Love Real People

We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever who loves God must also love his brother.

1 John 4:19-21 (NIV)

Love begins with Christ. He loved us first, when there was no compelling reason to do so. We were his enemies, yet, he chose to love us by dying on the cross in our place, taking away our sin and placing us in his family. 

Let's get real here. It's easy to say you are a Christian and that you love everyone. What's difficult is when someone acts in a very unloving way toward you and you must respond in some way. I think, sometimes, that the closer the person is to you the harder it may be to respond in love. If a random person says something hurtful to me I can blow it off, but if my wife does, then I can be a little defensive. (And of course this goes the other way too.) 

The lesson is that loving each other in Christ is not necessarily easy.  Most of the time we need to sit down before the throne of grace and ask for grace. We need to remember that he first loved us and he forgives us, multiple times, on a daily basis! If you think you are easy to deal with, you probably aren't. 

I am a sinner saved by grace. I may accidentally step on someones toes or I may purposely step on someones toes, but I will step on toes. We all will. Humility, knowing who I am in Christ, should lead me to remember that because Christ first love me, I should love whoever God puts in my path.

Father, help us to love others just like Christ loved and loves us. Praise be to you in us today!

Know the Truth, He Never Lies

But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. 1 John 2:20 (NIV)

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."  John 14:6 (NIV)

The truth can be hard to come by. Think about it. How many times have you thought someone was telling you the truth only to find out they were lying. When someone tries to represent themselves as something they are not, we call that living a lie. Of course you have heard the joke, "Do you know how to tell when a politician is lying? Their lips are moving."

Knowing Christ is knowing the truth. God can not lie. What we learn from Christ, from the Bible, we can depend on as truth. I know that some people view the Bible as an antiquated piece of literature full of myths and fables. But, that is not what it is at all. One hundred plus years ago dictionaries defined Hittites as a mythological  group of people referred to in the Bible. Later, they discovered evidence of the existence of the Hittites. Admittedly, many people have misunderstood, misinterpreted and misrepresented the Bible. But, it has proven itself true again and again. 

Yet, truth is more than just an opinion of what one perceives to be true. Truth is about knowing who Christ is and knowing him as the truth. When you know Christ as Lord you know that the universe was made through him (Hebrews 1:2). Christ is the truth. Science may discover things but it does create the laws that govern the universe. Albert Einstein said, "I want to think God's thoughts, the rest are details." 

We can choose to live by faith in the truth or not. If you know Jesus, you know the truth. 

Father, thank you that Jesus is the truth and we may know him. Praise be to you in us today!

Clutter of the Mind

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

1 John 2:15-17 (NIV)

There is a difference between being hungry for food that your body needs to run the way God created you to run and desiring something in a consuming unnatural way.  When the Apostle John talks about the world in these verses he is not talking about the mere physical world that we must operate within on a daily basis. 

John describes the world as "the cravings of sinful man, the lust of the eyes and the boastings of what he has and does". I saw a bumper sticker once that read, "He who has the most toys wins." The world seeks status by what they have, not necessarily by who they are. This unnatural mixture, which the world sees as natural and normal, craves and lusts for fulfillment and seeks it in ever increasing amounts. The catch is that enough is never enough. 

Have you seen one of those "reality" shows on hoarding? It's alarming because the attachment to what most people would consider junk is imperative. They just get more stuff and it clutters up their homes and lives. But, how many things do we hold on to in our hearts and minds that clutter up our hearts and minds? I am talking about cravings and lusts (not just sex) that take us away from faith in Christ. God did give us desires, strong desires. God will give us wisdom if we ask (James 1:5). Seeking what the world wants is temporary, at best. Seeking the will of God and enjoying what he provides is truly fulfilling and will lead to eternal joy. 

Father, help us to seek your will and enjoy what you have given us. Praise be to you in us today!

How To Be Mature in Christ

I am writing to you, dear children,
   because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
I am writing to you, fathers,
   because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
   because you have overcome the evil one. 
I write to you, dear children,
   because you know the Father.
I write to you, fathers,
   because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
   because you are strong,
   and the word of God lives in you,
   and you have overcome the evil one.
1 John 2:12-14 (NIV)

Where are you at in your relationship with God? John reminds us that knowing that our sins are forgiven is the basis of our relationship and the purpose is to know God, him who is from the beginning. There will be battles along the way and we will need the word of God to live in us and to be strong in the Lord and overcome the evil one. 

Where are you at in your relationship with God? Are you a little child just learning that your sins are forgiven? Are you a young man/ woman learning to be strong in the word of God and, by faith, overcoming the evil one? Are you a father/ mother who knows him who is from the beginning? 

What I get from this is that the basis of my relationship with God is the forgiveness of my sins by Christ's death on the cross. I progress in my relationship with Christ through the study of the word of God and the applications of its' truths applied by faith in the daily battles where I need to overcome the evil one. I mature and rest in my faith as I learn that knowing God and making him known is my true purpose in life. 

Father, help us to press on toward maturity. Reveal you forgiveness to us. Give us strength to overcome the evil one. And help us to know you, the Eternal Sovereign Lord. Praise be to you in us today!

The Simplicity and Depth of Love

Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness;  he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.

I John 2:9-11

The simplicity and the depth of what the Apostle John said is amazing. On the surface he points out the simple difference between hating and loving. Below the surface he reminds us that hating our brother blinds us. 

One of the things that impresses me about my pastor is that he gets along with other pastors and has a deep partnership with so many in the community. Let's be honest, loving some people is not easy. But, the issue is that Jesus loved us, when we didn't love him and we are supposed to love some people even when they don't love us. The simplicity is that the question to ask about how we deal with others is: Is it in love? When you think the other person is in the wrong do you respond in love? When you are in a hurry do you wait in love? Think about how often God waits for you, is patient with you, tells you the same thing again and forgives you. 

The love of God is simple in its' truth and deep in its' application. Hate others and be blinded by the darkness. Love others and walk in the light. 

Father, help us to live in the light as you are in the light. Praise be to you in us today!

Look At Christ, Not Your Sin

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have on who speaks to the Father in our defense - Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but for the sins of the whole world. 

I John 2:1-2 

John says it pretty much like it is: We don't want to sin, but sometimes (maybe more often than we like) we do sin. That is just the way it is. The good news is that God has even this weakness covered in Christ. 

The goal is to have fellowship with Christ and each other. Christ's blood purifies us, not our management of sin. We were not saved so that we can have another chance at not sinning. This is a truth that we must understand. Christ did not die on the cross for just the sins we committed before knowing him. He died for ALL our sins. Yes. All. He died to purify us from "all unrighteousness". 

Think about this: if you are concentrating on your sin, even it is in an attempt to not sin, you are still focusing on yourself. 

We are called to walk in the light, to have fellowship with Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. 

I am not condoning sin or saying we shouldn't acknowledge our sin. But, if we focus on our sin, and dwell on our sinfulness, sin is still controlling us. In contrast to this is the joy and thankfulness of being forgiven and the fellowship of living in the light of Christ. Then we are not focused on ourselves but on Christ and others in Christ.

Father, help us to live in the light as you are in light and to have fellowship with one another. Praise be to you in us today!

Bumping Heads

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

I John 1:7

I have a couple friends of mine who had a disagreement a couple months ago. They did not handle it well.  I still don't know exactly what happened except for the little part that I just happen to catch my self in the middle of. Both were too concerned about what bothered them or about being right to actually allow any reconciliation. Then after the initial dust settled, a handshake and an, "I'm sorry" wasn't enough. 

I think this relates to the passage because there will be issues. We will bump heads and offend each other, even in church. The intention is that when we interact with each other we act Christlike. We humbly deal with each other knowing that Christ forgives all our sins and still loves us. We, in the same way, forgive each other. Not only do we forgive which is reactive but we serve each other, which is proactive. 

Today we ask ourselves: How can I serve those I come in contact with today? Do I need to forgive someone?

Father, help us to serve each other proactively and forgive each other and you have forgiven us in Christ. Praise be to you in us today!

Face It, You Sin

   If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

   My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

1 John 1:8-2:2 (NIV)

Facing up to our own sinfulness can be very humbling. The question is not if we are going to sin or even when will we sin. The issue is what do we do when we sin. We confess. Jesus in his perfect faithfulness forgives us and purifies us. Just like a baby in diapers can't clean him/herself, we can't purify our own sin. we confess, Christ cleans. That is God's grace. 

The truth is that Jesus did not die just for our sins, he was the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. I have this friend at work. He needs to know God's grace. I can see it. I know he loves his wife and daughter, but he still needs Jesus. Jesus died for him too and I have been able to tell him, in normal conversations of God's love and forgiveness. 

That is the two sided beauty of the gospel. We are forgiven and we get to share that forgiveness with others. 

Father, forgive our sins. Share you love through us. Praise be to you in us today!