Clothing may polish the image, but it doesn’t polish the character. You’ve heard the statement “You never have a second chance to make a first impression,” but does how you dress have anything to do with the inside? How do you polish that?
Ever heard of the cookie jar syndrome? It’s when there is a set of beliefs very carefully in place but there isn’t the behaviour to give it authenticity. Belief and behaviour always go hand-in-hand. And they go in that order.
We want to establish the fact that God the Holy Spirit is very much at work in this era and will continue to be to the end of time. In brief, we have not reached the end of the Spirit’s era.
Does being a Spirit-filled Christian require uncontrollable “urges” and unexplainable “unctions”? So much is being promoted and printed these days that leaves the impression these are the norm, not the exception. Is that true?
As we work our way through these verses, it will become increasingly more clear that our times at Malta are just as significant as our days in Rome…maybe more so.
We can learn much from one particular portion of Scripture in James 5. Let’s concentrate on verses 13 through 16 as we come to terms with how the Lord would have us deal with suffering and sickness.
Surely the One who made us is capable of healing us—no question—but can we say He is responsible for all these things? How does He heal? What does Scripture teach?
In many ways, we evangelicals—especially non-charismatic evangelicals—frown on emotion. Somehow, this doesn’t square with common sense. More important, it lacks an understanding of the Spirit’s work within and through the realm of our emotions. Let’s think that through together.
Let’s see if God’s Word can give us greater insight into those unidentified inner promptings.
In our searching through the Scriptures, let’s reexamine the “anointing of the Holy One,” which seems inseparably linked to having “the mind of Christ.” Quite probably, some of these things could explain what we often pass off as mere intuition or coincidence. Let’s find out.
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