Instinct and Intuition (Trusting Our Gut)
Who gives intuition to the heart and instinct to the mind? (Job 38:36 NLT)
“Who gives intuition and instinct? or “Who has put wisdom in the inward parts and given understanding to the mind?” (Job 38:36 footnotes TLB)………..
Read MoreWhat Is a Plumb Line In the Bible?
A plumb line, also called a plummet, is a cord with a non-magnetic weight attached to one end. When the cord is held and the weight is not restricted or affected by wind, the line will always be vertical. Until spirit levels became popular, anyone involved in construction work used plumb lines to keep their work straight………..
Read MoreWhat Is God Like?
When we think about God, how do we imagine Him?
There is no simple description which completely summaries what God is like. The problem is that we cannot see Him and a lot of what He does, from the planets in the universe to the atoms and molecules that make up physical things is totally beyond what we can understand…………….
Read MoreThe Dark Night of the Soul
1. Psalm 42:5
Why are you sad, O my soul? Why have you become troubled within me? Hope in God, for I will praise Him again for His help of being near me. (NLV)…………….
Read MoreAs Christians there are times in our lives when we wonder what the Lord’s general will is for our lives. We often want to know God’s will for the big things like what will happen to us in the future, but can be walking contrary to His revealed will in general living…………….
Read MoreWhile Christians may currently experience both physical and emotional tribulations, the Bible says that there will be a time in the future when these experiences will be intensified. It is called the Great Tribulation and it occurs just before Christ’s return (second coming) to establish a 1,000 year rule here on Earth..…………………………
Read MoreDo we follow God based upon our common sense or our faith? Jesus does tell us through the Gospels to follow Him. And remember Paul’s instruction in 2 Corinthians 5:7 said, ‘For we walk by faith, not by sight.’ (NKJV).…………………………
Read MoreProbably most of us have struggled with our prayer times. We put a set time aside and read some of our Bible or a devotion to give us something to think and pray about, but it still can be hard work. We may have heard other Christians talking about praying in the Spirit, but have not really understood what it meant..…………………………
Read MoreSome people would look at this title and say, ‘I don’t think so. For example, do we yell out ‘Yippee’ when we are running late to work – again - and we know that the boss will be angry?’ Let us see what the apostle Paul said to the Romans about this.…………………………
Read MoreIn the last blog we read of a progression in 2 Peter 1:5-7, which the New King James Version puts this way -
Fruitful Growth in the Faith
But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love…………………………
Read MoreIn 2 Peter 1:5-7 we see an interesting progression, which in the New King James Version reads like this -
Fruitful Growth in the Faith
But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love..…………………………
Read MoreSceptics will tell us that the Bible contradicts itself and will probably highlight the verse which reads, ‘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, he cannot be My disciple’ Luke 14:26 (NKJV).…………………………
Read MoreHaving established in the last blog that the verse ‘many are called but few are chosen’ relates to Jesus’ call to salvation, we should now look at His call means in terms of what He wants us to do with our life. While there are people called to be pastors or ministers, there are also those called to numerous ministries providing help to those both inside and outside the church which come under the oversight of a church or a Christian faith-based organizations. But it does not stop there.………………………………….
Read MoreThe confusion about the verse ‘Many are called but few are chosen’ (Matthew 22:14) comes about by the word ‘call’. When Christians want to know about vocation or ‘calling’, we usually mean, ‘Is God calling me to a particular job or other type of work?’ This is an important question, because the work we do matters to God. He created us with gifts and abilities for a particular purpose, so it makes sense to ask Him what He wants us to do.………………………………….
Read MoreMost Christians know this verse, but what does it actually mean?
It appears first in Matthew 19:30, and then again in the next chapter - 20:16. We also find it in Mark 9:35, and 10:31, and finally in Luke 13:30. The fact that the same phrase appears twice quite close together in Matthew and Mark indicates Jesus is making an important point that we should understand..……………
Read MoreGallup did a survey a few years ago called ‘What the Whole Wide World is Thinking’. They found what they consider to be the single largest finding in the history of Gallup—that people care more about their work than anything else.……………
Read MoreThe Bible mentions two specific types of fear. The first type is beneficial and is to be encouraged. The second type is a handicap and is to be overcome.……………
Read MoreMost Christians have probably heard the scripture, ‘a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.’ It first occurs in Genesis 2:24 and then we see it again in Matthew 19:5, Mark 10:8, 1 Corinthians 6:16 and Ephesians 5:31. But what does it mean?……………
Read MoreIn the last blog we saw that the Ministry of Social Development’s Children and Families Research Fund was enabling research into ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) among New Zealand children and families to be done which included the Māori and Pacific Island people……………
Read MoreThere is a section of New Zealand society where children do not have a warm dry place to live, or feel safe at home with a stable and loving family. Added to this, their caregivers do not have enough money to pay for basic provisions like food and clothes. The inability to address these concerns is causing problems with the children’s health and their academic future. Their future will affect the country in many ways...…………….
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