We’ll be back in the blogging world after a great week on the home front!  Hey, you take some time off too.  Shut the computer down, take the tie off, hang out with the family.  You deserve it.

Prayer:  Father, it is so easy for us to live automatically, so that little touches us or moves us unless it is a personal crisis.  Give us those opportunities to slow down and relax so we can return to the fullness of living in the now.  Help us to celebrate vacations, a day off, a weekend, but enable us so to live that we live each day in a present tense attitude.  In the name of Your Son, who loves us dearly, I pray.  Amen.

Song we’ll sing this week:  Come, Thou Fount of ev’ry blessing, tune my heart to sing Thy grace.  Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.  Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above.  Praise the mount, I’m fixed upon it, Mount of God’s unchanging love…. Oh, to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be!  Let that grace now, like a fetter, bind my yielded heart to Thee.  Let me know Thee in Thy fulness, guide me by Thy mighty hand till, transformed, in Thine own image in Thy presence I shall stand. –Robert Robinson

Dr. Stan Parker

We are discussing the struggle to live a victorious Christian life.  Corrie ten Boom is a wonderful example of a person learning to be obedient to God regardless of circumstances.  Early in her Christian walk, she vacillated between looking within and around.  But her obedient spirit to the Lord eventually enabled her to look up and keep looking up.

Hebrews 12:1-2 urges us to “lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.” 

Stuff does happen as we are living this life!  Friends may disappoint.  Family may frustrate.  A career may turn sour.  The neighborhood may turn in valuation and we lose our investment.  The Stock Market may not favor our choices.  The medical bills may overwhelm.  The enemy of our soul will hassle us. Death can overtake loved ones early.  So what do we do?  Let us remember why we are determined to be fully devoted disciples of the Lord Jesus.  It is because of God’s great and gracious love for us in His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ.  He loved us while we were unlovely.  He forgave us while we were yet sinners.  He pursues us even today with an everlasting love!

So in the struggle to live a victorious Christian life,  let’s keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.  That will keep us moving forward and He will surely support our struggle.

Think about this: “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom.  He gives strength to the weary, and young men stumble and fail; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Dr. Stan Parker 

We’re discussing the struggle to live a victorious Christian life.  Victorious Christian living is more than just “let go and let God” make you victorious.  Foolish thinking.  The Scriptures are clear that we are to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling.”  We are to “present ourselves as living sacrifices, holy…”  We are to “seek you first the kingdom of God and then…”  Dozens of additional phrases from the Bible could be listed.  So, what if we try to be obedient and fail?  That’s the question of the day or this blog.

Briefly, there are two concepts to keep in mind when you consider obedience to the Lord.  One is the concept of legal obedience and the other is the concept of gracious obedience.  The first is the efforts in our fleshly nature to obey with an absolute, perfect obedience without a single failure.  It is a frustrating “works salvation” that is based on grit and grunt work to be in the Lord’s favor.  This is futile and I’ve “been there, done that!”

But there is such a thing as gracious obedience.  This is a loving and sincere spirit of obedience motivated by God’s grace to us.  It is often defective, but it is accepted by God and He covers the blemishes by the work of the Cross of His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Through divine grace, God looks at our hearts, not at our works or human efforts.  He looks at me and says in effect, “Parker, with all your defects, you have a heart that desires to be obedient to Me.  You have a spirit that wills to submit to My Lordship, even though you frequently fail.”

The whole point of the cross of Jesus Christ is that He died, bearing the full penalty for our sins and failings, so that His shed blood can cover whatever is defective in our day-to-day obedience. 

Lest you get the wrong idea, return to my opening illustration about Mom.  That is exactly how Jesus Christ treats us everday!

Think about these words: “He who has my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me” (John 14:21).  True knowledge of Christ should result in a spirit of gracious obedience…a propensity, desire, and determination to submit to Him in word, thought and deed.  That’s what Jesus measures, and He (listen to this!) has already covered our defects with His shed blood on the cross.  Now, it just doesn’t get any better than that!

Dr. Stan Parker

Think about this:

() When we live obediently, we receive more than we would ever think possible.

() When we live obediently, our family, friends, and associates will be blessed.

() When we live obediently, the impact of our obedience to God often outlives us.

() In the day-to-day acts of obedience, you cannot imagine how your actions might impact the lives of others in the future.  Imagine what the world would be like if…

…Michelango had said, ‘I don’t do ceilings.’

…Noah had said, ‘I don’t do boats.’

…Moses had said, ‘I don’t do rivers.’

…David had said, ‘I don’t do Goliaths.’

…Mary had said, ‘I don’t do virgin births.’

…John the Baptist had said, ‘I don’t do baptisms.’

…Peter had said, ‘I don’t do Gentile discipleship.’

…Paul had said, ‘I don’t do letters.’

…Jesus had said, ‘I don’t do crosses!’

A lifestyle of struggling obedience will outlive us here on earth and in eternity.

“Now unto Him who is able to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before the throne of His grace, be glory and praise forever.”

We can love and obey Him with His promised help.

Dr. Stan Parker

Jesus Christ has the power to make changes in our lives right now.  He will give us the power to get started and the power to keep going.  He will give us the power to break the chains of inertia or procrastination.  True, there is a struggle in living a dynamic Christian life.  We are discussing that in some detail.  By trusting God and allowing His love and transforming power to become a reality in our lives, we can become the person God desires for us to be.

Today, think on these simple but profound thoughts:

 <> I am nothing, but Truth is everything. -Abe Lincoln

<> We are shaped and fashioned by what we love. -Goethe

<> Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful. -Samuel Johnson

<> Always do right — this will gratify some and astonish the rest. -Mark Twain

<> How sweet it is when the strong are also gentle. -Liggie Fudim

<> Resolved: never to do anything which I should be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life. -Jonathan Edwards

<> {God is} “able to do exceedingly above and beyond what we ask for, hope for, imagine or think, according to {His} power at work within you” -Ephesians 3:20

Dr. Stan Parker

Perhaps the scientist is a symbol of the way many of us Christians live.  Scripture makes clear, “Evil men and imposters will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived” (II Timothy 3:13).  You will find other warnings related to the reality of imposters who will invade the church in Acts 20:29; Matthew 7:15; Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43.  So, how can you tell genuine Christians from the imposters?  There are several criteria, but the most important one is related to obedience.  When we really believe in Jesus Christ, there will be evidence of it in the way we live, in the things we say, and in the things we do.  There will be an inseparable relationship between obedience and faith.

What are the grounds for our obedience?  Nothing more than God’s Word.  Charles Spurgeon said:  “He who does not believe that God will punish sin, will not believe that God will pardon it through the atoning blood…I charge you who profess to be the Lord’s not to be unbelieving with regard to the terrible threatenings of God to the ungodly.  Believe the threat, even though it should chill your blood; believe though nature shrinks from the overwhelming doom; for, if you do not believe, the act of disbelieving God about one point will drive you to disbelieve him upon the other parts of revealed truth.” 

When a person becomes a Christian, s/he openly acknowledges that Jesus is her/his Lord.  As a person seriously enthrones Christ, they will gladly submit to His authority.  Obedience then, is a foregone conclusion.  Let us not be guilty of Titus 1:16: “They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him.”  So what can we do?  I John 2:6 says it well:  “The one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as he walked.” 

So, here’s the struggle we face as we endeavor to live a victorious Christian life:  walking in the same manner as He [Jesus] walked.  Whether or not we realize it, people are looking at our lives all the time.  They are hearing and seeing the sermon our lives proclaim.  It is said of Noah: “This Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did” (Genesis 6:22).  Will the same be said of us?  We grow to be like Christ as we obey Him.

Dr. Stan Parker

 We are blogging about how to engage the struggle to live a victorious Christian life successfully.  We began by outlining some things we need to make sure we do not forget about spiritual maturity.  We then discussed the Bible as being revealed Truth that guides us into all truth.  Then we discussed that the chief end of man is to glorify God.  Doing that brings happiness, security, and growth to our lives, spiritually.  This will impact every other aspect of our life (Matthew 6:33).

The question we should ask is: How do we glorify God?  In fact, can we humans do that?

The Christian who has some comprehension of the Bible will readily admit that the supreme purpose of life is to glorify God.  Spiritual maturity is simply concentrating and focusing on the person of Jesus Christ until we are caught up in His majesty and His glory.  We glorify God because He created us, because He made everything to give Him glory, and because He judges those who do not give Him glory.  We must summarize these points here, but the Bible has many verses and illustrative stories to back up these truths. 

So, how does a struggling Christian glorify God?  Here are some practical ways:

Do this:  Trust Christ Jesus as your own personal Savior.  This is the beginning activity. God is glorified when we humble ourselves and confess Jesus Christ as Lord.

Do this: Confess your sins.  Confession of your sins means to agree with God that sin is all our fault.  Our repentance is accepting His grace and mercy of forgiveness.

Do this: Trust God.   Unbelief doubts God and implies that He is not to be trusted.  That detracts from His glory.  Do you believe God keeps His word?  Do you live as if He keeps His word?  God is glorified before those around us when we trust Him and live like we do.

Do this: Make it the aim of your life to glorify God.  I Corinthians 10:31 gives us the ultimate challenge in this regard: “Whether then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”  This is calling us to place God above all things — money, power, fame, success, friends, family, even honor. 

Do this: Bear fruit.  In the gospel of John 15:8 we have recorded these words: “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit.”  Why? Because then those around you can see the real, tangible results of living a Spirit-filled life. 

Do this: Give verbal and written praise to God.  Psalm 50:23 says, “He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me.”   Let others know God is faithful to you in big and small things.  Give Him credit for every good gift, comfort, and favor. 

Do this: Be content.  Contentment acknowledges God’s sovereignty in our lives, and that gives Him glory.  Discontentment reflects the times in which we live.  The Bible says that we should “learn to be content in whatever circumstances…” (Philippians 4;11,12).  We will not do this or even want to do this without God’s help by His Holy Spirit.  Christians believe that God is working in their lives bringing about good, purpose, repair, and meaning (Romans 8:28).

Do this: Pray that God’s will be accomplished in and through your life.  John 14:13 says, “Whatever you ask for in my Name, that will I do, that the Father might be glorified in the Son.”  This is not a holy abracadabra.  Praying “in His name” means praying in accordance with His character and will.  This requires getting to Know Jesus, His character, His will, and His words.  This requires us to spend time in His Word, sharing with Him in prayer, and hearing discourses about His Truth from those called to prayerfully and responsibly dispense messages, teachings, and writings based upon His Truth (Bible).

Do this: Share His Truth with others.  When others hear the Truth about God from you, God is glorified.  We honor the Lord when we responsibly make Him and His Word known and understood.

Do this: Avoid sexual sin.  In I Corinthians 6:20 the apostle Paul says, “Glorify God in your body.”  Enough said.

Do this: Promote unity in the body of Christ.  Romans 15:5 says, “Now may the God who gives perseverence and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Jesus Christ.”  God is not a God of confusion (I Cor. 14:33).

When we live to glorify God, He responds by giving us His joy.  Life becomes thrilling.  True happiness is experienced.  So, regardless of the struggle, let us stretch ourselves and determine to glorify God.  Let us “rejoice in the God of [our] salvation” (Habakkuk 3:18).  Think about this: “The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17). 

Dr. Stan Parker

Life is wonderful, precious, and it is both a dance and a struggle.  This is true if you are a Christian or not.  As a Christian, you have the added advantage of learning to cooperate with the Creator of all there is and the privilege of living according to His design for our lives.  In fact, the Christian community acknowledges that God, the Creator of all that exists, graciously involves Himself in the affairs of His people.  We are not left to figure out how to live on our own.

We’re looking at how to successfully live the Christian life.  We began by realizing the Bible is the revealed guide book that will instruct, change, and enable us to live effectively.

If you were to go to downtown Charleston and ask ten people at random to name what they considered to be the greatest theme in all the world, you’d get a variety of answers: money, love, marriage, sex, freedom, security, status, peace, happiness, pleasure.

From God’s viewpoint, the answer is that which is found in the Westminster Shorter Catechism.  It is the first question and answer: “What is the chief end of man?”  “The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”  Every Christian should come to realize that we exist for God’s glory and God is for our enjoyment.  The idea was expressed by King David in Psalm 16:8, “I have set the Lord continually before me.”  That refers to giving God glory in everything I do.  Spiritual maturity comes from concentrating on the person of God until we are caught up and lost in His majesty.

“For this reason also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”  (Philippians 2:9-11).

The glory of God — we see it in the skies above, in the earth around us, in the dynamic of salvation, in the struggle of Christian living, in the promise of Christ’s return, in every dimension of life.

Our purpose for living then, is to glorify Jesus Christ in all we do.  The hymn we sing in church from time to time says it eloquently: “Let ev’ry kindred, ev’ry tribe, on this terrestrial ball, to Him all majesty ascribe, and crown Him Lord of all.” 

The question to address now is: “How does a Christian practically glorify God?” 

Dr. Stan Parker

We are admitting that the Christian life is an adventure that is not without struggle.  To live the life that Jesus Christ desires for us to live requires spiritual growth.  Spiritual growth is critical to being an effective member of the body of Christ.  Call this growth: pursuing righteousness (I Timothy 6:11), being transformed (Romans 12:2), “perfecting holiness” (II Corinthians 7:1), pressing toward the goal (Philippians 3:14), or being built up in the faith (Colossians 2:7).  The goal is the same for all Christians: to be “transformed into [the Lord's] image” (II Corinthians 3:18).

So how are we supposed to grow?  By understanding and practicing the principles that are given in the Word of God, the Bible. 

Christians believe the Bible is a live document: “The Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).  One of the early church leaders, Peter says that God’s Word is “imperishable…living and enduring” (I Peter 1:23).  The apostle Paul said that the Bible is “the word of life” (Philippians 2:16).

Think about this:

Fact #1: Christians believe the Bible is alive within itself.  It is perennially fresh in every generation.  Its riches are inexhaustible, its depth unfathomable.    It speaks as perceptively and definitively to the twenty-first century as it did to the first century.  It discerns our hearts.  It has insights that shake us up.  It reveals to us exactly what and who we are.

Fact #2: Christians believe the Bible is life-giving.  The Holy Spirit uses the written Word to bring about new birth (spiritual birth) in our lives.  According to Romans 10:17, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ.”  I Peter 1:23 says it this way:  We are “born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring Word of God.”

Fact #3: Christians believe the Bible sustains spiritual life.  A famous Puritan named Thomas Watson said, “Scripture is both the breeder and the feeder of life.”  The prophet Jeremiah said, “Your words were found and I ate them, and Your words became for me a joy   and the delight of my heart” (Jeremiah 15:16).  Because the Word of God nourishes us, we need it just like a baby needs the nourishment of milk and then solid food.

Fact #4: Christians believe the Bible transforms lives.  Only through filling our minds with the Word and living in obedience to its principles can old patterns of living be changed for new patterns more closely aligned to the likeness of Jesus Christ.  Only the Holy Spirit, working through the dynamic power of the Word, has the power to bring us to maturity in Christ.  “Conversion turns us to the Word of God to examine ourselves…as our mirror to dress by (James 1); as our rule to walk and work by (Galatians 6:16); as our water to wash us (Psalm 119:9); as our fire to warm us (Luke 24); as our food to nourish us (Job 23:12); as our sword to fight with (Ephesians 6); as our counselor (Psalm 119:24); as our cordial, to comfort us; as our heritage, to enrich us” (Philip Henry)

There is no shortcut to this spiritual growth.  It is not a sitcom experience.  The Bible is central to growth.  In it God “has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness” (II Peter 1:3).  So, we should be believing it, studying it, honoring it, loving it, and obeying it. 

Perhaps you, like me, are hungry for personal renewal.  I urge you to allow the Word of God to be the avenue that will lead you to the vast repository of spiritual riches that are yours in Jesus Christ.  The struggle is worth the difference it makes in life!

Dr. Stan Parker

Failure to emphasize spiritual growth has produced Christians who are spiritually immature, undiscerning, weak, and very fragile.  Our society is now full of spiritually underdeveloped Christians.  Hey, I do not set myself outside of this group.  I am speaking to me too!  What caught my attention to this is the growing number of people in the church community who are addicted (too strong a word?) to “therapy,” preferring a dependency of a counseling relationship to the rigors of true discipleship and growth in grace.  This is a severe issue for the church universal to engage.  Why?  Because growth is a sign of life and where there is no growth, no true life exists. 

Our question today is: Are you growing?  Am I growing?  If not, or if we are not satisfied with our rate of growth, the next several blogs will hopefully help us to get growing as we should be.  According to II Peter 3:18 God expects Christians to grow and mature spiritually.  This verse says, “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”  That’s our privilege and our invitation.  Each day, we should realize that life is not a sitcom but an opportunity to progress in our spiritual life toward a higher, richer, personal, experiential knowledge of God and His Son, Jesus Christ. 

As we begin our journey, here are some reminders about what spiritual maturity is all about:

#1 It has nothing to do with the position we have in Christ.  We are complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10) and we have everything we need pertaining to life and godliness (II Peter 1:3).  As to our position, we are complete.  As to our practice, we fall miserably short.  Our growth is related to closing the gap between our position in Christ and our practice of godliness.

#2 It has nothing to do with God’s favor.  Even when we were “helpless,” “ungodly,” “sinners,” and “enemies” (reiew Romans 5:6-10), God showed His great love for us by giving Jesus, His Son to die for our sins.  We live in a performance based society.  God’s love is an everlasting love and is not based on performance.

#3 It has nothing to do with time.  Spiritual maturity is not measured by the calendar. 

#4 It has nothing to do with knowledge.  Our conformity to Jesus Christ is the key, not facts, data, and information about Him.  Truth should change our thoughts, speech, actions, attitudes, behavior, and prejudices.

#5 It has nothing to do with activity.  Busyness within the Christian community does not bring about spiritual maturity.  It can bring about a hardness to what is really vital and important within the Christian life.

#6 It has nothing to do with how well off you are materially. 

So what’s the bottom line?  Spiritual growth is just matching up our orthodoxy with our orthopraxis:  matching our talk with our walk or our practice with our position. 

God, give us sympathy and common sense, and help us live with courage high.  God, give us calm and confidence, and please — a twinkle in our eye. (Source: Off the Church Walls)

Dr. Stan Parker