Surely the greatest devotional ever written.
CH Spurgeon on "Looking Unto Jesus"

It is ever the Holy Spirit's work to turn our eyes away from self to Jesus; but Satan's work is just the opposite of this, for he is constantly trying to make us regard ourselves instead of Christ.>
He insinuates, "Your sins are too great for pardon; you have no faith; you do not repent enough; you will never be able to continue to the end; you have not the joy of his children; you have such a wavering hold of Jesus." All these are thoughts about self, >
and we shall never find comfort or assurance by looking within. But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from self: he tells us that we are nothing, but that "Christ is all in all." Remember, therefore, it is not thy hold of Christ that saves thee--it is Christ;

>
it is not thy joy in Christ that saves thee—it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, though that be the instrument—it is Christ's blood and merits; therefore, look not so much to thy hand with which thou art grasping Christ, as to Christ;
>
look not to thy hope, but to Jesus, the source of thy hope; look not to thy faith, but to Jesus, the author and finisher of thy faith. We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings;
>
it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul. If we would at once overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by "looking unto Jesus." Keep thine eye simply on him;
>
let his death, his sufferings, his merits, his glories, his intercession, be fresh upon thy mind; when thou wakest in the morning look to him; when thou liest down at night look to him. Oh! let not thy hopes or fears come between thee and Jesus;
>
follow hard after him, and he will never fail thee.

"My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness:
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus' name."

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More from @glenscrivener

13 Nov
Reading 'Creativity Inc' by Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull and I think I've identified one factor in clergy fatigue this year. On top of the usual 2020 stresses and on top of the steep learning curve expected as they (we) navigate lockdown ministry and online church, there's this...
Pastors have felt a shift from 'feeding the sheep' to 'feeding the beast.' They've gone from a tangible sense, pre-lockdown, of helping their flock and now shifted to an understandable (though unhelpful) sense that they're 'producing content'. >
All content producers feel dread about 'feeding the beast.' Just today I remembered a blog post from 2008 entitled "Feeding the Monster." Doing anything regularly sets up expectations — expectations that can feel overwhelming, especially when you can't see the tangible benefits.>
Read 9 tweets
19 Sep
Someone's just asked me about projection. Do I believe in God cos I want to? An answer:

The problem of projection is everyone's. Actors think all the world is a stage. Footballers think life is a game of two halves. Atheists can certainly project their desires onto reality too.>
Get this from Thomas Nagel:

"I want atheism to be true and am made uneasy by the fact that some of the most intelligent and well-informed people I know are religious believers. It isn’t just that I don’t believe in God and, naturally, hope that I’m right in my belief. >
"It’s that I hope there is no God! I don’t want there to be a God; I don’t want the universe to be like that.” TN

We all want reality to be a certain way and this leads to all kinds of cognitive biases. It's worth everyone being aware of these—believers and unbelievers alike.
>
Read 5 tweets
22 Jul
Faith is not a thing. It's not a thing you boldly push out of yourself. And it's not a thing God arbitrarily zaps into you. Both ideas exalt an abstract concept and diminish the actual Saviour, Christ.
>
To say we're 'saved by faith' is true. But it's exactly like saying we're 'saved by grace'. Sure we're saved by grace, but Grace isn't our Saviour — no matter how many hymns we sing in her honour. We must define terms.
>
Grace means 'the undeserved gift of Christ', faith means 'the unworthy person /receiving/ Christ'. But the Saviour here is not a formidable woman called Grace or a pretty young thing called Faith. Grace and Faith are not things. Properly speaking the Saviour is *Christ*!
>
Read 8 tweets
21 May
#Ascension means you do not climb up to heaven. You are carried.
#Ascension means you are hidden with Christ in God.
#Ascension means you do not yell up to God. You’re whispering in his ear.
Read 13 tweets
11 May
Conspiracy theories have a compelling purchase on our imagination because they tap into what's undeniable: there *are* unseen powers in the world; we're not as free as we think; and those who seem in charge don't have nearly as much influence as they pretend. That's 100% true. >
In NT times there were proto-Gnostic movements tapping into that same sense. They taught that real wisdom is 'hidden' from the 'carnal' and that the 'spiritual' needed to be inducted into the 'mysteries' which truly explain the world and liberate their devotees. >
Interestingly, this kind of teaching was identified by the NT authors as a particular temptation to Christians (hence many letters addressing it, eg Ephesians; Colossians; 2 Peter; 1 John). That's something to note: Christians can be suckers for conspiracies. >
Read 12 tweets
27 Jan
Ok, challenge accepted:

The Christian sex ethic is nowhere near the heart of the faith. In fact ethics are not the heart of the faith either. But here goes — the Christian vision for sex is the most romantic vision for sex the world has ever seen. It's built on 5 foundations...
—God is love
—History is a love story
—Sex is proclamation
—Gender is a gift
—Our bodies are temples

The alternative is:
—Ultimate reality is power
—History's a meaningless power play
—Sex is recreation (or mere procreation)
—Gender's self-created
—Our bodies are playgrounds
...
Every step away from the Christian vision is a step away from love. See this short video we made (and the one following in the playlist)

...
Read 7 tweets

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