gladitudes

Yesterday I wrote about worship being the path to freedom. Specifically, when we let go of our own notions of being right and focus on who God is and on what He’s done for us, we find freedom.

Today, as a follow up for myself, I searched for some verses that help me to do this. I have mainly focused on verses about what God has promised to those who believe. I’d like to share what I found. Feel free to add any others in the comments.

There are kind of a lot of verses here, but take a second to think about them if you really want the full impact. :)

1 Peter 1:3-9

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

Colossians 3:1-4

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

1 Peter 1:13

“Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Romans 5:1-5

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

Hebrews 6:19-20 (Read the whole chapter for context on this: Hebrews 6)

“We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”

Hebrews 12:1-2

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Hebrews 12:28-29

“Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29for our God is a consuming fire.”

Hope these are encouraging to you! What verses would you add to this list?

“⁵ Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;
our God is merciful.
⁶ The LORD preserves the simple;
when I was brought low, he saved me.
⁷ Return, O my soul, to your rest;
for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.”

Let me just say that I love this passage. For me, so much of the time, I find myself really fighting to find joy in the Lord and rest in Him. It is always because I forget who God is, I forget who I am, and I forget, therefore, what my fitting response to these truths should be. This verse concisely points me toward the truth regarding those three areas.

1.) About God: Verse 5 reminds me that God is gracious: He shows me favor when I don’t deserve it; that God is righteous: He’s not going to harm me or try to abuse me somehow; and that God is merciful: He spares me the punishment that I deserve for falling short of his standard (Romans 3:22-24).

2.) About me: Verse 6 reminds me that God has preserved me and that he saved me. I know that I am not right on my own apart from Jesus Christ. This reminder is helpful for when I’m feeling proud or when I think I have it together. God saved me and I am therefore indebted to him–but it’s debt of gratitude. I can’t every begin, even, to pay it back.

3.) Response: The last verse is so beautiful to me because it shows us the fitting response to these truths. By nature I am a person who worries, so that makes this is even more helpful for me. This verse clearly reminds us to stop and rest in the Lord because he has shown us so much favor that we don’t have anything left to be concerned with. He has dealt very bountifully with me! The salvation of my soul, of course, being the most generous gift He could have ever given, but that’s really only the beginning of the blessings He’s shown.

Love the Lord today!

A couple months back, I walked into work and made my way back to my cube. On the way there, I bumped into one of the guys I work with, casually, I said, “Hey, how’s it going?” His response took me a little off-guard, “New day, same old [stuff].” I didn’t know how to respond, so I just walked back to my cube and sat down. I just sat there a second, thinking. There were two things I was really taken by. First, how true what he said was for him. Second, how untrue it was for me. Read more

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Read more

Today I was reading in 1 John and came across this passage:

1 John 3:2-3 (English Standard Version)
“²Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. ³And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.”

First, this passage gives me great hope! Oftentimes, in my journey to know my Lord more, I get discouraged because my own shortcomings and insufficiencies. While I know that I can trust God to be perfecting me (to be completing the work He began per Philippians 1:6), sometimes the completion of that seems very far off. Thus, confidently knowing that at some point I will become like Christ gives me great joy.

The second thought I have from this passage is more of an application. Notice how it says that “we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” This implies that just seeing our Lord Jesus Christ has great power to transform us. While we must wait till the day he is revealed to see him in his fullness, in the mean time, by seeking the Lord through his word and in prayer we can begin to see a foreshadowing of him. I want this desire to see my Lord to consume me, as I want to be changed more into his image. I want to love like Jesus, and I want to change the world as he did also. I want to proclaim his praise and glory to the nations, and I want to tell all people of the great gift of grace he has to offer them—which can save them from the eternal consequences of their sin. I know that in order to do this, though, I must be changed daily to be more like him.

So this must be my goal: to know Jesus more—that is, to see him more clearly—by seeking him constantly.