Praying in the name of Jesus

Commonly, believers’ prayers are ended with “in the name of Jesus” (before the Amen); is praying in the name of Jesus, saying that we must end our prayer that way, “in the name of Jesus, Amen”?

A common text used to support our practice of praying in the name of Jesus is this:

John 14:13-14 - 13 And I {Jesus} will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

When we look at v14, we realize there is a case to say that there is meaning in the "in my name", otherwise, Jesus could have just said, "You may ask me for anything, and I will do it", making "in my name" superfluous.

What is praying (or asking) in the name of Jesus?

Praying in the name of Jesus is NOT about ending our prayer in the name of Jesus, as such!  But there is a place for ending our prayer in the name of Jesus.

What do I mean by praying in the name of Jesus is NOT about ending our prayer in the name of Jesus?

I often said Lordship is NOT blind, and by that I mean there is no such thing as calling somebody Lord when nobody is being addressed.  The Lord is NOT nobody, like “thin air”.  You don’t call “thin air”, Lord!  It is the same when it comes to prayer; you address your prayer to somebody.  The Christian faith is NOT “The Secret”.

“The Secret” is touted as the secret way to success, by its followers.  In this “The Secret”, the “theology” is that your thoughts attract the things you want; there is no God or Lord there; the universe will align itself to give you what you want if you keep thinking and wanting the thing that you want!  Subscribers purported no God (and so, believers CANNOT subscribe to this).  Well, if I may say, the subscriber himself is the “god”, and the universe is at his beck and call!

Coming back, we, believers, cannot be praying to “thin air” or the universe.  If an atheist still pray, maybe he prays to an unknown (body) {People of Athens, during the time of the Apostle Paul did pray to unknown god – Acts 17:23}, but we, believers, we have God (the Father, the Son [Jesus Christ], and the Holy Spirit).  So, when we pray, we are praying to our God.  There is only one (God), unless you have multiple ones, which of course, you are NOT supposed to have, if you are indeed a believer.  So, it goes without saying when we are praying, we are praying to our God.  And so, even if we mention NOT Jesus Christ in our prayer, if in your heart you are talking to the Lord, He knows. 

But of course, if you are talking to, say, your daddy or the President, it may be improper, NOT to address your daddy or the President?  And so, we don’t use “you” throughout our prayer or conversation with God.  For example, we would say, “Lord, I ask of you …..” (and NOT “You, I ask you ….”); or in emergency, you could straightaway say, “God, help me”.  The point is that there is the addressee, and NOT we address nobody or the universe. 

The concept of “unto” is important, but the issue is we, men, are often the ones who fail to do things as “unto the Lord”, but it is NOT the Lord does NOT know if you are praying to Him or NOT, or that, what you are doing, you are doing or NOT doing it, unto Him or in acknowledgment of Him.  But there is nothing wrong with us still naming Jesus, the Lord or God, in our own private prayers (praying alone, by yourself), even ending our prayers in Jesus’ name; I still do that, ending private prayers, sometimes, in the name of Jesus or “In your name” (when I have been addressing Jesus).  Again, I say, the point is NOT the Lord does NOT know if you are praying to Him or NOT.  Even, the one word prayer, “Jesus”, the Lord knows and would respond.  There are occasions where we are “choked” and only one word could be uttered, and that word, as testified by many (including myself), is the word, “Jesus”, and God’s help can come immediate.

What about in public; should we end our prayer in the name of Jesus? Firstly, if it is still NOT obvious to you, if you, a believer, do NOT end your prayer in the name of Jesus, it does NOT mean your prayer is any less effective than one that has the ending of “in the name of Jesus”, when in fact, your inward posture has been right.  But it is good to end that way or in a similar way, why?

When we say, publicly, it means there are other people around.  Now, if you are like me, hold to the word of Jesus in Scripture (Matt 18:19), “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.”, by ending with “in the name of Jesus”, we hope to achieve these ends: 

1.   It is firstly a sign that you are ending your prayer, so that other CHRISTIANS can indicate agreement with you, by saying “Amen” to what you have prayed.

2.   In a mixed setting when it is NOT apparent that you who are praying, are a Christian, and you use only NOT, Jesus, in the body of your prayer, by ending the prayer in Jesus’ name, you are letting the people (both Christians and non-Christians) to know if they want to agree with you.  For example, for a (civic) community meeting, if a Chinese is asked to pray, he is NOT necessarily a Christian, he could be a Buddhist, and there could other Buddhists in the meeting.  But if you, a Christian Chinese given the honor to pray, you have to pray to God (your God – the “Christian God”), and NOT to any generic god, or you try to “NOT to disclose your faith”.  Also, we do NOT need non-believers or other religious people to mistakenly agree with us.

I do NOT agree with some believers who say that their reason (which they think is valid) is that they are right to be inclusive, to get as many people to “amen” to the prayer.  In substance, if you are doing that with that thinking, you are holding up God to be the generic god or the god behind all religions is the same God; it is an unacceptable insinuation of God.

I would consider doing this, instead, to be sensitive to other people’s feeling: Before I begin, I will, if the setting is such that it is mixed or it is NOT obvious that I am a Christian, to say, “Before I begin to pray, I would like to let you know that I am a Christian and so, I will be praying to my Lord and God (or to Jesus)”.  I will follow it with, “Is that alright with you?”  If there is objection, I can then turn to the “whoever” who put me up to pray for the occasion.  If there is no objection, then, really, whether or NOT, I end my prayer with “in the name of Jesus”, is no longer a matter of being inclusive or otherwise; or for that matter, whether or NOT, Jesus is mentioned at all, is no longer relevant (as the God I pray to, is already made known).

What if the “whoever” then ask if I could “pray generally”?  Now, if the context is such that it is referring to “if I could pray to a general god”, the answer is obvious - no.  I do have to be tactful, and so, one suggestion to resolve the impasse could be to suggest “we will have a minute of silence, and everyone can pray [each to pray to his own]”, so that I could get out of the situation of praying to a generic god or holding out that a Christian can “bend” to be praying to a generic god.  If there are other suggestions by others, it is then left to the “whoever” to decide.  The point is that we must NOT dishonour God, if it is up to us.  Other people, if they want to do whatever, that is up to them, but we cannot follow, if it is against our faith.

 

Then, there is this: That the prayer we utter or offer up, is offered with a certain posture, and so, we are NOT only looking for agreement of what we pray, we are also looking for agreement in the certain posture with which we are offering up the prayer and supplication, and so, it is in good order that we say it – “in the name of Jesus”.

What is this certain posture, and so, the embedded meaning, encapsulated in the “in the name of Jesus”?  For the context of prayer, it is that we are making supplication by faith in our Lord, Jesus Christ, trusting and depending on Him. 

In other words, we are petitioning with a humble heart, that we are posturing that the Lord is majestic, yet He is mindful of us and cares for us, when we are but works of His hands.  That we are saying we are relying on His authority, power and ways.  When we say “in his name or in the name of Jesus”, we are saying that we will hope against hope, and endure through troubles, meanwhile; that we are confident of His love towards us; that we trust His wisdom and ability, that He knows what is best, even though we are asking; that we do NOT doubt He is in control, and that He is dependable, for He changes NOT (of His character, key of which is holiness, and so, from that, righteousness and justice). 

It is in the same spirit of how Jesus prayed before he was captured to be crucified, Luke 22:42 - “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”  We make supplication concerning our situation, because we believe the Lord is mindful and cares for us, yet we submit to what He wants or wants NOT, to do, or His will, because we believe His will is prefect, even if it may NOT appear to be perfect from our personal standpoint; we trust that ultimately we will be comforted.

All believers can expect ultimately they will be comforted, if NOT in this life, in after-life, when they have conformed to who God is.

 

 

I said above that, even if you did NOT include “in the name of Jesus” at the end of your prayer, it is NOT less effective, if your inward posture has indeed been right.  And so, what is also important to note, therefore, is that it is the inward posture that must first be there. 

The inward posture can manifest in more than one way, outwardly, and so, it is NOT one reverent outward posture to look for, and it is NOT by the absence of that one reverent outward posture that we can conclude that someone is or is NOT praying with the right posture.  Examples of reverent outward praying posture included these: some people kneel/postrate (Luke 22:41; Matt 26:39), some stand and look upward (John 11:41), some may spread out their hands (Isaiah 1:15), etc. 

Is it necessarily to pray with eyes closed or head bowed? No, it is NOT a must.  I often prayed with eyes open, for people, so that when they fall (slain), I know or could “break” their fall.  Prayers with eyes open, is NOT less effective!  Had I closed my eyes when I prayed for the person who had his leg grown longer by the Lord, I would have missed seeing a miracle (by my hand) with my own eyes!  When I pray with eyes closed or head bowed, it is for reason of minimizing distractions.

Having said that it is the inward posture that is more important, yet we must remember, if nothing shows up at all, outwardly, you got to check yourself if indeed your inward posture has been right.  Don’t engage in self-deception.  Just as an illustration, are you sure you love the Lord, if you go NOT, to church to worship Him, and you also worship NOT, in (good) works, and you read NOT, His Word, pray NOT, and you obey NOT, His commands habitually?  I mean you can be, NOT doing one or more of the right things here, once in a while, but you cannot be engaging NOT, in all of the right things here, on a persistent basis, and still insist that you love the Lord.  Also, there are the obvious contrary things, like people in the pews are praying, and you are nail-cutting in the pew!; how is nail-cutting (or playing game on your hand-phone) a reverent outward manifestation of a right inward praying posture?   Don’t laugh, it happened.

 

In His name,
Anthony Chia, high.expressions

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Praise and Worship is an invitation for God to come

There are 2 aspects to praise and worship:  One, we praise and worship God for who He is, and two, we praise and worship Him for what He has done for us.

We, for example, do NOT praise and worship Satan, although some people do(!), and the reason we don’t is because of who he, Satan, is.  We praise and worship God because of His character, and is good and unchanging character, and so, reliable and dependable.  We praise and worship God because of what He stands for (in fact, who He is), holiness.  This is apart from what He has or has NOT done for us, specifically, say, today, this week or this month. 

Because of who He is, we know already, He has done and is doing much in the “backdrops”, and what He did and is doing in such, were and are for our good.  It is absolutely right to say there is no day where God has NOT done good to me.  I woke up this morning, alive, God has sustained me; the sun is still in its place and shining, God has done good to me, even though, this good is also done for others, that the sun is still in its place and shining as before.  God has put the celestial bodies in their place, and that act of God is providing good to me, all the time. 

Many take such for granted, and they would NOT think they ought to be thankful to God, and so, won’t  praise and worship God (re Romans 1:19-21).   Some would NOT even notice it, if they have missed a heartbeat, so to speak; hopefully, something, and to different people, different thing, something/happening will make them sit up to the goodness of God. Some are so hardened of heart, I suppose, even when the sun drops from the sky, so to speak, they still don’t realise how God has been good to us, men, because of who He is.

David recognised the goodness of God towards us, men, can you? David’s psalm 8:3-4 -  “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?”

Oh, God, how we take for granted your quiet grace flowing out to us, all the time.

Next, we also give thank-giving praise and worship to God, for what He has specifically done in our lives.  Is it enough to have praised and worshiped Him for who He is or even for what He has done for us, generically (with other people also receiving along with us)?  The answer is no; NOT enough.  I give a simple illustration:

You have good parents, and I hope you have or have had (if you don’t, I pray you can learn to look to the Father God, for He is the perfect father; and He can be that perfect father to you, if you allow Him to).  Good parents being good, they of course, do all the base things, like they will provide you (FOC) good food, clothing and shelter, and if possible, education, and if they are believing parents, teach you and encourage you in the things of the faith.  When you were small, the breakfast was made ready waiting for you to eat; your school uniform ironed and ready for you to wear, before you go to school, and when you come back home, lunch or dinner were also provided for you.  These formed some of the “backdrops” of your life.  Many of us then, did NOT think very much about how good our parents have been.  Some of us might have even considered it natural of them, the parents, to do all of those backdrops, for that was what they were – good parents and good parents do those things-what!

The more appreciative ones amongst us, might have thanked our parents from time to time, for all the goodness they did in the “background things”.  But over and on top of these, there are many other things good parents do for their children, which their children ought to have noted and expressed their appreciation, too.  For example, I did this:

My kids (or even your kids or any school kid) were supposed to take care of this: to bring whatever books, files, homework or project work, etc, to school according to their school timetables.  One of my kids, repeatedly, forgotten to bring this and that, to school, and he would be punished for the oversight.  Some of the times, I would separately bring the stuff to school for him; that was really NOT what I was supposed to do; it was the kid’s reasonable duty to take care of that.  Shouldn’t he, my boy, be thankful for my coming to his aid for the specific problems he got himself into, which reasonably he ought NOT have gotten into?! 

The process of him realising he was NOT doing his part, and then asking for help, and then learning, albeit over multiple occasions, to be appreciative and thankful, did him good.  Especially, the last bit of it, the appreciation and thankfulness bit, when he repeatedly did that (for he repeated his mistakes), it NOT only showed his attitude (that he took NOT, his father for granted, after some time), it tenderised his heart (heart gets hardened when we numb our conscience) as he was before his father, and expressed his appreciation, each time. 

I am NOT God, and so, occasionally, I would tell him I could NOT make it (can be that particular time, the punishment would NOT be too serious for the boy; or it could be I really I had something very important to attend to).  That too, he soon learned to be appreciative.  Do you know that God, sometimes, does the same, although NOT for the reason that He cannot be omni-present (or that He cannot send his angel); only I am limited, God is NOT; but God does want us to appreciate there is such thing as our reasonable duty that we ought to learn to take care.

Thanking God, praising Him and worshiping Him for it, the “He gone out of His way to help you, specifically”, is important.  First, we need to understand that thanking, praising and worshiping, they are NOT blind, meaning you cannot say you express thanks when you thank nobody, you cannot say you praised and worshipped when you praised and worshipped nobody.  Who do you express thanks, praise and worship to?  If you are sincere, God will be right there, to receive your thanks, praise or worship. 

When our child wants to express thanks to us, parents, do you tell your child, “My boy, when you express your thanks, just face any tree you can find, and say it to the tree, or if you cannot find a tree, just say to the grass!”?  No; the same is with God, when you thank Him, praise Him and worship Him, it is NOT you are here, in this church hall, and God is light years away, in some corner of the universe, can’t see or hear you!  When your heart is right, He is right there in the room with you, to give ear to your expression. 

Nowadays, on the internet many interpretations are written for various verses in the Bible, and NOT surprising, Ps 22:3 is NOT spared.  But I will still say Ps 22:3 fits right in here.  And the version that fits it in, is the KJV: “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.”

Some people, being legalistic, they would say, “If God has to inhabit the praises of God’s people, then we are bigger than God!” or “If God lives on the praises of His people, then God is here when we praise, AND God is NOT here when we do all of the other stuff, like praying, etc”.  Some even suggested that mutual exclusivity of verses implied this cannot be translation, that God inhabits the praises of people, arguing that Scripture has this verse of, when 2 or 3 are gathered in His name, God will be in their midst, with no praise mentioned in this “gathering” verse!  Or another said, “If God inhabits the praises of the people, we could manipulate God!”

To me, what David was trying to express was that despite, he then, NOT seeing the hand of God for him (Ps 22:1-2) (NOT yet), God was righteous (I use a lesser word to holy, just to make it easier to understand), and God was always being praised (or thankfully praised) (by the Israelites, the people of God).  Was David saying God was present, “evidenced” by the praises of the people?  Yes.  The Tabernacle and the Temple with presence of God in the Tabernacle or Temple, it primed people to have that understanding, and David was with that understanding, and David came up with the Tabernacle of Praise.  What do you think motivated David to set up the Tabernacle of Praise; I say, it is because he understood God inhabits the praises of the people.  And where God is truly enthroned, there is bound to be praises as an element of His glory (I explain this a little further down this article).

Now if I eat plain bread always (like for every meal), it is either I love plain bread, like it so much, that when you say there is plain bread, I would come to devour it, or I really don’t like it, but it is about the cheapest stuff I can afford, so, I eat it so very often!  Now, God is NOT me, the latter (reason) cannot be the case for God; if He doesn’t like, He does NOT need to eat it, does He?!  Of course, NOT.  It (His inhabiting the praises) is because God loves it, the praises.  If He does NOT like it, He can, NOT eat it, silly; He is God! 

We just had Palm Sunday (and Easter is coming).  In the first Palm Sunday (Luke 19:37-40), when Jesus was entering Jerusalem, and when multitudes and Jesus’ disciples praised God, some Pharisees told Jesus to stop His disciples.  Jesus answered, “"I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out."

Jesus said the very stones would praise God.  In other words, God wants the praises; if there was no praise, God would make the stones praise Him. 

True praises speak of who God is.  This scene was an “enthroning” scene.  Where God is truly enthroned, who He is, just necessarily “occupies” or “fills” the place or atmosphere.  The same was shown us of the throne in Heaven.  But before we look there, I remind that when Jesus first came, was born, there was praise; Luke 2:13 – “Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,”

In the Book of Revelation, God was shown enthroned, and praise was in the air – the 4 heavenly creatures (although NOT stones) were praising God, 24/7 (day and night).  Praises and worship of Him show who God is; where He is truly enthroned, there you will find praise and worship.  It is so wrong to insinuate we, men, are bigger, because God “needs” us to praise Him, or that we could manipulate God!  So very silly, God “needs” you to share the Gospel or do the Great Commission, you are bigger than God; you can manipulate God?

An acceptable way of viewing praise and worship is that it is part of or an element of His manifold glory.  Scripture speaks about us to ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name.  How do we do that?  Ps 29:2 gives us one important way – “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.”  It is part of God’s glory, if you don’t give it, He may make the creatures or even the stones, to cry out the praise and worship.  So, it is right and proper for us, and we should do it, to ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name, whenever there has been a specific works God done for us, and the way we do that includes giving thanksgiving praise.

What we are to go away with, on this (this revelation on “God inhabits the praises and worship”), is: Where God is enthroned, praises and worship will most likely to be present, as a manifest of His glory; and when there are praises and worship done in spirit and in truth, God is most likely to come there.  We don’t manipulate Him (and don’t do that, please); we invite Him to come to take the seat of highest honor in the house, so to speak, with our praise and worship, and He will come.

Bro Anthony, can you give us a precise example from Scripture where praise and worship was employed to usher the coming of God, and God came and acted in favour? Yes, I can:

There was a time when Judah, under King Jehoshaphat, was about to be invaded by a vast army made up of men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir; and the King was at a loss of how they could defeat the enemy.  The King and the Israelites went before God, and a prophet received the assurance that God would be on their side and that they should NOT be afraid to face the enemy, the next day. 2 Chronicles 20:21-22 reads,

“21 After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: “Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever.” 22 As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.”

Have you heard it said, praise and worship is for our good? Why praise and worship is for our good!  One angle to look at this, is: Because He is invited, and when He comes, who He is, is here.  One manifest of who He is, we have talked about, is praise and worship is present when He is present (praise and worship itself can be spirit-lifting for those present; that too, is a reason why I praise and worship God like there is no tomorrow, in church services; blessing to the body); other elements of who He is, are likely to manifest, too, and it will be good and goodness to us. 

If you cannot picture it (how it can only be good to us), picture the horrible Satan gate-crashes your party; what would happen.  Now, think about God is here, in your party. 

Now, if you still cannot get the picture, think of yourselves as children having family time with our parents; what would the loving parents do? Their love manifest forth.  The mother will go to the kitchen and see if she could come up with some food and drinks.  Dad may say, “Son, I remembered you wanted this nice backpack that you could use to go mountain-climbing.  Here, I did get it for you.  I thought I will give it to you sometime, but well, you can have it now!” When God is here, who He is manifests; His glory manifests, His holiness manifests, His love manifests, His goodness manifest, His grace and mercy manifests.  How can you be in all of these, brought on, because God is here, because you have invited Him by your praise and worship, when the sweet aroma of it reaches Him, but will NOT be touched by God, if you allow Him to; and that (allowing) must include allowing God to “do to us” what He considers best for us.  The good parents, when they know how certain food is NOT good for you, they would bring out, none, to you, for they stock none of it, in the fridge!  Only good can come to you when you truly praise and worship Him, the good God, because He comes.

You want God to come; you invite Him, by praising and worshiping Him.  You don’t manipulate Him; rather you give Him the seat of highest honor.  And you wait upon Him, and you can petition consistent to His will.

Anthony Chia, high.expression - Lord, I learn, even as I pen this article.  Thank you, Lord. Amen.

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There is a Creator God I can identify with, says the cichlid fish, what about you?

Preamble: This article, the bulk of the content comes from my own comment for a blog entry by a US pastor, Ps Prentis.  Ps Prentis’ article can be accessed here: Hardened hearts won’t understand

My understanding of the finches (subject) of Charles Darwin from which all of the various evolutionary hypothesis and theories “evolve” from, are different species of the same kind.  The kind is finch, and there were many different featured (eg. different beak shapes or sizes) finches, but they were still finches. 

Human being or Man, is a kind.  And so, although an “ang mo” pastor (referring to the US pastor, Ps Prentis) and I share many common features, we do have different features, for I am a Chinese man and he is “ang mo” man, but we are both man, NOT monkeys.  Monkey is another kind. 

On the Galapagos islands (the location of Darwin’s study), there were tortoises, iguanas, even mocking birds, apart from the species of the finches.  In fact, each island was dominated by particular finch(es), but there were of course, “cross-living”, just like, we do find “ang mo” men in Singapore, and a (the) US pastor could find Chinese men in his state.  But there was no such thing (NOT even hypothesis of it, then) like iguanas were evolved from the tortoises or the other way round, or that any of birds of air, somehow were evolved from the land kinds.  There was not even the hypothesis, then, of the finches could have evolved from the mocking birds or vice versa.  So much for evolution of Man from monkey!

As to questioning of miracles, we can say the same thing, too, of the evolution (evolutionists commonly claim that there is no duplication of the miracles of Jesus, like feeding of 5,000, and Jesus’ walking on water), that no one has duplicated the evolution of a monkey into a man, either!  Bible has account of oil that did NOT run out (until all the containers were used up); I have heard of testimony of little food or petrol that did NOT run out too (until certain event happens, like when additional provision has arrived).  It is NOT uncommon to hear of testimony of cars running on almost empty tank driven by believers, could still move for many tens of kilometres until a petrol source is reached.  Well, I have seen legs grew just by my prayer to the Lord for it to grow!  Can one explain how it can be humanly possible for me to have accomplished it, based on my own ability!  If such miracles still happen today, why is it NOT possible, in the days of Jesus walking the earth, that those miracles recorded in the Word, did happen?

All of these “gravity defying” scenarios are possible because there is a Creator God.  God is the Creator of all of the universe, and as the Creator, He could modify and change things around, for, as the El Shaddai, the all powerful, He has the power and means to accomplish anything and everything.  Scripture recorded for us, that He could simply speak things, including living things, into being.  Well, if there had been one initial “Big Bang”, why is it NOT possible that, that initial big bang was work of God, the Creator, or used of, by God (I am NOT necessarily supporting the “Big Bang” theory).

I am NOT saying we are gods (as in Jesus is God, or God is God; god in Scripture can mean judge or magistrate) but we are creators after God, though of a lesser degree.  A simple illustration or metaphor I can give, is this: 

Imagine there is a cichlid fish (a very common and “hardy” fish) in a large aquarium.  When it first came into the tank, it saw there were some other fishes it had NOT seen before.  Every day it would find food in the tank (dropped in by the owner - you), and it would eat it, like we eat vegetables or fruits from the plants of the earth.  It also find that it needed to carve out a territory for itself (cichlids are very territorial), and would fight for its space and food.  Occasionally, it would find worms in the tank (again, dropped in by you), and it would eat them, too, like we eat meat from animals of the earth. 

It would, at times, fight with other fishes, and even managed to kill some of them.  But typically, it does NOT eat up the entire carcass, but would devour the eyes of the dead fish(!), leaving the carcass to pollute the water. And so, from time to time, it finds the water in which it lives becomes refreshed (water-change by you), and its enclave got “wrecked” (by you, when you were changing the water and cleaning the tank).  Occasionally, it could see this peculiar but powerful thing moving about in the tank; that is your hand! And then, it found new plants appeared; and new fishes, too, and even some others, of its kind, cichlids.  And some of the cichlids looked every different but they were of the same kind, cichlids.  By the way, there are over 1,400 species of cichlids in the world.  And “bless its soul”, it finds one cichlid it likes, and mates up with her.  It brings her into his enclave, and jointly, they beautify their home (Cichlids would pick up tiny objects with their mouths, and then spew them out at specific area or target).

Did the cichlid create the entire environment that he has found himself to be in?  No, he, being in the environment, explored it, and then carved out a place he called his own.  You are the creator of its environment, just like God created the entire environment that we are in.

Did the environment of the cichlid remained constant?  Not really.  Did it, the cichlid, contribute to the instability of the environment?  Yes, it did, with its own discharge (its own shit, high in certain chemicals which when reached certain level would be harmful to the fishes themselves), and with its other activities, like killing and leaving carcasses in the water.  Who was monitoring the going-on in the environment of the cichlid?  You - as the creator and owner of the aquarium.

Then, does NOT the cichlid find new lives, it cannot account for?  What do you think should go through the “head” of the fish?  “Some “God” created the universe, all that there is, here, including lives.  He has given me a mate, too, and now I, too, can produce my own kind.  How great is this “God”, that He could defy gravity, so to speak, miraculously, have the water refreshed, for example! ….”  Who is this “God”?  You!

See, to the cichlid, things were bigger than life, so to speak, but as suggested in the preceding para., it has the heart {or mind of its soul} to know there is a “God” - you!  And there were miracles it could NOT explain.  Do you have your heart so hardened you can perceive no longer, there is a God?  Is your heart so hardened that you would NOT give Him, the honour and glory due Him? Romans 1:20-21 put it this way:

20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.  (I encourage you to read my separate exposition of Romans 1:20 - “We are without excuse”)

Is there no way out for the ones hardened of heart?  The posture of God concerning this, can be gleaned from these words of Jer 29:12-14:

12'… call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
13 … seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
14'I will be found by you,' declares the LORD, 'and I will restore …

Today, begin to call upon the God of the universe.

Today, pray to Him. He will listen to you.
Today, seek Him with all your heart.
He will allow Himself to be found by you. And He will restore you.
He will change your heart of stone to the heart of flesh.
He will cause the scales on your eyes to fall off.
He will allow you to know Him (ginosko-know – know Him in a personal way).

Anthony Chia, high.expressions

PS1: “Bro Anthony, you don’t believe in evolution at all?”  My current position is along this line:

My position is CLOSER TO what has come to be termed as "biblical evolution", where I believe that God created a set of "kinds" of plants and animals at the beginning.  The many kinds and species have passed through some biological changes with the passage of time and changes to the environment or habitat.  There has been, and nature will continue to have, adaptation or “micro level evolution”, but central to my belief is still that human beings or Man was literally created in God's image, as given us in the Book of Genesis. My view rejects any evolution theory (and there are many evolution theories put forward by people) that claims that Man is evolved from monkey.

Central to my rejection above is that Man and animals are unlike in that Man is tripartite (spirit, soul and body), whereas animals are only with soul and body (life + form).  An animal cannot evolve to be a man.  Man is a special kind of its own, a special life-form that has a spirit that came from God, the Creator (Unlike for animals or plants, for Man, God breathed His breath into Man at Creation [For clearer understanding of this, read this article of mine: Man is Tripartite]).

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NOT just right standing, live right

Today, I want to latch onto a blog entry of a “long-distance friend” of mine, in the States, Ps Prentis.  The link to his article is this:
http://prentis-createdtogivegodglory.blogspot.sg/2014/03/afraid-of-light.html

I do encourage brothers and sisters to follow his blog, for as far as I know his core theology is sound.  His entries are much shorter than mine, and easier to follow because mine are tended to be backed up by lots of scriptural supports.  In fact, I appreciated his allowing my “preachy” comments on his blog; no insecure person allows that.

This is the scripture text that Ps Prentis used, and I will start with it, John 3:19-21 (KJV) –

19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.  21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

The light here was Jesus (John 8:12) - When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 

The light here was also God and holiness (1 John 1:5-8; v5 – God is light) - 5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.  6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.  7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.  8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

The John 3 & 8 texts were the words of our Lord, Jesus.  The 1 John 1 was the writing of the apostle John who of course wrote the Gospel of John. 

The audience there, of Jesus, was largely the Jews; many of them were of the same inclinations as the Pharisees.  John 8 detailed out the exchanges between Jesus and those Jews.  I will put down a couple of verses from there (John 8), here:

19 Then they {the Pharisees} asked him, “Where is your father?” “You do not know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”

21 Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.”

23 But he {Jesus} continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.”

31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.

32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?” 34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.

35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word. 38 I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father {the devil; re v44}.”

What am I trying to tell here? God is light, Jesus is from God; He is God (Son of God); He came from above (v23).  Jesus has come; the light has come (John 3:19, 8:12).  Of course, non-believers, they are outside of the light; they have NOT come into the light.  John 3:20 actually said everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light.  Now, non-believers are in there, in the “everyone”.  But the “everyone” cannot be just be referring to the non-believers.  There is a teaching going round implying that (only non-believers); and it is WRONG.  The “everyone” can include the children of God or believers or Christians.  

The audience of Jesus was the Jews, we have established that, and from John 8, it was clear.  In fact, they (the Jews or Pharisees) insisted they were children or sons of God.  Were they not so?  Yes, there were people of God, children of God, sons of God, as a matter of standing.  But we got to understand that God looks at more than just standing or legality, God looks also at in reality whether or NOT you are one, a son or child of God.  

What does it mean “in reality”?  It is like someone has qualified himself as a medical doctor (and there are those letters behind his name!), but if he does NOT practise medicine, but are pursuing an artist career, painting or sculpturing, etc., he is no doctor in reality, in reality he is an artist. 

A good proverb applicable to this, is: The proof of the pudding is in the eating; and Jesus applied it here, in the exchanges in John 8.  Despite Jesus said in v35 (John 8:35), a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever, He actually concluded that those Jews who were not accepting Him and His teaching, were NO children or sons of God; rather they were sons of the devil (v38 & 44).  Jesus actually said to these people, they would go NOT to Heaven (John 8:21).  The people were sons, but not sons, in reality.

WHO THEN ARE THE TRUE SONS OF GOD?  I will answer that in a while, but let me stress that this teaching of Jesus was NOT just focussed on the non-believers who are obviously NOT living in the light for they never really entered the light; they might have “hopped in and hopped out”; they never really had any intention to linger at all, in the light. It was and is also speaking to the Jews (God’s people, by standing) and believers who hold NOT to his teachings (John 8:31). 

Jesus used the word, disciples, on those who would believe Him and hold to His teachings; what did it imply?  Disciples NOT only believe in their master; they embrace the master’s teaching, and live out the ethos of the master.  Now if the master is Jesus, and Jesus is light, then is it NOT believers or should I say, disciples, have to be living in the light? 

I like this word that I noted Ps Prentis used from time to time, “characterisation”.  So, what so characterises you?  For the non-believers, living in the dark, characterises them, they occasionally “hop in and hop out” of the light; they don’t live in it or “travel” in it.  For you and I, disciples of Jesus Christ, we must be characterised by our living in the light; occasionally, you found yourselves “hopping in and hopping out” of darkness; and that was when you and I sin, occasionally.  Living in the dark or sinning should no longer characterise us, disciples (believers necessarily be disciples, it is NOT an option), who should be characterised by our living in the light or obeying God and His commands and so, sinning NOT.

The 1 John 1:5-10 writing was, I believe, the Apostle John’s attempt to say the same.  It is that you have to get into or back into the light that you have true fellowship with other disciples and with God, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies you from all sin (1 John 1:7).  1 John 1:9 is the elaboration of how this, “the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies you from all sin” – you repent (turn back into the light), and confess to God your sins (for you committed sins when you are in the dark or darkness), and the Lord, Jesus, is just and faithful to forgive you and cleanse you of all unrighteousness (from the sins).  Once this is done, you are back in the light; you are NOT back in the light unless you are forgiven and cleansed (for greater understanding of 1 John 1:9, read these: 1 John 1:9 is for believers, and 1 John 1:9 - Q&As).

John 3:20 said that everyone who does wicked things hates the light, and does NOT come into it, lest his works should be exposed.  Why does he hate it?  It is because of fear.  Heb 10:26–29 reads,

“26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.  28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.  29 How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?”

Obviously, this Hebrews text was NOT talking to non-believers, but to believers.  Scripture is very consistent with a believer is having to live righteous.  Anyone who play-downs the call to live righteous, is against the Word, and against God, and has NOT, the right understanding of God’s kinda of love (For better understanding of God’s kinda of love, read this: ‘ahab love – love unto righteousness).

Scripture said, “Perfect love casts out all fear”.  1 John 4:18 Amplified Bible: 18 There is no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (complete, perfect) love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear brings with it the thought of punishment, and [so] he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love [is not yet grown into love’s complete perfection].

Do we have fear?  Many of us, including myself, we have fear.  That is real.  But why?  It is because we are NOT in the fullness of God’s love.  The fullness of God’s love or perfect love is always there, like a never-ending beam of light.  We have to get into and stay inside, this beam of love which is inside the beam of light (holiness). 

In this light (holiness), there can be no fear, for there is no punishment, for there can be no sin, for everything done in the light has been carried out in God – John 3:21 (When one sins, it meant he has stepped outside of the light; he has to get back in). 

Everything done in the light is righteous.  Everything done in the light is done in love.  In here, you experience God’s love for you, which love unto righteousness (‘ahab love); in here, you love Him back with the same love; in here, you love one another with His love, again, love unto righteousness; in here there is fullness of love, perfect love.  In here, there is forgiveness and restoration, if you would come back in, if you would confess your sins to God who is just and faithful to forgive you and cleanse you of all your unrighteousness (1 John 1:9), from meandering in the dark.

There is no other way out of our fear, except to come or come back into the light.  Embrace 1 John 1:9, it is for the non-believers and it is for the believers.  Know this truth, and this truth will set you free, and yes, free from fear.

Oh! WHO THEN ARE THE TRUE SONS OF GOD?  I said I will let you know.  Romans 8:12-14 - 12 So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh {sinful nature}:  13 for if ye live after the flesh, ye must die; but if by the Spirit ye put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live.  14 FOR AS MANY AS ARE LED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD, THESE ARE THE SONS OF GOD.

Jesus is our master and model.  We have just looked at Jesus saying to those who believed Him that if they hold to His teachings, they would be His real disciples.  Disciples model after the master.  How did the Master live? 1 John 3:7 - Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he {Jesus} is righteous. 

Jesus was righteous, and He lived righteous or did what was right.  Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit in His ministry; He was baptised in water and Spirit, at the Jordan River, before He began His ministry.  Where did it say, in Scripture Jesus was led by the Spirit? After Jesus’ baptism, in Matt 4:1, we read it recorded for us that Jesus was led by the Spirit to be tempted by the Devil (Jesus was led to fast in the wilderness, first, before He was tempted).  Furthermore, we believed as Scripture said it, Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit (Matt 1:18).  Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit in His life, and especially so, when the Holy Spirit had come upon Him without measure upon His water baptism.

A Spirit-led life is a righteous living life, why?  Because the Holy Spirit knows the mind of God (1 Cor 2:11), and is always only speaking and doing from the Godhead.  The Holy Spirit is always righteous, and so, when we are being led by Him, we will be living right; we will be living as Jesus did – living righteous.

Therefore, those who live right, those are the sons of God.  They are also those who love God, for love and righteousness are bounded together.

Anthony Chia, high.expressions

Comments are welcome here. Alternatively, email them to me @: high.expressions@gmail.com Or just email me your email address so that I can put you on my blog (new entry) notification list. To go back to blog main page, click here. 



 

Must God's love being seen in me?

Is God’s love being seen in me?  It is referring to whether or NOT people can see or NOT, God’s love in us (or me).  It is NOT primarily asking if God’s love for us (or me) is seen in us (or me).  It is whether God’s love for others is seen in us.  And so, it presupposes God has love for others, apart from us (or me).  Does God have love for others, apart from us (or me)?  We are crazy to think that God only love us (or me), and NOT others!

The love of God is for all men

John 3:16 said it all, that God so loved the world that He gave His one and only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross, so that whoever believes in Him, may have eternal life.  The world is definitely NOT just us (or me)?  It is all men, in general.  There is another verse in Scripture paralleling this understanding.  1 Tim 2:4 – {God our Savior} who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.  Or this: 1 John 2:2 - And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

For the stubbornly unrighteous, God ultimately cannot love him

So, please, we should stop thinking we (or I) am so special that God loves only us (or me).  We are (or I am) special, but he is and she is, too.  God’s love for me and for you is the same.  God’s love for men is defined in the Hebrew love word, ‘ahab love, as love unto righteousness (For a more detailed exposition of this ‘ahab love, read: ‘ahab love – love unto righteousness).  The righteousness there, is His righteousness, and this love, is defined independently of who (men) we are referring to.  And so, it is about us, men, coming into this love of God.  Another way of putting it, if you are a man, and you are righteous, God cannot but love you.  And if one remains stubbornly unrighteous, God ultimately cannot love him.

The story of Job – a most righteous man

This is how God allowed Job to be spoken of (Job 1:1): In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.

In other words, Job was the most righteous man in the land.  If you meditate on this, with the knowledge and understanding of the story of Job as detailed in that Book, and believe, as it is defined for us, the love of God (‘ahab love), you will appreciate the love of God is so incongruent with the many ideas of love, from the world.  The love of God has one aim and only one aim in mind, to maintain and foster greater righteousness in us (or grow the holiness in us). 

All the ways and manners and even all the particular things that have been or will be allowed to happen in our lives, including (Job, an good example) loss of wealth, loved ones, and even health, God has NOT precluded Himself from employing (it does NOT necessarily mean God caused it), so long as it goes towards maintaining or growing in you, righteousness; the only condition is that He cannot be unholy or He cannot be evil in anyway.

Let your mind and understanding be expanded

I hope this exposition will expand readers’ understanding of the love of God.  One benefit is that we can get a better understanding of what is going on in our lives, when we are told we are having a God who loves us; and that God is NOT “playing favourite” in His love; it is to the degree you are righteous, you will experience the degree of His love, as the degree of your righteousness puts you into the degree of the fullness of God’s love.  The fullness of God’s love is there all the time, it is we have to step into that fullness, and we cannot do that, if we are NOT righteous.  Over and on top of that, the grace and mercy of God flow out to us to help us along, all subjugated to the demands of God’s own holiness.

It opens our spiritual eyes to see how far we are from the fullness of God’s love, and even as we journey greater into that fullness, we should want others to experience that love of God, too, and we should want also, to give understanding to others, about how God loves men, so that we encourage men to move towards and into the fullness of God’s love, which is the will of God.  You may say, “But why?”  As that Job story shows, God does NOT take His eyes off the one who is righteous, despite whatever afflictions have been allowed to hit him, and when the person’s righteousness stand, the love of God will bless most abundantly (you can read, in the end, how Job was doubly blessed by God).  The greater blessings, however, many somehow, often forget, are God, through the Holy Spirit, sheds His peace and joy abroad in our hearts, meanwhile, and at the appointed time, brings us to be with Him, in Heaven, as a consummation of the Love Story, the Gospel. 

It is NOT about you, and it is about you

“Bro Anthony, ok, I get what you saying here, but what does it got to do with whether or NOT God’s love is being seen in me or NOT?”  Firstly, I hope we are clear it is NOT about you and I, and it is about you and I! 

It is NOT about you and I, in the sense it is NOT about our love for another man.  It is about God’s love for another man.  And it is about you and I, for we have joined God in the Love Story, when (and only when) we have been justified; and that gets us, the imputed righteousness of Christ Jesus.  In simple terms, you and I entered into the Love Story on becoming a Christian (we been justified and adopted into the Story). 

The Love Story

The Story is about God loving men and men loving God back; it is NOT just God loving you (or me) and you (or I) loving Him back.  Yes, there is the personal dimension, and yet, the big picture or corporate dimension is that God is after men, NOT just you and I.  I repeat, it is NOT about your love or my love for another man. 

A US pastor, a “long-distance friend” of mine (his blog I followed regularly), Ps Prentis, wrote recently on the same theme. I commented on his blog that he was cute(!) when he expressed, “We think that [our] love produces love in others until we remember junior high.”  It is about His love, like the author of this song said it:

Oh, I love you with the love of the Lord,

Yes, I love you with the love of the Lord;
I can see in you the glory of my king,
Yes, I love you with the love of the Lord

It is all, to be truly righteous

Actually, how can one be truly righteous, if he loves another with his (own) love? The very 1st commandment, he fails, for that commandment calls for us to love God back with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.  And when we are NOT truly righteous, we have NOT yet come into the fullness of God’s love.  To be truly righteous, we have to love God with all our love.

When we do love someone with our love, we do NOT love God with our all!  Some people actually would say the Scripture is self-contradicting or is oxymoron, arguing that the very 1st and 2nd commandments of God are oxymoron – God’s asking is in contradiction.  I say the author of the above song got it right, it is when we love another, NOT with our own love, but the love of the Lord, that there is no contradiction in the two love commandments. 

What is the “new” in Jesus’ saying

God knows the hearts of men (Acts 1:24) [thinking that there is contradiction], and Jesus shed some light on this:  Jesus said that he was giving the people a new command, but what He gave was the same 2 love commands as in Deu 6:5 and Lev 19:18.  But Jesus did say “new”; so what was new about the love commandments?  The 1st commandment was the same (Deu 6:5 did NOT have “mind”, explicitly), but we read this in John 13:34: “A new command I give you: Love one another. AS I HAVE LOVED YOU, so you must love one another.

Therein, is what was new about Jesus’ command: We are to love one another, in the same way He loved the disciples.  How did Jesus love the disciples?  He loved them with the love of the Father God.  Jesus’s love for the Father was a total sell-out, doing His will, even to die on the Cross, a cruel death; why?  Because that is the Father God’s love for us, men.  Jesus loved His disciples with the love of the Father God.

Jesus, our model

So? So, it is NOT about we love another man or whomever man, with our love; it is we love another with the love of the Lord.  Jesus is our model: He loved with the Father’s love; He did the will of the Father.  We? We to love with the love of the Lord; we to do His will (Of course, the Lord and the Father has once again, are one, and one with the Holy Spirit; For a season, the Lord laid down His deity, that was when he lived as a man).

Must I?

“Ok, bro Anthony, now I understand I am to love with the love of the Lord, just as Jesus loved, with the love of the Father God; but must I love, so that the Lord’s love can be seen in me?” Yes, you and I must. 

When we look at the Strong’s Lexicon on ‘ahab love (God’s kinda of love), we find our reciprocal love for God is also to be unto righteousness.  Love is bounded together with righteousness.  And so, we see in Scripture, Jesus defined loving God this way (John 14:15 & 21): He who loves me obeys my commands, and He who obeys my commands is the one who loves me. 

The righteousness of God (what God wants done and the time it is to be done) is explicit to us in His commands; that is why Jesus tied love to obeying His commands.  So, we ask: Is it His command we to love one another?  Yes, the John 14:34 made it explicit (“A new command I give you: Love one another. AS I HAVE LOVED YOU, so you must love one another).  When you and I don’t obey His commands, say, this “love one another” command, we are NOT being righteous (righteousness, simply, is being spot on with God, with what He wants), and that translates automatically to, we are NOT loving God fully, and we won’t be at the fullness of His love for us.

Love for God, righteousness, and love one another, altogether

1 John 3:10 (KJV) spells it out clearly: In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

We can see, NOT loving one another, being singled out as NOT practising righteousness.  Another angle to view this, is that righteousness of God necessarily includes God wanting us to love one another.  In other words, loving one another is always in the righteousness of God, NOT just sometimes.  Viewing in another way, we cannot go wrong when we practice loving one another; and it is consistent with this verse (Rom 13:10 KJV): “Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”

The righteousness of God cannot be working any ill; and love, being always in the righteousness of God, therefore, cannot be working any ill; and so, love is said to be fulfilling of the law, for the law is for righteousness and against ills.  In this way, too, we have the understanding of some of the similar verses in Scripture, like the ones below:

Gal 5:14 - For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."

James 2:8 - If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right {practising righteousness}.

On top of 1 John 3:10, the apostle John also similarly linked loving God, keeping His commandments, and loving one another together, in 1 John 5:2 (KJV) – “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.”

The flow is very simple:  We are to love God with our all (the 1st commandment – love God commandment). We love God by obeying His prescription for us and doing His will, and His prescription and will are in His commandments, and foremost and always, in His righteousness (or what He wants), is we to love one another, and so, when we truly love God and so, keep His commandments, we would have kept this love thy neighbour commandment (2nd commandment), and so, we are loving one another or His children.

If NOT

What does it mean when God’s love is NOT seen in us?
In matter of degree, these:
We are NOT practicing righteousness
We are NOT obeying His commands
We are NOT loving God, as we are NOT loving one another
We are NOT getting ourselves into the fullness of His love
We hinder our own sanctification
We have NOT identified with Him (borrowing Ps Prentis’ words)

The end for one who is righteous and so, is loving God, is being loved by God, and it is beautiful; and his journey on earth, meanwhile, will be with God’s cover over him, and he is at peace and with joy, in and of the Holy Spirit, as he is in alignment with the Spirit of God.  Be that one, and God will have His children, all like His Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ.



Anthony Chia, high.expressions

Comments are welcome here. Alternatively, email them to me @: high.expressions@gmail.com Or just email me your email address so that I can put you on my blog (new entry) notification list. To go back to blog main page, click here.