In Mark chapter 8 we read of a curious interaction between Jesus and His disciples. They are in a boat going to the region of Dalmanutha. The disciples had just seen Jesus feed four thousand people with seven loaves and a few small fish. When He tells them “Be careful, watch out for the yeast […]
It’s funny how often people feel ‘stuck’ in life. Stuck in a job, stuck with a limited income or stuck with responsibilities that prevent them from doing the things they would like to do. Well in the Kingdom of God there is never any need to feel stuck, because the Holy Spirit is on a […]
Gentleness or in the older translations ‘meekness’ is not always a quality we necessarily equate with God Almighty. Nor is it a quality that we can easily equate with great political power, certainly not in our world today. We read of Moses however that ‘the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which […]
In the gospel narratives, it is clear that faithfulness is very important to the Lord. This is no surprise because it is another one of these essential characteristics of God Himself. Throughout the bible from beginning to end God declares Himself to be ‘the Faithful One’ and that is who His people prove Him to […]
So here’s a random thought. What if God wasn’t good? What if the creator of the universe – of you and me, wasn’t good? It’s an inconceivable thought. The word good itself comes from God, and our culture is steeped in the idea that God is good. This is clear by the way we use […]
I love kindness!! It sounds so soft and gentle, and yet it is one of the most powerful attributes that our God has. It is so close to love and often they are blended and we read of the Lord’s ‘loving kindness’. The psalmists sing and write about it over and over again in their […]
The first three qualities listed as ‘fruit of the Spirit’, love, joy and peace would, I think, top many people’s list for qualities that would be signs of a good life. We have looked briefly at love and joy and earlier, in blog 137, at peace, so today we are moving onto ‘patience’. As we […]
The first three qualities listed as ‘fruit of the Spirit’, love, joy and peace would, I think, top many people’s list for qualities that would be signs of a good life. We have looked briefly at love and joy and earlier, in blog 137, at peace, so today we are moving onto ‘patience’. As we […]
It’s an interesting question; is fruit singular or plural. You can have a bowl of fruit that is full and containing various types of fruit, and you can have the fruit from a tree which describes a great number of pieces of fruit of the same variety, and then you can have a fruit salad […]
Yesterday we were looking at how the power of ‘Christ in us’ enables us to love others in the way that Jesus loves, something that Jesus spoke about at the last supper. He gave them a new commandment saying to them ‘love each other as I have loved you’, John 15:12. This was His great […]