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God’s Ministering Spirits
Greg Laurie – www.harvest.org

And when Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.” — Acts 12:11

The Old and New Testament contain at least 300 references to angels. Everywhere in Scripture, we see examples of angels at work. Story after story tells us about the work of angels.

When Peter was arrested for preaching the gospel, the first-century church prayed. And in answer to their prayers, God dispatched an angel to deliver Peter, who was in such deep sleep, the Bible tells us, that the angel had to strike him to wake him up. The chains fell off his wrists, the prison door opened automatically, and Peter walked out.

Often when we pray, it might be an angel who is actually dispatched to help bring about the answer to our prayers. Angels straddle both heaven and earth, and it would appear that although they are created beings, they never die. Jesus said of people who have gone on to heaven, “Nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection” (Luke 20:36).

And as Hebrews 1:14 tells us, angels have a special work they do in the lives of believers: “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?” Generally we don’t know what angels are doing and when they are doing it. They are sort of like an elite fighting force: they are dispatched on a mission, they go in, they take care of business, and we are never aware of it.

As Billy Graham put it, angels are God’s secret agents. They are His ministering servants, protecting, delivering, and sometimes guiding. You don’t know it is them. You don’t need to engage them. You don’t need to try and communicate with them. They are simply doing the work that God has called them to do.

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Complete Resource on Angels 🙂 (Blue Letter Bible)

Angeology

Greg Laurie: How To Love God :: Article From Facebook

Love is what I will be speaking about tonight in Orange County, California.

We hear a lot today about love from our culture, ranging from songs to movies, etc. But what is love exactly? Many philosophers and others have opined on love over the years.

Plato said that love is a grave, mental disease.

Oliver Wendell Holmes was far more optimistic about love, saying, “Love is the master key that opens the gates of happiness.”

Another said, “Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place.”

Even another said, “Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence.”

So what exactly is love? The Bible tells us that God is love.

One of the clearest definitions of true love is found in 1 Corinthians 13:

Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. . . . Isn’t always “me first” . . . Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others . . . Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end. (THE MESSAGE)

If you love God,do what He says!

That is a perfect example of God’s love for us! And our love for Him should be a response to that.

The Bible says, “We love Him, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). And one of the ways we show that love is through our obedience to Him.

It’s one thing to say, “I love God,” but it’s another to do what he says.

Getting to the very heart of the commandments, Jesus said:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second is you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There are no other commandments greater than these.

We will continue our look at the Ten Commandments tonight, finishing the first four commandments. I hope you can join us.

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Greg Laurie ::: www.harvest.org

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