Category: Level: Beginner

After a life on earth of seeing Jesus “in a mirror dimly” we finally get to see him “face to face” (1 Cor. 13:12, ESV). To see someone is to experience them. We want to see Jesus because we want to fully experience who he is. Why do we yearn to see a loved one whom we have been separated from even though we can talk to them on the phone? Because we want to fully experience them. We want to see their expressions, we want to see their reaction to us, we want to feel their presence. Likewise, we want to see Jesus, who is the human expression of the Father, because we want to see his goodness and the beauty of his perfection. Henry Suso imagines Jesus saying: “All and everything that thou and all men can possibly imagine of form, of elegance, and grace, is in Me Continue Reading →

We love the future appearance of Jesus because is it the doorway to all the delights of the New Creation of God. One of these blessings is the defeat of evil. When Jesus appears it will mean the end of a destructive and painful world, “in bondage to corruption” (Rom. 8:21, ESV), where all believers and all creation groan, waiting for the redemption, the Christformation, of the people of God (Rom. 8:22-23, 29). Remember that in Genesis 3:10 after Satan had succeeded in tempting Adam and Eve away from communion with God, God made a vow to Satan that Eve’s offspring would stomp on Satan’s head. When Jesus came, as one of Eve’s offspring, he began his kingdom’s assault on the Enemy. When he rose from the dead he declared that “all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18, NIV). He is “far above Continue Reading →

Discernment is an extremely important skill for spiritual growth. God wants us to constantly discern our world so that we can keep pursuing him. Discernment means being able to distinguish between the influences of God, ourselves, the Enemy and others. Scripture also presents it as the ability to distinguish good and bad (Heb. 5:14). Discernment is our inner navigator on the path of growth. Paul prays for the Philippians: “It is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ” (Phil. 1:9-10, ESV). Thus, knowledge and discernment are needed if our love is to grow, which is the essence of maturity. Notice that Paul says “all” discernment. Furthermore, discernment allows us to approve and embrace what is good which leads to holiness. Why is that Continue Reading →