“Be strengthened with might, by my spirit in the inner man.” Strengthen? to empower, that is, (passively) increase in vigor:(Strongs) Might? force (literally or figuratively); specifically miraculous power (usually by implication a miracle itself): – ability, abundance, meaning, might. (Strongs.) “Inherent power, power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature, or which a person or thing exerts and puts forth” (Thayers) Brothers and sisters we must be empowered in our inherent power, which power resides in us through the filling of the Spirit. Ephesians 5:18. Cement is strong and can bear a load, however, cement that is endued with iron is stronger and can bear a heavier load. This is just one way of looking at it. Frankly, every believer has been gifted the Holy Spirit. All of us believers have been baptized into the body of Christ, and made to drink of that one Spirit. 1Corinthians 12:13.…
Healing at the Cross Posts
“And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.” Psalm 106:15 “This effect often occurs. In the gratification of their desires, in great temporal success and prosperity, individuals, churches, nations, often forget their dependence on God; lose their sense of the value of spiritual privileges and blessings: are satisfied with their condition; become self-confident and proud, and forfeit the favor of God.” Barnes Psalm 106:13-14 teaches, “They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel. But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. “ “Of how many of us that has to be said! We remember pain and sorrow longer than joy and pleasure. It is always difficult to bridle desires and be still until God discloses His purposes. We are all apt to try to force His hand open, and to impose our wishes on Him, rather than to let His will…
Joy eclipses just feelings. Joy emanates out of something deep, a grace which covers all of anti-joy. Yes, all joy inhibiters are broken in the conscience, all doubts in the mind. Even death has no stinging dominance over the care free soul. Joy comes as a by-product of grace, which carries out the wonderful effects of unconditional love, removing all conditional “ifs, ands, or buts.” It comes from God, the ultimate source of all things. “And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of music. “1Samuel 18:6 Joy came as the warriors defeated the enemy of the people. Indeed there was singing and dancing. So it is with our joy, released when all of our enemies…
Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Colossians 1:20 “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself…” Ephesians 2:14 “For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;”Ephesians 2:15 “Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace.” So far, we see three aspects of peace. Since the word itself refers to “a joining together,” our first joining points us to the reconciliation purchased for the human race to Christ. We had lost our connection with God through the sin of Adam in the Garden of Eden, however, this reunion with Christ, accomplished through the blood of His cross,…
Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house; So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him. Psalm 45:10-11 Listen, set your affections upon, ready your ear, mislay or be oblivious to thine own people and thy father’s house. Put them out of your mind. Don’t remember them any longer. The king will take pleasure in this beautiful sight; your humble attention, removing distractions of former attachments, entering into a concentration on him alone. Beloved, as we lay aside our identity in Adam, including our natural upbringing, genetical makeup, personality traits, cultural traits, and persona, we set a gaze on a new identity, which is — the state in which we are being loved, receiving affection, and being admired by another. Not resulting from our observable qualities, but from looking away from these…
There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. Hebrews 4:9 Our word for labor is spoudazo. A Greek word meaning: To enter is like gaining admission to the theater and then driving to the theater and going in. Just getting a ticket is not the same as entering. When we enter for instance a theater , we are there to view a movie. If we have a ticket for the World Series, we have not entered until we redeem that ticket, enter the stadium and view the game. It is the same principle with the swimming pool and the skating rink. When we enter in to His rest as described…
“Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.” Luke 8:18 It is a delicate balance, which God allows of a life. “Reaping what we sow” or “making one’s own bed,” is too simplistic an explanation for a person’s future. Indeed some are spared of reaping what they sowed and of sleeping in the bed they made through bad decisions. In contrast, others reap to the highest degree. Friends, “who we are” and “whose we are” are vital to our understanding of what men will reap for wrong deeds and also for righteous acts. An unrighteous man, though he performed a virtuous deed, is nevertheless left uncredited for that deed, no matter how sincere. On the other hand, a man who is gifted with God’s righteousness, may commit a deed…
Genesis 37:3 “Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colors.” The days are dark, perhaps sad and wearisome. In the case of Joseph, his favorite coat had been torn off, only to be left helpless in a pit. Father Jacob had that coat specially made for his favorite son, the son of his old age. But now his very own brothers conspired to rid themselves of this “dreamer.” Brother Rueben forbade them to kill Joseph, but instead they spied a Medianite caravan of merchants — they sold their brother to these men. The coat, they took back to Father, saturated with the blood of a slain goat. Jacob, aghast at the sight, waxed bitter. Joseph, meanwhile, was being sold again to an official of Pharaoh’s court. Egypt became his new residence,…
“And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things.” 1Corinthians 9:25a Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beats the air.” 1Corinthians 9:26 We must know what Paul had in mind here. We must see the metaphor for what it is, and for what it is not. For this end Expositors make this comment: “The brightest jewel in the incorruptible crown is the joy of having become all God made us to become, of perfectly fulfilling the end of our creation, of being able to find happiness in goodness, in closest fellowship with God, in promoting what Christ lived and died to promote.” I must admit an abject failure at any of this striving for the mastery, although I must concede that it is a deep…
I have often heard it said that the Bible is full of contradictions. But is God’s Word not Sacred? Is it for man to judge God? “The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies, probably because generally they are the same people.” Chesterton A laughable observation, it somehow grasps the gist of Bible study. And that gist is that our attempts at reconciling two scripture passages invigorate our brains to think beyond the status quo. Yes, we must get this point — God is beyond us, a mystery surrounds His Words. A mystery, yes, is hidden beneath the pages, between the lines, behind the obvious. This is God’s mystery, but not a mystery forever wanting. God’s mystery is there to be discovered. And when we discover that mystery we discover God himself. This is the point of our inquiry. Deuteronomy 29:29 teaches the thought…