1 John 3 Bible Study: See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
The Sacrifice, the Temple, and the Kingdom
1 John 2 Bible Study: Chapter Two of John’s letter begins with a sense of danger, John is troubled: “My little children, I WRITE TO YOU THAT YOU SIN NOT.” He’s possibly writing even as much as 100 years after the birth of Christ, so he’s an old man – which entitles him to address his readers as ‘little children’… But maybe here he’s also addressing some who are still ‘spiritually children’. What he says relates to anyone of us today, but in this case I am sensing John is writing particularly to Jewish people who had become followers of Christ; Jews, who when they believed, had accepted something that had been ‘hidden’ from them in their Jewish Law/Scriptures, something so completely new to them, they are now finding it hard to fully accept, and that is: JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD, HIS SACRIFICIAL DEATH HAS PAID THE FULL PRICE OF SIN!
The Wonders of God
‘Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created human beings on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of? Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived? Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?’ (Deuteronomy 4:32-34, NIV)
Get on Fire for God!
With God, nothing is impossible! Daniel 11.32 says, ‘Those who know their God will be strong and do exploits’ – the most amazing incredible things ever seen on the earth – ‘exploits’! Bigger than anything you can imagine! You should be doing more than anybody else! Church, we’ve got to get on FIRE! If you’ve got no fire, get the Holy Ghost!
How to pray in distress
One of the most wonderful verses in the whole of the Old Testament is Deuteronomy 4.29: ‘If from where you are you shall seek the Lord your God you shall find Him, if you seek Him with all your heart and all your soul.’ You will find God if you search for Him from just where you are! When you are in tribulation, when all the problems of life have come on you!
Our God cannot be defeated
If we want revival, we’re going to have to fight for it tooth and nail, we’re going to have to fight for it with spiritual sword, with everything we’ve got. I get nothing for free, I didn’t get entry into the communist countries, into Israel for free – I’ve had to fight, fight, fight. I have to spend so much time in prayer and so much time in the Word of God – because I can only do it if God is with me. But my God has never ever been defeated.
Something so big - You'll be amazed
Habakkuk Bible Study: This is what God has put in my spirit – though there is violence and disturbance all over the world and we are threatened with a third world war. God sees and knows all these things… BUT He’s given us the vision: He is about to do something miraculous, that even those of us who know God could not anticipate or imagine. it’s going to be so big, so powerful…
The entire Power of God is in the Gospel we preach
The Apostle Paul said: “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ.” (Romans 1.16). Why are we not ashamed of the Gospel? Because it is the greatest demonstration of the power of God on earth! – It is the power to deliver everyone who has faith to believe! What changes nations is not some new teaching or doctrine. No, it is the simplicity of God’s Word, the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Today we are in danger of underestimating the power of God, and that’s why Paul said, “I’m not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, because it is the power of God!”
The Power of Prayer
There’s a need for great power in prayer! Power, when we pray! I’m very specific when I pray, I bring very specific questions – and I get very strong answers. James 5.16 says the ‘effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails.’ This is the forceful, powerful prayer of an ‘ordinary’ righteous man! It works! The original Greek New Testament has two words for power: energeo and dunamis. Our praying HAS to be strong!
Let not your heart be troubled / John 13&14
John 13&14: The whole world is shaking, whether that is political division in UK, USA, Europe and elsewhere, or the wars in Ukraine and now Israel; we are living in turmoil. I believe we are closer to the return of Christ than many imagine. Jesus opens chapter 14 saying, "Let not your heart be troubled - believe in Me - I'm going to prepare a place for you."