Former location of "The Kingdom of the Heavens" blog, written by an incurable fool who is trying to become a holy fool!
There are those who say that a good Christian should always rejoice because of anything that happens, and must never grieve. These people are wrong. Our instructions are to grieve physical death, and to grieve the sinful condition of our world that leads to it, as God himself does, but to do so in a way that expresses our hope in the resurrection. Do not deny grief, but show hope in grief. Groaning is not a sin.
Let your work appear to your servants, your glory to their children.
Let the favor of the Lord our God be on us.
Establish the work of our hands for us. Yes, establish the work of our hands
He has shown us the way into a new life, a life beyond death, a life that is at peace with God. We must receive his life and follow him, living in the Spirit as he did. That is all. No “merit” is involved. God doesn’t look at our “merit.” Jesus doesn’t save us by giving us his “merit;” he saves us by giving us himself. This is the key to freedom.
My personal journey from a liberal church that had little belief in spiritual gifts, through local churches of various other flavors, to the point of praying for prophecy, as 1 Corinthians 14:1, 12 and 39 seemed to say was appropriate.