Purchased Promises - Thoughts on Easter

This past Easter seemed to zip by me with little time taken to pause and truly reflect on the meaning of the resurrection of Jesus. As I have spent more time meditating on it this week, I have found myself more and more thankful for what God did for me in the death of His Son.

As I have recently blogged, our first daughter, Magdalena Grace, has some very severe birth defects and it looks like she probably won't live for very long outside of the womb, if she makes it to term at all. We are devastated. This is certainly the hardest thing that Julie and I have had to deal with. However, we have grown closer to each other with a greater strength and intimacy and hopefully a deeper faith in the goodness and sovereignty of God. We don't presently know why this is happening to us, but we can still trust God that this will all work together for good.

As I was thinking about Easter and the resurrection, I was given a deep sense of peace that what Jesus accomplished on the cross for us bought the promises of God that are so precious to me. When Julie and I look at the prospect of spending the next five months in a pregnancy that will not produce a healthy little girl, but one that will almost certainly die soon, it seems overwhelming and too painful. This is more true for Julie than it is for me since she is physically carrying the baby, but it is very hard for both of us. But then I consider the glorious promises of God for us that I can find peace, hope and even joy in all of it.

"His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning." (Lamentations 3:22-23) We don't have to take the load of all five months today. That would be daunting and impossible to deal with. But every morning we can find new stores of mercies waiting for us to get us through that day.

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." (II Corinthians 12:9) We are certainly weak right now, but He will meet our needs and give us His perfect grace which will be enough to get us through. We just need to trust in God's future grace that will be there when we need it.

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed for I am your God; I will strengthen you and help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." (Isaiah 41:10) Probably my favorite promise in the whole Bible. This verse has been in my mind through so many things. This is promise to build a life on!

"Cast your burden on the Lord and He will sustain you." (Psalm 55:22) It is so wonderful to have a God that promises to sustain us when our burdens are so heavy and our hearts are breaking.

"Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16) What do we need more right now than to receive mercy and find grace to help in the time of tremendous need. That last phrase can also be translated as "for a well-timed help" which carries the sense of coming at just the right moment when we need it. What a great promise!

These are just a few promises that are found throughout God's Word. I am so thankful that Jesus bought those promises for us on the cross so that we can bank on them now in our time of deep need. Please pray for us that, as we don't pretend to understand God's plan in all of this, we will find a great comfort in Him and find our ultimate satisfaction and joy in Him alone. Thanks!

Magdalena Grace Roberts

Never before have the promises of God been (or needed to be) so precious to me. Julie and I just found out that our unborn little girl will have some pretty serious birth defects including a fairly severe form of Down's Syndrome. The doctor said that about 90% of children born with these types of issues either are stillborn or die within the first year. We are so sad right now. I never understood how devastating it can be to parents to have a miscarriage or something like we have now. I never realized how much parents come to love their baby even before he or she is born. With utrasounds and all of the modern technology available, parents can feel far more emotionally attached to their baby, which is a wonderful thing. What we are going through now, though, is very scary and hard to understand, but we know that our God is faithful and good and that he loves and cares for us more than we do ourselves.

A few promises that come to mind are:

"So do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my victorious right hand."

"Cast your cares upon the Lord and He will sustain you."

"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Please pray for us.

Just Wondering

This has been bothering me for some time, even though it probably shouldn't. The Bible teaches very clearly that pride was the sin that sent Lucifer from God's presence, pride goes before a fall, and that the Lord opposes the proud, among other verses that teach very strongly against pride. Additionally, if C.S. Lewis was correct in his analysis of pride, calling it "The Great Sin" in an incredibly insightful chapter of Mere Christianity in which he argues that pride is essentially a starting point for all kinds of other sins, then why is humility not listed as one of the fruits of the Spirit? Wouldn't it seem that it should be there and sort of near the top (if they are ordered in any particular manner)? Any thoughts?

The Best Argument for Christianity

I picked up a book today that I haven't read in years. I consider it one of the best books I have ever read and I wanted to be reminded why. I simply opened it to the middle somewhere and began reading. It only took a few sentences to be, once again, entranced. I soon came across this quote that was written in the author's journal while he and his wife were still staunch agnostics, but open to an honest investigation on account of having so many Christian friends. This is what he wrote in his journal:


"The best argument for Christianity is Christians: their joy, their certainty, their completeness. But the strongest argument against Christianity is also Christians--when they are sombre and joyless, when they are self-righteous and smug in complacent consecration, when they are narrow and repressive, then Christianity dies a thousand deaths. But, though it is just to condemn some Christians for these things, perhaps, after all, it is not just, though very easy, to condemn Christianity itself for them. Indeed, there are impressive indications that the positive quality of joy is in Christianity--and possibly nowhere else. If that were certain, it would be proof of a very high order."


~Sheldon Vanuaken, A Severe Mercy


This is the perspective of an agnostic. Are we, as Christians, living lives that are arguing for or against Christianity? Notice that Vanauken, while an intellectual, does not say that the best argument for Christianity is the logical reasoning for the resurrection, the evidence for an intelligent designer or anything of the sort. All those things are important in their place, but the best way to show the world the glorious value of a life in Christ is a humble, pervasive joy in all kinds of trials that is irresistible to lost and dying people. Where does this type of joy come from? It is a gift from God alone. It comes through a deep and profound faith in God's grace (also a gift) for our lives. Is that the message that our lives are sending to the world?


Vanauken and his wife, Davy, had committed themselves to finding the greatest beauty in life, particularly in their own relationship. They were intellectuals who had no interest in any "ridiculous" organized religion. They viewed their relationship as the greatest good in their lives to be protected by the "shining barrier". They were amazingly in love with each other and some of their ideas of romance are very inspiring, and they seemed very happy. Then they befriended some Christians and wondered why the Christians were so pervasively joyful. The two began reading C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton and other Christian apologists. But Lewis was the most influential and they began reading every book he wrote as well as writing him letters (to which he faithfully responded) and had the joy of meeting him several times.


If you haven't read this book, you simply must. It is one of the most beautifully written books I have ever encountered and it, as you can see by this one quote, is extremely insightful and convicting.

A Visit to the Doctor

Julie and I went to the doctor this afternoon. We were joined by Julie's mom who is a great encouragement to Julie and gives her a sense of security. We went to see if we are having a boy or a girl and after a very long time of trying to get a good view of the relevant area, we were told that we are having a baby girl! We are so excited. Ultrasounds are really incredible these days. We could see the tiny heart pumping away, the brain in its early formative stages, the backbone, the tiny fingers and toes, and arms and legs moving around. The difficulty that the nurse had in determing the gender was mainly because the baby would not open it legs at all. I suppose this is good thing knowing that she will be a modest little lady.

Please keep us in your prayers. Thanks!

Boy or Girl?

This afternoon Julie and I will meet at the doctor's office to view a sonogram that will most likely tell us the gender of our child. We are very excited and a bit nervous. Of course, we are praying for a healthy baby, but please pray with us that this child, no matter which gender, will be more in love with Jesus than anything else this world could offer. When I look at the world around me, I wonder about the wisdom of bringing a child into it. This world is violent, dangerous and seems to be more evil than ever before. How will we possibly manage to raise our child in the way he or she should go? More than a healthy, safe living environment, good food, nice clothes and all the rest, the thing that our child needs from us is our personal holiness. As parents, we need to commit ourselves to a joyful pursuit of holiness that shows the greatness of the God we worship. As I am writing this, something I read recently comes to mind by Sam Storms:

“Following Jesus is an increasingly joyful conformity to how he thinks and a deepening delight in what he loves, together with a healthy aversion to whatever might threaten our complete satisfaction in him.”


This is what we want our lives to demonstrate to our child and the world. We know that we are incapable of saving our child, just as much as we were incapable of saving ourselves. I am very thankful for that. Our only hope is to trust in God's grace for us every day. His mercies are new every morning and his promises for his people are astounding. Every day will be a great challenge to trust in his grace more and more as we raise our little boy or girl "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." Please pray for us in this new adventure of life!