Word for Life in Love— Scripture Meditations By Stephen Brown
John 15:11 (ESV)
These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
This joy of Jesus may be fullness of the Lord which comes to each believer who receives His Holy Spirit. He brings the joy of life in Him to everyone reborn into His life. The blessings of heaven become our inheritance. The Father and Son are with us as the Holy Spirit leads us into the bosom of His Triune fellowship.
1 Corinthians 2:16 (ESV)
“For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
As we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, to will and work in the way of Christ, we will begin to transform by the renewing of our minds. As we continue down this path, we will increasingly comprehend the mind of Jesus. In doing so, we will become more intimate in our knowing Him, for we will have the mind of Jesus and be like Him.
He will welcome us to the wedding feast.
Matthew 4:1 (ESV)
The Temptation of Jesus
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
The man Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wind the same way those who are reborn from above suddenly find themselves in the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. The world is revealed as the wilderness to all who have been transferred into the kingdom. With eyes opened and spirits made alive in the Lord, the kingdom of this world can be seen for what it is.
2 Timothy 3:1 (ESV)
Godlessness in the Last Days
But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.
The Greek word translated as “difficulty” includes the nuance of violence and peril. We are in a time such as this.
We place our hope in the Godfullness based on the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. He is ever with us and will deliver us in the ark of Christ as it floats above the waters of the world. The waters will recede when Christ returns at last. We will set foot in on the dry land of His kingdom on the earth.
Each day that passes brings us one day closer to the Lord. We will either go to Him or He will return for us. We shall live to see Him, or live and then see Him. Either way our eternal life has begun and is assured. There will be joy!
Acts 20:24 (ESV)
But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
If you have received the life of Christ, then you have received an obligation to live that life; to let the Lord work in you to transform you into His image and testify to His gospel.
James 2:26 (ESV)
For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
The breath of life that is the Holy Spirit reveals Himself by the fruit of His Spirit. If there is no fruit, He is not present. We are to work out our own salvation with reverence, for it is His Spirit who causes us to will and work in the manner that pleases God.
Philippians 2:12-13 (ESV)
Lights in the World
12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
