1 John 1 - 6.1.26

SCRIPTURE

1 John 1:5-10 

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

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

OBSERVATION

The book of 1 John was a letter written to Early Church Believers to warn them of heresies that were being spread during the late first century. The Apostle John directly addresses and opposes the belief of gnosticism, the denial of the humanity of Christ, and antinomianism, the belief that Believers do not have to live holy lives. This passage lays out the gospel message that the blood of Jesus Christ and the sacrifice of His body are what purifies mankind from sin, and gives us fellowship with God and each other. As Romans 3:23 states, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. Every human being is in desperate need of God’s mercy through His Son, Jesus Christ. When we accept Christ’s sacrifice, we are declaring to Him that we have sinned and will no longer walk in sin and darkness.  

APPLICATION

After salvation, we are walking in fellowship with God in the light and following His leading. Although our obedience does not save us, it is the response of the finished work of Christ on the cross. Believers will make mistakes but should not live in sin. As John mentions in a later chapter, that we have an advocate with the Father, who is Jesus, 1 John 2:1. True repentance comes with a change of the heart, but first we must confess where we fall short.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, I thank You for your sacrifice and love for us. I thank You for Your Word and the clarity of who You are, that is revealed through scripture. Thank You for being my advocate when I sin. It was You who lifted me out of darkness and embraced me to be in fellowship with You and the rest of Your children. Help me to live a life that is pleasing to You in obedience, and help me to press in to know You more, Amen.

- Darrence Hamilton

2 Peter 1 - 5.29.26

Scripture: 2 Peter 1:1-4

Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:

Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

Observation: 

The way to have grace and peace in abundance is through the knowledge of God and Jesus. This knowledge and power of God working in us also gives the ability to live a godly life. God’s divine power gives us everything we need. Through God’s glory and goodness He has given us great and precious promises that enable us to participate in the divine nature that keeps us away from the world’s corruption.

Application:

Knowledge of God is key to so many things in our walk with God.  When I am feeling life’s circumstances overwhelm me, diving into remembering who God is can pull me back to peace.  Knowing who God is can also give me His grace to deal with trying times or people.  God has forgiven me so much, I need to show the same grace to others.

Knowing who God is helps me become more like Him and live the godly life He has called me by His glory.  I can do this by reading his word, spending time in prayer and listening to His voice.  I can see Him in His creation. I want to cling to the great and precious promises God has given me and grow in knowledge of Him.

Prayer:

Lord, you are such a wonderful God.  None compares to you.  Please help me grow in knowledge of you.  May your character grow in me as I read your Word.  Give me ears that listen for your voice.  Help me obey when you speak.  Thank you for your great and precious promises.  You will fulfill all your have spoken.  Help me keep my eyes on you and be a light to others. Amen

= Cindy Howard

Genesis 34 - 05.28.26

SCRIPTURE

“Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me obnoxious to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people living in this land. We are few in number, and if they join forces against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.””

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭34‬:‭30‬ ‭NIV‬‬

OBSERVATION

Some thirty years before, when God met Jacob at Bethel during Jacob’s flight from Esau—God encouraged him with a vision of angels ascending to and descending from Heaven on his behalf.

Jacob made a vow, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you” (Gen 28:20-22).

This vow was followed by a twenty-year sojourn in Mesopotamia serving his Uncle Laban, at the end of which time God reminded Jacob of his obligation to leave Laban and return home (Gen 31:3).

But following his escape from Laban, Jacob did not honor his vow to God or obey God. When he crossed over into Canaan, he settled in prosperous Shechem, twenty miles short of Bethel. This halfway obedience brought catastrophic results; the rape of his daughter Dinah, the desecration of Israel’s most holy sign—circumcision, the massacre of the Shechemites, the degradation of his own children, and rendered Jacob a stench in the land.

Yet—it also most significantly, rendered Jacob ready to hear God’s voice.

“Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and live there, and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you [in a distinct manifestation] when you fled [years ago] from Esau your brother.” (Genesis‬ ‭35‬:‭1‬ ‭AMP‬‬)

APPLICATION

God’s FIERCE Grace Pursues us

Be aware—and deeply Thankful for it.

Personally I don’t find Jacob likable, but at times he is admirable. He soars and he slides. He is Jacob and he is Israel. The cost of Jacob’s disobedience was immense, as chapter 34 records—rape, degeneration, treachery, and genocide. Yet in all of this—God’sfierce grace was at work.

God allows us to experience the weight of our sin—

SO HE can return us to His Calling.

Jacob experienced a heavy weight yet God—in His Fierce Grace—sets him back on the right path—reminding him of his calling as the son of Promise and instructs Him to go to Bethel.

This is God’s Fierce, Fiery Grace.

A grace I have experienced in my life. This is the Story of all God’s Children.

“Out of his fullness we have all received—grace in place of grace already given.” (John‬ ‭1‬:‭16‬ ‭NIV‬‬)

“But Christ gives us MORE grace.

That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”” (James‬ ‭4‬:‭6‬)

“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace—who has called youto his eternal glory in Christ, will himself—restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” (1 Peter 5:10 ESV)

Nothing can Thwart God’s plans and purposes. Jacob who is given a new name by God—Israel has birthed Sons who become the twelve tribes of the Land promised to Abraham and Isaac and fulfilled in Jacob-Israel.

Even with all of his missteps—This is the goodness and Fierce Grace of our God.

“Surely YOUR goodness and unfailing love

will—pursue me—all the days—of my life”

‭‭(Psalms‬ ‭23‬:‭6‬a NLT‬)

“For it is by grace you have been saved,

through faith—

and this is not from—yourselves,

it is the—gift of God—”

‭‭(Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬)

PRAYER

Lord Jesus,

YOU are constantly tracking us down to bless us with YOUR love and mercy and grace. Your Grace and Love pursuit  Never ends. Thank YOU that like Jacob, You have given me an inheritance. Like Jacob I have run ahead of YOU often. Like Jacob I have sworn oaths to surrender fully. And like Jacob I have fallen short. Forgive me. Thank YOU for YOUR Love that genuinely follows me—all the days of my life. Help me to be what YOU Call me into being. Help my motives to be pure before YOU and heaven focused, not earthly bound. I pray more and more to be genuinely aware..that I may be deeply Thankful for Your fierce grace over my life.

In Jesus Name. Amen, 🙏

Tina L Kudelka