Blog Archives
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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