1.) People often ask me where to “look stuff up”.

One resource I go to often is www.monergism.com

2.) They have a helpful summary article by J.I. Packer on the Church–which is  a topic of Exodus 18.

People never run out of needs; so when we take on the responsibility to help meet those needs, we will have as much work as we can handle. The problem comes when we try to carry burdens that are bigger than the ones that God has actually called us to bear. God never intends for us to do all the work ourselves. This is why he has placed us in the body of Christ, in which we are dependent on the help of others.

–Phil Ryken

One recent summer, in a large urn that sits outside the front door of my house, a blue swift made a nest in which she laid six eggs. This beautiful, shy creature had made her home in (almost) my house. I felt privileged that I had been honored by her presence, even if my cat viewed it entirely differently.

If I felt privileged when a bird nested by my door, how much more privileged should I feel knowing that the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in me? Our hearts should well up with gratitude and song at the mere thought of it. It is staggering.

Some of us take photographs when distinguished guests visit our homes. I love to glance through a “Visitor’s Book” to see who has stayed in our home. On occasion I see the name of a well-known [person] or a dear friend. But none of this compares to having the Spirit permanently [dwell] in our hearts.

Derek W. H. Thomas, How the Gospel Brings Us All the Way Home