Below are a list of profound passages of Scripture. Some of them sprung out of my daily devotions, a couple of them were part of a series for a college gathering, while others were chosen to preach on at my church. However they came about, they all have one thing in common; they all sent holy explosions through my own life, and upset my fragile grip on reality.

John Owen once remarked,

“If [the truth] does not dwell in power in us, it will not pass in power from us.”

Likewise, I have made it my endeavor never to preach a sermon to others that I have not first preached to (and wrestled with) myself. It is usually those Scriptures that have the firmest grip on my own heart that have reached the deepest towards the periphery of others around me—after all, God wants to secure our hearts before He works through us for others. What comes next are the seven that have most dramatically shaped my life and service in 2010. My prayer is that in this new year, your holy explosion will come too.

(All available links go straight to the sermon).

Ephesians 3:8 (NASB) “To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ…”

Eph. 3:8 revealed to me that Jesus is the unrivaled prize of the universe. [the reality]

2 Corinthians 4:4-7 (ESV) “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.”

2 Cor. 4:4-7 revealed to me that the reason for my salvation was solely for me to prize Jesus over everything else. [the goal]

1 Peter 1:7-9 (NASB) “So that the proof of your faith…may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.”

1 Pet. 1:7-9 showed me that salvation includes a deep experience of Jesus as my ultimate prize. [the practice]

2 Corinthians 3:16-18 (ESV) “But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

2 Cor. 3:16-18 revealed to me that an exquisite transformation accompanies my experience of Jesus. [the effect]

Ephesians 3:14-21 (NASB) “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; andthat you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the churchand in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”

Eph. 3:14-21 revealed that the potential for such a joyous transformation is beyond my wildest dreams. [the depth]

Ephesians 2:8 (NASB) “For by graceyou have been (perf.tense = you have been and are continuing to be) saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it isthe gift of God” (parenthetical insert is my translation of the Greek)

Eph. 2:8 continues to show me that all of this aforementioned gospel-transformation never stops! Every step taken in this life is a gospel step. [the process]

Luke 14:26 (NASB) “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.”

Luke 14:26 gave me an adrenaline rush, when I saw in it the risky, reckless nature of following such a treasured prize. [the cost]

It is the Holy Spirit who causes the Word of Christ to saturate the emaciated bones of the parched soul. Read the Scriptures knowing your desperate need for supernatural power! Open the Bible this year, and ask Him to let the mighty breath of God impart His dreams and visions to you, for His glory, your joy, and the good of world!