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“Do Not Quench the Spirit” "Do not quench the Spirit" —1 Thessalonians 5:19 The voice of the Spirit of God is as gentle as a summer breeze— so gentle that unless you are living in complete fellowship and oneness with God, you will never hear it. The sense of warning and restraint that the Spirit gives comes to us in the most amazingly gentle ways. And if you are not sensitive enough to detect His voice, you will quench it, and your spiritual life will be impaired. This sense of restraint will always come as a “still small voice�...

The Theology of Resting in God "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" —Matthew 8:26 When we are afraid, the least we can do is pray to God. But our Lord has a right to expect that those who name His name have an underlying confidence in Him. God expects His children to be so confident in Him that in any crisis they are the ones who are reliable. Yet our trust is only in God up to a certain point, then we turn back to the elementary panic-stricken prayers of those people who do not even...

This Experience Must Come "Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha . . . saw him no more" —2 Kings 2:11-12 It is not wrong for you to depend on your “Elijah� for as long as God gives him to you. But remember that the time will come when he must leave and will no longer be your guide and your leader, because God does not intend for him to stay. Even the thought of that causes you to say, “I cannot continue without my ’Elijah.’ � Yet God says you must continue.Alone at Your “Jordan�...

The Holy Suffering of the Saint "Let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good . . ." —1 Peter 4:19 Choosing to suffer means that there must be something wrong with you, but choosing God’s will— even if it means you will suffer— is something very different. No normal, healthy saint ever chooses suffering; he simply chooses God’s will, just as Jesus did, whether it means suffering or not. And no saint should ever dare to interfere with the lesson of suffering being taught in another saint’s life.The saint...

Prayer in the Father’s Honor ". . . that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God" —Luke 1:35 If the Son of God has been born into my human flesh, then am I allowing His holy innocence, simplicity, and oneness with the Father the opportunity to exhibit itself in me? What was true of the Virgin Mary in the history of the Son of God’s birth on earth is true of every saint. God’s Son is born into me through the direct act of God; then I as His child must exercise...

Prayer in the Father’s Hearing "Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, ’Father, I thank You that You have heard Me’" —John 11:41 When the Son of God prays, He is mindful and consciously aware of only His Father. God always hears the prayers of His Son, and if the Son of God has been formed in me (see Galatians 4:19) the Father will always hear my prayers. But I must see to it that the Son of God is exhibited in my human flesh. “. . . your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit . ....

The Old Testament answers some of the greatest questions of all time—where did we come from? Why do we desire the good yet do evil? Why do our souls yearn for eternity while our bodies yield to death and decay?Yet, the Hebrew Scriptures leave so many other tantalizing questions unanswered. These mysteries have nagged at the Christian imagination for centuries, inspired epic quests, and stumped some of the greatest minds of the Church.Here are six of the greatest mysteries of the Old Testament. (Note to readers: the focus is on historical questions, not scientific issues, such as the six days...

Prayer in the Father’s Honor ". . . that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God" —Luke 1:35 If the Son of God has been born into my human flesh, then am I allowing His holy innocence, simplicity, and oneness with the Father the opportunity to exhibit itself in me? What was true of the Virgin Mary in the history of the Son of God’s birth on earth is true of every saint. God’s Son is born into me through the direct act of God; then I as His child must exercise...

The Cross in Prayer "In that day you will ask in My name . . ." —John 16:26 We too often think of the Cross of Christ as something we have to get through, yet we get through for the purpose of getting into it. The Cross represents only one thing for us— complete, entire, absolute identification with the Lord Jesus Christ— and there is nothing in which this identification is more real to us than in prayer.“Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him� (Matthew 6:8). Then why should we ask? The point...

The Cross in Prayer "In that day you will ask in My name . . ." —John 16:26 We too often think of the Cross of Christ as something we have to get through, yet we get through for the purpose of getting into it. The Cross represents only one thing for us— complete, entire, absolute identification with the Lord Jesus Christ— and there is nothing in which this identification is more real to us than in prayer.“Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him� (Matthew 6:8). Then why should we ask? The point...

Bishops dance to a new tune World Youth Day 2013, Bishops practicing for event Rio de Janeiro http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2013/07/bishops-dance-to-new-tune.html 86 comments: Frank Carleton said... At last! POST VATICAN II : THE EPISCOPAL MUSICAL or bishops behaving fatuously. Unsurprising that evangelical Protestantism is advancing in South America. Protestants do such antics better. These gyrating bishops are not leaders but gormless followers aping youthful behaviour and being simply silly. 27 July, 2013 22:50

The Brave Friendship of God "He took the twelve aside . . ." —Luke 18:31 Oh, the bravery of God in trusting us! Do you say, “But He has been unwise to choose me, because there is nothing good in me and I have no value�? That is exactly why He chose you. As long as you think that you are of value to Him He cannot choose you, because you have purposes of your own to serve. But if you will allow Him to take you to the end of your own self-sufficiency, then He can choose you...

The Compelling Purpose of God "He . . . said to them, ’Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem . ." —Luke 18:31 Jerusalem, in the life of our Lord, represents the place where He reached the culmination of His Father’s will. Jesus said, “I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me� (John 5:30). Seeking to do “the will of the Father� was the one dominating concern throughout our Lord’s life. And whatever He encountered along the way, whether joy or sorrow, success or failure, He was never deterred from that...

The Teaching of Adversity "In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" —John 16:33 The typical view of the Christian life is that it means being delivered from all adversity. But it actually means being delivered in adversity, which is something very different. “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling . . .� (Psalm 91:1,10)— the place where you are at one with God.If you...

Learning About His Ways "When Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples . . . He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities" —Matthew 11:1 He comes where He commands us to leave. If you stayed home when God told you to go because you were so concerned about your own people there, then you actually robbed them of the teaching of Jesus Christ Himself. When you obeyed and left all the consequences to God, the Lord went into your city to teach, but as long as you were disobedient, you blocked His way. Watch where...

Learning About His Ways "When Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples . . . He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities" —Matthew 11:1 He comes where He commands us to leave. If you stayed home when God told you to go because you were so concerned about your own people there, then you actually robbed them of the teaching of Jesus Christ Himself. When you obeyed and left all the consequences to God, the Lord went into your city to teach, but as long as you were disobedient, you blocked His way. Watch where...

Becoming Entirely His "Let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing" —James 1:4 Many of us appear to be all right in general, but there are still some areas in which we are careless and lazy; it is not a matter of sin, but the remnants of our carnal life that tend to make us careless. Carelessness is an insult to the Holy Spirit. We should have no carelessness about us either in the way we worship God, or even in the way we eat and drink.Not only must our relationship to...

Mt. Athos Monks Battle Police Over Eviction By Andy Dabilis on July 29, 2013 in News  87  16    2  213 An earlier clash between the Mt. Athos monks and police Angry monks at the Esphigmenou Monastery in the monastic community of Mount Athos in northern Greece, refusing to obey an eviction order, tossed Molotov Cocktails and rocks at bailiffs attempting to serve them on July 29, chasing them off the premises of the famed peninsula.“The monks of Esphigmenou Monastery who are in the residential quarters and are in a defense position to defend it, threw some objects from inside...

Do You See Jesus in Your Clouds? "Behold, He is coming with clouds . . ." —Revelation 1:7 In the Bible clouds are always associated with God. Clouds are the sorrows, sufferings, or providential circumstances, within or without our personal lives, which actually seem to contradict the sovereignty of God. Yet it is through these very clouds that the Spirit of God is teaching us how to walk by faith. If there were never any clouds in our lives, we would have no faith. “The clouds are the dust of His feet� (Nahum 1:3). They are a sign that...

God’s Purpose or Mine? "He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side . . ." —Mark 6:45 We tend to think that if Jesus Christ compels us to do something and we are obedient to Him, He will lead us to great success. We should never have the thought that our dreams of success are God’s purpose for us. In fact, His purpose may be exactly the opposite. We have the idea that God is leading us toward a particular end or a desired goal, but He is not. The question...

The Way to Knowledge "If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine . . ." —John 7:17 The golden rule to follow to obtain spiritual understanding is not one of intellectual pursuit, but one of obedience. If a person wants scientific knowledge, then intellectual curiosity must be his guide. But if he desires knowledge and insight into the teachings of Jesus Christ, he can only obtain it through obedience. If spiritual things seem dark and hidden to me, then I can be sure that there is a point of disobedience somewhere in my life....

The Way to Purity "Those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart . . . . For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man . . ." —Matthew 15:18-20 Initially we trust in our ignorance, calling it innocence, and next we trust our innocence, calling it purity. Then when we hear these strong statements from our Lord, we shrink back, saying, “But I never felt any of those awful things in my heart.� We resent what He reveals. Either Jesus...

Am I Blessed Like This? "Blessed are . . ." — Matthew 5:3-10 When we first read the statements of Jesus they seem wonderfully simple and unstartling, and they sink unobserved into our unconscious minds. For instance, the Beatitudes seem merely mild and beautiful precepts for all unworldly and useless people, but of very little practical use in the stern workaday world in which we live. We soon find, however, that the Beatitudes contain the dynamite of the Holy Ghost. They explode, as it were, when the circumstances of our lives cause them to do so. When the Holy...

His Nature and Our Motives ". . . unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven" —Matthew 5:20 The characteristic of a disciple is not that he does good things, but that he is good in his motives, having been made good by the supernatural grace of God. The only thing that exceeds right-doing is right-being. Jesus Christ came to place within anyone who would let Him a new heredity that would have a righteousness exceeding that of the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus is saying, “If...

Sanctification (2) "But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us . . . sanctification . . ." —1 Corinthians 1:30 The Life Side. The mystery of sanctification is that the perfect qualities of Jesus Christ are imparted as a gift to me, not gradually, but instantly once I enter by faith into the realization that He “became for [me] . . . sanctification . . . .� Sanctification means nothing less than the holiness of Jesus becoming mine and being exhibited in my life.The most wonderful secret of living a holy life does not lie...

Sanctification (1) "This is the will of God, your sanctification. . ." —1 Thessalonians 4:3 The Death Side. In sanctification God has to deal with us on the death side as well as on the life side. Sanctification requires our coming to the place of death, but many of us spend so much time there that we become morbid. There is always a tremendous battle before sanctification is realized— something within us pushing with resentment against the demands of Christ. When the Holy Spirit begins to show us what sanctification means, the struggle starts immediately. Jesus said, “If anyone...

The Doorway to the Kingdom "Blessed are the poor in spirit . . ." —Matthew 5:3 Beware of thinking of our Lord as only a teacher. If Jesus Christ is only a teacher, then all He can do is frustrate me by setting a standard before me I cannot attain. What is the point of presenting me with such a lofty ideal if I cannot possibly come close to reaching it? I would be happier if I never knew it. What good is there in telling me to be what I can never be— to be “pure in heart�...

Dependent on God’s Presence "Those who wait on the Lord . . . shall walk and not faint" —Isaiah 40:31 There is no thrill for us in walking, yet it is the test for all of our steady and enduring qualities. To “walk and not faint� is the highest stretch possible as a measure of strength. The word walk is used in the Bible to express the character of a person— “. . . John . . . looking at Jesus as He walked. . . said, ’Behold the Lamb of God!’ � (John 1:35-36). There is nothing abstract...

The Submission of the Believer "You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am" —John 13:13 Our Lord never insists on having authority over us. He never says, “You will submit to me.� No, He leaves us perfectly free to choose— so free, in fact, that we can spit in His face or we can put Him to death, as others have done; and yet He will never say a word. But once His life has been created in me through His redemption, I instantly recognize His right to absolute authority over me. It...

“The light of the East has illumined the universal Church, from the moment when ‘a rising sun’ appeared above us: Jesus Christ, our Lord, whom all Christians invoke as the Redeemer of man and the hope of the world.� Thus began Pope John Paul II’s 1995 apostolic letter Orientale Lumen (“Light of the East), which encourages Latin Catholics to better know the traditions of the Christian East. Rather than collecting dust on a Vatican shelf, the letter has continued to inspire a Washington, D.C.-based grassroots ecumenical movement for almost two decades. Initially planned as a single meeting to discuss...

The Miracle of Belief "My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom . . ." —1 Corinthians 2:4 Paul was a scholar and an orator of the highest degree; he was not speaking here out of a deep sense of humility, but was saying that when he preached the gospel, he would veil the power of God if he impressed people with the excellency of his speech. Belief in Jesus is a miracle produced only by the effectiveness of redemption, not by impressive speech, nor by wooing and persuading, but only by the sheer...

Suffering Afflictions and Going the Second Mile "I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also" —Matthew 5:39 This verse reveals the humiliation of being a Christian. In the natural realm, if a person does not hit back, it is because he is a coward. But in the spiritual realm, it is the very evidence of the Son of God in him if he does not hit back. When you are insulted, you must not only not resent it, but you must make it an...

Catholics must “watch their tongues” and resist the temptation to resolve disputes with “insults, slander, and defamation,” Pope Francis has said. Delivering a homily at morning Mass on Thursday, which was attended by men and women who work at Argentina’s embassies and consulates to Italy and the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation in Rome, the Pope said: “There is no need to go to a psychologist to know that when we denigrates another person it is because we are unable to grow up and need to belittle others, to feel more important. “Jesus, with all the simplicity says: ‘Do not...

The Price of the Vision "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord . . ." —Isaiah 6:1 Our soul’s personal history with God is often an account of the death of our heroes. Over and over again God has to remove our friends to put Himself in their place, and that is when we falter, fail, and become discouraged. Let me think about this personally— when the person died who represented for me all that God was, did I give up on everything in life? Did I become ill or disheartened? Or did I do...

The Spiritually Self-Seeking Church ". . . till we all come . . . to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ . . ." —Ephesians 4:13 Reconciliation means the restoring of the relationship between the entire human race and God, putting it back to what God designed it to be. This is what Jesus Christ did in redemption. The church ceases to be spiritual when it becomes self-seeking, only interested in the development of its own organization. The reconciliation of the human race according to His plan means realizing Him not only in our lives...

The Spiritually Lazy Saint "Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together . . ." —Hebrews 10:24-25 We are all capable of being spiritually lazy saints. We want to stay off the rough roads of life, and our primary objective is to secure a peaceful retreat from the world. The ideas put forth in these verses from Hebrews 10 are those of stirring up one another and of keeping ourselves together. Both of these require initiative— our willingness to take the first step toward Christ-realization, not...

The Spiritually Lazy Saint "Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together . . ." —Hebrews 10:24-25 We are all capable of being spiritually lazy saints. We want to stay off the rough roads of life, and our primary objective is to secure a peaceful retreat from the world. The ideas put forth in these verses from Hebrews 10 are those of stirring up one another and of keeping ourselves together. Both of these require initiative— our willingness to take the first step toward Christ-realization, not...

Will To Be Faithful ". . . choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve . . ." —Joshua 24:15 A person’s will is embodied in the actions of the whole person. I cannot give up my will— I must exercise it, putting it into action. I must will to obey, and I must will to receive God’s Spirit. When God gives me a vision of truth, there is never a question of what He will do, but only of what I will do. The Lord has been placing in front of each of us some big proposals...

Will To Be Faithful ". . . choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve . . ." —Joshua 24:15 A person’s will is embodied in the actions of the whole person. I cannot give up my will— I must exercise it, putting it into action. I must will to obey, and I must will to receive God’s Spirit. When God gives me a vision of truth, there is never a question of what He will do, but only of what I will do. The Lord has been placing in front of each of us some big proposals...

Visions Become Reality "The parched ground shall become a pool . . ." —Isaiah 35:7 We always have a vision of something before it actually becomes real to us. When we realize that the vision is real, but is not yet real in us, Satan comes to us with his temptations, and we are inclined to say that there is no point in even trying to continue. Instead of the vision becoming real to us, we have entered into a valley of humiliation.Life is not as idle ore, But iron dug from central gloom, And battered by the shocks...

Don’t Plan Without God "Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass" —Psalm 37:5 Don’t plan without God. God seems to have a delightful way of upsetting the plans we have made, when we have not taken Him into account. We get ourselves into circumstances that were not chosen by God, and suddenly we realize that we have been making our plans without Him— that we have not even considered Him to be a vital, living factor in the planning of our lives. And yet the only thing that will...

One of God’s Great “Don’ts” "Do not fret— it only causes harm" —Psalm 37:8 Fretting means getting ourselves “out of joint� mentally or spiritually. It is one thing to say, “Do not fret,� but something very different to have such a nature that you find yourself unable to fret. It’s easy to say, “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him� (Psalm 37:7) until our own little world is turned upside down and we are forced to live in confusion and agony like so many other people. Is it possible to “rest in the Lord� then? If this...

The Concentration of Personal Sin "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips . . ." —Isaiah 6:5 When I come into the very presence of God, I do not realize that I am a sinner in an indefinite sense, but I suddenly realize and the focus of my attention is directed toward the concentration of sin in a particular area of my life. A person will easily say, “Oh yes, I know I am a sinner,� but when he comes into the presence of God he cannot get away with such...

The more Francis rules the Church with collegiality, the more Eastern Orthodox feel comfortable with reunificationIs Pope Francis’ preference to refer to himself as “bishop of Rome” more than other traditional titles for the papacy a hopeful sign for Catholic-Orthodox relations? That question was on the minds of those taking part in the recent Orientale Lumen Conference in Washington, D.C. The informal Catholic-Orthodox dialogue, which has been meeting since 1997, held discussions about steps toward full communion between Eastern and Western Christianity. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s first greeting from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica upon his election as Pope...

The Conditions of Discipleship "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also . . . . And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me . . . . So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple" —Luke 14:26-27, 33 If the closest relationships of a disciple’s life conflict with the claims of Jesus Christ, then our Lord requires instant obedience to Himself. Discipleship means personal, passionate devotion to a Person— our...

The Inevitable Penalty "You will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny" —Matthew 5:26 There is no heaven that has a little corner of hell in it. God is determined to make you pure, holy, and right, and He will not allow you to escape from the scrutiny of the Holy Spirit for even one moment. He urged you to come to judgment immediately when He convicted you, but you did not obey. Then the inevitable process began to work, bringing its inevitable penalty. Now you have been “thrown into prison, [and]...

Do It Now! "Agree with your adversary quickly . . ." —Matthew 5:25 In this verse, Jesus Christ laid down a very important principle by saying, “Do what you know you must do— now. Do it quickly. If you don’t, an inevitable process will begin to work ’till you have paid the last penny’ (Matthew 5:26) in pain, agony, and distress.� God’s laws are unchangeable and there is no escape from them. The teachings of Jesus always penetrate right to the heart of our being.Wanting to make sure that my adversary gives me all my rights is a natural...

The Strictest Discipline " If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell " —Matthew 5:30 Jesus did not say that everyone must cut off his right hand, but that “if your right hand causes you to sin� in your walk with Him, then it is better to “cut it off.� There are many things that are perfectly legitimate, but if you are going to concentrate on God you...

Held by the Grip of God "I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me" —Philippians 3:12 Never choose to be a worker for God, but once God has placed His call on you, woe be to you if you “turn aside to the right hand or to the left� (Deuteronomy 5:32). We are not here to work for God because we have chosen to do so, but because God has “laid hold of� us. And once He has done so, we never have this thought, “Well, I’m...

The Overshadowing of God’s Personal Deliverance ". . . I am with you to deliver you,’ says the Lord" —Jeremiah 1:8 God promised Jeremiah that He would deliver him personally— “. . . your life shall be as a prize to you . . .� (Jeremiah 39:18). That is all God promises His children. Wherever God sends us, He will guard our lives. Our personal property and possessions are to be a matter of indifference to us, and our hold on these things should be very loose. If this is not the case, we will have panic, heartache, and...