Listening to God

One of the ways in which you can hear the voice of the Holy Spirit is through the wise advice of others. Wise and knowledgeable people are invaluable.

Resurrection

‘This image of planting a dead seed and raising a live plant is a mere sketch at best, but perhaps it will help in approaching the mystery of the resurrection body – but only if you keep in mind that when we’re raised, we’re raised for good, alive forever!

‘The corpse that is planted is no beauty, but when it’s raised, it’s glorious. Put in the ground weak, it comes up powerful. The seed sown is natural; the seed grown is supernatural – same seed, same body but what a difference from when it goes down in physical mortality to when it is raised up in spiritual immortality!’ (vv.42–44, MSG).
Jesus was still recognisable to his followers (with some help!). There was continuity and discontinuity in the resurrection body (Jesus could walk through walls, but still eat fish). What happened to Jesus will happen to you; you, like Adam, have a natural body. One day, like Jesus, the second Adam, you will have a spiritual body (vv.44–48): ‘Just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly, so shall we bear the likeness of the heavenly’ (v.49).

Prayer

‘Prayer is the slender nerve that moves the muscle of omnipotence,’ as Charles Spurgeon famously said. When we see the problems in our society and in the church, what is our first response?

Whole hearted

To be ‘fully committed’ with ‘all your heart’ means 100% commitment. It means seeking to do what the Lord calls you to do. It means rooting out anything that is bad – ruthlessly tearing down the high places and getting rid of the other gods in the midst of life. The Lord is looking for those whose ‘hearts are fully committed’ to him (2 Chronicles 16:9). The psalmist prayed, ‘Give me an undivided heart’ (Psalm 86:11). The expression ‘all your heart’ appears many times throughout the Bible. For example, you are to do the following things ‘with all your heart’: Love the Lord (Deuteronomy 6:4–5; Matthew 22:36–38) Trust in the Lord (Proverbs 3:5) Obey the Lord (Psalm 119:34,69; 1 Chronicles 29:19) Praise the Lord (Psalm 111:1; 138:1) Rejoice (Zephaniah 3:14) Work for the Lord (Nehemiah 4:6; Colossians 3:23). This is how to enjoy life and life in all its fullness (John 10:10). It’s a life of love, trust, gratitude, joy and meaningful work.

Love and justice

Love without concern for justice is not true love, as love cries out for justice.

Peace

Peace is a great blessing. ‘Peace’ is a word of huge significance in the Bible. The Hebrew word for peace, Shalom, translated by the Greek word eirene, means far more than the absence of war or hostility. It is not just an absence of certain circumstances but the presence of God and his reign. It means wholeness, soundness, well-being, oneness with God – every kind of blessing and good. In order to bring peace to others, we first need to find and hold on to peace within ourselves.

Love

God is love. We deceive ourselves if we think we can love God and hate other people (1 John 4:20). Love should be number one on your spiritual priority list. It should be the main thing in your life. It is, in the words of St Paul, ‘the most excellent way’ (1 Corinthians 12:31).