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Who is the New Jerusalem?

...rough the Holy Spirit who lives in us, that good thing entrusted to you.   Hebrews 3:6But Christ was faithful as a Son over His household. And we are that household if we hold on to the courage and the confidence of our hope.   1 Corinthians 3:16Don’t you yourselves know that you are God’s sanctuary and that the Spirit of God lives in you?   All of these verses about those in Christ being the dwelling places or the temple of God is reason why there is no need for a sanctuary in the New Jerusalem – because God now dwells within us! We are the temple! Revelation 21:22I did not see a sanctuary in it, because the Lord God the Almighty and the Lam...

Lent Day 32: Cyril of Jerusalem: Catechetical Lectures: Lecture XXI

...gn of the Holy Spirit's sealing upon them, since they have “put on Christ” (Gal 3:27) and are adopted as sons (Eph 1:5) and are now partakers of Christ also (Heb 3:14). Because Jesus “was in reality crucified, and buried, and raised” and they, in baptism, also were partakers in this figuratively, likewise when Jesus was baptised and then anointed by the Holy Spirit, so these now also partake in Christ by being anointed by the oil as the Holy Spirit on them (Isa. 61:1; Acts 10:38). “But beware of supposing this to be plain ointment”, he says, since after it is prayed over, “this Holy ointment is no more simple ointment” –  much like the bre...

Great Lent: The Season of Fasting

...where the Holy Spirit leads you. Pray the Lord’s Prayer. Pray for protection. You will no doubt experience some sort of Spiritual attack and strong temptation. Keep your guard up and mind focussed on God. Put on the armour of God (Eph 6:11). Remember, even Jesus didn’t escape this attack from the devil during His long fast (Matthew 4:1-11)! Learn to pray contemplative prayer. Ps 46:10 – “Be still, and know that I am God!” This is an ancient type of Christian meditation which is the complete opposite to secular and Eastern religious meditation which aims to empty your mind. Christian meditation is about filling your mind with thoughts and reflections...

It's no longer about land!

...e" by the Holy Spirit (John 3:5-7). The Kingdom of God is a new creation of a new people group, birthed by God's own Spirit and not by natural means. To be "born again" means the old has to go; it has to die, which is precisely what Jesus and the Apostles taught (Jn 12:24; Luke 9:23-24; Mat 10:38; Gal 5:24; Col 3:1-7; Rom 6:11). We do this through faith in Jesus by putting away earthly things and desires which hinder our walk with God and life in the Spirit until such a time that we physically die and go to new life eternal. Until then though, we should strive to "regard no one from a human point of view" as Paul wrote, and remember that we are a ne...

I am one with the Force; the Force is with me – A Star Wars theology

...ay in the Holy Spirit   Often people throw out that verse about not praying with “vain repetitions” (Matt 6:7) whenever you mention something like the Jesus Prayer (and sometimes even liturgy!). But is it vain? In this case, ‘vain’ means something that is pointless or futile (as opposed to meaning ‘self centred or narcissistic’, which is the more common understanding these days). If we look a couple of verses earlier, there’s a link with not being like “the hypocrites” who stand in the street making themselves seen when praying (and thus get their reward). With that in mind, I'd argue that liturgy and set prayers are not vain in the slig...

Fasting: A Spiritual and physical discipline

...where the Holy Spirit leads you. Pray the Lord’s Prayer. Pray for protection. You will no doubt experience some sort of Spiritual attack/oppression and strong temptation. Keep your guard up and mind focused on God. Put on the armour of God (Eph 6:11). Remember, even Jesus didn’t escape this attack from the devil during His long fast (Matthew 4:1-11)! Learn to pray contemplative prayer to help keep your mind stilled and focused purely on God. Ps 46:10 – “Be still, and know that I am God!” This is an ancient type of Christian meditation which is the complete opposite to secular and Eastern religious meditation which aims to empty your mind. Christia...