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God can and always will.

24. Jul 2024 On The Way In Love
Have you ever faced trial after trial in your life and just sometimes wondered if God could really rescue you or even if God was still there? Well, as always, let’s see what the Bible has to say! “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall flame scorch you” (Isa 43:2; NKJV). That is pretty clear and encouraging. We don’t need to fear when things come against us because God is our strength (Ps 27:1), He will help us and hold us up (Isa 41:10). The writer of Hebrews goes a step further and assures us that with God helping us, people can’t do anything to us (Heb 13:6). God tells us to give Him all our burdens and cares and He won’t let us be shaken (Ps 55:22). The apostle Peter emphasizes that we should give God all of our cares and not just some (1 Peter 5:7). I am sure that means that we should give them to God and not pick them up again and worry.
There are many places in the Bible where we read, “He (I) will never leave you nor forsake you” (e.g. Deut 31:6,8; Heb 13:5; 1 Chron 28:20; NKJV). This refers to God and the psalmist added that God is always with us (Ps 73:23). God is with us wherever we are (Josh 1:9). Jesus assured His disciples and us that, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt 28:20; NKJV). We just need to look to God, believe His word, ask for His help and remember that nothing is too hard for Him (Luke 1:37).

God’s Power in us.

19. Jul 2024 On The Way In Love
When we think of God we often think of power. “You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for you” (Jer 32:17; NKJV). Mary conceived Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35). Jesus came to earth as a man and had to be filled or anointed with God’s Holy Spirit power to carry out the ministry the Father had for Him (John 3:32). That power flowing through Him brought healing and deliverance to those around Him (Luke 6:19; Acts 10:38). We are also told in the word that it was the Holy Spirit that, “raised Jesus from the dead” (Rom 8:11). Jesus promised His disciples that they would get power to minister when they were filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8) and this happened in Acts 2:1-4. The power of the Holy Spirit is clearly seen in the early church with thousands of lives being saved and transformed along with signs, wonders and miracles (e.g. Acts 2:41; Acts 19:11-12). That Holy Spirit that dwelt in Jesus also lives in us as born-again Spirit-filled Christians and the writer of Romans assures us that the Holy Spirit will, “give life to your mortal bodies” (Rom 8:11b; NKJV). The apostle Peter wrote that the Holy Spirit “has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). Now that covers every aspect of our existence. The Holy Spirit also empowers us to be ambassadors, ministers and witnesses in our Christian lives (Acts 1:8b). In our own strength alone, we are weak but we can live mighty, fruitful lives with God’s power.

Pursue

17. Jul 2024 On The Way In Love
There are certain things that the Bible tells us to “pursue”. In the Greek that means to “seek after eagerly and earnestly” In light of that I thought it was worth studying what we are to pursue. The first thing that caught my attention was love, the cardinal virtue. 1 Cor 14:1 says, “Seek to acquire (this) love (make it your aim, your great quest). (AMPC). So, how do we do this? This verse comes right after the “love chapter” of the Bible, 1 Corinthians chapter 13, which is wholly dedicated to the topic of love. Studying that chapter especially verses 4-8 would be a good starting place.
Another thing we are told to pursue is peace. “Seek, inquire for and crave peace and pursue (go after) it!” (Ps 34:14b; AMPC). (See also, 1 Peter 3:11). In the Amplified Bible it explains that this is referring to peace with God, men and self. If we are serious about this it would be worth finding all the scriptures on peace and meditating on them.
A third thing we are to pursue is holiness, “Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness – without it no one will see the Lord” (Heb 12:14; CSB) Holiness is a life set apart for God. There are instructions on holiness throughout the New Testament.
Finally, “See to it that no one pays evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good for one another and for all” (1 Thess 5:15; CSB). Doing good, that is what the Christian life is all about (See also Matt 5:16; James 2:14-17).

Living Stones

15. Jul 2024 On The Way In Love
“I write to you so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim 3:16; NKJV). The apostle Paul talks of the church of God as a house that stands as a pillar of truth on the earth. We are called as living stones to be built up together to form that spiritual house (1 Peter 2:5) or the church of God. In 1 Peter 2:9 (NLT) we read, “You are a chosen people, You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of darkness into His wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9; NLT). Wow! We need to wake up every day and remind ourselves that we are chosen by God, taken from darkness and placed into his kingdom of light (Col 1:13-14). Jesus sees us as a holy nation, priests, special, precious and called to proclaim him to the world around us. We as Christians, are living stones forming God’s holy temple on this earth (2 Cor 6:16; Eph 2:21). This spiritual building or temple is built on the rock Jesus, the word (Matt 16:18), a living stone (1 Peter 2:4). Jesus is the cornerstone (Eph 2:22) or foundation stone (1 Cor 3:11) of God’s church or temple in which God lives. We need to meditate on who we are as Christians! Jesus proclaimed, “I will build My church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Matt 16:18; KJV). Amen! We are that church and satan cannot defeat us.

Pride

12. Jul 2024 On The Way In Love
God wants us to walk in the opposite to pride which is humility. Therefore, he has given us many scriptures on pride to help us guard against it. The sin that caused lucifer to be cast down from heaven was pride (Isa 14:12-17). He wanted to be higher than God. But did you know that it was pride that so enraged God against Sodom. We read about it in Ezekiel 16:49,50; the first sin listed is pride, “They were haughty and committed abominable offenses before Me” (Ezek 16:50a; AMPC). God hates pride, “I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct and perverse speech” (Prov 8:13; CSB). (See also Psalm 101:5; Prov 16:5). In Proverbs 6:16,17 there are 6 things listed which God hates, the first is pride. In the book of Proverbs, we see some of the results of pride. “When arrogance comes, disgrace follows” (Prov 11:2; CSB). “Pride comes before destruction” (Prov 16:18; CSB). “Haughtiness comes before disaster” (Prov 18:12; AMPC). “A man’s pride will bring him low” (Prov 29:33; NKJV).
In the New Testament we are taught how to avoid pride, for example, “Do not be haughty…. never overestimate yourself or be wise in your own conceit” (Rom 12:16; AMPC). (See also 1 Cor 13:4; James 4:10). Philippians 2:5 sums it all up for us, “Let this same attitude and purpose and (humble) mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus: (Let Him be your example in humility)” (AMPC). It behooves us all to pray and ask God to help us root out and keep out all pride from our lives. God hates it and so must we!

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