For love/agape is of God 1 John 4:7 and God pours His love/agape into our hearts by His Spirit. Romans 5:5 Paul commended the Thessalonians for their love for one another and their ever growing faith in spite of the persecution they endured. He holds them up as an example churches are to follow, in … [Read more…]
When the Holy Spirit was poured out, God’s people came together in agape. The TLC—tender love and care (agape) in fellowship (koinonia) is God being through us. By the Holy Spirit we thrive in rich interpersonal relationships, mutuality and interdependence, remembering before God our Father, Jesus’ death until He comes. (1 Cor 11:26) In koinonia, we … [Read more…]
Messiah Jesus spoke words of spirit and words of eternal life that the eyes of our understanding must see more clearly. I am writing this because the Lord’s Supper is seldom celebrated as a supper. This has led to erosion of our one another relationships before the Lord. The supper is meant to involve one … [Read more…]
Stand up for Jesus! Ye soldiers of the cross. The Lord was putting that edifying and encouraging Hymn on my heart. I often sang it with the Lutheran congregation I grew up with from 1939 to 1957. It was written by George Duffield, Jr. (1818-1888) in 1858. He was inspired to write this text after … [Read more…]
Passover was the day Jesus was crucified. God established the Feast of Passover to avert the plague of death for His people Israel around 1446 BC. He was about to inflict that plague on Egypt to get Pharaoh to release His people from captivity. The plague Moses said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘About … [Read more…]
Family like a micro-body of Messiah is where love is shown in word and deed. Where love is put into action and made real. Following the Messiah is the way to build it. He leads family be a supportive clan thriving on doing good for one another. On a world wide scale, as we grow … [Read more…]
What is participation. The simple definition of participation is belonging to a group and sharing in it. We, who believe Jesus is the son of God, belong to the kingdom of God and are of the household of God. We are fellow citizens of the kingdom and children of God. We belong to God’s group. … [Read more…]
Jesus has a special love for little children. He rebuked his disciples for hindering them. “Now people were bringing the little children to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them, and the disciples rebuked those who brought them. “But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and told them, “Let the little children … [Read more…]
Spiritual Jerusalem is above and is called the heavenly Jerusalem and heaven, where our Father dwells with His Son. Messiah Jesus is seated at His right (Heb 12:2). God has also seated us in Messiah in heavenly places (Eph 2:6). That is a lot to take in, but we can comprehend it by the Spirit, … [Read more…]
That those who respected the LORD is from one of my favorite portions of God’s Word given to God’s old covenant people. It concludes the Old Testament in Malachi chapters 3 and 4 and gives us immense things of the kingdom to ponder. For, we are to walk before the Lord in righteousness, peace and … [Read more…]