𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙉𝙤 𝙎𝙚𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝘾𝙖𝙣 𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝘽𝙚 𝙃𝙞𝙙𝙙𝙚𝙣

Do you want: 

• All your desires to be known?
• All your secrets exposed? Or remain hidden?
• To sit through a video of every detail of your personal life?

None of this would be a revelation to God "to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid." 

𝒀𝑶𝑼, 𝑰, 𝑾𝑬 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘...

The Sexiest Man in the Bible

Who is the sexiest man in the Bible? Put your money on King David. He's got it all. He's a real man's man, and a woman's man too: handsome, glamorous, magnificent in statecraft, a lion on the battlefield, a brilliantly gifted musician and poet, a flamboyantly physical presence yet deeply introspective and prayerful, a man of action and a man of contemplation ... just recounting these traits makes me go weak in the knees.

The final chapter of King David's life is as pathetic as the rest of his life is titanic. He has become so feeble that he cannot leave his room, and he shivers constantly. His servants and family pile covers on him, to no avail. Finally, in desperation, they resort to a stratagem appropriate to an Eastern potentate--they put a young woman into bed with him to keep him warm. This may sound exciting, but since he has become impotent, it is not even the last flickering of a once-brilliant flame, but a pitiful dying away into ashes--precisely the kind of death we all dread.

Excerpts from a sermon by Fleming Rutledge: God on the Move (Lk 1:26-33).

4th Sun in Advent 1996; St. John's Church, Salisbury, Connecticut.

Published in Advent. The Once & Future Coming of Jesus Christ, 2018.

How far can you go?

Practice God's Presence (Brother Lawrence)

"The holiest, most common, most necessary practice in the spiritual life is the presence of God, that is to take delight in and become accustomed to His divine company, speaking humbly and talking lovingly with Him at all times, at every moment, without rule or system and especially in times of temptation, suffering, spiritual aridity, disgust and even of unfaithfulness and sin."  [Practices necessary to attain the spiritual life.]

Critics of Paul in Corinth

Paul's critics/opponents in Corinth commended themselves and denigrated Paul according to their:

1. commanding presence (2 Cor 10:1, 10).
2. concrete displays of power and authority (2 Cor 11:19-20).
3. impressive speech (2 Cor 11:20-21).
4. worthiness to accept full compensation (2 Cor 11:7-11).
5. Jewish pedigree (2 Cor 11:21b-22)).
6. endurance of hardships (2 Cor 11:23-29).
7. mystical visions (2 Cor 12:1-6).

David E. Garland. 2 Corinthians. The New American Commentary. 1999. 454.

Graphe (2 Tim 3:16). Logos (Heb 4:12). Rhema (Eph 6:17)

—Graphe – (Written Word) – The Holy Scriptures

¡"All Scripture [Graphe] is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. (2 Tim. 3:16)

—Logos – (Meaning of the Word) – A Bible message

¡"For the Word [logos] of God is alive and active.  Sharper than any two-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." (Heb. 4:12)

—Rhema – (Spoken Word) – A word God speaks to you from his written word.  A word that 'leaps off the page' into your heart.

¡Take … the sword of the Spirit, which is the word [Rhema] of God. (Eph 6:17)