After reading today’s study, I guess the main question for each one of us, is: Are there streams of living water flowing out from us? Are we using the power of God within us to live holy lives, for His glory?
I entirely agree with Selwyn when he says: “The Spirit, as we emphasised yesterday, provides power but He is the agent for purity too. Nine streams flow from those in whom the Spirit dwells: ‘love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.’ (Galatians 5:22) … when the Spirit fills your life, all you want to do is please the Lord. A truly Spirit-filled believer will not be pleased with anything that does not please God.”
This extract from today’s set verses, for reading and meditation, really capture an important message – one that should be taken deeply into our hearts. 1 John 3:18-24 (NLT): ” … Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.
Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him.
And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us. Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us.”
It’s a message that we don’t hear preached often enough: Our on-going fellowship with God is demonstrated by our obedience to His commandments.
There is a belief held by some people that ‘once‘ you express a verbal belief in Jesus – that you are ‘always‘ saved. This belief is true from God’s perspective (He alone knows the real state of our hearts.) - but it’s definitely not proven from a human perspective – it must be supported by evidence, as seen from our on-going actions. Any comments?
Pleasing Him
After reading today’s study, I guess the main question for each one of us, is: Are there streams of living water flowing out from us? Are we using the power of God within us to live holy lives, for His glory?
I entirely agree with Selwyn when he says: “The Spirit, as we emphasised yesterday, provides power but He is the agent for purity too. Nine streams flow from those in whom the Spirit dwells: ‘love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.’ (Galatians 5:22) … when the Spirit fills your life, all you want to do is please the Lord. A truly Spirit-filled believer will not be pleased with anything that does not please God.”
This extract from today’s set verses, for reading and meditation, really capture an important message – one that should be taken deeply into our hearts. 1 John 3:18-24 (NLT): ” … Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.
Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him.
And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us. Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us.”
It’s a message that we don’t hear preached often enough: Our on-going fellowship with God is demonstrated by our obedience to His commandments.
There is a belief held by some people that ‘once‘ you express a verbal belief in Jesus – that you are ‘always‘ saved. This belief is true from God’s perspective (He alone knows the real state of our hearts.) - but it’s definitely not proven from a human perspective – it must be supported by evidence, as seen from our on-going actions. Any comments?