1 John_3

Scripture  1 John 3:23-24 

This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.  The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. Observation-What does it say?   John, the Apostle and friend of Jesus, is the author of this short letter.  He had two purposes in mind to address with the readers: to expose false teachers and to give believers assurance in their salvation.  The church he wrote this letter to was experiencing a form of gnosticism, which is the blending of other beliefs or religions with the Gospel.  We know from other parts of scripture, the devil lies to us and wants to steal our life (John 10:10).  Gnosticism is one of his tricks to steal the truth of the Gospel.  In chapter three, John points to the evidence of our faith and how our actions show our alignment with God or the devil.  The love of others is proof of our devotion to and love of God.  But, the practice of sin and lawlessness is evidence of abiding in the devil. Understanding-What does it mean?  I’ve never been a big fan of magic shows, mostly because I can’t figure out how they perform the tricks.  The slight of hand, or distraction they use, makes the audience look one way, while they are moving something out of view.  But, it’s all happening right in front of you.  I realize that is part of the show, and they use deception to make the trick work.  To make it worse, magicians aren’t fond of telling you their secrets.  They lie to you and somehow make you enjoy it at the same time.  But as they say, “the devil is in the details.”The devil will work to deceive us in any way he can, including telling us a lie that sounds right.  He tells us lies like “love is love,” or “addiction is a disease,” making the decisions of people a product of “how they were made.”  But God gave us clear standards on our behavior (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).  Along with these standards, God shows us that he is the one who saves us from our sins and makes us whole with him (1 Corinthians 10:13-22).  Which is why the way we treat others, with love and compassion, is so important and one of the best ways to minister to others.  Additionally, the actions of love and caring help us to focus our intentions on serving Him and keep us away from sin.  
Life Application 

Jesus, help me to turn away from sin.  Give me a discerning heart to know good from evil.  Help me to keep my words full of grace and truth, and my actions prompted out of love for you in a way that professes your name.        

 

-Tyler Galloway

Ezekiel_18

Scripture - What stood out?Ezekiel 18:4 For everyone belongs to me, the parent as well as the child—both alike belong to me. The one who sins is the one who will die.Observation - What does it say?Ezekiel chapter eighteen is an explanation of God through his prophet on just exactly how people will be judged by him. God lays out a very full explanation for the righteous person who turns to him will be saved, regardless of what the parent or the child does. And that the sinful person will die...regardless of what the parent or child does.Understanding - What does it mean?Doesn’t that suck?Essentially God is saying that we are powerless to save our loved ones! Right? I mean we can try as hard as we can to convince, cajole, and coax a person into giving their lives to Jesus but at the end of the day if their hearts are not right with God there is nothing we can do about it. How did my christian mom feel when she knew she had to let me choose between God...or not. 

I often think about my relationship with my mom, from the perspective of the widower single parent who continued to raise me. I often wonder when the right time to draw that line between child and adult should have been for me. I wonder where her responsibility for my salvation began and ended. I think for any parent or child who has family that are still lost sheep this is a source of great conflict. Where are the lines drawn between messenger of God, parent, child, family member and individual? When is enough enough? When is what you have done too little? Life Application - How can I apply this to my life today?Ezekiel 18:20 The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.Lord as you have made it clear to me that we all have individual relationships with you I pray for wisdom and guidance. I pray that you help me to know when to press down on the gas and start feeding my loved ones as many bible verses as they can handle. I pray that you teach me when to just be there for them. Show me Lord how to teach others how to have relationship with you. And show me Lord, how to let go.  In the name of Jesus do I pray. Amen. 

1 John___1

Scripture

1 John 1:5-6

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.

 

Observation

John’s reason for writing this letter is clear: to bring unbelievers into a relationship with God. However, the way he goes about this is very direct, and somewhat challenges those who consider themselves to be believers. He simply begins his letter by stating who God is, and who we should therefore be in Him.

 

Understanding

I’m going to be really honest with you guys: I read those verses and felt really convicted. Am I living a life worthy of the light? I want to be living in truth and walking in that truth every single day, but John makes me reconsider. I think he makes me reconsider this because he makes the distinction super clear. He reminds us that fellowship with God means turning from the thing that God deems darkness. It means taking up our cross and bearing it daily. It means that despite falling short, we come to Him and ask for forgiveness anyway. All these things considered, his use of language still makes me feel like a phony. I know that I fall short and that I am by no means perfect, which makes looking at these verse so difficult, but here’s what I also realize.

Brokenness is what allows light to flood in.

My brokenness allows for light to flood through my cracks. That despite having these cracks and mistakes God still chooses to partner with me to accomplish His will. My job is not to be perfect, but rather choose to have fellowship and communion with God. John uses this strong wording on purpose. He wants us to realize that despite the brokenness we give to God, He is still light that overpowers darkness. This way, I too, cans shine like the one who sent me.

 

Life Application

How do we have fellowship and communion with God?  It’s easy! Read His word, and talk to Him daily. But I want to take it step further by saying communing with God’s people is also fellowship with the heart of the Father. He doesn’t ask us to keep our light to ourself, but rather share with others so that we can shine even brighter in a dark world around us. That being said watch our livestream on Sundays at 10:17, it is a great way to connect with God’s people while staying safe.

-Allison Khan

PS If you come at 10:00, you get to see some fun stuff :)