Leading people to a more intimate friendship with God
“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” — John 3:17-18 (NIV) Jesus …
Continue reading “Neo, Morpheus, and the 2 Pills: How Much to Tell? (John 3:17-18)”
Let me get to the bottom line on what I share here: God wants you to do great things — with Him, NOT for Him. In the hours before he was arrested and ultimately crucified, Jesus spoke to his disciples about things that were both near to his heart and important for them to know …
Continue reading “Jesus Rejoices When We Bear Fruit, So Abide in Him and Dream Big”
Introduction I don’t know about you, but I get discouraged sometimes attending Christian conferences, listening to televangelists on radio and TV and podcasts, and reading books. It seems like the message being sent is that the life of faith is one of success after success. If you happen to be like me, you have experienced …
Continue reading “Success Is Over-Rated in the Life of Faith”
Continuing the idea presented in the two earlier posts on abiding, based on the words of Jesus in the Gospel of John, we focus on an Old Testament passage from the book of Psalms. Here we focus on the idea of “dwelling”, which is very closely related to “abiding”. While the Old Testament was written …
There is probably no theme more important to the idea of intimacy than the theme of abiding in God. Jesus’ teaching on abiding is found in the Gospel of John. Perhaps the most famous passage is in John 15:4-6, where Jesus says, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit …
Jesus is passionate for unity of the Spirit In Jesus’s final words of hope and encouragement to His disciples in John 17, he prays extensively for them. At the end of this prayer, He prays not only for them, but all who would believe in Him through the ages. His prayer is that we may …