True holiness is not legalism but love. The reason the bride wants to be without spot or wrinkle is not out of the fear that if she is not perfect her Bridegroom will smite her, but because she is so in love with Him that she wants to be perfect for Him. This is the difference between being driven by legalism, which is fear based, and being motivated by the love that fulfills the Law.

     This is why the primary goal of our lives should be to love more. The Lord affirmed that the most important commandments were...

Years ago, I read a study on alcoholism about how this problem affected different people groups. It was very illuminating. The great surprise was that the group who had the highest percentage of alcoholics was a conservative evangelical denomination that forbids the drinking of any kind of alcohol. Just as surprising was the finding that the people group who had the lowest percentage of alcoholics were the Jews who drink freely. Over the years, other similar findings have been found, highlighting a biblical truth that the Apostle Paul wrote in I Corinthians 15:56: “The sting of death is sin, and...

         One of the greatest revivals of all time began at Azusa Street in Los Angeles in 1906. The wretched former stable burned so brightly with the glory of God that for a time it was called “the second most famous address in the world.” God can do it again, and will, if we want it enough.

         Every revival in history seems to be the result of a few people becoming so hungry for God that they wanted Him more than oxygen. Those who have such hunger will not be denied. It’s time to seek a revival that becomes...

         California and the Northwest have produced some of the greatest spiritual leaders over the last century and a half and are still producing them. Some are not just teachers but true spiritual fathers and mothers. As we covered previously, one of the ways Israel honored their fathers and mothers was to keep drinking from the wells that they dug, acknowledging and being thankful for them. We should be honored by drinking from the wells that they dug, not only because of all we can still learn from them, but also because the Lord will honor His commitment to bless...

         What is the Spirit saying to the churches? Jesus. It is always about Jesus. As our friend Peter Lord used to say, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing,” and the main thing is Jesus.

          The main thing the Spirit wants to do with each of us is to conform us to the image of the Son. If we want to understand the things that are happening to us in the light of God’s purpose, it is that He is using everything in our lives for this one thing above all other purposes—to...