biblica inc

[When John the Baptizer was proclaiming the coming of Jesus], Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. The moment he came out of the water, he saw the sky split open and God's Spirit, looking like a dove, come down on him. Along with the Spirit, a voice: "You...

I look behind me and you're there, then up ahead and you're there, too — your reassuring presence, coming and going. This is too much, too wonderful — I can't take it all in! Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit? to be out of your sight? If I climb to the sky, you're there! If I go...

Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground. —Psalm 143:10 NIV Key Thought As in this psalm, we cry out to God because we are aware of enemies who are set to attack us and of our personal sins that so easily entangle us in evil. On our own, we...

The old way, with laws etched in stone, led to death, though it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses' face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away. Shouldn't we expect far greater glory under the new...

[God, to the Israelite exiles in Babylon:] "I'll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I'll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that's God-willed, not self-willed. I'll put my Spirit in you and make it possible for you to do what I tell you and live by my...

It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit...

Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This "letter" is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts. —2 Corinthians 3:3 NLT Key Thought Imagine how differently we...

[Elihu said,] "The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life." —Job 33:4 NIV Key Thought While those words were spoken by one of Job's critics, they echo the truth of Scripture. God makes us intentionally, purposely, and personally (Psalm 139:13-16). God puts his...

[Peter said,] "Then Jesus arrived from Nazareth, anointed by God with the Holy Spirit, ready for action. He went through the country helping people and healing everyone who was beaten down by the Devil. He was able to do all this because God was with him." —Acts 10:38 MESSAGE Key Thought The...

But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. —1 John 2:20-21 NIV Key Thought Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit, whom he called the...

Here's how you test for the genuine Spirit of God. Everyone who confesses openly his faith in Jesus Christ — the Son of God, who came as an actual flesh-and-blood person — comes from God and belongs to God. And everyone who refuses to confess faith in Jesus has nothing in common with God. This...

Remember how you were when you didn't know God, led from one phony god to another, never knowing what you were doing, just doing it because everybody else did it? It's different in this life. God wants us to use our intelligence, to seek to understand as well as we can. For instance, by using...

But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you...

For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all. —Ephesians 4:4-6 NLT Key Thought Unity is more than just getting along. At...

Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. —Ephesians 4:3 NLT Key Thought When we open the book of Acts, we hear Jesus promise twice in the first few verses to send the Holy Spirit to empower the early disciples as they go to all nations...

[Epaphras is] the one who told us how thoroughly love had been worked into your lives by the Spirit. —Colossians 1:8 MESSAGE Key Thought Epaphras had told Paul about the Colossians' growth in Jesus. One vital element of this growth was their love for each other. Paul recognized that the power...

The amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you. —2 Corinthians 13:14 MESSAGE Key Thought While most translations of this verse say "fellowship of the Holy Spirit," I find the phrase "the intimate...

If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care — then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends...

And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. —Romans 5:5 NLT Key Thought It's hard to believe that there is an endless supply of anything! But the promise of this passage, even in...

Therefore, anyone who refuses to live by [Paul's instructions] is not disobeying human teaching but is rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you. But we don't need to write to you about the importance of loving each other, for God himself has taught you to love one another. —1...