Out of Satan’s darkness, into the light of the Lord

How do we get from this - "Lord, you are the God who saves me" (Psalm 88:1) - to this - "darkness is my closest friend" (Psalm 88:18)? - "An enemy has done this" (Matthew 13:28). God's people are under constant attack - from Satan, the enemy of God and his people. Satan is a …

Praying Through God’s Word: 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 1:1-2:5 We thank You, Lord, that our faith is "not based on human wisdom." Our faith comes from Your power at work in us (1 Corinthians 2:5). Our faith is nothing without Your power. Without Your wisdom, we are fools. How do we receive Your power and Your wisdom? - We receive Your …

1 Corinthians 13-16

1 Corinthians 13:1-14:12 -  Paul’s teaching seems so unrealistic. Life isn’t like this, people aren’t like this, the Church isn’t like this – and we’re all the poorer for it! We speak about revival. We hope for it. We pray for it. What we need most of all is a revival of love. This is not …

1 Corinthians 10-12

1 Corinthians 10:1-33 -  ‘Participation in the blood of Christ… participation in the body of Christ’ (16): There is nothing more important than this. We are not to be spectators, standing on the side lines, watching what’s going on without ever getting involved. We are to be participants, getting to know the Lord Jesus Christ, growing …

1 Corinthians 5-9

1 Corinthians 5:1-6:11 -  ‘Your boasting is not good’ – May we never become so taken up with ourselves that we forget Jesus Christ and all that He has done for us: ‘Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us’, ‘you were washed… sanctified… justified in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ and in …

1 Corinthians 1-4

1 CORINTHIANS 1:1-2:5 -  Paul preached the Gospel, ‘not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power’ (17; 2:4). He preached ‘Christ crucified’ with a determination ‘to know nothing except Jesus Christ crucified’(23; 2:2). This is the message of our salvation – ‘Christ crucified… Christ the power of God and …

Spiritual change

"There is joy in the presence of the angels of God when one sinner repents" (Luke 15:10). This is more than our joy in the Lord. It's rejoicing in heaven. What is it about our repentance which brings such joy to the heart of our Lord? When we speak about repentance, what are we saying? …

Spiritual power

What is spiritual power? Where does it come from? Does spiritual power come from? Does it come from within ourselves? Jesus tells us that it comes from somewhere else. It's "power from on high" (Luke 24:49). It's the "power" of "the Holy Spirit" (Acts 1:8). What happened on "the day of Pentecost"? Did Jesus' followers …