Windows On The Soul

In earliest times, God appeared to dwell in nature, and made His presence known from time to time in fire, cloud and earthquake. As the Israelites settled down in the promised land instead of a nomadic life, a permanent ‘residence’ was built for God on Zion - The Temple. The time of building was a time of great joy as people sacrificially brought gifts of material, time and skill. When Jesus came on the scene, Temple tradition was upset, when Jesus claimed that God lived in him - Jn.14:10 (‘How can that be when God lives down the road in The Temple?’). Not only that, but Jesus declared and foretold the end of ‘Temple Worship’ ( Jn.2:19-21 ), in the rending of the temple curtain, the physical destruction of The Temple, and his own bodily death. In His resurrection, He instituted the era of God’s spirit indwelling the hearts of believers. But Jesus did not just bring about a spatial change, from centralised to distributed, but rather completion of God’s plan for His relati...

Said the robin to the sparrow, "I would really like to know Why these anxious human beings rush about and worry so." Said the sparrow to the robin, "I think that it must be. They have no Heavenly Father such as cares for you and me." Thanks Carol D. for this quote. We were privileged in the past week to again witness the miracle of birth with the arrival of a litter of 8 puppies. Our concerns about whether the rather immature mother would cope with her 1st litter, were quite unfounded. Seeing her hovering over her "brood" then gently settle down and gather them all in to herself, and the very protective growl when we got too close, told us that she would protect them. The same expression is used of the Holy Spirit "brooding" (moving) over creation ( Gen.1:2 ). When the Holy Spirit is called our "comforter", it is not the comfort of an acquaintance, but the deep feeling of a "parent". Thank God this week for his continu...

As we think of mother's today, the primary images we have are of giving birth to life, of nurturing and tending, of the earliest formative years, of learning all our basic life skills - talking, walking, feeding ourselves, and a fundamental sense of love. In our spiritual life, Jesus is the Prince of Life ( Acts 3:15 ), in fact He is Life itself ( Jhn.14:6 ). It is by the power of His resurrection life that we are born again. Our sustenance comes from the very word of God ( Deu.8:3 ), in fact Jesus is called the Bread of Life ( Jhn.6:32 ). He tends, guides and protects us like a shepherd of young lambs ( Jhn.10:11 and 1 Ptr.2:25 ). He teaches us that our spiritual talk should be in truth and love ( Eph.4:15,21 ). Then as our spiritual walk matures, it is the word of God that lights our pathways ( Ps.119:105 ). But fundamentally, it is through Jesus that we learn the full depth and breadth of true love, even greater and more wonderful than the love we learnt on our mother...

" The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion...no religion has ever been greater than its idea of Go d" (A.W.Tozer). One of the wonders and apparent paradoxes of the Christian religion, is that God is both the almighty creator king, and at the same time our approachable loving heavenly father indwelling us by His spirit. A church that errs one way by its reverent solemnity can become cold and unfriendly. But there is the opposite danger that in emphasising the relational and "familiarity", we loose the sense of awe and majesty of the most high God. ----xxxXxxx---- Isa.48:13 "My hand has laid the foundations of the earth, my right hand spans the heavens" 2 Sam.7:22 "You are great O Lord: for there is none like you" Ps.48:1 "Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised" Eph.1:19 "Understand how incredibly great His power is to help those who believe Him. It...