Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘God’

Born of the Spirit?

Posted in Bible, Bible Basics, Born of the Spirit, Devotional, God, salvation, tagged , , , , on May 18, 2011|

The expression “born of the Spirit” is used by the Apostle John in Chapter 3 of his gospel.  Being born of the Spirit means to become a new creation by the spiritual washing or purification of the soul, by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God at Salvation.

2 Corinthians 5:17-18 says, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.”

As a result:

  • What was before (the old life) is gone
  • The past does not control the  future
  • All things have become new (they are not what they were)
  •  All things are now of God (God is ruling my life, so everything is subject to Him)

Hallelujah!  What a Savior!

Read Full Post »

Gospel of John (John 1:5)

Posted in Bible, Bible Study, Books of the Bible, John, Light, New Testament, tagged , , , , on April 2, 2011|

John 1:5  And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

The Amplified version gives some additional insight:  And the Light shines on in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it [put it out or absorbed it or appropriated it, and is unreceptive to it.]

The darkness has never overpowered or put out the Light although the Light does shine into the darkness, and the darkness does not receive the Light.  The picture of what happens when light encounters darkness is so much a part of our daily life, that we probably don’t consider it very often.  A room is dark, and then a switch is flipped and light floods the room chasing out the darkness.  Where does the darkness go?  Away from the light.  Darkness and light cannot co-exist.  It is a physical principle as well as a spiritual one.

In the Spiritual realm, much like the physical, when Light enters a person’s life by the power of the Holy Spirit, darkness can no longer dwell in that life.

The Light will always over power the darkness.  Hallelujah!

Read Full Post »

Gospel of John (John 1:2)

Posted in Bible, Gospels, Jesus, John, New Testament, tagged , , , , , on March 12, 2011|

He was in the beginning with God.

  • Why does God repeat Himself here? – For emphasis, to make sure we get it.  As a mother, I am prone to repeat the things that I fear may result in injury or trouble for my child if she forgets them.  So it is with God.  He knows that we have this propensity to want to deny Him, His role in creation, Him as the point of origin for our lives, our very breath.  To help us get it, He repeats Himself.
  • What does this verse tell us about the relationship between Jesus and God? – It tells us that they are co-equals.  Jesus was not created.  He pre-existed creation as God, the Father, did.
  • What did Jesus say about this? – “O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”  (John 17:5)
  • Why is this important? – Most cults include as part of their teaching that Jesus was not a co-equal with God, that He is something less than God.  This is a heresy.  Knowing what God has said in His word will allow us to answer those who lie about the deity of Christ.

Read Full Post »

Gospel of John (Further Introduction)

Posted in Bible, God, Gospels, Jesus, John, Knowing God, Luke, Mark, Matthew, New Testament, tagged , , , , , , , on March 10, 2011|

The gospel of John represents one piece in a four-part testimony of the life of Jesus.  This is important because the Bible requires that there be two witnesses to establish a fact.  The use of four gospels each based on testimony of eye witnesses makes the totality of the gospels very credible.  The fact that each of the gospels is not identical to the others adds to the overall credibility.

If one were to interview four eye-witnesses to any event in history, each of them would emphasize different facts and provide a different presentation of the information depending on their audience.  That is exactly what we find in the gospels – four unique but internally consistent testimonies of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, a real man who lived a real life in Israel.

Looking at all four gospels, we see that each is addressed to a different audience, for example, the Gospel of Mark is written with a gentile (primarily Roman) audience in mind.  Little detail of Jewish history or culture is included.

The Gospel of Matthew is written to the Jewish reader.  Matthew starts off with a very detailed genealogy of Jesus and emphasizes  Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah.

The Gospel of Luke was written to a gentile audience.  In as much as Luke was a physician and educated in Greek, he writes a more detailed, carefully researched gospel focused on Jesus as the Son of Man a Savior sent to save the lost sinner.

The Gospel of John was written with a strong emphasis on the deity of Jesus Christ.  John wrote to encouraged believers and to call unbelievers to faith in Jesus Christ

Read Full Post »

Knowing God (His love is amazing but what’s the application?)

Posted in Attributes, Bible, God, Knowing God, Love, Lover of my soul, Relationship with God, tagged , , , , , , on March 8, 2011|

It is wonderful to study and meditate on the love of God.  It is a subject that never grows old and is found on every page of the Bible and in every encounter with the living God.  As we walk with God, we find evidences of His love in our own lives, like those in the Bible.

But one might ask, “What is the take away?”

Here are some of the many things that we learn and “take away” from meditating on and living in the knowledge of God’s love:

  • We gain personal relationship with God.  When we understand the offer (John 3:16) and accept it (Romans 10:13), we become sons of God.
  • We gain eternal life.  God promises eternal life to those who believe. (Romans 6:23)
  • We gain factual knowledge to draw us toward God as we consider what He has done.
  • We gain experiential knowledge by our time spent with God, by watching how He changes us and moves in our lives.
  • We receive love, so we are able to be better givers of love.
  • We receive strength to accept difficult things from God’s hand when we know and understand and receive as truth the love of God for us.

Beloved, take time to consider, to meditate, to live in the knowledge of the love of God for you.  He loved, loves and will love you for eternity.  That should transform your life.

Read Full Post »

Knowing God (His Love is Amazing – Esther)

Posted in Attributes, Bible, God, Love, Old Testament, tagged , , , on February 15, 2011|

A wonderful picture of God’s amazing love is seen in the life of Queen Esther.  She, a Jewish girl orphaned at a young age, is raised by her uncle in Shushan, the capital city of the Medo-Persian empire.  She ends up in a nationwide beauty contest for which the first prize is to become queen.  She becomes the queen of the country.

But the evidence of God’s love in the story of Esther is not about her becoming Queen.  This is no Cinderella story.  Rather, this is the story of a God who sees everything, the beginning from the end.  He knows what lies ahead for His people, and He makes provision for them, even provision in the form of a young, scared Jewish girl.  He keeps all the promises to them no matter how long ago He made them.

When the wicked Haman, an important man in the King’s court, came on the scene and convinced the King of Medo-Persia to pass a law whereby the Jews would be slaughtered and their possessions taken by their neighbors, God had a plan already in place.  That plan was carried forward by Queen Esther.  God had hidden Esther in the pavilions of the palace of the King of Medo-Persia.  She would, in due time, be the vehicle by which God saved His people, the people from which the Messiah would come forth in the fulfillment of time.

You know the story . . . Esther convinces the King through a series of meals and events to pass another law which allows the Jews to survive, thereby preserving the Messianic line for the time hundreds of years later when a baby would be born to a descendant of David, of the tribe of Judah, in the town of Bethlehem as it was promised.

This is God’s love for us.  He makes a promise and never allows it to be broken, so that in the fullness of time, He can keep His promise.   God cannot lie.   Study to know what God has promised for you.

Read Full Post »

Knowing God (His Amazing Love – The Mercy Seat)

Posted in Attributes, Bible, God, Knowing God, Love, Tabernacle, worship, tagged , , , , on January 23, 2011|

One of the most beautiful pictures of the love of God and the foreshadowing of Jesus is found in the Tabernacle at the Mercy Seat.  When you visit the Tabernacle in your mind’s eye, you must first enter the gate, then cross the court yard, pass the bronze altar, make your way past the laver and then enter the first partition separating the outer courts from the holy place.

Once inside the holy place, you will find only the light of the golden candlesticks.  By its light, you will see the table of show bread and the altar of incense which is right outside of the Most Holy Place.  As you push aside the last veil separating you from the presence of God which occupies the Most Holy Place, you will look in and see there is only one piece of furniture – the Ark.

The Ark was a box covered with gold and on top of which were two cherubim with their wings touching.  Inside of the Ark was found the law (the tablets from Moses with the 10 Commandments).  The top, the covering over the law was known as the mercy seat.  It was here that God promised to meet with His people.  It was here that the High Priest was to sprinkle blood.

The picture is one of mercy.  God would bring mercy and cover the law.  God made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of Christ in Him.  It is the blood sprinkled on the mercy seat (covering the law), that speaks of Jesus, of Calvary where Jesus’ blood would be shed once and for all to pay for the sins of all men so that whosoever would believe in Him would not perish but have eternal life.

That is amazing love.  O, what a savior!

Read Full Post »

Why must I forgive?

Posted in Bible, Forgiveness, God, Jesus, tagged , , , , , , on December 29, 2010|

Loving your neighbor is not difficult when your neighbor is your friend and thinks like you and does nice things for you.  Loving that neighbor is easy.  As a matter of fact, loving the neighbor who is a friend is a joy, it is a “get to” not a “got to.”

That being said, loving the other neighbor, the one who has wronged you, the one who has lied about you, the one who has stolen from you, hurt your family, wounded your child or otherwise done you wrong, loving that neighbor is nearly impossible.  Without Christ, it would be wholly impossible and totally understandable.  The world understands when you hate those who persecute you and retaliate against those who hurt your family and wound your child.

BUT GOD . . . has another way, a more excellent way.  Instead of continuing on the path of anger, bitterness and unforgiveness, my Savior, the one I call Lord, asks me to respond differently.  He asks me to do the impossible and forgive.  He commands me to forgive. I want to resist.  I want to shout about the injustices that I have suffered, that my loved ones have suffered.

As I lift my head to shout, my eyes fall upon a cross.  Blood is pooled at the foot of that cross.  No longer does my Savior hang there, for He has risen, but I see the evidence of His suffering and I am reminded of the injustices that He suffered for me, and I know that all the wrongs against me have been paid for by that spilled blood.  The payment has been rendered for the hurts, the slights, the attacks, the lies, the abuse . . . and I bow my head.  “Forgive me, Father.”

“I will forgive you as you forgive those who wrong you.”

In that moment, knowing I need God’s forgiveness more than my own vindication, I release what I have been holding against those who have wronged me.  I cannot survive without the forgiveness and love of my God.  It is His great love that drew me, that healed me, that delivered me.  I must do this thing He commands.  There is no other way.  “Help me Father to forgive.”

“And so I shall, my child.”


In the upcoming posts, we will consider this issue of forgiveness, bitterness and anger, and the biblical response to it in the life of the believer.

Read Full Post »

Knowing God (His love is amazing Part 3)

Posted in Attributes, Bible, Bible Study, Deliverer, Genesis, God, Love, Relationship with God, Walking with God, worship, tagged , , , , , on November 26, 2010|

In Part 1 and Part 2 of this series on knowing God through looking at the attribute of His great love for us, we discussed how the scriptures of the Old and New Testament describe the love of God.  In this post and those following, we will consider some of the pictures that God has used to illustrate His love.

Abraham and Isaac

One of the pictures of God’s love, actually a foreshadowing of the coming of Messiah, was the story of Abraham and Isaac.  You may recall the story recounted in Genesis 22 where God tests Abraham asking him to sacrifice his son Isaac on Mount Moriah.  Abraham takes his son, goes up with him to the mountain, binds his son to the altar that he built and proceeds to prepare to sacrifice his only son as God asked.  As he is lowering the knife to slay his son, God stops him.  God provides a substitute sacrifice (a ram caught in the thicket) instead of Isaac.  This picture of God’s love is the picture of the substitutionary sacrifice.  God had every right to require the first born child of his marriage to Sarah from Abraham.  Nevertheless, because of His great mercy and His promises to Abraham, God provided a sacrifice to satisfy the blood requirement.  This substitutionary sacrifice is seen again on Calvary, years later when Jesus died, once for all.  He who knew no sin, died for those who were under sin’s curse.

Deliverance of Isarael

Another great picture of the love of God and His heart for Israel (and us for whom the wall of separation was removed by the blood of Jesus) is the deliverance of Israel from Egypt.  You may recall this story from Exodus.  The people of God are in captivity in Egypt.  They have been reduced to slavery.  Their oppressors fear them and make their life difficult.  They are even forced to kill their children.  God hears their cries from their bondage, and from within the their own ranks, God raises up a deliverer, Moses.  By the hand of God on Moses, the people of God are delivered from their oppressors and allowed to follow their God and worship Him.  This picture of God the deliverer is emphasized again and again by God in the Old Testament.

By these pictures, we begin to see God’s love.  You may want to go back and read the stories in their entirety and ask God to speak to you of His great love.

In our next post, we will look at some more pictures that God provides to illustrate His gr eat and amazing love.

Read Full Post »

Knowing God (His loving is amazing Part 2)

Posted in Bible, God, Knowing God, Love, Old Testament, Relationship with God, worship, tagged , , , , , , on November 23, 2010| 2 Comments »

In part 1 of this series, we looked at the amazing love of God as we see it in the New Testament.  In this post, we will consider how God speaks of His love for us in the Old Testament.

  • God’s love for us is individual and designed to help me – – I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. Psalm 32:8  Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10
  • God’s love for us is protective –  For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock. Psalm 27:5   The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Psalm 18:2
  • God’s love for us is comforting – Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:4
  • God’s love for us is sympathetic and compassionate – You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your book? Psalm 56:8
  • God’s love for us is one of abundant provision – They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.  For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light. Psalm 36:8-9
  • God’s love for us gives us hope – For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11
  • God’s love for us is everlasting (eternal) – The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.  Jeremiah 31:3

So much remains to be said about God’s love.  It is truly amazing.  It is His love for us that draws us to Him.  Read of Him in the pages of your Bible, the One who loved you, loves you and will love you!

In our next post, we will consider some of the word pictures and stories that the Bible provides of God’s love.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »