Something Greater

Resurrection Power "[Christ Jesus] was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 1:4 (ESV) The Holy Spirit's power declared Jesus to be the Son of God, resurrecting Him from the dead. DECLARED: horizo (to mark out or bound, "horizon"); from horion (a boundary-line, a frontier); from horos (a bound or limit) The power of the Holy Spirit dramatically changed the limits of life. Jesus was no longer bound to ordinary limits of life and death... death no longer could control Him. The boundaries of Jesus now extended even to God. The Holy Spirit removes boundaries and limits. "If Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit

Essentials of Love I Corinthians 13:4-7 Love is patient, Is kind, Love does not envy; Love does not boast, Is not arrogant; Is not rude, Does not insist on its own way; Is not irritable, Is not resentful ; Does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth; Bears all things, Believes all things, Hopes all things, Endures all things! 1 Cor 13:4-7 (ESV) The Apostle Paul opened his letter to the church in Corinth by appealing for unity, joined in mind and judgement . Their wisdom and righteousness, sanctification and spiritual redemption was to be solidly founded upon Christ Jesus. This passage is a poem, perhaps a song. If we could read Greek easily and fluently, we would enjoy the rhythm and rhyme with which Paul wrote this. Paul is appealing to both our minds and our emotions. In the Corinthian church, Paul saw immaturity, jealousy and strife . The community of Corinth thought of the Christians in Corinth as exceeding all limits of sexual im

Christian Freedom "For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another." Galatians 5:13-15 (ESV) FREEDOM: eleutheria (freedom); from eleutheros (unrestrained, to go at pleasure, as a citizen, not a slave; exempt from obligation or liability); from erchomai (to come or go) We were called to freedom. Who called us to freedom, and how are we called? In what sense are we free as Christians? The Greek word means unrestrained , able to go at pleasure, as a citizen and not as a slave. The word means being exempt from obligation or liability. Paul described Christian freedom as " the freedom of the glory of the children of God ", in his letter to the church in Rome (Romans 8:21). "The law of

Love's Cover-up: Hiding Sin? Several verses in the Bible describe a radical, extreme level of love, requiring Christians to love others despite the other person's sin, even to the point of covering up or hiding their sin . "But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them." Luke 6:27-31 (ESV) I am to love my enemies, doing good them who hate (detest, persecute) me. I am to bless (speak well of, to thank, to pray for good) them that curse (condemn me to doom). I am to pray for those who abuse (insult or slander) me. Even for one who strikes (repeatedly hits me with a stick) me on

Forgiven and Forgiving Jesus, my Lord, My Redeemer and Rescuer, My Ransom paid to set me free from sin's doom, I cannot forgive the one who has hurt me Because I do not feel forgiven for my sin. As long as I grip my sin like a bloody glove Used to commit murder, As long as I wear a veil of mourning To grieve over my sin, As long as I ignore Your forgiveness of me, I cannot forgive another. Oh! But when I see You! When I see You spending Your life for me, When I see You pay the ransom for my sin, When I see You witness for me before the Judge, I am set free! Now free, I see others differently. Others are gripping their sin and veiling their sorrow, Causing them to bitterly hate and judge themselves and others. Others are where I was. I forgive you. You hurt me like I hurt you. I forgive you because Jesus forgives me. Image courtesy of Marco Michelini

Love is From God. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in lov

A Simple Statement of Faith "Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the

Hearing and Measuring "Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you." Mark 4:24 (ESV) The King James Version of this verse more accurately follows the original Greek: "Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given." Mark 4:24 (KJV) The emphasis of this verse is upon hearing with understanding . Jesus earlier ended a message to a crowd by saying, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." (Mark 4:9) The disciples of Jesus lacked understanding, just as much as the crowd. They asked Him to explain why he spoke obscurely, using symbolic stories or parables, rather than plain, simple language. His answer indicated that the stories were a proof or test: "To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that they may indeed see but not

So You Also Must Forgive "Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive." Colossians 3:13 (ESV) Paul says in Ephesians 4:32 that God forgives us on the basis of the sacrifice of Christ. Forgiveness of our sin cost God the life of His Son. In Colossians 3:13, Paul says that Jesus Christ, the Lord, has forgiven us on the basis of His own personal death . As the Lord has forgiven us, so we are to forgive others . On what basis? On our death? Yes . Becoming a Christian means complete identification with Jesus Christ, a radical return to the Original Plan in which God created us in His image. We are spiritually immersed into all that Christ is and does. We are spiritually baptized into His death, burial, and resurrection. We no longer live to ourselves, but to Christ . We have died to ourselves , yet we live in Christ. "Now if we have died with Christ, we be

12 Steps to Identifying Your Functional Saviors In The Bookends of the Christian Life , Jerry Bridges offers twelve "questions" to help us identify our functional saviors. These are great questions to ask yourself to gain insight to the direction our inner attitudes and desires are pointing us. 1. I am preoccupied with ________. 2. If only ________, then I would be happy. 3. I get my sense of significance from ________. 4. I would protect and preserve ________ at any cost. 5. I fear losing ________. 6. The thing that gives me greatest pleasure is ________. 7. When I lose ________, I get angry, resentful, frustrated, anxious, or depressed. 8. For me, life depends on ________. 9. The thing I value more than anything in the world is ________. 10. When I daydream, my mind goes to________. 11. The best thing I can think of is ________. 12. The thing that makes me want to get out of bed in the morning is ________. Source: http://thinklings.org/posts/12-steps-t

To them [Gentiles] God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27) Reading only the first 26 verses of Paul's letter to the Colossians, it would appear that faith in Christ is a religion. A religion leads one to say, "My relationship with God is based upon what I do, and not do , and what I believe or not believe." A statement framed thusly is a declaration of religion. In religion I am independent and free...I can choose my own criteria for faith and behavior...my thoughts are my own...the only things that matter are my action and my attitude. I can compare myself to others by their actions and attitudes, and I can feel superior and justified . But the moment Paul writes, "...Christ in you...", my religion is shattered . "Christ in you" defines my condition as depending upon Jesus. My relationship with God depends upon the relation b