A Moment With Pastor Fred

J.I. Packer was one of the most prominent theologians of the 20^th and early 21^st centuries. He was promoted to glory in 2020 at the age of 94. I have benefitted from several of his books and articles, but the book Knowing God was instrumental in my early ministry.

Recently I was reminded of something Packer wrote. He encouraged believers to take the following truths and say them aloud each morning and repeat them before bedtime each night. 

1. I am a child of God.
2. God is my Father.
3. Heaven is my home.
4. Every day is one day nearer.
5. My Savior is my brother.
6. Every Christian is my brother too.

You’ve heard me say it many times, “We feel the way we feel for we feel the way we think.” Far too often we are ruled by our emotions. Now our emotions in and of themselves are not bad. We are made in God’s image. He is emotional. But our emotions have been tainted by sin. Elisabeth Elliot wrote, “If you dwell on our own feelings about things rather than dwelling on the faithfulness, the love and the mercy of God, then you’re likely to have a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Our feelings are very fleeting and ephemeral, aren’t they?  We can’t depend on them for five minutes at a time. But dwelling on the love, faithfulness and mercy of God is always safe.”