New Life In The Death Of Jesus And Self

"Sin demanded a death, Jesus gave his life, now in grace he calls for your death so that you may know new life."

~ Paul Tripp / Twitter

God's Mercy On Par With My Hope?

Let Thy lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us, According as we have hoped in Thee. ~ Psalm 33.22

I've never prayed like this before....and I've never sung a song like this before.

I've never prayed that God's mercy would be shown to me on the same level as I hope in Him. It seems at first that this would be a frightening prayer to pray. The reason for this is because I don't see myself hoping in God on the same level that I need His mercy/His lovingkindness.

So I believe this verse of scripture should pierce anyone who reads it with a meditative mind and with a heart that desires sanctification.

Albert Barnes expounds on the verse when he writes,

"The true principle, therefore, upon which God is willing to bestow His favors, and which will be the rule that He will observe, is, that if people desire much, they will obtain much; that if they have big expectations, they will not be disappointed; and that God is willing to bestow His mercies upon His people and upon the world to the utmost of their desires and hopes. Compare Psalm 81:10, "Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it." Psalm 37:4, "delight thyself in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thy heart."

So how intense and fervent, then, should be the prayers and the petitions of the people of God! How earnest the supplications of sinners that God would have mercy on them!"

Election And The Gospel

I read another great quote from one of my favorite blogs....Of First Importance!

“Let no one say . . . that the doctrine of election by the sovereign will and mercy of God, mysterious as it is, makes either evangelism or faith unnecessary. The opposite is the case. It is only because of God’s gracious will to save that evangelism has any hope of success and faith becomes possible. The preaching of the gospel is the very means that God has appointed by which he delivers from blindness and bondage those whom he chose in Christ before the foundation of the world, sets them free to believe in Jesus, and so causes his will to be done.”

- John R. W. Stott, The Message of Ephesians, 48.