Category: Level: Intermediate

prophecy

The Happy Marriage Of Prophecy And Discernment

Posted on by

May of us have experienced disappointments with those who give prophecies. We know that Scripture gives high honor to prophecy. When someone prophesies this means they are speaking words from God. This reflects God’s desire to communicate with his children and give them encouragement and instruction (1 Cor. 14:31). God values prophecy and instructs us to “be eager to prophesy” (1 Cor. 14:39 ESV). In practice it is common to find many problems with the exercise of the gift of prophecy. The one receiving the prophecy often adds their own interpretation when they express it which damages what God is trying to say. Also, in their zeal to be supportive of prophecy many leaders do not apply the principles of discernment which leads to “prophets” giving advice about others’ futures which ends up taking people down wrong roads. When it comes to giving advice for the future or predicting specific Continue Reading →

Big brother

Our Big Brother Blazed The Way For Us

Posted on by

The family of God has an unusual genesis. It has a Father like other families but it also has another member who made the family possible: a big brother. In the family of God everyone has a big brother and the big brother is Jesus. He is the “oldest” of the siblings because He is the first of the newly designed humans, the first of the new Adams. He was the first to live an ideal human life and he did this is order to blaze a new trail for the rest of us to follow. The power he had to be the first ideal human is available to us too. When we first believe we receive a new self that is like Jesus’ pure human self but it is an infant new self. God’s goal was to choose people “to become like his Son, so that his Son would Continue Reading →

close friends

Do You Desire Deeper Friendships? – Part Four

Posted on by

So far in this series we have looked at several ways for developing close spiritual friends. This week we look at accountability and healing. Many of us have a love/hate relationship with accountability. We know that it is good for us but we rarely, if ever, go seeking it out. And if someone tries to hold us accountable without our asking our usual impulse is to resist it. Moreover, the idea of us holding others accountable makes us cringe because we don’t feel qualified or we fear the disturbance in our relationship. But if we want deep spiritual friendships then we will welcome accountability. In the New Testament accountability is mentioned in the form of warning each other. Colossians 3:16 instructs us to be “admonishing one another”. The word for admonish means gently warn or caution. I prefer the word warn because “admonish” is vague to many of us. Warning Continue Reading →

close friends

Do You Desire Deeper Friendships? – Part Three

Posted on by

So far in this series we have looked at four ways for developing close spiritual friends: bearing burdens, using spiritual gifts, building one another up, and encouragement. Today we look at two more: comfort and intentionality. II Cor. 11:4 teaches us: “[God] comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” (ESV)  It is interesting that the Greek word for comfort is the same word used to describe that Holy Spirit as a comforter, paraklētos. Thus, believers have the role of doing the work of the Holy Spirit toward each other. All comfort comes from God and we are to be the channels. Paraklētos can also mean exhort or urge and this is how it is used in other passages. Thus, we are to comfort, exhort and urge Continue Reading →

close friends

Do You Desire Deeper Friendships? – Part Two

Posted on by

Last week we looked at two principles for developing close spiritual friends: bearing each others’ burdens and using spiritual gifts. This post looks at two more. Remember, this could apply one on one or in a group. The next principle is intentionally building one another up to be more like Christ. I Cor. 14:26b states: “Let all things be done to build each other up.” Eph. 4:12-13 explains that God gave different types of people to the church “for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain . . .  to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Think about how helpful it would be to have a couple friends who consistently encouraged you to become more like Christ. How much strength would it give you to have someone speaking words to help you be more like Christ in specific situations in Continue Reading →