God’s purpose for us

Commands I Can’t Keep If God Doesn’t Speak to Me

Ian Johnson March 20, 2023 0 Comments

If God never speaks to me, it will be impossible for me to keep his commands to keep a soft heart toward his words, to hear and obey him “TODAY”, while I am still hearing him. Beginning the discussion of entering God’s rest today, while God is speaking to me–and the consequences of Israel’s rejection of his voice.

A God who Speaks, Conversation with God, Desire to have our own way, Forgetting God, Free will, God Acts by Speaking, God Never Stopped Speaking, God Speaks to Us, God's Voice, idolatry, Language and Speech, Refusing to hear, self-serving worship, Through Jesus, Trusting sight over God's words, Ultimate reality, What is God's Word, What is sin?

enter my rest, God's rest, Hearing God, Hearing God's Voice, rejecting God, rejecting God's voice, rest, Today

God Speaks to Us through His Spirit

Ian Johnson February 9, 2023 3 Comments

God speaks to us through his Holy Spirit, who must teach us–by building within us–everything we truly know of God. God also speaks to the world through us, by his Spirit who is building his image within us.

A God who Speaks, God Acts by Speaking, God Speaks to Us, God's purpose for us, God's Voice, His Children, Holy Spirit, Promises, Refusing to hear, Rejecting God, The Bible, Through Jesus, Through teachers, Through the church, To be in his image, To bear fruit, Trinity, What is sin?

children of God, God, God speaks, God's Voice, Holy Spirit, imago Dei, Jesus, Son of God, Spirit of Christ, Spirit of God, Spirit teaches, Spirit teaches us all things, the image of God

The Kingdom of “the Heavens” in Matthew

Ian Johnson January 15, 2023 2 Comments

Throughout his Gospel, Matthew repeatedly quotes first John the Baptizer, then Jesus, taking about the “Kingdom of the heavens”–with “the heavens” in this formula always stated in the plural and preceded by the definite article. In using this language, the intention was clearly to teach that God’s Kingdom is not limited to the far future but is present with us…
Read more

Desire to have our own way, God's purpose for us, His Friends, Must Trust God to Enter, Pride in accomplishments as our own, The Kingdom is all around us, The Kingdom of the Heavens, To bear fruit, What is sin?

bearing fruit, fruit, Fruit of the Spirit, Kingdom of Heaven, Kingdom of the heavens, present life, present reality, repentance

“I Want to Be Forgotten!”

Ian Johnson December 10, 2022 1 Comment

A rebellion against the power of death, written as a tribute to two important people in my life who have left this existence in recent Decembers.

God's purpose for us, Salvation, To be in his image, To bear fruit, To see God's glory, Ultimate reality, Victory, What is God's Word

being forgotten, being remembered, Death, hope, Living a good dash, resurrection, true life

The Fruit of Righteousness and the Fruit of the Spirit

Ian Johnson December 8, 2022 3 Comments

When Jesus says that he has chosen us to bear fruit that will last, the fruit he has in mind is the fruit of the Spirit–that is, the work the Holy Spirit does within us as we yield to him to make us like Christ. It is not our work, our “fruits,” at all–it is all his work.

Changed treatment of each other, Complex unity, Compulsory Christianity, Emotions, forgiveness and mercy, God is Love, God's Existence and Nature, God's purpose for us, Human Rationality, patience, Repentance, Restoration of God's Image, Restoration of our Relationships, Salvation, To be in his image, To bear fruit, To live in unity

bearing fruit, Fruit of the Spirit, fruitbearing, God's work, Holy Spirit

Of Abiding, Growth and Fruitfulness

Ian Johnson November 28, 2022 3 Comments

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.

A God who Speaks, God is Love, God Speaks to Us, God's Existence and Nature, God's purpose for us, God's Voice, His Children, His Friends, In prayer, Love each other, Promises, To bear fruit

abiding in Christ, bearing fruit, evangelism, fruit, fruitful, fruitfulness, God's love, law of love, living in love, Love, love one another, soul-winning, the true vine, the vine, works

God’s Patience and Our Repentance, 2 Peter 3:9

Ian Johnson November 13, 2022 2 Comments

God is slow to bring the day of justice because he is patient, determined to give us all the time we need to repent and return to him. If we do not, it will be our choice, not his, to remain in the present world when he removes his care from it and it disintegrates under the weight of sin.

A God who Speaks, Consequences, Free will, God is Love, God Never Stopped Speaking, God Speaks to Us, God's Existence and Nature, God's purpose for us, God's rationality, judgment, patience, Regeneration, Rejecting God, Repentance, reprobation, Restoration of God's Image, Salvation, Sin, The Problem of Evil, Ultimate reality, What is God's Word, What is sin?

God, God's patience, Judgment, justice, longsuffering, new earth, new heavens, patience, patient, repentance, repentant, restoration, slow to anger

Idolatry and the Meaning of “Sin” Outline

Ian Johnson October 27, 2022 1 Comment

This is an index of posts defining, discussing or illustrating the concept of sin, its relationship to idolatry and idolizing oneself, and the distinction between sin (singular) and sins (plural).

Desire to have our own way, Forgetting God, Free will, God's purpose for us, idolatry, Idolatry and Sin, Index, refusal to repent, Refusing to hear, Rejecting God, self-serving worship, Sin, Sins versus sin, Topic Index, Truth and Falsehood, What is sin?

definition of sin, definition of sins, Definitions, Idolatry, sin, sins

Repentance Series Index

Ian Johnson October 23, 2022 0 Comments

An index to the series of blog articles on the subject of repentance.

An abuse of God's image, Confession of Sin, Consequences, Desire to have our own way, Forgetting God, forgiveness and mercy, Free will, God is Love, God's Existence and Nature, God's purpose for us, God's rationality, patience, refusal to repent, Refusing to hear, Rejecting God, Repentance, self-serving worship, Sin, Sins versus sin, The Problem of Evil, To live in unity, What is sin?

forgiveness, rebellion, repent, repentance, sin, sins, unforgiveness

Anger

Ian Johnson October 12, 2022 0 Comments

I write this post to myself. I was once a very angry man. But I believed I now had anger under control. More recently, I’m not so sure. Manipulative people and manipulative institutions both deliberately goad the anger of those they want to control–anger is a great motivator. The media, celebrities, politicians, organizations and advertisers do the same thing. Other people, though, habitually but unconsciously manipulate by continually rehearsing their angry reveries for others to hear, wishing either to bring their hearers into their angry world or to intimidate by fear of what they might do in anger. And I am weak to all of these ploys. So I present the following study, which consists only of quotations from Scripture about human anger, its causes and antidote.

Changed treatment of each other, Conversation with others, Desire to have our own way, Divisions in the Church, Emotions, Forgive as we forgive, forgiveness and mercy, Forgiveness and Unforgiveness, Free will, God is Love, God's purpose for us, His Children, Human Rationality, Injustice and Lawsuits, Language and Speech, patience, Repentance, Restoration of God's Image, Restoration of our Relationships, Salvation, To be his ambassadors, To live in unity

anger, angry, arguments, bitterness, contention, Death and life are in the power of the tongue, discord, gossip, lies, Love, lying, mercy, peace, reconcile, reconciliation, root of bitterness, strife, temper, tongue, whispering, wrath

Commands I Can’t Keep If God Doesn’t Speak to Me

Like this:

God Speaks to Us through His Spirit

Like this:

The Kingdom of “the Heavens” in Matthew

Like this:

“I Want to Be Forgotten!”

Like this:

The Fruit of Righteousness and the Fruit of the Spirit

Like this:

Of Abiding, Growth and Fruitfulness

Like this:

God’s Patience and Our Repentance, 2 Peter 3:9

Like this:

Idolatry and the Meaning of “Sin” Outline

Like this:

Repentance Series Index

Like this:

Anger

Like this:

Post navigation

God’s purpose for us

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: