If I went to an auto parts store and got all the parts to an automobile, got a garage to put them in and the tools to put the parts together I would still be at a loss as to how to build it. I would need three things, a picture of the car, the plans to put the parts together and the expertise for its assembly. First, I would need to know the concept of what a car is, what it looks like, what it is designed for and the plans to build it. Second, I would need to organize, arrange for and…

What does it take to solve a math problem? I remember when I was first taking algebra and the teacher would write equations on the board. I would sit there and wonder what in the world it was about and how to follow the steps he was giving me. One in particular, plus or minus b-squared, times the square root of so and so, got me. I’d ask classmates how they did it. I’d do the steps taught and it worked but I really didn’t get it regardless of how many times I worked it. It took about three…

Reluctance, indifference, apathy, guilt, pride, shame, withdrawal and denial; the spiritual droppings of fear that inhabit the heart's withdrawal from its created design to be consciously spiritual, personal and relational. They are the symptoms making up part of the fig leaf obsession covering our individual aloneness. They are buttressed by the invented conclusions we make about how we can best deal with our life in the world around us. Those conclusions come from our experience of…

If I went to an auto parts store and got all the parts to an automobile, got a garage to put them in and the tools to put the parts together I would still be at a loss as to how to build it. I would need three things, a picture of the car, the plans to put the parts together and the expertise for its assembly.

First, I would need to know the concept of what a car is, what it looks like, what it is designed for and the plans to build it.

Second, I would need to organize, arrange…

1500 years before Jesus came, that’s when scholars believe Moses wrote Genesis. Genesis contains the roots of God’s plan to recover mankind. It logs us in to the origin of everything, the universe, mankind’s beginning, the fall of man from God and the seed stories of God’s plan for man’s recovery. One in particular sets the stage for the Cross of Christ, our redemption and salvation through it. It is that heart-moving story of God testing Abraham, Chapter 22. Let’s look at it. After you read…

Who's really in control? That is one of the big issues in our lives as we go from moment to moment. One of the major goals of the devil's spirit, sin, is to get us to be constantly concerned about being in control. That is, control of how we look to the rest of the world around us, how we respond in unexpected moments, how we set up our lives in a way that gives us the least problems and the most security. Relational control involves knowing how to…

When God Gets Personal

Jesus tells us in John 16 what the Holy Spirit will do, “8When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; 10in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”

Now is when Jesus really gets personal. He knows exactly what the…

As we have already indicated, a spiritual heart is a heart sensitive to the spiritual dimension wherein our relationship with Jesus guides us with His Word. He is the light that reveals its contents and the bread that sustains us within it. He brings us into His Kingdom, the Kingdom of the hearts, the Kingdom of God. He is the gate through which we walk each day and the shepherd who protects us along the way. He sends His Spirit who makes us one with Him and gives us His eyes to see and His…

As we have already indicated, a spiritual heart is a heart sensitive to the spiritual dimension wherein our relationship with Jesus guides us with His Word. He is the light that reveals its contents and the bread that sustains us within it. He brings us into His Kingdom, the Kingdom of the hearts, the Kingdom of God. He is the gate through which we walk each day and the shepherd who protects us along the way. He sends His Spirit who makes us one with Him and gives us His eyes to see and His…

Growing in the Spirit

Based on the last posting consider these three things again:

First, you are conscious of living in a spiritual dimension that governs the physical dimension. You begin viewing everything from a spiritual perspective. There is a whole spiritual reality behind everything you see.

Second, you were directly connected to God by being born again spiritually. You have found your real identity as an image of God and a disciple of Jesus. Jesus becomes the…

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will…

Pentecost 4 The One Sufficient Spirit

Before Pentecost the world simply accepted a variety of gods, religions and the multiplicity of all kinds of spirits. Guesswork at best, philosophers searching and a general resignation to whatever seemed to satisfy for the moment.

But with Pentecost came the revelation, recognition and realization of the Holy Spirit as the singular Spirit of the One God. First, the revelation that God is a Father, second, the recognition that the Son is…

The single most important event after the coming of the Lord Jesus is His sending the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. This is where the shift to true reality begins. It is the Holy Spirit who brings our minds, our hearts and our spirits into spiritual reality. Because of this fact we are going to spend the next few pages visiting the event itself.

Acts 2:1-4 “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.  Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from…