Those who are “born of God” (John 1:13) have an identity in Christ which is not derived from race or nationality, nor from family or culture, nor our own ingenuity. This is a birthright which comes only when we receive Christ as the One Isaiah called our “Eternal Father” (Isaiah 9:6). For only a Father can give the right to be called a child. Only the Father’s blessing can be the blessing of a birthright. So, ultimately, everyone must wrestle
On my seventy-eighth birthday, I was feeling sorry for myself. This verse came to mind: “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10) A very familiar verse. What does that mean? Is that the best translation of the Hebrew? Is “joy” a verb or a noun – an activity or a feeling? Who’s joy? The Lord’s – but in the gospel of John, Jesus spoke of both “His joy” and “our joy”. And in the gospel of Matthew,
In other articles, I have written at length about what could be called “THE REVELATION – RELATIONSHIP – REFLECTION CONTINUUM”. The concept is that the life of one who “has received the Spirit of Christ and therefore belongs to Christ” (Romans 8:9-10) can be viewed as the pursuit of Revelation of Christ, which grows into Relationship with Christ, with a view to Reflection of Christ. This article will deal with “The Fellowship with the Spirit”, being presented here as integrally
This message is about eating and drinking – eating and drinking with Adam and Eve, eating and drinking with Moses, as well as eating and drinking with Jesus, and His Disciples – giving insights into the meaning of Jesus’ cryptic saying, “Eat of My body, and drink of My blood”.
This teaching has to do with nurturing one’s personal relationship with Christ with a view to spiritual transformation (growth in Christ-likeness). Too often discipleship is understood to be attending a special “discipleship class”; and mere attendance is the only responsibility of the disciple. At best, this would make one a disciple of a teacher, and not a disciple of Christ. A disciple of Christ must “attend” to fellowship with the Spirit of Christ. In one sense, this fellowship takes place
Both the Old and New Testaments instruct us to know and understand God: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me….” Jeremiah 9:23-24a “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” John 17:3 In the
“God-Centeredness” is a quintessential issue. All Christians, as well as all churches and ministries come down on one side of the line or the other regarding Man-Centeredness or God-Centeredness. There is a very clear line of demarcation. Our perspective has implications for virtually every activity of both our personal and corporate lives as Christians. Our perspective also affects our understanding of God Himself, as well as His eternal plans and purposes. In order to address the issue of God-Centeredness, we need to
