a blog for Ashfield Baptist Church
The Bible readings for Thursday 15 and Friday 16 are -- 1 Samuel 9:1-10:27; Ps 63:1-5; Pro 14:3; Jn 4:7-26.
Labels: Holy Spirit, kingdom, sovereignty
posted by Ps John @ 12:15 AM
2 Comments
Hi and welcome. Ashfield Baptist Church is a "caring community church sharing God's love". We are very diverse in our nationalities, backgrounds and ages, but united in our desire to grow spiritually and to reach out and help others. Our vision is "to be a body of Christ-like people living out the great commandment and the great commission in the Holy Spirit's power". This blog is mainly for people connected with Ashfield Baptist Church. It has been set up as an "info & chat space" as we start the "THRU IN 2" challenge. This is our program for reading the Bible right through during 2007 & 2008. Many are using the Every Day With Jesus Bible which also has daily devotions from Selwyn Hughes. As we read through the Bible together over these two years, we can use this blog to share insights, stories, reflections, questions etc. The goal is to grow spiritually together. So leave your comments. Together we can help each other grow. Blessings. Ps John. To leave a comment about the readings for a particular day, or to view the comments of others, just click on "comments" at the bottom of the post.
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Was the introduction of the monarchy a good idea or not? Did God want it or not? Was it a rejection of Yahweh or not? Chapters 8 to 12 have some passages which are favourable to the monarchy and some which aren't. In fact, there is an alternating pattern as follows -- 8 against, 9:1-10:16 for, 10:17-27 against, 11 for, 12 against. Somewhat confusing eh!
A likely explanation is that the author had two sources of tradition or material from which he drew. Rather than try to harmonise the differences away, he faithfully preserved both traditions and the truths in both. Israel requested a king and the LORD gave them what they asked for, all the while sovereignly working to achieve his ultimate purpose.
Selwyn Hughes makes the following comment about John 4:14, linking it with John 7:38. (EDWJ Bible, p564.) A challenge worth pondering.
"Are our lives truly like this? Do fresh springs flow out of us day after day? If not, why not? The answer is simple - there can be no outflow unless there is an inflow. This is the rhythm of the Holy Spirit - intake and outflow. If there is more intake than outflow, then the intake stops; if there is more outflow than intake, then the outflow stops. The doors open inward to receive, only to open outward to give.
When we come to talk about life in the Spirit, we are not to think in terms of a reservoir which has only limited resources. Life is a channel, attached to infinite resources. The more we draw on these resources, the more we have. There is no danger of exhausting one's resources. We do not have to hold back - for the more we give, the more we have."
What Hughes says reminds me of our current crisis with the Murray-Darling basin. For too long, more water has been taken out of the river systems than has gone into them. There's a national warning here, but perhaps a more personal illustration as well.
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