God is the Gospel

Having gone to the Piper conference last week, I have had one overwhelming thought in my mind . . . God is the gospel. A passage of Scripture that has been pulsing through my mind is from Psalm 73:24-25. It has been so instrumental in my life this last week that I memorized it and I have been quoting it frequently throughout the week:

“Whom have I in heaven but you, and on earth there is nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail but you are the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

In talking with a sister in the faith this last weekend, she also reminded me of the verse right before this one. It says something like, before I recognized that God was my all, I was a BRUTE BEAST before You.

In my process of sanctification, I have found that I have been a brute beast in so many ways. I often think that things of this world will fulfill me and I forget that it is God alone that brings joy. Even good things screw up my perspective, because I begin to love the good things more than God.

A quote from Augustine that has been resonating in my life this last week goes something like this: “He loves Thee too little, who loves anything together with Thee which is not for Thy sake alone.”

I thank God for men of faith like Piper and Augustine who remind me to glory only in my Father in heaven. I desire to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. I desire to hope only in God. I desire to pursue God and God alone. In God alone is the fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore.

“Lord, help me to truly apply the fact that You are the Gospel!”

“I’ve been blinded for 29 years”

Last night at 7ten, God showed his amazing goodness in allowing the gospel to be proclaimed. After the message and worship, people were hanging out, and I started talking to a guy named Al. He just moved to AZ, and a Christian girl (who had only been 1 time to 7ten), invited him to come. It was his first time there and I just started getting to know him. As we began dialoguing, he just let me know that he was not sure where he was at with God, but Al knew he was at 7ten for a reason. Not wanting to waste an opportunity, I asked him if he thought he was a good person. He said yes, so I walked him through some of the Ten Commandments. I asked him again if he thought he was a good person after he had seen that he had broken the first four I shared with him. He was shocked to discover that with all his Catholic background, he had never shown that he was a sinner and in need of a savior. His friend Rachel and I then shared the gospel for the next 20 minutes, and I know that he is now wrestling with truth. He said that he had been blinded his whole life and that no one had ever shown him the truth of his sin. I praise God for the power of the gospel, and for using me to share it. Al gladly took a Bible and said that he would read it to find out more about who God truly is. Praise His name. . . More updates to come as they unfold with this story.