Power and love

Power and hatred, a dangerous combination. Well, hatred by itself is dangerous enough. But as we see around us in the world, hatred empowered by weapons, money, and evil influence in high places becomes deadly.

How different is the combination the Bible uses: power and love!

I like the way the psalmist says it: But as for me, I will sing about your power. Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love. For you have been my refuge, a place of safety when I am in distress (Psalm 59:16). He sings about God's love and about His power!

Power and love go together quite well, with God that is. As a matter of fact, they describe His character, they describe who He is. Psalm 117:2 says it this way: For his unfailing love for us is powerful; the Lord’s faithfulness endures forever. Praise the Lord! 👉I like that idea, His love for us is powerful.

Jumping forward to the New Testament, we find that the apostle Paul has a message for us as well, namely that it takes power to understand God's love. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is (Ephesians 3:18).

In the next verse, he turns it around. When we experience the love of God, we will be filled with the life and power that comes from Him. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God (Ephesians 3:19).

No matter how we look at it, the Bible shows us that power and love make up a divine combination and experience that we should not want to live without. He gives it to us freely, as we can read in 2 Timothy 1:7,

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

I am wondering (and asking myself): Are we people of power and love?

The good armor (1)

That we are engaged in a spiritual battle on a global scale is quite clear. Rulers, authorities, and powers of darkness are fighting for dominion. We sure can feel that on a personal level as well.

How are we supposed to fight against all the disturbing and contradictory messages, news items, and opinions we are bombarded with each day? How do we stand firm and keep on standing? As a Christian, how do we stay positive and hopeful within our realm of influence?

We all struggle with this, to some degree. I have decided to write a series of short blogs about the spiritual armor as described in the Bible. Yes, we are called to be peacemakers, but that does not mean we can neglect to arm ourselves for this spiritual battle.

No one wants a battle, no one wants opposition, no one wants war. But hiding our heads in the sand is not the right answer. 👉 The Bible prepares us so we can stand firm in a time like this. Ephesians 6 is all about that. You may have read that chapter a hundred times, maybe never. Either way, I hope you will receive encouragement, insight, and revelation from the upcoming blog posts. The basic text for this series is Ephesians 6:10-13, I broke it down into pieces:

• Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.
• Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.
• For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
• Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil.
• Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.

I hope you will join me in this series. Feel free to share the posts!

Power games

In Him we live, we move, and have our being (Acts 17:28).

One of my favorite Bible texts. Such depth in a few words! The 'Him' being Jesus Christ Himself.

For the biggest part of my life (well, up until now) I did not know or understand this. I thought I was the master of my life and my future. I had one life to live and wanted to make the best of it. Nothing wrong with that of course, but without the Giver of life... such goals are unattainable 😉 I know now!

No matter how good and lofty our intentions are to make life great, we will find opposition, we will encounter immense struggles. As long as we do not acknowledge the One who holds the universe in His hands, we will keep bumping into obstacles in our limited little world.

In my previous blog I wrote I wrote about and commented on the vicious battlefield we find ourselves in nowadays, whether we like it or not. We are seeing immense power games in our world today. Political leaders, nations, organizations… all acting as if the world would stop to function when they are no longer there. Such arrogance and misconception.

The truth is: the whole world exists because of Jesus, the whole universe is sustained by Him and by His powerful Word. This is our foundation, this is our hope for today and the future. The world may crumble, but the powerful Word stands forever. I love how it is written in Colossians 1:15-17,

Christ is the visible likeness of the invisible God. He is the first-born Son, superior to all created things. For through him God created everything in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen things, including spiritual powers, lords, rulers, and authorities. God created the whole universe through him and for him. Christ existed before all things, and in union with him all things have their proper place.

👉We do not need to learn more about the world, we need to learn more about the Word!

Give me a W

In my Bible Alphabet Blog Series W stands for Words. Yes, the words we speak with our mouth, words that can hurt or heal, build up or break down, criticize or comfort.

The Bible says that the power of life and death is in our words, The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit (Proverbs 18:21). Oops, that would make you want to think twice before you speak, right?!

Each new day we make a choice whether we will bless or curse with our words. Whatever is in our heart will come out of our mouth, and sometimes that is a weird mix. James 3:9 says it like this, With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.

Why do we do that? Why? If we truly believe our words have power, we should use them more carefully and certainly more purposely. May I encourage you this week, to savor your speech with grace?

Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones (Proverbs 16:24)

Baptism unraveled (4)

In my previous posts I wrote about the baptism into the Body of Christ, that one baptism by which anyone can become a member of God's family. We are all born into a natural family and we also need to be born into a spiritual family, which is simply called rebirth. At rebirth we receive the Holy Spirit as a seal, as proof that God is with us. The baptism in water is a visible confirmation on the outside of something invisible that happened on the inside of us. It is a step in obedience, as Jesus said.

As Christians we could be thinking, 'well, what else could I possible need? I am a child of God, and Jesus lives inside of me through the Holy Spirit.' Yet, the Bible talks about another step: the baptism in or with the Holy Spirit. That is not a term the Pentecostal movement has invented, it is one that John the Baptist came up with, more than 2000 years ago. He said, I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:8). John wanted to prepare the people he was baptizing by telling them there was more to come. I find it fascinating that he knew about the baptism in the Holy Spirit long before it happened, he spoke prophetic words.

A few years later, right before his ascension into heaven, Jesus confirmed the words of John, For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5). Jesus clearly shows that the baptism with the Holy Spirit is not the same as the receiving of the Holy Spirit at rebirth. His own disciples had received the Holy Spirit not long before that, in a very special way, Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit (John 20:21-22). Wow! 'That is it' we would think, they are ready to go into the world. But Jesus tells them to wait until that same Holy Spirit would come on them with power (Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:8).

The Holy Spirit was always there, He is God as Jesus and the Father are God. They are one! We can read about the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. We can read how he came on people for specific purposes or a specific time, as with Moses, Samson, Eliah and Saul. We can read how he lived in people, as in Joseph (Genesis 41:38) and Daniel (Daniel 5:14) and He also hoovered over the waters in Genesis 1. The Holy Spirit is nothing new, but the way He now lives in people and gives them power is different. That really started with Jesus, who did not need rebirth, because He was born of the Spirit. However, He was baptized with the Spirit when He came up out of the water. Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness (Luke 4:1). It turned out he needed this empowerment to withstand the temptations of Satan.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) The baptism with the Holy Spirit is not so much about the Holy Spirit himself (who already lives in us) but more about the power released. We should not be thinking about human power here (which often manifests itself in shouting, pushing, etc.) but about supernatural power. That is, for example, the power:

• to resist temptation
• to be bold
• to endure
• to heal
• to overcome

The apostle Peter explains it as follows: God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear (Acts 2:32-33). The outpouring, baptism or filling (whatever you want to call it) with the Holy Spirit is something that is visible and audible. In other words... we might be able to keep our rebirth kind of hidden, but that is not possible when we receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit!

Growing in grace (2)

In the previous post I wrote about God's grace not being a one-time moment of truth, but an ongoing experience in our lives. We need to continually live and grow in grace, the apostle Paul understood that and wrote about it extensively. So, let's go back to Chapter 6 of Grace of Giving:

We need to learn to be aware of his grace in our life, which will save us a lot of trouble because it is not a one-time moment of truth, it is an ongoing experience in our lives! The Apostle Paul knew that as no other. He opens the fifth chapter of the Book of Romans with the following words: Now that we have been put right with God through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. He has brought us by faith into this experience of God’s grace, in which we now live. 

Paul simply states that by faith we can live in God’s grace; he calls it an experience. Living in God’s grace is something that will manifest itself in our lives for others to see. God’s grace is a power that will back up the work we do, it will keep us from failing. Grace does not mean that we can rest on our lazy behinds and let God do all the work. Praying, “God, make me a giver,” without taking any action is not going to change anything. God’s grace will help us to become givers when we start working on it. The Apostle Paul must have experienced this quite clearly in his own life, because he describes the process in a few sentences in 1 Corinthians 15:10: But by God’s grace I am what I am, and the grace that he gave me was not without effect. On the contrary, I have worked harder than any of the other apostles, although it was not really my own doing, but God’s grace working with me. 

God’s grace is working with him! That is the key to success. If we stop fighting our battles and struggling all alone, and we accept God’s grace then it will work with us! We need to team up. Success is guaranteed! From a human point of view, it is almost impossible to become a true giver in God’s kingdom; we have to let go of so many sacred cows. With the help of God’s grace, however, we are able to do this.

It truly helps to no longer look at God’s commandments as outward rules but rather as inward change. With the help of the Holy Spirit, it is possible to change our perspective and attitude from “thou shall not steal,” to “I want to give.” John 1:17 makes it clear: God gave the Law through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Trying to work this out without accepting the grace that Jesus freely offers us is futile. It just won’t work. With God’s grace, however, we can expect miracles, and we will recognize his mighty hand in every situation like the Apostle Paul did when he started off with telling the people in Corinth about the grace that God had given to the Macedonian churches (2 Corinthians 8).

It turned out they gave large gifts, much more than Paul expected, although they were poor. Paul recognizes the grace of God in this; the people could never have done that of their own accord. In verse 7 he encourages the folks in Corinth to start living in that grace too. But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving. Wow, they must have been a super church; somewhat like many churches in America, excelling in faith, speech, knowledge, earnestness, and love. Yet, they had been missing an important point: the grace of giving. He urges them to use this gift from God. If we are serious in leaving the way of the thief behind and becoming true givers we will need to use it too.

Strength according to biblical standards

Quietness, trust & joy

As I spend many hours working behind a desk, I enjoy a good work out. It takes me half an hour on my bicycle to get to work and when the weather permits it, I go for a power walk during lunch time. But nothing beats a spinning lesson at my local gym! The exercise strengthens and excites me and quite often I feel much better afterwards.

Still reading through Isaiah I came upon a verse that talks about biblical strength, In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength (Isaiah 30:15). Now, that's a total different story. Although I am all for physical exercise and building up some muscles, I also realize that our real strength is not physical. It is not intellectual or mental either. The Bible teaches that our strength  is in quietness and trust. I really had to think that over because it goes so much against the standard the world has set. Real strength cannot be measured according to the worldly standards. It cannot be found in exercise, education, status or importance. Real strength is in God and in godly attributes like quietness, trust and joy (Nehemiah 8:10). It is with the psalmist that we can cry out to God: Strengthen me according to your word (Psalm 119:28)

When I can stay quiet during arguments or difficult times, when I can trust God when all goes wrong... then I am showing strength. Again, this is where the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit will come in. Without His help we will fail, all the time. The apostle Paul's prayer for the believers is this: I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being (Ephesians 3:16). What a great prayer! The Holy Spirit will strengthen us with power in our inner being.

That brings me to the subject of one of our workshops: the power of God. I will post a short version about the power of God in my next post! Until then: may you be be strengthened in your daily walk!

Kingdom Basics (2)

Where is the Kingdom of God?

In part one of the Kingdom basics we looked at some scriptures describing the Kingdom of God. It is not a place or country, but a spiritual realm where righteousness, peace and joy reign with power, and this all through the Holy Spirit. The logical next question would be: where do we find this Kingdom?  When and where will we be able to experience His Kingdom?

This is a question the theologians and scholars of Jesus’ time asked Him as well. Jesus told them, The Kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is”, or “There it is” (Luke 17:20). As I stated in part one, the Kingdom is not a natural Kingdom, it cannot be seen because it is spiritual. As Jesus was explaining this, his answer may have disappointed the Pharisees. Simply because they were longing for such a powerful era and reign to come in order to rescue Israel from foreign occupation. But Jesus continues and says: the Kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:21). Well, that must have left them speechless. The Kingdom of God, His will on earth as it is in heaven, living inside of people?!

Some translations say, the Kingdom of God is among you, or within reach… However we look at this, the Kingdom is always at hand for the believers. Righteousness, peace and joy with power are always within us when we are alone and among us when we are together as believers! This is such a great secret. New Age philosophy has tried to steal this concept and teaches that people should always look within for answers. But let me warn you: there is no kingdom without the King! The Kingdom of God is within you only if the Holy Spirit lives within you. The awesome thing about Gods Kingdom is, that it is within us and at the same time we are in it. Colossians 1:13 shows us clearly that we enter the Kingdom during this present life on earth, For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of the Son he loves… This is past tense, this has already happened the moment you stepped from darkness into light!

So, the Kingdom of God can be found within us and at the same time we live in it. In other words, we can experience righteousness, peace and joy with power on the inside, through the Holy Spirit, but it will also surround us on the outside wherever we go. Jesus gave us the Kingdom within so that we can go out into a broken, lonely and worried world and advance it wherever we go.

Is this possible for everyone? Who qualifies? The next question that arises is: for whom is this Kingdom?

Kingdom Basics (1)

What is the Kingdom?

My husband and I love to teach about the Kingdom. We have noticed that, although this was one of Jesus’ main topics, there is often a huge lack of knowledge among believers about the Kingdom. Lack of knowledge often leads to confusion about these matters; which raises the following question: how can we proclaim the good news about the Kingdom if we don’t really know what we are talking about? I have decided to dedicate a few posts on Kingdom basics.

One of the main topics of Jesus’ teaching was the Kingdom of heaven, or as it is sometimes called: the Kingdom of God. Jesus uses both terms and sometimes simply refers to it as the Kingdom. His teaching about the Kingdom became more urgent after His resurrection, just before He went back to be with His Father. The Book of Acts reports: He appeared to them [the apostles] over a period of forty days and spoke about the Kingdom of God (Acts 1:3). Forty days? And that after the many different times he spoke with them in parables about the Kingdom? I feel free to conclude that there is a lot to be learned about this. Let's start with a simple question: what is this Kingdom of God, or rather, what is it NOT?

• It is not a natural kingdom, but a spiritual realm where God’s will prevails. Jesus said, My kingdom is from another place (John 18:36) and Your Kingdom come, your will be done (Matthew 6:10).
• It is not a matter of our daily natural concerns. For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17).
• It is not a theory or theology. For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power (1 Corinthians 4:20).

The Kingdom is not a place or a country, it is a spiritual realm where righteousness, peace and joy reign, with power. Although it seems that such a thing doesn't exist on earth, that we are only able to enter this Kingdom when we go to heaven, Jesus teaches otherwise! That is why at some point in my life I started to wonder why then Jesus tells the people on earth to seek the Kingdom first (Matthew 6:33). Why would He send us on a quest for something that cannot be found here?

So, first it is important to know WHAT we are seeking, what we are looking for. According to the scriptures I mentioned earlier, the Kingdom is righteousness, peace and joy with power in the Holy Spirit. Jesus urges us to seek these things first. The logical next question will be: where do we look? Where can we find this Kingdom?