Category Answers for you

lavery in Egypt? Perish the memory! Thank God, He brought us out. Not that this wilderness is so wonderful, but we’re coping. And surely, it is worth being free, even though we’ll be trudging around in circles through this desert until the day we die.”

Resignation and all that.       

We may suppose that most of the Israelites thought and reasoned like that. They had become accustomed to the “status quo” of the desert. God’s promises of a “land flowing with milk and honey” seemed increasingly unreal and distant. They had learned to live with their present circumstances. And surely, these were a lot better than the terrible oppression under the pharaohs!

The more we look at Israel’s history, the more we are likely to discover our own mirror image, that of present day ...

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Jim van Heiningen

“Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen the brethren”

(Luke 22:31-32 – NKJV).

Had the Lord, just previously, mentioned Job to the disciples? Had He given them a glimpse into the heavenly “court intrigues” (if we may call them that), with Satan “asking” for God’s beloved servants in order to give them a thorough “sifting”, one at a time, as he had done with Job? We are not told, but even the above words must have sent Simon Peter’s thoughts flying to Job chapters 1 & 2, where Satan did his unabashed asking.

Satan is the “opposer” and “plotter” – those are the meanings of his name...

When the Heavenly Physician diagnosed my case, this is what He found:

“THE WHOLE HEAD IS SICK, AND THE WHOLE HEART FAINTS. FROM THE SOLE OF THE FOOT EVEN TO THE HEAD, THERE IS NO SOUNDNESS IN IT, BUT WOUNDS AND BRUISES AND PUTREFYING SORES; THEY HAVE NOT BEEN CLOSED OR BOUND UP, OR SOOTHED WITH OINTMENT.”    Isaiah 1:5-6

When He decided to treat and heal me once and for all, this what He did:

“HE WAS WOUNDED FOR OUR TRANSGRESSIONS, HE WAS BRUISED FOR OUR INIQUITIES; THE CHASTISEMENT FOR OUR PEACE WAS UPON HIM, AND BY HIS STRIPES WE ARE HEALED.”    Isaiah 53:5

When He reviewed the post-operative results, this is what He declared:

“IF ANYONE IS IN CHRIST, HE IS A NEW CREATION; OLD THINGS HAVE PASSED AWAY; BEHOLD, ALL THINGS HAVE BECOME NEW!”    2 Corinthians 5:17

So is ...

At different times throughout history a clamor has gone up among believers for the Holy Spirit to come down. With great exercise of heart, fervent prayer and confession of sin, individuals and groups looked to God for a new fulfillment of 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 and Isaiah 64:1… and asked for a new Pentecost.

What happened in a run down building on Azusa Street, Los Angeles, California, one century ago, seemed to be the answer to prayer – a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit…

However, as in all things spiritual, it is imperative that the Biblical perspectives and the Biblical context are not lost from sight!

Who is He?

The Holy Spirit is, of course, part of the Trinity, the third person – the Father being the first person and the Son being the second...

Jim van Heiningen

     At the beginning of last century a lot was written in the US about “The Unbridgeable Gap: Blacks and their Quest for the American Dream”. By now, though, some sort of a “bridge” seems to be in place for that particular gap, at least for many.

 The Bible Gap

In the Bible we have a statement from Abraham about another gap. It is a “grand canyon”, truly unbridgeable; one which only appears in stark relief after a person has died. Abraham (dead yet more alive than ever) was speaking to one of his descendants, a man who had lived a dream-life while on earth – let’s call him “Nabal”. The bridge-of-faith was available to Nabal to cross to the other side...