what Paul Tripp calls a MINISTRY MODEL.

Enemies of Contentment: “If…”

If I had more money, I would…

If I had a husband/wife, I would…

We live in a world full of possibilities. A few decades ago, when you chose a career for yourself, you’d only find a few majors to choose from. Or worse, you’d  be limited to working at your family’s business. Your life was pretty much set up from the very beginning. Now, there are hundreds of majors, master’s degrees and a dozens of concentrations.

Fifty years ago, people knew they’d end up marrying someone from their neighborhood. A few decades ago, it could be someone from their country. A few years ago, the options multiplied. With the internet at hand, you could end up marrying someone from another continent!

Options, decisions…a thousand in front of you. The problem is that our hearts are never satisfied. Teenagers want to go to college. College graduates want a good job. Young adults want to marry. Married couples want children. Parents want their want their kids to succeed… It seems there’s always something in front of us to achieve and conquer. While none of these are wrong desires,our hearts may grow discontent if we’ve put our trust in them and they don’t happen when we want them to. The problem is we make of these desires an idol.

Anytime we hear ourselves saying, “If I…” the monster of discontentment rears its ugly head.

The Lord asks us to think according to Philippians 4:8. We need to take captive every thought to the obedience of Christ. The truth is that we have more than we deserve. Because Jesus lived a life we couldn’t live and died the death we all deserved, we have more in God than we can ever dream of or imagine.

Let us seek first the kingdom of God (putting all our hopes in Him), and everything else will be added unto us.  (Matthew 6:33). Live life now to the fullest, and let God take care of the rest.

 

Related post: Enemies of contentment: our ideal timing

Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands I

I bought this book back in August 2004. I read it for a while, but then it got lost in the dozens of books I keep on my nightstand. I’m back to reading it once again because for some reason, reading a book after you’ve heard its author speak is a much more enriching experience.

A few weeks ago we had Paul David Tripp at a conference by the same name as this book. We heard strong, biblical teaching and I was very encouraged by his honesty and transparency. He’s also a phenomenal speaker! I believe God used this man to  make us think differently about living life in His kingdom.

Today I want to review with you some quotes I took  from his conferences. I hope that you find them helpful and edifying:

“Grace is the fact that God will take you to places you didn’t intend to go in order to produce in you what you could not achieve on your own”

“God will do what is necessary to mold us in to the image of Jesus Christ. He is delivering me from pride, self-sufficiency, self-righteousness, and my thinking of ‘I’m done, I don’t need any more transformation”

“True righteousness only begins when you get to the end of yourself”

“To be an instrument in God’s hand, we need to be in God’s agenda page”

“The key to be an instrument is to start with your own heart”

“If you had to be honest, what kind of Messiah do you want?”

“God uses different circumstances to reveal our hearts’s needs. And that’s grace”

I’ll continue posting more quotes tomorrow, but for now I think all of us have some good food for thought! May God use His word to transform us into the image of His Son!

Enemies of contentment: Our ideal timing

I’m sure all of us have an ideal plan in our heads of  how things should go in our lives. For most of us, something in the back of our minds tells us that life should be run on our specific timeline. For instance,

• I will graduate from college when I’m 23
• Land a good job after graduation
• Do my masters
• Get married when I’m 25
• Have my first child two years after I get married

And the list goes on and on…

Yet how often we forget that GOD has full dominion over our lives! And oh, how discontent we grow when things don’t go our way, or when they’re timed differently by the One who knows best. Here’s a good quote that might help us all,

God’s sense of timing will confound ours, no matter what culture we’re from. His grace rarely operates according to our schedule. When Jesus looks at Jairus and says, “Trust me, be patient,” in effect he is looking over Jairus’s head at all of us and saying, “Remember how when I calmed the storm I showed you that my grace and love are compatible with going through storms, though you may not think so? Well, now I’m telling you that my grace and love are compatible with what seem to you unconscionable delays.” It’s not “I will not be hurried even though I love you”; it’s “I will not be hurried because I love you. I know what I’m doing. And if you try to impose your understanding of schedule and timing on me, you will struggle to feel loved by me.” (Tim Keller’s “Kings Cross” , pg. 63)

Knowing that it’s because He loves us shall keep our hearts safe under our Father’s wings. When the devil comes to tempt you to be discontent, remind him of God’s love and provision which have been evident in your life. Remember that the Lord is always good, and He is NEVER late.

The attractive pearl of contentment

Dave Harvey, in his book “Rescuing Ambition” helped me  balance my understanding of contentment and ambition. All theology aside, I really love his writing style and how he’s so down-to-earth with this topic.

Since I figure that he will state this better than I ever could, I will proceed with some good quotes  about what contentment is:

• “Contentment means being satisfied and at peace with God’s will in all situations”
• “Godly contentment has to be more than being thankful you’re better off than someone else [...] True contentment comes by comparing what we have to what our sins deserve. That means we find it in the gospel.

The more absorbed I am in the gospel, the more grateful I become in the midst of my circumstances, whatever they may be…When I look at any circumstance that God apportions me, I am first grateful for the wrath I am not receiving in that moment…Secondly, I am grateful for the blessings that are given to me instead of His wrath. This two-layered gratitude disposes my heart to give thanks in all things and it also lends a certain intensity to my giving thanks” (Milton Vincent as quoted by Dave Harvey)

Finally here’s my favorite quote. It’s Sinclair Ferguson as quoted by Harvey,

• “Christian contentment…is the direct fruit of having no higher ambition than to belong to the Lord and to be totally at His disposal in the place He appoints, at the time He chooses, with the provision He is pleased to make”

Are you craving for contentment yet? I know I am!