Category Archives: Godly Affections That Motivate (Series)
12. Basking in Godly Affections
By John Thiel, Godly Affections That Motivate Series, mp3
Scripture reading: Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
We want to appreciate the releases that come to us when we take time out and bask and keep that beautiful sense that is gained by resting in the affections of the Lord with us when we have to meet the stresses and responsibilities of Christianity and life. The lot of the true Christian in following Christ carries an interesting burden, which needs to be released all the time.
1 Peter 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Read the rest of this entry
11. Non-Judgmental Affections
By John Thiel, Godly Affections That Motivate Series, mp3
Scripture reading: Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
We want to behold someone who is exceedingly wonderful, and by beholding, to be affected. If we will behold the glory of God we will be changed. Don’t we need changing?
2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass [a mirror] the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord. Read the rest of this entry
10. Affectionate Sabbath Keeping
By John Thiel, Godly Affections That Motivate Series, mp3
Scripture reading: Isaiah 63:7 I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD, [and] the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses. … 9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.
The Sabbath is part of the Ten Commandments and becaus it is, it is often looked upon as a legal expectation and people fall into the danger of coming to the Sabbath as to something which is expected of them and they see it as a bit of a burden. So many Seventh-day Adventists people who have grown up in Adventism, look forward to the end of the Sabbath so that they can do what they want and what they like.
This has been a burden in my heart over the years because I was myself brought up in the Seventh-day Adventist church. I grew up with Sabbath keeping and I saw this sad experience among Adventists as I grew up among them. When the Sabbath came to its end and Saturday night came, it was just about a celebration that Sabbath was over; they could now go out and enjoy themselves. But for me Sabbath became an ever-developing and deeper joy and I wondered what the problem was. Read the rest of this entry
9. Godly Affections in Sinful Flesh
By John Thiel, Godly Affections That Motivate Series, mp3
Scripture reading: 1 Peter 4:1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; 2 That he no longer should live the rest of [his] time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
What actually is this arousal of our affections, and how do we experience these affections when our human deranged nature is still active? If we want to overcome we have an example in Jesus who suffered in the flesh. And if we will, like Him, suffer in the flesh we will cease from sin. This is an amazing answer to our sin problem. I hope and pray that we will take this message, not just as an informative one, but as a message that will cause us to be determined to do what we are learning. Read the rest of this entry
8. Our Affections as Missionaries
By John Thiel, Godly Affections That Motivate Series, mp3
Scripture reading: John 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. Read the rest of this entry
7. Battle of the Affections
By John Thiel, Godly Affections That Motivate Series, mp3
Scripture reading: Ezekiel 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
When I first read those words as a child I was waiting for the Lord to do something, to go along and put that new heart in me. And I have experienced over the years that this kind of expectation of God just doing something like that, is in the mind of a lot of people. We have this idea that, God will do a miracle and touch my heart somehow by some supernatural, physical operation. Therefore we want to ask the Lord what He means. What is His method of putting a new heart into our being? Jesus gave us an indication of the method that God would use to put new hearts into our beings:
John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. 32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all [men] unto me. 33 This he said, signifying what death he should die. Read the rest of this entry
5. Affectionate Pastimes with God
By John Thiel, Godly Affections That Motivate Series, mp3
Scripture reading: Psalm 16:11 Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence [is] fulness of joy; at thy right hand [there are] pleasures for evermore.
This subject of having our affections drawn out to God is one that can pervade every expectation that the Bible places upon us in reference to being submissive, obedient and law-abiding children of God.
Who but the Holy Spirit can work with human minds to transform character by withdrawing the affections from those things which are temporal, perishable, and imbues the soul with earnest desire by presenting the immortal inheritance, the eternal substance which is imperishable, and recreates, refines, and sanctifies the human agents that they may become members of the royal family, children of the heavenly king. {3SM 138.1} Read the rest of this entry
4. Affection-Related Restoration
By John Thiel, Godly Affections That Motivate Series, mp3
Scripture reading: Colossians 3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; 10 And have put on the new [man], which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
We want to delve upon the restoration that is generated by our affections upon God. We live in a world today where atheism and Catholicism have affected the great majority around us; and the circulation in the schools of the theory of evolution especially demeans the human race. It lowers the nobility of the human race to the animal, to a miserable appreciation of the honour that humanity has. But of course, this honour has also been lowered because of sin. Yet in the study of the Bible there is revealed to us the true honour and nobility that man has been imbued with. Read the rest of this entry
3. Affection-Motivated Obedience (The Temptations of Jesus from Within)
By John Thiel, Godly Affections That Motivate Series, mp3
Scripture reading: 2 Corinthians 5:14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: 15 And [that] he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
There are many motivating aspects for a Christian to believe and to obey God. When you study prophecy there is something there that gives you a motivation to believe that God is right, as you see prophecy fulfilling. When you study the Bible and you see heaven, it motivates you; you want to be there. When you study the health-giving messages of God’s word you know that you want to be healthy, that you want to do what God says. When you study the Bible and you see the intelligent mind that is behind it, this motivates your intellect; it gives you confidence that you can give yourself to such a mind. There is also a negative motivation: the threat of destruction. This motivates people to run away from destruction and flee to protection. Read the rest of this entry
2. God’s-Strong-Affection Motivation (Jesus in Our Darkness)
By John Thiel, Godly Affections That Motivate Series, mp3
Scripture reading: 2 Corinthians 4:5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to [give] the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
What lifts our affections to God? His great love. We are told that
The Lord requires our undivided affections. {TDG 13.4}
If that is what He requires, does He not provide us with something that will cause our affections to be undivided to Him? This is precisely what we want to contemplate. God can bring affections through darkness: Read the rest of this entry
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