I'm Cheering You On

631.  "I'm Cheering You On"                  October 18, 2012
1 John 5-Part 2    (verses 4-5)
For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?   1 John 5:4-5


LET IT GLOW

I was a cheerleader  my freshman year of high school. It was fun to cheer my football and basketball teams on to victory. We would encourage them no matter how things were going. We even encouraged our fans to encourage them. We wanted them to overcome any obstacle, opposing team, mistakes, injuries, and keep on keepin' on. It must have been effective because we cheered them on to victory as district champions in  football that year. My team was an overcomer. We cheereleaders were encouragers. And so it is in the spiritual realm. John tells us that we  can overcome the world. Shall we see how?

Overcometh (nikao in Greek), means to gain the victory. (Thayer's Lexicon)

John uses the word overcometh four times in these two verses. Its first occurrance gives the sense that the true believer is always victorious over the world. Victory is normal and natural, and that is why His commandments are not difficult. Our faith is the key to victory over the world. (Liberty Bible Commentary)

Three characteristics of an overcomer are:

1. Faith-believes in God and Jesus is the Son of God;
2. Love-has love for both God and fellow believers; proof of faith is love;
3. Obedience-proof of love for God is obeying Him.

[Resource: The MacArthur Bible Commentary]

Faith denotes a strong and welcome conviction or belief that Jesus is Messiah, through whom we obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom of God. (Thayer's Lexicon)

This faith, saving faith, is what makes us true children of God, which in turn assures us of victory over the world. (Falwell)

Faith is the cause of victory, the means, the instrument, the spiritual armor by which we overcome.
We must all, after Christ's example, overcome the world, or it will overcome us to our ruin.  (Matthew Henry)

Am I encouraging others to be overcomers? Do I help their faith grow? Will I share my overcomings to encourage them? Am I a spiritual cheerleader? You go, girl. You can overcome through Jesus.


LET IT GROW

What do we believers in Jesus overcome? The world is what we overcome, conquer, have superiority over, have conquering power over because we get it from Jesus, the omnipotent God.

Satan's world wide system of deception and wickedness is the world. (emphasis mine) Through Christ and His provision of salvation, the believer is a victor over the invisible system of demonic and human evil that Satan operates to capture people's souls for hell. Faith in Jesus Christ and dedication of one's life to Him make a person an overcomer. (The MacArthur Bible Commentary)

Am I the overcomer that Jesus wants me to be? How strong is my faith?
How about you, friends?

LET IT GO

Turn away from the world and turn to Jesus.

Seek Jesus' strength so I can overcome temptations and worldliness.

Be victorious! Be an overcomer!

Keep the faith.

Burdens

630.  "Burdens"                   October 17, 2012
1John 5-Part 1
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.  1 John 5:1-3  KJV 

LET IT GLOW

Last March, my husband and I flew to Puerto Rico for a business trip. I decided to take my laptop so I could continue writing for this Bible study while there. Also, I didn't want to get behind in my other  studies of the Bible. I thought I was being wise when I put the laptop inside a backpack to carry it instead of a rolling carry-on. Boy, was that a wrong decision. We had to walk a long way in the Chicago airport for our connecting flight. This precious instrument quickly became a heavy burden for me to carry. When my wonderful husband, who thought it was needless that I take the computer, offered to carry it, I gladly let him. I learned a valuable lesson that day.
I said all of that to show that things can be a burden, of which John is speaking.

In verse 3, grievous (barys in Greek), means burdensome, according to Thayer's Lexicon, and causeing mental or physical pain, according to Webster's Dictionary. 

What is it that John says is not grievious? God's commandments.
They are not difficult  to fulfill because we are truly "born of God" and have therefore easy victory.
(Liberty Bible Commentary)

Are God's commands burdensome for me to keep?

Just as my husband carried my burden of the heavy laptop, Jesus carries or is the fulfillment of God's Commandments. (Matt. 5:17)

LET IT GROW

How can I know a person is a Christian?

• They believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the annointed of God.(verse 1)
• They are born of God, not just an intellectual knowledge, but a spiritual New Birth. (verse 1)
• They received Jesus as Savior, trusted in Him for the remissions of their sins, which have been confessed.
• They love God as His child in return for His love and those who are His children. (verses 1-2)
• They keep God's commandments. (verse 3)
• They love other believers. (1 John 4:21)

If we say we love God, yet walk in a lifestyle of conscius disobedience, we are like the believer who says they walk in fellowship with God, yet walks in darkness-they are lying. (1 John 1:6)

Looking at those qualities listed above, can others confirm that I am a Christian?  Do I show and tell those things?

LET IT GO

Love God, love Jesus; love Jesus, love God.

Love God's Commandments.

Love other believers.

Obey God's Word.

I am a Liar

629.  "I am a Liar"      October 16, 2012
1 John 4-Part 8    (verses 19-21)
We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.   1 John 4:19-21


LET IT GLOW

Who loved first, God or man? It's like asking, "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" The answer is "the chicken" because it was created along with the other animals. The egg was produced later from the hen.

John tells us that God first loved us. That is why we love Him.

Here are some things I found out about God's love for us:

• He loved us before the worlds were created, when our only existence was in the mind and heart of God, Jesus loved us. (Guzik) (Eph. 1:4)
• He loved us when we were still sinners. (Romans 5:8)
• All human love is preceded and generated by the love of God. (Vincent's Word Studies)
• He loved us so much that He sent His only son to be the propitiation (atoning sacrifice) for our sin. (1 John 4:10)
• His love is everlasting. (Jer. 31:3)

Why do we love God?
We love God because He loved us first,
We love God from a sense of obligation and gratitude.
We love God from the influence of His own love, from His love shed abaaroad in our hearts, our love to HIm proceeds. (Clarke)

Jesus loves you and me.
Jesus chose us to be His children.
Jesus redeemed us with His blood.
Jesus has called us to His salvation.
Jesus has pardoned us from our sins.
Yes, Jesus loves me.

LET IT GROW

Show me that you love me. Don't just say it. Words are cheep, easy to come by. Prove that you love me. Haven't we thought or said those words?

Looking at our key verses, what is the evidence that I love God? It is that I love my brothers and sisters in Christ.

If I don't love others, then I am a liar. I can't truthfully say that I love God, whom I haven't seen and not love others, whom I see.  If I truly love God, then His love is going to flow through me and I will love others. OK, there are times when people are extremely hard to love, I will admit. There are times that I am extremely hard to love, too. But I can't ask God to forgive me and not forgive another. I can't say one thing and do another. I can't love God and hate my sister or brother. It makes me a liar, a hypocrite. I don't want to be that. I admit that I have been a liar because I have not loved some people while I say I love God.

Am I hard to love?

LET IT GO

Thank God for His loving me.

Love other believers.

Let God handle others.

Do You Fear Judgment Day?

628.  "Do You Fear Judgment Day?"
October 15, 2012
1 John 4-Part 7  (verses 17-18)
Herein is our love made perfect that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.  1 John 4:17-18


LET IT GLOW

Don't we all have fears of something? I fear snakes, deep water, storms. How about you? However, there is no reason for me to fear the day I stand before my Maker. I am clothed in the blood of Jesus, wearing His robe of righteousness. Therefore, I do not fear that day.
Let's look at these two verses talking about fear and love, shall we?

Falwell in Liberty Bible Commentary says, "The original does not say, our love, but "love with us." It is because God is love, and because He lives in us, that love can be truly accomplished with us. God is love, so in a sense, we are love (we are all the world will ever see of love). The whole point is that We love... because He first loved us.  (verse 19)

Perfect, in verse 17, means accomplish, finish, breing to an end; one has been made perfect in love, his love lacks nothing.
Boldness refers to free and fearless confidence, cheerful courage, assurance before the judge.
(Thayer's Lexicon)

The only way we can have boldness in the  Day of Judgment is to receive, and walk in, the transforming love of God today. (Guzik)

The love with us is perfectly perfect, completely complete.(Guzik)
Therefore, we can have assurance in the now and in the future when we stand on the Day of Judgment before God, our Judge. How is this possible? It is His love shown when Jesus died on the cross for me a sinner.

As He is, so are we. How is Jesus now? He is glorified, justified, forever righteous and bold, sitting at the right hand of God the Father. Spiritually, we can have that same standing now, while we are in the world, because as He is, so are we in the world. (Guzik)

 I am justified and righteous due to Jesus' blood sacrifice for me. He saved me from my sins. His spirit lives within me. His love presides in my heart. How can I but love Him?

Are people of the world seeing God's love in me and experiencing it through me?

LET IT GROW

Looking at some of the words and their meanings in verse 18:
Fear means  dread, terror; love refers to affection, good-will, benevolence; perfect means it is brought to its end, finished, wanting nothing necessary to completeness; torment means corrected, punishment, penalty.  (Thayer's Lexicon)

What did I learn about fear and love?

• There is no fear, dread, nor terror in God's love.
• Perfect love casts out fear. Both love and fear cannot reside in the same place at the same time.
• Fear concerns punishment, as unbelieving sinners and demons will experience one day.
• This fear is not made perfect in love. Those who don't have Jesus as Savior, fear Him, understandably so, and are not made complete in His love.

So there are those who have God's love and no fear because heaven is our eternal destiny. Then there are those who don't have God's love and fear, at least should fear now, their eternal destiny, seperation from the love of God forever.

Am I sharing God's love and salvation with others so they do not need to fear the future?
Have you been made perfect, complete in His love? How about family and friends?

LET IT GO

Thank You Father for Your love.

Thank You that I don't have fear of my eternal destiny and standing before You.

Help me to share the good news of Jesus Christ.

Invisible Faith

627.  "Invisible Faith"                           October 12, 2012
1 John 4-Part 6   (verses 12-16)
Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. 
1John 4:15  KJV

LET IT GLOW

I have heard the old cliche' that "seeing is believing." I consider it a falsehood. It doesn't take belief or faith when I can see something. I can't see you, but I believe you are there, reading this, and you do exist. There is evidence that is so by my counter of readers. So if I get discouraged, thinking I am alone, I just check the counter. Faith is required when something is not visible. I can't see God, but I have faith that He is real and exists. I can call it invisible faith.

What is John telling believers that we know about God, who is invisible?

• No one has seen God.(verse 12) He is a Spirit.  
• He dwells in us, if we love one another. (verse 12b) The love of God makes us obligated to love one another, for this is the only way we can show that we really have love.
• His love is perfected in us. (verse 12c) Perfected means to complete (perfect), add what is yet wanting in order to render a thing full. (Thayer's Lexicon)
• He dwells in us. (verse 13)
• He has given us His Spirit. (verse 13b) Given (didomi in Greek) used here is different from that used in 3:24, showing the certainty of the fact that the apostles rather than the false teachers are moved by the spirit of God, and are united in their testimony about Christ. (Liberty Bible Commentary)
• The apostles saw Jesus and testify that God sent Hin to be the Savior of the world. (verse 14)

LET IT GROW

Verses 15-16 in NIV say, If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

The King James Translation uses the verbs confess and dwell; known and believed.

I have noticed that in just four chapters, John keeps repeating dwell. It is found in 3:17,24: 4:12,13,15,16. Dwell means to remain (meno in Greek). "Either God dwells or we dwell", as John puts it.

How do I know God is near? He dwells in me. But I can't see God. His Holy Spirit speaks to me.
He speaks to me through His Word.

His children are appointed as the visible recipients of our outward kindness which flows from love to Himself, "whom not having seen, we love."  ( Jamieson, Fausset, Brown Bible Commentary)

We see God through the evidence of love. The Father has no tangible body which may be seen. He took on the form of man when He appeared as Jesus.

The greatest evidence of God's presence and work is love. Where God is present and working, there will be love.

We must agree with God who Jesus is. We find out what God says about Jesus through the Word of God. We may know something without being in agreement (confess) with it; God demands our true agreement.

LET IT GO

I confess that Jesus is God's Son, my Savior, my Redeemer.

Although I do not see God, I believe He is.

The Holy Spirit dwells in me and fills me with love, as evidence of His existence.

I want to show others that God is real, alive, and exists by showing them His love through me.

Whooooo?

626.  "Whooooo?"              October 11, 2012
1 John 4-Part 5  (verses 9-11)
In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.  Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:9-10

LET IT GLOW

It was still dark outside when I got up this morning. I love the early mornings-no noisy trucks on the nearby highway, no cars going by the house, taking the neighbor children to school, no train whistle usually, only silence in the dark, cool, fall early morning. This morning, as I was on the computer, I heard something outside. The silence was broken. It was an owl in a tree in my yard,obvioiusly. In the dark he was saying his "whooooooo, whoooooo." So as I hear the "who" being asked of me, and I think, "Who do I serve today, my Savior or myself?" Who do I love most? To whom do I listen? Who do I want to please? I get on my knees and surrender to my Lord Jesus. I should have done that first thing, before starting my day. It should not have required a verbal "who" asked of me. I am glad that He sent that owl to me.
So I ask of you, dear friend, "who?"

Sometimes I need reminded just how much God loves me. How about you? God showed me his love when He sent His only begotten Son into the world. Why would He do such a thing? Why send a perfect person to live among sinners, evil, ungrateful people? (We are no different than Biblical times people.) Much less to die for them?

John says the answer is because God loves us and wants us to live through Him. In order for us sinful humans to have eternal life, the Father sent into the world His greatest gift, the one of a kind, unique Christ. He chose us to be His child, before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4).

John always uses only begotten of Christ to picture His unique relationship to the Father, His preexistence, and His distinctness from creation. Over half of the NT's uses of this term are by John.
(MacArthur)

Jesus was sent to be the propitiation for our sins. Propitiation refers to the means of appeasing, of Christ. (Thayer's Lexicon)
The sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross satisfied the demands of God's holiness for the punishment of sin (Rom. 1:18, 2 Cor. 5:21, Eph.2:3). So Jesus propitiated or satisfied God. Christ became our Mercy Seat in the Holy of Holies, where the high priest splattered the blood of the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement. (The MacArthur Bible Commentary)

That is love!

LET IT GROW

We didn't love God in the beginning. We haven't always loved God. We were of this world and served this world.

Verse 11 says Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

The love of God to us makes us obligated to love one another, for this is the only way we can show that we really have love. Claiming to love God is meaningless without showing love to each other.
(Falwell)

Whoooo do I love? To whom do I show love? When I hear an owl, I will ask myself those questions.


LET IT GO

Love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Forgive others and love them.

Different

625.  "Different"            October 10, 2012
1 John 4-Part 4   (verses 7-8)
Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.   1 John 4:7-8  KJV


LET IT GLOW

Different means unalike, not the same, according to Webster's Dictionary.

How was I different as a child? It was obvious that my physical characteristics were different-short, skinny, dark hair. My personality was quiet and shy. I had to study hard to make A's and B's in school. Sometimes it is okay to be different, though. I really didn't have any problems accepting it.
Different. John shows us how a Christian is to be different from an unbeliever, a false teacher.

Here is what makes Christians different from the rest of the world:

• We love one another. This is the only way we can show that we really have love. Do I make it a habitual practice to love others?
• Born again people love others. We receive God's nature, which is love. We are a reflection of His love.
• We know God. We feel His everlasting love as we experience His forgiveness.
• God is love. 

Love is a gift of His grace, a fruit of His spirit. (Gill)

All true love has its origin in God. Real love shows that we have His Spirit and that we belong to HIm. It makes us more and more like God. (Barnes' Notes on the Bible)




LET IT GROW

He that loves not does not know God.
Hatred, envy, wrath, malice, all have their source in something else than God. He neither originates them, commends them, nor approves of them. People can have a natural affection for others, family, and a hound dog. (Barnes' Notes on the Bible)

Romans 5:8 says But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Jesus is our only hope.

LET IT GO

Learn to let go of the worldly and its trinkets and let God love others through me.

Dare to be different-return love to the unlovely.