Having looked very briefly at the Holy Spirit in the Bible, let us now turn specifically to Jesus’ teaching on the Paraclete in John ch. 14-16. The passages in question are 14,16-17; 14,26; 15,26; 16,7-15. Some important points follow below: ANOTHER COUNSELLOR – ANOTHER HELPER “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth”. (John 14,16) Up until this time Jesus has been there to answer…
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…
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….
Originally posted October 2019 FAITH AS A CONUNDRUM The disciples once asked Jesus: Lord, increase our faith. His answer was, as we know: If you had faith as a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry bush, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea” and it would obey you. (Lk 17,6) Jesus’ answer is open to several interpretations. But it seems as if the disciples had got their eyes on themselves, instead of the power of God We, like…
Originally posted October 2019 Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, “Be taken up and thrown into the sea,” and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. Mk 11,22-23. Read the parallels in Mt 17,20 and Lk 17,6,…
Originally posted October 2019 Read: Matthew 7,7-11, Luke 11, 5-13, Luke 18,1-8 It is vital that we really take time to read and internalise these very important scriptures where Jesus teaches about prayer. POINTS TO BE DRAWN FROM THIS TEACHING From Matthew 7,7 and Luke 11,9: Ask, seek, knock! All these verbs are in the present tense in Greek, and therefore could be translated: Ask, and keep on asking! Seek, and keep on seeking! Knock, and keep on knocking! Prayer is not…
A situation in my family, has forced me to postpone the blogs I had planned to write until a later date – I will return to them God willing! Instead there will be other blogs. In this one, I revisit the theme of prayer (see my blogs on prayer in Archives, October 2019). JESUS TEACHES ABOUT THE FATHER AND PRAYER ““Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to…
If you are like me, you are prone to worry about many things. Young people might worry about their futures, about school or friends. Parents of course worry about their children. We can all worry about our health, money, employment and what the future will bring for us. Some areas of our life we may reasonably think that we have control over (perhaps before the advent of the coronavirus), other areas of our lives, we know are outside of our…
Just heard the Lord say to me that the world (and that means whoever we meet) needs our love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control – in this present crisis! It has nothing comparable to offer! See Galatians 5,22! Have a great and safe weekend! 👍😀
Many of us will at this moment in time be wondering what is happening in our world; living with an uncertain future; wondering whether we or our loved ones are at risk from the current pandemic. In this very difficult time when we are all listening for the latest update on the coronavirus, fear and anxiety can grip our hearts. And whilst medical authorities rightly warn of the dangers of this virus, and at the same time channel a measured…
HOW LONG LORD! When will God answer our prayers? The answer: We must leave the matter with him! But note that in several of the psalms, the psalmist asks this very question: “How long Lord?” E.g. Psalms 6, 13 and 35. These psalms contain great prayers that we can use when we pray!* There are also psalms where the psalmist argues his case before God, and cries out to him, “Lord Save!” See Psalm 80! Again, a great prayer here…