day no. 14,594: exhausted, but hopeful

Psalm 130

If God should count our sins against us, who could avoid accountability? But as powerful as the rule of sin is over us, God possesses power beyond it. So much so that He can forgive sins. He can break the rule of sin. He can overrule the weight of our wages. If the thought of facing a holy God in our sins should produce fear, how much more fear is owed to the God who can disarm sin? As devastating as our sin is, He is the devastator of my sins. He stands above them. Love is as strong as death and I wait for Him like the watchman waits for morning: exhausted, but hopeful, exasperated at times, but sure of the sun's appearing ending all my earthly woes.

day no, 14,593: haters gonna hate

Psalm 129

God placed enmity between the seed of Eve and the seed of the serpent and ever since the seed of the serpent have taken this seriously. The world, the flesh and the devil are in cahoots and have their sights set on taking the children of Abraham out. But God knows who is who and the enmity that the darkness has for the light is only eclipsed ed by His enmity for it.

day no. 14,592: arrival

Psalm 128

The one who sows in the fear of the Lord will reap the blessing of that Lord. The one who walks in God's ways will end up where God is. If you travel down a certain path long enough you will discover that you have arrived.

day no. 14,591: home security

Psalm 127

Everything earthly will rot, die, decay, topple, wobble or worsen. You can get up early and stay up late working, crafting, carefully plotting, but if God is not the pioneer and perfecter of your plans, they will ultimately fail. Nothing man can do or come up with will stand on its own forever. But anything God establishes, even something as simple as the faith of a family, will endure for eternity. 

day no. 14,590: those who sow in tears shall reap of joy

Psalm 126

The rule of reaping and sowing is at work. God is not mocked, you will reap what you have sown. This is a surety proclaimed throughout Scripture. Hear we see that those who sow in tears will reap of joy. Those who carry the seeds of weeping will come home with sheaves of shouts of joy. In other words, blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted and blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

day no. 14,589: the three stages of conversion

Adapted from Doug Wilson's "three stages of conversion" found HERE.

Acts 26:16-18

But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 17 delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you 18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.

Conversion occurs in three stages:

(1) opening eyes

(2) turning from darkness to light

(3) turning from the power of Satan to God

The early stage of conversion begins when blindness becomes sight. This may sound like a metaphor for the entire conversion process, but consider what good sight is for someone living in utter darkness. How would you know that you can even see when all you see is darkness. But there does exist yet in this stage even an initial awareness of the darkness around you which comes by sight. Previously, in blindness, you walked in darkness, but you were unaware of it, like a fish being oblivious to how wet he is. This is the first step in the conversion process realizing, "Hey, it's dark in here!"

The next stage of conversion is turning from the darkness to see that there is a great light in the distance. While first stage was largely characterized by knowing that dark is dark, this second stage is characterized by seeing that there is a light and that it is altogether different than the darkness. During this stage the contrast between darkness and light is understood and acknowledged, but we still are not yet to full conversion. A person can see the darkness for what it is and the light for what it is and yet remain outside the shine of the light. There is one more step that must take place.

In the final stage of conversion, the person, having been given vision to see the darkness and the ability to understand how dark the darkness is and being shone the great light of Christ shining into said darkness, responds by actually entering into the power of the light and forsaking the shadows of the former life. The power of Satan is in the dark, the power of God is in the light. This last phase is the fullness of conversion that saves the soul and secures its inheritance in the city of light. 

day no. 14,588: while others laid down, he stood up

Numbers 25
Balaam figured out if he couldn't curse Israel with his words, he could get God to curse them by cooking the books. The wiles of devliish worldliness always look for a way to work around God's Word. So he introduced a fly into the ointment in the form of Midianite women. After one thing inevitably led to another, Israel found themselves not only marrying Midianite people, but worshiping Midianite gods. God's charge to Moses was clear: whoever does this deserves to die!

And yet the practice went on to the point that sinners were emboldened in their debauchery to the point that a particular man swaggered through the camp in broad daylight, in the presence of all people, with a Midianite by his side. It was then that the jealousy of the Lord overcame Phinehas. He was consumed by zeal for the Lord's Name. And he did what no one was willing to do, what God had commanded to be done. He left the congregation of the mourning. While everyone else in Israel was laying down, he stood up. While some laid with Midianites, others laid down in grief. But he, alone, stood up. 

And how did God respond to this violent outburst? With reward. Phinehas inherited a covenant of peace. His violent zeal for God's purity produced peace between God and man. His stand begat salvation. The plague of God ended because the zeal of Phinehas began. Years later, a better Phinehas, would secure a covenant of peace between God and man. He would obtain the salvation of many by his violent death. His zeal would lead him to be pierced for our transgressions and by His stripes we would be healed.

Psalm 106:28-30

They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods; 

they aroused the LORD’s anger by their wicked deeds, and a plague broke out among them. But Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was checked.

Isaiah 53:5
He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.