wwa49 – We Love God!

We begin with receiving and then rightly understanding Scripture in our minds. But before we apply the Bible, it must first engage our hearts. Without the mind, biblical application is based on flimsy and deceptive emotions. Yet without the heart, biblical application is based only rote duty and obligation. It’s never hearts informing our minds, but rather minds informing our hearts. Then when we obey, it’s a correct application of Scripture that comes from the affections – loving God with all of our hearts.

Randy Smith

The first mark of a healthy church is expositional preaching. It is not only the first mark; it is far and away the most important of them all, because if you get this one right, all of the others should follow… If you get the priority of the Word established, then you have in place the single most important aspect of the church’s life, and growing health is virtually assured, because God has decided to act by His Spirit through His Word… The congregation’s commitment to the centrality of the Word coming from the front, from the preacher, the one specially gifted by God and called to that ministry, is the most important thing you can look for in a church.

Mark Dever

The remedy is to turn back to the cross. Our Lord proved to us the redemptive power of suffering for His sake. But we have to choose it. We are constantly tempted to withdraw into self-protection and anger and defensiveness. But looking to the Lord moment by moment, we can embrace the cross with its pain and see Him use us to communicate more grace to people who aren’t even asking for it. We didn’t ask, and He suffered for us anyway. That kind of love was the only power that could get through to us. And it did.

Ray Ortlund