Daily Thought: Use of a Hammer

The use of a hammer, as many tools, by design takes many swings--many repetitive motions to get the job done. In rare circumstance will you swing a hammer once and complete your task. Instead, you swing again and again until you have pierced a surface with the full length of a nail.

So it is with sin. We all may wish that sin could be defeated and thrown out of our lives in a snap--that we could turn from it cold-turkey style. But the more we live, the more we are able to accept that that's just not the way God designed life. Killing a sinful habit takes fleeing time and time again. Putting a sinful trap out of our life takes taking the hammer to sinful opportunities and desires again and again.

So don't give up, soldier. Don't lose hope in a battle that's already been won by the nails in our risen Savior's hands. He has won it--He has provided everything you need to win.

"His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence..." ~2 Peter 1:3 (ESV)

Recommended Resources

This little book is an easy read for the not-easy things of life such as: Remembering the Gospel daily, escaping condemnation, being free from the paralyzing bondage of guilt. This is among my favorite read-and reread books!

Daily Thought: Mistreatment

We, as Christians, can, by grace, withstand any kind of mistreatment because:

1. There was no one more unrightly and horribly mistreated than the Son of God (Jesus)
2. We (all people) are the one Who mistreated and killed Him
3. He has forgiven us the greatest debt that will ever exist, the one we earned by killing His Son.

Therefore, our reaction to harsh bosses, unruly family members, persecutors, and the unkind should be distinctly different from the world.

Recommended Resources

Daily Thought: Shunning

"The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost."

~1 Timothy 1:15 (ESV)

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"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." Christ Himself came to associate with those who were most against Him and least likely to be labeled saints. Biblically, then, we have no justification for the self-righteous sunning of an unbeliever--any of them.

And let us not forget the next part of that Verse, "of whom I am the worst." This reveals to us one thing: We are those people--most against Him and least likely to be labeled saints. He has saved even us. Thank goodness.

Daily Thought: Laid Down Glory

Is it not radical that the One (and only One) worthy of all glory in all the Heavens and the Earth is the One Who laid it all down by coming down from the Heavens to earth? Truly this is an amazing mystery!

Featured Video: We Are Here (Christmas)

I thought I would share this simple video that I find uplifting and very well done because it's simple, it's a reminder of the truth, and an encouragement to remember just how much our amazing Saviour did for us!

Enjoy!

Daily Thought: Hope for the Most Wretched

Do you think alas as you observe your own sin that you are the most wicked? A just and right conclusion that is indeed! I am the most wicked sinner. I cannot see anyone's sin as greater than mine for mine is so present and blatant. A shame my sin is.

But moment by moment and day by day, God provides the oxygen of hope to me in the form of this: "Your sins are forgiven. And to remind you, I give you a picture of my Son in a stable, living His way to the cross and death for you--rising up to raise you, and reigning and inviting you to reign with Him as an heir with Christ" (Romans 8).

Recommended Resources

The Enemy Within: Straight Talk About the Power and Defeat of Sin

Daily Thought: Worshiping When You Don't Feel Like It

I heard one of my all-time favorite speakers, John Piper, expound on something most brilliant and encouraging: Pleading for a heart of worship is an act of worship. When our hearts are so incredibly tired and our souls weary that we cannot even muster up the desire to worship, we can, from the ground on our backs, plead to our God for a heart that loves to worship and in that act, worship Him. We can say, "Father, I desire not to worship your holy name, though you are worthy, and I am so sorry. Forgive me and raise up passion for you in this weary soul."

Further, should you not desire His Word, we can ask: "Father, incline my heart to Your Word."

Thank God for this hope!

Announcement: New Twitter Side-Job!

That's right, I'm going Twitter. I thought I'd never give in to that one, but it is another means for spreading God's truth! Why not take advantage of it?

Daily thoughts are now on Twitter. They slightly differ (mostly in length) from those found here to fit the brief intention of Twitter. Enjoy!

To subscribe, go to http://twitter.com/fjschneider

Daily Thought: Escape

What do we do in the midst of a battle that is so seemingly unescapable--when the enemy has surrounded the village from all sides and has begun to burn it? The point of an enemy surrounding is to keep that at the center from any direction and means of fleeing and to overwhelm the subject to the point of exhausting all means of fighting.

The battle of the saint in sin is the same, but there is more. The battle of all Christians has this unique hope: In every temptation, He will provide a way out. "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it" (I Corinthians 10:13).

Daily Thought: From the Grave

From the depth of the grave I write - the pits of despair where there is no light, no hope. All good is lost and I have destroyed it. All life is gone for I have wasted it. But then I hear...

I hear the deep rumblings of a Voice not common -- none other like it in fact. This voice peirces through the dark, the deep, and the lies of condemnation. This voice tells me, "For that darkness you have seen, you shall see me all the more brighter. For that despair you have known, my hope shall be sweeter. For that sin you have done, I have given my Son, and you are forgiven. Come. Come, my son. Come."

Daily Thought: Not the End - He Calls the Prodigal

This is not the end. Soul, this is not the end. Though you struggle and lose to sin seemingly more blatantly than ever you have in your life, this is not the end. Repent, my soul, for your sin is serious and His grace is great. Turn from wickedness because there is grace given to turn. Turn to Him because His arms are wide open with welcome. He will kill the fatted cow for you, young one--or old one. He will celebrate with all Heaven when you return. So make haste to the throne! He is calling you now! "Come home!"

Daily Thought: A Veil to be Lifted

Today - we plead for a veil to be lifted form our eyes that we might no longer be blinded by the deceitfulness of sin.
Tomorrow - we will need to plead this again.
The long tomorrow (Christ's second coming) - He shall lift this veil forever!
And on that day, sin shall be no more. We shall behold His wonderful face forever. We shall not depart from Him. What a glorious hope!

Daily Thought: No Pleasure So Great

There is no pleasure so great as Him--only our flesh would tell us anything but, and our flesh often wins. However, we are not bound to this depressing case, we are bound to Him. His children are no more bound to sin than the wind is bound in one place. But we are as bound to Him beyond a bond no mind can illustrate.

The Simplicity, Mystery, and Uncluttering of the Gospel

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— [...] For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."

~ (Ephesians 2:4-5, 8-9 ESV)

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Why is it that the simplest of things are the easiest to forget? Should it not be the other way around? But our minds are, for some reason, drawn to figuring out that which is complex or mysterious.

We can treat the Gospel the same way - as a complexity which we must figure out--a mystery game which we must play perfectly to get the prize at the end. But God is merciful: How the Gospel works is no mystery and He intended just that.

The Gospel is this: Christ died for the forgiveness of our sins and we need nothing more. The Father sees the righteousness of His Son alone when He looks at us--and He will have nothing more.

Anselm said, "The Glory of the Gospel is this: The One from Whom we needed to be saved is the One Who has saved us." Better yet, God's Word says in Ephesians, "by grace you have been saved" (Ephesians 2:5b).

The only "mystery" about the Gospel is the unfathomable fact of Who did it--that God's one and only Son would be sent by the Father, would step down form glory, would die for the sins of mankind who was completely lost and against Him. Mystery, in this case, must be prefaced with mercy!

Clutter keeps us from accepting the simplicity of the Gospel - that grace is actually, absolutely, and completely free. So shove the clutter off the desk of your mind and lift your eyes to the cross. Admire the simplicity. Thank Him for His complete mercy!

"O, come let us adore Him,
O, come let us adore Him,
O, come let us adore Him--Christ, the Lord!"

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Challenge and Application Questions

• Do you tend to over-analyze?
• How do you tend to bring this into the Gospel?
• Will you challenge yourself to think simply?
• What has helped you remember the Gospel in light of all that tries to draw your attention from it?

Daily Thought: Heavenly Saints

Were we to view the pleasure and peace that God can give in the moment of temptation as the pleasure and peace we think that sin will give and take hold of Him as many or more times than we take hold of sin, we would be more heavenly saints indeed!

Daily Thought: Our Daily Bread

Sometimes it takes the unlivable life of being without the Word for we Christians (dumb as sheep) to realize we can't live without it--that it is the Bread without which we cannot live, and its Author the Living Water without which we shall not last.

Daily Thought: Note to the Soul

To my soul: Should the Lord have shunned one man--any man--based on his performance, whether in good deed or battle against sin, you would have already been long gone prior--for you are the worst of sinners!

Daily Thought: Faith in His Faithfulness

How then can we depart from Him Who is our life? If He is the same God who raised up passion and belief in you back then, then He will do it again. As Charles Spurgeon said, have faith in His faithfulness! He is the SAME (and isn't that one of the most comforting words? "SAME!") yesterday (eternity past), today (right in this moment), and forever (eternity future)!

Daily Thought: Christian Ease

No one said being a Christian was supposed to be easy and spoke valid truth. Christ made it clear that it would be hard. In fact, it is the hardest of all lives to live because we must battle the very thing we obey by default - our own wicked desires.

Related Articles

• The Core Sin of Selfishness

One Hope vs. False Hope - Part 1: "Once This, Then That!"

"Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?
And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind."
~Ecclesiastes 1:2-3, 12-13 (ESV)

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I had the privilege to finally graduate college this past Saturday morning (I'm now edumacated!). It's been a long, 6-year road to the coming of this occasion. And while school is a certain blessing, I sure was ready to finish this season of life and move on to the next.

What else is new?

Well, I'm not unique in that aspect--the whole "ready-for-the-next-season" thing. It was quite a challenge to be married, work full-time, do the school gig, and not have the best time-management skills all at the same time). In fact, here are some oft-repeated college phrases heard (and spoken) personally:

• "Ah! I am so ready for this semester to be done!"
• "I am SO ready to be done
• "I can't wait to get out of this place.
• "I just want to work and not worry about school."
• "Once I graduate, then...."

Okay, so I said those more than I heard them. And I heard them often enough to be reminded that we, as weak humans, so often forget where our hope lies. Only when we have our true Hope in the forefront--viewing all of our hardships, prosperity, and challenges alike through the filter of that Hope--can we rejoice in the midst of any given circumstance.

One lesson I sensed the Lord teaching me (especially the second half of the semester) is this: I (we) cannot place our hope in any earthly achievement, milestone, or possession and find it. He made clearer to me the foolishness of how there is "always the next thing," as in: "Once I have this or reach this goal, everything will then be fine!" Then once we get there, there is only the next thing about which we say the same thing.

Here are a few (bad) examples from my own life that show that this spans all of life:

• When I was very young, I couldn't wait to turn 12 and feel like a "big kid."
• When I was 12, I couldn't wait to be a teenager so I could relate to other teens.
• When I was a teen I couldn't wait to graduate highschool and also be able to hang with the college students
• When I started college, eventually I could not wait to leave my community college behind and go to a university.
• When I attended my university I couldn't wait to get out of there and be done.
• Almost all along, I couldn't wait to get married and leave singleness behind.
• When I got engaged, I couldn't wait to have a "real job."

Okay, you get the picture.

What the Lord has been speaking to me is that, "Franz, you can't place your hope in anything but Me and find it. Only the great I AM shall satisfy. Come, my child--I have given you this as another lesson about Me and to draw you to Myself and a deeper understanding of Me."

I soon realized that indeed I had been saying of something so fleeting as graduating college that "once it comes, all will be well." Not that I cared so much for the degree as I did being done with the school lifestyle and moving on to what I thought to be "better, more fruitful things." However, this season of school is exactly what God had for myself and my newly-wed wife. And what I saw once again is that there is no better thing than that which God has given. Or, as my lovely wife often says: "There is no better place to be than in the center of God's will."

"I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away." (Ecclesiastes 3:14-15)

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Challenge and Application Questions

• What things are you tempted to place your hope in other than God?
• What things have you long placed your hope in other than God?
• How has God and how is God helping you turn from idols such as these to Himself--the living, all-satisfy God?

Citations

Image source: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2281/2176836127_b81ed135cd.jpg

My Own Recommended Stuff

Hey all! Just a quick note: Take a peek at the bottom-right corner of this site an you will find some resources I personally recommend.

Blessings, Franz

Don't Waste Your Sexuality

"For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly."

~Psalm 84:11 (ESV)

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We live in a culture where, sadly, it is easier than opening a door to open our eyes, hearts, and minds to whatever we please--immorality on which to completely and grievously waste our sexuality. Beginning with our own hearts, our world is filled with humans that have rejected and distorted God's plan for marriage and sex within marriage. We make a false god, an idol, and a refuge out of mere sex and sensuality--yet we are never satisfied. We are deceived.

O, that God would open our blind eyes to see that His ways are always right. He is always kind and always faithful! So blinding are the temptations that we run into that are right in front of us constantly that we cannot bring ourselves to think for a moment that there is not only something far better, but that is unbeatable and unstoppable--God's sovereign plan and wonderful design! My we believe this and be restored. There is hope and God will restore to us the years the locusts have eaten (Joel 2:25)!

Enjoy this video by Joshua Harris featured on Desiring God Ministries:

Blessings,

Franz

"New Attitude" is Now "Next" - Next 2009 Conference Promo Video

ThisIsNext.org

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Why, Hello!

Just thought I'd pop in and let everyone know, well, that I still exist (by God's grace)! I'm quite busy being married (yeah!!), finishing school, working full-time, and learning how to manage time in the process of sanctification (hey, just look at the time on this post). But I have intention to continue this blog in a better, more consistent way after school, as that is what God has for me...for 52 more days! God bless, and I love you all! With affection, Franz