Devotional Christian » John Starke

Exalt the Name of Christ Above Our Own

John Starke — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 12:34:04 +0000

One could describe the Christian life in many different ways. You could describe the struggles of remaining faithful or the suffering of many for the sake of the Gospel. You could also describe the joys of living in light of forgiven sins or the knowledge of not having your sins held against you for all eternity. The Christian life is filled with many different aspects.

John the Baptist, I’m sure, experienced all these things, yet Scripture describes the essence of his life in one particular way. The sum of his life was making much of Christ. In Luke 3, many began to wonder whether or not he was the Christ who was to come to redeem Israel. John, knowing his place in the kingdom, said, “He who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie” (Luke 3:16). John’s life was made up of pointing to Christ – the joy of man’s desiring!

The tendency of mankind is to make much of ourselves. This tendency doesn’t necessarily disappear when we become Christians. We still struggle with this desire even though we have found Christ, who fulfills all our desires and expectations. Yet, our effort should be that in all we do we point to and lift up the person of Jesus Christ. As Christians, we are sign posts to the King of Wonder, the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world.

It is easy to miss this in everyday life. For parents, we desire to have our children honor and obey us as God commands. However, it is easy to make their obedience to us more important than their obedience flowing from a heart that loves Christ and his Gospel. We, as parents, often make much of our status as the authority and forget to direct our children’s hearts to their Creator and Redeemer. Nothing can satisfy our hearts or the hearts of others except a grand vision of God. May God give us grace to be humble and to exalt the name of Christ above every name, including our own.

—
John Starke is on staff at the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood in Louisville, KY. He and his wife Jena have three children. He also blogs at John Ploughman.

Gospel Thankfulness

John Starke — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:51:26 +0000

If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared. (Psalm 130:3)

What should inform the thankfulness of a Christian? What should be its motive? The common remedy against grumbling for many is the “it could be worse” attitude. The mother says to her ungrateful eater, there are starving children who don’t get to eat. The unhappy employee sees the rising unemployment rates and complains a little less. Reader’s Digest recently gave 10 Reasons to be Thankful, which included larger homes compared to forty years ago, rising literacy among young people, and hundreds of television channels to watch anything we want, anytime we want.

As Christians, we should be thankful for God’s common grace. Our Lord cares for us and provides for our needs and we should increase in our thankfulness for his provision. John Calvin wrote that “thankfulness is the soil to which pride does not easily grow.” For Christians, there is a more fundamental level to our thankfulness: We no longer stand in God’s judgment. Our sins are forgiven. Someone else bore the wrath for our unrighteousness. The forgiveness of sins should make our hearts swell in thankfulness more than the two cars we have in our garage.

In fact, if our thankfulness is only informed by our material increase, then it is difficult to be thankful in times of great suffering. Yet, if our thankfulness is informed by the Gospel, then we can endure much poverty or affliction, awaiting our blessed hope.

Also, if the Gospel does not inform our thankfulness, it is difficult to forgive others when they sin against us. However, if our hearts are adorned with thankfulness for God’s saving work on our behalf, we will be quick to forgive. It is only with a Gospel-thankful heart that we can obey Ephesians 4:32, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

—
John Starke is on staff at the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood in Louisville, KY. He and his wife Jena have three children. He also blogs at John Ploughman.

Glorifying God with Our Time

John Starke — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 11:30:39 +0000

“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” I Corinthians 10:31

I Corinthians 10:31 can be a heavy verse for Christians. Whatever you do, it must be for the glory of God. Many take it as hyperbole and ignore its seemingly excessive demands. For others, the verse is paralyzing, causing them to micro-analyze every decision and thought. Ephesians 5:15-16 is no less demanding, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” How does a Christian make the best use of the time so that in all they do they glorify God?

There are two ways one can approach the question. First, list common tendencies that are obviously not God-glorifying. The puritan, Richard Baxter, called these tendencies “time thieves” – things like idleness, excessive amounts of sleep, gluttony, idle chatter, and so on. These things rob us of our time to grow in the knowledge of Christ and to labor for his kingdom. They will never turn a profit for God’s glory.

A second way to look at that question is to ponder how Christians can positively glorify God. This is a more difficult question, but Scripture gives us insight into how we should think about our actions. I Thessalonians 4:3 tells us, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification.” For Christians, growing in godliness should be our first impulse in glorifying God for an ungodly heart will never, at any time, seek to glorify God in anything. Richard Baxter says it this way, “The master time-thief that robs men of their time is the unsanctified, ungodly heart; for they lose time in whatever they do, because they never truly intend to glorify God.” The first step in glorifying God in all that we do is to sanctify our hearts – the fountain of our thoughts and deeds.

–
John Starke is on staff at the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood in Louisville, KY. He and his wife Jena have three children. He also blogs at John Ploughman.

The Mystery of Contentment

John Starke — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:52:40 +0000

The world offers an array of answers for discontentment. Dream big and work harder is one suggestion. Much of our culture looks to soup up our ambition with catchy one-liners or allusions to the perfect life where dreams come true. Another suggestion is to dream smaller and lower your expectations. With lower expectations, you will never be disappointed and will always be content with what you have. Both of these suggestions miss the biblical direction for contentment.

Paul, writing to the Philippians, exhorts them to not be anxious about anything (Phil. 4:6) and gives himself as an example of one who has learned to be content in seasons of plenty and in seasons of need (Phil. 4:11-13). How is he content? Has he learned to desire less and, therefore, be content with less? The answer is no, he is not content with “less.” In truth, Paul’s desires are greater, not lesser. Yet, his desires are not found in his own ambition or efforts for contentment.

Old Puritan pastors called this divine complacency. This is not some eastern practice of ridding ourselves of all desires so that we have no passions or feelings. Rather, it means that you find rest and contentment in God more than any other thing. More than that, nothing in this world can give you rest and contentment except God. Nothing can give you the exhale of relief except the pleasure of God. Jeremiah Burroughs explains divine complacency this way:

Here lies the mystery of Christian contentment, A little in the world will content a Christian for his passage, but all the world, and ten thousand times more, will not content a Christian for his portion.

May we look to the pleasures of God for our contentment. As Paul ends his letter to the Philippians he writes, “And my God will supply every need of yours.” How? By power, ambition, or riches of this world? No. He will supply every need of yours “according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19).

The Gospel Stirs Up Christian Obedience

John Starke — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:11:49 +0000

The author of Hebrews gives instruction to his readers to imitate those who “through faith and patience inherit the promise” (Heb. 6:12). This simple command comes within a larger section where the author calls us to persevere in faith. The faith that leads to inheriting God’s promise produces fruit of good works and love towards others, fruit which is worth imitating – hence his command to imitate! Yet, this fruit of good works worth imitating stems from true “faith and patience.”

The author gives us glorious things to consider in order to stir up our faith to love and good works. He points us to the certainty of God’s promises found in the work of his Son when he writes, “We have this sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as our forerunner” (Heb. 6:19-20). Every year, the high priest of the nation of Israel entered the “inner place” of the temple, behind the curtain, where the presence of God was, and he interceded for the sins of the people. Yet, Jesus went into the “inner place” not simply to do the work of intercession, but to completely remove the veil from God’s presence. He went in as our “forerunner,” meaning he went in so that we may go in after. What Jesus accomplished fully reconciled God and his people and removed the veil, so that God’s people may enjoy his presence in holiness.

I wonder if you live in light of the finished work of the Son on our behalf. Many Christians examine their lives and constantly feel condemned. They constantly try to outpace other Christians in order to calm their conscience. They perpetually berate themselves, hoping at some point they will obey and finally find rest. They are critical of others who do not seem to work half as hard at obedience but seem to be enjoying God’s blessings. Instead of finding comfort in the gospel, they only feel guilt.

While it seems so counterintuitive, embracing the gospel not only gives rest but also stirs up obedience in a way that a guilty conscience cannot. Embracing the gospel means relying on the righteous standing of someone else. We need to humble ourselves and see that our pitiful efforts at obedience will never be enough to satisfy a holy God. Yet, we see Jesus who is our forerunner into the presence of God – the holy presence of God! He has made it possible for filthy sinners to be clean, apart from their obedience, by the obedience of Christ. When we finally apply God’s unfailing love to our sinning hearts, we will be compelled to be patient with others as God has been patient with us; to love others as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us; and to forgive others as God in Christ forgave us. Obedience comes when we are so enthralled with the love of Christ that it becomes the desire of our hearts, overflowing in our actions toward others.

How Do You Guard Against a Hard Heart?

John Starke — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:20:50 +0000

For Christians, the dangers of a hard heart are always looming. This will always be a struggle until we reach our glory with Christ. Hebrews 3:8 warns Christians to guard against their hearts being hardened in sin like the Israelites in the wilderness. Dangers are ever-present and ever-at-work! It may be helpful, then, to consider what hard-heartedness is. Briefly, it is when the heart remains unmoved and unaffected to the word and work of God and his commands. It is the habitual power and affect of sin against God. Since a hard heart actively works against us, we should actively guard against it. Scripture gives us numerous directions as to guarding against it. Here are just a few:

Remember the majesty and holiness of the presence of God. Our Creator God, whom angels worship, who controls nature, whose presence is like fire, is the one to whom we must give an account (Hebrews 4:13). Nothing should grab our attention like the awesome wonder of God and his holiness. J. I. Packer wrote, “We will not talk sleepily or contemptuously to a king; how much less should we before the God of heaven.” Job 9:4 describes the wonder of God’s majesty and warns against the hard-hearted, “He is wise in heart and mighty in strength, who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded?”

Consider the joylessness of a hard-heart. When king David was hardened in sin, he described himself in Psalm 32 in woeful conditions: “My bones wasted away, through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.” When Jesus is the joy of man’s desiring, no wonder there is much turmoil in a heart that is hard.

Remember the Gospel. God’s redeeming love and kindness to sinners has such power to melt the cold heart. Richard Baxter writes, “If God’s love, so great and wonderful, will not soften thy heart, what will?” Consider the hymn Hallelujah, What a Savior and rejoice in God’s saving work in the Gospel:

“Man of Sorrows!” what a name
For the Son of God, who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood;
Sealed my pardon with His blood.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Guilty, vile, and helpless we;
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
“Full atonement!” can it be?
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

John Starke is on staff at the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood in Louisville, KY. He and his wife Jena have three children. He also blogs at John Ploughman.

Are You Looking for God’s Glory? Then Look to Christ

John Starke — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 12:16:50 +0000

One of the more difficult catechism questions for my daughter was, “Does God have a body like ours?” Which answers, “No, God is a Spirit, infinite and eternal.” Imagine trying to explain to a three-year old why having a body would limit an infinite God. He does not have eyes, but he sees all things. He does not have arms, but his reach is not too short to save! Not only that, how does someone know God who is Spirit, infinite and eternal?

Some people take spiritual retreats to a special nature-spot to connect with God. Seeing God’s revelation of glory in creation certainly should provoke wonder and praise. Yet, God has given something greater. He has revealed himself through a Son – Jesus Christ. This revelation is not simply for conversion, but for our sanctification and joy.

“And we all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image, from one degree of glory to another. For this comes form the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18

The Bible gives us instruction about how this works out for Christians. This “one degree of glory to another” is the progression to what Paul explains later in 4:6, “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

The glory of the face of Christ shines in the heart of Christians, growing us in his image until we see him as he fully is. As 1 John 3:2 reads, “We know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” It is the person of Jesus Christ revealed in Scripture that displays the glory of God and grows us into his likeness. So then, the impulse of Christians should not be to simply look for their favorite nature spot to re-connect with God. We should look to Christ, the fulness of our joy and the hope of glory.

John Starke works on staff at the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood and blogs at John Ploughman. He and his wife Jena have three children.

The Gospel Sustains and Strengthens for Real Life

John Starke — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:07:55 +0000

“O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me” (Psalm 3:1).

David writes Psalm 3 in the midst of his battle with his own son, Absalom. His consuming thought is the growing number of enemies that surround him. They hate him and accuse him saying, “There is no salvation for him in God” (3:2). Yet, at the climax of this passage, David writes, “I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around” (3:6).

David’s courage was not a sustained belief in the power of himself. He did not search for his inner strength. Rather, David looked outside himself. David looked to the promises of God’s faithfulness to sustain him. The Lord was his shield and the lifter of his head (3:3). David even relied on the Lord to wake him in the morning, “I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me” (3:5).

The theme of looking outside yourself for strength that runs throughout the Psalms should instruct the Christian life. When Satan or our own flesh accuse us and say, “There is no salvation for him in God,” we must not look to our own accomplishments or holiness. Rather, we look to Christ. We look to the faithful, saving promises of the Lord in the Gospel.

The Gospel also gives peace to the mother of three small children, who is overwhelmed at the constant needs of her little dependents. She can know and the Gospel reminds her that her sins are forgiven, she is reconciled with God, and even the calm of a tranquil home cannot satisfy her the way the joy of the Lord can. She can say with the psalmist, “You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound” (Psalm 4:7). Praise God for his faithfulness and the triumph of his Gospel, even for the strength to change the next diaper!

Christian, Consider Jesus

John Starke — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:14:15 +0000

“But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:13).

The author’s warning of the deceitfulness of sin is within a larger context of displaying the failures of the nation of Israel in their wilderness wanderings. Despite witnessing the works of God for forty years, they rebelled. The author of Hebrews gives us insight into what the fundamental problem was: “So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief” (Heb. 3:19). The author, again, warns his readers in verse 12, “Take care brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart.” At the most basic level, the deceit of sin hardens our hearts to disbelieve the promises of God.

We should recognize two things about the deceitfulness of sin. First, as John Owen puts it, “Sin will not only be striving, acting, rebelling, troubling, disquieting, but if left alone it will bring forth great cursed, scandalous, soul destroying sins.” We should be aware of sin’s fervor against us.

Second, sin causes us to lose sight of the big picture. There seems no other explanation for the Israelite’s golden calf incident. The Israelites’ fear and unbelief caused them to forget the Exodus event, along with God’s saving promises and erect an idol, crediting it as their savior. Isn’t this the case in our daily struggle with sin? We lose sight of the faithfulness of God and his Gospel and give in to discouragement or impatience. Yet, thankfully, the author of Hebrews gives us a significant remedy for our daily struggle in sin: “Consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession” (3:1). Our hope as Christians is to daily consider Jesus, in whom God has fulfilled all his saving promises. He the sure and steadfast anchor for the soul.

God Will Keep You from Stumbling

John Starke — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 01:14:59 +0000

“To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy.” Jude 24

Jude’s epistle calls his readers to persevere in belief. His great effort is contending against false teachers who had crept in and were defiling “the faith that was once and for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). As Jude tells us, God’s judgment is sure against false teachers and those who lead others astray (see verses 4-16). Yet, what is astonishing is that Jude’s call for Christian faithfulness is so straightforward.

Basically, Jude’s word to Christians is to keep in the love of God by (1) building yourself up in faith, (2) praying in the Spirit, and (3) waiting for Christ’s return (see verses 20-21). Building yourself up in faith is not necessarily believing in God more, but rather, in every aspect of life we are to act in light of God’s saving promises. The Gospel should affect the choices we make and how we respond to others. Jude’s phrase praying in the Spirit instructs us that Christian prayer is Spirit-led and not led by our own agenda. If left to ourselves, we would pray in line with our sinful desires and passions – as James 4:3 says, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” Waiting for Christ’s return sums up Jude’s picture of the Christian life. We are not to be anxious, but rather wait on the Lord who has set upon us a sure and unfailing hope of life eternal through his cross.

If all this true, then Jude’s doxology is appropriate. All the glory, forever and forever, is to the Lord who keeps us from stumbling through his power and presents us blameless through the finished work of the Gospel and gives us great joy because in his presence there is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11).