eugene h peterson

While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it's not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has...

God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge — a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete. —2 Corinthians 1:21-22 MESSAGE Key Thought The test of genuine disciples and true followers of Jesus is...

[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...

Whenever, though, [people] turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are — face to face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting...

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...

[God, speaking about the Israelite exiles in Babylon:] "And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them. I will take away their stony, stubborn heart and give them a tender, responsive heart, so they will obey my decrees and regulations. Then they will truly be my...

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...

"And I will never again turn my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit upon the people of Israel. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!" —Ezekiel 39:29 NLT Key Thought God speaks of the coming of his New Covenant relationship with his people. One dynamic of that Covenant is that the...

[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...

[The LORD said,] "For I will pour out water to quench your thirst and to irrigate your parched fields. And I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your children." —Isaiah 44:3 NLT Key Thought Jesus spoke of his being the water of life, a spring of water welling up to...

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...

I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you, the anointing you received from [the Holy One] remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit —...

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...