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Friday, October 6, 2017

not merely human

Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
2 Peter 1:20‭-‬21 NIV

This passage teaches that when you read Scripture, what you are reading does not merely come from a man but also from God. The Bible is the writing of many different men. But it is also far more than that. Yes, men spoke. They spoke with their own language and style. But Peter mentions two other dimensions of their speaking.

First, they spoke from God. What they have to say is not merely from their own limited perspective. They are not the origin of the truth they speak; they are the channel. The truth is God's truth. Their meaning is God's meaning.

Second, not only is what they spoke from God, but how they spoke it is controlled by the Holy Spirit. Men, moved by the Holy Spirit, spoke from God. God did not simply reveal truth to the writers of Scripture and then depart in hopes that they might communicate it accurately. Peter says that in the very communicating of it they were carried by the Holy Spirit. The making of the Bible was not left to merely human skills of communication; the Holy Spirit himself carried the process to completion.

©2014 Desiring God Foundation. Find many other free resources by John Piper at desiringGod.org

The Holy Spirit is the divine author of all Scripture. If this doctrine is true — and it is — then the implications are so profound and far-reaching that every part of our lives should be affected.
Because Holy Spirit is the author of Scripture, it is true (Psalm 119:142) and altogether reliable (Hebrews 6:18).

It is powerful, working its purpose in our hearts (1 Thessalonians 2:13) and not returning empty to the One who sent it (Isaiah 55:10–11).
It is pure, like silver refined in a furnace seven times (Psalm 12:6).
It is sanctifying (John 17:17).
It gives life (Psalm 119:37, 50, 93, 107; John 6:63; Matthew 4:4).
It makes wise (Psalm 19:7; 119:99–100).
It gives joy (Psalm 19:8; 119:16, 92, 111, 143, 174) and promises great reward (Psalm 19:11).
It gives strength to the weak (Psalm 119:28) and comfort to the distraught (Psalm 119:76) and guidance to the perplexed (Psalm 119:105) and salvation to the lost (Psalm 119:155; 2 Timothy 3:15).
The wisdom of God in Scripture is inexhaustible.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 
If I would count them, they are more than the sand.

Thursday, October 5, 2017

God's grace or wrath

Isaiah 61:2 (AMP)  To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord  and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,

We live in an era what we believe as grace period, that would come to end and will be replace by an era what will be known as God's wrath or vengeance upon the earth and mankind. Where lots of prophecies in the Bible will be fullfilled.  Do not under estimate the doomsday prophecy. It is a sure things as sunrise in the morning.
God is not only a God of terrible holiness and wrath; he is also a God rich in mercy. But as long as it is today we still have hope to find God's grace of forgiveness of sin. His mercy and favor still stand for us who believe in the saving power of Jesus the Messiah, the saviour of sinners.

And so he sent his Son into the world, not condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him from God’s own wrath (John 3:17).

He came not to be served but to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).
To lay down his life for the sheep (John 10:15).
To bear our sins in his body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24).
To provide us with a righteousness that comes, not from our law-keeping, but through faith (Philippians 3:9).
And to reconcile us to God (2 Corinthians 5:18; 1 Peter 3:18).

All the children of wrath and sin may become children of the Father of holiness through Jesus Christ.

I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Luke 5:32 NIV

Today is the right time for inviting Jesus to come to your heart as Lord and saviour. By acknowledging your sin and weaknesses. as you believe and accept Him, you already transferred from wrath to God's grace. God's will is for you to live in peace, love and joy as you grow day by day in Christ Jesus.

Wednesday, October 4, 2017

nothing shall separate us

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
Romans 8:35 NIV


Notice three things in Romans 8:35.
1. Christ is loving us now.
A wife might say of her deceased husband: Nothing will separate me from his love. She might mean that the memory of his love will be sweet and powerful all her life. But that is not what Paul means here.
In Romans 8:34 it says plainly, "Christ Jesus is the one who died, more than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us." The reason Paul can say that nothing will separate us from the love of Christ is because Christ is alive and is still loving us now.
He is at the right hand of God and is therefore ruling for us. And he is interceding for us, which means he is seeing to it that his finished work of redemption does in fact save us hour by hour and bring us safe to eternal joy. His love is not a memory. It is a moment-by-moment action by the omnipotent, living Son of God, to bring us to everlasting joy.
2. This love of Christ is effective in protecting us from separation, and therefore is not a universal love for all, but a particular love for his people, those who, according to Romans 8:28, love God and are called according to his purpose.
This is the love of Ephesians 5:25, "Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her." It is Christ’s love for the church, his bride. Christ has a love for all, and he has a special, saving, preserving love for his bride. You know you are part of that bride if you trust Christ. Anyone, no exceptions, anyone who trusts Christ can say, I am part of his bride, his church, his called and chosen ones, the ones who verse 35 says are kept and protected forever no matter what.
3. This omnipotent, effective, protecting love does not spare us from calamities in this life, but brings us safe to everlasting joy with God.
Death will happen to us, but it will not separate us. So when Paul says in verse 35 that the "sword" will not separate us from the love of Christ, he means: even if we are killed we are not separated from the love of Christ.
So the sum of the matter in verse 35 is this: Jesus Christ is mightily loving his people with omnipotent, moment-by-moment love that does not always rescue us from calamity but preserves us for everlasting joy in his presence even through suffering and death.

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