You are here: Home › Theology

Archive | Theology RSS feed for this section

Words of Renewal

By in Theology

GREAT prayer time today. About coming back to basics and a softening of the heart. So, I’ve reordered a TMS (Topical Memory System) again to start fresh. You might want to consider the same.

“The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in You.”

Isaiah 26:3

Having memorized these over and over some while ago, they brought such life and renewal. And clarity and promise. So for today, I’m reciting some of them off from memory and I’m so pleased and grateful they came back to mind.

I very much miss them, so I’m getting back to it just to review and build upon what’s there. This Spirit is going to grow within because something is stirring inside much like my passion for wilderness and music, only much more and this is everlasting. Day by day heaven nears and even if this is just a single day at a time, that is enough because there is peace.

Topical Memory System

LIVE THE
NEW LIFE		PROCLAIM
CHRIST		RELY ON GOD’S RESOURCESBEING CHRIST’S DISCIPLEGROW IN CHRIST
Christ the Center
2 Cor. 5:17;
Gal. 2:20		All Have Sinned
Romans 3:23;
Isaiah 53:6		His Spirit
1 Cor. 3:16;
1 Cor. 2:12
Put Christ First
Matthew 6:33,
Luke 9:23		Love
John 13:34-35;
1 John 3:18
Obedience to Christ
Romans 12:1;
John 14:21		Sin’s Penalty
Romans 6:23;
Hebrews 9:27		His Strength
Isaiah 41:10;
Phil. 4:13		Separate From
the World
1 John 2:15-16;
Romans 12:2		Humility
Phil. 2:3-4;
1 Peter 5:5-6
The Word
2 Timothy 3:16;
Joshua 1:8		Christ Paid the Penalty
Romans 5:8
1 Peter 3:18		His Faithfulness
Lam. 3:22-23;
Num. 23:19		Be Steadfast
1 Cor. 15:58;
Heb. 12:3		Purity
Eph. 5:3;
1 Peter 2:11
Prayer
John 15:7;
Phil. 4:6-7		Salvation not
by Works
Eph. 2:8-9;
Titus 3:5		His Peace
Isaiah 26:3;
1 Peter 5:7		Serve Others
Mark 10:45;
2 Cor. 4:5		Honesty
Lev. 19:11;
Acts 24:16
Fellowship
Matt. 18:20;
Heb. 10:24-25		Must Receive Christ
John 1:12;
Revelation 3:20		His Provision
Rom. 8:32;
Phil. 4:19		Give Generously
Proverbs 3:9,10;
2 Cor. 9:6-7		Faith
Heb. 11:6;
Rom. 4:20-21
Witnessing
Matt. 4:19;
Romans 1:16		Assurance of Salvation
1 John 5:13;
John 5:24
Help in Temptation
Hebrews 2:18;
Ps. 119:9-11		Develop World Vision
Acts 1:8;
Matthew 28:19-20		Good Works
Gal. 6:9-10;
Matt. 5:16
Continue Reading ·

Acuity of a Blind Man

By in Theology

The “Works of God” through the disabilities of others (John 9:3). And not just for those of who have physical handicaps, I suppose.

“For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.” – Rev 3:17

This afternoon on my Twitter stream, I saw an article come through, and it led me to get a second look and read further into it. I was not sure what it was going to be about, but I chose to spend the time with the article’s link anyway. The article is entitled “When Men Forget Who They Are” by John Knight. It’s on the desiringgod.org site.

What got my attention was the call for Pastors to join a Conference about “God, Manhood & Ministry: Building Men for the Body of Christ.” The time spent to involve somehow, “Fathers of children with disabilities need you to get biblical manhood.” It’s not clear to me what was meant, but it was enough to continue in the article.

The author’s boy is blind. And it feels like men or parents under such circumstances aren’t a priority given the church’s condition today and what is comparatively needed elsewhere relatively speaking. Still, here by happenstance, or by Providence, some will attend and maybe make a difference among some who have children with disabilities.

So, I spend some time thinking about who’s paying attention and what they would possibly do. Hoping for the best.

Continue Reading ·

Quenched

By in Theology
Parched

Likewise, the Holy Spirit dwells in each believer (Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 6:19). Scripture sometimes represents His presence and activity through the imagery of fire, as when tongues “as of fire” appeared at Pentecost and the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:3–4). He desires to express His holy work through our actions and attitudes. When believers do not allow the fruit of the Spirit to be evident in their conduct, and when we knowingly do what is wrong, we grieve the Spirit and resist His sanctifying work (Ephesians 4:30; Galatians 5:16–25). We therefore fail to display in our lives the holiness and character that He produces in those who walk by Him.

To understand what it means to grieve the Spirit, we must first understand that this indicates that the Spirit possesses personality. Only a person can be grieved; therefore, the Spirit is not an impersonal force but a personal being who speaks, teaches, wills, intercedes, and may be grieved (John 14:26; Acts 13:2; Romans 8:26–27; 1 Corinthians 12:11; Ephesians 4:30). Scripture also reveals that He is divine, for lying to the Holy Spirit is identified with lying to God, and He searches and knows the depths of God (Acts 5:3–4; 1 Corinthians 2:10–11). Once we understand that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, we can better understand how our sin grieves Him.

Ephesians 4:30 commands us not to grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom believers are sealed for the day of redemption. The surrounding passage shows that He is grieved when conduct within the body of Christ contradicts His holiness and the unity He creates. Falsehood violates the truth that binds believers together (Ephesians 4:25); sinful and prolonged anger gives opportunity to the devil (Ephesians 4:26–27); theft opposes honest labor and generosity (Ephesians 4:28); corrupt speech tears down rather than gives grace (Ephesians 4:29); and bitterness, wrath, clamor, slander, and malice oppose the kindness, tenderheartedness, and forgiveness that reflect God’s grace in Christ (Ephesians 4:31–32). Sexual immorality, impurity, covetousness, and filthy speech likewise contradict the holiness proper to those who belong to Christ (Ephesians 5:3–5). To grieve the Spirit, therefore, is to act against His holy character, His sanctifying work, and the life of unity and righteousness He produces among God’s people.

Both quenching and grieving the Holy Spirit describe sinful resistance to His work, though Scripture uses the terms in distinct contexts. We grieve the Spirit when our conduct opposes His holiness and sanctifying work in us and among the people of God (Ephesians 4:30–32; 5:1–5). We quench the Spirit when we suppress or reject His genuine activity rather than receiving and testing it faithfully; in 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul immediately connects this warning with not despising prophecies, testing everything, holding fast what is good, and abstaining from every form of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:19–22). In both cases, the concern is not merely that our behavior becomes less godly, but that we are resisting the Holy Spirit Himself—the One who indwells, sanctifies, leads, and forms believers into the likeness of Christ (Romans 8:9, 13–14; Galatians 5:16–25).

Continue Reading ·