Psalm 139:23 - 24

Search me, Oh God, and know my heart;
Test me and know my thoughts.
See if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.

Galatians 2:17 - 3:9

But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. 18 For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. 19 For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. 20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain...

He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. 7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. 8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. 9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

Galatians 2:17 - 3:29

17 But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. 18 For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. 19 For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. 20 I am crucified with Christ:nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me:and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21 I do not frustrate the grace of God:for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? 2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? 4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.

5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. 7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. 8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. 9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse:for it is written, Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. 11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident:for, The just shall live by faith. 12 And the law is not of faith:but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.

13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us:for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith...

21 ...Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid:for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. 22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. 23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female:for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise

Colossians 4:5-6

Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

Merry Christmas!!!

Flame Thrower

By T. M. Moore | Published Date: December 16, 2013 Tired of Christmas goofiness? If you’re like me, you quickly tire of the goofy sentimentalism that attaches to Christmas. And especially to Jesus. Walking home from dropping my daughter’s car off for an oil change, I passed a nativity scene on a neighbor’s lawn. There was little baby Jesus, His little head laid in that crude manger, looking all peaceful and serene. Wouldn’t hurt a flea. The little Lord Jesus, asleep on the hay. Sleep, baby Jesus, in heavenly peace. Right. There is an aspect to the Incarnation that is easily overlooked amid all this gush and nostalgia. Jesus’ coming to the earth was not as depicted in the hymn, “The Snow Lay All Around”: “The snow lay all around;/the stars shone bright,/when Christ our Lord was born/on Christmas night.” We don't know whether that was the case or not, but the sweetness and placidness of the setting reflects the feelings many prefer to indulge at Christmas time. All peace and comfort and abundance and joy. Fire on the earth  The fact is, Jesus’ coming brought violence of the most radical kind. He declared (Lk. 12:5), “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled!” He intended to do some serious harm to someone, or, at least, to inflict some serious pain. Robert Southwell, the 17th century priest and poet, captured some of the essence of this aspect of Jesus’ coming in his poem, “New Heaven, New War.” Benjamin Britten set part of this poem to a staccato Christmas carol which I doubt many of us have ever heard: “This little babe, so few days old,/has come to rifle Satan’s fold./All hell doth at His presence quake,/Though He Himself for cold do shake;/For in this weak unarmèd wise/The gates of hell He will surprise.” Now there’s a carol you can sing with fire in your eyes! A century after Southwell, John Milton composed his “Ode on the Morning of Christ's Nativity,” in which, as Steven Wright reminded us recently, the coming of Jesus at Christmas sends every false deity, vain philosophy, and empty religion fleeing for the high ground, while Satan paces nervously in the depths of hell: “Our Babe, to show His Godhead true,/can in His swaddling clothes control the damnèd crew!” Righteousness and judgment Jesus came to earth to throw some flames around. He came to ignite the flames of righteousness and judgment, which consume like a forest fire all the dead wood of human sin and rebellion (Ps. 83:13, 14). And He came like a refiner’s fire to try and purify the hearts of human beings, that He might capture us for Himself and take us, glorified, to be forever with Him in heaven (Mal. 3:2, 3). That little Babe is throwing flames around, and we’re not going to be able to escape. Pray that His fire will enter your soul not for judgment, but for sanctification. “He comes to make His blessings flow/far as the curse is found.” And when the curse of sin meets the fire of holy Jesus, there can be no doubt concerning which will be the last standing. So the next time you drive or walk past a gentle nativity scene, pause for a moment. Smile sweetly – to reflect the mood of the times. Then offer this prayer to that little Babe, so few days old: “Torch us, Lord!” For more by T.M. Moore, visit ColsonCenter.org

Psalm 143:6

I stretch my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.

(referring to the parable of the sower) The second group receives the Word with joy when they hear it, but then they have no root. They have an emotional response, they are quick to tell everyone that they believe, but their emotional response is based on what they thought they might get from Jesus, what He can do for them. It is a superficial response, an instant bloom then a fade.

- ALISTAIR BEGG

To truly seek God, to commune with the Most High, to receive that precious gift from God the Father to the world, one must thirst for righteousness. This is not a "good feeling" but quite the opposite: it is a desperate yearning for that alone which can satisfy our despondent condition - the fountain of everlasting, Jesus Christ.

Habakkuk 1:5

Look at the nations and watch - and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.

Reading this invokes a feeling of awe and of expectation. While this was addressed to the Jews at the time of their exile in Babylon to give them hope that God had not forsaken them, I can't help but smile as I look through the pages of History and see His fingerprints everywhere. No doubt this verse can be applied to every generation. Even today, if we look at the nations and watch closely, God is up to something that we couldn't even believe.

Similarly, this can be applied to the individual. The important part of this is to "watch - and be utterly amazed". It's easy to dismiss events as "just life" and continue on the best we can. While this may be our only option, it is important that one does not forget to look for, or to seek, God. In this process He reveals Himself and does not cease to amaze.

Proud To Be Virtuous

By T. M. Moore

The less we are filled with pride, the more we advance in virtue, for this more than anything else is virtue, to hold ourselves in check. Just as the sharper our sight is, the more fully do we realize how far we are from the sky, so the more we advance in virtue, so much more do we learn the difference between God and ourselves. This is no small part of wisdom, to be able to know our own worth; for he knows himself best who accounts himself to be nothing. - John Chrysostom on Isaiah 14:13

Jesus told a parable about a righteous man who knew he was righteous, and so turned out to be not righteous at all (Lk. 18:9-14). The Pharisee was proud of his “virtue”, and boasted of it before the Lord as he compared himself favorably with a tax collector.

We recognize such “righteousness” as “self-righteousness”, and we agree with Jesus that there is no true virtue in such self-vaunting.

But in a day when so much immorality is to be seen on every hand, we can easily fall to thinking we’re somehow “better” than others who aren’t as “righteous” or as “virtuous” as we.

The remedy for this, Chrysostom explained, is to look to Jesus and not to the people around us. Compared with Jesus, we have a long way to go, and nothing about which to boast. Indeed, even the virtue we are able to demonstrate is not our own; it comes from and by our Lord Jesus, as He lives His life through us in the power of His Spirit.

We should, of course, strive every day to increase in virtue, studying God’s Word to discover new ways that we may increase in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. But we must at the same time study humility, trust, and self-denial. Otherwise we may end up prideful about our “virtuous” attainments, forgetting that any progress we make in becoming upright in virtue is only the work of God within us, willing and doing of His good pleasure (Phil. 2:12, 13).

How can we “hold ourselves in check” in this matter? First, by giving thanks to God for His work of sanctification within us. He alone must receive honor and praise for any good or any virtue which is seen in us. God makes us fruitful for virtuous living; we have no ability to do this of our own.

Second, rather than look down on others whose lives fall short of God’s virtuous standards, let us pray for them, try to get to know them, and show them the love of Christ in every way we can. Of course we will observe areas of others’ live that we know to be displeasing to the Lord. But we must judge with righteous judgment, and that does not include condemning others (Jn. 7:24; Matt. 7:1).

Finally, always remember that we will have barely begun to become truly virtuous even after many years of striving and growth. The standard set by our Lord Jesus Christ will always be far beyond our reach in this life. Only in the life to come, when we see Jesus as He is, will we truly be like Him (1 Jn. 3:2). This being so, let us, rather than rest on our laurels and become content in our attainments, press on to become more like Jesus everyday of our lives (1 Jn. 3:3).

Grow in virtue, beloved, but don’t let pride or self-vaunting spoil your attainments. Virtue with humility: this is the goal we seek.

For more by T.M. Moore, please visit Breakpoint.org.

Seek The Lord

“You will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you, declares the LORD…” Jeremiah 29:13, 14

Foundational to the life of seeking, which is the calling of all who believe in Jesus Christ, is the responsibility and privilege of seeking the Lord. Before we seek anything else, we must learn to seek the Lord.

As God asserted through the prophet Jeremiah, He intends for us to find Him, on condition that we seek Him with all our hearts. The psalmist understood this most important objective, and he devoted himself to seeking the Lord early and earnestly (Ps. 63:1). In Psalm 105:4 the specifics of what we are to seek concerning the Lord are briefly stated: His presence and His strength. The teaching of the New Testament is along these same lines.

The true seeker is the one who seeks the presence and glory of God, to partake of Him in such a way that His strength comes to expression as glory and love in the seeker’s own life. Eternal life, which all have “found” who believe in Jesus Christ, is summed up by Jesus Christ as “knowing” the Lord (Jn. 17:3). What we seek in knowing the Lord is to encounter His glory, to enter into it, and, in the strength of the Lord, to show His glory to the world around us (Hab. 2:14).

But we must seek the Lord with all our heart, as He Himself instructs. This is the indispensable condition for seeking and knowing the Lord. We must be serious about seeking Him, daily and continuously devoted to the task, and careful to keep out of our lives anything that hinders our quest to know the Lord.

God is pleased to reveal Himself and His glory to us in the pages of Scripture (2 Cor. 3:12-18) and in the created world around us (Ps. 19:1-4; Ps. 66:18). It is the glory of God to conceal Himself and His glory in the Scriptures and the creation; our duty, as His appointed priests and rulers (1 Pt. 2:9, 10), is to seek out the glory of God in each of these places, so that we might enter into His presence and be transformed by His glory (Prov. 25:2).

Thus, we are seeking the Lord when through reading Scripture, meditating on it and studying God’s Word, and by prayer and other disciplines, together with the study of God’s works in creation, we are daily and faithfully engaged in ferreting out His glory.

To seek God with all our heart is to be enthusiastic about meeting the Lord wherever He may be pleased to reveal Himself, and to devote ourselves to the task of seeking the Lord in His Word and creation according to the ways He Himself has provided.

God commands us to seek Him, and He promises that, if we will, if we will seek Him with all our hearts, then we shall surely find Him and the promise of full and abundant life which is to be known in Him alone.

Seeking the Lord takes time, discipline, and good habits of study and prayer. It must be a daily, consistent, and even conscious endeavor on our parts, seeking God as our greatest longing, highest desire, and most determined activity, every day of our lives. If we will seek the Lord in the ways He has provided, through Scripture and creation, then we shall certainly be able to fulfill the most fundamental obligation of those who have found the gift of eternal life.

For more by T.M. Moore, please visit Breakpoint.org

...So I began to examine the life and the teachings of these people, and the closer I looked, the more I was convinced that theirs was the true faith, that their faith was indispensable to them and that this faith alone provided them with the meaning and possibility of life.  Contrary to what I saw among the people of our class, where life was possible without faith and scarcely one in a thousand was a believer, among these people there was scarcely one in a thousand who was not a believer.  Contrary to what I saw among the people of our class, where a lifetime is passed in idleness, amusement, and dissatisfaction with life, these people spent their lives at hard labor and were less dissatisfied with life than the wealthy.  Contrary to the people of our class who resist and are unhappy with the hardship and suffering of their lot, these people endure sickness and tribulation without question or resistance - peacefully, and in the firm conviction that this is as it should be, cannot be otherwise, and is good.  Contrary to the fact that the greater our intellect, the less we understand the meaning of life and the more we see some kind of evil joke in our suffering and death, these people live, suffer, and draw near to death peacefully and, more often than not, joyfully.  Contrary to peaceful death - death without horror and despair, which is the rarest exception in our class - it is the tormenting, unyielding, and sorrowful death that is the rarest exception among the people.  And these people, who are deprived of everything that for Solomon and [I] constituted the only good in life, yet who nonetheless enjoy the greatest happiness, form the overwhelming majority of mankind.  I looked further still around myself.  I examined the lives of the great masses of people who have lived in the past and live today.  Among those who have understood the meaning of life, who know how to live and die, I saw not two or three or ten but hundreds, thousands, millions.  And all of them, infinitely varied in their customs, intellects, educations, and positions and in complete contrast to my ignorance, knew the meaning of life and death, labored in peace, endured suffering and hardship, lived and died, and saw in this not vanity but good.

I grew to love these people.  The more I learned about the lives of those living and dead about whom I had read and heard, the more I loved them and the easier it became for me to live.  I lived this way for about two years, and a profound transformation came over me, one that had been brewing in me for a long time and whose elements had always been a part of me.  The life of our class, of the wealthy and the learned, was not only repulsive to me but had lost all meaning.  The sum of our action and thinking, of our science and art, all of it struck me as the overindulgences of a spoiled child.  I realized that meaning was not to be sought here.  The actions of the laboring people, of those who create life, began to appear to me as the one true way.  I realized that the meaning provided by this life was truth, and I embraced it.

But at that point I took a closer look at myself and at what had been happening within me; and I remembered the hundreds of times I had gone through these deaths and revivals.  I remembered that I had lived only when I believed in God.  Then, as now, I said to myself, "As long as I know God, I live; when I forget, when I do not believe in him, I die."  What are these deaths and revivals?  It is clear that I do not live whenever I lose my faith in the existence of God, and I would have killed myself long ago if I did not have some vague hope of finding God.  I truly live only whenever I am conscious of him and seek him.  "What, then, do I seek?" a voice cried out within me.  "He is there, the one without whom there could be no life."  To know God and to live come to one and the same thing.  God is life.

"Live, seeking God, for there can be no life without God."  And more powerfully than ever a light shone within me and all around me, and this light has not abandoned me since.


-  from "My Confession" by Leo Tolstoy

Proverbs 25

1 These also are proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied.

2 It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out. 3 As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth, so the heart of kings is unsearchable. 4 Take away the dross from the silver, and the smith has material for a vessel; 5 take away the wicked from the presence of the king, and his throne will be established in righteousness. 6 Do not put yourself forward in the king's presence or stand in the place of the great, 7 for it is better to be told, "Come up here," than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.

What your eyes have seen 8 do not hastily bring into court, for what will you do in the end, when your neighbor puts you to shame? 9 Argue your case with your neighbor himself, and do not reveal another's secret, 10 lest he who hears you bring shame upon you, and your ill repute have no end.

11 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver. 12 Like a gold ring or an ornament of gold is a wise reprover to a listening ear. 13 Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest is a faithful messenger to those who send him; he refreshes the soul of his masters. 14 Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of a gift he does not give.

15 With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue will break a bone. 16 If you have found honey, eat only enough for you, lest you have your fill of it and vomit it. 17 Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor's house, lest he have his fill of you and hate you. 18 A man who bears false witness against his neighbor is like a war club, or a sword, or a sharp arrow. 19 Trusting in a treacherous man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth or a foot that slips. 20 Whoever sings songs to a heavy heart is like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, and like vinegar on soda. 21 If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, 22 for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you. 23 The north wind brings forth rain, and a backbiting tongue, angry looks. 24 It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife. 25 Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. 26 Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked. 27 It is not good to eat much honey, nor is it glorious to seek one's own glory. 28 A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.

Proverbs 24

1 Be not envious of evil men, nor desire to be with them, 2 for their hearts devise violence, and their lips talk of trouble.

3 By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; 4 by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. 5 A wise man is full of strength, and a man of knowledge enhances his might, 6 for by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory. 7 Wisdom is too high for a fool; in the gate he does not open his mouth.

8 Whoever plans to do evil will be called a schemer. 9 The devising of folly is sin, and the scoffer is an abomination to mankind.

10 If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. 11 Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. 12 If you say, "Behold, we did not know this," does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work?

13 My son, eat honey, for it is good, and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste. 14 Know that wisdom is such to your soul; if you find it, there will be a future, and your hope will not be cut off.

15 Lie not in wait as a wicked man against the dwelling of the righteous; do no violence to his home; 16 for the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity.

17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles, 18 lest the Lord see it and be displeased, and turn away his anger from him.

19 Fret not yourself because of evildoers, and be not envious of the wicked, 20 for the evil man has no future; the lamp of the wicked will be put out.

21 My son, fear the Lord and the king, and do not join with those who do otherwise, 22 for disaster will arise suddenly from them, and who knows the ruin that will come from them both?

23 These also are sayings of the wise.

Partiality in judging is not good. 24 Whoever says to the wicked, "You are in the right," will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations, 25 but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight, and a good blessing will come upon them. 26 Whoever gives an honest answer kisses the lips.

27 Prepare your work outside; get everything ready for yourself in the field, and after that build your house.

28 Be not a witness against your neighbor without cause, and do not deceive with your lips. 29 Do not say, "I will do to him as he has done to me; I will pay the man back for what he has done."

30 I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, 31 and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. 32 Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction. 33 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, 34 and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.

Paul's vision for the church

Viewpoint by T. M. Moore

We cannot read the epistles of Paul without realizing he harbored a clear vision of the local church. He considered that Christ had raised him up in order to lay out the blueprint for His Church-building agenda (cf.Matt. 16:18; Eph. 3:8-10, 4:11-16). Paul saw the church as a community in which the Word of God was firmly planted, had taken deep root, and was beginning to bear fruit for the Kingdom of God (Rom. 14:17, 18). Since we are all members of the Body of Christ, it is our duty and calling to contribute to this community of the Word of God. As the living Word of God dwells richly in us, we must contribute to the enrichment of our local church by bearing the fruit of the living Word with our fellow church members.

What particular forms should we expect that to take?

Teaching and admonishing

First, Paul commands us to express to one another what God is impressing on our souls by His Word. The words “teaching and admonishing” cover a wide range of activities, both formal teaching and informal conversations, simple exposition and earnest warnings, individual and corporate settings. We have a duty to one another, in encouraging one another for wisdom and for love and good works (Heb. 10:24), to take an active part in the instruction and discipleship of those who are fellow members with us in the Body of Christ.

The Lord has placed pastors and teachers in each congregation, and the greater burden of instruction falls on them. But each member in whom the Word of Christ dwells richly must also take responsibility for teaching and admonishing others, so that together the Body of Christ can attain increasingly to the maturity of Christ.

Worship

A second way the indwelling Word leads us to contribute to our local church is by our active and lively participation in the worship of God. Worship is not a spectator sport. We are worshiping God as He prescribes when we are actively adoring Him, attending to Him, and assisting our fellow worshipers to do the same. Paul says the fruit of the indwelling Word will be manifest as we sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to the Lord, and as we give Him heartfelt thanks together for all His abundant goodness.

Such worship begins in our hearts, where we daily respond to the Lord’s kindness, and it continues as an ongoing celebration of the Lord whenever we are together with His people as the Body of Christ.

Everything in Jesus’ name

Finally, the members of Christ’s Body will represent Him to the watching world as they go out from their times of instruction and worship to live for Christ in every area of life. Local churches should have a vision for how they can impact their communities for the Lord. They must equip their members to receive the indwelling Word and to let it live through them in lives of service, witness, and social and cultural engagement for the glory of Jesus Christ.

When Jesus came into a community, everything changed. This should be the same wherever His Body is living out the living Word together. A community of the Word of God will make a Kingdom impact on the larger community as it follows the example of Christ and the vision of Paul to turn the world upside down for Jesus Christ.

Each of us in whom the Word is beginning to dwell richly must make every effort to contribute to the health and growth of our local church, for it is as a community of the Word that the church becomes a true agent for the Kingdom of God, spreading righteousness, peace, and joy throughout its community in the name and for the glory of Jesus Christ.

This article taken from Breakpoint.org

The Virtue of Penance

T. M. Moore

The beauty of virtue in doing penance for excess…

-          Taliesin, “Loves” (early Welsh)

 

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

-          Romans 12:21

 

None of us is naturally virtuous. We acquire virtue as we grow, by God’s Word and Spirit, into the likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ. Whatever virtue we are able to realize is only the life of Christ and His righteousness being lived out in us.

 

But we will not realize progress in Christian virtue without the virtue of penance. Here I’m thinking of penance not as a sacrament, but as a spiritual discipline. This is the way Celtic Christians employed penance during the period of the Celtic Revival in Ireland, Scotland, and across Europe (ca. 430-800 AD).

 

The basic idea behind penance is summarized in the Celtic Christian motto, found in several of the penitential handbooks of this period, “contraries are by contraries cured.” That is, behavior that is contrary to the Law and Word of God is corrected, over time and under the watchful eye of a caring soul friend, by practicing the opposite and virtuous behavior. A person who had a tendency to use his tongue for carping and complaining, let’s say, would, upon coming under conviction, be prescribed a regimen of Scriptures to recite and sing daily, until he trained his tongue for praise and edification. Thus he would “overcome evil with good.”

 

It’s not enough to confess our sins whenever the Spirit of God brings them to mind. We must confess and repent if we hope to be restored to the Lord and to regain our footing along the path of Christian virtue. And for this, the discipline of penance can be a beautiful virtue indeed.

 

Once you have identified the problem you’re dealing with, search the Scriptures to find guidance as to what the opposite and virtuous behavior would look like instead. You might enlist a soul friend or pastor to help you in this search. Then, using the Scriptures you’ve identified as in the path of virtue, chart a course of daily obedience that will help you to walk that path rather than the one for which the Spirit of God has convicted you. Be accountable to someone who cares about you and will pray for you. Give your heart and mind to the Lord and practice daily those new behaviors until they cut a true groove of virtue into your soul.

 

Virtue doesn’t just happen in our lives. We have to work at it, daily, diligently, conscientiously, and by very specific paths of renewal and growth. We don’t have to be afraid of penance. It’s a very Biblical and extremely useful discipline for helping us to be transformed increasingly into the image of Jesus Christ.

 

Let penance do its work in your life, and you’ll find out why Taliesin regarded it as “beautiful” and one of the real loves of his life.

From Breakpoint.org

Acts of the Apostles

  10 "...let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead--by him this man is standing before you well. 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

Proverbs 23: 19-35

19 Hear, my son, and be wise;

And guide your heart in the way. 

20 Do not mix with winebibbers,

Or with gluttonous eaters of meat; 

21 For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,

And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.

22 Listen to your father who begot you,

And do not despise your mother when she is old.

23 Buy the truth, and do not sell it,

Also wisdom and instruction and understanding. 

24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice,

And he who begets a wise child will delight in him. 

25 Let your father and your mother be glad,

And let her who bore you rejoice.

26 My son, give me your heart,

And let your eyes observe my ways. 

27 For a harlot is a deep pit,

And a seductress is a narrow well. 

28 She also lies in wait as for a victim,

And increases the unfaithful among men.

29 Who has woe?

Who has sorrow? 

Who has contentions? 

Who has complaints? 

Who has wounds without cause? 

Who has redness of eyes? 

30 Those who linger long at the wine,

Those who go in search of mixed wine. 

31 Do not look on the wine when it is red,

When it sparkles in the cup, 

When it swirls around smoothly; 

32 At the last it bites like a serpent,

And stings like a viper. 

33 Your eyes will see strange things,

And your heart will utter perverse things. 

34 Yes, you will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,

Or like one who lies at the top of the mast, saying: 

35 “They have struck me, but I was not hurt;

They have beaten me, but I did not feel it. 

When shall I awake, that I may seek another drink?”

Proverbs 23: 1-18

1 When you sit down to eat with a ruler,

Consider carefully what is before you; 

2 And put a knife to your throat

If you are a man given to appetite. 

3 Do not desire his delicacies,

For they are deceptive food.

4 Do not overwork to be rich;

Because of your own understanding, cease! 

5 Will you set your eyes on that which is not?

For riches certainly make themselves wings; 

They fly away like an eagle toward heaven.

6 Do not eat the bread of a miser,

Nor desire his delicacies; 

7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.

“Eat and drink!” he says to you, 

But his heart is not with you. 

8 The morsel you have eaten, you will vomit up,

And waste your pleasant words.

9 Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,

For he will despise the wisdom of your words.

10 Do not remove the ancient landmark,

Nor enter the fields of the fatherless; 

11 For their Redeemer is mighty;

He will plead their cause against you.

12 Apply your heart to instruction,

And your ears to words of knowledge.

13 Do not withhold correction from a child,

For if you beat him with a rod, he will not die. 

14 You shall beat him with a rod,

And deliver his soul from hell.

15 My son, if your heart is wise,

My heart will rejoice—indeed, I myself; 

16 Yes, my inmost being will rejoice

When your lips speak right things.

17 Do not let your heart envy sinners,

But be zealous for the fear of the LORD all the day; 

18 For surely there is a hereafter,

And your hope will not be cut off.

Proverbs 22:17 - 29

17 Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise,

And apply your heart to my knowledge; 

18 For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you;

Let them all be fixed upon your lips, 

19 So that your trust may be in the LORD;

I have instructed you today, even you. 

20 Have I not written to you excellent things

Of counsels and knowledge, 

21 That I may make you know the certainty of the words of truth,

That you may answer words of truth 

To those who send to you?

22 Do not rob the poor because he is poor,

Nor oppress the afflicted at the gate; 

23 For the LORD will plead their cause,

And plunder the soul of those who plunder them.

24 Make no friendship with an angry man,

And with a furious man do not go, 

25 Lest you learn his ways

And set a snare for your soul.

26 Do not be one of those who shakes hands in a pledge,

One of those who is surety for debts; 

27 If you have nothing with which to pay,

Why should he take away your bed from under you?

28 Do not remove the ancient landmark

Which your fathers have set.

29 Do you see a man who excels in his work?

He will stand before kings; 

He will not stand before unknown men.

Proverbs 22: 1-16

1 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,

Loving favor rather than silver and gold.

2 The rich and the poor have this in common,

The LORD is the maker of them all.

3 A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself,

But the simple pass on and are punished.

4 By humility and the fear of the LORD

Are riches and honor and life.

5 Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse;

He who guards his soul will be far from them.

6 Train up a child in the way he should go,

And when he is old he will not depart from it.

7 The rich rules over the poor,

And the borrower is servant to the lender.

8 He who sows iniquity will reap sorrow,

And the rod of his anger will fail.

9 He who has a generous eye will be blessed,

For he gives of his bread to the poor.

10 Cast out the scoffer, and contention will leave;

Yes, strife and reproach will cease.

11 He who loves purity of heart

And has grace on his lips, 

The king will be his friend.

12 The eyes of the LORD preserve knowledge,

But He overthrows the words of the faithless.

13 The lazy man says, “ There is a lion outside!

I shall be slain in the streets!”

14 The mouth of an immoral woman is a deep pit;

He who is abhorred by the LORD will fall there.

15 Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child;

The rod of correction will drive it far from him.

16 He who oppresses the poor to increase his riches,

And he who gives to the rich, will surely come to poverty.