It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out. (Proverbs 25:2)

Scripture says, and Jesus repeatedly points out, that God is not interested in burnt-meat. But God is after people who know His glory, worship Him, and are transformed into the likeness of His Son. God is after disciples of Jesus, people who will embody, and become, His mercy to others.

What should Christians “ponder”? What should we slowly, patiently, mull-over until we perceive the hidden lesson, the truth within?

John sees and hears many things as his (and our) journey begins. But I want to draw your attention to one detail that I’d overlooked for years of being familiar with this passage: what was before the Throne of God.

We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 contains three key prayer requests: 1) that God may make us worthy of His calling; 2) that God may fulfill every one of our resolves for good; and 3) that God may fulfill every one of our works of faith.

Paul prays for Christians to be glorified. He prays for Jesus to be glorified first, of course. And our glory is connected to His glory. But he does actually pray for the congregation at Thessalonica to be glorified!

What is “the Name” of our Lord Jesus? Isn’t it, “Lord Jesus”?
“Name” here means reputation. Or, an accurate understanding of a person’s character and value, which understanding is increasingly communicated to more people.

Work is what we do. Faith is what we hope God does. A “work of faith,” then, is something that I need to do and I need God to do. Who’s going to do this!? Am I? Is God?

To this end we always pray for you, that our God…
May fulfill every resolve for good…by His power.

What does this mean? He has called us to move from darkness to light, from worldly-conformity to holy-transformation, from our most-base selves to the image of Christ. He has called us to move closer to Him. That’s a journey from here to holy.

For five weeks now we’ve been exploring Gospel-born New Minds. We began by proposing the Gospel as an alternative to the insanity of the world: “…

Where do we need the Gospel? Romans 12:2 says that, first, we need our minds to be transformed, made-new, by the Gospel. Paul uses chapters 1-6 to lay new mental-footings and notice new info, using Scripture. Then, in Romans 6:11, Paul shifts; he gives the first of the conclusions from which we then live new lives. Here is the first description of what new-minds mind: “You must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

Jesus tells the story of a couple of new-home builders. One finds a lovely ocean-front location and builds. But they didn’t attend to their foundation, so when the ocean storms rolled in, they were swept away. The other builders found a spot where they were able to bolt onto bedrock. Storm after storm came; they were unmoved. (Mt 7:24-27)

New lives—transformed lives—begin with made-new minds. New Minds: a new view of the world—ourselves and other included—based on different premises, making different observations, drawing different conclusions—the basis for differently motivated actions.

What is a “renewed mind”? It’s a new mind, a different mind, a mind made new. It’s an outlook you’ve never had, a perspective you’ve never shared. It’s a view of the world based on different premises, making different observations, drawing different conclusions.

“Blessed are those whose strength is in You, in whose hearts are the highways to Zion. As they go through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion.” -Psalm 84:5-7

Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth." (Hos 6:1-3)

Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. (Jeremiah 17:7)

You and I look at the past in order to predict the future. We see past successes and say, “That’s a sure thing!” We look at present opportunities and read our lives like tea-leaves, “The future looks bright!” Past success and present opportunities are the best predictors of future fruitfulness, right?