Deification (3)
The pilgrimage toward holiness is not to an arrival, but it is a journey. It is a pursuit. It is social in that we pursue Christlikeness in how we interact with others. The pursuit of Christlikeness and the desire for it, is the normal path of the believer and is also what makes us
Deification (2)
Adam’s way of being like God was different from Christ’s way of revealing God. Adam wanted power and position; he wanted to be “like God” for all the wrong reasons. Adam chose the path of self-sovereignty. Jesus revealed God as One who “emptied Himself of all but love”. If we would be deified, then
Deification (1)
“He has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (2 Peter 1:3 ESV). The early church fathers talked about deification as the goal of the Christian
The Normal Christian Life
Those who have studied the lives of great Christians are struck by the fact that there came a crisis and/or decision after their conversion to surrender all, and be filled with the Spirit. There are several books that have collections of these stories. Billy Graham, D.L. Moody, E. Stanley Jones and thousands of others
Something More
The order of salvation is justification and then sanctification. This is perfectly argued by Paul in the letter to the Romans, especially chapter 6. It is here that the believers, those who “have been made alive from the dead” are to offer themselves to God as slaves of doing right (righteousness) with the result
Knowing
You don’t know that you don’t know. When you are not open to a deeper truth, you cannot expand what you know. You can’t know so long as your focus is giving your own opinions. You can’t know when you never consider that you might be wrong. You can’t know when you will not
Right Focus
“Focus first on the kingdom of God and righteousness and all these things shall be added to you” (Paraphrase of Matthew 6:33 by Philip Smith); this is a good way of seeing this verse. Certainly, we can’t claim to be “seeking” if we are not focused. Distractions are the enemy of focus. Focus on
God is no Bully
Bullies bluff their way through life; the only God who is rode a donkey into the jaws of a cross and won by love. Bullies adore raw power; the only God who is accepts the weakness of the cross. Bullies win by sacrificing others; the only God who is wins by sacrificing Himself. Bullies
Drawn To The Trinity
The Spirit of God in us draws us to our Father in Heaven. The Spirit of Jesus is the Spirit of the Father. He is in us to fill us with Himself and to replicate the DNA of the Father. Christlikeness is Father-likeness. The Spirit is indispensable to our spiritual formation. The Father sent
Decision Making
The Lord does not always give specific guidance when we ask. Could it be because He is trying to get us to make some decisions based on what we have learned about God through His Word? Could it be that we cannot develop character without learning to make mature decisions? When we are forced
“Love Lifted Me”
I was sinking in sin to its outcome of death. The Law could not lift, save or restore me. It only announced my condemnation. Secular enlightened society could not lift me; it had no language to which I could hold. Psychology could only analyze me. Sociology explained me in terms of my environment, but
Our Ascended Lord
The Eternal Word descended from Heaven as the Son of God and became the Son of Man. He descended from God through the Virgin’s womb and became fully man while remaining fully God, in one new, perfectly indivisible nature. He ascended in the clouds back to Heaven as Daniel’s exalted Son of Man (Daniel
The Light
John deliberately begins his gospel as a parallel to the Genesis creation story. John tells us how the Word existed before the world and that the Word created the world. Both books start with, “In the beginning”. Another striking parallel is that of light. “Let there be light” and “There was the true Light
Not Alone
Alone is a terrible place to be. Yet, when Jesus left the disciples, He said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you. I will be with you to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). He fulfilled this promise by giving them the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ Himself. There is a
Anticipating Complete Healing
The preaching of the arrival of the Kingdom of God came with miracles of healing the sick and casting out demons. This was more than compassion for the hurting; it was saying that the promised future had arrived in the present manifested by these miracles. He still heals, but our present healing is not
I Am Blessed
We say it all the time. Sadly, we measure blessing too often by wealth, health and leisure. Yet there are multiplied millions in the world who do not have these things but are blessed. Do we look at the poverty and desperation of our fellow Christians around the world with a little air of
Focus
Feelings intensify with focus. The more you think about how lonely you are, the more lonely you will become. This is also true of multiple other feelings. To dwell on them escalates them. Someone has said, “We need to feel our feelings and move on.” This is not always easy, but it is always
Prayer Driver
Many motives can drive our prayer life: Guilt. Desperation. Special needs. Real hunger and thirst. Deep hurt. Powerful pain. We have all prayed from these places many times. What if our overall desire for prayer was just to be with our Lord? What if prayer times were about loving on our Abba? What if
Making A Difference
As Christian Sisters and Brothers, we are here to make a difference in the lives of people with whom our lives intersect. It is not about building our reputation, portfolio or resume, and certainly not for our power and influence. There is nothing better than to be iron that sharpens iron. Be a mentor.
Loving Self
Most of us love ourselves quite well. We know what the Book says about loving God and others. Putting ourselves down can be nothing less than pride hiding out as false humility. Even self-loathing can be a perverted kind of self-love. The heart can be deceptive to one’s own self. This is why we
Who God Can Use
The people who do not need to be number one are the ones God can use to make a difference in the world. They have no need to get credit. They have no desire for self-focus. They do what they do out of sheer love and not for self-advancement and reward. They are not
Core Church Members
Priscilla and Aquila were Christian Jews who had been exiled from Rome (Acts 18:2). Paul joined them in their tent making business (18:3). They were fellow workers who traveled with Paul and risked their lives for him (Romans 16:3). They hosted a house church in their home (I Corinthians 16:19). They were disciples who
Dealing with Blind Spots
We are fine-tuned experts in picking out the hypocrisies of others, with more blind spots of our own than spots on a leopard. The self-righteous alway wear blinders. We do not know ourselves enough to cry out for the purging that we really need. We have become too busy guarding our holy image to
Grace, Our Victory
Grace is not permission to sin. Grace is a helping energy to enable you to overcome sin. Grace is more than unearned favor. It is unearned blessing extended to enable you to live victoriously. Grace is not a license to do what you want to do; it is power to enable you to do
Self-Discovery
We cannot escape discovering the realities of who we are. Life has a way of boiling up, bringing out, and exposing what is in us. From the Christian perspective, all of these revelations should call us to the One who loves us unconditionally, to whom we cry out for healing. We can’t escape these