Tagged: John Piper

Does God Make Much of US?

I’m on sabbatical (translation: I’m resting),
so this is a pre-scheduled post for your encouragement, education and enjoyment! 

Many of you who have heard my sermons know that I’m on the same page with John Piper – regarding God mainly making much of Himself… His own glory.

Yet, there are ways that He makes much of us!  Here’s a great, short article from John Piper on that very subject!

Treasuring Jesus above all else

I’m on sabbatical (translation: I’m resting)
This is a pre-scheduled post for your enouragement!

John Piper often says things in a way that hit my soul – hard.  This quote is no different.

Nothing is more precious than hearing God say to us personally: No condemnation. Or hearing him pronounce the words over our guilty heads, Justified! If you cherish this verdict and this standing with God, then cherish your union with Christ. Make it part of what you value most in the world.

You can hear or read the entire sermon HERE

4 Purposes God Has for History

John Piper gives these 4 purposes God has for history…

  1. God’s purpose is to be known: “That your way may be known on earth” (v. 2)
  2. God’s purpose is to be praised: “Let the peoples praise you” (v. 3).
  3. God’s purpose is to be enjoyed: “Let the nations be glad and sing for joy” (v. 4).
  4. God’s purpose is to be feared and reverenced: “Let all the peoples of the earth fear him” (v. 7).

Spend some time pondering these… and what they mean for YOUR life!

God is ABSOLUTELY sovereign, yet we are to pray?

More thoughts from John Piper regarding Jude 20-21, the passage I’ve been considering in my morning times lately…

…don’t ever think, Since God is the decisive keeper of my soul, and I am eternally secure (Which is true! Romans 8:30; John 10:29; Philippians 1:6), therefore I don’t need to be vigilant to pray for perseverance. That would be like saying, Since God is the decisive giver and sustainer of life, I don’t need to breathe. I can spend as much time underwater as above water and it won’t make any difference. Yes it will. God’s means of sustaining life is not only the gift of life, but the gift of breath to sustain it (Acts 17:25).

So don’t think, Since God is the decisive keeper of my soul, I can spend as much time in prayerless sinning as in prayerful serving, and it won’t make any difference. Yes it will. God’s means of keeping your soul is not only the gift of life, but also the gift of prayer to sustain it. If you don’t receive and use the gift of life-sustaining prayer, there is little reason to think that you receive and cherish the gift of life. If you don’t treasure the gift of breath, you don’t cherish the gift of life.

Lord, show me HOW to implement believing prayer, Holy Spirit-dependent prayer, into my daily life so that I will be sustained and kept for eternal life!

Prayer – its importance and its neglect

This morning as I was studying the small book of Jude, I came across this quote from John Piper, in a sermon on the passage I was reading,

Nothing decays so fast in the fallen human heart as the desire to pray. In other words, nothing is more vital than prayer in Christian existence, and few things are more vulnerable to neglect.

LORD, give me a heart to desire to pray.  Teach me HOW to pray as I should, “in the Holy Spirit” and according to your will.

Why the Doctrine of Hell Matters… (repost from John Piper)

Lately whether or not hell exists and who goes there has been a very big issue.  It seems to crop up from time to time throughout the history of the church.

Today I read a post from John Piper at www.desiringgod.org that very clearly described why a biblical answer to those questions is such a big issue…  here’s a quote…

None of us ever experience suffering more severe than we deserve. If we are not in hell at this moment, we are experiencing massive mercy.

Loud love is calling us from heaven. O that we may have ears to hear:

“Do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed” (Romans 2:4–5).

Instead embrace Christ as your God-given substitute: “Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). Christ endured hell for all who own him as their Life.