"To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. " 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12
I am so thankful for the influence of godly men and women in my life. I am especially grateful for Jonathan Edwards. We are so blessed with the about of material about this man and written by this man. I would recommend that you read two biographies about him written by George Marsden or Ian Murray. For good introductory books on his life and thought read, try Stephen Nichols, Jonathan Edwards, A Guided tour of His life or John Piper's and Justin Taylor's A God Entranced Vision of All things: The Legacy of Jonathan Edwards.
Most of all, I encourage you to read Edwards writings themselves such as Religious Affections, The Journals of David Brainerd, or The End for Which God Created the World. The Internet has many of his sermons available online. My favorites are: The Pleasantness of Religion, Heaven is a World of Love, God Glorified in Man's Dependence; The Justification of God and the Damnation of Sinners; Charity and It's Fruits; The Excellency of Christ; and A Divine and Supernatural Light.
When Edwards had only been a Christian for a year, at the age of eighteen he began to write the Seventy Resolutions of His Life. These would set the course of Edwards for the rest of his life. He strove to follow these till the day of his death on March 22, 1758 at fifty-four years old. John Piper says of Edwards that "there was a single-mindedness that governed his life and enabled him to accomplish amazing things." He firmly resolved himself to love and serve Jesus Christ with all his ability and all of God's help.
So many have read today have read Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life but way too few have read Edwards Seventy Resolutions! Try reading them both and see which one truly makes your heart want to "Know God, glorify God, and enjoy Him forever." i think it will be Edwards for sure. Oh in self centered, shallow, superficial times like these how we need an Edwards to inspire us to a God Driven Life! Edward's Resolutions are so solidly biblically based. They teach me the importance striving for and pursuing a God-centered, God-ward; God-intoxicated; God-centered, God-driven; God-exalting; God-entranced life. They also teach me the importance of keeping myself regularly accountable to God and others in this pursuit as well as prayerful in my dependency on Jesus Christ to continue in this pursuit and to stay on course. Paul himself prayed for God's help to enable the Church of Thessalonica to fulfill every good resolve.
You can read his seventy Resolutions on my church's home page at http://lhcf.org/. Just scroll down and you will see the link. I would recommend that you take these a few at a time and pray and reflect upon them. you will not be able to be complacent and stay the same in your life.
Last Saturday night I prayerfully came up with some resolutions for own my life after reading Edwards Resolutions again. Perhaps this will inspire you to write your own. I read these and pray these regularly. May they bless and inspire you.
I, Bill Robison,
RESOLVE:
· To pursue and promote the glory of the Lord in my words, deeds, thoughts, desires, and decisions.
· To forsake all sin in thought, motive, and deed
· To pursue my supreme happiness in God
· To not waste my life but make the most of every precious moment of my God given time
· To live passionately for God with all my might
· To pursue humility before God and man
· To be ever growing deeper in my love for God and for my fellow man
· To make frequent and careful inquiry into the condition of my thoughts, heart, and my life
· To regularly ask of myself these three questions:
How do I want to live?
What is my purpose?
What kind of person do I want to be?
These I am resolved to do wholeheartedly, and yet aware of my sinful weakness, I humbly ask my God for His merciful grace to enable me to keep these resolves from this night forward until the day of my entry into eternity with my Savior Jesus Christ.
Resolving these with all my heart, mind, and soul and praying that God will fulfill your every resolve,
Pastor Bill
3 comments:
Reading this makes me want to know God and love God and experience God. I want to fully belong to God, and to love Him with all of my heart, with all of my soul, with all of my mind, and with all of my strength.
And then sometimes I realize I am not there. What do I do to make this a reality every moment of my life??
Dear one,
I am not there either, but the good news is that you desire to be there!
C.S. Lewis once wrote that our best havings are our wantings. God is the one who gives the desires and He will be the one who will make your desires into a reality by His sovereign grace. That is why we make our resolves with humility and utter dependence upon Him alone. Philippians 1:12-13
Pastor Bill
We don't get these things thru our resolves....
This makes one man better than another and the pursuit of God, leads to spiritual burnout!
His Truths are Revealed in our coming to the ends of ourselves. I hope you get there. You really only get there going to Him and Him alone. Be still and know His is your God. Vows and Resolutions only lead to eventual comdemnation. Have not you experienced that? We are sheep, we follow in weakness, not resolutions or vows. It is humbling. As your calling out was totally of Him, you have nothing from yourself to enable you to vow or resolve. This is the lifting up of self to follow God and is you actually being an enemy to the cross of Christ that slays all our abilities to do what you are claiming to do. i know this a radically humbling, but when you stop the doings and just live, and exist and have life in Him then the Joy that you are seeking will be given and received!! Hope u get there. A reformed non-calvinist, yet saved only in His Grace, dumb sheep.
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