The Grace of Self-Knowledge

"I have counseled people for many years and one of the things that has impressed me over and over again is how self-deluded people (including me) can be. It's amazing how hard it is to see ourselves with accuracy. It's been my experience over and over again that we see the other person with a fairly high degree of accuracy, but can't seem to see ourselves with the same precision." --Paul Tripp in yet ANOTHER meditation on Ps 51 that is fire
read the whole thing HERE


O God, make Christ Community a people who see their sin... and run to your cross... and move out to serve others with JOY, humility & love...

Hoping for a Broken Heart

I am too satisfied
with the things I say
the things I do
the attitudes
of heart
that shape my reactions
day
after
day
after day.... *

So I am hoping
for
wise eyes
that are able
to see through
the cloud of
self-righteousness
and see myself
as I actually
am.
I am praying
for
wise ears
that are able
to hear through
the background noise of
well used platitudes
and hear myself
with clarity.
And I am longing
for
a humble spirit
that is willing
to
accept and confess
what You reveal
as You break through
my defenses
and show me
to me.
I am hoping
for
a broken heart.

"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." (Psalm 51: 17) * read the whole thing

Psalm 51 and Colin Farrell

Today is Psalm 51.... you could honestly spend a month on it... or longer. Paul Tripp has been writing truly helpful thoughts on it for weeks.

Now this.... Quotes from a meditation on the Gospel of Grace, confession of sin, joyful intimacy, and the movie--Phone Booth:

A NYC promoter, Stu (Colin Farrell), is held captive in a phone booth at the whim of a sniper with a rifle, a laser scope and a telephone. Unless the promoter confesses his hidden sins to his wife, mistress, and colleagues the sniper will kill him.

So Stu confesses....

The Church, as a corporate body, is to do daily life like this movie scene of confession. Why? Because the Church is filled with people who are, in Luther’s words, simul iustus et peccador. In English, this means simultaneously sinning and justified. If we regularly enacted this scene from Phone Booth, we would honestly and brokenly proclaim our peccador-ness. If we confessed our sinfulness to our spouses, children, parents, friends, colleagues, neighbors, then others around us wouldn’t feel the pressure to display only their iustus-ness.

We are scared to death to boast in our weakness because it violates culture (best foot forward, turn your good side to the camera), but if all of us in the Church would boast in our weakness together, we would become a Gospel-suffused community of honesty, brokenness, repentance, grace, forgiveness and restoration. In short, we would be a community of joyful intimacy.

Read the entire post here

How can I make them see their errors?

Every parent and friend (and spouse) has felt this... I see their sin but they don't... I've never thought about Nathan---the guy who God used to help David come to repentance-- as a model for loving others by confronting them in their sin... Paul Tripp does a masterful job reflecting on this:

No shouts
No pointed fingers
No flashing eyes
No red-faced accusations
No inflammatory vocabulary
No bulging forehead veins

The Dream & Promise of Being Sin-Free... one day

First of all... if you have a gmail account and you aren't using google reader... you should!!!! And make Paul Tripp your first subscription. Er, second subscription... after cccpastors.blogspot.com

Tripp continues his incredibly helpful work on the soul, using Psalm 51:
When your sin really does become ugly to you, when it produces pain in your heart and sickness in your stomach, you celebrate forgiveness, but you want something more. You want to be clean. You long to be once and for all purified from all sin whatsoever. You want your sin to be once and for all washed away. You want to be free of every dark residue of sinful thought, desire, word, or deed.

Yes, you'll love the fact that you can stand before God dirty and unafraid because of his comprehensive and freely given grace. You'll love the fact that his forgiveness of you has been full and complete. But you'll grow tired of needing and seeking forgiveness. You'll mourn the hold that sin has on you. You'll be frustrated with the way that sin seems to infect everything you do. And you'll begin to plead for what the blood of Jesus alone is able to do; wash away your sin! In this moment of need and helplessness, you'll cry, "Purge me with hyssop Lord, dip the branch of your grace into the blood of your Son and cleanse me once and for all!" --Paul Tripp

Entire Post here

When God is Glad

Paul Tripp continues his honest and hope-filled meditative writing on Psalm 51.

In the pain of my confession it's hard to recollect the fleeting pleasures of my sin. My shame hides your face. My anguish drowns out your voice. ... ....

There's no place to run. There's no place to hide. I can't escape what I have done.
I can't erase my stains. So in my grief I ask for one thing. I long to hear You sing.
I long to see You rejoice.

You can read the rest by clicking here

Also, if you are have a Gmail account and are not taking advantage of Google Reader.... you really should. And subscribe to this one first....
http://paultrippministries.blogspot.com/