Vision4Living

Have you ever dine somewhere where everything was so elegant? Somewhere where you feasted on the most delicious meal? It is so much fun to be invited to dine for a special feast. But today I want to invite you to come and dine – not with real food, but the feast of the Word of God. Let’s dine on wisdom today. The main meal on my menu today is wisdom.

“Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn her seven pillars. She has slaughtered her beasts…she has also set her table. She has sent out her young women to call from the highest places in the town, ’Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!’ To him who lacks sense she says, ‘Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight.’” (Proverbs 9:1-6 ESV)

On my menu today is wisdom – the wisdom of God. God’s wisdom is like a feast; wisdom is a delight.

#1: Wisdom’s house or home (verse 1): “Wisdom has built her house.” Eternal wisdom is what this home is built on. Not the wisdom of the world. Sometimes we have to move to another house. The times and places in our lives are ever changing. When we have God’s wisdom, we are always at home – no matter where we live.

#2 Wisdom’s hospitality (verse 2): “She has slaughtered her beasts; she has mixed her wine;  she has also set [furnished] her table.” The Lord says eat of my bread, my words. His wisdom is what sustains us. Wisdom is getting the food ready and getting the table set, and we have to take it and eat of what the Lord provides for us in Him. Wisdom has also sent maidens out to cry out in high places. Wisdom is calling out to you and me to listen and partake of the Lord’s wisdom.

Wisdom prepares a place but it sends out maidens to invite others to their tables for fellowship. We share fellowship with Christ. “ And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread” from house to house, did eat their food with gladness and singleness of heart. (See Acts 2:42) It was real in their life. They shared Jesus from house to house.

#3 Wisdom’s happiness: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. For by me your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life.” (Proverbs 9:10-11 ESV) The fear of the Lord is true happiness and it comes from the Lord. Knowledge of Him, serving Him, listening and feasting on His wisdom causes us to realize His plan for our lives. He will increase our days and we will have true happiness in Christ.

“But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:23-24 ESV)

I Corinthians 1:30 says, “And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” (ESV)

Christ is wisdom and power for our lives. Christ is the wisdom we dine and feast after.

Come and dine with Him. Feast on His words.

Make wisdom your home. Let God build your house. Make wisdom, hospitality in your life, fellowship with Him – make Christ’s wisdom your happiness. Live in the fear and knowledge of a Holy God who loves and cares for you. Let us fellowship around His table.

I would like to leave you with an old gospel hymn written in 1906 by Charles B. Widmeyer that he wrote to go with a sermon he was preparing on John 21:12a: “Jesus said to them, come and dine…”

Jesus has a table spread 

Where the saints of God are fed, 

He invites His chosen people, “Come and dine”; 

With His manna He doth feed

 And supplies our every need:

 O ’tis sweet to sup with Jesus all the time!

Refrain

“Come and dine,” the Master calleth, “Come and dine”; 

You may feast at Jesus’ table all the time; 

He Who fed the multitude, turned the water into wine, 

To the hungry calleth now, “Come and dine.”

The disciples came to land, 

Thus obeying Christ’s command,

 For the Master called unto them, “Come and dine”; 

There they found their heart’s desire, 

Bread and fish upon the fire;

 Thus He satisfies the hungry every time.

Soon the Lamb will take His bride 

To be ever at His side, 

All the host of Heaven will assembled be; 

O ’twill be a glorious sight, 

All the saints in spotless white; 

And with Jesus they will feast eternally.

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T4G

posted by Daniel Cavanaugh in Be not moved away

May17

A few weeks ago I had the privilege to attend a conference that I have wanted to go to for a very long time. Always love it when God opens doors like that. It has been one of my bucket list items to attend T4G [Together4Gospel] and to check it off was pretty sweet. You may be thinking, “bucket list? T4G? Ok”. Yep, it was on there.

I know people say this a lot after they attend a conference – and believe me I have been to a bunch of them – but it was truly the best conference I have ever attended. Not so much because there was so many like-minded people there or that the worship in music was so rich and glorious. It was Awesome! No, it was the focus of the conference that made it so sweet, and the word that was preached still reverberates in my mind and heart.

The gospel is the main thing. I know you hear me speak of this often, and I make no apology for it. Paul’s command, “be not moved away from the gospel”, burns within my heart, and I pray that I will only grow in how I live it more and more each and every day that I have breath. It’s all I have in this world that will last.

However, this conference only served to solidify this like a rock in my life. I will not go into each message that was preached, but I am wetting your appetite, hoping it will motivate you to go and listen to each message. Each one built on the other, the biblical reality that the gospel is broad in its application in our life. Yet, as the theme focused us, we underestimate the power of a spirit wrought application of the gospel. Whether it is the Lord breathing life into a lost soul or the aged believer who is still fighting the good fight of faith. And that underestimation affects everything – family, leadership, relationships, church life, missions, worldview, how we engage culture, etc. It is eternal in its scope to change the depraved heart for the wondrous and glorious God of the universe.

So. Take some time to listen to the messages of T4G. I have left you the link below to where they are. And never ever underestimate the power of the gospel.

T4G Audio / T4G Video

Be not moved away,

Daniel

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The Love of God, continued…

posted by Charles Cavanaugh in Heritage of the Godly

May14

God is the perfect essence of love and the prefect expression of love. Genuine love is only seen perfectly in the Godhead and to be known and understood must be viewed there.

But who are the objects of God’s love? Can it be said that God loves everybody? And, if so, in what sense is this so? This is a big subject that I make to pretense of exhausting here. But hopefully this article will give you food for thought and meditation and, if you are a believer, great reason to rejoice.

To begin, God has a general love for His creation. This is at least alluded to in the passage referred to last time (1 John 4:9): “because God sent His only begotten Son into the world…” Other passages in Scripture are more specific about this general love for His creation, a love that is often referred to or spoken in the same context as “common grace.” Matthew 5:43-48 is perhaps the most clear passage regarding the subject. In this passage, Christians are commanded to love their enemies and to do so because that is what their Heavenly Father does. God blesses, in some sense, those who curse Him. He does good to those who hate Him. He causes His sun to rise on good and bad alike and sends rain on the righteous and unrighteous. It is this kind of response to our enemies that shows we are true children of God.

Murders, rapists, and thieves all breathe God’s air, eat His food, drink His water, and enjoy many blessings from God that they never acknowledge. The face that unconverted people do good things is a manifestation or evidence of God’s favor, His common grace, or common love for all people. But is not evidence of His saving grace in their lives.

But more importantly, God has a special love for His children. Though God has a general love for all, He does not love all persons in the same way. His love for those who are in Christ is different and greater. “He has sent His Son into the world that we might live through Him.” “…He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” God’s special love has been reserved and given to His very own children.

So only a believer can say in this sense; “I am loved.” To be loved by God in this sense is a special manifestation of His grace. The knowledge of His love is ministered by the Holy Spirit (4:13). The assurance of this love builds faith, confidence, hope, as well as “boldness in the day of judgment” (4:17). The love of God is not just a general good will toward them but is the love of a father for His children, the love of a shepherd for his sheep, the love of the Savior for His redeemed. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us…” (4:9a). The believer is a special object of God’s special love (see also Matthew 7:7-11; Romans 5:1-5 & 8; Romans 8:14-17).

Because of His love,

Charles Cavanaugh

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