eugene h peterson

Once when [Jesus] was eating with [the disciples], he commanded them, "Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before." —Acts 1:4 NLT Key Thought While the apostles were to "go and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:18-20), the Lord also...

[Luke wrote,] In my [gospel] I told you, Theophilus, about everything Jesus began to do and teach until the day he was taken up to heaven after giving his chosen apostles further instructions through the Holy Spirit. —Acts 1:1-2 NLT Key Thought God's leaders in the Old Testament spoke through...

[Jesus said,] "You're the first to hear and see [the fulfillment of the prophecies about the Messiah]. You're the witnesses. What comes next is very important: I am sending what my Father promised to you, so stay here in the city until [the Holy Spirit] arrives, until you're equipped with power...

[Jesus said,] "Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin." He said this because [the teachers of the law] were saying, "He has an impure spirit."...

[Stephen said to the Sanhedrin,] "You stubborn people! You are heathens at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That's what your ancestors did, and so do you! Name one prophet your ancestors didn't persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of...

Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil. —1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 NIV Key Thought We can quench — or turn off — the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in our churches. We can do this by...

What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. —1 Corinthians 2:12 NIV Key Thought We sometimes get frustrated when people outside of Christ do not seem to be able to understand the teaching of...

My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God's power. —1 Corinthians 2:4-5 NIV Key Thought When the good news of Jesus is preached, the Holy Spirit is at work...

But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you. You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus...

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. —Ephesians 6:17 NIV Key Thought The Scriptures are inspired by the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16-17), and the Spirit helps us understand the will of God (1 Corinthians 2:6-16). God's message of truth is much...

Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. —Ephesians 6:18 NLT Key Thought "Pray in the Spirit ...!" Paul is asking believers to pray consciously recognizing that the Spirit given them when they came to...

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus...

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. —Galatians 5:22-23 NIV Key Thought Sometimes we misunderstand "fruit of the Spirit" because we say "fruits of the Spirit." This...

And do not bring sorrow to God's Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption. —Ephesians 4:30 NLT Key Thought Some other translations say "do not grieve the Holy Spirit." Two truths scream to be...

But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away [a veil like the metaphorical veil that kept the Jews from understanding the old covenant]. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and...

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. —1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NIV Key Thought When this was written, temples were the places where...

Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is...

Jesus replied, "I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life." —John 3:5-6 NLT Key Thought We are called to be spiritual people — holy, righteous, faithful...

When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our...

[The LORD said,] "When [the Israelites return from Babylon to Judah], O my people, you will know that I am the Lord. I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live again and return home to your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done what I said. Yes, the Lord...