The primary responsibility of the Holy Spirit is to introduce the Redeemer, Jesus, to all people on Earth. The Holy Spirit acquaints us with Jesus, who rescued us from the grasp of sin and saved us from eternal death. Then, the Spirit enables us to have faith in all that God has done to redeem us. Once this knowledge is imparted, the Spirit of God Himself dwells within us as a guardian of our salvation, to present us blameless in the presence of the Holy God, our Heavenly Father.
Tag: Holy Spirit
How To Begin Our Faith Walk?
God’s ways of dealing are new every morning, and people cannot understand them. People need precedence in everything to trust and obey. God does explain to us before He accomplishes His will, yet He ignites our faith to do His will in our daily walk of life.
The Comforter – John 14
In rejecting Jesus as the Messianic King, the Jewish leaders proved that they did not understand the very scriptures they were reading and teaching others. Satan had blinded their eyes in the name of religion and in their efforts to hold on to their traditions, they failed to accept the greatest Gift from God. Jesus wanted to highlight His rejection to prepare the disciples for the persecution that was coming their way.
The Vine – John 15 & 16
After answering the questions and doubts that the disciples had brought forward, Jesus uses the illustration of a vine and its branches to help the disciples understand how they are connected to the Father through Him. Throughout the Old Testament, illustrations involving vine usually denoted the Israelites and their failure to comply with God’s instructions….
The Glorified – John 17
While the other Gospel writers have focused on the events that took place in the Garden, John takes a step back and tells us the events before they reached the Garden. Jesus’ longest recorded prayer came just moments before His capture as He prays for Himself, for His disciples and for everyone who will ever…
The Arrested – John 18
After finishing His prayer, Jesus left with His disciples and crossed the Kidron valley. Here, there was a garden where Jesus would often meet with His disciples. Judas, who knew about this place, brought with him the chief priests and Pharisees, along with a detachment of soldiers to the garden where Jesus and the disciples…
The Sin Bearer – John 19
Pilate made one last attempt to convince the Jews as he found no basis for a charge against Jesus. But the Jewish leaders insisted that Jesus had broken their laws by claiming to be the Son of God. Pilate who did not know what to make of this case was even more afraid now and…
The Messiah – John 20
Often we are reduced to our basic understanding of who Christ is. We are not able to fathom the extent of His power when we experience His wondrous works in our lives. Some even try to rationalise His supernatural intervention using medical sciences, their good fortunes and even their wit that gave them a way out of their problems. Mary and the other women who witnessed the empty tomb would have often heard Jesus talk about this day, but when the day finally arrived they were puzzled.
The Epilogue – John 21
Peter and John were the two disciples who experienced Jesus’ trial up close and were also the first of the disciples to reach the tomb of Jesus only to find it empty. Perhaps this is why we are given a short epilogue at the end of John’s account to tie up the loose ends with…
Order in the Church – 1 Corinthians 14
The purpose of group worship is to gather together and praise God. If the purpose was for each one to talk to God personally, that could have been done from the comfort of their homes.
Christ is Love – 1 Corinthians 13
With the growing thirst for Spiritual Gifts among the church at Corinth, Paul points out the greatest gift that they all needed in their lives, something greater than any other gift and without which all other gifts are worthless.
One Spirit Many Gifts – 1 Corinthians 12
Being a relatively new church, the Corinthians had lot of queries regarding their order of worship. One of the main concerns was the mystery that surrounded the spiritual gifts given to the members by the Spirit. They saw these gifts as a means to create a hierarchical order between themselves rather than using it for the purpose that God intended.
In Remembrance – 1 Corinthians 11
Our Remembrance of Jesus’s sacrifice should not be only on Sundays when we are standing in the communion line but throughout the week and should be reflected in everything we do.
Complete Surrender – 1 Corinthians 11
As the church in Corinth continues to struggle with the rampant sexual immorality, Paul tries to rein in the congregation by taking them back to the very purpose of creation. After dealing with cases of unfaithfulness among the men and women in the church, Paul tries to take a step back and addresses the need for discipline in hopes of bringing back order to the worship in the church.
For the Sake of the Gospel – 1 Corinthians 9-10
In his letters to the believers in Corinth, Paul not only addresses the failures of the church but also addresses the allegations levelled against him. When immorality is allowed to take the driver seat in a church, it will try its best to bring down the workers of God. If Paul’s ego would have been…
A Stumbling Block – 1 Corinthians 8-10
Corinth being a melting pot of cultural diversity, made it hard for the new believers to separate themselves from the pagan traditions that surrounded them. One such issue that Paul tries to address is eating of meat that was sacrificed to the pagan gods. Since only part of the animal was used for sacrificial purposes,…
A Corrupted Institution – 1 Corinthians 7
From its very inception, the institution of Marriage was supposed to unite two individuals to serve God as one body. Over the years mankind, especially the forefathers and other leaders have had a hand in corrupting this sacred union. Marriage became a means to bear offspring and not a way for its members to unite in their sole purpose to connect with God. However, Paul’s instructions to the Corinthians on the subject of marriage may seem like a concession rather than the norm.
The New Temple – 1 Corinthians 6
The people of Corinth had started corrupting the greatest temple of the Lord, their own bodies and Paul sought to make them realize the gravity of their actions.
The Evil Within – 1 Corinthians 5
Paul started addressing specific incidents that deeply troubled him because of how sexual immorality was running rampant in the church of Corinth. He cites one particular incident of a congregation member who was having sexual relations with his father’s wife, perhaps a callback for us of how Reuben slept with his father’s wife.
Perseverance
Perseverance Or Forbearance Many a time the meaning of the word “perseverance” is misunderstood for forbearance and tolerance. People also have a wrong notion of bearing with wickedness and treachery of our fellow believers as perseverance. Tolerating friends who continue to betray our trust and us being aware of it can hinder us from coming…
God’s Purpose Will Be Fulfilled
We do not get to choose our parents neither can we opt for any colour, race or religion, yet we were born of our Father’s will. The only thing that is guaranteed is that God will accomplish His Purpose in our lives.
The One Greater than Jonah, Solomon & David – Matthew 12
The Messiah was amongst us and no one wanted to believe in His existence, neither the pharisees nor the teachers of the law and not even Jesus’ own family.
Prince of Peace?
When we reconcile with our brethren, we receive a temporary peace, our peace of mind. But what Jesus offers us is much more. It is the ultimate peace in our hearts, knowing that our broken relationship with The Father has been fixed by His death on the cross.
Lord’s Supper
Most of the main line churches are celebrating the Holy Communion by distributing bread and serving wine in one cup called chalice to all of its confirmed congregant members. Many churches instead of chalice have started using separate mini cups for each individual to serve the wine. Some catholic churches distribute wafers/bread to the congregation…
Two Persons, One Message – Matthew 3
Jesus and John, both preached in a similar manner but their lifestyles were different. The former lived a normal life and the latter lived in the wilderness. However, not many people took their message. Maybe people went to John not to repent or to get baptized but to see how was he living and similarly, people might have gone to hear Jesus not because they wanted to know his message but probably to find fault in him.
Luke – Chapter 3
The last book of the Old Testament ends with letting the people of Israel know, that before the coming of our Lord, there will be another prophet like Elijah who will warn the nation to turn from their evil ways….
The Standoff – Acts 15
An age old tradition threatens to derail the Jesus movement.
The First Missionary Journey – Acts 13-14
The start of the Missionary journeys to spread the Gospel to all the Gentiles.
The Gentile Pentecost – Acts 10-11
Cornelius was a centurion in the Italian Regiment and was stationed at Caesarea which was located about 33 miles to the north of Joppa. It was the capital of the Roman occupied Judea. Since it was a major seaport and fell on the main caravan route from Tyre to Egypt, it had a vast and diverse demography….
Cornelius and the Gentile Pentecost
The baptism of Cornelius is an important event in the history of the Early Church. The gates of the Church, within which thus far only those who were circumcised and observed the Law of Moses had been admitted, were now thrown open to the uncircumcised Gentiles without the obligation of submitting to the Jewish ceremonial laws.- Florentine Bechtel
Give It Time
Readings: Luke 5: 33-39 How often do we find ourselves much like the Pharisees, criticizing others regarding their spiritual activities rather than focusing on our own? The Pharisees [1] questioned Christ as to why his disciples don’t fast while they fasted. The disciples were all common men with common occupations whom Christ chose to carry out…
The Jordan Valley 