Glory B, I finished painting!

I finally finished rolling paint on the walls with my Wagner Paintmate Plus. It made quick work of the painting process, I just didn't get started painting until almost 11pm. Yes, those were the same walls that we had floated, sanded, textured, and primed. It is exciting the transformation of that room. As I worked late into the night to finally end this never ending project, God has stirred my heart again to take note of the lessons that he has been teaching me.

I saw many imperfections while attempting to paint the walls. As God reveals the imperfections of my pridefulness that show up all over my life, it is funny (not really laughing) that I try to just paint over them. Just paint over them and noone will see a thing I tell myself. If they do see anything, I will just say its always been that way and there's no changing it now. It's painted! I may not say those exact words, but I treat pridefulness very similarly.


May the Lord continue to give me a burden for my sin that nailed Him to the cross and a humility that comes from seeing the Lord not leave me alone, but rather pursue me with His gracious love.

Grey hair and God's Glory

While I do have some grey hair, my hair was pretty much white after sanding down 8 walls with a pole sander. Thankfully I was able to borrow an electric sander that connects to a shop vac from a friend doing some work next door. This sanding portion of the project has been by far the most difficult and messy. I think there is a 1" layer of dust that has settled throughout our entire house. Though it has been the hardest, it has been a fruitful time for the Lord to stir my heart to realize spiritual truths that related to this task.

I had a young man, who is about to go off to college, over to help me apply the first layer of texture (2 whole boxes worth). The Lord had impressed on my heart that I needed to discharge the duties of my ministry in this young man's life. The Lord had blessed me with the relationship and the vantage point to be able to speak truth though windows that the Lord had opened to me. I feared for my friend that the desire for independence and the desire to be respected by his peers had blended with pridefulness and was blinding him to even greater dangers that lie ahead on the college campus.

How cool was it to hear that God had already begun revealing many of the very things I felt led to discuss with him. It truly was a blessed time of conversation, that left my friend humbled and truly desiring to take steps to seek forgiveness for many acts of pridefulness that had impacted the relationships in his life. He even desired for his parents to be a barometer helping him recognize pride in his life before it ran out of control. An 18 yr old seeking to humble himself before God and his parents is truly a miracle!

I thought that was all the lessons for the day, but I was wrong. As I put in my ear plugs to run the sander and shop vac to smooth out a few "blemishes" that I couldn't get with the pole sander, God began to teach me about my own pride. I looked over MY walls with pride having finished texturing 8 walls and having sanded them down with the pole sander. I almost made up the texture to be blown in 'cause this should be quick. Well as I got good lighting, and really began inspecting the walls, I was amazed that whatever wall was right in front of my face was covered in bubbles, scratches, grooves, bumps, divits, and ripples. When only a few feet away I didn't see any of that. I couldn't see the places where I had failed to have a smooth surface without blemish, until I looked at it carefully and up close.

As I had spent time helping my friend to see the areas that pride had created blemishes in his life and relationships, I was confronted with the question, "When was the last time you really looked at the walls in your life slowly, carefully, and with the Light of God revealing your pridefulness and sin? Would you pray for me and consider joining me as I let God shine His Light on the walls of my life and reveal any (better said ALL) of the blemishes and bubbles, scratches, grooves, bumps, divits, and ripples of pride that Christ desires to sand down and cover over with His blood and His holiness. Just as sanding the walls took hours and get messy, I am sure this will take some time and looks to be pretty messy as well. Praise to the Glory of His Grace that He answers such prayers!

Ro 7:24-25 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Me too

I have often reflected upon the words Jesus uttered while hanging on the cross “Forgive them Father; they know not what they do”and each time I am amazed. When reading the account in the gospels I feel like arguing with God, “Yes they did know!” They were even there at the very end gloating over their perceived triumph over the thorn in their side. Adding literally insult to injury by mocking the fact that the Son of God would not allow himself to be crucified. In the face of the very ones who were responsible for the cruelty of the cross, all Jesus said about them was, “Forgive them!” There is part of all of us that kind of wish Jesus wouldn’t have let them mock Him. Wouldn't have let them get away with it, without them also going the way of Judas. Give them a little bit of what they deserve. Serve up a little justice on the spot.

This has always blown me away at the magnitude of Grace that was shown to those responsible for His death. It was shocking to those that heard it at the time as well. The greatest demonstration of love is not that we loved Him, but that He loved us while we were yet enemies of God. I am sure that the image of Jesus praying for them had to haunt many after His body went missing from the tomb, and hundreds of reports of seeing Him alive, and the boldness of the disciples in telling the story of His death and resurrection. I am sure the image of Jesus nailed to the tree praying, “Father forgive them, they know not what they do,” had to be one of the hardest images to shake free from their conscience in the following days and weeks or even years.

It has rattled me the same way here lately. It was not until reading John Stott’s book, “The Cross of Christ,” that he points out the motivations that each of the characters had, in playing their part in the crucifixion of Christ. Judas was motivated by greed, the Pharisees and Sadducees by envy/jealousy or by a desire for power, Pilate was motivated by fear/selfishness or just peer pressure, and the Roman guards appear to have been motivated by pride. Their sin was ultimately a handing over Christ to be crucified. It was a betrayal of the person and authority of Christ.

Any time I sin, it is not that my sin is any less a betrayal of Christ and His authority or any less of a handing Christ over to be crucified than theirs was. My longing is to hear, "Forgive Him Father, I've paid for his sin." Thank you Jesus!

Got Joy?

Does God need to answer a prayer that you are praying in order for you to have joy in your life right now?

Does something need to change at work or in a relationship for you to have a little more peace?

Is your joy completely overflowing in your life right now?


I have a friend who really challenged my thinking when he shared a story. The Lord had used me to help him see the cross again as the center of his thinking. He had a friend that was really getting discouraged because God was taking too long answering some of his prayers. Prayers and work dedicated to good things, but not seeing the results yet. My friend shared what he asked his friend. "Did Jesus need to do more on the cross in order for you to be satisfied?" Wow, that question hits hard. We have such a tendency to move right past the cross on to "more pressing" issues, when the source of joy and satisfaction has already been bought and paid for.

I have related what Christ did on the cross to an analogy of my father wrestling with a person holding a gun to me. If he gave his life in order to save mine, would I still demand more from my father? Would I get mad at my father for not being there when I missed him or things were difficult? The clear answer is no! So an imperfect father, saving only my physical life receives a lifetime response of gratitude for his heroic act, but Jesus heroic sacrifice of His life for mine receives anger, contempt, rebellion, and disappointment when He doesn't give me more than His very life. Is my heart really that hard?

It is at the cross where Christ demonstrated the greatest measure of Grace from God to me. That Jesus would become my very sin, that God would pour out His wrath against my sin on Christ, and that I would become the Righteousness of God through Christ. That the love and acceptance that would be shown to Christ is shown to me. God sees me as righteous, blameless, holy, and as His child. I am given the spirit of God himself as a gift to seal my soul one day to be made into the image of Christ. I am given a gift more valuable than all the treasure of the entire earth, and I am left empty and dismayed because I feel he has shorted me the equivalent of one corn flake out of my bowl of cereal. The gift of the whole world is cast aside, because of the equivalent of one flake of cereal that I feel should have been added to my bowl.

Paul asked for the thorn in his flesh to be removed three times, and the Lord's answer was that His grace was sufficient. I never had considered that the grace that God showed me through Jesus on the cross was sufficient to overcome any difficulty or disappointment in life. I always assumed that it was future demonstrations of graciousness that would be shown to Paul and me that made His grace sufficient. I can see clearly that God continued to show Paul an unmerited favor and kindness after that point, but I believe God was turning Paul's eyes back to the cross! That Paul would know nothing but Christ and Him crucified! May we all return to the cross as the source of strength and joy! For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have ever lasting life.

Lord, let us not get so far from the cross that we feel we need something more from you to have joy today in our lives for you have already given us immeasurably more than we could have ever asked or imagined. Let our lives be lived as our response of gratitude for what was done on our behalf on the cross. Here am I, be glorified through me today!

3D Glasses

It is funny how so much scripture comes alive when the Lord moves us to look through the proper perspective. A perspective that doesn't seem complicated, just uncomfortable for my pridefulness. Drawing near to the cross and allowing God to make the gospel the center of my understanding and of my life changes everything. Today I was reading in Ephesians 6 about putting on the armor of God when I began with a desire to know Christ and Him crucified as Paul states.

I remember hearing this passage since I was a child. I still remember as a child Mrs. McNamee using a flannel board to illustrate the different pieces of the armor of God. But since really praying and seeking to go deeper into the gospel and to attempt to study God's word in the shadow of the cross, everything has changed. As I began reading it became so incredibly clear that what we needed to clothe ourselves in was Christ himself through our oneness with Him. We need to cling fast to the cross to the point it causes us to lay down our claim on our own lives and live for Him. Put on your 3D glasses approaching close to the cross and watch this passage come alive.

Here is the whole passage from Ephesians 6.
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

I want to give you two verses from Chapter 5 that help to shape our understanding.
³¹"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." ³²This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.

Paul talks about the intimacy and connectedness of a husband and wife being a picture of the oneness we should have with Christ. We should be covered with oneness with Christ. Is there one who has done more to protect us from the schemes of the devil. I don't need a piece of armor, I need Christ.

As I began to look at these pieces of armor, I was reminded of the thought that God doesn't desire to give us just something, He gave us Himself. The belt of Truth...Jesus said in John 14:6 that He is the Truth. The greatest realization of Truth is Christ! There is no truth apart from Christ. The breastplate of Righteousness, I was reminded of 2 Cor 5:21 "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." There is also a reference to the Messiah wearing armor in Isaiah 59:17 "He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head;" Jesus does not put on and take off Righteousness! He is righteous! We become the righteousness of God in Him. I need for Him to take my sin and for me to be clothed in His righteousness. Well, His righteousness is not a garment. It is found IN HIM.

The readiness of the gospel of peace. It too is found in Christ. The gospel is the message that you and I can have peace with God by coming through, by trusting in, by being found in Christ. Being clothed in Christ makes your feet ready to go share about how incredible it is to be one with Christ. Intimacy and oneness with your wife makes you want to tell everyone how incredible your wife is as a precious and amazing gift from God. Oneness and intimacy with Christ makes your feet ready to go and share the gospel of peace.

The shield of faith. Faith is not a substance that exists by itself. There is an object of that faith. Faith is what you really believe to be true about that object. Our faith is in Christ. Our faith is really about Christ. The more we are clothed and covered with the reality of Christ, the less vulnerable we are to the flaming arrows that are directed at what we believe to be really true about Christ. The more oneness and closeness I have, the less vulnerable I am to exchange the truth of God for a lie.

The helmet of salvation...Is our salvation separated from Christ. Christ is our salvation, for salvation is found in Christ and Christ alone! I need my mind and thoughts clothed in oneness with Christ my savior. The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. John 1 tells us the Word was with God, the Word was God, and that the Word became flesh. The greatest sword is me being clothed in oneness with Christ. Look at Paul's request for prayer. 19 that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

It really is simple. When I have the greatest oneness with my wife, it is then that my marriage is least vulnerable to attack. It is when I have the greatest oneness with Christ that I am least vulnerable to attack as I am clinging to the cross of Christ, that He has taken my sin, bore it in His body, and in turn gives me Himself. That through my oneness with him, knowing Him and being known by Him deeply, He might be the armor that protects my very soul from attack. And through that same oneness my life might be used mightily as a sword in His hand!

Lord, I ask for forgiveness for so consistently desiring and pursuing so many things other than oneness with you. For often pursue religious things instead of intimacy with you as what I need most. I pray that you would stir an unquenchable hunger and thirst for your righteousness that would only be satisfied through oneness with you. Walking with you, Praying with you, and meditating on your every word spoken to me. Jesus, thank you for being my covering and for even desiring oneness with me!

Who needs more Grace

I having been writing about our need to live life in the shadow of the cross. How it is so easy to drift so far from the cross that we can't even see that it is our ongoing sin that causes us to still need the forgiveness that He purchased on the cross. It is the same pridefulness that causes us to know that we were saved by grace, but think we can become like Christ by working real hard at it (be sanctified by our works). Totally failing to recognize that it will be the gracious work of God that will change our lives more and more into the image of Christ. We grow as Christians to think we are no longer in need of the grace of God in our lives.

While chewing on all of this that has been covered in my previous blogs, I am left pondering the question. Who should profess a greater ongoing need for the grace of God in their life? The person who is just trusting in Christ for the first time or the person who understood their need at salvation, but has now tried to work out their becoming more like Christ with greater confidence in their own abilities and works. What I am getting at is the question of who should profess greater need to receive from God the very thing they could never deserve. Is it the person who walked far away from the cross who has seen it up close previously, or the person who has never seen it up close. Who is in a greater need of grace?

(Lk 12:47-48) 47 And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. 48 But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

Look at it from the perspective of Jesus treatment of different people. Was he not harshest on the pharisees because they had already received so much grace and then turned away from it. You might be thinking that they didn't receive grace they received the law. Was it not by grace that God chose the Israelites to be the people that He revealed himself to and through. Their receiving the revelation of God was the greatest demonstration of grace prior to Christ's death on the cross. So who needed more grace the pharisee who had already been entrusted with much grace but did not act according to His will or the gentile who did not know?

I know it is like discussing which is greater infinity or infinity plus one. The grace meter is maxed out for both. But I am trying to come through a window that is even hard for our prideful hearts to close. Closed to the point we are not humbled by the grace that we Christians have already been shown. That window is that those who have been shown much grace, immeasurable grace in fact, fail to show grace towards others while still needing grace in their own lives.

We see this demonstrated all throughout scripture and life. The story in Matthew 18 of the person who owed the king ten thousand talents (An unpayable debt). He was shown mercy and grace, but then fails to show mercy and grace to the person who owes him 100 shillings. His need for being shown mercy and grace is now even greater than before because he didn't appreciate what was done for him to the point it gripped his life. Are we not like this person when we have been saved by grace and then act as though we no longer need grace? When we struggle to show grace to others. When we puff ourselves up with pride convincing ourselves that God must be impressed with our works. When we struggle to share the gospel of God's grace with others and our lives are not gripped by the mercy and grace we have been shown. When we fail to live in such a way that points back to His mercy and grace that He showed us. Are we not in need of greater grace.

• Romans 5:20-21 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

As believers entrusted with the gospel of God's grace through Jesus Christ and having moved away from this point, are we not the ones in need of the greatest amount of grace! I am convicted by the fact that I was entrusted with the gospel by an incredible act of mercy and grace. Yet often my response to this is to struggle to share the gospel with others. That God would be so moved to choose me as his instrument of grace and continue to work on my prideful heart that is so prone to wandering away and not sharing mercy and grace with others.

The answer to my question that I am left with is....it is me. For I know the father's will and often do not act according to His will. I have seen the cross and then walk further away from it. I have received the gospel and act as though I have not often. Ouch!!!

Lord, I pray that I would in your mercy and grace be brought back to the foot of the cross today. That I would be forced to face the shear magnitude of mercy that was shown to me by Christ taking on the full punishment of my sin. That I would be gripped by the grace of God that Christ, the son of God, left heaven to die in my place, that He might live through my life through the power of the Holy Spirit I have so graciously received. Lead and direct my steps today that I might be a doer of your incredible will. Have mercy on me, that I might be a good steward of your mercy. Please show me more of your grace that has already been entrusted to me, that I might show it to others according to your will.

I know what would fix you up

I can't believe I have never been able to see this. If I went up to you and informed you that I already had what you needed and then tried to convince you of your need. You might be a little resistant to agree with my better than you posturing in the sales pitch. The further I got away from my own need for the cross, the more one sided the sales pitch for Jesus became. I am so past needing the cross, but you on the other hand need the cross to get your life right.

The more I have become aware of my ongoing deep need for the gospel of Jesus Christ in my own life, the more I realized my pridefulness had to be a turn off when I shared the gospel. In fact it was my pride that led me further away from the cross, and thus if I was talking about that cross way over there that you need. Would I not only be able to communicate about this subject in a prideful way.

Here is the beauty of my growing in my need for the cross and the good news of the gospel in my own life. It has made my words less offensive and have allowed Jesus convicting of sin to be the only part that is offensive. I read this week that we are not permitted to be offensive in any way in sharing the gospel, but are to allow only the conviction of sin to be the offense. If I say that I need to respond to Jesus dieing on the cross and paying for my sins by turning away from my sins in repentance and trust in Jesus Christ. I can humbly say to the other person, that they need the same exact thing that I need. They may not agree to trust Christ, but they won't feel as though I was judging them and preaching down my nose at them. By including myself. By agreeing to the same great need. I remove my pride as the offensive part of the gospel.

I am reminded of when I had the opportunity to share the gospel in a barbecue restaurant in Richmond one Sunday after I had preached on the message of grace. The lady said at the end, "How you said, what you said, has really challenged me." Should we not be humbled by the cross as we talk about the cross? Should we not acknowledge our own need for our sins to be forgiven when we talk to others about their need for their sins to be forgiven? Should we not be moved by the gospel of grace when we desire to see someone else moved by the gospel of grace?

Lord, I do pray that my brokenness by the cross and the gospel would cause others to consider their response to the cross of Christ and the good news of the gospel!! That I would be given the privelege of saying, "Come follow me to the cross." Amina!