Jesus said the church was the "Bride of Christ."  Acts chapter 9 details the The Work of the church.  After Saul was converted,  God started doing something special.  Throughout this chapter, we observe that the work of the Church includes Miracles.   It was an absolute miracle that Saul encountered Christ on the road to Damascus and later became the apostle to the Gentiles. It's also true that doing the work of God involves risk. God's instructions to Ananias, and then Barnabas's encouragement to the apostles in Jerusalem involved a great deal of risk-taking. When miracles are combined with great acts of faith  Acts 9:31 tells us the church was blessed and MULTIPLIED. Praise God!

Deals make the world go round.  In our culture we have respect for people who can bring two or more parties together to a solution that is described as win-win.  Trust is implicit in a deal and most of the time, those of us in the western world are suspicious and looking behind the obvious to figure out if we are getting a good deal or not. When it comes to God, however, the cards are stacked against us. We are doomed. Since the sin that entered the garden, we have been at a disadvantage. One only needs to hear God's quote on sin in Genesis 4:4-7 to get an idea of how insidious and awful sin is in its effect on us. But thankfully, God has provided an answer to sin by sending His Son. How about this fact? It's not a fair deal. We deserve to die as it says in Romans 3:23. Romans 3:24 gives us a hint at what a good deal this is.  Most of us think that we are ok and not that sinful, but according the the Scriptures, we are not able to help ourselves. Jeremiah commented on this so eloquently with his statement in Jeremiah 17:9. Isaiah was in an interesting situation as the Southern Kingdom of Judah was the remaining country after the Northern Kingdom had been deported by the Assyrians. In Isaiah 1:1-17, he lists the activities of humans that are anything but righteous. But the DEAL is in Isaiah 1:18.

Consider the winner and the loser. God gets our sin, we get salvation. He chooses to exchange the ugly for the beautiful, the profane for the righteous, and the dirty for the clean. Paul says it so beautifully in Romans 15:16:
"But the gift is not like the trespass. For if by the one man’s trespass the many died, how much more have the grace of God and the gift which comes through the grace of the one man Jesus Christ overflowed to the many."
What Isaiah prophesied became real in the New Testament. Come NOW! says the prophet, "Let us Reason together! Though your sins be as scarlet, they will be as white as snow, though they are red as crimson, they shall be as wool!"

​What Isaiah saw some 700 years before Christmas, we get the deal some 2000 years later. Come Now! Let Us Reason together! Praise God! 

There is a great passage in the Bible and it's in the last book. Revelation one opens in such an amazing way as John describes his situation on the isle of Patmos and then sees a vision of the Lord with a command to write what he is going to see. Revelation 1: 1-20. This was not only John's future, but ours. It's similar to the visions of Daniel, for instance in Daniel 12:1-4, Daniel was shown by an angel what would be not only in his future, but also in ours. The book of Revelation is absolutely fascinating. Not as a script to satisfy our selfish curiosity, but as a declaration of a victorious king! There is absolutely nothing like the grand language of Revelation 22:6-21 which illustrates the ultimate and triumphant victory of King Jesus! As we read through chapter one, we notice that "the One" John saw had a face that John recognized. (Revelation 1:13), it was the Christ that He had known while on the earth, but now, in all His Glory! What is so striking to me about this One among the lampstands was not just His statement in Revelation 1:17-20, but specifically His revelation of the mystery in Revelation 1:20. In the hands of Christ are His Churches! That is His body! With all of heaven opened to the apostle, there stood Jesus with His Church! With His Church in His right hand and in His left, Jesus stands triumphant. Here is the fulfillment of what He said to Peter, "You are Peter, but upon this ROCK I will build my Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18). Do you struggle today with the cares of this life?  Be encouraged through this great declaration, Jesus is building His Church and He has it ALL in His hands. Praise God! 

We don't know who wrote Hebrews because it doesn't say.  It seems not to be Paul because there are things about the type of Greek being different from Paul's letters and also because Paul told us in every other letter that he was the author.  Seminarians are trained to always say "the author of Hebrews" because the debate rages on.  If you take the time to read it you discover that it is very well organized and easy to outline.  It is full of amazing passages about the glorious Gospel of Christ being the fulfillment of the law.  One verse captures so much of the essence of the Gospel that I wanted to share it with you.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8) 

Glory! He is the same.  Because He's perfect, that is really good news.  In the past, in our present, and certainly in our future.  Praise God!

Much has been written about this book of John.  Perhaps the best one was "John, the Gospel of Belief" by Merrill Tenney.  Dr. Tenney chose a good title for that book because that's exactly what the book of John is.  John's focus in on the decision of his readers to believe that Jesus is the Son of God. There are several portions of John that aren't mentioned in the other gospels such as the wedding at Cana, (John 2.1), the references to Nicodemus (John 3:1, John 7:50, John 19:39), and the woman at the well (John 4:4-42). What a powerful story!  There are more things unique to John such as John 7:37-39, where Jesus talks about the baptism in the Holy Spirit; the raising of Lazarus in John 11 ;and John 14-16 where he gives specific instructions about the role of the Holy Spirit.  What is most striking about this book is his purpose at the end. Here it is:  Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
So that WE might believe and by believing have life in His name!  Praise God! 

The Gospel of Luke is my favorite.  He is comprehensive, detailed and organized.  He's a second generation writer which means he writes based on interviews with eyewitnesses.  The cool thing about this is he tells us so in the first four verses.  He writes to a person with a Graeco-Roman name, Theophilus.  This alone helps us to understand how quickly the gospel took hold in the Gentile areas in the first 100 years.   It's Luke's own description in the first 4 verses that clue us in on why the details of his gospel matter:
Luke 1:1       Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3 With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.
There is the point.  He carefully investigated everything from the beginning.  He interviewed eyewitnesses. His goal was that Theophilus would know the certainty of the things he had been taught.  The certainty of Theophilus then becomes OUR certainty. Praise God! 

The second Gospel is the shortest of them all and has a very unique feature. It's sudden and quick! This Gospel doesn't even give us the Christmas story! It starts with the ministry of John the Baptist.  Many scholars believe that this book was written first. It was also written to a Gentile or non-Jewish audience. The book of Mark uses a phrase "immediately" 38 times in 16 chapters (Mark 1:3, 10, 12, 18, 20–21, 23, 28–30, 42–43; 2:8, 12; 3:6; 4:5, 15–17, 29; 5:2, 29–30, 42; 6:25, 45, 50, 54; 7:25; 8:10; 9:15, 20, 24; 10:52; 11:2–3; 14:72).  It certainly keeps the action going.  The NIV translators try to smooth it out by translating the word "Just then" or "at once" or "as soon as".  Mark has another distinctive.  He focuses on the miraculous and powerful ministry of Jesus.  About the time you get into the action, the book is over and Christ has risen from the dead!  At once you discover the uniqueness of this book and know that Jesus is alive!  Praise God! 

There are 4 Gospels at the front of the New Testament.  Each tell the wonderful story of Christ coming to earth to redeem mankind.  It is interesting to me how unique each book is. Matthew starts with a genealogy that is organized around David and Abraham.  When you think about it, you can see that Matthew's purpose was to link up Christ with the prophecies of the Old Testament.  Look at his closing summary in Matthew 1:17 "So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations; and from David until the exile to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the exile to Babylon until the Messiah, fourteen generations." Matthew shows the order and structure of the Old Testament and helps us to understand that Jesus was descended from Abraham and David.  That takes you all the way back to Genesis! As you read, you discover the word throughout the book  "fulfill" (Matt. 1:22; 2:15, 17, 23; 3:15; 4:14; 5:17; 8:17; 12:17; 13:14, 35; 21:4; 26:54, 56; 27:9) What a great way to launch off the New Testament.  Christ had fulfilled the 4000 year prophecies about the Messiah.  It's probably why he started the book in such a profound way.  As it says in verse 1: "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." Praise God! 

Romans 8 is full of references to the Holy Spirit! 26 times in 21 verses the word "Spirit" is used. This chapter concludes the great "Heart of Romans" discussion that Paul makes about the wonderful grace of Jesus.  One clear set within this chapter is the distinguishing passage:  Romans 8:9-11. It marks a clear distinction that abides on the believer because of the glorious presence of the Spirit.  (thanks to Accordance, they've highlighted the "hits" for us in RED.)
Rom. 8:9 "You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him. 10 Now if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through his Spirit who lives in you."
The presence of God's Spirit is not passive in the believer but active!  Read the whole chapter and discover the assistance and blessing of the presence of the Spirit in the life of the believer. Praise God! 

Throughout the Old Testament, we see the writers of the law, the psalms and the prophets writing things down that were "predictive".  They knew they were writing promises that had yet to come true.  Thousands of years later, when Jesus is born, lived and ministered on the earth, He fulfilled those prophecies.  One thing that is striking to me is when Jesus Himself declared it so while teaching in His home town of Nazareth.  (Luke 4:18-22).  He also does it several other places. A simple search with the term "Scripture" and "fulfilled" reveals surprising results where Jesus mentions it several times. (Matt. 26:54; Mark 14:49; John 13:18; 17:12).  He did it so much that His disciples got the point and made it about His crucifixion, death and resurrection ( John 19:24, 28, 36; Acts 1:16; James 2:8, 23)./ These are not the only fulfilled prophecies, but it is thrilling to see that Jesus led the way in His teaching that what the Old Testament promised, He fulfilled completely.  Praise God! 

No one likes to talk about it, but it as is real as the life we have the privilege of living.  The Bible has a lot to say about death. It's mentioned in the Bible 420 times.  There are euphemisms about death and oft quoted Scriptures.  The most striking one to me is Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians 15:50-54.  Here, the apostle has been talking for the whole chapter of the glorious reality of the Resurrection of Christ.  He makes the case that because of Christ's resurrection, it guarantees our resurrection.  In these 2 verses he quotes from Isaiah 25:8 and Hosea 13:14.  Here he declares that in the future when the Christian's great resurrection happens, these prophecies will be true.  "Death!  Where is your sting!" "Grave! Where is your victory?" . The power of Christ's resurrection gives us a real and present hope; because He lives, we will live also. Praise God!

God is a teacher.  All the way back in the book of Exodus, as He revealed Himself to Moses, He identified Himself as “The God of your fathers”, (Ex 3:6) He further clarified by saying “The God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob”. His revelation has always been built upon relationship. I think that’s why His teaching standard was about relationship.  Deuteronomy 6:1-9 is referred to by scholars as “The Shema” or “The Teaching”. It is composed of two elements:  First, the content in Deuteronomy 6:4-5 “Hear O Israel the Lord your God is one Lord, and you can love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind”.  What amazing content!  He is a God of relationship.  He wants to love His people.  The second part is methodical.  It identifies the how and when, and who of the relationship.  Deuteronomy 6:5-9 gives the detail.  Similar to the declaration in the Psalms “Evening, morning and at noon, I will pray and cry aloud and you will hear my voice”. God’s teaching is about relationship and we get to be in relationship with Him!  Praise God! 

I have a favorite verse.  In fact I have favorite verses.  When I get a new Bible, I go to these 2 verses to underline them.  I do this for 2 reasons.  I don’t know where this Bible will end up 100 years from now.  I want the truth of that verse to shout out to the reader about the goodness of God’s love and mercy.  I also want to make the decision that I will use this new Bible.  I want to engage it and notice whatever element of truth I can.  It’s not the only verse I underline in my new Bible, but it is the first.  It’s in the fifth chapter of Romans.  It’s part of the “heart” of Romans.  The verses? Romans 5:1-2 Praise God!

Christ''s ascension was a significant historical and theological event.  It is boldly declared in the book of Acts out of the real time experience of the apostles. (Acts 1:9-11) It is theologically significant because first, it happened, secondly, Christ's redemptive work was complete.  Third, It caused the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (John 7:39, Acts 2:33) The ascension of Christ assures us of His power as victor and intercessor for His people.  Jesus even taught about the ascension (John 1:31, 3:13, 6:62, 20:17). Peter mentioned it as a fulfillment of prophecy (Acts 2:34) and Paul mentioned it for its theological value (Ephesians 4:8-10).  The Ascension of Christ is a crucial element to the doctrine of Christ and our personal assurance that Jesus has won the victory!  Praise God! 

I recently re-discovered the Accordance Highlighting tool.  It was a significant upgrade in Accordance 13.  If you like to markup and highlight your Bible.  This is for you. You can choose any color, create your own scheme, and erase on the fly.  It is very easy to use.  IT turns itself on for you when you select some biblical or commentary text.  IT allows you to draw on the text and saves it for when you return.  Here's a picture of what I did in 2 Thessalonians 2: 1-13. 
Highlighting in Accordance is a powerful experience and a great way to keep track of your study.  Praise God!

In the Christian context, the idea of a "high priest" is a little foreign.  It was the high priest during the time of Jesus that gave Jesus such difficulty right before His crucifixion (and subsequent resurrection!).  The book of Hebrews walks the reader through how the Old Testament laid a foundation for the wonder of the New. There is a special verse in this book I want to mention. "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens—Jesus the Son of God--let us hold fast to our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need." Hebrews 4:14-16

Notice the bolded sections.  These are powerful points about Christ's ascension, our confession, and the freedom we have to approach Him when we pray!  What a GREAT High Priest!  Praise God! 

I use Salvation (Salvific) as an adjective very sparingly.  In my mind, it only refers to 2 events in the Bible.  One was in the Old Testament, the other in the New.  In the Old Testament, it is recorded in the book of it's name, The Exodus, when God led His people with His strong arm and His mighty hand out of Egypt. (Exodus 13:9) After 400 years of slavery, He stepped in and delivered His people.  The kings, psalmists and prophets continually reminded the people of God's mighty hand of salvation.  In the New Testament its the cross.  When Christ declared "it is finished" (John 19:30) the payment for our sins was made.  Paul would later recall: “And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:” (Romans 1:4 KJV) The Exodus in the Old Testament and the death, burial and resurrection of Christ in the New Testament stand as true declarations of Salvific Events!  Praise God!

Jesus used the phrase three times.  He was teaching His disciples about the Comforter that would come after His ascension.  Its the basis of why He gave His disciples the specific instruction to not leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the "Gift, my Father promised". (Acts 1:4-5) It is one of the reasons we insist that there is a divine process of Illumination that happens when a believer studies the word of God! The Holy Spirit guides the believer much in the same way He guided the authors in writing the Scripture.  This sheds light on the passage.  The phrase is the same as our title:  The Spirit of Truth.  Consider how John records these these concepts from Jesus.

John 14:17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.  (Galatians 4:6, Romans 8:14-16)

John 15:26   “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.

John 16:13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

​What a shame that so many today are confused about the ministry of the Holy Spirit? Jesus clearly taught that He was the Spirit of truth, not the spirit of confusion.  By grand contrast, the Holy Spirit has a key role in helping the believer know about Christ. Praise God! 

The Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes within are quite well known among Christian circles. The problem is, Christians are by and large "ignoring" them. Jesus intended to teach the content of the beatitudes. Matthew 5 says that he "sat down to teach". Several years ago I had the privilege of preaching at a local church.  At the close of the service, we asked for people to stand in response to the question: "Do you need help with the Beatitudes"….just about everyone stood up. We do need help. We need God's help. That's why He sent the Spirit! In addition, Jesus's instruction as to salt and light in the passage that follows helps to illustrate WHY we need to pay attention to the Beatitudes. Matthew 5:13-16. I thought I'd put together some Scriptures that would provide HELP with the Beatitudes. I know I still need help meeting the standard that Jesus put down. I believe the Holy Spirit helps us to live up to that standard. Here are some passages that I have discovered helpful, it's obviously not exhaustive. (hover over the reference for the passage, or click on the link to go straight to it in an online Bible) 
Romans 8:1–11 
1 Corinthians 15:20–25 
Acts 2:36–41 
Ephesians 4:29–32 
Galatians 5:16–26 
Acts 4:23–31 
Revelation 2:1–7 
Revelation 21:1–8 

The word of God has power!  Let's live the Beatitudes!  Praise God!

The notion that God can do anything is, in itself, amazing. Since the Fall of Man, man has been at odds against God by default. We are, as Romans 3:23 states, "sinners." We have all sinned. God is doing all He can to redeem us back. Having sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins, and not just for our sins, but for the whole world, He daily is doing miracles as men come back into communion with Him. When we read statements like "Nothing is Too Hard for God" and "Nothing is Impossible with God"….we want to believe that is true, but our fallen nature gets in the way. We argue with God. What about the times I asked Him for miracles and received nothing? What about the times I prayed and prayed and prayed, yet still God did not answer? Fair enough questions. James 4:3 suggests one answer might be that we ask from wrong motives. This is understandable considering our faulted sinful stance. It seems from Scripture that God doesn't do everything we ask and He has some kind of Divine standard for answering our prayers that is a mystery to our feeble minds. Those questions, however, should not prevent us from continuing to ask. Consider all the places that God Himself encourages us with the idea that He can do anything AND our prayers make a difference. 
Matthew 19:26; Mark 10:27; Luke 1:37; Luke 18:27; Matthew 6:30; Matthew 8:10; Matthew 8:26; Matthew 9:2; Matthew 9:22; Matthew 9:29; Matthew 13:58; Matthew 14:31; Matthew 15:28; Matthew 16:8

Oscar Eliason wrote a great song. The words are powerful. 

Got any Rivers? You think are uncrossable
Got any Mountains? You can't tunnel through
God specializes, in things thought impossible
And He can do what no other power can do

Let's expect God to do what He says He can do! Praise God! 

​What exactly does the Holy Spirit do to help? I'm talking of course, about the Third Person of the Trinity. The current situation in our society, especially Evangelical Christianity may be ignoring the power and purpose of God's Spirit to help us accomplish the task of world evangelization. I'm a Pentecostal. I was raised as a Pentecostal, and now I'm ordained in a Pentecostal Church, the Assemblies of God. I'm not just a Pentecostal because of my heritage, as important as that is, I'm not just a Pentecostal because of my vocation although being Pentecostal is required for my chosen profession. I'm Pentecostal because I understand the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church is shown throughout Scripture and is necessary to do the ministry. So, to the previous question: What exactly does the Holy Spirit do to help? Romans 8:1-39 is a great chapter in God's word that describes the wonderful way the Spirit helps us. But the Spirit helps us in many other ways. I came across a chart in "The Holy Spirit: A Pentecostal Introduction" by Thomas Holdcroft, (one of the textbooks for "Person and Work of the Holy Spirit" I took as a student at SAGU in the 80s). Holdcroft captures in these simple phrases a fantastic overview of all the benefits that the Spirit provides for us. I wanted to share this with you:

The Spirit's Ministry and Work in the Believer

Regenerates or Makes Spiritually Alive

Indwells

Grants Assurance

Sanctifies or Achieves Holiness

Empowers Spiritually

Leads and Guides

Assists in Worship and Prayer

Implements Adoption

Communes and Fellowships

Anoints

Seals

Teaches and Reminds

This is why I believe that the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is a necessity for any believer who wants to do something for God in a lifetime of ministry. The Apostles saw the importance of it or they wouldn't have asked the Gentiles about it in Acts 10:44-46; Paul must have understood it's purpose and use for churches all across the world or he wouldn't have specified regulations for public worship as in 1 Corinthians 14:1-40.

In these days of overwhelming information, good and bad...we need a HELPER who can stand beside us and help us make decisions. Christians believe and understand the Holy Spirit to be that Helper. Jesus spoke that he would be the "Other Counselor" who would be with us forever. Truly...it doesn't matter what your label is: Assembly of God, Baptist, Catholic, Episcopalian, Lutheran, Church of Christ, Christian, or seeking....we all need the Power of the Holy Spirit to live a successful Christian life.  Have you considered opening your heart up to God and allowing Him to direct you. Start first with Romans 8:1-39 and be encouraged that the same ONE who made the heavens is now present to work in and through us. Praise God!