You are not the one to build…
A summary of my calling and life direction. I am becoming comfortable with the idea that most of the positive effect of my life will occur after it is over and that, among humans, I will receive no credit for it.
Ideas about the Kingdom of the Heavens around us and the unity of believers in Christ within it
A summary of my calling and life direction. I am becoming comfortable with the idea that most of the positive effect of my life will occur after it is over and that, among humans, I will receive no credit for it.
Recognition of the heavens all around us and of the imperatives used in the Lord Prayer, Jesus’ model for our prayers, transforms it into a very radical and dangerous prayer. In it, we are actually commanding the immediate manifestation of God’s increasing rule in our present existence and on Earth.
Desire to have our own way, Forgive as we forgive, forgiveness and mercy, God is Love, God Speaks to Us, God's Existence and Nature, God's sovereignty, Immanence, In prayer, Omnipresence, Promises, Rejecting God, Restoration of our Relationships, Salvation, Sin, The Invisible God's Self-Existence, The Kingdom is all around us, The Kingdom of the Heavens, Ultimate reality, What is God's Word, What is sin?
God wants us to bear the lasting fruit he has placed within us. But this does not require our effort to bear fruit, it requires only that we remain in Jesus, pay attention to his words, and let him work through us. His only command is that we love one another as he has loved us, so letting his love reach others through us.
The question whether God still speaks impacts a number of other issues, ranging from the nature of a believer’s relationship with God, to the miraculous, to church offices and authority.
Jesus’ promises of answered prayer are directly tied to our unity. Answered prayer does not depend on our goodness or qualifications. The prayers God has promised to answer are those made under his authority, in love, for the good of the whole Church.
A reader recently asked some very perceptive questions about my views concerning prayer, prayer burdens, and prayer for national sins. Here, I am publishing my answers to those questions. (The reader also asked some personal questions, which I omit from this posting): You asked: “Also that what matters is your relationship with the Lord not what denomination someone is or…
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A God who Speaks, An abuse of God's image, Conversation with God, Emotions, Events and Signs, God Speaks to Us, God's rationality, His Children, His Friends, Human Rationality, In prayer, Language and Speech, Personal Background, Prophecy, Rejecting God, Replacing Relationship with Morality, The Bible, To live in unity, Trusting sight over God's words
If Jesus is not human, like us, we also lose the promise of the Holy Spirit, the invitation to live by the direction and power of the Spirit like Jesus did while he was here, and everything that flows from that. Fully discussing this topic will require several posts. While Jesus lived among us bodily, he did not rely on…
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This guest post from One Pursuit blog is another writer’s good account of God speaking directly to us. He also makes the very good point that we too often think of “answered prayer” only as “seeing action” in the world, not as hearing his voice.