About This Blog
After dabbling in blogging for a little over 10 months, I started praying specifically that God would give me a vision and purpose for my blog. Those who follow my blog or my wife’s blog may recall that we went through something similar during the fall of 2008 as we were attempting to start our own website (the result is the Eternal Outlook website). After much seeking the Lord, through prayer and the study of His Word, He has reminded me once again of the theme verses for our website.
Titus 2:11-15 plainly states – “For the grace of God has appeared, bring salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in this present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you.”
So with this blog it is my prayer that I would: ”Encourage Christian Living with an Eternal Outlook through Exhortation and Meditation on the Word of God”
Encourage
- In Deuteronomy 3:28, Moses was to give “charge to Joshua and encourage him and strengthen him” (emphasis mine).
- In 1 Samuel 23:16, David is fearing for his life and “Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David at Horesh, and encouraged him in God” (emphasis mine).
- In 1 Thessalonians 5:11, Paul instructs the church he founded at Thessalonica to do the following,”encourage one another and build up one another” (emphasis mine).
- In Romans 15:4-5, Paul admonishes the Roman church to understand that “whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Now may the God who gives perseverance andencouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus” (emphasis mine).
Christian Living with an Eternal Outlook
So what is meant by “Christian Living” and how do you define it? Furthermore, who defines it? How do we wrap our minds around what it means to live as a Christian? Furthermore, what kind of “Christian Living” am I trying to encourage? Trying to define Christian living can be a daunting task. In it’s most simple form, I believe it can be broken down to: 1) the manner of one’s life being in Christ, 2) being alive in Christ 3) maintaining life and livelihood in Christ. This is by no means an exhaustive definition, but gives a starting point. What exactly is meant by “life in Christ” will make for some interesting blog topics at a later date. I believe that scripture has a lot to say about how the “life in Christ” manifests itself in our actions and words. Furthermore, there have been numerous books and articles have been written on developing spiritual disciplines in the lives of Christians. Men and women of faith have lived their lives sold out for the sake of knowing Christ and making him known. One could also exhaust the myriad of scripture references admonishing us to “live sensibly, righteously, and godly in this present day and age” (Titus 2:12). But simply knowing these things is knowing about the Christian life, and it not necessarily Christian living, for “let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds “(Hebrews 10:24). The vision and purpose of this blog is to unpack what Christian living is all about in a God honoring way. Not so that we may boast in our good deeds, but so that we can boast in the cross of Christ and his power to change a life of sin and serving the flesh into a life that is submissive to the Spirit of God and used to glorify His holy name! So, what kind of “Christian Living” am I trying to encourage? (Hint: check blog domain!) Answer: Christian Living with an Eternal Outlook. In some ways the statement seems redundant, because true Christian living iswith an eternal outlook But sometimes, the thought of “Christian Living” conjures up dreams of some grandeur life of God’s blessing being bestowed upon one’s life and living the so-called “Christian American Dream”. My heart is to encourage Christian living that results in us “looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus” (Titus 2:13). That we would accept our role as strangers and pilgrims on this earth (see Hebrews 11:13) and that we would “desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one” (Hebrews 11:16). Be encouraged Christians brothers and sisters, our heavenly home awaits us!
Exhortation on the Word of God
While it is my prayer that this blog would “Encourage Christian Living with an Eternal Outlook”, I am absolutely aware of the fact that this isn’t accomplished via “Travis’ ideas”. It must be a work of God. Which is why my vision statement recognizes the absolute need for exhortation and mediation on the Word of God.
The definition of the word exhortation is rather simple, the act of exhorting. Further unpacking of the definition of the word exhort is truly enlightening. The verb exhort has the following definition: 1) to incite by words or advice, 2) to animate or urge by arguments, as to a good deed or laudable conduct, 3) to urge strongly, 4) to advise, warn, or caution.The object of the exhortation of this blog is “Christian Living with an Eternal Outlook”, but the root of the exhortation that I am seeking to accomplish is found in the living, active word of God. For the Word of God is powerful and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart by piercing deep into our souls (Hebrews 4:12). On the flip side, the concept of exhortation may not always bring up the fondest memories in a person’s life, because no one wants to be told that they are “wrong” or “not measuring up to standards”. My intention is not to be brash or abrasive, but to hold up the truth of the Word of God in love so that we might be purified as the members of the body of Christ, the bride of Christ, by the washing of water with the word (Ephesians 5:26).That being said, there are specific things of which scripture tells us “to speak and exhort and reprove with all authority” (Titus 2:15). In this passage the “things” are that “the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in this present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds” (Titus 2:11-14).Scripture is full of exhortation:
- “Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:12-13)
- “exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more” (1 Thess. 4:1)
- “encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing” (1 Thess. 5:11)
- “admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone” (1 Thess. 5:14)
Oh, if the church around the world would constantly speak and exhort these words (without hypocrisy), what revival of hearts, souls, and minds would take place! My prayer is that I would be obedient to the Word of God and be ready in season and out of season to preach the Word of God with great patience and instruction (2 Timothy 4:2).
Meditation on the Word of God
Encouraging Christian living with an eternal outlook, must be centered on the Word of God, both in exhortation and meditation. Therefore the final piece of the my vision is: “Meditation on the Word of God”. In fact, scripture commands people of faith to meditate on God’s Word (Joshua 1:8) and His works (Psalm 143:5). So what does all of this have to do with my blog vision? From scripture, we know that the Word of God is living and active and able to pierce through out sinful flesh to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). Jesus specifically states that, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; that words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (John 6:63). The very words of Jesus are able to give life. Paul affirms this in 2 Timothy 3:16 by literally saying that all scripture is God-breathed. Therefore reason has it, that if we are going to live (Christian Living) than we need to have life (Word of God). How does meditation on the Word of God encourage Christian living with an eternal outlook? In Joshua 1:8, the Lord spoke to Joshua stating, “This Book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.”
The Hebrew word for “meditate” in this passage is hagah1, which implies pondering, deep reflection, a type of muttering to oneself. Biblical meditation involves focusing one’s mind on scripture. God was commanding Joshua to remember His law by “muttering” it to himself, “pondering” it, or “musing” over it. How do we “flesh out” this command of the Lord? While the purpose of this blog is to encourage Christian living with an eternal outlook, it is not about encouraging the “works of the flesh” or any type of “works salvation”. I believe that the way to biblically encourage Christian living is through heart transformation that takes place by exhortation and meditation on scripture. God isn’t necessarily just looking for us to fix the external, God wants us changed from the inside out (great song by Hillsong). For our lives to be transformed by the renewing of our minds in Christ Jesus (Romans 12:1-2), we must be able to voice a true genuine faith, echoing the psalmists in saying: - “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer” (Psalm 19:14) - “We have thought on Your lovingkindness, O God, in the midst of Your temple.” (Psalm 48:9) - “I will meditate on all Your words and muse on Your deeds” (Psalm 77:12) - “I will meditate on Your precepts and regard Your ways.” (Psalm 119:15) On this blog and in our site’s forum , I hope that we can “ponder” the scriptures together and that we can reflect deeply on the very Words of God that bring life to our souls. Let us run with perseverance my Christian brothers and sisters and look for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ (Hebrews 12:2; Titus 2:13)! “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary” (Galatians 6:9).