Hi, my name is —

An ocean is still bounded.

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:20:00 -0500

That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.
John 21:7

Are you like Peter, impulsive and cowardly? Are you like Peter, wrecked with sin? Are you like Peter, denying your Savior?

Are you like Peter, throwing yourself into the sea at the sight of Christ?

Gill writes of Peter’s desire:

Peter shows his great love and eagerness to be with him; and, as fearless of danger, risks all to be with Christ; his love being such, that many waters could not quench, nor floods drown.

The boat is safety, and there is the company of friends, too, but along the shore is Jesus and he is ready to bring you back Home.

I’ll throw myself into the sea, Jesus will get me to him.

Give me the widest ocean spanning the deepest of depths, even then will I dive in, because an ocean is still bounded. Jesus’ love for me is wider. His love for me is deeper.

Father, that’s one heck of an ocean. There’s so much danger. Lift my gaze from the waves to the shore, help me leave my boat behind.

"Women are not objects—they’re each in a class of their own!"

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:59:00 -0500

““Women are not objects—they’re each in a class of their own!””

- I need new coworkers.

Beautiful photography from Tomas Bartko. He covers the...

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:38:00 -0500

Beautiful photography from Tomas Bartko.

He covers the heavens with clouds;
he prepares rain for the earth;
he makes grass grow on the hills.
Psalm 147:8

I’m glad that my Dad is so much bigger than everything. There’s nothing that he can’t do; he repairs broken hearts!

No other.

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 08:11:00 -0500

Yesterday during lunch, I got the chance to listen to the latest Stone sermon with Darrin Patrick teaching about contentment out of Philippians.

This one hit close to home for me.

Darrin Patrick talks about what the opposite of contentment is: coveting. He explains that coveting is this interior drive that wants meaning and completeness and happiness apart from God.

The dude is preaching from the past and he’s talking right to me.

What coveting looks like for me is an over-desire for relationship. Friendship is by no means bad, but as Pastor Mark says, when you take something good and you make it god, it becomes bad. Too often, I take relationship and let it go from a place to share my identity in Christ to a place that is my identity.

Satan wants me to buy into this idea that I should be important to the people I care about when I haven’t done anything to earn a place in their lives.

“And in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.
Hosea 2:16-20

That’s not me. That’s all God right there. He’s the one that pursues them with reckless abandon, even though he is constantly betrayed. He’s the one that loves them to the ends of the Earth. Jesus is the one who went to hell and back for everything they did. He paid their debt, not me.

He alone is worthy of all their heart, every last drop of it.

The same goes for me. I love my friends and I consider them amongst my greatest blessings behind Christ and the Cross, but try as I may, not one of them will ever be able to satisfy the longings of my soul.

Darrin Patrick goes on to teach on how we should see times of blessing and times of difficulty with regards to what Jesus has done for us.

Paul is talking about a Gospel equilibrium. As one writer says it, “The Gospel makes the best times leavable and the worst times bearable.”

Everything is so small compared to the Gospel. Jesus alone can heal the aching of my heart.

It was incredibly difficult for me to discover what exactly I coveted, but I have no doubt of which camp I’ll be in when I’m finally reunited with my God. In Hebrews, it says that God disciplines his children, so it is complete blessing to have God take away that which I couldn’t let go of so that I could behold him as my only joy.

What can you not give up? What is it that your heart covets?

Dear Friend, I urge you to ask God to show you the Gospel, because in it is the amazing story of how much God loves you and you’ll see how much better his love is than any shadow or echo you might find of the Creator here on Earth.

Father, continue to show me what my heart seeks for more than you. I ask for the Spirit to teach us your Word and to help us be obedient to it. God, you alone are good and are worthy of our praise. You did everything so we could come Home to you. Your Love is completely overwhelming!

The More You Know.

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:01:12 -0500

Me: whoa
Me: random shivers.
Me: hate when that happens
Warren: lol
Warren: i hate it when i get that after i pee
Me: DUDE.
Me: yes.
Me: Wow.
Me: I thought I was the only one.
Warren: hahah
Warren: no it's pretty common

Song for the day. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the...

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:28:54 -0500

Song for the day.

Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Psalm 51:8-12

Prayer for the day.

We Will Run
by Gungor

Create in me a clean heart, a clean heart,
For I have turned my face from You.
Teach us of Your ways oh God, oh God,
For we have turned away from You.
Lord, have mercy.

We will run to you, we will run to you,
Turning from our sin we return to You.
Father heal your world, make all things new,
Make all things new.

Your love and mercy build and shape us.
Break us and recreate us now.
Lord, have mercy.

Oh, bring us back to you.

In the outbox.

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:16:00 -0500

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”
John 20:21

Jesus sends us out as he was sent out. It sounds simple enough, until the Spirit reminds you how Jesus was sent out.

So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.
John 19:16-18

He gave up heaven and the angels worshipping him in all his glory to come down into history and creation, like a painter entering his painting, humbling himself to become an infant, doing all those infant things, growing up and living amongst the people that he loved so that in the end, he could die for them.

That’s how you’re sent: cross-culture, in complete humility to die for the Gospel of Peace.

That’s how I’m sent. No believer is exempt.

Every Christian is called to go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching those to observe everything that Jesus has commanded because to him is given all authority.

What is stopping us? Fear of financial insecurity? Fear of what people will think?

Arthur Tappan Pierson writes:

Let all men face the fact that no outlay of men, money and means ever brought returns so rich and rapid as the mission enterprise; that even the seeming waste of precious lives has been but the breaking of the costly flask, filling the world with the odor of unselfish and heroic piety, and prompting to its imitation.

If you would only give your life away, imagine what God could do with it. Do you have that picture in your mind? He goes beyond that.

It may seem a waste to spend two of the best years of your life in India or Nepal, but there is nothing greater than to love and there is no greater love than to lay down your life for others.

John Piper shares this from a letter written by Francis Xavier:

The danger of all dangers would be to lose trust and confidence in the mercy of God… To distrust him would be a far more terrible thing than any physical evil which all the enemies of God put together could inflict on us, for without God’s permission neither the devils nor their human ministers could hinder us in the slightest degree.

Christian, do you trust God? Do you believe with your whole heart every single word in the Bible? If so, then you must know what to do.

Without him we are incapable of anything good. But he is always with us, and so we go.

Father, change our hearts to desire beautiful feet, bringing the Gospel to unreached places and unchurched peoples! Send your Holy Spirit to illumine the Bible for us that we would understand your commands and your promises, so that by the Spirit we could be obedient to what you have called us to do.

Dad, you are everything. Help me and all my brothers and sisters to live in Light of that.

By Sheharzad Arshad. He has tons of wonderful, funny (in that...

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 07:35:06 -0500

By Sheharzad Arshad.

He has tons of wonderful, funny (in that dark sort of way) illustrations. I love his style.

Sometimes, you just have to turn the page.

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:30:00 -0500

Not too long ago, I had to go through some stuff that hurt a ton and a good friend of mine read Psalm 42 with me over the phone:

As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?

Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.

But until now, I never took the next chapter to heart:

Send out your light and your truth;
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill
and to your dwelling!

Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre,
O God, my God.

Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.
Psalm 43:3-5

These two psalms go hand in hand. Listen to the psalmist’s song—teach me the Bible, it will lead me and bring me to you, who is my exceeding joy! who is my everything! and I’ll praise you with an upright heart.

Though it hurt, without it, I wouldn’t have had the blessing of the Holy Spirit showing me that the only joy that doesn’t give up is in Christ. The thirst you feel is no match for Christ, he says, “Come to the waters!”; your despair is easily surpassed by the hope he gives, for in him we will not die; your loneliness will crumble in the presence of God, for he is the only one that will satisfy you and he is with you.

There is always another page.

Dear Friend, I encourage you, in your sorrow when you want to hear God’s voice the most, go to the Bible. Everything in it is what God wants to say to you.

Start at Genesis 1. Just keep turning the page.

Father, help us to look for you every day, and change our hearts so that we’re not looking for things that make us feel good, but that we just want to be with you. Teach us about who you are, because you are the only thing that can fill in all these gaps in our spongy hearts. Send the Holy Spirit in full force so that we can understand what you’re saying and share it with everyone!

"You can’t just decide to start liking something. You have to actually like it. Your taste buds..."

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 13:06:32 -0500

“You can’t just decide to start liking something. You have to actually like it. Your taste buds have to change or somethin’.”

- Jared Wilson’s daughter, via The Gospel-Driven Church.

Idolizing Sundays.

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 02:05:13 -0500

And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said.
Luke 9:33

Today at church, Pastor Mark taught from Luke walking us through the Transfiguration. This passage is all about God’s glory and Pastor Mark spent most of his time there, but there was one thing that he said that the Spirit tucked away in the back of my head and marinated.

Peter tells Jesus, face shining and clothes glittering, decked with bling, “Hey, it’d be great if we could all just hang out for a bit. I’ll set up some tents for you, Moses and Elijah, we can just stay here and chill,” but the Bible says that he didn’t know what he said.

I manage to say the wrong things at the wrong time quite often, so I find much comfort in the fact that Jesus loved Peter.

What Pastor Mark said about this verse is that Peter here wants to prolong this mountain top experience, but there’s such danger in doing so. It’s so easy to associate place and circumstance with times where we met God, and in so doing, we crave those experiences in our lives more than God himself.

The archetypal example of this is the “spiritual high” from a retreat, but for me, it takes a much more insidious and daily toll. On Sundays, sometimes if one band is leading but I like another, my heart is so cold and broken that it refuses to worship, only being at church in body but not in spirit. If one pastor is away on a sabbatical and another is teaching, oftentimes my heart is unwilling to learn, because he’s not pastor so-and-so.

So, instead of seeking to relive certain experiences, where do we go so we can see a little bit of God’s glory?

For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation.
2 Peter 1:17-20

Peter himself, who saw all these things, tells us that what is more sure than these mountain top experiences is the Bible! Why do we seek to be satisfied with creation in chasing these experiences that God gives us, instead of the God who gives us those experiences?

Listen diligently to God and eat what is good, delight yourselves in rich food, his Word, which is sweeter than honey, because it is the very word of God that is spoken to you. Through Scripture, the Spirit leads us and teaches us about that which will satisfy our souls most.

How are we doing on this? Have your methodologies in pursuing and worshipping Christ become, as Pastor Mark puts it, methodolatries?

Father, reveal to me how often I replace you with experiences, that I might see my methodolatries and be corrected by your Spirit. You are better than any emotion or experience this world has to offer. Teach us the Bible so that we can get to know you better so that we can tell the world about your Love!

Steven could work at Microsoft, too!

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 21:48:21 -0500

Me: YES.
Me: Fixed a stupid bug.
Me: Dumb bug.
Steven: lol.
Steven: i killed a bug today.
Steven: stupid bugs

A good friend of mine shared this with me. The lyrics are so...

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 03:19:00 -0500

A good friend of mine shared this with me.

The lyrics are so simple, yet its simplicity belies its truth.

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

You make me new, You are making me new
You make me new, You are making me new

This song reminded me of a Psalm that’s all about Jesus (I guess they sort of all are).

Let heaven and earth praise him,
the seas and everything that moves in them.
For God will save Zion
and build up the cities of Judah,
and people shall dwell there and possess it;
the offspring of his servants shall inherit it,
and those who love his name shall dwell in it.
Psalm 69:34-36

I wish I could talk about this Psalm, but my words suck. Instead, here is how the Spirit taught it to Spurgeon:

Inasmuch as the creation itself also is by Christ’s work to be delivered from bondage, let all that have life and motion magnify the Lord. Glory be unto thee, O Lord, for the sure and all including pledge of our Surety’s triumph; we see in this the exaltation of all thy poor and sorrowful ones, and our heart is glad.

The whole Earth screams to praise its Creator. God is making us new so that we can join in their song.

Through every trouble and every sorrow is purpose, that God would be made bigger and Jesus’ love shown to be grander than we previously imagined. Sometimes we go through pain and loneliness so God can bring us back to him.

That’s Love.

Though I may lose a battle...

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 22:17:53 -0500

Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”
John 20:14-15

I’m not sure if you feel this, but there are days where I get completely beaten up by my sin. My rebellion is so fierce and the guilt afterwards swift, but even still, Jesus ready stands to save me.

Jesus, asks of me like he asks of Mary Magdalene, “Why are you weeping?” My reply, however, is not the same, “Because my sin has overcome me.” But then he asks, “Whom are you seeking?” To this, the answer must be, “Lord, I am seeking you.” Oftentimes, mine is not.

“In overflowing anger for a moment
I hid my face from you,
but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord, your Redeemer.
Isaiah 54:8

I wish to be able to carry that answer with me at all times, but it is so rare that I’ve all that Christ has done for me at the front of my mind. He must remind my forgetful heart every day.

On the dreadful sorrow due to the account that we have sinned so grievously, Charles Spurgeon writes:

Only confess that you have transgressed against the Lord, your Redeemer, and you may come back to Him at once! No, even now He comes to meet with you and He brings with Him the basin and the towel, that He may wash your soiled feet, for He has washed you once in His blood and now He will again wash your feet and you shall be clean, every whit, and shall walk with cleansed feet in renewed fellowship with your Lord!

Do not let your struggles hinder you from believing that Christ has conquered sin for you and that He will yet conquer sin in you.

Believer, come with me to Christ! My disobedience is so great, but God’s love is greater still.

“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”
John 6:37

Anyone else would throw us away if they knew the extent of our actions and thoughts, but Jesus knows full well what we have done and will never, ever reject you.

This is why the Gospel is such good news, because it tells us that Christ has seen our helpless estate and has shed his own blood for our souls. Through Jesus, we can go to God. Through Christ, we have won the war.

Father, I must continually ask for your forgiveness, there isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t sin against you. You are so good to forgive me! Please conquer the sin in me, sanctifying me for your work. Give rest to those weary with failure, though we are weak, you are strong.

"… one of their greatest griefs is that they can do so little for Christ. But, Brother, Sister,..."

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 21:25:00 -0500

“… one of their greatest griefs is that they can do so little for Christ. But, Brother, Sister, do you not know the rule of David and the rule of David’s Lord? They that abide by the supplies shall have the same portion as they who go out to the battle! You are like the soldiers who have to keep in the rear and guard the baggage. But when the King comes back with all the active troops who have been doing the fighting, you will share the victory with them! You who are at home keeping the camp preserve many things which might be forgotten if we were all on active service. Be you comforted, then, if you are called to suffer or to be in obscurity—you shall be equal to the man and woman who are called to labor more prominently. Do what you can! I do not know that Christ Himself ever praised anybody more than He did that woman of whom He said, “She has done what she could.” I daresay she wanted to do a great deal more, but she did what she could. And if you have done what you could, it is well.”

- Charles Spurgeon

Church is family.

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 00:51:46 -0500

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
John 19:26-27

The first time I read these two verses, I was struggling a lot with my own relationship with Christ. Why couldn’t I love him more? But God has been teaching me about how to love him and where that love comes from, so with different heart and eyes, I wanted to take another look at this passage.

It amazes me the capacity of Jesus’ love. He hangs from the cross, but his concern is still for his mother, “Mom! I know you’re losing your son, but you are gaining another.” Then to John, “I entrust you my mother to care for as your own.” How great is that love that fights through pain and agony, always looking at its own state second ensuring the best for the recipients of that love. It’s beyond me.

One thing to note here is that Jesus had brothers, so his mother would have been taken care of, yet he still charges John the task of being his mother’s son. Why is that? What did God intend for us to see here?

Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.” But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”
Luke 8:19-21

When Jesus wins over our lives and we put our trust in him, we’re re-born not only to life, but to family. Christian, you are my brother. Believer, you are my sister. We are God’s adopted in the family of Light.

Christian, how are we doing here? Family goes to the ends of the Earth for each other. Father, what must I give up for my brothers and sisters to show them that which will satisfy their souls most? You would not leave your mother on the streets in February without a blanket. If your brother needed a car to get to work, you’d give him yours. So we must give without regards to cost, for all you have is given to glorify our Dad.

My heart always sinks when I hear stories of broken families. Hearing the statistics that come out of schools in AISD is disheartening at best. Sadness is looking into a child’s eyes and not seeing a little boy or a little girl, but a loss of innocence and a premature familiarity with loneliness. I can’t wait for the day when all of that ends. Until then, we give everything for them, as God gave everything for us.

Friend, where do you come from? It’s no matter, there is someone that wants you to be with them. He’s my Dad. He knows everything about you, but he still loves you and I can’t even begin to describe it. He wanted to save you so badly that he sent my big brother to die for you. Keep walking with me. I’ll tell you all about him.

"Did I not know the Lord to be mine, were I not certain his heart feels even more love for me than I..."

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 12:57:03 -0500

“Did I not know the Lord to be mine, were I not certain his heart feels even more love for me than I am able to conceive, were not this evident to me, not by deduction and argument but by consciousness, by his own light shining in my soul as the sun doth upon my bodily eyes, into what deplorable situation should I have been now cast.”

- Henry Venn, quoted in Joy Unspeakable via Ray Ortlund.

This is what happens when you IM Warren.

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 12:19:20 -0500

Me: Hey
Warren: heyhey
Warren: wassanookaloo solo
Warren: *PEW*

Today was the MSD (Management & Services Division) Picnic at...

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 21:43:00 -0500

Today was the MSD (Management & Services Division) Picnic at Microsoft. I got to spend time chatting with coworkers, playing volleyball and enjoying the outdoors.

I snapped this photo while wading along the shore, where the water reminded me of when I was baptized and God showed on the outside what he did on the inside.

That derailed me for a second. I always need to be reminded of what God did.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16

John 3:16 may have been the very first verse that I ever memorized. Though I remember it well from Awana and Sunday school with Auntie Irene and Uncle Vicente, it has remained a mantra for much of my Christian life. “Yes yes yes, I know John 3:16,” but I want to know it.

Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands.
John 19:1-3

God let this happen. Jesus knew excruciating pain, but God would rescue him, right? After all, Jesus was his Son, the one that brings him great joy!

So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.
John 19:16-18

No.

God let him die.

Why did you have to die, Jesus?

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
John 3:17

I’m so glad that you came back to life, Jesus. Without you, I don’t know where I would go.

But why do I do what I do? You set up this huge rescue mission, but I keep walking back over to the Enemy’s lines.

“For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
John 3:20-21

Expose me, Dad. I don’t want to be so broken.

Dad, please erase all that permanent maker on my heart. Help me with everything because I want my life to show on the outside what you did on the inside.

Doesn’t that first guy remind you of Brett? I can totally...

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 19:53:00 -0500

Doesn’t that first guy remind you of Brett? I can totally see him doing this with his future kids.

I’m really excited about having kids of my own. I was talking to a friend of mine and we were discussing the number of kids we’d have. She told me that she wanted 2 or 3 and I scoffed at her single-digit expectations. I said that if God marries me to a beautiful woman when we’re young, say 25, then we’ve got 10 years to have kids, so that’s about 13 kids. Let’s give the (amazingly resilient) wife a year of rest, so cut that to 12. Go big or go home.

The Bible talks a lot about being a father. Men, we have this amazing opportunity to show Christ’s love in so many different ways, but the two that have aways hit that spot for me are as husband and as father. I’m excited for what God wants to do through my life and am absolutely thrilled to take the path he’s set out for me one step at a time. I only hope and pray that on that path I’ll get to meet a wonderful woman of God and get to have a family with her.

The Resurgence recently had a post about one of the responsibilities we have as a father. This really hit home because the Spirit has really convicted me to memorize Bible verses lately and it brings these dreams of being a dad full circle to the present.

What are you doing now, Brother, to prepare yourself for your calling, whatever that may be? We never know when God may use us, but how are we to share the love of God if we do not know it, and how are we to know it if we don’t learn about it?

One verse that stuck in my mind was Proverbs 25:11:

A word fitly spoken
is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.

God’s word, the Bible, never fails to send me to my knees, to bring me off my feet, to shape my mind and remake my heart. What God has said is not for me alone, though, it’s for everyone. The Gospel is good news to all of humanity.

We’re not always gonna have our Bibles on us. That’s why we need to take the Bible and put it in our head and in our heart.

In this way, when you speak, you speak God’s truth and in your pursuit of him and his word, the Spirit can work powerfully through you, that the words that are stored in your heart would be fitly said, like apples of gold in a setting of silver.

On your honeymoon, when you tell your future wife she’s beautiful, you can whisper to her that she’s wonderfully made. As life gets busy, you can hold her and let her know that she’s still so intoxicating. When the days get old, you can hug her and say, “You have always been and will always be my girl.”

For your children, you have this unique blessing of being a representation of the Father in heaven in their lives. As the Father teaches us, we must teach our children. As the Father disciplines us, we must discipline our sons. As the Father loves us, we must love our daughters.

All this is possible by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, but, as John Piper says it, only in the pursuit of Christ does the Spirit work most powerfully.

Brother, how are you pursuing Christ today? Without him, we are unable to do anything and will be at the mercy of the lies and attacks of the Enemy. Instead, ask God to teach you that so that you would wield a mighty sword in places of darkness.

Father, I ask that you line our hearts and our minds with the truth, that we might not sin against you and that we might stand ready to do as you command, every minute of every day in our lives. Dad, give us diligence and discipline to read the Bible and ask to be taught from it. Please do this so that you would be glorified alone!