Posts Tagged ‘presence of god’


Under Gods Command (LOVE)

1 Corinthians 13:08-13 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror, then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 

When Paul wrote of knowing “fully,” he was referring to when we must see Christ face to face. God gives believers spiritual gifts for their lives on earth in order to build up, serve, and strengthen fellow Christians. The spiritual gifts are for the church. In eternity, we will be made perfect and complete and will be in the very presence of God. We will no longer need the spiritual gifts, so they will come to an end. Then, we will have a full understanding and appreciation for one another as unique expressions of God’s infinite creativity. We will use our differences as a reason to praise God! Based on that perspective, let us treat each other with the same love and unity that we will one day share.

Paul wrote that love endures forever. In morally corrupt Corinth, love had become a mixed-up term with little meaning. Today, people are still confused about love. Love is the greatest of all human qualities and is an attribute of God himself (1 John 4:8). Love involves unselfish service to others. Faith is the foundation and content of God’s message; hope is the attitude and focus; love is action. When faith and hope are in line, you are free to love completely because you understand how God loves.

Lets Bring it Home: Does your faith fully express itself in loving others?


Under Gods Command
Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

John 14:15-18 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

The Counselor-the Spirit of God himself would come after Jesus was gone to care for and guide the disciples. The Holy Spirit is the very presence of God within all believers, helping us live, as God wants and building Christ’s church on earth and us. By faith we can appropriate the Spirit’s power each day.

The Truths about the Holy Spirit.

• He will be with us forever (John 14:16)
• The world at large cannot accept him (John 14:17)
• He lives with us and in us (John 14:17)
• He teaches us (John 14:26)
• He reminds us of Jesus words (John 14:26 and John 15:26
• He convicts us of sin, shows us God’s righteousness, and announces God’s judgment on evil (John 16:8)
• He guides into truth and gives insight into future events (John 16:13)
• He brings glory to Christ (John 16:14)

The Holy Spirit has been active among people fro the beginning of time, but after Pentecost (Acts 2) he came to live in all believers. Many people are unaware of the Holy Spirit’s activities, but to those who hear Christ’s words and understand the Spirit’s power, the Spirit gives a whole new way to look at life.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; (6) in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.