Why is it so hard to live?

“But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside.” (Job 23:10-1)

So hard to live the normal life, this life of chores, mundaneness, obligations, this life of making money and making dinner, this life of dealing with bullies and ignorants...

Every day, every hour, barely making it to the next stop.

Look at this rose here. It took the sculptor days to make it look and feel the way it is. He (or she) must have been bruised many times, but look at the result! And, this rose will last for many years. It was made of stone, it was made out of love, it was made for a noble purpose of showing the beauty of creation.

Campi has recently written about being tired of this world. There is a lot of truth in it. The question is - are we allowed to let these feelings take over?
And then I read the Bible. And I always find the blessed tutorial advice:

Jam 4:6-10
(6) But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
(7) Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
(8) Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
(9) Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
(10) Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

This is about Him. About admitting our insufficiency and His Greatness, our wretchedness and His Holiness. It is a sin to worry, it is a sin not to put my trust in the Lord. Whatever happens in my life, He is working it all for His glory. He assures me about it by the examples of His servants. I read about them and learn that the only value is in Him. However fiercely I might rebel against it with my sinful nature, this truth is always coming back and knocks me in the forehead.

I may despair over the condition of the world all day long, but the truth is - it is not up to me to change it. I do not have the means, I do not have the strength, I do not have the authority. Where I am coming from the world does not turn its eyes to.

1Co 1:25-31
(25) For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
(26) For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.
(27) But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
(28) God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,
(29) so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
(30) He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
(31) Therefore, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."

So it is given - I cannot change the state of the affairs - politics, society, culture - they all go on as planned from before the beginning of the universe - towards their doom. And, it appears, those participating are quite proud of their achievements...
Can I change anything? Of course, within the given frames? I believe I can. I believe that what is important is not measured by any material value, or political value, or cultural value. There is another value a Christian must care about: the spiritual value. The treasure of caring for the lost, of pointing them to their only hope, the Cross of Jesus Christ. There is no other redeemer. There is no other way. There is no other HOPE.

So, really, life is not harder than our lack of trust makes it to be. The more trust we put in ourselves, the less trust is put in God, and the more frustrated we become. We mustn't go there, towards this temptation. Remember:

(2Ti 1:12) which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.
(Heb 2:18) For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
(Heb 7:25) Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

Thank You, Lord

For my salvation
For Your protection
For keeping me safe
For giving me Your Word
For Your guidance and help in understanding
For preventing me from heresies and faulty steps
For Your Blood and Resurrection
For Your unfailing love
For Your sovereignty

For the trials
For my dark moments
For pain
For doubts
For my life in this time and day
For my knowledge of good and evil
For my heritage of Eve
For my soul

For my new family in Christ
For the forgiveness of my sins
For the hope that is in You
For the blessed assurance of this hope
For desiring You
For loving You
For my salvation...

**********
The Gospel in 6 Minutes, by John Piper:

The Gospel Of Jesus Christ

THE GOSPEL IS A MESSAGE ABOUT:

I. GOD

1. Is. 6:1-5, 5:16; Rev.4:8-11. God is Holy.
2. Dan. 4:35; Ps. 135:6. God is Sovereign.
3. 1 Jn. 4:8,16. God is Love.
4. Heb. 12:29. God is a Communing Fire.
5. Gen. 17:1; Jer. 32:17; Is. 43:13; Amos 9:2-3. God is Omnipotent.
6. Ps. 139:1-6; Rom. 11:33-36. God is Omniscient
7. Jer. 23:23-24; Ps. 139:7-12. God is Omnipresent
8. Ps. 145:17. God Is Righteous.
9. Ex. 34:6-7. God is Merciful.
10. Rev. 29:11-15. God is a Judge.
11. Jn. 4:23-24. God is a Spirit.
12. 1 Jn. 5:7; 2 Cor.13:14; I Pet. 1:2. God is one God revealed in three distinct persons; Father, Son, & Holy Spirit (trinity, not modalism).
13. Jn. 1:1-3, 14,18, 10:30-33, 17:5, 20:28; Acts 20:28; Rm. 9:5; Phi. 2:5-11; Col. 1:15-17, 2:9; I Tim. 3:16; Titus 2:13; Heb. 1:1-12; II Pet. 1:1; Rev. 1:8. Jesus is God--YHWH.

II. SIN

1. Gem. 2:15-17. Adam and Eve's disobedience resulted in spiritual and physical death.
2. Rom. 6:23. The wages of sin is death.
3. Dt. 6:4-5. However, before sin entered the world man's purpose was to serve God and glorify Him.
4. Matt. 22:34-40. Therefore, man is now living in an abnormal condition.
5. Rom. 3:10, 5:6-9; Lk. 5:31,32 There is none righteous, no not one!
6. Rom. 3:23. Everyone, without exception, is a sinner.
7. Rom 5:12. Adam's sin nature is inherited by all mankind.
8. Is. 64:6-7. God views our good deeds as “filthy rags.”
9. Eph. 2:8-9. God rejects our good works.
10. Ps. 51:5, 58:3. We are sinners from birth.
11. Jn. 3:19. Sinners love their sin.

III. THE LAW

1. Ex. 20:1-20. The Ten Commandments must by obeyed perfectly.
2. Mt. 22:34-40. If we disobey the 1st & 2nd greatest commandments we have broken all of the Bible’s laws.
3. Ja. 2:10-11. If we break one commandment we have broken them all.
4. Rom. 3:20; Gal. 3:24. The purpose of the Ten Commandments is to reveal sin in us and disclose our inability in keeping the law’s demands. This creates an attitude of desperation in sinners to be delivered from the guilt and penalty of the law. Christ alone is the sinners hope.

IV. THE VANITY OF LIFE

1. Heb. 9:27. Three things are common to all: Life, Death, & Judgment.
2. 2 Pet. 3:8; Ja. 4:13-14. Life Is short: The earth will be covered by all new people 110 years from now. Our life span is compared to one grain of sand taken from one planet among a thousand planets covered with sand. After you die no one remembers you (Eccl. 1:11, 2:16).
3. Eccl. 12:8,13,14. Life is vain: Solomon, the wisest man who lived, had everything this world has to offer yet he judged this life as totally vain and futile. Nevertheless, man pursues the vain things of this world against all reason, logic and intelligence (2 Tim. 3:7).
4. Lk. 12:16-21. Life is fragile: You may die tonight! Many labor to extend their life through exercise and vitamins but will add only a few years.
5. Eccl. 5:15; 1 Tim. 6:7; Lk. 9:24. Money and riches are vain.

V. HELL & JUDGEMENT

1. Rev. 20:11-15. The great white throne judgment.
2. Matt. 25:41-46. Everlasting fire and punishment for the unsaved.
3. Heb. 9:27. After this life comes judgment.
4. Lk. 16:19-31. Hell is a place of unceasing pain and torment with no escape.

VI. THE NEW BIRTH

1. Jn. 3:1-7. Jesus teaches that the “new birth” is necessary for salvation.
2. Jn. 1:13. Salvation is not inherited from our parents, secured by our effort, nor decided by our will, but is a process by which we are “born of God.”
3. 2 Cor. 5:17. To be born again means that our old life is replaced by a new one.
4. Eph. 4:21-24; Col. 3:9-10. When a person becomes “born again” the Bible describes him as a “new person,” who brings forth new fruit.
5. Gal. 6:15. All that matters is that we become a “new creation.”

VII. GRACE

1. Eph. 2:8,9. Grace is a free gift, it is unmerited favor.
2. Acts 15:11. We are saved by the grace of Christ.
3. Rom. 4:3-5. Salvation is by grace through faith and not by the deeds of the law.
4. Tit. 3:5-7; Rom.3:24. We are “Justified” freely by His grace.

VIII. REPENTANCE

1. Lk. 13:3. Unless we repent, we will all perish.
2. Acts 3:19. We must repent and be converted.
3. Matt. 4:17. Jesus said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” however; the world ridicules the need of repentance.
4. Acts 26:20. We must repent and bring forth fruits worthy of repentance.
5. I Jn. 1:9. If we confess our sins He will forgive us our sins.
6. Prov. 28:13. He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confess and forsakes them will have mercy.
7. Ps. 66:18. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.

IX. FAITH

1. Heb. 11:6. Without faith it is impossible to please God.
2. Jn. 20:24-29. Blessed are they who do not see yet believe.
3. Jn. 3:16-19. Whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.
4. Eph. 2:8. We are saved by grace “through faith.”
5. Gal. 3:23-26. We are saved through faith in Christ and not by keeping the law.
6. Rom. 3:28, 5:1. We are justified through faith in Christ.
7. Gal. 3:11; Rom. 1:17; Heb. 10:38; Hab. 2:4. “The just shall live by faith.”

X. SALVATION THROUGH CHRIST ALONE

1. Jn. 14:6. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.
2. 1 Jn. 5:11-13. He that has the “Son” has life, and he that does not have the Son of God does not have life­.
3. Acts 4:10-12. Salvation is in none other than Jesus Christ.
4. Rev. 3:20. Jesus knocks on the door of our heart.
5. Rom. 10:13. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
6. Jn. 3:36. He who does not believe on the Son of God has the wrath of God on him.

From monergism.org

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Just TULIP it all (or to-link)

Desiring God Ministries is an endless treasury of sermons, lectures, books, devotionals, and most of all - sound theology.
This is one of those gems I found over there.

What We Believe About the Five Points of Calvinism

1. We experience first our depravity and need of salvation.
2. Then we experience the irresistible grace of God leading us toward faith.
3. Then we trust the sufficiency of the atoning death of Christ for our sins.
4. Then we discover that behind the work of God to atone for our sins and bring us to faith was the unconditional election of God.
5. And finally we rest in his electing grace to give us the strength and will to persevere to the end in faith.
   

Read on...

On this refurbished site, (ht Tim Challies), a simple search for TULIP produced a very fine collection of materials. I am going to dig in later during the week.