I Thank God for Fighter Verses

Today Desiring God announced that the Fighter Verses have been revamped. I hope you will take the time to look at these resources and consider if you'll give the next 5 years to fighting the fight of faith through Scripture memory.

I first encountered the Fighter Verses in college and it was a gift of God to me in those days. I still remember opening the box that I had ordered from Desiring God with the little purple binder filled with note cards . The coolest thing about the fighter verse set was the little plastic sleeve that came with the set so that you could carry the cards around with you without messing them up. For several years of my life I was never without that sleeve.

I was so impacted by the Fighter Verses, that I began selling them as cheap as I could when I preached at various events. Back then, they were about $12 each. I would order 50 at a time and sell them as fast as I could. I probably distributed 500-600 of them in those days.

I cannot still quote all of the Fighter Verses. My memory is not as good as I once thought. However, the time I spent laboring over and reviewing those verses has shaped me. I thank God for the Fighter Verses.

Philippians: The Gospel Community

I've never been as excited about a sermon series as I am about the next 5 months in Philippians. My joy is full.

Along with preparing and preaching sermons from Philippians, I am working on 2 gifts for my church family:

1. Depending on the Spirit, I am memorizing all of Philippians.

2. For the glory of God, I am writing a basic commentary on Philippians.

Here is something of an introduction to the commentary, called, "The Gospel Community."

Paul’s letter to the Philippians is about the gospel of Jesus Christ that creates and shapes a community of believers. In this friendly letter, we encounter the supremacy of Jesus Christ. The person and work of Jesus Christ is the dominant subject of Philippians. However, there is nothing abstract or out of touch about this presentation of Christ. In Philippians, Jesus Christ transforms and informs our lives and relationships with each other. In Philippians, Jesus Christ captures our attention in such a way that joy is possible even in the midst of great suffering. Philippians is a practical book about the very center of the Christian faith.

Challenge 2010: Let the Word of Christ Dwell in You Richly

As I do every year on the Sunday closest to New Years Day, I challenged my church to be saturated with the Bible. We meditated on just nine words from Colossians 3:16: "Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly." You can listen to the sermon online and you can view our 2010 all-church Scripture Memory Schedule.

If you don't have a plan to memorize the Bible in 2010, why not join us?

John 15:17 - Memory Verse Meditations

John 15:17 – “These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”

Just as He did in verse 12, Jesus calls us to be marked by our love for one another. Love for God manifests itself in love for His people. As you meditate on this short verse this week, go back and review all of John 15:1-17. Evaluate your life based on Jesus’ commands.

John 15:16 - Memory Verse Meditations

John 15:16 – “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.”
Jesus’ has loved us by choosing us. If He had not chosen us, we would have never chosen Him. We must always be aware of the initiative in our relationship with Jesus. His action is always prior to our actions. He chose us that we might bear lasting fruit for His glory. When we bear fruit for Him, the Father answers our prayers prayed in His name. What are you asking the Father for in Jesus’ name today?

John 15:15 - Memory Verse Meditations

John 15:15 – “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.”

According to Jesus, the fundamental difference between a servant and a friend has to do with the information disclosed. A servant doesn’t get to know what his master is doing. He just does his work because he is supposed to. However, a friend is privileged to hear what and why things are happening. The friend is made aware of the plans. Jesus says that He has made known all that He has heard from His Father. Jesus is the perfect revelation of the glory of the Father. He spoke only what the Father told Him to speak. He has not withheld the Father’s plans from us.

John 15:14 - Memory Verse Meditations

John 15:14 – “You are my friends if you do what I command you.”

Jesus’ emphasis on doing what He commands is unmistakable in John 14-16. Jesus’ commands are authoritative and binding on all people. However, it is those who obey His commands who are called His friends. Who of us can claim to be His friend? Who of us can claim to do what He commands? Verses like this should cause us to flee to the Cross, where our lack of obedience was atoned for and our present obedience was purchased.

John 15:13 - Memory Verse Meditations

John 15:13 – “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends.”

In verse 12, Jesus commanded us to love one another as He has loved us. Well, here is how He has loved us. He loved us by laying down His life for us as a substitution for our sins. This is how Jesus defines the greatest love: selflessly laying down your life for others. So, as you meditate on this verse, ponder the greatest demonstration of love in the history of the universe in the Cross. Then, ponder the ways you can lay down your life for others.

John 15:12 - Memory Verse Meditations

John 15:12 – “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”

Verse 10 says that abiding in Jesus means keeping His commandments. Well, here is His COMMANDMENT: Love one another as He has loved you. The Christian life is marked by our love for one another. A true follower of Christ loves Jesus and loves Jesus’ people. Meditate on how much and in what ways Jesus has loved you. Consider His dying love. Then, ponder how you can express your love for your fellow church members this week.

Memorization tip: 15:12-14 are 3 pretty short verses. 15:15-16 are relatively long. Work hard at getting 15:9-14 down really well so that you are ready to tackle the longer verses when they come.

John 15:11 - Memory Verse Meditations

John 15:11 – "These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full."

The words of Jesus bring great joy to His followers’ hearts. Jeremiah said that God’s Word brought joy and rejoicing to his heart (Jeremiah 15:16). Jesus wants you to have full joy (His joy!). As we meditate on Jesus’ desire for us to have full joy, let’s ask Him to cut away everything in our lives that saps our joy in Him.

Challenge 2010

What will you do in 2010 that will make the most significant spiritual impact in your life? What will you do this year that will contribute most to your personal growth in godliness?

This I know: if you don’t plan to grow in godliness this year, you won’t. Godliness doesn’t just happen. Cultivating Christ-likeness requires discipline and time.

Don’t waste this year. By the grace of God, go hard after holiness this year. Of all the things you are going to pursue this year, make the pursuit of maturity in Christ your primary goal.

So, how are you going to position yourself to increase your enjoyment of God this year?

There are lots of ways to lay ourselves in the path of godliness. However, I want to challenge you in one particular way. I want to challenge you to do something this year that will make the most impact in the most areas of your Christian life.

Based on Colossians 3:16, I want to challenge you to let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in 2010.

Among the many ways to grow in godliness in the Christian life, none are more helpful than saturating ourselves in the Bible. In Donald Whitney’s excellent book on the Spiritual Disciplines, he writes, “No spiritual discipline is more important than the intake of God’s Word.”

George Muller said, “The vigor of our spiritual life will be in exact proportion to the place held by the Bible in our life and thoughts.”

Grow in godliness this year (this decade) by devoting yourself to letting the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.

Colossians 3:16: "Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly."

Here are 5 observations on these 9 words from the sermon Sunday:
1. This is a command.
2. This is a command directed at those who desire to center their lives on Christ (context).
3. This is a command to do something with the Word of Christ.
4. This is a command to let the Word of Christ dwell in us.
5. This is a command to let the Word of Christ dwell in us RICHLY.

Memorizing God's Word Together in 2009

Christ Baptist Church will continue to memorize God's Word together in 2009. Our plan is simple: one verse a week.

We will be memorizing John 15:9-17, Isaiah 53, and James 1 this year.
Anybody want to join us?

Here is a Word document with the plan laid out week by week.

Psalm 119 Sunday

This Sunday, we devoted the entire service to the longest chapter in the Bible: Psalm 119. It was a joy to reflect on the value of God's Word and thank God for His revelation of Himself in the Bible.

I reflected on Psalm 119:97:
"Oh how I love your law, it is my meditation all the day!"

Then, I brought out 5 reasons the Psalmist loved God's Word enough to constantly meditate on it (5 benefits of the Word):

1. God’s Word makes him wise (98-100; 104; 130).
2. God’s Word keeps him from evil (101).
3. God’s Word delights his soul (103).
4. God’s Word directs his path (105).
5. God’s Word points him to what really matters: Christ! (123).

Wielding The Word

Chapter 8 of When I Don't Desire God by John Piper is one of my favorite chapters in all of Piper's writings.
Wednesday evening, about 20 people gathered in my living room and we read the entire (almost) chapter out loud. It was massively encouraging.

Here are 7 reasons I would encourage you to read this chapter:

• Piper reminds us of the gospel.
• It is saturated with Bible.
• It contains a broad range of quotes from all through church history.
• It is the most practical thing I have ever read from Piper.
• It ignites a fresh passion for Bible study, memory, and meditation.
• It addresses a broad range of important subjects:
  Bible reading, Bible study, Bible memory, Bible meditation, Joy, Importance of writing, Reading good and old books, Thinking, Biography, Small Groups, Spiritual gift of prophecy, The Local Church, Church leaders, Church membership, The essential role of suffering in Bible understanding (Friends, you won’t see this discussed in your average Hermeneutics text).
• It will make you want to read the rest of the book.

John 14:3: "...To Myself..."

We are memorizing John 14 together as a church. You can see our plan (1 verse a week) on our website.

I was struck a few weeks ago by something I had never seen in John 14:3:
"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also."

Notice how Jesus saturated this verse is:
Who is going? Jesus
Who is preparing a place? Jesus
Who is coming again? Jesus
Who is taking us to himself? Jesus
Why is Jesus coming again to take us to himself? That we may be where He is.

Christian, what else matters today? Jesus is coming and Jesus WILL take us to himself. I don't care to be taken anywhere else. Jesus, just take me to where you are. Wherever you are is where I want to be.

Heaven is sweet because it is where Jesus is.

No Condemnation: No Fear of Judgment

In 2007, we are memorizing two great Bible chapters at Christ Baptist Church of Wilson: Psalm 34 and Romans 8.
Psalm 34 is due this Sunday and Romans 8 is due on the last Sunday of the year. Thus, there is a transition between these two chapters this week.

Psalm 34 ends with this promise: "The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned."
Romans 8 begins with this promise: "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

What gospel truth! Let us hide ourselves in the shelter of Christ today.