Tag: Jesus

  • The Mirror of the Holy Spirit

    The Mirror of the Holy Spirit

    A brother in the Lord tells of looking in the mirror and hearing the Holy Spirit speak to him of his role in spreading the Gospel.

    Paul writes in his letter to the church at Corinth:

     1 Corinthians 13:

    But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12 Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.[c] All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

    13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

    agape – this deep love of God, our heavenly Father, Christ Jesus our Savior, and the Holy Spirit our Comforter is the LOVE we all need

    Look in your Bible. It is the first place to find the love you do not deserve and cannot earn.  Thank you Jesus for this gift of the cross.

  • Act Accordingly – Acts 1:

    Act Accordingly – Acts 1:

    It’s a big important event.  The many details and much planning are well beyond our comprehension.

    We know the time is near.  The clock of our daily existence counts down toward a moment of Highest importance which we do not fully understand.  We watch and wait.

    This is the setting of the beginning of Acts.  Luke has set the scene, one we can understand more in a 20th c. context of waiting for a launch of men to the moon.  We are most uncertain of the outcome.

    We will discover more about the author of Luke-Acts, a two-part book, later in Acts.  Doctor Luke begins with a summary of his Gospel as describing about Jesus until the time “he was taken up into heaven…” 

    The Apostles have received their instructions after Jesus’ crucifixion, death and resurrection to wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit.  This same Holy Spirit had descended on Jesus at the beginning of His three-year journey toward the Cross.

    ‘What do we do now, just watch?’ they must have thought. The risen Christ Jesus gives his first orders as King.  He needs to populate His Kingdom. GO find faithful followers who will be baptized – changed permanently – and receive the Holy Spirit.

    Our risen Lord affirms: Acts 1: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.

    And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

    9 After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him.

    10 As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”

    Here is their dear friend and teacher, who they thought had been taken from them by death.  He is risen in great power over sin and death!  His Kingdom begins: but not on earth (for now), but in Heaven.

    Who will be subject to the righteous rule of love and grace by the risen Christ Jesus,

    King and Lord?

    Our Lord Christ Jesus will return once more for His servants.  Who do you serve? Are you willing?  Are you ready?

    What must you do?

     

  • True of False Teaching?

    True of False Teaching?

    But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will privately bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. – 2 Peter 2:1 – Webster Bible

    How is it that you can listen to false teachers for hours, yet will not READ your Bible even for minutes?

    Do you believe the Bible? How will you know if your teacher is false?

    Peter writes this warning to the church.  Media of this 21st c. rapidly spreads many false teachings who now publicly proclaim ‘damnable heresies.’ You can find whatever you want to believe on the Internet, on TV, on the radio, and in many churches who seek followers of anything to support their false gospel and give to their false causes.

    IF you do NOT hear the Name Jesus, IF Christ is never mentioned, IF you do NOT hear of the Cross and the Resurrection, IF only brief mention of scripture is used to make a point of what God is doing for YOU: beware.

    Most modern Bibles soften the Greek for ‘heresy,’ but the meaning remains. Have you read this warning of Peter to the church? Do you even know what a heresy is?

    Heresy – It’s an act of taking something from someone else, choosing a non-Biblical belief, dissensions arising from diversity of opinions and aims.

    The One certainty of Truth is Christ Jesus. IF you want to follow Him and NOT some false teacher, try reading the Bible just a bit more (daily is best) and listen to those trying to teach you something about God a lot less. False teachers abound.

    Do NOT follow the crowds of false teachers who steal the sheep of Jesus and rob the flocks of their salvation.

    Jesus IS Lord.  Have you heard your shepherd say that lately? Could you be following a liar and a thief? Check out every teaching in the Bible.