Month: March 2020

marriage, bride, wedding, spiritual

Are You Looking Forward To Your Wedding Day?

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1 Peter 1:13 directs us to “Set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (ESV). In other words, we keep our focus on the coming age when God will recreate the earth into a New Earth and come and live with us. So, it is important to spend time reflecting on the blessings God will bring to us then. Perhaps what is most astonishing about the next age is that we will be “married” to the Lamb (Rev. 19:6-9; 21:2, 9-27; 22:17). “In the story of redemption and the history of heaven the supreme event for which the ages are waiting is the marriage of the Lamb. The Bible is one long love story and redemption a divine romance of the love of God.”[1] The idea that the people of God are the bride of God or Jesus is Continue Reading →

Weekly words of encouragement

Jesus’ Commandments Bring Joy – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

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“The commandments of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart” (Psalm 19:8, NLT). We may not normally think of God’s commandments as sources of joy. We tend to think that they are challenging and sometimes difficult and that we may not feel good as we keep them. But if we reflect a little more we realize that it is God’s commandments that bring us life and joy. A few lines earlier in this Psalm we hear that God’s instruction revive the soul (v. 7). God’s commands don’t just keep us from being destructive they also guide us into peace and maturity. They guide us into communion with God in Christ. This is why Jesus said: “If you love me, obey my commandments” (John 14:15, NLT). He wants us to follow what he taught (the Sermon on the Mount and everything else) because these directives keep us abiding in Continue Reading →

social justice

How Should We Pursue Social Justice?

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All believers agree that Jesus calls us to help the needy and to be a positive influence on our society. However, believers disagree over the ways in which Christians should get involved in society. This post reflects on biblical principles related to our call to influence our society. Some believers mostly withdraw from society and believe that this is the Scriptural approach. They do not pursue the transformation of structural injustice in their society. One reason these people take this approach is that directives for organized political involvement are conspicuous by their absence in the New Testament as compared to the Old Testament. In the Old Testament God constantly challenged Jewish political leaders and the wealthy to form a just society, including laws to relieve human suffering. But there are no clear instructions to Christians in the New Testament to gain political influence and reform unjust systems. Of course, this Continue Reading →

Weekly words of encouragement

Deliverance From Tribulation – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

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4 The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.5 The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me. 19 He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me. (Psalms 18:4-5, 19, NIV) In this Psalm King David had been attacked by powerful enemies and his reign was in jeopardy but God powerfully intervened and strengthened the king and gave him victory. How does this apply to Christians? As we mentioned last week, under the new covenant believers have no geographic kingdom in this world (John 18:36) and “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world” (Eph. 6:12, NIV). We also have the enemies of general corruption around us that damage us, the enemy of our old self which tries to Continue Reading →