THE THIRD PERSON OF THE TRINITY Ask any Christian about Jesus Christ, and you will get a full answer. Likewise, if you ask about God the Father! However, ask about the Holy Spirit, and many will be hard pressed to explain much; let alone witness to any experience of his presence in their lives – though he is most certainly there! This should not be! A careful reading of the Acts of the Apostles and the letters, reveals what a…
NOW FOLLOWING ON! In my last blog I sought to show how Jesus’ life of humility, obedience and dependency on the Father could be seen as a paradigm, an example for how we should seek to live our own lives of faith. I want to pick up on one of the points I made there, and elaborate on it somewhat. That point is that in Jesus, like Jesus, we should make the Father our source for all things! MANY GODS…
WHAT IS A PARADIGM? Anyone who has studied a language, has been taught to conjugate verbs, set out for us in columns to be learnt by heart – paradigms, these tables are called. The word comes from two Greek words παρά/para meaning beside, and δεικνυμι/deiknymi, to show, A paradigm is the setting forth of examples side by side – a pattern if you like, to follow! WE LEARN BY EXAMPLE The idea of an example, is a powerful one. Many…
THE FATHER DESIRES OUR WORSHIP “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”” (Jesus)John 4:23-24 I was praying the other day when the Lord impressed on me the need to worship him! In John chapter 4, Jesus meets the woman from Samaria….
One of the reasons I love John´s Gospel is for its imagery. Spiritual truth is conveyed through familiar everyday images that are close to us all. Images that denote life, growth, family etc. “Unless your are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God”, says Jesus to Nicodemus (3,3). Well, we all know what it is to be born. “The wind blows where it wills, you hear the sound of it. You do not know where it comes from,…
The Scripture tells us to: Cast all our cares upon him! (1 Peter 5,7) To be in a state of worry is to walk around acknowledging the circumstance causing your worry to be greater than him we worship as Lord! That is a form of idolatry. Most of us do worry – and worry too much! That there is a clear command to us in Scripture not to worry (e.g. Mt. 6,25-34, Phil. 4,6) needs to encourage us to believe…
Originally posted on April 12th 2020 This is the second post I have written this Easter on living the Christian life, the first being “Walk Before Me and be Thou Perfect” (of 4 days ago). The two should be read together as they compliment each other! The former is concerned with the principle governing the Christian life. The present post is concerned with the power to live the Christian life; it will have its focus on the Easter message! The…
Originally posted on April 11th 2020 From John chapter 16 22 So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. 23 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly , truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask,…
Originally posted on April 10th 2020 28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” 29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished”, and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. Jn. 19,28-30 Jesus having completed all the work he was sent into the world to do…
Originally posted on April 8th 2020 THE OBEDIENCE OF ABRAHAM The fourth and last reflection is from Genesis chapter 22, the testing of Abraham. After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”…
Originally posted on April 9th 2020 “And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.” Genesis 17:1 KJV If ever there was an inspirational text, this must be the one! Today, I want to start with Abraham’s walk with God, and compare it to our own. The principle governing Abraham´s walk with God was FAITH, NOT LAW! The principle…
Originally posted on April 7th 2020 The second thought I want to draw from the life of Abraham is from Genesis 15,1: “After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward. ” NIV God has elected Abram from all the families of the earth to know him, to walk before him, to be in a covenant relationship with him (Gen. 15,7-20), and to…