#solidjoys

This is good, borrowed, copied & shared via #solidjoys from #desiringgod Isaiah sees the day coming when all the nations — representatives from all the people groups — will no longer be at odds with Yahweh, the God of Israel and his Messiah, whom we know to be Jesus. They will no longer worship Bel or Nebo or Molech or Allah or Buddha or utopian social programs or capitalistic growth possibilities or ancestors or animistic spirits. Instead they will come in faith to the banquet on God’s mountain. And they will have the veil of sorrow removed and death shall be swallowed up and the reproach of God’s people will be removed and tears shall be gone forever. That’s the setting for understanding the vision of Isaiah 25:3, “Therefore strong peoples will glorify you; cities of ruthless nations will fear you.” In other words, God is stronger than the “strong people” and he is so powerful and so gracious that in the end he will turn ruthless nations to revere him. So, the picture Isaiah gives us is one of all nations turned to God in worship, a great banquet for all the peoples, the removal of all suffering and grief and reproach from the nations who have become his people, and the final putting away of death forever. This triumph is sure because God is doing it. Therefore, we can be certain of it. Not one life spent in the cause of world evangelization is spent in vain. Not one prayer or one dollar or one sermon or one letter of encouragement mailed or one little light shining in some dark place — nothing in the cause of the advancing kingdom is in vain. The triumph is sure. From “Cities of Ruthless Nations Will Revere Thee” #isaiah #godspromises #wordofgod #bible #sharegodsword #bethechange #godstiming #kingdomhearts #training #instarunners #trailrunning #triathlon #tridadio #running #fitness #spiritualfitness #dadlife

The Bedrock of Your Assurance The Bible speaks of our election — God’s choosing us — in Christ before the foundation of the earth (Ephesians 1:4) before we had done anything good or evil (Romans 9:11). Therefore, our election is unconditional in the strictest sense. Neither our faith nor our obedience is the basis of it. It is free and utterly undeserved. On the other hand, dozens of passages in the Bible speak of our final salvation (as opposed to our election in eternity past) as conditional upon a changed heart and life. So, the question arises, How can I have the assurance that I will persevere in the faith and holiness necessary for inheriting eternal life? The answer is that assurance is rooted in our election. Second Peter 1:10 says, “Be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.” Divine election is the foundation of God’s commitment to save me, and therefore that he will undertake to work in me by sanctifying grace what his electing grace has begun. This is the meaning of the new covenant. Everyone who believes in Jesus is a secure beneficiary of the new covenant, because Jesus said in Luke 22:20, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” That is, by my blood I secure the new covenant for all who are mine. In the new covenant God does not merely command obedience, he gives it. “The Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live” (Deuteronomy 30:6). “I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes” (Ezekiel 36:27; cf. 11:20). Those are new covenant promises. Election is God’s eternal commitment to do this for his people. So, election guarantees that those whom God justifies by faith he will most assuredly glorify (Romans 8:30). This means that he will unfailingly work in us all the conditions laid down for glorification. Election is the final ground of assurance because, since it is God’s commitment to save, it is also God’s commitment to enable all that is necessary for salvation. #SolidJoys https://www.instagram.com/p/CPPYX9iBnMZ/?utm_medium=tumblr

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:11) In this life of sin and pain, joy is embattled. Just like faith. And Paul says to Timothy, “Fight the good fight of the faith” (1 Timothy 6:12). So it is with joy. We must work for it and fight for it. Paul said to the Corinthians, “We work with you for your joy” (2 Corinthians 1:24). How then shall we fight for joy? Here are 15 pointers. 1.) Realize that authentic joy in God is a gift. 2.) Realize that joy must be fought for relentlessly. And don’t be put off by the paradox of these first two pointers! 3.) Resolve to attack all known sin in your life, by the power of the Holy Spirit. 4.) Learn the secret of gutsy guilt — how to fight like a justified sinner. 5.) Realize that the battle is primarily a fight to see — to see God for who he is. 6.) Meditate on the word of God day and night. 7.) Pray earnestly and continually for open heart-eyes and an inclination for God. 8.) Learn to preach to yourself rather than listen to yourself. 9.) Spend time with God-saturated people who help you see God and fight the fight. 10.) Be patient in the night of God’s seeming absence. 11.) Get the rest, exercise, and proper diet that your body was designed by God to have. 12.) Make a proper use of God’s revelation in nature — take a walk in the woods. 13.) Read great books about God and biographies of great men and women of God. 14.) Do the hard and loving thing for the sake of others (your verbal witness and deeds of mercy). 15.) Get a global vision for the cause of Christ, and pour yourself out for the unreached. #solidjoys https://www.instagram.com/p/BykUfcGBlJQoYJsXyE95kVL93cJi3GQx3O3YgQ0/?igshid=rpdbjl7pr0at

📖 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Romans 15:4 Hope is not some vague emotion that comes out of nowhere, like a stomachache. Hope is the confidence that the stupendous future promised to us by the word of the Spirit is going to really come true. Therefore, the way to be filled with the Spirit is to be filled with his word. The way to have the power of the Spirit is to believe the promises of his word. For it is the word of promise that fills us with hope, and hope fills us with joy, and joy overflows in the power and freedom to love our neighbor. And that is the fullness of the Holy Spirit. 📖 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 #SolidJoys #Hope #FilledWithTheSpirit

Words to love. #SolidJoys #JohnPiper Apart from God —

Realize that authentic joy in God is a gift. #solidjoys. (at Uganda)

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Being “in Christ Jesus” is a stupendous reality. It is breathtaking what it means to be in Christ. United to Christ. Bound to Christ. If you are “in Christ” listen to what it means for you: In Christ Jesus you were given grace before the world was created. Second Timothy 1:9, “He gave us grace in Christ Jesus before the ages began.” In Christ Jesus you were chosen by God before creation. Ephesians 1:4, “God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world.” In Christ Jesus you are loved by God with an inseparable love. Romans 8:38–39, “I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” In Christ Jesus you were redeemed and forgiven for all your sins. Ephesians 1:7, “In Christ we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses.” In Christ Jesus you are justified before God and the righteousness of God in Christ is imputed to you. Second Corinthians 5:21, “For our sake God made Christ to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” In Christ Jesus you have become a new creation and a son of God. Second Corinthians 5:17, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” Galatians 3:26, “In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.” #SolidJoys #TruthBeTold #JesusIsTheWay