Category Archives: Reblogs

The Mighty Angel and the Little Book – Revelation 10:1-11

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Stephen Nielsen's avatarStudying Bible Prophecy

I have been writing a book on the Tribulation and blogging it.  I am now up to the end of the Trumpet judgments. I am now beginning an interlude (Rev. 1-11:14) that comes between the sixth and seventh Trumpet of Revelation, Part one. You may want to follow along in your bible.

Just after John saw and recorded that a third of mankind was killed by the locust creatures and that those who survived do not repent, he suddenly saw a mighty angel coming down from heaven. We will look now at the identity of this angel and a few other things that God wants to tell His people in this second interlude. God’s intention here is to give them a short break in order to encourage and comfort them and to remind them that He is in control and will ultimately bring them victory. We will look at this…

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Practice Keeping Your Eyes Pure: Fighting Against Pornography

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This post on sexual purity is part of my category on holiness. I wrote it over ten years ago and is an excerpt from my book on prayer. We all need this more than ever these days.

Stephen Nielsen's avatarPrayer A to Z

 

 Some would say, “It is impossible these days to keep your eyes pure, because there is so much pornography out there; we see it practically everywhere we go.”  But I want to tell you that with God’s help, and with practice, it is a battle that can be won!           

In this post we will talk about how people get trapped into viewing pornography, then about its results, and last, about how to fight against it.           

 

How People Get Trapped Into Viewing Pornography

 

The reason why people (both men and women) get trapped into viewing pornography is because they have not been warned against it, and they are unprepared to face it.  Satan comes against them as an angel of light to deceive them and trap them, and as a roaring lion to devour them.   And the reason why they continue in it is because they find…

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Practice Right Thinking For Holiness–Philippians 4:8

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Stephen Nielsen's avatarPrayer A to Z

 

 The practice of meditating on the Word will be most beneficial for right thinking, because when you are meditating on the scriptures your mind is occupied with right thoughts.  And the scriptures will also guide you in what else to think about in the world besides the scriptures.  One of the passages that specifically tell us that is Philippians 4:8.  Here Paul outlines for us seven things we should think about; or I think we could also look at it as seven qualities or virtues we should seek out and think about in different things in the world, such as in people, books, movies, and institutions. 

But we are not to just casually think over them; the word translated “think on” or “meditate on” (logizesthe), suggests more than just thinking.  The word actually means to take inventory, to reason, to reckon, and to esteem.  Adam Clark suggests that…

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7 Things to Practice for Holiness

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Stephen Nielsen's avatarPrayer A to Z

 

1.  Practice consecration with prayer.  Consecration is the act of giving ourselves completely to God through prayer for His will and service, recognizing that our life and all that we have is His. E.M. Bounds has said: “Prayer enters into every phase of a consecrated life…Consecration is really the setting apart of one’s self to a life of prayer.”

 And how does all this affect holiness? If affects it directly and in every aspect. We cannot be holy without it.  Why?  Because consecration is that which prepares the heart for holiness.  It is the act of giving ourselves to God by bringing our desires in line with His, thus by making our attitude right before him.  Moreover, by consecration we both prepare ourselves for holiness and we enter into that holy life.  A holy life in every phase is a life of consecration with prayer.

 2.  Practice…

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How to Be Holy: The Process of Holiness

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Stephen Nielsen's avatarPrayer A to Z

 

 Holiness is a process, which means that it takes time and continual effort.  It doesn’t happen all at once.  It is a process of transformation by renewal (Rom. 12:2).  Renewal starts with the mind and then works into the character.  The objective of renewal is always to renew the whole person: spirit, mind and body (complete renewal, however, will come after this life on earth; read 1 Cor. 15:51).

 Have you ever seen an old building being renovated?  All the old rotten material is removed and new material is put in its place.  Sometimes it is found that the entire building must come down and be replaced.  And so it would be a process of starting over.  That is the picture of what renewal is.  It is a renovation process.  The old comes out and the new is put in its place.  Hence, with us, all uncleanness and…

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God Has Gifted Every Christian for Holiness

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Stephen Nielsen's avatarPrayer A to Z

 

 Sinceit is God’s will for every Christian to be holy, He has given us the following gifts as necessary resources for holiness.

 

Jesus Christ

 

 When you were saved you received Jesus as a gift (Jn. 1:12).  In Him you were justified and made righteous—absolutely holy.  “For He [God] made Him [Christ] who knew not sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21).  Hence, His righteousness is credited to us.  That means that positionally, we are eternally righteous and holy before God; we were made holy forever in Christ.

 Now, though we are holy and sinless in our position or standing before God, practically we are not sinless and holy.  In fact, though we have a new nature and desire not to sin, we still have our old sinful flesh; and so we find that…

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Six Reasons to Be Holy

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Stephen Nielsen's avatarPrayer A to Z

Not everyone desires holiness. But just in case you do, just in case God has put it on your heart to be like Him, I think you will find these point helpful. Here are six reasons to be holy.

1.  To be like God.  God created man and woman in His own image, according to His likeness (Gen. 1:26).  This of course included His holiness.  God wanted all mankind to be holy like Himself.

After the fall of man sin marred that image.   But God’s purpose for us did not change.  He has always wanted us to be holy like Him, even in a sinful world (Gen. 2:14, 15).  In fact, throughout the Old Testament He commanded His people to be holy, saying to them, “Be holy because I, The Lord Your God, am holy” (Lev. 19:2, NIV).

And we can be holy!  God has provided a way for us…

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The Sixth Trumpet (Revelation 9:13-21)

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Stephen Nielsen's avatarStudying Bible Prophecy

This sixth trumpet judgment, and the second woe, is every bit as terrible as the first woe; and it leaves us scratching our heads with questions. We will break up the verses into three parts.

Verses 13-15. Then the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14 one saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 And the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released, so that they would kill a third of mankind.

So when the sixth angel sounded his trumpet John head a voice coming from the four horns of the altar of incense—presumably, the voice of God responding to the prayers of His saints; prayer for vengeance. And He told…

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The Meaning of Holiness

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Stephen Nielsen's avatarPrayer A to Z

I think we have a good definition of holiness in Psalms 15:1-2.  Here David asks, “Lord, who may dwell in Your sanctuary?  Who may live on Your holy hill?  Then he answers himself: “He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous” (NIV).  Hence holiness is two things: being blameless, or not doing what is wrong; and it is also doing what is right. 

We have this same definition in Job 1:1. Here we read, “In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job.  This man was blameless and upright; “he feared God and shunned evil” (NIV).  Thus, those who are holy fear God—have a reverent respect for God and seek to obey Him in everything.  They also endeavor to conform to His holy character, which would include shunning or hating sin

In the simplest terms, holiness is living “without sin.”  That is what…

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God’s Ten Purposes for Prayer

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Stephen Nielsen's avatarPrayer A to Z

 

 

This is an excerpt from my book Purpose of Prayer.  You can get it as an e-book at mywebsite.

1.  Prayer is God’s idea as the way to acquire salvation.  Whether it is verbal prayer or a silent prayer of the heart, God has designed that salvation will come to us when we cry out to Him in prayer.  For He has said in His Word, “Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rom. 10:13).  Hence, God has made prayer a tool that gives expression to our faith and works it out.  Therefore, our prayer of faith acquires salvation—as we ask Jesus into our heart and He comes in and redeems us from our sins.         

2.  Prayer is God’s idea as the means for His will to be carried out in accordance with His great plan.  God has planned from eternity…

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