Windows On The Soul

As we studied Jesus' reply to Nicodemus, his description of the movement of the Holy Spirit being like the invisible wind ( John 3:8 ) reminded me of the sail-board riders on Lilydale Lake. As one who likes to keep his feet firmly on terra firma , I really admire people who can stand on a wind-surfer, manipulating the sail to catch the slightest breath of wind, to send them scooting across the surface of the water. This in turn reminded me of some of Jesus' very last words before His ascension ( Acts 1: 8 ) " When the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be witnesses to me... ". But surely the disciples had been sent "witnessing" before? But this promise is additional - this is a promise of the ability to witness with confidence and power. Like the sail-board rider, it requires practice to stand up, to set the sail of our life and mind to catch the wind of the Holy Spirit, and let ourselves be driven by that invisible power source.

Traditionally, Christians have majored on caring for the outward symptoms of the sick, neglected, lonely and down-trodden of society. But when it comes to speaking up or acting against the causes of some of these situations, sadly we seem to have lost our voices. The symptoms are obvious and providing relief is fairly straight-forward. But discovering, understanding and doing something about causes requires effort, research, thought and insight. If ever the church needs people with gifts of wisdom, discernment and prophecy, it is in the sphere of social justice. When Jesus said that he had come to " preach release to the captives, the recovery of sight to the blind ", he was not talking (just) about palliative care, but of removal of the impediments causing the conditions (whether unjust laws or cataracts). In this "post Christian" age we seem to be living in, there are more situations than ever that Christians need to speak-up about. ----xxxXxxx---- Lk.4:18 ...

What a six weeks the disciples must have gone through - first the despair of the crucifixion, then the disbelief and slow-dawning joy of the resurrection. Now notice how in anticipation of His 2nd leaving (ascension), Jesus turns the disciples vision outward with the command to " Go into all the world ", to " Feed His sheep" . Not only that, but Jesus promised an abiding "comforter" through His Holy Spirit, as well as the source of power and drive to fulfill the "command". How appropriate then that our Missions Month spans this same period, drawing to a climax on Pentecost Sunday. For surely attempts at missioning without the power of the Holy Spirit is an exercise in futility, and a life "filled with the spirit" without a mission is a contradiction, for it is the Holy Spirit that gives drive and direction. ---===X===--- Acts 2 "On the day of Pentecost...they were filled with the Holy Spirit...they spoke as the spirit gave ...

“ What the Church needs are more ‘deep’ Christians ” (Richard Foster, “Celebration of Discipline”).  The Apostle Paul wrote, “ Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!!” ( Rom.11:33 ) How does one become a ‘deeper’ Christian? It takes ‘Time’ and ‘Experience’. To know the depth of something, one must have ‘plumbed’ the depth, that is attempted some sort of measure. To have some knowledge of the depth of God, one must explore the consequences and implications of Christian faith on one’s life and society, and thus to start to see the vast possibilities. Such exploration, takes time in God’s word, time with Him in prayer, and time in constructive, exploratory fellowship together. But most of all, depth of understanding and knowledge of the wisdom, grace and ways of God, come from experience. We learn only a small amount from what we hear, a larger amount from what we read and s...

One of the special aspects of Christianity, is that we have a personal God who desires to have a personal relationship with us. One of the ways that this is conveyed in the Bible, is the expression of “walking with God”. In 19 different passages, we read of people walking with God or of God walking among His people. For most of history, walking has been common to nearly every aspect of mankind’s life, whether for travel, work, socialising, holidaying, going to synagogue or simply to draw water. Walking with God represents sharing in life at an all-pervasive level. But more than simply walking with God, on at least 62 occasions, the Bible talks about the quality of our walk. Foremost, we are called to walk in His ways, paths, statutes, ordinances, light and judgments. Our walk is to be pleasing to God, by faith, in the spirit, circumspectly and honestly, in the new life of love, liberty, truth, integrity, wisdom and uprightness, worthily in the fear of God. We are called to wa...

In 2 Tim.3:1-5 , Paul warns of the perils of the last days, including “ greed, boastfulness, pride, blasphemy, disobedience, unthankfulness, unholiness, unloving, unforgiving, slander, anarchy, brutality, treachery, head-strongness, haughtiness, decadence and spiritual impotence (having forms of godliness but denying its power) ”. The Christian gospel is a message of power, but a Godly power, and we are promised that we will receive power from Holy Spirit ( Acts 1:8 ). We are warned that the Kingdom of God is not in words, but in power ( Mt.6:13 , 1 Cor.4:20, 1 Thes.1:5 ). The spirit of Christ is the power unto salvation ( Rom.1:16 ) which impacts the church’s procreation. The power we have available by Holy Spirit is the power to heal ( Lk.5:17 ), for wonders and demonstrations ( Rom.15:9 , 1 Cor.2:4 ) and against spirits ( Mt.10:1 , Mk.3:15 , Lk.9:1 ). More importantly, Holy Spirit gives us power in our personal lives - over the temptations of all flesh ( Jn.17:2 ), the p...

One of the more common deep spiritual questions I hear, is “ How do I know God’s will for my life? ”. Whilst meditation and study of His Word will reveal general guide-lines, the application to any person’s specific situation is in the realm of the dynamic of Holy Spirit. We are not given a map showing every bend and hill on the road of life ahead, but rather the bends are revealed only as and when we need to know about them as we walk by faith. Its' no use whingeing about not achieving some high personal aspirations, when Jesus’ general command is to “ start washing feet (dishes, floors, tables, bed-pans, etc.) ”. Then as we show our faithfulness in the small things, God can start putting situations across our path, or using our words, or people start to seek us out - then we start to see God ‘nudging’ us around a bend, or challenging us to climb a hill. It can be quite surprising, humbling, even scary, when someone says to me, “ How did you know I needed to read/hear th...

What a sad pair of words they are - “If only...”. Often expressed as a matter of ‘fact’, they really express an attitude . It can be an attitude about the past , expressing regret about some-thing that did or did not happen. It can also express an attitude about the future - an attitude of not being able to progress in the here-and-now until some perceived future “need” has been met. Both attitudes run counter to the Bible’s teaching. Our failings and omissions of the past are covered, dead, buried and forgiven through Christ. In the present we are called to live by faith, not worrying about tomorrow ( Mt.6:25-34 ) . We are called to be good stewards of what we do have , even though we are all given different talents, opportunities and challenges (obstacles?). When we are good stewards in the use of the talents we do have (instead of whingeing about what we don’t have), then we will be blessed with further talents, opportunities and challenges ( Mt.25:15-29 ). If ...

Of necessity, theology uses many picture phrases to try to describe the eternal indescribable. But the image is not the real thing. Illustrations are easily distorted beyond their original intent. So it was a serendipitous discovery of the above phrase - the image of God ladling His love by His Holy Spirit over us as He the master chef sees fit by His grace. The sweetness and aroma best brought out in the oven of life. " Justice is when we get what we deserve. Mercy is when we don't get what we deserve, But Grace is when we get what we don't deserve. " Barbara Johnson, "Splashes of Joy in the Cesspool of Life" ----xxxXxxx---- 1 Tim.1:14 "The grace of our Lord over-flowed me with the faith and love that are in Christ" Dan.9:18 "We pray to you because you are merciful not because we have done right" Rom.9:16 "God's compassion is not dependent on man's will or exertion, but on God's mercy" 2...

What a paradoxical metaphor Peter uses ( 1 Ptr.2:4-5 ) - "Living Stones"! "Stones" conjures thoughts of hardness, solidness, deadness: the very antithesis of "Living". Yet in the hands of God, the master builder, the passive "stone" is chosen and fitted into the correct place in the building of His spiritual temple.  Just as Jesus " the living stone rejected by man as worthless but chosen by God as valuable " submitted to God's plan, right to the cross and the grave, so we are called to obedience. Just as no two stones are exactly the same, so we all have our own shape and niche into which we fit - to one the door-step, to another the lintel, another the underground foundation, yet another the carved capping stone.  Then in the beauty of the whole, the very stones "will proclaim the wonderful acts of God". ----xxxXxxx---- Ps.118:22 "The stone which the builders rejected as worthless turned out to be the most...

Praise the Lord for the wonderful testimonies of those being baptised last week and this. Among the diversity of their stories, did you notice a common thread? In each case, a major influence, was the accepting, open, loving friendship of Christian friends. Unfortunately, the converse is also true: the most common reason for people giving up on Christianity, is being let-down by a Christian friend or minister, not living up to their professed standards. As the bumper sticker says, " Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven ". We must "lift Jesus higher", not put people on pedestals. We are called to " be holy, even as God is holy ", yet it is not to be a legalistic "holiness", but born of our free-will love of the Father. Salvation through the death of Jesus sets us free from the enslavement of sin and legalism - but with freedom comes responsibility. We become as Christ to the world, to be seen, heard, observed, and judged. ---xxxXxxx--...

The Lord God - the pre-eminent command, demanding total love with every fibre of our being. One's Self - when natural self-love is put under submission to the Holy Spirit, healthy self-respect and self-control develops as the miracle of the Holy Spirit making our bodies His temple, dawns upon us. Neighbours - the people we encounter in our daily walk, especially anyone in need, is loved by God, equally a (potential) temple of the Holy Spirit, to whom we must show equal love as for our-selves. Each Other - familial and sibling love now extends to the whole "family" of God into which we have been reborn/adopted as sons and daughters. This is the principal sign to the world around of our membership in this family. The Stranger - even the stranger who we will never see again, who has no particular need, deserves our hospitality - no strings attached. The Lost  - these have a need far deeper than our "neighbours". This is the love of Christ on the c...

The year is 1981. The place, a lounge-room somewhere in Mitcham. The occasion, the weekly prayer meeting of the team running the Drop-Inn outreach in the old Forest Hills shopping centre. An air of depression had hung over the team for weeks. We didn't seem to be "getting through" any more. Discipline in and around the shop had deteriorated. Then to top it all off, an occult bookshop had opened up next door. We were under attack. Then in the middle of our prayer, the Lord spoke to us through a "word of prophecy" saying " Why are you afraid? I have not given you the spirit of timidity. I have given you my spirit of Power , and of Love , and of Self-control . I am with you and for you. Who can stand against you? " ( II Tim.1:7 )  Immediately, the veil of oppression lifted. We were revived. The following weeks proved the Lord. Opportunities for witness opened up. Discipline problems diminished, and within a month or two, we had prayed that book-...

This is hard teaching Lord. You call sinners to repent and to receive forgiveness according to the riches of your grace, but are you now saying that your forgiveness is conditional? I know that you call me to live a life like you, forgiving others as you have forgiven me, but I do fall far short of your graciousness. Lord, help me by your spirit, to identify, repent of, and be healed of those parts of my being, those attitudes that hold me back from being totally forgiving to others. Lord shine the light of your spirit into my darkest recesses, bringing forth attitudes to be confessed to you, to receive your cleansing forgiveness. - --===X===--- 1 Jn.1:9 "If we confess...faithful and just to forgive" Lk.6:37 "Judge not...be not judged, forgive and be forgiven" Jn.3:18 "He that believes on Him is not condemned" Mic.7:18 "Who is like God, that pardons iniquity, that overlooks transgressions" Lk.3:3 "...preaching the ...

Researcher Merton Strommen recently surveyed several thousand Protestant youths. More than 60% agreed that " The way to be accepted by God is to try sincerely to live a good life ". 70% agreed with the statement " God is satisfied if a person lives the best life he can ". And more than half agreed that " The main emphasis of the gospel is on God's rules for right living ". One would think the apostle Paul or Martin Luther had never opened their mouths, or that Jesus had never come to die.... Shouldn't we devote equal times to explaining that rules are merely 'joints' and 'bones' to make the Body effective, NOT a ladder to God. From Fearfully and Wonderfully Made by P.Yancey & Dr.P.Brand ----xxxXxxx---- Mk.2:27 "Don't you know that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" Ac.15:9,11 "He forgave their sins because they believed ...we believe and are saved by the gracious (gift) of th...