The good habits – a time for everything *

When I try to track the ‘correct’ things the disciples did while they were waiting for the Holy Spirit to come upon them, I see that it was important that they followed Jesus' instruction. As I read yesterday, they returned to Jerusalem, however, Jesus had not said anything about where they should go. So where then did they go? Of course they went were they used to go:

When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying.
Acts 1:13  

I have moved around a lot during my life, and when I come to new places, I often hear sentences like “Here we are used to…” And immediately after comes as often an apologetic “However, ‘Used to’ is dead!” 

Of course some habits can prevent us in doing new things, but there are good habits that we should stick to. Unfortunately, too many ‘Used tos’ have died without being replaced in many of our corps and churches. It is good to be aware of the fact that when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples on the day of Pentecost, it was in a place where they ‘used to’ stay – they were in their own ‘habit’at.

We tend to travel at special conferences or congresses to get a new encounter with the Holy Spirit, but the Spirit’s habit is to attend where we use to attend? The question we should ask, is what we ‘use to’ do when we gather in the place we ‘use to’ to go. What the disciples did in the place they were staying, I will write more about tomorrow.

‘Manna’ for tomorrow:

It is important to take good care of good habits

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(1) The picture is an example of 'good habits': Two believers become soldiers in Romania. They are the first soldiers in a corps-plant in Bacau. The articles of faith are confirmed. They signed the ‘Soldier’s Covenant’ in prayer a.s.o. All of these are "good habits":

• Plant churches, 
• make disciples and soldiers,
•  confess the faith, 
• be in prayer, and 
• have a covenant relationship with the Lord. 

Colonel Rodney S. Walters enrolled the new soldiers last Sunday.

 * 'A time for everything' is connected with the Bible's teaching about a 'season for every activity' Eccl 3 This series is about the teaching in the time between Easter and Pentecost

What is the church of the living God?

NORSK
Yesterday, I quoted Paul’s reason for his high expectations concerning the lifestyle of the leaders of the church:

I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
1 Tim 3:15

In this verse Paul uses several images to illustrate the nature of a church

• The house of God

It strange how easy it is to associate the house of God with a physical building. I admit that a physical place to gather for worship can be useful for the church, but the core of the New Covenant is that the house of God, the Tabernacle of the Lord or the temple of the Spirit, is found where follower of Christ is found. Therefore, I always find myself in God’s household wherever I am on the planet.

• The foundation of truth

Paul used the image of a building and a temple in a letter to the church in Corinth. Also there he refers to the foundation, like he did in the letter to Timothy:

By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1 Cor 3:10-11

It is interesting that he wrote that foundation is Jesus Christ in this letter, while ‘the church of God’ is the foundation of truth in the letter he wrote to Timothy. I cannot see any contradiction in this. Because, if the church is Jesus in the world today, the church should also convey the truth in our time. But the church is not only the foundation of truth, it is also

• The pillar of truth

The function of a pillar is to support. I like the idea of the church being a support of truth. But in addition, pillars are often made beautiful because of their visibility. This was definitely true at time when Paul wrote this. The church should be ‘beautiful’ to make the truth even more visible. Remember that I still write about the church of the living God, not about a physical church-building. The challenge in our time is that the church tends to obscure the truth. If the truth is obscured by the church, it must be legitimate to ask whether it is still a church of the living God.

‘Manna’ for today:

The church of the living God is nothing less than a miracle!

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