Latest Learnings

I was blessed with being able to attend a pastor's conference with my husband (wives were allowed to come too!) Anyway, I realized that this was the first thing like this that I had been at for the last 10 years, since Seminary. It was super encouraging.

There were lots of sermons all focusing on "Exalting Christ:"

One godly man spoke about what a privilege it is to be a proclaimer of the loveliness of Christ. The biggest struggle can be a satisfied heart. Isaiah 58:11 tells us that God satisfies. In the midst of the dessert, He makes us "like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail." Jesus waters our soul. He is our contentment (Ps. 84:1-7;Phil. 4:10-13). We need to obey--start in the little things. Once you've seen Him, nothing else matters. The pitfalls here are that there is something better, or having self-pity. But "He came to give abundant life" (John 10:10), "to know Him and power of resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings" (Phil. 3:10), "be imitators of Christ" (1 Pet. 2), and "He empowers us" (Phil. 4) speak to this. The heart satisfied in Him discovers persevering grace. Christ is all we need.

Another spoke about Jesus as the One who can give rest and refreshment--looking at Matt. 11:25-30. In the context of the passage in the Bible, Jesus has demonstrated authority over earth, sickness, sin, and demons. But His disciples are rejected, His prophet (John) is in prison, and no one is listening. This all doesn't change the message or discourage Jesus as He knows the outcome has been determined. His mindset is that things are going as the Father has planned. He recognizes God as the Father and praises Him, recognizes His Father is King of Everything--the sovereignty of God in all, He recognizes the Father has the prerogative to hide/reveal His truth, He recognizes that the way things are going please the Father (aside here: Be faithful in preaching Christ), and He recognizes that He is the key to everything with an exclusive, intimate relationship with the Father (only Jesus can reveal the Father). And Jesus preaches Himself, presenting Himself as the answer to every human burden--"Come to me all," everyday, for every need. Submission to Jesus is like rest.

Another spoke of suffering and how our suffering exalts Christ. He defined human suffering as something hurting us in a way that disrupts life's pleasantness to the point where in some sense and to some degree we want that hurt to cease. Passages of Scripture like Phil. 1:29, "granted not only to suffer," 1 Pet. 1:7, "faith tested in order to prove genuine," and John 16:33, "in this world you will have trouble," point to the inevitability and necessity of Christian suffering. There are so many contrasts in Scripture: peace in Christ//trouble in world. We almost have to switch our thought process (gestalt switch) to understand. We are born and live among a sinful human race. We are supposed to be tired at the end of the day. We are supposed to die. It is the quality of how we live out or sinful, short lives before our holy, eternal God that shows our submission. Christ's servant is not better than his Master--we are in submission to Christ with our bodies. In sin we are tempted by pleasure (try self-denial) or with the avoidance of pain as if Christians are supposed to live their best life now. But suffering is a wonderful gift which stops us from projecting us into a wrong hopeful future, instead placing the future in God's hands. It reminds me of my dependence on my Savior.

How encouraging and timely for me to hear these words! So much to ponder. So many questions to ask:

Do I lack confidence in Christ and His power?
Do I believe that God has done in me what the world claims it can but it never does?
What sin is making me stupid?