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 December 2019 PART 1: THE WRITINGS OF LUKE Luke´s writings in the New Testament comprise Luke-Acts; a two-volume work, which in fact represents more of the New Testament than even the letters of Paul. Paralleling the 3 other Gospels in portraying the ministry of Jesus, this work goes further, recording the history of the early Church up until the time Paul reaches Rome. This is unique for Luke among Gospel writers, and will impact the way we read…
6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. 7 Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’” 8 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you.10 For whoever…
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…
In a short while, the season of advent will be upon us! In these very troublesome times, I have decided to republish some material that I wrote some time ago! First up will be 3 blogs about Jesus teaching on prayer in the first 3 gospels. These each now have an audio file to make it easier on my Norwegian readers. Then will follow 5 blogs on texts in the Bible commonly read by Christians in the Christmas season. They…
A RECAP This is the last blog in a series of 3, focussing on healing and the work of the Messiah. I have been looking at Isaiah 61,1-3, Luke 4,18, and finish off today with Acts 10,38. I wrote a blog in December 2019 entitled “The Good Works of Acts 10,38”, which you can access here https://bibleandfaith.com/the-good-works-of-acts-1038/. This will be a continuation of that blog. The idea I wanted to communicate in my last text “What is the Gospel?”, is…
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…
In my recent blog posts, I have been approaching the subject of sanctification by an indirect route. This was certainly true with 1 Corinthians, and to a lesser extent with Romans chapter 8. I know that the words ‘law’ and ‘obedience’ can evoke sometimes traumatic emotions in people; often dictated by the kind of atmosphere in the home we grew up in – by the relationship we had with our father, or our parents. Such traumatic emotions can become effective…
As humanity seems to be at sea; the wind and the storm raging, it is needful for us to get our eyes off the storm. My Help Comes from the Lord A Song of Ascents. 121 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand.6 The sun shall…
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…
This post is a variation on a theme I have written about many times before, touching on the strength of our personal lives with God. It is something which is ever on my heart; a message which is vital for every Christian. It is about the centrality of faith in our lives. IN 1 CORINTHIANS 1,21 WE READ: For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of…