Crumbling Mountains! (I John 5:3)

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.

THE STUDY:

          I think we touched on the aspect of keeping God’s commandments yesterday. Verse 2 stated “obey” his commandments. That word tells us to “do” whereas the word found in verse 3 “keep” means TO GUARD! Either way, God’s commandments are to be obeyed and kept.

          What I want to point out this morning is the last part of this verse, And his commandments are not burdensome. John does not consider the commands of God a burden to be endured. Rather, when Christians obediently embrace them, we give evidence of our new, divinely given life. That new life is lived in victory because God empowers us so we can obey.^[1]

                   

WHAT WE CAN WALK AWAY WITH ….

• So we walk away this morning with the understanding that what God requires of us is not something we cannot do but something we can do through His power, His grace, and His love. Through Him we are able to have VICTORY in our lives.

CONCLUSION:

            I am sure you have talked with someone and they have said these words, “I can’t do it,” “I am not strong enough,” “Following God is too hard.” As a believer we should not be surprised when we hear this. I have an old saying that I heard from someone, “If it was easy everyone would be doing it.” “Anything worth having is going to be hard.”

          But the thing that you and I know is, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13) So, today as you face the difficulties of life, when it seems to hard, when you feel like giving up, remember this passage and recite it in the face of Satan and watch those mountains crumble.

Blessings my friends

Pastor Rod

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^[1] Williamson, R. (2010). 1, 2, & 3 John: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition. New Beacon Bible Commentary (158). Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press.

I John 3:24

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Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.

THE STUDY:

          One of the things that I am finding as I study God’s word is that God is a reactional God! James 4:8 “Come near to God and He will come near to you,” and in this passage we read, “Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him.” This is a prime example of God not violating our free will. We are the ones God is waiting on, not the other way around.

          In this verse we read the word “abide” which means to remain in God! Looking at the entire book of I John we can find this word used over 25 times. This is a great indicator that John is trying to make a point: REMAIN IN GOD! John's readers are followers of Jesus but yet they are being led astray by this new view of Jesus (Gnostics). If they remain in God, He remains in them. We can safely say that if they don’t remain in God, He will not remain in them.

WHAT WE CAN WALK AWAY WITH ….

• We walk away this morning knowing this, those who keep God’s word in their heart experience God making his home with them. As an eighth-century English theologian, the Venerable Bede, wrote, “Let God, then, be a home for you, and you be the home of God; remain in God and let God remain in you.”^[1]

CONCLUSION:

           I find, in my own life, times when I try to get God to do what I want and not what He wants. These are those times when we must remain in Him. You might be having a difficult time in your life right now or you might come across someone today who is going through a difficult time. Remember to remain in God and He will remain in you.

Blessings my friends

Pastor Rod

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^[1] Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. (1953-2001). Vol. 14: New Testament commentary : Exposition of James and the Epistles of John. New Testament Commentary (318–319). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.

I John 3:23 (Part 2)

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And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.

THE STUDY:

          Some would believe that there are two commandments in this verse; believe and love. But in all reality these two are one in the same. Believing in the Son and loving one another constitute one command. A single purpose clause connects them as one. You cannot believe in Christ yet hate someone. The word “believe” in the Greek (pisteuo) means to have FAITH IN. The word “love” in the Greek (agapao) means to SHOW LOVE. Basically this means, if we have “faith in” Christ we will show “love” toward others. Faith that works flows from faith in Christ. If we have it we will show it, and if we show it people will know we have it. True love is what separates us from the world.

          The presence of the Spirit enables the Christian to receive God’s love and to respond to this love with love to others. This emphasis parallels the exchange between Jesus and “an expert in the law.” There eternal life is said to rest in supreme love for God and selfless love for neighbors (Luke 10:25–28). John insists that faith toward God will be evident in tangible love toward others.^[1]

WHAT WE CAN WALK AWAY WITH ….

• We walk away this morning with the understanding that belief in Christ should produce love for others. If we don’t love others we may not be one in Christ. We don’t expect anything in return from those we are showing love to. We are expected to LOVE! Loving one another is not an option but a commandment!

CONCLUSION:

          Archbishop Usher was once wrecked on the coast of Ireland, and almost destitute of clothing he wandered to the house of a clergyman. The ecclesiastic was quite wary and somewhat cold and incredulous. “How many commandments are there?” he suddenly asked, thinking to detect an impostor.

 “I can at once satisfy you that I am not the ignorant imposter you take me for,” replied the archbishop, “there are eleven commandments.” “No,” was the sneering comment, “there are but ten commandments in my Bible. Tell me the eleventh and I will give you all the help you need.” “There it is,” said the archbishop, pointing to this verse: “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another as I have loved you.”

Blessings my friends

Pastor Rod

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^[1] Williamson, R. (2010). 1, 2, & 3 John: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition. New Beacon Bible Commentary (129). Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press.

I John 3:23 (Part 1)

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And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.

THE STUDY:

          We see the word “commandment” in this passage and it should draw our attention to it. But, for many of us, we skip that word and look at the words “believe” and “love.” The word “commandment” (etole) is defined in the Greek as; order, command, instruct! Picture yourself buying a new item that has to be assembled. It comes with instructions and if you don’t follow those instructions there is a good chance the item will not work or look like that which you saw in the store. Another example is when you are given a command to do something but if you don’t fulfill that command there will be negative consequences.

          Being given a command or a book of instructions should not be looked at as a negative but a positive. We don’t see people getting upset because they were given a command to do something that they saw would benefit them. I have yet to meet a person who got upset after being instructed to do something that they realized would caused them great joy.

          The times I have seen people get upset or angry at a command or instruction is when it appears to be something they don’t like. disapprove of, or don't see as a benefit. God’s commandments are not something we will always like but they are for our benefit.

WHAT WE CAN WALK AWAY WITH ….

• We walk away this morning with the understanding that God has our best interest at heart. Just as a parent is not lying in bed at night thinking of ways to make their kid’s lives miserable, God is not sitting around thinking of ways to make our lives miserable. His commandments do just the opposite. His commandments are because he knows and wants the best for us.

CONCLUSION:

          The editor of a small weekly newspaper in a town in the West was finding it difficult to fill his columns. So he had his compositor set up the Ten Commandments, and ran them without making any editorial comment. Three days after the paper was published he received a letter saying:

 “Please cancel my subscription. You’re getting too personal.”

          Let today be a day that we embrace God’s commandments and trust that the reason for them is because he loves us and are for our benefit.

Blessings my friends

Pastor Rod

I John 2:3

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I John 2:3

"And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments."

THE STUDY:

          For readers who wish to decide whether their experience of fellowship with God has led them really to know Him in a personal way, John gave a simple test: We know that we have come to know Him if we obey His commands.^[1] This morning I want to look at a couple of things. First thing that stands out to me is the word “Know!” This word is used 23 times by John in this Epistle. We find it used two times in this verse alone. The first “know” is found without any connection. It stands alone, but the second “know” is within a subordinate clause which is connected to the main clause. So, what does this mean?

• The first “know” is translated to mean “understand.”

• The second “know” is translated to mean to learn to know a person through direct personal experience, implying a continuity of relationship—‘to know, to become acquainted with, to be familiar with.’^[2]

This passage would read like this … [And by this we understand that we

have become acquainted with Jesus through a direct personal experience, if we keep his commandments.]

          John is implying to the reader that “WE KNOW!” We know that when we keep his commandments we are in fellowship with God.

WHAT WE CAN WALK AWAY WITH ….

• The first thing we can take with us is the fact that keeping God’s commandments (the ones written on our hearts now, not on tablet) are good signs. Signs that not only others can see but ones that we can see as well. I call these moments “measuring sticks.”  

• Secondly, I preach this from the pulpit, we know when we are out of God’s will and we know when we are in His will. My kids know when they are doing something they should not be doing. Why lie or try to hide it if you didn’t know I would not approve of it. We do the same thing with God.  

CONCLUSION:

          We have lived in a multitude of different houses during our ministry. We are raising kids and one of the things we have done is measure them as they grow. All of us have done this at one point in time in our lives. You stand straight with your back against the door frame. Your mom or dad takes a marker and puts a line were the top of your head is. You step away and they mark your age over the line. You can go back to that door frame and look at how you have grown over the years.

          The same can be said about our spiritual growth. We have moments in our lives (being tested, difficult times, heartaches, even blessings) that after we have come through it, we can see how far God has brought us. We see how much we have grown in the Lord. My prayer for you is that you come to know Jesus Christ. I hope these devotionals help you come to know Him in a more personable way.   

         

Blessings my friends

Pastor Rod

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^[1] Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-). The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures (1 Jn 2:3). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

^[2] Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Vol. 1: Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament : Based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition.) (327). New York: United Bible societies.