|
John 7:37 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.
38 He who believes into Me, as the Scripture said, out of his innermost being shall flow 2rivers of living water. Note 7:382 The rivers of living water are the many flows of the different aspects of life (cf. Rom. 15:30; 1 Thes. 1:6; 2 Thes. 2:13; Gal. 5:22-23), originating from the one unique river of water of life (Rev. 22:1), which is God's Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2).
|
|
Monday, 31 May 2010 15:23 |
|
I've been enjoying recently the Christian experience of Christ's ascension. I have appreciated for a long time that we experience the death of Christ when we experience His killing of our old man, our concepts, our opinions, our preferences, our self, our individualism, etc. I've appreciated that we experience His resurrection when we experience His giving us life when we feel dead and powerless, and overcoming our deadness, tiredness, oldness, and so on. However, only recently have I started to really appreciate that the normal Christian living is an experience of Christ's ascension, where we are above all the earthly things that we face and that bother us from day to day (Eph 2:6). By setting our mind on the things above (Col 3:1-2), our minds constantly think about Christ, His love, His economy, those whom we need to pray for, our church life, and the eternal, real things. Thus, even when we face the everyday things of life, like traffic jams, missed alarms, rude customer service representatives, and so on, these things just don't bother us. By setting our mind continuously on the things above, we live above these little things, and we respond to them in Christ and as Christ. This is a new vista in my Christian experience. |
|
Wednesday, 19 May 2010 00:00 |
|
The prophesying meeting is not the centre of the church life, but it is extremely important. It is a critical aspect of the God-ordained way; in fact, in one sense, it can even be considered the goal of the God-ordained way:
1Co 14:4 ... He who prophesies builds up the church.
This is the only verse in the entire New Testament that tells us practically how to build the church: it is by prophesying. And it is not just some saints prophesying, but it is by everyone prophesying:
1Co 14:23-25 If therefore the whole church comes together in one place, .... But if all prophesy and some unbeliever or unlearned person enters, he is convicted by all, he is examined by all; the secrets of his heart become manifest; and so falling on his face, he will worship God, declaring that indeed God is among you.
When everyone prophesies, then God is manifested in the flesh, and there is a visible testimony of God on the earth. This is not a light matter; it is a key aspect of our testimony as the church of God. For this, we need to arrange our meetings in such a way as to encourage everyone to prophesy. |
|
Monday, 05 April 2010 07:05 |
|
One of the items in the all-inclusive Spirit that we believers receive is the element of the ascension of Christ. Most basically, ascension was the last step before the dispensing of the Spirit, which was in two stages: when the Lord breathed the Spirit into the disciples in John 20, and when He poured out the Spirit upon them in Acts 2. These are typified by the Old Testament feasts of the Firstfruits and Pentecost, respectively.
|
|
Last Updated on Monday, 05 April 2010 07:15 |
|
Read more... [Ascension is in the Spirit we have received]
|
|
|
Saturday, 23 May 2009 00:00 |
|
This morning I was considering Revelation chapters 4 and 5. In chapters 4 and 5, praise is given to God and to the Lamb. In chapter 4 verse 8, the four living creatures give God the praise: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God the Almighty," and in verse 11, the 24 elders give Him the praise: "You are worthy, God the Creator because You have created all things." All of this praise is in the nature of the Old Testament. It praises God as the Creator of all things, the Creator of the old creation. |
|
Last Updated on Monday, 05 April 2010 07:22 |
|
Read more... [Dispensational transfer in Revelation 4 and 5]
|
|
Thursday, 11 December 2008 06:46 |
|
We often wonder how we can reconcile the conflict between acting in an appropriate way towards people when we think or feel quite differently. For instance, there might be someone we don't really like, but the person wants to shake our hand and greet us. So we smile, shake their hand and greet them, and feel like a hypocrite inwardly. Or perhaps I've been having a rough day emotionally, but someone greets me, asking how I'm doing, someone not close enough for me to share my inner struggles. So, I say, "Fine," and feel like a hypocrite or liar.
On thinking about such situations, I realized that to think in this way is to act as if man only has two parts, a body and a soul. This kind of thinking is actually according to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that merely considers whether a situation is right or wrong according to my own reasoning, feeling, or assessment. This is contrary to the tree of life, which determines the rightness of things according to the principle of eating God, becoming one with God, and living out God--when we live out God, God is always right, and we are right in Him, not apart from Him.
How I might think or feel inwardly is according to my soul, that is, my mind and my emotions. To consider that this is what I am sincerely is to consider that my soul-life, my self, is the primary and real aspect of my being. But no! In addition to my body (actions, including my speech) and my soul (my inner thoughts, feelings, and decisions), I have a spirit! My spirit is the aspect of me that can be one with God and that can contact God.
|
|
Last Updated on Thursday, 11 December 2008 07:38 |
|
Read more... [Don't be a hypocrite—be true to your spirit!]
|
|
|
Friday, 07 November 2008 12:07 |
|
1 Thes 5:16 Always rejoice,
17 Unceasingly pray,
18 In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
This morning I pray-read this verse with my brother and sister-in-law, and I really enjoyed so much light:
-
Always rejoice, in everything give thanks: First, I saw that God is the Always in whom we rejoice, and He is the Everything in whom we give thanks. Our rejoicing or giving thanks is not based on outward conditions that are joyful or worthy of thanks; no, our outward situation goes up and down. Nor is it based on our inward condition, whether we are sad, worried, anxious; it is not even based on whether we are victorious, defeated, sinful, holy, or unholy. None of these things, outward or inward, is presented as the basis of our rejoicing or thanksgiving. God alone is the Always, the One who never changes. He is always joy itself, always thanks itself. In Him, we have an eternal fountain of joy. Whenever I tap into Him, I touch the Always Joyful One in whom I can rejoice, regardless my inward or outward situation.
As for His being the Everything, Christ is all and in all (Col 3:11). In many situations in themselves, I cannot find a basis of thanksgiving. I do not believe the Lord is asking us to rotely give thanks for the sake of giving thanks. I believe He is saying here that we must see that He is in all things, and that in all these things we must give thanks because of Him who is in these things. So, as soon as I see Christ in any situation, I will spontaneously be able to give thanks.
|
|
Last Updated on Friday, 07 November 2008 12:45 |
|
Read more... [The will of the Always]
|
|
Saturday, 01 November 2008 21:38 |
|
Last night and tonight, in two separate meetings, we read Luke 5. I was so deeply touched by the relationship between the consciousness of sin in this chapter and the experience of jubilee in chapter 4. Tonight we also read most of Life-Study of Luke chapter 13. Here is a quote from pp. 107-108:
The cases 5:1—6:11 portray the spiritual condition of every fallen human being. Before we were saved, we were occupied. We were also lepers, sinful people, in need of cleansing. In addition, we were paralytics, those unable to walk or do anything according to God. Therefore, we were in need of the Lord’s healing.
No matter what a person’s occupation may be, when he is called by the Lord and released, he immediately realizes that he is sinful. When people are busy with their occupation, they may think that they are very good. But when they are released from their occupation to follow the Lord, they realize that they are sinful. Furthermore, after they are cleansed, they realize that they are paralyzed with respect to God and the things of God. They are not able to walk in God’s way. But after they are healed, they come to see that they are “tax collectors,” despised persons considered to be of no value. Eventually, they understand that they are under the bondage of certain regulations and are in need of both satisfaction and liberation.
After we are freed from our occupation, cleansed from our leprosy, and healed of our paralysis, we become in the Lord a person of value, for now we have Him as the new clothing to cover us outwardly and as the new wine to fill us inwardly (Luke 5:36-39). Following this, we are released from the binding regulations. As a result, we become persons fully saved by the Man-Savior.
|
|
Last Updated on Friday, 07 November 2008 12:44 |
|
Read more... [Only sinners can experience jubilee]
|
|
|
|
|
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 Next > End >>
|
|
Page 1 of 4 |
chitu.okoli.org
