Hansum

I've been reading and listening to a sermon this week by John Piper about being sustained by God's sovereign grace. You can find it here: http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/1996/960_Sustained_by_Sovereign_GraceForever/.

He preaches on Jeremiah 32:38-41:

And they shall be My people, and I will be their God; and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good, and for the good of their children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me. And I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul.

This passage holds such wonderful promises for Christians:

1) God promises to be our God and that we will belong to Him.
2) He promises to change our hearts and cause us to fear Him - everything that He asks of us, He in fact does through the Spirit's work in our hearts eg giving us our faith which saves us.
3) He promises to not turn away from us and that He will keep us from turning away from Him - He gives us persevering faith which will last for all eternity and He will never leave us.
4) He promises to rejoice in doing us good with the greatest intensity imaginable - He chooses to do this with all His heart and all His soul, both of which are infinite!

Isn't it a wonderful blessing to know that God rejoices in doing us good?! In 2 Chronicles 16:9, the Bible says 'the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.' What a wonderful truth to feast your mind on when things seem difficult!

Reminds me of Romans 8:31 - If God is for us, who can be against us?

Three things that have come up recently for me in the Bible and in books that I've read:

Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Galations 6:10

Life is made up of golden chances, opportunities to do good. One lost is lost forever. If we miss doing a kindness to a friend, we can never do that kindness again. If we might speak a pleasant word, or offer a bit of worthwhile counsel or advice and fail to do so, we can never have just that opportunity again. Giving is a way of life.

AM Burton

Whenever you feel a prompting to do a good thing do not ask anybody whether you should do it or not; no one ever repents of doing good. Ask your friends afterwards rather than beforehand, for it is ill consulting with flesh and blood when duty is plain...It cannot be wrong to do the right thing at once; nay, in matters of duty, every moment of delay is a sin.

CH Spurgeon

I'm really drawn to this idea of not waiting to do good. When I think too much about things, I talk myself out of doing good because it seems so silly. With God's help, I want to live more like this.