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Just
in case you were concerned that all this talk of mercy and justice was
only an Old Testament concept; today I share the words of Jesus.
Matthew records Jesus’ scolding words in Matthew 23.
If you are afraid to come to Jesus because of some sin you carry, if
you have never accepted the amazing gift of God’s grace and mercy that
Jesus embodies, if you think becoming a follower of Christ is all about
following rules, keep in mind the words of Jesus recorded in Matthew 23
are not for the “sinner.” Jesus never spoke harshly to a sinner. God
didn’t sacrifice His only Son to lord your sin over you or simply for
the pleasure of reminding you how wrong you are.
Too Weary to Love
Jesus’ words in this passage
are for those who claim His name. Jesus’ words do sting, only because
God wants His followers to be HIS ambassadors, not free agents
who claim His name. The call of the Christian is not to make our own
rules. The call of Jesus is not to disregard the rules. The call of
Jesus is to give the rules the proper weight.
A few days ago, in the post, Accept No Substitutions
I shared my real-life experience with the concept Jesus was trying to
get across. As I read this passage, it stings my heart because I’m
content to do my best at what I’m good at doing. I will, in essence,
give a tithe of my spices; for me that’s easy. Jesus is saying that isn’t enough.
When I look at the call to be
merciful, just and loyal, it’s then I realize I underestimate my need
for God’s mercy. How can I possibly be merciful to others, if I don’t
completely understand the magnitude of God’s mercy to me? How can I
act justly if I see others as different from me in our need for a
Savior?
Seeking God’s Mercy
This month as I’ve read about
and pondered the notion of justice and mercy I’ve come to realize how my
heart harnesses and stifles God’s goodness. I’ll admit, I need
salvation. I’ll admit, I need grace. I’m reluctant to admit I need
mercy. Remember, mercy is not getting the punishment you deserve. If
I’m reluctant to admit I need mercy, I’m not very likely to act in mercy
toward others.
Have you asked God for His
mercy? How much do you think you need? A few weeks ago, I would have
shrugged at both of those questions. I’ve come to realize I need an
infinite supply of His mercy. I can follow the rules good enough to be
accepted by those around me, but I need a huge, daily shot of God’s
mercy; more than I ever realized, to be truly obedient. I need God’s
mercy not only to be obedient in my motives and actions, but also to
make sense of the world around me.
Lamentations 3
is one of my favorite chapters. I looked at it differently today.
Life is a constant barrage of consequences, inconvenience, suffering and
in some cases pain. In the middle of all of that, regardless of the
situation, God offers new mercy each morning.
For what? To make it through
the day. Each day, I need to rely on God’s mercy for the events of the
day. I need God’s mercy; not for some Herculean task but simply to make
it through the day. I need mercy.
How about you?
Father, thank you for your
infinite mercy. Thank you for giving it freely. Help me truly
understand your desire, not for robotic obedience, to act in justice and
mercy and to seek a deeper relationship with You.
Reblogged from http://blog.febc.org/faith/much-mercy-need
CHRIST’S BIRTH, AS I UNDERSTAND IT
A virgin named Mary, who was engaged to a man named Joseph, was
pregnant with the Son of God, which was the result of the miraculous
working of the Holy Spirit. When Joseph, to whom she was engaged, found
out, he, being a just man and not wanting her to be stoned to death for
having committed adultery, was trying to think of how he could quietly
break off their engagement.
But while he was thinking about it, he fell asleep, and the Angel of the
Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, of the family of
David, do not be afraid to take Mary to be your wife. The Child she is
carrying is a miracle, conceived of the Holy Spirit. And she shall
bring forth a Son, and you are to call His name JESUS: for He shall save
His people from their sins.”
Now all this was done that Isaiah 7:14 might be fulfilled, which was
spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Behold, a virgin shall
be with Child, and shall bring forth a Son, and they shall call
His title, “Emmanuel,” which means “God with us.” [Note: Mary's
pregnancy, like all pregnancies, involved a child, not a fetus, not an
embryo, not even a fertilized egg; she was with Child!]
When Joseph woke up, he did as the Angel of the Lord had told him,
and he married Mary. And Mary remained a virgin until she gave birth
to her firstborn Son: and Joseph called His name
“JESUS” (Mt. 1:18-25).
And there were, in the same country, shepherds abiding in the field,
keeping watch over their flock by night. And suddenly, the Angel of the
Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord surrounded them: and
they were so afraid. And the Angel said unto them, “Fear not: for,
behold, I bring great news, which shall be a blessing to all people.
Just as the Word of God promised, your Messiah, Christ the Lord, has
been born today in Bethlehem, the City of David.”
And this is
how you will recognize Him; you will find the Baby wrapped in a
receiving blanket, lying in an animal’s feed trough. And suddenly,
there was with the Angel, a multitude of the heavenly host praising God,
and saying, “Glory to God in heaven, and on earth, peace and good will
to all men.” And it came to pass, after the angels were gone, the
shepherds said one to another, “Let us go and see this thing which has
happened, this thing which the Lord hath made known unto us.”
And
when they arrived in Bethlehem, they found Mary and Joseph, and
the Baby was lying in an animal’s food trough, just as they had been
told. And when they had seen Him, they told everyone what they had been
told concerning the Child, Israel’s Messiah (Lk. 2:8-17).
Reblogged from Paul Mutschler on http://skipslighthouse.blogspot.com/2013/12/christs-birth-as-i-understand-it.html
Jewel of Christ’s Return
A
CAREFUL AND prayerful study of the New Testament will lead us to see
that Christ is central throughout its entirety. He is foreshadowed in
the Old Testament and particularly through the main and minor prophets,
the message is clear in pertaining to the Messiah to come; this was
Israel’s hope. How the Anointed One was to be manifest was where
many in Israel lost their way; many were looking for the physical
restoration of the twelve tribes. Even the twelve disciples were
anticipating Christ overthrowing tyranny by establishing a physical
reign. For Him to die at the hands of a brutal regime was absolute
madness and ran contrary to what they understood of the Scriptures. Only
after when Christ opened their eyes (after His resurrection) and
expounded the Scriptures, from Moses and all the Prophets, did they
rightly perceive the kingdom of God.
Are
we falling into the same error as Israel in foretelling and reading the
signs of how and where Christ will appear? The Biblical Christ is
seldom proclaimed in our westernised cultures and yet so many believers
get so hung-up over eschatology (Doctrine of the Last Things). How
are we to be balanced in regards to prophecy, pertaining to the future
and of Christ’s Second Coming, when we fail to perceive Who He really
is? If we are not enlightened (by the Holy Spirit) to Who the Son of God
is, how will we ever rightly prepare for His Second Coming?
Studying
eschatology is important and we are misguided to shelve (disregard) any
portion of Scripture through fear of confusion and controversy. It is,
however, understandable to some extent as to why some avoid this subject
(in so far as discussing it) for this very reason, but that doesn’t
justify ignorance in these matters; we are to grow up into Christ in all
things.
The
other aspect is to be obsessed with prophecy on end-time
interpretations to the point where we are only concerned with the
phenomena of things coming to fruition. Satan
will drive us to fanaticism and have us expend all our energies on end
time doctrine – or any other doctrine – so long as Christ is not
central. It is the subtlety that is the deception where one is
driven to excess. We know that there are numerous passages in the
gospels and epistles that pertain to Christ’s Second Advent, but their main and emphatic principle is that we may know the Son of God and have life in and through Him.
Was
it not Paul’s calling and desire to make Christ known, crucified and
resurrected? Was it not the greatest Apostle’s office to proclaim Him: “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ” (Colossians 1:28)? Was it not Paul who said to the church at Galatia, “…my little children, for whom I am in the anguish of childbirth until Christ be formed in you!” (Galatians 4:19)?
When end time doctrine presides over and above our looking to Christ, we are actually straying into grievous error. Observing animosity on current public forums over how Christ will come and establish His kingdom
(whether or not you adhere to Dispensationalism or Covenant Theology;
A, Pre or Post Millennialism; A, pre, mid or post rapture) is disgracefully divisive and grieving to the Spirit of God.
If the Apostle Paul (or any other Apostle for that matter) were to be
among us today, he would address such people in the same manner as the
‘Christians’ at Corinth who were by nature carnal. What other fruit,
besides arrogance and pride, does anyone get by insisting that their
view is right and everyone else’s is unintelligible or stupid?
Whatever
hermeneutics (science of interpretation) we may adopt in understanding
the Last Times, do we give people a sense of panic, fear and frustration
or do we encourage and build-up others in
the most holy Faith by having them look to Christ, to trust and rely on
Him with all their hearts? In all
our discussions of the end times, do we magnify Christ and strengthen
the hope of other believers? Do we exhort others to be ready for
Christ’s appearing? Are we living in the light of His coming?
The Apostles, in light of this subject, exhorted the Church to walk in holiness and as John wrote, “…everyone who thus hopes in Him [expecting Christ’s appearing] purifies himself as He is pure” (1 John 3:3).
I don’t see Christ being formed or people walking in holiness when
believers are bitterly falling out with one another over the manner in
which or what season and year Christ will come back. We will all find
out exactly when He does actually appear in all His glory and
majesty. Just as with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus who were
blind and ignorant to the Truth, so it
shall be with many of us when we see Him for Who He is; our eyes will be
opened and all our views will be infinitely eclipsed with His
unimaginable blazing-grandeur.
How
or what is going to materialise – whether the millennial kingdom is
through the entire Church age or a literal one-thousand year reign on
earth, with all its benefits, etc, etc – it is going to be nothing
compared to the beauty and majesty of God made visible to the eyes of
everyone. How so many harp on all the wonderful things in the millennial
reign, while, unbeknown, Christ takes second place in their conversation (this is where Satan’s misleading comes in). When John, on the Island of Patmos, saw Christ, he fell down as though dead; that was the greatest of all revelation and so it should be to anyone of us. Christ
is central and He is to be central in all our worship and living. In
all the visions of Isaiah and Ezekiel, the vision of God was too
overwhelmingly superior to put into perfect description; human
comprehension was utterly exhausted and dumbfounded.
What
aspects of the coming glory do we look forward to most? My friends, I
may be narrow-minded, but I don’t care if I see nothing else but God in all His glory for all ages of eternity.
God forgive us for thinking that we shall not eternally gaze on Him and
to not want for something else. Clothed in our right minds, we ought to
say with Charles Wesley that we shall be, “Lost in wonder, love and praise.”
I think it was Fanny Crosby (the famous blind hymn author) who said, in
her longing for heaven, that the first thing she looked forward to was
not the wonder of gaining her sight, but rather to gaze upon the beauty of Jesus. When I consider that, earth and everything of it just melts away.
I
have known of great friendships dissolving due to dividing on
non-fundamental doctrines. I personally know what it’s like to have
broken communication (not on my part) with others due to such
differences, which is saddening because I dearly miss their fellowship.
If we are in unity on the fundamental and primary doctrines (and one of
them is that Christ is soon returning), we have no justifiable reason to
exclude anyone from fellowship or to break friendship over secondary
issues. There are many godly leaders who, while I may disagree with
their eschatological views, will continue to respect and hold in high esteem due to their Christ-centred preaching.
God is reiterating to the Church the same words He spoke to Peter, James and John (on the Mount of Transfiguration) “This is My beloved Son, with Whom I am well pleased; listen to Him” (Matthew 17:5). God
speaks through His Son; we have the Scriptures – the final word that is
abundantly sufficient for the entire Church age. Everything is embodied
in Christ; it is in Him that ALL the promises of God are contained. He
is the express Image of God and in Him all the godhead dwells. “Long
ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the
prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, Whom He
appointed the heir of all things through Whom He also created the
world. He is the radiance of His glory and the exact imprint of His
nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1:1-3).
All the phenomena, signs and wonders that we may witness are nothing compared to the majesty of Jesus Christ; He is greater than any foretelling or any inauguration of a kingdom.
It was David who longed to behold the beauty of God in the sanctuary –
not the kingdom nor apparels or any other instrument in the tabernacle;
they were purely to aid one’s worship to focus on the God who rescued
Israel out of bondage – the God Who made heaven and earth. To behold God
is the essence of all things. Moses’ hearts desire was to see the glory of God; everything else was nothing to be compared. Even Christ, when addressing the Father on behalf of His disciples and others who were to believe, said, “to know You is eternal life.”
To know God Himself – is that our one aim and ambition in life? Do we
count everything rubbish in comparison to knowing Christ? Do we??
Are
we longing to see the King of kings and Lord of lords robed in majesty –
His omnipotence unveiled before the eyes of all humanity – incomparably
above all other phenomenal aspects? Do we long to know a sin-free
glorified resurrection to where we can look upon Him and live and so
worship Him perfectly?
It is Christ – the Alpha and the Omega – it is God
our souls should yearn to behold. It shall not be the back of God (as
with Moses) we shall see while He mercifully veils our eyes with His
hand lest we should die; we shall see Him as He is in all His awesome glory and live. Everything else will be but shadows when we see His face.
Do we long for it, do we confidently anticipate it and are we prayerfully preparing for it?
May God restore this missing jewel in the Church!
Reposted from Shade of the Moriah Tree Aug 30
“He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).
Do you sometimes feel as though
you are not making any progress in your spiritual life? The life of a
Christian is a journey. We have a supernatural, proficient guide and
map in the Spirit-inspired Scriptures, but we face distinct temptations
and trials. We know we have been saved by faith in Christ and have
heaven as our sure destination, but the intervening pilgrimage is
unique. We need God’s help.
I do not know where you are on
your personal journey. Perhaps you are exhausted and spent. Maybe you
have recently experienced significant growth, or you may have settled on
a comfortable plateau because of an uncertain future. But
I do know this: God wants you and me to enjoy and complete the journey.
He has pledged Himself to finish the good work He began in us at
salvation and will keep us strong until the end.
As with the Philippians, God will help us grow in grace
until He has completed His work in our lives. The God who began a good
work in us continues it throughout our lifetime and will finish it when
we meet Him face to face. God’s work for us began when Christ died on the cross in our place. His work in us began when we first believed. Now the Holy Spirit lives in us, enabling us to be more like Christ every day.
Great confidence gripped the
apostle as he thought and prayed for the body of Christ. Paul
guaranteed the believers that God would consider them “blameless” when Christ returns (1 Corinthians 1:8-9). This
guarantee was not because of their great gifts or shining performance,
but because of what Jesus Christ accomplished in them through His death
and resurrection. It was God’s work, not theirs, so Paul had no
question about the outcome. All who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ will be considered blameless when Jesus returns (1 Thessalonians 3:13; Hebrews 9:28). If you have faith in Christ, even if it is weak, you are and will be saved. All believers are justified by God’s grace and stand before Him “blameless” (“free from accusation”).
If
you are feeling discouraged, remember God won’t give up on you. If you
are feeling incomplete, unfinished, or distressed by your shortcomings,
remember God’s promise and provision. Don’t let your present condition
rob you of the joy of knowing Christ or keep you from growing closer to
Him. God will most certainly continue on to completion the good work
He began in us!
Posted on January 4, 2013 by Joe Quatrone, Jr.
- Christian Life is a Journey (joequatronejr.wordpress.com)
- Philippians 1:21 For me to live is Christ. (calvinistview.com)
- Philippians 1:8-11 (HCSB) (lwharper.wordpress.com)
- Jesus, Signs and Wonders (christophercrandolph.wordpress.com)
- Darrin Patrick – Marriage: Loving Your Wife and Your Mission (rodiagnusdei.wordpress.com)
- Philippians (tabernacleofgod.wordpress.com)
- Welcome to The New Earth (mytruthsetsmefree.wordpress.com)
- Sea Sick Medicine, Evans Olang (magnifyhisword.wordpress.com)
- So that I may gain Christ (dawnmarie4.wordpress.com)
- The Way, The Truth, And The Life (1shiningstar.wordpress.com)
A Clean Heart
Lyrics: Walter C. Smith
Music: Fred H. Byshe
One thing I of the Lord desire,
For all my path hath miry been,
Be it by water or by fire,
O make me clean, O make me clean.
Refrain:
Wash me, Thou, without, within,
Or purge with fire, if that must be,
No matter how, if only sin
Die out in me, die out, die out in me.
If clearer vision Thou impart,
Grateful and glad my soul shall be;
But yet to have a purer heart
Is more to me, is more to me.
Yea, only as this heart is clean
May larger vision yet be mine,
For mirrored in its depths are seen
The things divine, the things divine.
I watch to shun the miry way,
And stanch the springs of guilty thought,
But, watch and struggle as I may,
Pure I am not, pure I am not.
http://www.hymnpod.com/2013/01/10/a-clean-heart/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+hymnpod+%28HymnPod%29
A PROMISE FOR US AND FOR OUR CHILDREN
NO. 564
DELVERED ON SUNDAY MORNING, APRIL 10, 1864,
BY THE REV. C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
“Yet
now hear, O Jacob, My servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen: thus
says the Lord that made you, and formed you from the womb, which will
help you: Fear not, O Jacob, My servant; and you, Jesurun, whom I have
chosen. 
For I will pour water upon him
who is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour My
Spirit upon your seed, and My blessing upon your offspring: and they
shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.
One shall say, I am the Lord’s; and another shall call himself by the
name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord,
and surname himself by the name of Israel.”
Isaiah 44:1-5. 
Brothers and Sisters, reach
down for your biographies; turn over your diaries; go back with me a
little while to that spot where you first knew the Savior, then march on
along the way by which the Lord has led you, till you reach the day
and hour which found you in the House of God, listening to His promise.
We were once the servants of
sin, and the slaves of our own passions, but He who made us free has now
taken us into His family and taught us obedience to His will. We can
say with David, “I am Your servant; I am Your servant, and the son of Your handmaid: You have loosed my bonds.”
We
do not serve our Master perfectly, but we would if we could. There are
some of His Commandments which we forget, but there are none which we
would despise. We do, through infirmity, turn aside unto crooked ways,
but we find no comfort in them. Our meat and our drink is to do the will of Him who sent us, and our prayer is— “Make me to walk in Your commands, It is a delightful road. Nor let my head, nor heart, nor hands, Offend against my God.” 
Ah, my Savior is no fickle
lover. He does not feel enchanted for a while with some gleams of beauty
from His Church’s eyes, and then afterwards cast her off because of her
unfaithfulness.
Well then, here is His promise of what He will do, “I will help you.”
You cannot pray this morning; you cannot wrestle as you desire—“I will help you.” You feel unable to overcome sin—“I will help you.” You are engaged in service too heavy for you—“I will help you.” Whether it is to suffer, to sacrifice, to labor, or to endure, take this comfort—“I will help you.”
I love this promise! It is a very short one, but it is all the longer
in meaning because it is short in expression. You may avail yourself of
it in all cases. The promise turns every way, and blesses in every form.
It is like a weapon which may be used for 50 purposes—it will be to
you, if you will, a sword, and you may beat it into a plowshare; or it
will prove a shield, a spear, a chariot, and I know not what besides.
You cannot find any possible position into which the child of God can be
brought in which this promise will fail to bless him!
O my Brothers and Sisters, when the Holy Spirit visits a man, what a difference it makes in him!
I know a preacher, once as
dull and dead a man as ever misused a pulpit; under his slumbering
ministrations there were few conversions, and the congregation grew
thinner and thinner, good men sighed in secret, and the enemy said, “Aha, so would we have it!”
The revival came—the Holy
Spirit worked gloriously, the preacher felt the Divine Fire and suddenly
woke up to energy and zeal. The man appeared to be transformed; his
tongue seemed touched with fire; elaborate and written discourses were
laid aside, and he began to talk out of his own glowing heart to the
hearts of others! He preached as he had never done before; the place
filled; the dry bones were stirred, and quickening began! They who knew
him once so elegant, correct, passionless, dignified, cold, lifeless,
and unprofitable, asked in amazement, “Is Saul also among the Prophets?” The Spirit of God is a great wonder-worker!
You will notice certain Church
members; they have never been good for much; we have had their names on
the roll, and that is all—suddenly the Spirit of God has come upon
them, and they have been honored among us for their zeal and usefulness!
We have seen them here and there and everywhere diligent in the service
of God, and foremost in all sorts of Christian labor, though before you
could hardly get them to stir an inch.
I would that the quickening Spirit would come down upon me and upon you—upon every one of us in abundance—to create us valiant men for Truth and mighty for the Lord!
O for some of the ancient
valor of Apostolic times, that, like good Knights of the Cross we would
dash forward against the foe, and with irresistible courage deal heavy
blows against the adversary of souls and his vast host! We may do this;
we have only to plead the promise! God will be inquired of, but the
promise stands true, “I will pour water upon him who is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground.” Do not lose the blessing through remissness, but ask and you shall receive. 
Brothers and Sisters, pray for me; for I need more Grace, and in return I will plead the Lord’s words on your behalf. 
As a very great comfort to His mourning people, the Lord now promises A BLESSING UPON THEIR CHILDREN. You will observe, dear Friends, that they must get the blessing for themselves first, for the third verse has it—“I
will pour water upon him who is
thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground”—that is first; and then
afterwards—“I will pour My Spirit upon your seed.”
We
must not expect to see our children blessed unless we ourselves grow in
Grace. It is often the inconsistency of parents which is the
obstacle—the outward obstacle to the conversion of their children.
No doubt there have been multitudes of children of professing parents who have been damned instrumentally by the ungodliness and inconsistency of their parents at home.
The parents, let us hope, were
Christians—but there has been so much of apparent inconsistency about
them, that the ruin of their children has been the consequence. It is a
notorious fact that some of the worst of men have been the children of
godly parents.
Do pray, dear Friends, for your children, that God will pour His Spirit upon them; and as to the rest, you may depend that all the fruits will come in due time.
Tell the
child that he is dead in trespasses and sins, let there be no doubt
about his natural condition, and let this always be your prayer, “Almighty Grace, renew his heart; turn him from darkness to Light, and make him Yours!” 
Then you have in the promise in the third place, the plenty of Grace which God gives. He says, “I
will pour My Spirit upon your seed”—not a little of it—but they shall
have abundance. You ought not, in the case of children, to look merely
for life—you will find vigorous life! You
may not expect a little surface-knowledge only, but you may expect to
find in them a depth of knowledge in the things of God, for so God’s promise has it, “I will pour My Spirit upon your seed.” 
For my part I am more and more persuaded that the study of a good
Scriptural Catechism is of infinite value to our children,
The promise upon which I have
preached this morning needs to be pleaded before God, for God does not
fulfill such promises as these without our bringing them before Him in
earnest fervent prayer.
Some of us, in looking back, can speak of a godly father and a godly
grandfather; we can look for generations back, till as far as we can
trace a line—Divine Grace has run in our family. O that the line
may continue for years to come, till as long as generations are born,
there shall be one of our kith and kin to carry the standard, and sound
the trumpet, and fight for the Lord of Israel!
*************************************************
“Wake, parents of Israel! O hasten to plead
For the Spirit of Grace to descend!
The Word has gone forth, and the faithful have need
Of your prayers the great cause to defend.
From the youth of our country shall armies arise,
The Gospel of peace to proclaim;
Over the land and the seas, the glad message that flies,
Shall re-echo Immanuel’s name!
Wake, parents in Israel! O, wrestle and pray
That Grace to our youth may be given;
For the hands that in faith are uplifted today
Shall prevail with our Father in Heaven!”
Received on e-mail
Question: “What does it mean to grieve / quench the Holy Spirit?”
Answer: When the word “quench” is used in Scripture, it is speaking of suppressing fire. When believers put on the shield of faith, as part of their armor of God (Ephesians
6:16), they are extinguishing the power of the fiery darts from Satan.
Christ described hell as a place where the fire would not be “quenched”
(Mark 9:44, 46, 48). Likewise, the Holy Spirit is a fire dwelling
in each believer. He wants to express Himself in our actions and
attitudes. When believers do not allow the Spirit to be seen in our
actions, when we do what we know is wrong, we suppress or quench the
Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19). We do not allow the Spirit to reveal Himself the way that He wants to.
To
understand what it means to grieve the Spirit, we must first understand
that this indicates the Spirit possesses personality.Only a person can
be grieved; therefore, the Spirit must be a divine person in order to
have this emotion. Once we understand this, we can better understand how
He is grieved, mainly because we too are grieved.
Ephesians 4:30 tells us that we should not grieve the Spirit. We grieve
the Spirit by living like the pagans (4:17-19), by lying (4:25), by
being angry (4:26-27), by stealing (4:28), by cursing (4:29), by being
bitter (4:31), by being unforgiving (4:32), and by being sexually
immoral (5:3-5). To grieve the Spirit is to act out in a sinful manner,
whether it is in thought only or in both thought and deed.
Both quenching and grieving the
Spirit are similar in their effects. Both hinder a godly lifestyle.
Both happen when a believer sins against God and follows his or her own
worldly desires. The only correct road to follow is the road that leads the believer closer to God and purity, and farther away from the world and sin.
Just as we do not like to be grieved, and just as we do not seek to
quench what is good—so we should not grieve or quench the Holy Spirit by
refusing to follow His leading.
Recommended Resource:The Wonderful Spirit-Filled Life by Charles Stanley.
Bible Questions Answered by GotQuestions.org
With over 3,000
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Because we are saved by God’s
grace (unmerited by us), that means whatever good that we do in this
life, God deserves all the credit!
It is His salvation! It is His working! It is His power! To God be the glory!
Knowing this, here are seven reasons we should walk in humility with our God (Mic. 6:8)!
* “But as many as received Him
(Jesus), to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on His name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (Jn. 1:12-13).
* For by grace are ye saved
through faith; and that not of yourselves: it (salvation) is the gift of
God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath
before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:8-10).
* “And God is able to make all
grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all
things, may abound to every good work” (2 Cor. 9:8).
* “But the Comforter, which is
the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you
all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have
said unto you.”Jn.14:26
* “But ye shall receive power,
after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses
unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto
the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
* “Being confident of this very
thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until
the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6).
* “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13).
There is no place for pride, arrogance, superiority, or self-righteousness in God’s child!
http://skipslighthouse.blogspot.com/2012/08/to-god-be-all-glory.html
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