the promises of Christ

As Christians we are constantly being called and calling others to "believe the promises of Christ". I fear that for the past eight years I have been simply nodding my head in agreeance to this idea. I admit I have not known what "the promises of Christ" meant, nor had I given it much thought. I am in my ninth year of getting to seek Jesus for all that I need and want, my fifth, soon to be sixth, year of ministry at Pickerington North, and my second year of marriage. It is here that I have found myself more sinful than I could ever imagine. Every day I wake up finding myself less capable of being good on my own, and therefore, I have a greater need for the gospel of grace and the blood of Jesus Christ everyday. It is this that has led me to the promises of Christ, and this week, I finally understand. 
Why are the promises of Christ essential to be believed and remembered dear Christian? Because the promises of Christ are things that we have freely gained by God's purposes through Jesus, by no merit of our own. They are essential because as I continue to walk the narrow path I am confronted with my fleshly failings that tempt me to believe I am not capable of change, or maybe worse, I am not chosen. They are essential because I am constantly tempted to believe that my salvation must still be earned and worked for. They are essential because when God is gracious enough with me, to allow me to see myself clearly, in all my schemes and wickedness, I know that the completed promises of Christ are my only shot at life. Because of these things I had the great joy to read Scripture in a new way this week. Not looking for a call to strive after righteousness, though I still need and believe this call, but rather seeking diligently the places where Christ says that his work has already purchased something for me. I have nothing to add to these promises, even the faith to believe them has been given freely. The work is finished. The promises are mine. What an excellent reality. So here are 40 promises carried out and completed by Christ in the book of Romans.
We have received...

1. grace
2. apostleship
3. the obedience of faith
4. a call to belong to Jesus Christ
5. the righteousness of God
6. justification
7. peace with God
8. access into grace in which we now stand
9. God's love poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit
10. saving from the wrath of God
11. reconciliation to God
12. abundance of grace
13. the free gift of righteousness
14. opportunity to reign in life because of grace and righteousness
15. justification, life and righteousness
16. ability to walk in newness of life
17. unity in a resurrection like Christ's
18. ability to be no longer enslaved to sin
19. ability to live with Christ
20. freedom from sin
21. slavery to righteousness
22. sanctification
23. the free gift of eternal life
24. death to the law
25. ability to bear fruit for God
26. freedom to serve in the new way of the Spirit and not the law
27. freedom from condemnation
28. freedom from the law of sin and death
29. fulfillment for the righteous requirement that was demanded from us
30. ability to walk according to the Spirit
31. life to our mortal bodies through the Spirit that dwells in us
32. the Spirit of adoption as sons
33. ability to become children of God
34. ability to become heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ
35. predestination to be conformed to the image of his Son
36. a predestination that has called, justified and glorified us
37. a promise that he will graciously give us all things
38. assurance that we are more than conquerors of the things that befall us through him who loved us
39. righteousness
40. assurance that Satan will be crushed under our feet

Nothing to add, nothing to earn. Enjoy believing them dear Christian!

God is good.

"God is good in every possible way. He is good in righteousness. He is good in power. He is good in grace. He is good in his faithfulness. He is good in mercy. He is good in holiness. He is good in justice. He is good in his rule. All his words are good and true. All his actions are good and right. When he is angry, he is good. When he preserves life, he is good. When he takes life, he is good. When his words are hard, they are good. When his words are gentle, they are good. His promises are good. His provisions are good. His plan is good. In all of the universe, you can only say this about God: he is good all the time and in every way."--Paul Tripp
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2012/01/29/lost-the-awe/

got 99 problems but The Counting Crows ain't one.

A long December and there's reason to believe

I could justify myself

I felt so symbolic yesterday but I'm just not coming through

I could have been anyone you see

Mr. Jones wishes he was someone just a little more funky

When everybody loves you, son, that's just about as fucked up as you can be

I put my summers back in a letter

Spinning these days into things that I've lost

You've been fading day to day

And I hide it from the world

That's when I know that I have to get out cause I have been there before

You know the butterfly in reverse here is me

So I throw my hand into the air and it swims in the beams

I wanna be Bob Dylan

And I said, I might, I might, I might

There has to be a change I'm sure

I want to be someone who believes

Well, all monkeys do what they see

It's 4:30 A.M. on a Tuesday

Got no place to go

I wanna touch you for the things I'm losing

But I might go out and watch the moon explode

I'm going down to Hollywood

And I'm scared I might not make it home

She is sleeping far away

In a house where regret is a carousel ride

Little angels hang above my head and read me like an open book

Taffy stuck, tongue tied

Well I’m stuck so tight weighed by the chains that keep me

Help me believe in anything

Well I know I don't know you and you're probably not what you seem

Your reflection approaches and recedes again

All I really know is I wanna know

And all I really know is I don't wanna know

Come on give me your white skin

Hey monkey, when can we begin?

Could you tell me the things you remember about me

Try to remember so you don't fade away

The price of a memory is the memory of the sorrow it brings

And I'm in trouble for the things I need

I am a child of fire I am a lion I have desires

We all want something beautiful

And there are people who will say they knew me so well

They're gonna make a movie

Of all the stupid things I do

From the things that they find crawling round my brain

All my sins and someone stole my shoes

It doesn't get much worse than this

Fix your hair just right

Cause I fear I might lose my composure without warning

And it spins away like dust on pearls

Into the fog where no one notices the contrast of white on white

She says it's only in my head

But I’ve got four more seasons for all that’s broken to mend

All I want is something fine

And if you think that I could be forgiven, I wish you would

Forty thousand times

Cause I can never get enough, never get enough

And it gets harder every time

Never get enough no, no

I'd like to see your eyes open up real wide

And if I could give all my love to you

The minute that you see me

So that you could believe me

Deliver me in a black-winged bird

When all a love needs is to be believed in

I have waited for tomorrow from December 'til today

We could probably fix it if we clean it up all day

So come, now

If you wanted to be free

Leave your damage behind and gone

Roll a new life over