5 top Christian blog posts of the week. Posts by J.D. Greear, Kevin DeYoung, Trevin Wax, Desiring God, and Ligonier Ministries on finding God’s will, the fruit of the Spirit, treasures in heaven, preaching, and more.
9 Tests for Spiritual Fruit
At Desiring God, Scott Hubbard outlines 9 Tests for Spiritual Fruit.
- Love: Do you labor for the good of your brothers and sisters?
- Joy: Do you delight in the Christlikeness of God’s people?
- Peace: Do you strive to maintain the unity of the Spirit, even at significant personal cost?
- Patience: Are you growing in your ability to overlook offenses?
- Kindness: Do you not only overlook offenses, but also repay them with love?
- Goodness: Do you dream up opportunities to be helpful?
- Faithfulness: Do you do what you say you’ll do, even in the smallest matters?
- Gentleness: Do you use your strength to serve the weak?
- Self-control: Do you refuse your flesh’s cravings?
Read his extensive development of these in How to Recognize the Holy Spirit: 9 Tests for Spiritual Fruit.
The Struggle to Find God’s Will
At Ligonier Ministries, Nathan Bingham quotes from Thomas Brewer’s The Struggle to Find God’s Will.
“What does God want me to do?” Have you ever asked yourself that question? I know I have. I’ve wondered, Does God want me to live here? Does God want me to marry this person? Does God want me to take this job? What does God want me to do? These questions can be agonizing to answer, because they are so significant. We want as much certainty as possible in regard to answering significant questions. Why? Because when we lack certainty, we often feel scared. Not knowing what we should do next makes us feel as if we could make a mistake. It makes us anxious. In fact, though we may not admit it, sometimes we’re even afraid that we could miss God’s will. The struggle to find God’s will is a struggle with certainty. We naturally seek as much certainty as possible in regard to decisions. Certainty helps us feel more in control, and when we feel in control, we feel safe.”
Learn more about finding God’s will at The Struggle to Find God’s Will.
Stop Clinging to Confederate Currency
Randy Alcorn says:
“For us to accumulate vast earthly treasures in the face of the inevitable future is equivalent to stockpiling Confederate money. It’s not just wrong. It’s stupid.”
And J.D. Greear adds:
“You can’t take any of your earthly resources with you to heaven. But as Alcorn says, you can send them on ahead. Matthew 6:19–20 says, ‘Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal’ (CSB). If you know eternity is coming, and that compared to eternity, this life is like the vapor that your breath makes on a cold morning that appears for a minute and then is gone, then why would you invest all your resources here?”
Read the rest of the story at Stop Clinging to Confederate Currency.
What Is Preaching (And Who Does It)?
Kevin DeYoung shares:
“One of the best books I read last year was Preaching in the New Testament (IVP, 2017) by Jonathan Griffiths. Griffiths, a pastor in Ottawa, Canada, makes a compelling case that there is such a thing as preaching and that not every Christian is called to do it. At the heart of Griffiths’ examination is this well-defended conclusion: ‘Preaching in the New Testament is a public declaration of God’s word by a commissioned agent that stands in a line of continuity with Old Testament prophetic ministry’ (128-129).”
Ponder DeYoung’s 3 conclusions at What Is Preaching (And Who Does It)?
The Big Story We’ve Fallen Into
Trevin Wax notes that:
“According to the philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre, ‘I can only answer the question, ‘What am I to do?’ if I can answer the prior question, ‘Of what story . . . do I find myself a part?’”
Learn the epic story you’re in when you read The Big Story We’ve Fallen Into.
Join the Conversation
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