Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus)

While hearing a long detailed and aggressive speech of how a product will bring extreme enjoyment to our lives forever with no strings attached, we wonder if this could be the truth? Could this really be as they have said?  What will it cost?  It seems doable in the way they present it; so, we are distracted from wisdom and turn to see for ourselves what it can do for us.  We are presented with many forms of temptations daily, almost hourly, if we listen to media long enough.  Many deceivers (deceived themselves) offer the “world” to us with enticing promises of what they think we deserve.  The world’s salespeople promise to deliver peace upon purchase of their products. 

Above all, our greatest, inner desire is to be told the truth, right?!  We want to know who really does have the goods that deliver what we really need—real, relentless, unfailing love, peace in all circumstances, with an unending inner joy that sustains us.  We desire to believe that others really love us and want the best for us.  When the lies are exposed; we are crushed.  Betrayal is hard to bear.  We are disillusioned with humanity whose only goal is to take as much from us as possible only to satisfy their goal of greater wealth and importance—even if it takes more than our ability to pay.    

John writes letters of encouragement to the churches filled with believers who seek truth delivered with authentic unconditional love—just like us.

2 John 1, The Message

My dear congregation, I, your pastor, love you in very truth. And I’m not alone—everyone who knows the Truth that has taken up permanent residence in us loves you.

³ Let grace, mercy, and peace be with us in truth and love from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, Son of the Father!

^4-6 I can’t tell you how happy I am to learn that many members of your congregation are diligent in living out the Truth, exactly as commanded by the Father. But permit me a reminder, friends, and this is not a new commandment but simply a repetition of our original and basic charter: that we love each other. Love means following his commandments, and his unifying commandment is that you conduct your lives in love. This is the first thing you heard, and nothing has changed.

Don’t Walk Out on God

⁷ There are a lot of smooth-talking con artists loose in the world who refuse to believe that Jesus Christ was truly human, a flesh-and-blood human being. Give them their true title: Deceiver! Antichrist!

^8-9 And be very careful around them so you don’t lose out on what we’ve worked so diligently in together; I want you to get every reward you have coming to you. Anyone who gets so progressive in his thinking that he walks out on the teaching of Christ, walks out on God. But whoever stays with the teaching, stays faithful to both the Father and the Son.

^10-11 If anyone shows up who doesn’t hold to this teaching, don’t invite him in and give him the run of the place. That would just give him a platform to perpetuate his evil ways, making you his partner.

^12-13 I have a lot more things to tell you, but I’d rather not use paper and ink. I hope to be there soon in person and have a heart-to-heart talk. That will be far more satisfying to both you and me. Everyone here in your sister congregation sends greetings.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”—Jesus, John 14:6

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” –Jesus, John 14:27

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”  John 3:16-17

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.” John 15:9-14

“This is my command: Love each other.” –Jesus, John 15:17

Jesus delivers without deception all that we have been seeking—real Love and Truth.  Jesus embodies Truth.  Truth, who is Jesus, never changes.  Truth laid down His life for ours because of His love for us.  All who believe leave the world of liars behind to enter into the Kingdom of God.  We become His children!  We are brothers and sisters to Jesus! 

BUT AT WHAT COST, you ask?  The price has been paid in full by Jesus—God’s gift to us—because He loves us.  Our cost is leaving the world behind to accept this Gift of Love and Truth that provides forgiveness for all our sins because of His unending mercy and amazing grace.  Paul expresses the benefits;

“This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him!” Romans 8:17, MSG

How do we respond?

“Remain in my love.” –Jesus, John 15:9 This command comes with a promise: “And I will remain in you.” (John 15:4)

Don’t walk out on Love and Truth.  Don’t fall for “smooth-talking con artists”!  (And don’t be one!)  “Stay faithful to both the Father and the Son.”

HOW do we remain faithful?  Seek God first every single day and He will help us.  His Holy Spirit illuminates His character of Love and Truth.  To seek God is to seek Truth and Love. (See Romans 12:1-2 for specifics.)

Max Lucado helps us to understand Jesus is Truth and Love, Love and Truth which cannot be separated.  You can’t pursue and hold onto one without the other!

“Love in truth. Truth in love. Never one at the expense of the other. Never the embrace of love without the torch of truth. Never the heat of truth without the warmth of love.  Never would be easier if we could choose between the two, but we can’t. So John, in this second letter, calls for a hybrid.  Because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.  Truth and love. Love and truth. Never one without the other. To pursue both is our singular task.” –Max Lucado, The Encouraging Word Bible

Lord,

You are truth and love, love and truth.  I pursue you for you are all I need to live in this world but not engaged by it.  By your love in me, I will love others.  Thank you for the promise of peace with joy complete as we love others like you love us.  Ahh, now I’m getting it.  So, daily cleanse my heart, renew my mind, transform my behaviors to match your love and truth.  Refresh my soul with your mercies and restore the joy and peace of your salvation at work within me.  I believe.  I trust Truth who is You!  May I also tell the truth of your everlasting love by living it.

In Jesus Name, Amen

Do we love God?  It may seem odd to ask this question of ourselves about God who IS love. But this question is part of our reality test for everyday living with God who lives in us.  If we love God, we believe God exists.  If we love God, truly love God, we love doing what He says instead of what evil suggests.  If we love God, we want to know God more.

Because of His love in us we stand in awe of what He does daily to remind us of His love for us!  If we love God, we believe that Jesus, His One and Only Son, willingly and obediently gave his life in payment for the sins of the world—yours and mine.  If we truly love God we relentless love His Son, Jesus.  If we love God we love other people—friends, neighbors around the world, family, and our enemies who do not yet love God.

If we love God we live gratefully, abundant, obedient, authentic lives with humility before God—all because of His grace and mercy as well as His love.  If we love God, we trust Him.  We live assured that nothing can separate us from His love.  Paul writes of this blessed assurance of God’s love;

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: ‘For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:35-39, NIV

So, the question remains:  Do we love God?

1 John 5, The Message

^1-3 Every person who believes that Jesus is, in fact, the Messiah, is God-born. If we love the One who conceives the child, we’ll surely love the child who was conceived. The reality test on whether or not we love God’s children is this: Do we love God? Do we keep his commands? The proof that we love God comes when we keep his commandments and they are not at all troublesome.

The Power That Brings the World to Its Knees

^4-5 Every God-born person conquers the world’s ways. The conquering power that brings the world to its knees is our faith. The person who wins out over the world’s ways is simply the one who believes Jesus is the Son of God.

^6-8 Jesus—the Divine Christ! He experienced a life-giving birth and a death-killing death. Not only birth from the womb, but baptismal birth of his ministry and sacrificial death. And all the while the Spirit is confirming the truth, the reality of God’s presence at Jesus’ baptism and crucifixion, bringing those occasions alive for us. A triple testimony: the Spirit, the Baptism, the Crucifixion. And the three in perfect agreement.

^9-10 If we take human testimony at face value, how much more should we be reassured when God gives testimony as he does here, testifying concerning his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God inwardly confirms God’s testimony. Whoever refuses to believe in effect calls God a liar, refusing to believe God’s own testimony regarding his Son.

^11-12 This is the testimony in essence: God gave us eternal life; the life is in his Son. So, whoever has the Son, has life; whoever rejects the Son, rejects life.

The Reality, Not the Illusion

^13-15 My purpose in writing is simply this: that you who believe in God’s Son will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have eternal life, the reality and not the illusion. And how bold and free we then become in his presence, freely asking according to his will, sure that he’s listening. And if we’re confident that he’s listening, we know that what we’ve asked for is as good as ours.

^16-17 For instance, if we see a Christian believer sinning (clearly I’m not talking about those who make a practice of sin in a way that is “fatal,” leading to eternal death), we ask for God’s help and he gladly gives it, gives life to the sinner whose sin is not fatal. There is such a thing as a fatal sin, and I’m not urging you to pray about that. Everything we do wrong is sin, but not all sin is fatal.

^18-21 We know that none of the God-born makes a practice of sin—fatal sin. The God-born are also the God-protected. The Evil One can’t lay a hand on them. We know that we are held firm by God; it’s only the people of the world who continue in the grip of the Evil One. And we know that the Son of God came so we could recognize and understand the truth of God—what a gift!—and we are living in the Truth itself, in God’s Son, Jesus Christ. This Jesus is both True God and Real Life. Dear children, be on guard against all clever facsimiles.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Stop looking for love in all the wrong places.  “Be on guard, warns John, against all clever facsimiles” of love.  Love from the center of who we are—believers who love God and love others!  Trust in Jesus as the Center of our being who loved us before, during and after the cross work that saved our souls for eternity.  He demonstrated the Love of God for us with this powerful act of love, mercy, and grace. 

We have the Power when we love God back with all that is within us!  “The conquering power that brings the world to its knees is our faith. The person who wins out over the world’s ways is simply the one who believes Jesus is the Son of God.”  We love God as His child who simply believes in child-like faith that Jesus is who He says He is!

God is Love. 

Jesus is The Way to Truth that gives Real, Eternal Life all because God loved us. 

We simply believe, being confidently assured of God’s love for us.  We trust God.

Do you really love God?  I pray all who are reading and listening to God speak that our answers will be;

“I love you, Lord God with all my heart, mind and soul!” 

“And I love others because of Your love abiding and guiding me to love!”

Lord,

I do love you back! I love you with all that is in me. I love how you work.  I love to see your glory at work in others as well as in me.  I love your teaching that never fails to guide us to you.  By your love, cleanse my heart and make me holy before you.  Renew my mind and transform my behaviors daily.  Refresh my souls with your tender mercies. Restore the unending joy of your salvation at work continually in me.  Help me to love like you love me—relentlessly and unconditionally.  Simply love.

In Jesus Name, Amen

“The two most difficult things to get straight in life are love and God.  More often than not, the mess people make of their lives can be traced to failure or stupidity or meanness in one or both of these areas.

The basic and biblical Christian conviction is that the two subjects are intricately related.  If we want to deal with God the right ways, we have to learn to love the right way.  If we want to love the right way, we have to deal with God the right way.  God and love cannot be separated.

John’ three letters provide wonderfully explicit direction in how this works. Jesus the Messiah, is the focus:  Jesus provides the full and true understanding of God; Jesus shows us the mature working-out of love.  In Jesus, God and love are linked accurately, intricately, and indissolubly.

But there are always people around who don’t want to be pinned down to the God Jesus reveals, to the love Jesus reveals.  They want to make up their own idea of God, make up their own style of love.  John was a pastor to a church (churches) disrupted by some of these people.  In these letters we see him reestablishing the original and organic unity of God and love that comes to focus and becomes available to us in Jesus Christ.”  –Eugene Peterson, Introduction to John’s letters, The Message Bible

GOD IS LOVE—LOVE IS GOD

1 John 4, The Message

Don’t Believe Everything You Hear

4 My dear friends, don’t believe everything you hear. Carefully weigh and examine what people tell you. Not everyone who talks about God comes from God. There are a lot of lying preachers loose in the world.

^2-3 Here’s how you test for the genuine Spirit of God. Everyone who confesses openly his faith in Jesus Christ—the Son of God, who came as an actual flesh-and-blood person—comes from God and belongs to God. And everyone who refuses to confess faith in Jesus has nothing in common with God. This is the spirit of antichrist that you heard was coming. Well, here it is, sooner than we thought!

^4-6 My dear children, you come from God and belong to God. You have already won a big victory over those false teachers, for the Spirit in you is far stronger than anything in the world. These people belong to the Christ-denying world. They talk the world’s language and the world eats it up. But we come from God and belong to God. Anyone who knows God understands us and listens. The person who has nothing to do with God will, of course, not listen to us. This is another test for telling the Spirit of Truth from the spirit of deception.

God Is Love

^7-10 My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God.

^11-12 My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love!

^13-16 This is how we know we’re living steadily and deeply in him, and he in us: He’s given us life from his life, from his very own Spirit. Also, we’ve seen for ourselves and continue to state openly that the Father sent his Son as Savior of the world. Everyone who confesses that Jesus is God’s Son participates continuously in an intimate relationship with God. We know it so well, we’ve embraced it heart and soul, this love that comes from God.

To Love, to Be Loved

^17-18 God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we’re free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ’s. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love.

¹⁹ We, though, are going to love—love and be loved. First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first.

^20-21 If anyone boasts, “I love God,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both.

Lord,

I love you with all my heart, mind, and soul.  It is easy to love those who also love you.  Help me to love others, even my enemies, with your love guiding all I think, say, and do as I relate to you and to others.  May I love others like you love me so others will know you, too, by the love we share.

In Jesus Name, Amen

We often test human love for each other by keeping a mental record with a scorecard!  We keep score of all the good things others have done to make us happy and feel good as a measurement of their love for us.  We also keep a record, in detail, of all they said, did, or didn’t do to make us angry and sad.  We automatically measure love as deeds done.  But is this real love? 

Most times, we think God plays these human games of love as He relates to us.  But He does not.  He just loves—no matter what.  And what makes us think, as infallible humans that we could ever do enough?  We thank God that His love is not based on our sacrifices of good deeds to earn his love.  That’s not how God thinks.

John, “the beloved disciple” explains God’s real love in his letters to all believers, gathered in groups called churches.  God’s love goes deeper and is complete—more than human love can be that changes as often as feeling change on any given day.  God IS love.  God’s love is real, everlasting, and never changes.  His love does not depend on what we do for Him—He just loves us.  Even when we don’t “feel it”, God loves us.  When we are wandering and lost, God loves us as He waits for us to come near and love Him back!  God’s is faithful even when we are not.  This is the love of God in nutshell:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17.

“God demonstrates his own love for us in this: “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

1 John 3, The Message

What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we’re called children of God! That’s who we really are. But that’s also why the world doesn’t recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he’s up to.

^2-3 But friends, that’s exactly who we are: children of God. And that’s only the beginning. Who knows how we’ll end up! What we know is that when Christ is openly revealed, we’ll see him—and in seeing him, become like him. All of us who look forward to his Coming stay ready, with the glistening purity of Jesus’ life as a model for our own.

^4-6 All who indulge in a sinful life are dangerously lawless, for sin is a major disruption of God’s order. Surely you know that Christ showed up in order to get rid of sin. There is no sin in him, and sin is not part of his program. No one who lives deeply in Christ makes a practice of sin. None of those who do practice sin have taken a good look at Christ. They’ve got him all backward.

^7-8 So, my dear children, don’t let anyone divert you from the truth. It’s the person who acts right who is right, just as we see it lived out in our righteous Messiah. Those who make a practice of sin are straight from the Devil, the pioneer in the practice of sin. The Son of God entered the scene to abolish the Devil’s ways.

^9-10 People conceived and brought into life by God don’t make a practice of sin. How could they? God’s seed is deep within them, making them who they are. It’s not in the nature of the God-born to practice and parade sin. Here’s how you tell the difference between God’s children and the Devil’s children: The one who won’t practice righteous ways isn’t from God, nor is the one who won’t love brother or sister. A simple test.

* * *

¹¹ For this is the original message we heard: We should love each other.

^12-13 We must not be like Cain, who joined the Evil One and then killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because he was deep in the practice of evil, while the acts of his brother were righteous. So don’t be surprised, friends, when the world hates you. This has been going on a long time.

^14-15 The way we know we’ve been transferred from death to life is that we love our brothers and sisters. Anyone who doesn’t love is as good as dead. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know very well that eternal life and murder don’t go together.

^16-17 This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.

When We Practice Real Love

^18-20 My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love. This is the only way we’ll know we’re living truly, living in God’s reality. It’s also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves.

^21-24 And friends, once that’s taken care of and we’re no longer accusing or condemning ourselves, we’re bold and free before God! We’re able to stretch our hands out and receive what we asked for because we’re doing what he said, doing what pleases him. Again, this is God’s command: to believe in his personally named Son, Jesus Christ. He told us to love each other, in line with the original command. As we keep his commands, we live deeply and surely in him, and he lives in us. And this is how we experience his deep and abiding presence in us: by the Spirit he gave us.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

GOD IS LOVE—REAL LOVE. 

We love like God when we love each other as if our lives depended on it—because real life depends on loving each other without keep a tab or record of what others do for us!  We “make love a bad name” in the lives of those seeking real love! 

Paul wrote the crazy, confused about love Corinthians of God’s real love in detail:

“If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13, NIV

I’ve read the entire Bible many times.  I have learned that God simply wants us to love Him back with the same passion and intensity that He loves us.  Jesus reminded Peter of real love when He questioned Peter’s love for Him after denying Jesus.  Three times of denial prompted three questions real love as Jesus forgave Peter and reinstated him for his mission;

“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

¹⁶ Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

¹⁷ The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.” John 21:15-17, NIV

He might be asking you and I today, “Do you love Me?”

Our obedience to God is a way to express our real love for God.

Samuel, God’s chosen priest, explains to a confused human king—

“But Samuel replied, “What pleases the Lord more? Burnt offerings and sacrifices, or obeying the Lord? It is better to obey than to offer a sacrifice. It is better to do what he says than to offer the fat of rams.” 1 Samuel 15:22, NIRV

The measure of our love for God is expressing that love by doing what God says.  And what does He say first and most often?  1. Love God with all your heart, mind, and soul.  2. Love others like I have loved you.  According to Jesus, the Perfect Model of Obedience and Example of God’s Love, tells us that these are the top two commandments to follow as we love God back.  All others stem from these top two!

John further solidifies this truth with, “We love because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:17.  More about God’s real love tomorrow!  John is not finished with us yet as we embody the love of God in us!

Lord,

Your love is amazing, deep and wide, strong and relentless.  We sing of your love but do we embody your real love that drives us to do what you say— “love each other as I have loved you”?  May your love fill my heart, transform my mind, and restore my faith, hope, and love for you.  May the greatest of these be your real love in my heart for all people.

In Jesus Name, Amen

I had a working mom.  I was proud of my mom.  She did this work while other stay at home moms made her feel less than in her life.  She was an executive secretary for an oil company in Oklahoma City.  She gifted with knowing how to dress and how to behave that was appropriate for greeting clients, taking calls, typing on Selectrics at rapid speed, and running errands for her bosses while keeping track of all the salespeople and their orders.  How do I know? I watched her, in awe, at work one summer when I was invited to fill in at the front desk as a receptionist while on college break.  She taught me how to dress, the rules of business etiquette for greeting people and answering calls of prospective clients.  Teaching me what to do and how to do it gave me confidence to grow into the work and enjoy it. 

Back then, Mom didn’t know the term, “dress for success”, she just wanted to look nice.  At home she made sure every hair was in place and then hair sprayed heavily to keep her do intact!  She never walk out the door unless her ironed dress matched her shoes and purse, earrings and necklaces.  This was the early 70’s when business and other professionals were expected to dress in suits for the men and dresses for the ladies.  I began my teaching career with this dress code! Imagine now, teaching first graders in a dress, panty hose, and dress shoes!  Only later, would the dress codes relax. 

All this to say—who we proclaimed to be had to match what we did as we represented ourselves in dress and behaviors.  Our appearance, words, and look had to match who we said we were and served.

John has a word or two about matching.  We say we believe in Jesus; but is our belief matching our behaviors?  Do our behaviors more consistently match His as we grow in our relationship with Him?  Will others know immediately who we belong to by observing how we think, what we say, and what we do? 

1 John 2, The Message

^1-2 I write this, dear children, to guide you out of sin. But if anyone does sin, we have a Priest-Friend in the presence of the Father: Jesus Christ, righteous Jesus. When he served as a sacrifice for our sins, he solved the sin problem for good—not only ours, but the whole world’s.

The Only Way to Know We’re in Him

^2-3 Here’s how we can be sure that we know God in the right way: Keep his commandments.

^4-6 If someone claims, “I know him well!” but doesn’t keep his commandments, he’s obviously a liar. His life doesn’t match his words. But the one who keeps God’s word is the person in whom we see God’s mature love. This is the only way to be sure we’re in God. Anyone who claims to be intimate with God ought to live the same kind of life Jesus lived.

^7-8 My dear friends, I’m not writing anything new here. This is the oldest commandment in the book, and you’ve known it from day one. It’s always been implicit in the Message you’ve heard. On the other hand, perhaps it is new, freshly minted as it is in both Christ and you—the darkness fading away and the True Light already blazing!

^9-11 Anyone who claims to live in God’s light and hates a brother or sister is still in the dark. It’s the person who loves brother and sister who dwells in God’s light and doesn’t block the light from others. But whoever hates is still in the dark, stumbles around in the dark, doesn’t know which end is up, blinded by the darkness.

Loving the World

^12-13 I remind you, my dear children: Your sins are forgiven in Jesus’ name. You veterans were in on the ground floor, and know the One who started all this; you newcomers have won a big victory over the Evil One.

^13-14 And a second reminder, dear children: You know the Father from personal experience. You veterans know the One who started it all; and you newcomers—such vitality and strength! God’s word is so steady in you. Your fellowship with God enables you to gain a victory over the Evil One.

^15-17 Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity.

Antichrists Everywhere You Look

¹⁸ Children, time is just about up. You heard that Antichrist is coming. Well, they’re all over the place, antichrists everywhere you look. That’s how we know that we’re close to the end.

¹⁹ They left us, but they were never really with us. If they had been, they would have stuck it out with us, loyal to the end. In leaving, they showed their true colors, showed they never did belong.

^20-21 But you belong. The Holy One anointed you, and you all know it. I haven’t been writing this to tell you something you don’t know, but to confirm the truth you do know, and to remind you that the truth doesn’t breed lies.

^22-23 So who is lying here? It’s the person who denies that Jesus is the Divine Christ, that’s who. This is what makes an antichrist: denying the Father, denying the Son. No one who denies the Son has any part with the Father, but affirming the Son is an embrace of the Father as well.

^24-25 Stay with what you heard from the beginning, the original message. Let it sink into your life. If what you heard from the beginning lives deeply in you, you will live deeply in both Son and Father. This is exactly what Christ promised: eternal life, real life!

^26-27 I’ve written to warn you about those who are trying to deceive you. But they’re no match for what is embedded deeply within you—Christ’s anointing, no less! You don’t need any of their so-called teaching. Christ’s anointing teaches you the truth on everything you need to know about yourself and him, uncontaminated by a single lie. Live deeply in what you were taught.

Live Deeply in Christ

²⁸ And now, children, stay with Christ. Live deeply in Christ. Then we’ll be ready for him when he appears, ready to receive him with open arms, with no cause for red-faced guilt or lame excuses when he arrives.

²⁹ Once you’re convinced that he is right and righteous, you’ll recognize that all who practice righteousness are God’s true children.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

We are God’s children all because of Jesus’ work of redemption on the cross.  John teaches that “once we are convinced that Jesus is Savior and Lord of all that right and righteous”, then we will more readily recognize all who practice what is right as God’s true children. 

Our behaviors match who we say we believe.  So, who do we believe with all our hearts, minds, and souls? Under pressure, our true faith comes out!  In good times do we praise and thank God?  In hard, challenging times, do we trust God and still thank and praise Him?  Is all we think, say, and do in Jesus Name for His glory?

We are human and we fail but God knows and loves us faithfully.  His love never quits, never fails, or runs out for us.  God provided His One and Only Son to us as the Way to forgiveness for sins now and later.  And not just ours, like John says, but for the whole world!  Jesus stands ready as our Advocate/High Priest/Savior as He presents us to God for forgiveness with the assurance that all will be well and set right with God to those who ask and believe!  Yes!

Then when “it is well with our souls” we live as redeemed children of God!  We grow in the characteristics that Jesus taught with the promised and delivered help of His “live in” Counselor, God’s Holy Spirit.  His Holy Spirit lives within us.  He guides us to all that is true and right.  His Spirit convicts when we are wrong, comforts when life gets hard, consoles us when attacked, challenges and confirms decisions to walk in God’s ways, and supplies us with words to say and pray as we relate to others and to God in Jesus Name!  Listen to Him!  Only then can our belief in Jesus match our behaviors—so others will know Him, too!  Goals.

Paul tells us how to “dress” to match who we believe with our desire to imitate—

“Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.” Romans 13:14

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” Colossians 3:12-15

Lord,

You have provided all we need to follow you, be forgiven by you, with the promise of life eternal.  There is no one like you!  I believe.  I’m listening.  I trust you with my life for you are Life!  Cleanse my heart, renew my mind, refresh me soul and restore daily the joy of your salvation at work within me so that who I believe matches by behaviors.

In Jesus Name, Amen

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.” Genesis 1:1-3 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:1-5, NIV

“Way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper
Light in the darkness
My God, that is who You are…”

John, the beloved disciple of Jesus, left everything behind to follow Him wherever He took them.  John traveled on dusty roads from town to town with Jesus.  John listened and learned intently while observing miracles of healing and restoration.  He witnessed a compassion and love he had never seen in this Son of Man/Son of God that embodied Jesus.  He studied Jesus in wonder over a three-year span of his life as he walked and talked with Him.  John’s gospel telling oozes with the love of Jesus, reflecting the love of God.  Jesus was the Light to a dark world. 

Now John writes a few more letters to remind people of the Light in the darkness, the Perfect Love of God, with the true witness of the walking around Word who gave Life to all who believe. 

1 John 1, The Message

^1-2 From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in—we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands. The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we’re telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us.

^3-4 We saw it, we heard it, and now we’re telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy!

Walk in the Light

⁵ This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on to you: God is light, pure light; there’s not a trace of darkness in him.

^6-7 If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we’re obviously lying through our teeth—we’re not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purges all our sin.

^8-10 If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—simply come clean about them—he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we’ve never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Jesus was the Word who became flesh, born of a virgin, raised by devout, believing Jews in obedience to the Law and to his parents.  Jesus was sent from heaven to earth to move into the neighborhood of humanity to seek and save the lost who had all but forgotten their Creator, God the Father.  Everything changed when Jesus came to earth to love, serve, heal and forgive with willingness to do His Father’s will and fulfill God’s plan of sacrifice—to lay down His life to pay for our sins and set us free.  Redemption is  gift to us at the cost of God’s One and Only Son.

How will we respond to the Gift of Salvation?

Our response is personal and requires careful, prayerful thought: 

Do I really believe God and what He says about Jesus, His Son, to be really real?  Even for me now?

Do I want an intimate personal relationship with the God who created me in my mother’s womb, knows my heart and my thoughts even before I do—along with how many hairs are on my head at any given moment?

Do I seek peace that only Jesus can give? 

Is inner, inexhaustible joy from knowing and believing Jesus, that John speaks of, really possible—in all circumstances?

Do I need and want a love that never fails, never gives up on me, and never runs out? 

Do I want this love to permeate my being so I can take joy in loving others like Jesus loves me?

Do I want the responsibility to tell others of Jesus so they can know Him, too?

After careful, prayerful thought and the answer is yes to all the above, it’s time to tell Jesus that you believe, repent of sins to him, be forgiven of those sins and be saved for life. It’s time to accept the compassion gift of God who “so loved the world” that He sent His Son into the world as light in the darkness to shine the Way back to God. It’s time to say yes to Jesus who removes all sins and the guilt from carrying those heavy sins around as bulky baggage upon our being and be set free!  It is time to say yes to God’s Holy Spirit daily as He transforms us into all He created us to be and do.

John is just getting started.  He takes time as a pastor of churches who are confused about the love of God to explain Love and God—you can’t have one without the other! 

Stay tuned!

Lord,

Thank you for the Word that fills our hearts, changes our minds, and fills our souls with your peace and joy.  Thank you for not giving up on me. Thank you for guiding me to Truth daily by our Teacher, Your Holy Spirit, who lives in us.  Thank you for loving us the way you do while demonstrating that love in real life that leads us to eternal Life.  Thank for being that Light in the darkness that illuminates Truth.

In Jesus Name, Amen

“Way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper
Light in the darkness
My God, that is who You are…”

As kids in the back seat traveling to anywhere, long trips, or short trips across town to our grandparents’ house of love and fun, we pleaded and whined, “When are we going to get there?”  We trusted the driver to know exactly how many miles and minutes it would take to get where we were going, even though time doesn’t mean much to children.  Sometimes, there were stops along the way that would lengthen the journey.  Flat tires, hunger, potty stops, detours, were some of those things that hindered the journey.  But we took in stride, with a little whining, and looked forward to our destination.  We couldn’t wait to get out the car that was overcrowded with stuff for the trip while sitting in cramped quarters.  We looked forward to the wide open spaces of grandpa and grandma’s farm or discovering new places we had never before seen. The trip was worth the arrival!

Peter, who got his information from Jesus, tells us to stay alert with undistracted attention on the Driver of life on earth who determines our rest stops, detours, and places to find nourishment along our brief journey.  “Soon” we arrive in a spectacular place—our final destination. We are promised no more tears, whining, sadness, or troubles—only unspeakable joy, unending love, and peace with extreme gratitude for the Driver who brough us there!  So, we ask, “When are we going to get there?”  But that is not for us to know or worry about.  Only God knows.  Trust the Driver, He’ll get us where we need to be at just the right time.  In the meantime, we keep our eyes on the Driver and enjoy the ride!

2 Peter 3, The Message

In the Last Days

^1-2 My dear friends, this is now the second time I’ve written to you, both letters reminders to hold your minds in a state of undistracted attention. Keep in mind what the holy prophets said, and the command of our Master and Savior that was passed on by your apostles.

^3-4 First off, you need to know that in the last days, mockers are going to have a heyday. Reducing everything to the level of their petty feelings, they’ll mock, “So what’s happened to the promise of his Coming? Our ancestors are dead and buried, and everything’s going on just as it has from the first day of creation. Nothing’s changed.”

^5-7 They conveniently forget that long ago all the galaxies and this very planet were brought into existence out of watery chaos by God’s word. Then God’s word brought the chaos back in a flood that destroyed the world. The current galaxies and earth are fuel for the final fire. God is poised, ready to speak his word again, ready to give the signal for the judgment and destruction of the desecrating skeptics.

The Day the Sky Will Collapse

^8-9 Don’t overlook the obvious here, friends. With God, one day is as good as a thousand years, a thousand years as a day. God isn’t late with his promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn’t want anyone lost. He’s giving everyone space and time to change.

¹⁰ But when the Day of God’s Judgment does come, it will be unannounced, like a thief. The sky will collapse with a thunderous bang, everything disintegrating in a raging inferno, earth and all its works exposed to the scrutiny of Judgment.

^11-13 Since everything here today might well be gone tomorrow, do you see how essential it is to live a holy life? Daily expect the Day of God, eager for its arrival. The galaxies will burn up and the elements melt down that day—but we’ll hardly notice. We’ll be looking the other way, ready for the promised new heavens and the promised new earth, all landscaped with righteousness.

* * *

^14-16 So, my dear friends, since this is what you have to look forward to, do your very best to be found living at your best, in purity and peace. Interpret our Master’s patient restraint for what it is: salvation. Our good brother Paul, who was given much wisdom in these matters, refers to this in all his letters, and has written you essentially the same thing. Some things Paul writes are difficult to understand. Irresponsible people who don’t know what they are talking about twist them every which way. They do it to the rest of the Scriptures, too, destroying themselves as they do it.

^17-18 But you, friends, are well-warned. Be on guard lest you lose your footing and get swept off your feet by these lawless and loose-talking teachers. Grow in grace and understanding of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Glory to the Master, now and forever! Yes!

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

It is after reading this that most preachers ask, “Are you ready for that DAY when Jesus comes back to judge the living and the dead?”  Good question.  If you are ready, then your question is, “When are we going to get there?!”  Like Paul, who Peter quoted as being wise in these things, we are inclined to agree; “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21) 

Paul explains the tension between earth now but heaven bound as he looks forward to living eternally with Jesus, the Savior and Lord of his life—

“I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For me to live is Christ, to die is gain! If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me.” Philippians 1:20-26, NIV

May we respond with Kingdom of God thinking that matures with our growing relationship with God through Jesus, our Lord and Savior.  Live expectantly because of the Hope given to us by Jesus who rose again to live forever.  Live gratefully knowing that Jesus sits on the throne beside God who’s desires that no one be left out to be lost in darkness forever!  As Peter reminds us, “He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn’t want anyone lost. He’s giving everyone space and time to change.” 

Believe and be saved forever. 

Focus on the Driver. 

Relax on the journey.  He knows where we are headed.  He will get us through all the detours until we reach our final destination.  This is the Blessed Assurance that lessens the blows of troubles and circumstances now that are temporary.

Tell others to get on board!

Lord,

Help us to lighten the load of earth stuff to make more room for you in our hearts.  Equip us to readily love, show mercy, and humbly serve others while pointing the Way to You.  Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, refresh our souls with your tender mercies, and restore the joy and peace of your salvation work in us. Lord, you called out to me.  I’m listening, and I’m coming along with you.

In Jesus Name, Amen

Truth. We all seek what is real, true, and dependable.  We know we won’t get all the truth from salespersons whose goal is selling to make a living for his family.  They tell us only what will make the sale most times.  But the time they are finished with their “pitch” we are mixed up and confused about the benefits of the product and forgot why we came in!  Yes, it is hard to find an honest person but not impossible.  Randy and I have learned to pray before we buy, asking God’s guidance to the right person to help us make the right decision.  Before going, we carefully look over products, reviews by others who are using them, study what it can and cannot do, before buying it.  It takes more work but so worth getting what you need while avoiding the deceit of showmanship.  When times are hard, truth gets even harder to recognize, so to avoid being confused, we research even more diligently. 

From past experiences, it is hard to get Truth from most politicians, lawyers and even some doctors.  They are taught by other professional spinners of truth, how to tell people only what they want to know to get elected or provide a service for kickbacks to their bank accounts.  Spinners can even change your mind about what you saw and heard that was truth by invent another scenario to believe for the advantage of their clients!  So, we must look more closely.  If it is possible, we wish to go behind the scenes to look for demonstrations of good character on any given day when no one is looking or posing for a photo op for promotion.  But that is not always possible.  We must be alert, do the research, and pray for wisdom and discernment as we seek Truth.

Peter warns us about those among believers who know enough Truth to be dangerous.  I have known some people who have displayed these characteristics and watched God deal with them. Most recently was a charismatic pastor who delivered thoughtful messages but his life reflected his real motives and desires for himself.  His deceitful actions produced many “mixed up and confused followers” that Peter describes in his warning to us.  What Peter writes seems harsh but still very relevant today.

2 Peter 2, The Message

Lying Religious Leaders

^1-2 But there were also lying prophets among the people then, just as there will be lying religious teachers among you. They’ll smuggle in destructive divisions, pitting you against each other—biting the hand of the One who gave them a chance to have their lives back! They’ve put themselves on a fast downhill slide to destruction, but not before they recruit a crowd of mixed-up followers who can’t tell right from wrong.

^2-3 They give the way of truth a bad name. They’re only out for themselves. They’ll say anything, anything, that sounds good to exploit you. They won’t, of course, get by with it. They’ll come to a bad end, for God has never just stood by and let that kind of thing go on.

^4-5 God didn’t let the rebel angels off the hook, but jailed them in hell till Judgment Day. Neither did he let the ancient ungodly world off. He wiped it out with a flood, rescuing only eight people—Noah, the sole voice of righteousness, was one of them.

^6-8 God decreed destruction for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. A mound of ashes was all that was left—grim warning to anyone bent on an ungodly life. But that good man Lot, driven nearly out of his mind by the sexual filth and perversity, was rescued. Surrounded by moral rot day after day after day, that righteous man was in constant torment.

⁹ So God knows how to rescue the godly from evil trials. And he knows how to hold the feet of the wicked to the fire until Judgment Day.

Predators on the Prowl

^10-11 God is especially incensed against these “teachers” who live by lust, addicted to a filthy existence. They despise interference from true authority, preferring to indulge in self-rule. Insolent egotists, they don’t hesitate to speak evil against the most splendid of creatures. Even angels, their superiors in every way, wouldn’t think of throwing their weight around like that, trying to slander others before God.

^12-14 These people are nothing but brute beasts, born in the wild, predators on the prowl. In the very act of bringing down others with their ignorant blasphemies, they themselves will be brought down, losers in the end. Their evil will boomerang on them. They’re so despicable and addicted to pleasure that they indulge in wild parties, carousing in broad daylight. They’re obsessed with adultery, compulsive in sin, seducing every vulnerable soul they come upon. Their specialty is greed, and they’re experts at it. Dead souls!

^15-16 They’ve left the main road and are directionless, having taken the way of Balaam, son of Beor, the prophet who turned profiteer, a connoisseur of evil. But Balaam was stopped in his wayward tracks: A dumb animal spoke in a human voice and prevented the prophet’s craziness.

^17-19 There’s nothing to these people—they’re dried-up fountains, storm-scattered clouds, headed for a black hole in hell. They are loudmouths, full of hot air, but still they’re dangerous. Men and women who have recently escaped from a deviant life are most susceptible to their brand of seduction. They promise these newcomers freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption, for if they’re addicted to corruption—and they are—they’re enslaved.

^20-22 If they’ve escaped from the slum of sin by experiencing our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ, and then slid back into that same old life again, they’re worse than if they had never left. Better not to have started out on the straight road to God than to start out and then turn back, repudiating the experience and the holy command. They prove the point of the proverbs, “A dog goes back to its own vomit” and “A scrubbed-up pig heads for the mud.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

God is Truth.  Jesus, His Son is Truth and demonstrated Truth in action. God cannot and does not lie.  God will tell us the whole Truth, nothing but the Truth—even if it hurts—so we can be restored to Truth and live abundantly.  Knowing and living the Truth truly sets us free!

Here are a few Truth statements from the Living and Active Word of Truth:

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

“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” 1 John 1:8

“Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” 1 John 3:18

“We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood”. 1 John 4:6

“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” 3 John 1:4

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15

“Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,” Ephesians 6:14

“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” Exodus 20:16

“He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.” James 1:18

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth”. John 1:14

“For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” John 1:17

“God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” John 4:24

“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” John 16:13

“The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.” Proverbs 12:22

“Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” Psalm 25:5

“Teach me your way, LORD, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.” Psalm 86:11

“All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.” Psalm 119:160

“The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” Psalm 145:18

“You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”  “What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him.” John 18:37-38

“To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-6

We must respond by knowing Truth and living Truth so others will see Truth in us.  When they ask, we point them, not to us, but to Jesus who is Truth!

Max Lucado helps us to understand how to tell the difference between Truth and a Liar who misrepresents Truth—

“Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many”, Jesus preached. (Matthew 24:4–5). Note the twofold appearance of the word many. Many deceived and many deceivers. Churches are petri dishes for self-serving egomaniacs who masquerade as ministers of God. They will do so “in his name,” claiming a special status, a superior spirituality. They boast of insider information and adorn their teaching with phrases like “God told me,” “God spoke to me,” “God led me,” They present themselves as religious gurus, code breakers, members of an inner circle, implying that they have access to knowledge unavailable to the common person. Some even position themselves as Jesus himself, “claiming, ‘I am the Messiah’” (Matthew 24:5).

Filter all messages and messengers through these verses: “Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also” (1John 2:22–23). False prophets always minimize the role of Christ and maximize the role of humanity. Be doctrinally diligent. Stick to one question—is this person directing listeners to Jesus? If the answer is yes, be grateful and pray for that individual. If the answer is no, get out while you still can.

Do you listen to preachers passively? Do you find yourself assuming the preacher is correct? Listen actively. No matter how good the message seems, compare it with the Bible. Find out what God says on the topic. –Lucado, Encouraging Word Bible

Seek Truth.  Believe Truth and be saved for eternity.

Lord,

What a God you are that we can trust to be Truth in every part of our lives!  Help us avoid the mix-up and confusion by meditating on your Word while praying for discernment.  I believe and trust you with my life because you are Life!  Thank you for setting us straight when we are perplexed by what others hold to be “their truth.”  Truth is fully you and only you!

In Jesus Name, Amen

“He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.’  The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.  Psalm 46:10-11

Randy and I grew up in the same church, sat in the same Sunday School class, attended and participated together in youth group, but we didn’t really KNOW each other. We only knew OF each other.  Later in high school, we both suddenly had a strong desire to know each other more.  We began dating and love blossomed and grew.

Throughout the dating days, this love led us to wanting to please each other in as many ways as we could think of because of that love factor.  It was fun to leave notes, give small gifts, or do something we knew the other one would like.  We watched and listened for clues of what was pleasing to each other as we got to know each other better.  It was a joy to do things that put smiles on our faces.  We began to know more about each other that even our families didn’t know because we shared our thoughts in long conversations—like best friends like to do. 

After we were married, we learned even more because of the intimate, personal relationship with each other that continued to build and grow stronger each day.  This “knowing” is personal and forms a strong bond.  Pleasing each other comes from knowing what each other desires most in life.  Helping each other achieve their goals comes from this truly supportive relationship.  As believers, we knew that how we treated each other would also be pleasing to God who created us to be still and know Him. 

To be still before God is to let go of world thinking and listen to what God thinks.  To know God is in this listening and is highly personal, intimately loving and absolutely essential to pleasing God and vital to our healthy, growing relationship with God!  

Peter reminds us that he was personally invited on the mountain by Jesus to see God’s glory at work!  “We saw it with our own eyes!”  Peter knows and believes Jesus!  Peter now passes on the “miraculous gift of pleasing God” by knowing and believing in His Son, Jesus Christ. 

Peter 1, The Message

^1-2 I, Simon Peter, am a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ. I write this to you whose experience with God is as life-changing as ours, all due to our God’s straight dealing and the intervention of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Grace and peace to you many times over as you deepen in your experience with God and Jesus, our Master.

Don’t Put It Off

^3-4 Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you—your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust.

^5-9 So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can’t see what’s right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books.

^10-11 So, friends, confirm God’s invitation to you, his choice of you. Don’t put it off; do it now. Do this, and you’ll have your life on a firm footing, the streets paved and the way wide open into the eternal kingdom of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The One Light in a Dark Time

^12-15 Because the stakes are so high, even though you’re up-to-date on all this truth and practice it inside and out, I’m not going to let up for a minute in calling you to attention before it. This is the post to which I’ve been assigned—keeping you alert with frequent reminders—and I’m sticking to it as long as I live. I know that I’m to die soon; the Master has made that quite clear to me. And so I am especially eager that you have all this down in black and white so that after I die, you’ll have it for ready reference.

^16-18 We weren’t, you know, just wishing on a star when we laid the facts out before you regarding the powerful return of our Master, Jesus Christ. We were there for the preview! We saw it with our own eyes: Jesus resplendent with light from God the Father as the voice of Majestic Glory spoke: “This is my Son, marked by my love, focus of all my delight.” We were there on the holy mountain with him. We heard the voice out of heaven with our very own ears.

^19-21 We couldn’t be more sure of what we saw and heard—God’s glory, God’s voice. The prophetic Word was confirmed to us. You’ll do well to keep focusing on it. It’s the one light you have in a dark time as you wait for daybreak and the rising of the Morning Star in your hearts. The main thing to keep in mind here is that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of private opinion. And why? Because it’s not something concocted in the human heart. Prophecy resulted when the Holy Spirit prompted men and women to speak God’s Word.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.  Hebrews 11:6, NIV

Peter, who walked and talked with Jesus for three years, learned what pleases God directly from His Son.  God’s promises are our tickets to participation in the Life of God!  “So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love,” Peter writes.

After Jesus’ resurrection, He made various appearances to his disciples.  I love the time Jesus surprised them with building a fire on the beach to make breakfast for them as they returned from catching nothing after fishing.  If this sounds familiar, it is!  This is how Peter met Jesus the first time!

Fishing, is what Peter did all his life. Fishing is what he felt comfortable doing when he didn’t know what else to do.  After Jesus’ death and resurrection, the disciples were told to wait for the Holy Spirit. Peter couldn’t just wait.  He was the first to suggest fishing…so other fishermen followed him. 

But soon, Jesus came and began a fire so he could prepare breakfast for his friends.  He shouted from the beach; “Catch anything?  Cast your nets on the other side…” (Sound familiar?)  Peter recognized who it was and was the first into dive into the sea and swim to His Master.  After eating a breakfast of fresh fish, Jesus leaned in and personally asked Peter, “Do you love me?” Jesus asked this question, not once, but three times.  Peter began to squirm and seem irritated the second time.  On the third time, Peter answered, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you”!  Peter who denied Jesus three times in a panic, was forgiven.  Jesus reminded Peter of their loving, personal relationship that had not changed. Jesus reinstated Peter with clarity for his mission. 

Jesus counter responses to Peter’s answers: “Feed my lambs,” “Take care of my sheep, and Feed my sheep.”  (See John 21) The conversation seems redundant to us but each commanding response solidified Jesus original plan for Simon Peter. “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18)

Our response is to believe, really believe that what God says is really real.  Believe by returning the love He has for us back to Him.  Tell Him you love him often—as you would a best friend or family member.  He is our Father, we are his children!  He delights in us, sings over us, protect us, provides all we need, and loves to hear from us.  His Word to us is full of promises that cannot fail!  Trust what He says and obey because of our reciprocal love. Talk to God and wait to listen.  Seek a relationship with the One who loves us most.  He does not disappoint! 

“So, friends, confirm God’s invitation to you, his choice of you. Don’t put it off; do it now. Do this, and you’ll have your life on a firm footing, the streets paved and the way wide open into the eternal kingdom of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ.”

Lord,

Thank you for your unfailing love. Thank you for being with us always.  Thank you for saving us and setting us free to develop your character traits by the help of Your Holy Spirit who guides us in all we think, say, and do.  I love you, Lord, with all my heart, mind, and soul.  To you be the glory!

In Jesus Name, Amen

Some people are “natural born” leaders.  We notice readily who the leader is of any group that gathers for any purpose.  This begins early in life.  Walk into the church nursery and you will observe toddlers vie for the leadership position as they declare to other toddlers the game that is to be played by their rules and direction.  “You stand here, you sit there, you hold this, you go get this…all these phrases come the lips of little ones who demand their way.  If the other “followers” do not comply they throw a fit, push, shove, or yell until an adult quickly comes over to teach them how to lead, follow, care and share in more loving, kind ways.  We can learn a lot by watching what happens in the nursery!

I grew up around church leaders all my life.  I even became one.  What I discovered is that an effective leader is a diligent learner.  They learn from other leaders’ experiences and wisdom.  They learn and listen to leaders and fellow followers as they point the Way to God through Jesus.  They read and study God’s Word daily, seeking wisdom. They look for other leaders among the followers and begin to pour their lives into those who God calls to be leaders, too.  But they do this without showing favoritism or neglecting the rest of the “flock.”   They pray consistently, without ceasing, as they seek God’s direction in His work even if it disappoints the followers for the moment until God’s leading is evident to them.  Church leaders called of God seek to please God first. 

True, humble, honest leaders, called of God, take their cue from Jesus, The Master Teacher who led his followers—with compassion, patience, kindness, and unconditional love. Peter was one of those “natural born” leaders who had to be nurtured, specifically guided, and carefully shaped to lead like Jesus led him.  Now he passes these leadership truths to us…

1 Peter 5, The Message

He’ll Promote You at the Right Time

^1-3 I have a special concern for you church leaders. I know what it’s like to be a leader, in on Christ’s sufferings as well as the coming glory. Here’s my concern: that you care for God’s flock with all the diligence of a shepherd. Not because you have to, but because you want to please God. Not calculating what you can get out of it, but acting spontaneously. Not bossily telling others what to do, but tenderly showing them the way.

^4-5 When God, who is the best shepherd of all, comes out in the open with his rule, he’ll see that you’ve done it right and commend you lavishly. And you who are younger must follow your leaders. But all of you, leaders and followers alike, are to be down to earth with each other, for—

God has had it with the proud,
But takes delight in just plain people.

^6-7 So be content with who you are, and don’t put on airs. God’s strong hand is on you; he’ll promote you at the right time. Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you.

He Gets the Last Word

^8-11 Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up. You’re not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It’s the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won’t last forever. It won’t be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does.

¹² I’m sending this brief letter to you by Silas, a most dependable brother. I have the highest regard for him.

I’ve written as urgently and accurately as I know how. This is God’s generous truth; embrace it with both arms!

^13-14 The church in exile here with me—but not for a moment forgotten by God—wants to be remembered to you. Mark, who is like a son to me, says hello. Give holy hugs all around! Peace to you—to all who walk in Christ’s ways.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE REPOND?

I also learned from my failures and by the mistakes of others around me who led for all the wrong reasons guided by inner motives of self-importance.  “Pride comes before a fall” Proverbs 16:18 warns us and it is certainly true.  We easily fall for pride!  When our motives are shaded by pride, we forget who we belong to and soon ignore the King of our hearts.  We rely on those who look up to us to not only massage our egos, but to do what we want done.  Relying on human effort alone will surely lead to a fall that is hard to overcome unless we surrender completely to God in Jesus Name. 

Peter knew and grew from his own failures of rapid fire—shoot from the hip—responses to “fix” any given situation.  His “just do it” without thinking first attitude resulted in calamity instead of compassion.  Jesus forgave a repentant Peter.  He taught Simon Peter to think and act more like Him.  This is evident in Peter’s teaching to us.  Peter is “in the know” of what it takes to be a leader because he was trained and schooled by the Master Teacher!

Trust Peter’s words to us today given to him by Jesus;

Care for people as you show them the Way because of your desire to please God, not for pleasing your ego.

Be humble, not pride filled and “fancy like that” of the world!

Be content with who you are—child of God.

Keep a cool head and stay alert to what God wants.

Keep a firm grip on the faith—no matter what!

Jesus is the Leader of all!  He is the Cornerstone upon whom we as His church build our lives upon.  He is King of kings, Lord of lords, who gets the last word.

Lord,

Cleanse our hearts of all that does not please you.  Renew our minds to think more like you with your Holy Spirit helping us.  Refresh our souls with your tender mercies and unfailing love.  Restore the joy and peace of your salvation work within us.  Remind us who we are daily—brothers and sisters—joint heirs with you, dear Jesus.

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen—Yes!