Month: March 2017

Reflections If I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. (John 16:7) The Holy Spirit dwelt IN no one before Acts 2. Jesus clearly stated that the Comforter could not come until He ascended. Of course not. Jesus had to ascend before He could come back down through the Spirit and dwell within His people. Acts 2 also began the New Covenant of, “Christ in us,” and began the church. All of these were the result of a permanent habitation in people of Christ through His Spirit. …

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Scripture reveals that there are still two Dispensations remaining between now and the destruction of universe and its replacement with the ‘new heavens’ and ‘new earth’ as described by the Apostle Peter. “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” (2nd Peter 3:10) Peter refers to this as the “Day of the Lord” and later, the “Day of God” (2nd Peter …

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The Heavens Opened to Ezekiel Ezekiel 1:1-3  “1 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. 2In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity, 3the word of Jehovah came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of Jehovah was there upon him.” (ASV, 1901) …

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It is a curious fact, that there is such a thing as being proud of grace. A man says, “I have great faith, I shall not fall; poor little faith may, but I never shall.” “I have fervent love,” says another, “I can stand, there is no danger of my going astray.” He who boasts of grace has little grace to boast of. Some who do this imagine that their graces can keep them, knowing not that the stream must flow constantly from the fountain head, or else the brook will soon be dry. If a continuous stream of oil …

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  Matthew 11:28-30 (KJV) 28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. We have all experienced temptations, trials, and suffering at some point in our lives. Even as Christians—and sometimes specifically because we are Christians—we must endure pain, whether through loss, bankruptcy, unemployment, or a broken relationship. While no one is immune to …

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from “The School of Christ,” by T. Austin-Sparks, ch. 2 I am going to get right down inside this thing. What is a Christian? Is a Christian one who was not a very good tempered person, but is now good-tempered; not a very genial person, but is now very much more genial; a person who was not very zealous, but is now very zealous; a person who is different in disposition from what he was formerly. Is that a true definition of a Christian? Give me a homeopathic cabinet. Bring along to me a very irritable person. Give him a …

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Hebrews 6:4-8 (KJV) 4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. 7 For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: …

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Pete Garcia The three most dreaded words in the Army are, double time, March! For those not familiar with military drill and ceremony commands, this just means start running. Military folk has a far greater appreciation for and sensitivity to time in a way that most civilians cannot fully appreciate. For instance, if you’re not ten minutes early to an event, you’re late. If you have a formation at 0600 (depending on the level of formation-Division, Brigade, Battalion, Company) that really means you have to be there at 0530 (at the latest). Deployments? I think we invented the phrase “hurry …

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Wearied out with her wanderings, the dove returns at length to the ark as her only resting place. How heavily she flies–she will drop–she will never reach the ark! But she struggles on. Noah has been looking out for his dove all day long, and is ready to receive her. She has just strength to reach the edge of the ark, she can hardly alight upon it, and is ready to drop, when Noah puts forth his hand and pulls her in unto him. Mark that: “pulled her in unto him.” She did not fly right in herself, but was …

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Adversity hurts, but in God’s hand, it purifies our faith and shapes us to look more like Jesus. Hebrews 11:32-40 32 And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: 33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions. 34 Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. …

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Alf Cengia A few years ago I worked in a corporate environment. I was surrounded by account managers, salespeople and technical engineers who were constantly in and out of the office. They could be anywhere at any time, so I hardly ever paid much attention to what they were doing. I didn’t report to them and we had our own tasks to worry about. It was different with my boss. He’s the sort of man who demands hard work and quality performance from his staff. Under his leadership our branch of the business broke record after record. It was flattering …

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