A Note From the Pastor

I know this isn't about running, but I want to post it anyway. A couple of weeks ago I taught in Sunday school a lesson on the goodness of God. One verse from that lesson that has stuck with me is Psalm 16:2, "I say to the LORD, 'You are my Lord, I have no good apart from you." So, the last couple of weeks I have been thinking about how good God is, and how blessed I am to have him as my Lord. Sort of along those lines, I got an email from my pastor today that I thought I would pass on:

Dear Friend,

How are you this week? 

I am passing on some notes from a lecture by Sam Storms that I found particularly helpful.  It has been pasted below and I underlined the fundamental idea, “The only way you can conquer one pleasure is with another greater and more pleasing pleasure.”  This is part of the practical power behind Paul’s “safe” command to “rejoice in the Lord” (Phil 3:1).  We need to see the beauty and glory of Christ so we can find deep pleasure and lasting joy in Him to fight against sin.

Our hearts are like a glass full of muddy water; there are two ways we can empty them of sin.  One way is to tip the glass over and dump out the water—but then it can be filled up again with the muddy water of sinful passions; nothing has filled us to take the place of our old joys and desires.  The other way is to pour something heavier than water into the glass, mercury for instance, and fill it from the bottom up, displacing the water with the fullness of something new.  In the fight against sin, we need to fill our hearts with the solid joys and weighty pleasure of Christ—the word “glory” means “weight” in Hebrew, after all.

We need to nourish our joy in Christ.  How?  We read, pray and meditate so we can see Christ and be satisfied by His beauty and glory.  We need to replace our pleasure in sin with the greater pleasure of Christ—the substantial, eternally satisfying joy of knowing Him.

Psalm 16:11, “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 73:25-26, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

Blessings on you today.  Rejoice in the Lord!

Pastor Jim