Category: Level: Beginner

holy spirit

What Does The Holy Spirit Feel Like?

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It is important to understand what it feels like for us to host the Spirit of God. This helps us avoid discouragement as well as presumption. Jesus gave us some description of the experience of the Spirit when he said: “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ Now this he said about the Spirit” (John 7:38-39, ESV). The Spirit wants to be a river of life flowing out of us! Some people feel a strong sense of the Spirit when they first believe. They may feel a powerful love from God invading their hearts. They may feel a peaceful presence from outside them filling them up inside. They may feel strong joy or holiness. Later, their strong sense of his Spirit often becomes moderate or light. A few are blessed with a strong sense of the Spirit for Continue Reading →

heavenly body, shining

We Will Finally Be Good – Our Future Christformation Part 2

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We may get frustrated with our lack of godliness but there is coming a day when our frustration will end. After Jesus returns all our effort to “press on to take hold” (Phil. 3:10, NIV) will come to an end. God will make us fully Christlike. Our complete Christformation is promised many times in the New Testament. For example: “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom. 8:29, ESV). 1 Corinthians 15:49 states: “Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven” (ESV). One of the implications of this Christformation is that we will be thoroughly good. Goodness describes God. Jesus said “no one is good except God alone” (Luke 18:19, ESV). Thus, God is the source of good (James 1:17) and he constantly directs us Continue Reading →

Jesus coming

Why We Love The Coming Appearance Of Jesus

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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 →

judgement

Why Will God Destroy Unbelievers?

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The New Testament makes it abundantly clear that God will punish and destroy those who have not followed him (for example, see Matt. 7:13-14; 7:19; 13:40-42; 25:30; 25:46; Mark 9:47-48; Luke 12:46; 13:28; 16:22-24; 20:47; Rom. 2:5-10; 2 Thess. 1:6-9; Heb. 6:8; 10:26-27, 39; James 5:20; Jude 1:13; Rev. 11:18; 20:15.) This may be the more difficult to accept than any other teaching in Scripture. Why would God issue a sentence of destruction on billions of people? Consider the fact that they lived their whole lives without ever pursuing the opportunities they had to find God in Christ. To begin with, God created humans in such a way that they are responsible to seek him. Acts 17:26-27 explains: “And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they Continue Reading →

defeat evil

Anticipating The Defeat Of Evil

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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 →