The first time they heard the bell,
They stopped and thought,
They liked the sound.
It was the inaugural ringing of the bell.
On the second day they were,
Grateful and wondered,
How faithfully the bell would ring?
They stopped and thought,
They liked the sound.
After a month of the bell ringing,
Every day at the same time,
They no longer always noticed it,
But when they did,
They stopped and thought,
They liked the sound.
After six months of the bell ringing,
Sometimes, just sometimes,
It was an annoyance,
But still, mostly,
They stopped and thought,
They liked the sound.
They think that this bell
Is a curious thing.
They remember when it began,
And they did not believe it would continue.
Now they only sometimes,
Notice the ringing,
Having heard it so many times.
They probably wouldn’t notice,
If it stopped.
One, a big one,
Said “please stop.”
Still, sometimes,
Most, some,
They stop and think,
They like the sound.
The bell has been ringing,
A very long time,
Some still stop and think,
I like the sound.
IHS 8-31-17
by Bob with
Psalm 95:6-7 – Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for He is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care.
Family, let’s, in the Spirit, all of us stop and do what this Psalm invites us to do. We are all busy. We have jobs to go to. We have familial responsibilities. Most importantly, we are God’s children. And it is not as though God did not pay a big price to free us to be His children. He has loved us with a love that is palpable and so very tender and dear. So, as children of God let’s consider time with our Father the most important thing we can do today. Let us not be deceived. There is nothing more important than stopping, and being with Him. Not a “Hi Dad, love you, got lots to do, see you later” and out the door. But a stop, look into the eyes of He who suffered as Jesus paid the price for our sins. He took us, who were not a family, and made us His family. He saw us wandering the streets and invited us in for a warm meal and drink. We came, drawn by His love and kindness, and ate at His table. He spoke to us and blessed us with understanding that we might accept His offer for us to live forever with Him. I remember the eyes I could not physically see, but nevertheless knew were looking on me with love and kindness. We still see those eyes. We see them with the eyes of our spirits and our souls. God, so good, so kind, so loving to us.
Let us bow our spirits and worship the God who loves us, who called us off the streets and made us His very own children. He who has knit us together and loves us and enjoys who we are with pure, unadulterated joy. Family, He loves us as His family. And He tenderly loves us individually. Right now feel His gaze of love upon you. It is upon you and upon me. Singularly. How wonderful is His love for us!
Let us bow down and worship. Let our hearts kneel before our God, our Maker, and our Savior for all that He has done for us. Yes, stop and think about all we have to be grateful for. Everything. Think about it. Start with our salvation and then to the endless list of reasons to bow before Him and honor Him.
God Almighty, Creator and Savior, Lover of our souls, Tender soother to all our hurts, The Only one who Heals both body and soul, calls us His people. We are His people. Yes, us! Though none of us deserve that honor, He has called us and made it so. We are His flock. We are likened to sheep and He is our Shepherd. We like Israel, so often seem more like a herd of feral cats than a flock of sheep. All wanting to run our own way and not wanting to stop, really stop, and just spend time with Him to receive His love and offer ours to Him.
Family, “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for He is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care.” What this verse calls us to is an eternal call of those who truly love God and are thankful to Him. Let us be wise and never cease to follow this admonition. He is always desirous for us to stop in and say “Hey Daddy, can we talk?” Always…praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
Here is another lovely worship song, the way I like them, calling desperately out for God.
by Bob with
1 John 3:16-19 – 16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. 19 This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence.
When born into this world we didn’t know how to love the way God loves. We were born with a fallen and sinful nature (Psalm 51:5). Being born with a fallen nature God has said in Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” V16 starts off “This is how we know what love is.” “How we know” has an original meaning of how we learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of. Even as Christians we don’t fully grasp the vastness of the love of God. However, as we walk in His love we increasingly learn of His love. It is only by being in Jesus that we begin to understand His love. Begin. If we are diligent and thoughtful about the love of Jesus, then we will increasingly know the love of God.
Is V16 calling us to lay down our physical life for each other? Where the concentration of this verse leads us to is the love that it takes to do so. Most of us will never be called upon to physically die for a brother or sister. However, the love that it would take to die for another is what is being focused upon. Jesus had the love within Him to lay down His life for us. We heard of the love of God and as we are born from above through Jesus (John 3:3), we come to know it more and more. Jesus did not only die for us on the cross, every day He lived on earth He died for us. He laid down His life for us not only on the cross but also on a daily basis. He set down, or set aside, His possessions and rights so that we would be blessed. The expression “Jesus Christ laid down his life for us” means that He set aside what was His (Philippians 2:6-8) so that we could have what the Father would have for us. Laying down our life for each other is not only giving up one’s physical life for each other, but laying down our lives for each other on a daily basis. How we know what love is means observing how love was expressed to us by our Father God through Jesus our Lord. It means that we are willing to set aside our comfort and time for each other. It means that it is more important for us to bless each other than it means to grasp tightly the blessings God has given us.
I often want to invite people to someplace and to pay for them, as I am able. Maybe dinner or maybe a movie. In the past it has been wrongly assumed that I wanted to be a “Big Shot” and a show off. That is not what is in my heart. Actually I would just feel bad if the people I love and care about do not have the blessings that I have. I want to bless others because I had been blessed. Why should I “have it good” and not others? I want others to have the blessings that God has given me. We should be willing to share what we have with others when we are able, or even to give it up ourselves and give it to another, as the Lord leads (Proverbs 3:27) (and we should be listening to the Lord!).
If we are able to help and will not (a matter of the will, not ability) then the Word of God is stating that the love of God is not in us. Let’s be reminded that if the love of God is not within us, then God is not in us, and we are still lost (1 John 4:8). Just as faith without action is dead (James 2:17), so love is not present if there are no fruits of love. All true acts of compassion and charity begin with love. If we have the love of God in us, then acts of love will be done by us. Not only talked about by us, but done by us. Words mean nothing if there is no action to support them.
Family, if we love, let us consider others before ourselves (Philippians 2:3). Let us not live out love as some laborious duty that we will do if we must, but rather as something that we willingly, joyously and generously give out because that is what is in our hearts. It is in our hearts because we have the love of God within us, more love than any of us could contain, and so we must open the floodgates and let the love of God flow out with kind words, kind actions and genuine concern.
God loved us and gave us Jesus. Jesus loved us and gave up all for us. If we are like our God, we will consider the needs of others something we must help with, if we are able. Let us be sincere and thoughtful about this, God is watching (Hebrews 4:13) and He knows our hearts (Jeremiah 17:10). It is an honor to love the family of God. Let us take pleasure in doing so and as we do, we know that we do because God is within us and our hearts rest in His presence. Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
by Bob with
1 John 3:1-3 – See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
V1 starts off “See what great love the Father has lavished on us.” The NKJV states it as “what manner of love” and the ESV states it as “what kind of love.” The NIV rightly calls us to consider the “great” love that God our Father has for us. Yet, the NKJV and the ESV seem to bring us closer to what John was expressing. The transliteration of the original word is “potapos.” In modern terms it might be expressed “Where does this out of our experience love come from?” He is saying that the Father loves us so much it is unlike anything we have ever seen of know. It is expressing that in no nation on earth is love like this found among mankind. John is saying “Wow, where does love like this come from?” The obvious answer, from no one else but God. Jeremiah 31:3 “The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.” Praise our God!
This great other worldly love is not given to us in measured amounts. It is lavishly given to us. It is like a friend coming to the door and asking for bread for his children to eat. A slice for each of them would do. But the asked person does not give one slice each, but the whole loaf, luncheon meat, chips, condiments, fruit, vegetables, juice, dessert and a generous gift card to the local supermarket to stock up. All of us have come to the Lord hungry for His grace and love. We had nothing to eat and nothing to give our loved ones to sustain them. God, who loved us first, was just waiting for us to ask and poured out His love, mercy and grace on us. He poured out immediate living blessings that were not only for the then present, but for all of eternity (Isaiah 44:33). So we see “what great love the Father has lavished on us.” Not something meagerly handed out and something that demands any kind of return payment for, but He gives out freely knowing we have nothing we can give back to him in payment. He is not moody, or capricious in nature or in His love for us. Every time we come to Him we are met with His love. Every time we are in His presence, we are met with His love. We should daily, continuously, always deeply consider and be confident in the love He has for us.
He has made us His children. When we were wallowing in filth outside the gates, He brought us in, cleaned us up, and called us His own through Jesus our Savior and Lord. He made us into His children. He adopted us. Now the love He has for us is the same love that He has for Jesus, John 17:23 “I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” I added the italics to highlight that Jesus said that all that belong to Jesus are loved as the Father loves Jesus. What? Wow! Let’s stop and think about the lavishness of love that the Father has given us. No words to explain the amazement! John rightly said that this kind of love comes from no person on earth, only from God! Additionally, the language that Jesus used means that the Father loves us just as, in the same proportion and to the same degree, that He loves Jesus. Jon Courson of Applegate Christian Fellowship, as an illustration, shared the following “The story is true, I’m told, of the brothers who wanted do play Little League. S they signed u, the registrar was puzzled when, according to their papers, he notice they were six months apart. “Your brothers?” he asked. “Yep,” they answered. “But you’re only six months apart,” the puzzled official countered. “Well, one of us was adopted,” said one of the boys. “Which one?” asked the registrar. “We ask our dad all the time,” said the boys, “but he says he can’t remember.” Think about all that! The Father God loving us in the same way He loves Jesus! The thought is too amazing to express and to lofty to fully conceive. However, we are convinced that it is true because He has expressed it to us. Praise God!
As we have reviewed in the past, we may understand that the things that God says are and will remain to be. It does not mean that we now how or why, unless God Himself tells us. We are happy to know what we know and to receive the blessing of knowing. John says that “we” do not yet know what we, as Children of God, will be. We don’t know because God has not yet made it known. We know aspects of it, but God has not fully revealed all to us. John didn’t know, I think that establishes that it was not yet fully revealed by our God. We do know that we are His children, fully loved and kept by Him. No one will break down His door and drag us from His house. No one and nothing, praise God!
We will see Him again (John 16:22). We are confident of that and being confident of that, we wait for that (Titus 2:13, 2 Timothy 4:8). We are not hoping as the world hopes, for something that may or may not happen. No, we are confidently assured and are not hoping with an “if”, but with certain assurance, because God has said so (John 14:2). This sure knowledge of His coming back is not something that is just a waiting for a future blessing. In consideration that it is Jesus who is coming for us, and since we don’t know the day or the hour, then it could be today. If Jesus were to come today, how do we want Him to find us? I’m sure we don’t want Him to find us in the act of sin. That would be shameful. We want Him to find us living a pure life as we are hoping, and ready for, His imminent return. So the hope of His return is not only to free us from the troubles of this world, but should also be a purifying motivation for us. We need to strive to be pure just as He is pure. We want to always be ready and looking for Him. His return might be today. Come Lord Jesus, come!
Oh, indeed, “what great love the Father has lavished on us!” Praise God indeed!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
by Bob with
1 Psalm 46:10 – He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
God being exalted in a nation, on the earth, begins when He is exalted in the heart and in the mind of His people.
“Be still, and know that I am God.” Today let us remember to purposely take the time to stop the busyness of life. To be set away from all that is on our mind, or that clutters our minds. Let’s take time aside from loved ones and ones who depend on us. Let just set aside time for God and let no-one interrupt our time with Him. When we do, let us stop and consider a couple of things. First, how wonderful, how almighty, how infinite, how wise, how loving and how giving He is. The more we know Him the more we appreciate these qualities. Still, whether we are just beginning in our intimate knowledge of Him, or if we have been walking with Him many years, we all need to stop and consider. Yes, need. For our salvation, or course, we need to consider who our God is and what He has done for us through Jesus Christ. Also for our peace, our joy and our knowledge of the security He gives, we need to stop, be still and consider who our God is. After all, our faith is not in ourselves, or in any one or anything but God through Jesus our Lord.
Then be thankful for all the ways He has blessed. Most likely, we are so abundantly blessed we cannot even recount all the ways we are blessed. It is endless. But do thank Him. Do your best to remember, and to think of, all the ways God has blessed.
Let us be still. Yes, praise God. Yes, thank God. But then let us say, as Samuel the prophet, when a child, did. Let us say “Speak, for Your servant is listening” 1 Samuel 3:10. Then, stop talking. Just listen. Listen for His words of love. Listen for His direction. Listen for Him to tell who He says we are, individually. It is more important to know who He says we are than to know who we think we are. A person may not hear the first time, or the second, or… But don’t give up. Be quiet, still the mind, and listen. Christians, what if you don’t hear Him the first, or every time, just enjoy His presence. Be still, and be in awe of the presence of God. Experience the joy of the presence of God. Let His presence, His Spirit, calm and free the soul.
Be still and be expectant. Expect to be in the presence of God. It is enough. It is more than enough. It can be very overwhelming. Spiritually, take off your shoes, relax, and be aware of His presence and love. Nothing is better than being in His presence.
Today, be still and know that He is God. Every day, throughout every day, practice clearing out the mind, and being in His presence. He will meet you there. He is there now waiting. Your Father wants to spend time with you. He loves you. Be still before God and be blessed. Oh the great joy and peace in the presence of God. Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
by Bob with1 John 2:24-25 – 24 As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is what he promised us—eternal life.
As previously reviewed, we all have a free will. We have it before we come to the Lord and there is nothing in scripture that indicates we lose it after coming to the Lord. This is within the fact that God is sovereign. God will do what God will do and He has no need to explain it to man. God is both sovereign and He has a free will. Man often challenges the free will of man because he cannot understand how God could carry out His will if man has free will. To us, in our limited ability, we think that man having a free will is a challenge to God like herding cats is a challenge to man. Sometimes men, not understanding how God could do something, imagine then it must not be. Family, God’s will in no way denies His sovereignty. In fact, it glorifies it. Whatever God wills shall be done. If God, in His free will, decides that something will be a certain way, then it will be as the sovereign God wills. God has no need or reason to fully explain, or explain at all, the reasoning of what He wills or the how He will bring it about. It is not the duty of man to know why or how God will bring about His will. It is enough for man to know what His will is and to believe that it will happen because God is never wrong and God never lies. If God wills it, it is as good as done. Man believes what God reveals it because He personally knows God, and His attributes, and thus is convinced that all that God says is what God will do. Man’s duty is to walk within the will of God, not to understand it or be able to explain it. Now, graciously, God allows us to understand many things about His will. This is part of the ministry of the Holy Spirit to us. But we must always remember that God has no duty to explain anything to us. Neither do we need Him to. We are satisfied to, and in joy do, walk in faith as He wills. As we do, faith takes up substance (Hebrews 11:1). As faith matures we no longer desire to one day see Jesus, we, with spiritual eyes, see Him now. As we walk in faith with God, as we see His footsteps before us and the manifestations of His blessings behind us, what once was a wonderful hope takes on form and substance and the reality of Him moves from a wondering, to a conviction, to the one thing that we are most sure of in all that we believe and know. The reality of God moves from concept to sure knowledge as dry concrete moves from a dusty material to a solid foundation when water is added to it. Fly ash is also added to concrete to improve the workability of concrete and to add to the strength and durability of it. Fly ash also has the purpose of helping the concrete settle more fully into all the tight crevices and small spaces. God the Holy Spirit (water) touches the Word of God (concrete), and brings it to alive to us, He brings it all together for us. The Holy Spirit uses the fly ash of experience to make the Word of God come alive as we walk with Him. The Holy Spirit first opens our understanding, then teaches us to apply it our lives. Thus the power, beauty and wonder of God fully fills our souls with the Word of God and then teaches us how to apply the Word of God to our life. Family, those who are not in the Family of God, who do not have Jesus and thus do not have the Holy Spirit, gain little or nothing from the Word of God. Because they shut out the Word of God the life of it cannot bring life and knowledge within them. But we, having the Holy Spirit within, have the Word of God quickened, brought together, applied to our lives and cured to a solid foundation. Praise our God who truly has thought it all out. He truly is The Answer! Oh glory to God! Let us fall on our faces and acknowledge that He is the only One who is truly Good and who is the originator of true love. Oh the wonders of God! Even His trinity, in and of itself is a wonder and perfect unity that in oneness and in uniqueness, perfectly saves and keeps us. Praise God!
Family, one of the mysteries, and sure knowledge, of our salvation is the mixture God has of our free will and His sovereign will for our salvation. Men struggle to know the chemistry and physics of it. We know it to be true, but men have found it difficult and elusive to fully grasp. Yet we know it to be true. Even many who would say man has no free will (indefensible) are likely to grasp that not accepting the leading and testimony of the Holy Spirit, that rejecting the calling of the Holy Spirit, is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. They would agree that one who rejects the calling from the Holy Spirit, is one who does not accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Therefore they remain in their sins and are lost. Herein the part of our free will is revealed. So it is at this point, in the effort of some men, lacking the explanation of the mechanics of how God can do such things, they attempt to bring in their explanation, contrary to the Word of God, that God, by His sovereign will, condemns some men to go to hell and assigns some to go to heaven. They say, in order to explain what they cannot, that God creates some of mankind, most of mankind, to not be able to do what they must do to be saved. Then, though God created them unable to do what they must, God having made them that way, He curses and punishes them for not doing what they cannot do because He made them unable. Family, is that the kind, loving merciful God you know? Why not simply believe God’s word that clearly states that He died for the whole world (John 3:16, 1 John 2:2). Again, it is not for us to fully understand how God does what He does, what we are called to is to believe what He reveals as His Word. Family, we were born with a free will, had it before the day of coming to Christ, and have it still. It is not God’s will that we sin, yet we still do. So we, who are saved by Jesus, who belong to God, still sin contrary to the Word of God. So by whose will do we sin? By our own, of course. Not by God’s will who never tempts us to sin (James 1:13). Therefore we must simply never reject the work of the Holy Spirit and that what we have believed will remain. In that, our free will is at play. How God works that out, well, I just trust, and know that He does.
What is it that we have known, that we have believed. It is the Gospel. If we continue in the Gospel, then we have what God has promised, eternal life through Jesus our Savior and Lord. Praise God! Family, the Holy Spirit, not ourselves, redeems us. Our great duty is to hold fast to the Gospel and give the Holy Spirit free reign to work through our lives that Jesus may be glorified. The Holy Spirit leads us to Jesus. Jesus leads us to the Father. The Father has glorified the Son. Our God, three in one in complete unity, working in unison and individually (though they are united in all) saves and leads us home. God does that for all who are His. Now that is eternal security! Who is the fool but he who has “been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age”(Hebrews 6:4-5) and then rejects God? I have that answer, it is not us! We who know, love and cherish He who first loved us He will keep. Praise our God! Praise Him for who He is! Praise Him who has revealed Himself to us. Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
by Bob with1 John 2:22-23 – 22 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. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
Acts 5:42 – Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.
Acts 17:3 – 3 explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said.
Acts 4:12 – Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.
We have the great privilege and honor of bearing the name of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. We are called to passionately defend His name and the fact that He is the Messiah. It should burn in our hearts to share the Gospel message with all who would listen. The world wants to shut us up, to stop us from sharing that there is only one way to heaven and that is through Jesus (John 14:6). But we who love Jesus have a burning, pulsing desire in our hearts and souls to speak the great thing that God has done. We are like Peter and John who declared “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard” Acts 4:19. The threats made against them could not stop them. Nothing that man, or the devil, has done to stop the church has ever worked. They have ridiculed, imprisoned, beaten, tortured and killed countless saints and they could not diminish the fire of their love and passion for Jesus. Take my life on earth if you must, I will never renounce Jesus. If you must take all that I have…take it then, go ahead, but you can never separate me from Jesus. Rightly Missionary Jim Elliot said “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Subsequently, he lived out what he proclaimed. Only a fool or a crazed person would jump from safety into a fire. We have been saved and are being kept by Jesus. Family we will forever be safe in Jesus as we walk in love for him and appreciation of Him.
In the world there are many voices who want to shout us down. They work actively in courts and in every media to push Jesus out from the world. This will never happen. God always has a remnant.
The most heinous lie that could be proclaimed is the one that claims that Jesus is not exactly who He said He was. The name of Jesus is attacked on all sides. Some cults claim they are not Christian, but deny whom Jesus revealed that He is. Atheists deny Him. False religions deny Him. The Word is not weak in describing these people, it says they are liars. Not only are they liars but they are agents of the devil. Family, this is not an exaggeration! Even if it be someone from my family whom I love so much, if that person were to say that Jesus is not exactly who Jesus taught us He is, then that family member of mine is spreading lies and is acting on behalf of the father of all lies (John 8:44), whether they know it or not. Jesus said that one can only be for Him or against him. We either draw people to Him or we work with the enemy to scatter people from Him (Luke 11:33). There are not exceptions. No matter how dear a person may be to us we must agree with the Word of God, the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ is a liar and an agent of the enemy, whether they know it or not. God is not in such a person, they do not know God. Their statement that they are “spiritual” in their own way, or that they know God “in their own way” is a lie. Everyone and anyone who denies that only Jesus is the Messiah is spreading lies that begin in the heart and mind of the devil.
I will not soft pedal the truth. I will not try to make such people feel good and leave them in their lie. How hateful that would be.
Jesus is the Messiah. There is no other! Jesus is Lord. There is no other! We must rise up in defense of the Gospel. We must not shrink back from our duty to the Lord. He did not shrink back in completing His work on our behalf. Let us be firm in our minds and resolute in our will that we will never embrace the lies of the world that oppose who Jesus is. He is our hope and our salvation. Family, we stand with Jesus. We could do nothing else. That is what burns within. If we are not passionate about this, we need to repent on our knees before Jesus (Revelation 2:4-5). We need to get that fire back. Or be in very grave danger.
Praise our Savior and Lord Jesus who has saved us and keeps us. We are called to believe. We are called to embrace the full work that Jesus did for us. Then we are called to go to all the world, stand for Jesus, and to make disciples for Him. If the fire burns, if our calling matters more to us than our fears or other concerns, we will do so. Faith without works is dead (James 2:17). Let us walk and talk as Jesus has called us. It is our reasonable act of love to God. And He who loves us will keep us. Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
by Bob with1 John 2:20-21 – 20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. 21 I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.
1 John 2:26-27 – 26 I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. 27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.
John 14:26 – But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
1 Corinthians 2:10, 13 – 10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.
John 16:12-15 – 12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 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. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”
It is ignorance, obstinacy, pride, or having been deceived that claims that we have no need for teachers because we have the Holy Spirit guiding us. Yet, that is written with caution. Putting God in a box for the sake of our comfort is wrong, and maybe of the evil one. God may do what God will do and He will not consult us to counsel Him if what He will do fits into our doctrine (Isaiah 40:13, Romans 11:33-34). We may say that God once used a donkey to talk to a man. We may say that it is not recorded that He has ever done that again. We may not say that He has not, or will not do it again. Unless we are omniscient, or the Word of God says so, we don’t have that knowledge. God is the great I AM, and He will be who He will be and He will do what He will do and He has no obligation to explain His actions or His plans to us. So, when we say that God will not do something, let us make sure that God, in His Word, has said such a thing. We can say that God cannot not lie. The Word explicitly tells us so. We cannot say that God will never use a donkey to talk to a person again. The Word does not expressly tell us that. Likewise, I will never say that God will not, independent of human instructor, instruct a person in His ways. He did it for Paul (Galatians 1:11-17). If He did it for Paul He can do it again. Who are we to say otherwise? So the possibility that God takes one of us aside to personally instruct is real. However, let’s look at why the Lord did that. He did it to equip Paul for the ministry He was calling Him to. It is highly improbable that God will separate one part of the body from the rest of the body and personally instruct that person so that he can lay upon his couch, eat Twinkies, watch old sitcoms, and live a life of not ministering to others. That would not be consistent with how we know that God has operated. It would not be consistent with His Word. Therefore, God has ordained within His church teachers and pastors who He uses to guide and instruct us. That is according to His plan. So unless we are the next Apostle Paul, we had better know that God uses pastors and teachers to mature us. In fact, God uses all of us to mature all of us. We teach each other
Verses 20 and 27 was not written to tell us that we don’t need anyone to teach us. I thank God for all the pastors and teachers who have instructed me. These verses are meant to remind us that the Holy Spirit is within us and will alert us when someone is teaching false doctrine. These verses say that we have an anointing from God. This is a reference to the act of anointing people with oil that God might meet their need. The anointing with oil was an exterior act asking God to bless. The anointing we have received is the Holy Spirit Himself, who is not without but within. Since He is within us He leads us in the ways of God and leads us to truth. If someone desires to take us off the path that the Holy Spirit is guiding us on, then we know that person is not in line with the will of God. What these verses is telling us is that the Spirit of Truth is within and will teach us the Truth that will expose the lies of the enemy. God is faithful and has fully equipped us to walk eternally with Him.
God’s Word directly says to not stop meeting with each other. We are a body and are meant to live together in harmony. We learn from each other. Since God has ordained pastors and teachers He had a reason for doing so. God is not frivolous, what He does He does for a reason. Family, we must find good teachers of the Word and cherish them as those whom God has brought to us to teach us. I cherish the teachers God has brought to my life. Some I have sat before in the pews, some I have listened to on radio, or watched on T.V, or the internet, and some I have read the books and commentaries of.
Now, even though we have teachers, it is only the Holy Spirit who can bring the Truth of the Word of God alive to us. Even the scriptures are meaningless to us unless God reveal them to us.
God has willed that He will gift those among us to help teach and guide us. He has willed that we all do that for each other. These verses in John are not teaching that we don’t need pastors and teachers, but that the Holy Spirit will expose false teachers to us. God uses pastors and teachers to bless us. I thank God for them in my life. Though God is the one who brings Truth alive to me, He uses pastors and teachers as the mailman who bring the Word of God to us so that the Holy Spirit can reveal it. Before studying the Word, or reading a Christian commentary or book, or even sitting in church, pray that the Holy Spirit will open our hearts and minds so that we may receive all that the Lord has for us. God is faithful, praise God for those whom He has used to instruct us. Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
by Bob with1 John 2:15-17 – 15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
What is John speaking of when he refers to “the world?” He is not so much speaking of the physical world, but of the world system, its philosophy or religion. The world is under the dominion of the enemy. Those who believe the mainstream philosophy of the world are believing in something that is opposed to God and His ways. What John is not saying is to not love the beauty of God’s creation. What he is saying is to not love any of the ways of the world. They are opposed to God. Sometimes they are so diametrically opposed that the differences are obvious to all. Other times the way of the world may seem only different in a small or trivial way. But oh, the differences are neither small nor insignificant. They are cunningly designed by the evil one to deceive us. An example of this is the Golden Rule that Jesus gave us in Matthew 7:12 “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” Compare this with what the religions of the world say:
| Confucianism | Do not do to others what you would not like yourself. Then there will be no resentment against you, either in the family or in the state. Analects 12:2 |
| Buddhism | Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful. Udana-Varga 5,1 |
| Hinduism | This is the sum of duty; do naught onto others what you would not have them do unto you. Mahabharata 5,1517 |
| Judaism | What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellowman. This is the entire Law; all the rest is commentary. Talmud, Shabbat 3id |
At a superficial glance it may seems that they that they are saying the same thing. But they are not. The difference may seem superficial, but rather are profound and pivotal. The reason behind it reflects what should be in the heart. Notice that all the other religions of the world basically say to not do the negative and do not say to do the good. What Jesus said was to do the good. The religions of the world say to not do evil. Jesus says to do good. This is pivotal because behind what Jesus says is the nature and the love of God. Think of the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) and the question to Jesus that preceded the telling of the story. Jesus told the story in response to the question from an “expert in the law” who asked “and who is my neighbor?” This man was asking who Jesus was telling him that he must love. This parable of Jesus revealed that we are to love all people, that every person is our neighbor. If we are to love all people, if all our neighbors, then how shall we treat those we love. The Good Samaritan showed a love that was pro-active. He showed a way of treating another as He would want to be treated. He saw a person in need, a person that he did not know, and he went to meet that need as best he could. He not only stopped to help, but he went the extra mile (Matthew 5:41). He did what Jesus has done for us. He saw that someone was critically hurt and could not help himself. So the Samaritan stepped in to save the life of the man who would die if he did not receive help. Just as the love of God cause Him to step down from His throne in heaven to save us (Philippians 2:6-8). If a person has the love of God within, that love will show itself in acts of Godly love. If one does not have the love of God within, then a person is satisfied to not do an evil act. But the Christian is held to a higher standard. If the person does not help the needy, then they do not have the heart of God within. If they do not have the love of God within, then they do not have God. Jesus did not call us to not do evil, but to do good. The one who thinks that is okay to simply not do an evil act to someone, but not worry about doing the good thing, does not have the love of God within. In fact, to withhold good when one has the ability and opportunity to do good, is evil (Proverbs 3:27). This is a profound difference with eternal consequences. What one does, or does not to, shows the heart within. So, the way of the world is very different than the way of Jesus. And that difference is the difference between those who have eternal life from Jesus and those who do not.
The ways of the world and the ways of God are opposite. One cannot love the ways of the world and the ways of God. They are not only opposites, but they oppose each other. Additionally the side we choose is the side we promote to all people around us. So we not only choose a way to do, but our choosing promotes the way we choose as the way we believe is the correct way. Since the ways of the world and the way of God oppose each, our promotion of either way proclaims that we thing the other way is wrong (Matthew 12:30). Family, we cannot love the ways of the world and of God.
What is it to love? Love is “not an uncontrollable emotion but the steady devotion of the will,” (John R.W. Stott, The Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, The Letters of John). Since true love is an act of the will, we cannot truly love the way of the world and also love God. John confirms it here in verse 15. Family, we have to choose sides. We can submit our will to the side of the world, or the side of God. Jesus said we cannot serve two masters (Matthew 6:24, Luke 16:13).
“The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes.” The lust of the flesh from our fallen nature that we have inherited. It is a giving into the earthly desires that we all are born with. These are sins to please the flesh. The fallen nature does not seek to please God but to please self. The world, not being of God, thinks this fine, thinks it “natural.” Well yes, it is natural, it is of this world, but it is not God. We are born with a fallen nature and so what comes natural opposes the will of God for our lives.
The lust of the flesh comes from within, the lust of the eyes comes from what is without. Likely driven by the lust of the flesh the eyes look out to lust after what we ought not lust after. The lust of the eyes is the temptation of the world. Eve saw that the forbidden fruit was good to eat and then ate it. The forbidden fruit was viewed and esteemed by Eve to be a good thing to eat? This in opposition to what she knew to be God’s will. Yet it brought spiritual and physical death, just as God had said. Be careful of what we look at lest we are likewise drawn to sin. David said that he will not look with approval on anything vile (Psalm 101:3) and Job said that he would not look lustfully at a young woman (Job 31:1). We must control what our eyes fix upon lest we lust after what brings pain and death.
The pride of life is a declaration of independence from God. It is the forceful proclaiming of self-rule rather than submission to God. It is a saying that one will do what one will do regardless of the will of God. It is a willful separation of God (Horrifying!). The pride of life is, like the devil, proclaiming “I will.” Family, we must stay far away from pride of life. The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life are each the deadly fuel of each other.
The good news is that we do not desire the world and its ways, but we desire to do the will of God and thereby, please Him. In the will of God, we find His love, grace and peace. In His will the victory of Jesus is imputed to us. In His will, we shall live eternally with God long after this world is a distant memory. Praise God who keeps us close and guides us daily. Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
by Bob with1 John 2:12-14 – 12 I am writing to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name. 13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. 14 I write to you, dear children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
John identifies three stages of growth in Christians: Dear children, young men and fathers. Children are those who are new in the Lord. They are exuberant and excited over the many revelations concerning their spirituality. What they are taught and the shelter they run to, is the knowledge that they are saved through the name of Jesus (Acts 4:12).
Second these children grow into young adults. The enemy has come against them individually and attacks Christianity in general. These young adults have overcome the evil one. The enemy came to rob, kill and destroy (John 10:10), but they remain faithful to their God (Matthew 24:13). What is the knowledge that they have matured with? It is the knowledge that they were taught as spiritual children, that they are saved only by Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5). They have clung to what they know. We must remember that the name of Jesus is glorified by the person of Jesus Christ and by His work. During His life He was lifted up and identified as the Messiah (John 1:29). The Messiah lived a perfectly sinless life (1 Peter 2:22), keeping Himself separated from the ways of the world and so He was the only one suited to be the sacrifice for sin. Jesus lived a sinless life in obedience to the Father (Philippians 2:8), and because He was being faithful to who He, in very nature, is. He is the Son of God, sin was not in Him. Depending on the Father and the Holy Spirit, He battled to maintain His position. He was sinless and unlike the first Adam, He would live His life maintaining His purity. The name of Jesus is associated with the person of Jesus and also what He did. Jesus said of mankind that they could be identified by their fruits (Matthew 7:15-20). That is, who a person is, what is in His heart, is identified by what He does. The name of Jesus also reveals the nature of Jesus. So we are saved by the person Jesus Christ and by His works. The two are inseparable. The saint, as a child, is taught these basics of the faith. These teachings are clung to and are strengthened as the child reads the Word and, as Jesus was, is led by the Spirit of God. Knowing that the Christian is saved and kept only by Jesus and not by self, the young Christian adult has overcome the evil one.
As young Christian adults grow they become spiritually strong. They have learned to reject that attacks against their faith. They become more convinced that they only way of life that means anything of eternal value is to follow Jesus. They grow as they consume and are nourished by the Word of God. As earthly food brings life to earthly bodies so the Word of God nourishes the spirit of Believers. The young adult grows in the Word and becomes strong. The enemy attacks all the sons and daughters of God. But they cling to the person and work of Jesus. They grow in the knowledge of their faith as the Word of God is revealed to them by the Holy Spirit. They become saints who fight the fight of faith and vanquish the enemy from their lives. They also come to the aid of their fellow combatants. They understand that an army wins the war not by fighting as individuals with no unified plan, but a victorious army is filled with individuals who fight with the same plan. The plan of the believer is to follow their Lord Jesus and they learn the wisdom and ways that comes from the Word of God and guidance by the Spirit. Herein their knowledge grows and solidifies and they overcome the evil one.
The father in the spirit is one who has been the baby, has been the young adult, and has matured into one who has known, and continues to know, in ever increasing measure. Strength to overcome sin and apostasy is developed by God as one clings to what one knows. We know that we are saved only by the name of Jesus and that we kept only by the name of Jesus. The Holy Spirit of God calls us and keeps us. The mature in Christ have come to know Him and His love in ever increasing measure. There comes a point in a believer’s life where doubt of God becomes a fading memory. The mature Christian is confident, is assured, of the goodness and love of God. When they see a tragic thing happen they no longer are tempted to wonder if God is good and if He loves. The mature know that beyond all doubt. The mature realize that we cannot understand all that God is doing. His ways are beyond the ways of men. When trials come, when wickedness is something that seems too hard to endure, they do not doubt the nature, goodness, or love of God. That knowledge has become sacrosanct. That knowledge has become sacrosanct and is unassailable. How did the “father” in the faith get there? By depending on and walking in the guidance of the Spirit of God and the Word of God.
Knowing God, knowing that He and only He saves us, transforms our faith in God from something elusive and mysterious, to something concrete and unmovable. We remain in Him because we know Him. We know Him because He called us to Him and changed us by His Word and Spirit. Knowing that we are those who fight the fight of faith together, let us love and protect each other. After all, we know God…praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
by Bob with