The Climax

A couple weekends ago, I had the great privilege of attending the 2009 Resolved Conference in Palm Springs, California. It was definitely an opportunity I would not have wanted to miss. I thoroughly enjoyed listening and learning from the preaching of God's Word and the worship time was incredible---just imagine 4,000 people raising their voices to praise the Almighty God...and that was only a tiny taste of what heaven shall be like! God used this conference to refresh my soul and rekindle my passion for the Gospel. He opened my eyes to sin in my life that I had been harboring and nurturing instead of destroying. I came away convicted, challenged, encouraged, strengthened, motivated, refreshed, recharged, and perhaps most importantly refocused upon the cross of Christ.

The climax of my weekend came during the last day when we gathered together to hear C. J. Mahaney speak. He took his message from Psalm 42. The sincerity and intensity of his heart flowed out as he opened God's Word. Entitling His message The Troubled Soul, Mahaney pointed out that all Christians have experienced a troubled soul just like the Psalmist describes, but not all are prepared for such an experience. More often then not, we rely upon our feelings instead of God's truth and give in to despair because God appears absent from our lives. Mahaney's plea was for Believers not to trust in their troubled souls, but to trust in God. Never let your troubled soul pull you down into the depths, but rather rebuke your soul to trust in God---turn your troubled soul into a hopeful soul. Mahaney spoke of the Believers greatest problems and quoted Martin Loyd Jones: "Most of the unhappiness in your life is derived from listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself." If we would talk and remind ourselves of God's promises in His Word our lives would take on a new focus---the correct focus---a cross centered focus. We must preach the Gospel to ourselves or we will succumb to sin and despair.

My heart was greatly challenged as well as encouraged after hearing this message. God knew what I needed and graciously gave it to me. I realized that so often (every day) instead of fixing my eyes on the cross and the Lamb who died, I fix my eyes on on other things. Instead of having a cross centered life, my life has been "me centered". I come away in awe of God's mercy and grace and am amazed that He forgives and loves a wretch like me because of Christ. I need-must preach the Gospel to myself daily in the Lord's strength and power. With my eyes fixed on Christ, my troubled soul is turned into a hopeful soul, rejoicing in the risen Lamb of God who
saved me.

Click on the Title of This Post and It Will Take You to the Resolved Conference Site with MP3 Downloads of the Messages