For the last two weeks we’ve touched on restoration. This is the main thing God is doing in this age. It incorporates redemption, reconciliation, and in some cases, restitution. We cannot be in unity with God without being united with His purpose in this.

          One of the biggest challenges I’ve had personally while being part of restoration projects is my tendency to limit the power of the cross to redeem and restore. This tendency has almost always been the result of my personal disgust with certain sins or sometimes just...

        We discussed how we are changed by seeing the Lord’s glory in His ministries and gifts, but there are overall aspects of His nature that reveal His glory, and as we behold them we are likewise changed by them. The biggest of these is His love. The others are His peace, patience, faithfulness, and all that makes up the fruit of the Spirit. So to grow in wisdom and stature as He did, we must be growing in both the gifts of the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit.

         His glory is also revealed...

The Apostle Paul wrote that “we have the mind of Christ,” not “I,” singular (see I Corinthians 2:16). It takes all of us coming together to fully manifest Christ. He was “the Apostle and High Priest of our confession” (see Hebrews 3:1). He was “The Prophet” of whom Moses spoke. He was the Teacher, the Evangelist, or “bearer of good news,” and He is our Shepherd. As it says in Ephesians 4, when He ascended, He gave gifts to men, and these gifts were aspects of Himself. Now we have people who manifest His apostolic nature, others...

        As we pursue understanding the greatest Christian life, one thing we must dispel is that the greatest Christians were the most famous ones. Those who are most well-known on earth may be least known in heaven. Those who are the most highly esteemed in heaven may be little known on earth. Having great spiritual authority with men is not as high as having great authority with God.

        Many of the great men and women of history who were at the forefront of great moves of God may have only been there because...

         To understand and pursue the high calling of God in Christ, we must understand that we will constantly be given choices. Those who are given to fatalism will have a hard time comprehending this, much less liking it, but it is true and is actually very much a part of every Christian life. This is why the Lord put the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden. It was not to trip up Adam and Eve so they would sin, but there could be no true obedience unless there was freedom to disobey. There can be no...