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assiduous
as•sid•u•ous adjective – [uh-sij-oo-uhs]
definition: constant in application or effort; working diligently at a task; showing great care and perseverance.
synonyms: diligent, meticulous, persevering, industrious, attentive
example usage:
I must now say, that, after all my searching and reading, prayer and assiduous meditation have been my only resort, and by far the most useful means of light and assistance. By these have my thoughts been freed from many an entanglement.
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A Place for Writing
Ministers never write or preach so well as when under the cross: the Spirit of Christ and of Glory then rests upon them.
—George Whitefield, in reference to John Bunyan’s writing of The Pilgrim’s Progress while in prison. (quoted in Horner, The Pilgrim’s Progress: An Evangelical Apologetic, iii)
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Reorientation of Our Passions and Pleasures
Series | Repentance
Repentance involves remorse over our sinful nature and sinful acts. Repentance also involves renunciation of our self-sufficiency and self-righteousness. Now we come to the third ingredient.
3. Repentance involves reorientation of our passions and pleasures. Maybe that sounds strange. Pleasure is probably not what first comes to mind when we hear the word repentance. But I think this is the part that’s missing most. This is the part that we misunderstand most, and the reason that our repentance is often so short-lived.
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Renunciation of Our Self-Sufficiency and Self-Righteousness
Series | Repentance
There are three ingredients to repentance. Previously we saw that repentance involves remorse over our sinful nature and sinful acts. When we repent, we humbly and sorrowfully confess our rebellious condition and disobedient conduct. There is more.
2. Repentance involves renunciation of our self-sufficiency and self-righteousness. Repentance is not turning away from sin and bringing something of value to God. It is turning away from sin and coming to Him because we know we have nothing good to bring.
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Remorse over Our Sinful Nature and Sinful Acts
Series | Repentance
Repentance recurs regularly in the Bible. In the New Testament, the Greek word translated repentance is metanoia (μετάνοια), which, in its most basic sense, means “a change of mind.” But as we examine its usage, I think we can see a more precise understanding of all that is involved in that change of mind. I want to point out three parts of this change of mind or, three ingredients of repentance, starting with the first today.
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Toward True Joy
Series | Repentance
What do we think about when we hear the word “repentance”? What things do we associate with repentance? What synonyms would we use for repentance?
Perhaps the most important question is, when was the last time we repented? Do we repent on a weekly, or even daily basis? Is repentance something we do only once, when we get saved? Is repentance something we do only when we’ve committed a major sin?
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proskartereo
προσ•καρ•τε•ρέ•ω verb – [pros-kar-te-reh-oh]
definition: to stick by or be close at hand; attach oneself to, wait on, be faithful to; to persist in something; to be busy with, be busily engaged in, be devoted to.
example usage:
Τῇ προσευχῇ προσκαρτερεῖτε, γρηγοροῦντες ἐν αὐτῇ ἐν εὐχαριστίᾳ (Colossians 4:2)
“Devote yourselves to prayer.” (Colossians 4:2, NAS, NIV, NRSV) Or the ESV, “continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving” (“continue earnestly” NKJV).
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Ten for Ten
This year, rather than making resolutions proper, I’m going to answer Don Whitney’s Ten Questions to Ask at the Start of a New Year. It’s free, it’s fresh (to me), and should be spiritually fruitful.
1. What’s one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God? Taking my cue from 1 Peter 1:13, I want to build up my “hope on the grace that will brought to [us] at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
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An Empty Barrel
Profess men may, and make a noise, as the empty barrel maketh the biggest sound; but prove them, and they are full of air, full of emptiness, and that is all.
—John Bunyan, The Acceptable Sacrifice, 719. Regarding those who perform religious duties without a broken heart.
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A Spectacular Something
The annual resolutions review is good. And humbling. And heartening. And yes, both at the same time.
My two 2009 resolutions were very much related to two teaching series that occupied my mind: a verse by verse study through Genesis and a retreat on Repentance.
Articulate something six days a week. This resolution was spectacular, a spectacular fail. It was my “most specific resolution ever,” and though the wheels rolled, they never left the ground.
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Thick Gratitude
Every Christian in clay pot ministry1 should desire God’s glory above all else. According to Paul, abounding glory for God comes from abounding thanksgiving from men, and abounding thanksgiving from men comes from abounding grace poured out as pots endure affliction for men’s sake. But not only is God glorified when bumped pots slosh gospel grace onto others, He is also honored when the pots themselves express gospel gratitude.
We must be examples of abounding thankfulness.
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Pray for Your Elders
Pray for Your Elders ➔ You see: what if all those lousy elders out there had an army of people like you praying for them daily, crying out to heaven, “God: you have him/them to this church full of your people, and now you have to either give him the gifts to lead them and the love to lead them and the power in your Spirit to lead them, or you need to convict him to move on.
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Not an Automatic Friend
In this world, time is not an automatic friend…. Time deepens wisdom, but it also hardens folly. Time is given so that we might have time to repent, but it also given so that we might be without excuse. Time allows the grain to ripen, and it allows the weeds to grow. Time allows the meat to roast in the oven, and is also what causes it to burn.
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Ten Questions
Ten Questions to Ask at the Start of a New Year ➔ The beginning of a new year is an ideal time to stop, look up, and get our bearings. To that end, here are some questions to ask prayerfully in the presence of God.
What’s one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?
What’s the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?
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Stonified in a Toga
When tall, stonified Susan Bone in a toga says to do something, you do it.
—In a chat with @hobbsandbean, 2009-12-29 04:17 PM
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In Honor of Tethered Preaching
In Honor of Tethered Preaching ➔ The Bible-oriented preacher wants the congregation to know that his words, if they have any abiding worth, are in accord with God’s words. He wants this to be obvious to them. That is part of his humility and his authority. Therefore, he constantly tries to show the people that his ideas are coming from the Bible. He is hesitant to go too far toward points that are not demonstrable from the Bible.
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Something Has to Die
Something Has to Die ➔ When we are not getting along with others, the pressing temptation is always to believe that you are just as you have always been, and that they have somehow changed. This is often not true at all, but even if it were true, that does not put you in the right. Perhaps they have changed in that they have decided to stop putting up with your rudeness.
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His Blood is Bibline
He had studied our Authorized Version … till his whole being was saturated with Scripture; and though his writings … continually make us feel and say, ‘Why, this man is a living Bible!’ Prick him anywhere; and you will find that his blood is Bibline, the very essence of the Bible flows from him. He cannot speak with out quoting a text, for his soul is full of the Word of God.