In the book of Jonah, we have a tale of two hearts. We can see God’s heart of compassion for the city of Nineveh. We can also see that God’s prophet Jonah has no heart for Nineveh. What is the problem here? Jonah knows the Lord. Jonah knows His voice. Jonah was gifted spiritually, operating in the prophetic. Jonah was not a big time sinner. And yet with all of these spiritual credentials, Jonah simply has no heart for Nineveh. As it turns out, is heart was not tuned into the heart of God. So, what does the Lord do? He confronts Jonah with a situation that shows him how out of tune he is.
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God is the Master planner. If anyone can put a complex plan in motion and bring it to its desired end, it is God the Father. The most complex plan the world has ever seen was when He bought Jesus to planet earth to give His life in exchange for ours. The fulfilling of this plan was no cake walk. It was no Sunday stroll through the park. Here are a just a few elements in the political arena that had to happen in order to bring this plan to fruition.
God’s plan was thought up and set in motion before the foundations of the world (Eph. 1:4). Particular courses of events and situations, at times, align to bring into a focus a particular aspect of God’s wisdom and plan. Today, we are going to look at the birth of Jesus in this way. We are going to look at some of the events that came into view and we are going to ask a rather startling question about one of those events, the appearing of the star. Here is the question: ‘What would have happened, had the star not appeared?’
What if you had a special once in a life time encounter with Jesus? What if He came into your living room, sat down on your couch and gave you the opportunity to ask Him one question that He would answer? What question would you ask Him? What if Jesus limited the category that you could the question to lost people that are in your life, your friends, or your family what question would you ask Him?
How long have you been after your loved ones to come to know Jesus as their Savior? Has it been a struggle? Are they resisting the message of the gospel more and more. Do they seem to be getting further away from Him with each passing day? Here are some things you can do to cooperate with God in the salvation of your loved ones.
In the Gospel of John there are seven ‘I am’ statements that Jesus made concerning Himself. There is much to learn about Jesus just by studying these names. Jesus said, ‘I am the Bread of Life’; ‘I am the Good Shepherd’; ‘I am the Resurrection and the Life’; ‘I am the Light of the World’; ‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life’; ‘I am the True Vine’; and the subject of this post ‘I am the Door’.
In 1Jn 1:1-3, John testifies to his encounter with Jesus. John’s testimony is a simple one. Jesus is not an illusion – ‘we saw Him’. He is not a figment of our imagination, – ‘we touched Him’. He is not a fairy tale – ‘we heard Him’. If you believe in Him, your testimony can parallel John’s. By faith, you can see Him. By faith, you can touch Him. By faith, you can hear Him. By faith, you can encounter Him.
How do we pray about the plan of God for our lives? Jesus gave us a startling promise concerning prayer. He said, abiding in Him and His Words abiding in us makes answered prayer a done deal (John 15:7). According to Jesus, praying about the plan involves something called ‘abiding’ in Him. What does it mean to abide in Him? Part of abiding in Him involves the discipline of waiting upon God. Praying about the plan entails waiting on God for His direction. We want to successfully fulfill His will, we must learn the secret of waiting.
The more we align with God’s Word the more efficiently things work. They do not work as well the less you are in line with His Word. The church would get better results, you as an individual believer would get better results, the more you line up with God’s plan, God’s thoughts, and God’s ways. God’s way is the leadership of the Spirit in one’s life. The more you flow with the Holy Spirit, the less you try to do things on your own, the more efficiently things work. But there is a problem that has developed in America that is blocking the flow.
Phillip had a divinely inspired encounter with a lost person. The woman at the well had a Holy Spirit laced encounter with Jesus as did Nathanael. And what about the day of Pentecost? Are these encounters a pattern of how soul winning can be carried out? Let’s investigate God’s Word on the matter and see how the Holy Spirit encounters lost people.
Integrity is like virginity, once it is gone, it is gone for good.
One of the most interesting and widely displayed gifts in the Bible is the gift of discerning of spirits. Many questions have arisen about exactly what this gift, that comes via the Holy Spirit, is. In this post, we will examine this most important manifestation and try to address some of the common misconceptions.
