“Taking Jesus on Family Vacation” by Amy Jacks

MOMS (Mentors Offering Moms Support)

Jesus was backwards, right?  Love your enemies, turn the other cheek…  So tonight we’re going to talk about vacation in a backwards kind of way – countercultural – set apart.  As Christians, Jesus tells us we will be set apart.  Our discussion about vacations might make you squirm a little.  I was convicted of some of the things as I was preparing for tonight.  But it’s exciting when God wants to stretch us and grow us.  And becoming more like Him hurts sometimes but it’s always good and it’s always for His glory.

In everything we do, as Christians, we should go to God’s Word.  We need to ask:  Am I making choices and decisions based on what I want and what’s “normal” or am I making decisions based on what God wants?

So what is vacation?  Does scripture say I deserve a vacation?  What about “me time”?  Don’t I need that in order to be a “good” mom?

I’m not a Bible scholar but in my limited wisdom this is what I’ve learned:

• Bad news first:  Me time in the Bible = Selfishness (ouch!), focusing on myself is not dying to self as we’re called to do as believers in Christ
• Good news:  God knows our worn out mom days, tired wife duties, and weary bodies and He gives us REST!

Let’s look at what God has to say about rest and then I promise we’ll talk more about vacation:

Matthew 11:28-30  ²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Psalm 127:1-2  ¹ Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.  ² In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat—for he grants sleep tothose he loves.

Psalm 91:1  Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

Susanna Wesley was the mother of John Wesley (founder of Methodist movement) and mother of 19 children.  She had a strong faith in God and believed strongly in daily prayer.  If she could not find a private place in the house to pray, she put her apron over her head as a sign to the children to be extra quiet, mom was praying.  She is a wonderful testimony to finding rest during busy days.

And God gives us Sabbath rest – yeah!  God is so good!  We could spend an entire evening talking about the God designed weekly day of rest.  But we’ll just focus on a few components.

Exodus 31:12-13  ¹² Then the LORD said to Moses, ¹³ “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy.”

Sabbath rest gives us break from work (our daily and weekly “normal” tasks), allows us to draw closer to God, have prayer, Bible study, and a time of corporate worship.  All of this gives us a renewed relationship with our heavenly Father.  This special day is designed for “the generations to come” to see and know God – a set apart day.

So tired moms, He gives us rest!  He doesn’t give us permission to be selfish and carry a feeling of entitlement to our rest, but He does give us rest when we’re weary.  The question is:  Do we need a vacation in the way that we use that word today?  But is it wrong?  Unbiblical?  Please don’t tell me I have to give up vacations!

Mark 6:30-32  ³⁰ The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. ³¹ Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”   ³² So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.

Here we see that the apostles hadn’t even had time to eat and Jesus took them to a place of rest and solitude.  We also know God ordained feasts and festivals, such as Passover.  God provides rest for His people.

So in studying, I know rest is not unbiblical.  Although the Bible never uses the term ‘vacation’ as we use the word today, I don’t see scriptural references that state vacations are wrong.  So how can vacations be God-honoring and allow us rest in Him as He talks about rest in scripture?  Because in everything we do, we need to look at where our heart is and how can we take Him with us whether it’s to the grocery store, a baseball game, or Hawaii!

Where is my heart as I prepare for vacation?  Am I craving selfish “me time”? Have I been “resting” in Him during the week and actively participating in weekly Sabbath rest?  Am I making vacation an idol – something that will “fill me up” until the next break or in a way that will make me happy in ways I don’t trust Christ can?

How can Jesus be my focus?

I think there are at least 4 things we should “pack” when going on vacation.

1. Holiness “Be holy for I am holy.” (Leviticus 19:2)

Exodus 32:1-6  ¹ When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us godswho will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.” ² Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” ³ So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. ⁴ He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” ⁵ When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD.” ⁶ So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.

When Moses had been gone longer than expected, the Israelites reverted to sinful behaviors. They had time on their hands and they forgot about being holy.  Freedom on vacation is not freedom of who we are in Christ.  I think there are some warnings in this that apply to vacations.  Am I guarding my eyes from the movies and shows I watch while on vacation?  Am I being holy in the things I say to others when on vacation?  Am I honoring Him in the way I dress or do I think none of my Christian friends are around so it doesn’t matter if I dress immodestly? My heart needs to continually be focused on Him.

2. Faithfulness “Follow my (Paul) example, as I follow the example of Christ”  (1 Corinthians 11:1)

God is faithful and we need to be Christ-like!  Am I being faithful to Christ on vacation?  Am I living like I say I’m living?  Am I spending time with Him on vacation?  If I’m too busy to read my Bible on normal days, shouldn’t my vacation time include resting in Him?  What about my eating/(drinking??) habits?  Is overindulgence for myself or my children really an act of treating my body as a holy temple?

God also wants me to be faithful in obeying God in the instruction of my children.  “Vacation” is not a break from discipling my children.  (Deut 6:4-9)  Am I training them in righteousness on vacation and being consistent or am I making excuses for their poor behavior because of lack of sleep and extra sugar that I’ve put in their system?  Family vacations are a wonderful time to incorporate family worship, one-on-one dates with kids, and speaking of God’s goodness on the trip.

A highlight for our family has been visiting other churches on vacation.  Is it always easy with young children – no way!  But we’ve always been blessed by being faithful to worshipping with a body of believers, seeing new or different ways to worship, and fellowshipping with others.

Lastly, am I being faithful to God with our finances for vacations?  Certainly we shouldn’t be using God’s money to go on vacation and we should stay within our budget while on vacation.  Some of our favorite “low budget” vacations include day trips, staying with family and friends in a new location, and camping.

3. Love  ⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  (1 Corinthians 13:4-6)

Doing all these things in 1 Corinthians is impossible without the Holy Spirit and it can still be very hard even when we ask Him for it.  But I think it’s a key component to vacations.  Am I loving my husband as we prepare for the vacation?  Am I listening to what he would like our family to do?  Am I being respectful if he doesn’t want to spend as much money as I do or go where I want to go?  Are we approaching this time of “rest” as a united front?

Vacations are a wonderful time to build family relationships with immediate and extended family members.  Am I loving these individuals in ways that will create pleasurable memories or not?  And I think it is important while on vacation to not forget the lost and to share the love of Jesus with everyone we meet.  We can teach our children (and ourselves) to not use vacation time as self-indulgence, but instead, as a way to love others and to seek out opportunities to serve.

4. Joy “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”  (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

What’s my overall attitude as I prepare and while I’m on vacation?  It’s been said many times that the mom sets the tone in the home – this goes for vacations, too.  Am I content when it rains?  What if the condo does not look like it did online or my children are throwing up?!  Remember, I’m not entitled to this vacation!  But I can receive whatever comes as a gift and rest in it!

So in closing, am I preparing for vacations in a backwards, Jesus, kind of way, or am I approaching vacations as the world approaches them with a sense of entitlement?  Am I focusing on His Holy rest daily and on Sundays, or am I trying to use the next vacation as a way to “fill me up” in ways I don’t trust Christ can?  Am I using vacations as a time to disciple and train my children in righteousness or do I view my children as burdens to “my” vacation?

Let’s pray that God will give us the boldness to be countercultural with our vacations and to approach them with holiness, faithfulness, love, and joy!

1. Open your Bible
2. Read
3. Apply

Three EASY steps.  Seriously, it does not have to be complicated.  You do not have to get out your concordance, Confession or Systematic Theology textbook.  Just open your Bible, read and apply.  It doesn’t have to take you an hour, you don’t have to light a candle, you don’t have to be dressed a certain way, you don’t have to say a prayer with a bunch of “thee’s” and “thou’s”.  Open your Bible, read and apply.

Why is it so hard?  There are a thousand reasons but basically we either don’t see the true benefit or we get distracted.  Most people just don’t see how this simple discipline can change your life.  The God of the universe wants to speak and be with you today.  Open your Bible, read and apply.  This is the main way in which God speaks to us but we just don’t always see it.

We get distracted and have other things to do rather than open your Bible, read and apply.  I was distracted this morning before I started this discipline.  I had this idea for this blog (the one I’m writing right now), and I wanted to write it first, then open my Bible, read and apply.  But I decided to set aside the blog and do the most important thing first, open my Bible, read and apply.  Facebook, email, twitter, a long “to do” list; these and a thousand other things are screaming at you first thing in the morning.  But you really need to be able to set them aside just for a few minutes to open your Bible, read and apply.

I could go into detail about these three things but for now I just want to encourage you to open your Bible, read and apply it to your life.

All for Jesus,

Fletch

On Sunday, Andrew preached on the Church – Missional Community.  I try and take notes each week and this week by the end of his sermon some thoughts he was communicating became crystal clear to me.  He did a wonderful job at conveying the Biblical mandate to be missional and combined it with current statistics of how people react to the church being missional.  Here are my thoughts briefly…

1. Care about people
2. Live out  your faith
3. Speak to people about Jesus
4. Study the Bible with people

This will lead people to Christ and propel them into ministry.

One final quote: “You cannot choose to do nothing, that is not an option.”

Thanks Andrew for being being faithful, clear and embodying the gospel yourself!

All for Jesus,

Fletch

Congress has a 6% approval rating according to a recent poll. People are obviously frustrated and fed up. As Americans we by nature distrust organizations that are restraining against freedom and rebel against abusive authority. At least, I think that had something to do with the American Revolution J.

With that attitude built into our American DNA it often makes people fearful of placing membership in a local church. People often reason, “I don’t need the church. God and I will do fine without it.” The problem with this line of reasoning is that Jesus is the one who established the Church and said He would build His Church.  So he thought it was important.

I have also heard people say they can be part of the church by going but they don’t need to take vows in front of the congregation. However, consider this, God took vows. He makes promises through a covenant ceremony in blood (to Noah, Abraham, and Moses) which all pointed to Jesus. If God can make promises of faithfulness to his people (the church) then why can’t his people make promises to him as the church?

There is a very thoughtful article about membership “Re-Membering the Body”.
http://byfaithonline.com/page/in-the-church/re-membering-the-body

I encourage you to read it. If you have questions don’t be afraid to ask. I would enjoy talking with you.

For Christ and His Church,

Andrew Conrad

Book Review:  Beauty in the Desert, by Eddie Broussard

Reviewed by: Brian Fletcher

I’ve read through Exodus several times and I have usually skimmed past the passages regarding the tabernacle.  I was never really sure why I needed to know all the details or what all the elements within the tabernacle represented.  In his book, Beauty in the Desert, Eddie Broussard, takes the reader on a historical journey back to the Israelite’s days of wandering in the desert.  Specifically, he reveals the meaning and purpose of the tabernacle and its relation to God’s people.  Broussard has written a well researched book that not only uncovers the historicity of the tabernacle but its application for believers today.

My normal modus operandi for devotions tends to go something like this…pray, read my Bible, write down some thoughts and applications, and close in prayer.  Beauty in the Desert gives the reader a different approach to their devotional life.  The meaning and purpose of the tabernacle and all its elements can be used devotionally to enter into a deeper relationship with God.  By way of example, Broussard takes a personal crisis to the Lord through a devotional model that goes through the tabernacle.  The reader begins to understand that God has provided a way for His people to communicate and connect with Himself.  One way to do that is by taking a close look at the tabernacle to see how God spiritually draws us to Himself by way of an earthly structure.

One of the dominant motif’s in the book is how Broussard connects the Old Testament, specifically the elements of the tabernacle, with the New Testament, specifically Jesus Christ.  Too often, believers do not see or understand how the two are connected.  As Augustine wrote, “The New Testament is in the Old concealed; the Old Testament is in the New revealed.”  Again, we are blessed by the research that Broussard has put into this book by understanding how the tabernacle points to the ministry of Jesus and how Jesus has fulfilled the meaning of the tabernacle.  Broussard also offers two helpful tables at the end of the book to help the reader understand the continuity and discontinuity of the two priesthoods.

Eddie Broussard has written a thoughtful, well researched book.  This book not only helps the reader understand the meaning and importance of the tabernacle to the Israelite community in Exodus but its importance for the believer today.

All for Jesus,

Fletch

Be Good for Goodness’ Sake
Of course, you might say that this superficiality is an aberration and not typical of the kids in your home or church. We hope you’re right. But we all have to admit that if a majority of our children are leaving the faith as soon as they can, something has gone terribly wrong. Certainly the faith that has empowered the persecuted church for two millennia isn’t as thin and boring as “Say you’re sorry,” “Be nice,” and “Don’t be like them.” Why would anyone want to deny himself, lay down his life, or suffer for something as inane as that? Aside from the “Ask Jesus into your heart” part, how does this message differ from what any unchurched child or Jewish young person would hear every day?

Let’s face it: most of our children believe that God is happy if they’re “good for goodness’ sake.” We’ve transformed the holy, terrifying, magnificent, and loving God of the Bible into Santa and his elves. And instead of transmitting the gloriously liberating and life-changing truths of the gospel, we have taught our children that what God wants from them is morality. We have told them that being good (at least outwardly) is the be- all and end-all of their faith. This isn’t the gospel; we’re not handing down Christianity. We need much less of Veggie Tales and Barney and tons more of the radical, bloody, scandalous message of God made man and crushed by his Father for our sin.
This other thing that we’re giving them has a name—it’s called “moralism.” Here’s how one seminary professor described his childhood experience in church:

The preachers I regularly heard in the. . . church in which I was raised tended to interpret and preach Scripture without Christ as the central . . . focus. Characters like Abraham and Paul were commended as models of sincere faith and loyal obedience. . . . On the other hand, men like Adam and Judas were criticized as the antithesis of proper moral behavior. Thus Scripture became nothing more than a source book for moral lessons on Christian living whether good or bad.

When we change the story of the Bible from the gospel of grace to a book of moralistic teachings like Aesop’s fables, all sorts of things go wrong. Unbelieving children are encouraged to display the fruit of the Holy Spirit even though they are spiritually dead in their trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1). Unrepentant children are taught to say that they’re sorry and ask for forgiveness even though they’ve never tasted true godly sorrow. Unregenerate kids are told that they are pleasing to God because they have achieved some “moral victory.” Good manners have been elevated to the level of Christian righteousness. Parents discipline their kids until they evidence a prescribed form of contrition, and others work hard at keeping their children from the wickedness in the world, assuming that the wickedness within their children has been handled because they prayed a prayer one time at Bible club.

If our “faith commitments” haven’t taken root in our children, could it be because they have not consistently heard them? Instead of the gospel of grace, we’ve given them daily baths in a “sea of narcissistic moralism,” and they respond to law the same way we do: they run for the closest exit as soon as they can.

Moralistic parenting occurs because most of us have a wrong view of the Bible. The story of the Bible isn’t a story about making good little boys and girls better. As Sally Lloyd-jones writes in The Jesus Storybook Bible:

Now, some people think the Bible is a book of rules, telling you what you should and shouldn’t do. The Bible certainly does have some rules in it. They show you how life works best. But the Bible isn’t mainly about you and what you should be doing. It’s about God and what he has done. Other people think the Bible is a book of heroes, showing you people you should copy, The Bible does have some heroes in it, but. . most of the people in the Bible aren’t heroes at all. They make some big mistakes (sometimes on purpose), they get afraid and run away. At times they are downright mean. No, the Bible isn’t a book of rules, or a book of heroes. The Bible is most of all a Story. It’s an adventure story about a young Hero who comes from a far country to win back his lost treasure. It’s a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throne—everything—to rescue the one he loves, It’s like the most wonderful of fairy tales that has come true in real life.

This is the story that our children need to hear and, like us, they need to hear it over and over again.

You’re a Christian Parent but Is Your Parenting Christian?
Grace, or the free favor that has been lavished on us through Christ, ought to make our parenting radically different from what unbelievers do. That’s because the good news of God’s grace is meant to permeate and transform every relationship we have, including our relationship with our children, All the typical ways we construct to get things done and get others to do our bidding are simply obliterated by a gospel message that tells us that we are all (parents and children) both radically sinful and radically loved. At the deepest level of what we do as parents, we should hear the heartbeat of a loving, grace-giving Father who freely adopts rebels and transforms them into loving sons and daughters. If this is not the message that your children hear from you, if the message that you send them on a daily basis is about being good so that you won’t be disappointed, then the gospel needs to transform your parenting, too.

And now back to the little vignette we opened our introduction with. You’ll remember that we left Wesley after he had just cried out, “I can’t love my brother!” The Christian response to his cry isn’t what I (Elyse) would have said: “Oh, yes, you can and you will. The Bible says you have to, so you can.” No, the Christian response to a statement like “I can’t love my brother!” is something more along these lines:

Exactly! I am so glad to hear you say that, because it shows me that God is working in you, It is true that God commands you to love your brother, Wesley, but you can’t. That is the bad news, but that is not all the news there is. The rest of the news is so exciting! You can’t love your brother like God is asking you to, so you need a Rescuer to help you. And the really great news is that God has already sent one! His name is Jesus! Jesus has perfectly loved you and perfectly loved his brothers for you, fulfilling the law to love in your place. If you believe in him, he doesn’t punish you, the way you were punishing and beating up your brother. Instead of punishing you, he took all the punishment you deserve when he died on the cross for you. He knows how angry you are, He knows that there are times you are hateful and selfish with your brother. But he has loved you in spite of your sin, And because of this, Wesley, because of the way you have been lavishly loved, if you believe in him, you will grow to love your brother more and more. Because of Jesus alone, because of what He has already done for you, you can learn how to love if you believe that he will be that loving with you. But you’ll never be able to do this on your own.

After sharing soul-comforting words like those, Jessica continued with a time of discipline and prayer for Wesley that God would grant him faith to believe that the Rescuer he needed loved him, would forgive him, and would help him love others, too.

I hope you find this helpful and I hope you get a chance to read this book.  You will definitely understand grace in a deeper way.

All for Jesus,

Fletch

I am on a mission this week…to UNSUBSCRIBE from as much junk  email as possible.  Most of the email in my inbox are ads from sites that I have at one point signed up for.  Daily Deal, Living Social, Groupon, and the list goes on.  While I subscribed to these because I did not want to “miss out” on a great deal, 99.9% of these deals do not interest me.  I have no need for a spa treatment or a coupon to a restaurant that I can’t even afford to go to with the coupon.

While it may take a few minutes each day for a couple of weeks to purge your subscriptions I think in the long run it will save you time and money from reading and buying things you don’t actually need or want.

Here are a few more tips to shrinking your inbox:

• Clean out your inbox daily.  That’s right zero it out.
• Go the “one touch” route.  Deal with your email right when you read it; reply, delete or file.
• Create a folder for email you need to deal with later.  If you put it in a folder only keep a couple of folders or it will get unruly.
• Don’t look at your email all day long.  Set aside a few times a day when you look at it.  This will keep you from wasting your day looking at emails.

Email is a tricky thing.  It can be the best thing in the world and it can be the worst thing in the world.  I have some more thoughts on this but that’s for another time.  For today, just click UNSUBSCRIBE at the bottom of your junk email and shrink that inbox.  Of course, don’t UNSUBSCRIBE from this blog!

All for Jesus,

Fletch

Have you ever wondered what Lent is? Or Ash Wednesday or why some people deny themselves of certain things for 40 days before Easter? Lent is the season of 40 days leading up to the celebration of the passion and the resurrection of Christ.
“The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection, and it became the custom to prepare for them by a season of penitence1 and fasting…The whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith. The congregation is invited to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word. And, to make a right beginning of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, they are encouraged to kneel before the Lord, their maker and Redeemer” (adapted from the Book of Common Prayer).

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. Some churches will have a special service where the minister will place some “ash” on the forehead of the believer to signify our mortality and penitence and to remember that it is only by the gracious gift of God that we are given everlasting life through Jesus Christ our Savior.

While our church will not have a special service on Ash Wednesday I would like to encourage you to take the next 40 days to meditate on the significance of Christ’s death and resurrection. As believers in Christ, we know and believe that without Christ’s death and resurrection there is no forgiveness of sins. Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection were pinnacle events in human history and salvation.

Colossians 1:13-14 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Hebrews 9:22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

Take some time the next 40 days to:
• Spend time in self-examination; confessing your sins and your need for Christ.
• Repent of your sins, turning away from them and toward Christ.
• Deny yourself of something or make a special commitment these 40 days to remind you daily of your commitment to Christ and to remember His sacrifice for you. (Our family has committed to spending 15 minutes a day in devotions. Some cried that they did not have time, but that is the point, we have to give up something else we like to do, i.e. computer, games, internet, etc. to find time for devotion). Remember, we do not deny ourselves something in order to gain favor with God, this is not a work that is “added” to Christ’s work on the cross, this is simply a special time to meditate on Christ’s all satisfying, all sufficient death and to worship Him for His sacrifice.
• Subscribe to Kevin Green’s Lent blog. Kevin is a fellow pastor at West End Pres.

http://lentreading.wordpress.com/

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.( from the Book of Common Prayer).

1penitent simply means deep remorse and sorrow for sin; repentant.

All for Jesus,
Fletch

John Kirwan’s Highlights From Jesus + Nothing = Everything, By Tullian Tchividjian

All too often I’ve wrongly concluded that the only way to keep licentious people in line is to give them more rules—to lay down the law. The fact is, however, the only way licentious people start to obey is when they get a taste of God’s radical, unconditional acceptance of sinners.  (p. 51)

In Desiring God, John Piper writes, “I know of no other way to triumph over sin long-term than . . . to gain a distaste for it because of a superior satisfaction in God.” (p. 63) Edition.

We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by an offer of a holiday at the sea. (p. 70)

A restored relationship with God never happens by our climbing up to him; it happens only in Jesus, who came down to us. p.84

we’re suddenly freed and empowered to live a life of outrageous generosity, unrestrained sacrifice, uncommon boldness, and unbounded nerve. p.92

The hard work of Christian growth, therefore, is to think less of ourselves and our performance and more of Jesus and his performance for us. Ironically, when we focus mostly on our need to get better, we actually get worse. We become neurotic and self-absorbed. Preoccupation with our effort instead of with God’s effort for us makes us increasingly self-centered and morbidly introspective. Again, think of it this way: sanctification is the daily hard work of going back to the reality of our justification. It’s going back to the certainty of our objectively secured pardon in Christ and hitting the refresh button a thousand times a day. Or, as Martin Luther so aptly put it in his Lectures on Romans, “To progress is always to begin again.”  Real spiritual progress, in other words, requires a daily going backwards.  pp. 95-96

the antidote to lawlessness isn’t more rules but a deeper grasp of God’s grace.  p. 101

We tend to think of the gospel as God’s program to make bad people good, not dead people alive.  p. 116

True spirituality is not introverted, but extroverted. It doesn’t take us deeper into ourselves; it sends us further out. It doesn’t make us more introspective but more extrospective—looking outward. In fact, real spiritual growth happens as we look up to Christ and what he did, out to our neighbors and what they need, not in to ourselves and how we’re doing.  p. 122

The world isn’t captivated by people trying to give the impression they have it all together. That’s not what draws them. What captures their attention is the sight of humble, desperate, dependent people who acknowledge their sin and who point to their Savior as the only one who can rescue us. The world, in other words, needs our confession, not our competence. Tragically, moralism is what people most outside the church think we’re talking about when we say gospel or Christianity. That’s what enters their minds. Most people inside the church give most people outside the church the impression that Christianity is all about observing certain codes of behavior and abstaining from others. It’s all about rules and standards and good behavior and cleaning up your act. We’re really good at communicating that to the world. The only way we’ll be able to reach people for Christ is to differentiate legalism from the gospel. From a human standpoint, we have to help them understand that rules and regulations and standards and behavior modification are not the heart of Christianity. We have to show them that the gospel is radically different. We need to somehow make it clear that Jesus came first not to make bad people good, but to make dead people alive;  pp124-125

“The gospel doesn’t just free you from what other people think about you; it frees you from what you think about yourself.” You’re free! Now you can spend your life giving up your place for others instead of guarding it from others, because your identity is in Christ, not in your place. Now you can spend your energy going to the back instead of getting to the front, because your identity is in Christ, not in your position. You can also spend your life giving, not taking, because your identity is in Christ, not in your possessions.  p. 133

Christ himself said that he had come “not to abolish the law but to fulfill it”—not for himself, but for us.  p. 144

when God’s amazing grace in the gospel grips our hearts, the motivational structure of our hearts is radically changed, and we begin to obey out of faith not fear, gratitude not guilt.  p. 153

We spend more time asking what would Jesus do instead of what did Jesus do.  p. 154

Christian growth doesn’t happen by working hard to get something you don’t have, but rather it happens by working hard to live in the reality of what you already have,  p. 170

So, instead of trying to fix one another, why don’t we “stir one another up to love and good deeds” by daily reminding one another, in humble love, of the riches we already possess in Christ?  p. 182

every time I sin, I’m momentarily suffering from an identity crisis: forgetting who I actually belong to,  pp. 181-182

The gospel’s secret of maturity is this: we become more spiritually mature when we focus less on what we need to do for God and focus more on all that God has already done for us.  p. 185

As John Bunyan memorably put it: “Run, John, run,” the law demands, but gives me neither feet nor hands. Better news the Gospel brings, It bids me fly and gives me wings.  p. 191

Spurgeon wrote, “When I thought God was hard, I found it easy to sin; but when I found God so kind, so good, so overflowing with compassion, I smote upon my breast to think that I could ever have rebelled against One who loved me so, and sought my good.”  p. 191

IT IS FINISHED To close this book, let me retell a story that my friend Steve Brown tells that illustrates well how God deals with us according to the finished work of Christ. He says that one time his daughter Robin found herself in a very difficult English literature course that she desperately wanted to get out of. She sat there on her first day and thought, “If I don’t transfer out of this class, I’m going to fail. The other people in this class are much smarter than me. I can’t do this.” She came home with tears in her eyes and begged her dad to help her get out of the class so she could take a regular English course. Steve said, “Of course.” So the next day he took her down to the school, and they went to the head of the English department, who was a Jewish woman and a great teacher. Steve remembers the event in these words: She (the head of the English department) looked up and saw me standing there by my daughter and could tell that Robin was about to cry. There were some students standing around and, because the teacher didn’t want Robin to be embarrassed, she dismissed the students saying, “I want to talk to these people alone.” As soon as the students left and the door was closed, Robin began to cry. I said, “I’m here to get my daughter out of that English class. It’s too difficult for her. The problem with my daughter is that she’s too conscientious. So, can you put her into a regular English class?” The teacher said, “Mr. Brown, I understand.” Then she looked at Robin and said, “Can I talk to Robin for a minute?” I said, “Sure.” She said, “Robin, I know how you feel. What if I promised you an A no matter what you did in the class? If I gave you an A before you even started, would you be willing to take the class?” My daughter is not dumb! She started sniffling and said, “Well, I think I could do that.” The teacher said, “I’m going to give you an A in the class. You already have an A, so you can go to class. Later the teacher explained to Steve what she had done. She explained how she took away the threat of a bad grade so that Robin could learn English literature. Robin ended up making straight A’s on her own in that class.2 That’s how God deals with us. Because of Christ’s finished work, Christians already have an A. The threat of failure, judgment, and condemnation has been removed. We’re in—forever!

Tullian Tchividjian (2011-10-03). Jesus + Nothing = Everything (pp. 204-205). Good News Publishers/Crossway Books. Kindle Edition.