Jesus raises the blessing-bar high. Many claim to be Christian. But let's make it personal and ask ourselves. Does our own behavior match what the Bible predicts for the believer?

Let's turn to Galatians 5:16-24. Listen:

INTRODUCTION

The Bible teaches that there is one God manifest in three distinct persons: God the Father; God the Son, that is, Jesus; and God the Holy Spirit, who, like the Father and like the Son, is also a person. Not three Gods, but one; not one person but three.

Some, more recently, are experimenting with a different teaching. These say that God the Father has always existed, but that the person, Jesus, has not always existed. Jesus, they say, had a beginning. They say that there was a time when He was not. Some are saying that the Holy Spirit is only an impersonal power, or, that He is not a person distinct from Jesus. Ideas are swirling. These mistaken teachings are not a problem for most. But we have friends. What will we say if our friends become interested in these ideas?

To...

The letters of the word "Haystacks" offer us a shorthand way to think and share what we as Seventh-day Adventists believe. "H" points us to "hope," "A" to "advent," "Y" to "youthful eternity," and now "S," to "Sabbath." What is the Sabbath all about?

Ephesians 3:20, 21 NKJV:

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever, amen.

Here is a fundamental question. Can Jesus do as much for us as we think He can? Can He do as much for us as we theorize?

It is hard to think of anything bigger than me. In our world, in the enveloping narcissistic, self-loving culture, self is at the center. It's all about me. We are gods and our idols are our things because they are our things. Our pictures, our kids, our phones, our cars, our opinions--oh, how clever and important we are. We're smarter than God.

But God says that His Church is a fortress which He holds in a revolted world:

Today, part three of HAYSTACKS. The word "HAYSTACKS" is our memory tool for this short synopsis of what it means to be Seventh-day Adventist. "H" stood for Hope, and "A" for Advent. "Y" stands for a "Youthful Eternity." Seventh-day Adventists anticipate a youthful eternity.

The word "HAYSTACKS" helps us remember core Bible principles underlying Seventh-day Adventist belief. "H" was "Hope," and today, we come to the letter "A." "A" is for "Advent."

"Advent" means the coming of something, the time when something arrives at last. We are Christians. We look for the Second Coming, Advent, Appearing, Parousia of Jesus. But others also believe that Jesus is coming. They think He may come a thousand years from now, or, in three seconds. Either of those approaches effectively separates the Second Coming of Jesus from the lives of God's people. If Jesus comes in 1,000 years, we and our children will be dead long before. If He comes in three seconds, there is no serious opportunity between now and then to change what we are.