2 & 3 John and Jude

As I read these three letters I was saddened to think of the church of Jesus Christ is such disarray. In her first generation there were church splits and disputes. Some of the disputes were quite simple; it was and is always about control. The nature of our fallen flesh makes it inevitable that there will be disputes. The caution being thrown up by both John and Jude is for us to not accept that this is the norm for the church. Christ calls us to rise above the norm of our humanity and to accept God’s call for the church to strive for holiness.

Both John and Jude also point to more serious controversies. (By the way, Jude’s name was Judah and it is believed he was Jesus’ brother. His name was shortened to Jude by the Bible translators to help distinguish him from other Judah’s in the Bible.) These other controversies related to the core beliefs of the Christian church. Both writers are stressing how important it is for every Christian to have a solid foundation for their faith. This foundation is built upon an understanding of the nature of Jesus, His mission, His resurrection, and His ascension. Simply put, a Christian has been born into the family of God, and this is made possible by the forgiveness of our sins and the infilling of God’s Holy Spirit. It is Jesus who came in the flesh, who was crucified and raised to life again, who makes it possible for us to call upon the name of God and be saved.

It is well worth our time to include the great doctrines of our church in our daily devotions or small group classes. While there is debate on the essential Christian Doctrines, understanding the following doctrines is generally considered essential: The Trinity; The Person of Jesus Christ; The Second Coming of Jesus Christ; Salvation; The Bible; Baptism; and Holy Communion.

Now all glory to God,

who is able to keep you from falling away

and will bring you with great joy

into his glorious presence

without a single fault.

All glory to him who alone is God,

our Savior

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

All glory, majesty, power, and authority

are his before all time, and in the present,

and beyond all time!

Amen.

Jude 1:24-25

What word or phrase in these verses

Attracts your attention?

Reflect on that word or phrase.

What insights come to you?

How does this passage touch your life today?

 This concludes the yearlong reading of the New Testament. New meditation will begin on May 1, 2012 with the reading of Psalm 1.

1 John 5

At the conclusion of John’s Gospel he states the purpose of the book: “that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.”

As he concludes his first letter he includes a similar statement: “I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.”

Eternal life is life uninterrupted by death. Those who are in Christ are living eternally now. How can that be? At the end of the letter John answers that question: “And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life”

God wants us to spiritually sense, or experience, that we are living eternally. That experience comes through fellowship with Jesus. We can know God and have fellowship with God because of what Jesus accomplished to give us new life. This fellowship with God the Father and His Son, Jesus, comes through our meditation on the Word of God.

The 23^rd Psalm is a good place to begin experiencing fellowship with God because it is written in the first person. As you read the Psalm, take your time. Read one verse at a time and allow the words to sink deep within you. Don’t think of David writing those words; imagine you are writing them. When you speak them out loud, you are not just reading scripture; these are your words of affirmation, devotion and trust. Make David’s psalm your psalm.

God wants you to know you have eternal life. Jesus is eternal life. Jesus wants you to have fellowship with Him. Enjoy!

What word or phrase in these verses

Attracts your attention?

Reflect on that word or phrase.

What insights come to you?

How does this passage touch your life today?

Reading for 24-Apr-12       2 & 3 John & Jude

1 John 3 & 4

In this letter John uses the word love twenty-six times; twenty times in chapters three and four. Eight times John discusses belonging; do we belong to God, or to the world, to truth or to a lie. Over and over again John stressed that a Christian is in God and God is in the Christian.

John wants the Christian to be fully grounded in their identity: “See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! Dear friends, we are already God’s children” (3:1-2)

John is teaching the church that because God loves His children, His children love others. Because of the love of God, “Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.” (3:16)

(We know John didn’t divide his letter into chapters and verses and number them. Even so, the similarity between John 3:16 and 1 John 3:16 is quite stunning!)

John is using his repetitive style because he wants the church to not just mouth these affirmations, but to live them out in their daily lives. James emphasized this teaching as well: ““I will show you my faith by my good deeds.” (James 2:14-20) So also the Apostle Paul, “Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus . . .” (Philippians 2:4-5)

Could it be any clearer? “But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. We love each other because he loved us first.” (4:8, 19)

Over the centuries the church has legislated love and purity: Do this, don’t do that, say this, and don’t say that; but that missed John’s point entirely. When you are in a relationship where you love and you are loved, you do not need rules to tell you to be faithful. Your life is shaped by love and your fidelity is a natural fruit of your love. Your love not only shapes your life in your loving relationship, it shapes your life entirely. Your love overflows into all the people you encounter.

John is showing us that God meets our every need to be loved, accepted and to be valued. When we open ourselves to this love of God, His love overflows out of our lives and into the lives of others.

Bottom line? If you tell your spouse you love them and then neglect the needs of others, you are “a liar and (are) not living in the truth.” (2:4)

God’s love for us was not just empty words. Christ died for us. Our love for others should not be just empty words. We are the children of God.

What word or phrase in these verses

Attracts your attention?

Reflect on that word or phrase.

What insights come to you?

How does this passage touch your life today?

Reading for  23-Apr-12      1 John 5

1 John 2

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While reading John’s epistles it will be very helpful to remember ‘Life in the age to come’ is the literal translation of the phrase ‘eternal life’ in the New Testament. One of the core foundations of the church is a belief that God is going to establish His Kingdom on earth in the ‘age to come’ where everything would be made right and truth and justice would flourish. God’s Kingdom will be new life on earth, as the paradise God intended. This Life in the Age to Come began on Easter Sunday when God’s promise was fulfilled in the resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah. God has opened the doors of this age, His Kingdom, to everyone. John’s purpose in this letter is to edify the believers and to encourage them to seek to live the life in Christ now, as they prepare for the full revelation of God’s Kingdom.

John has an interesting style in his writing that reminds me of many contemporary praise songs. In a manner similar to the Taizé movement in France, these contemporary songs use repetitive phrases as a means of meditation. The point is to take the time to let the truth of the phrase go deep within our spirit. John is repetitive throughout this letter for the same reason.

John is the only writer in the New Testament to use the word ‘antichrist.’ He uses it twice in chapter two, once in chapter four and once in his second letter. John uses the word in a generic way to refer to people who deny the humanity of Christ and for those who break fellowship with the church. In either case, John is asserting that the antichrist is denying the sacrificial work of Jesus to establish His church. From John’s perspective, as well as that of the other writers of the New Testament, if we will focus ourselves of fulfilling Jesus’ commandment to love others as He has loved us, we will have a full plate. Literally, we’ll have all we can say grace over.

What word or phrase in these verses

Attracts your attention?

Reflect on that word or phrase.

What insights come to you?

How does this passage touch your life today?

Reading for 22-Apr-12       1 John 3 & 4

1 John 1

Note: While importing my BLOG Amazon Kindle has experienced technical difficulties in the last few days. Occasionally, within the post the font style changes and in a few instances, the space between words is dropped. Kindle is working to resolve this problem.

The enormity of it all is overwhelming. I had that thought recently as I was looking at some photographs made by the Hubble telescope. The photos clearly revealed clusters of stars and galaxies millions of light years away from planet earth. To travel just one light year you would travel 5,865,696,000,000 miles. I just got home from traveling 700 miles in a day and a half, and I am pooped. How long would it take me to travel five trillion, eight hundred sixty-five billion, six hundred ninety-six million miles? Like I said, the enormity of it all is overwhelming.

So also is the basis of the Christian faith. When you consider the enormity of the infinite universe, the idea of a Creator is not that much of a leap of faith. But, for that Creator to desire a personal relationship with humankind, for that Creator to become a living human being, for that human being to suffer and die on a cross, for that dead and buried human being to be resurrected from the dead and live again, for that resurrected human being to be God, well the enormity of it all is overwhelming. But wait, there’s more! This resurrected God gives an invitation to all human beings to come unto Him, to live in unity with Him for all eternity. Now, the enormity of it all is truly overwhelming!

Because of this enormity, human beings have surrendered to the temptation to reduce God to a more manageable size. At the time John was writing this letter, there was a faction in the church who could not accept that Jesus, God, had really become a human being. John opens this letter with his assurance that Jesus was most certainly fully human. John says that he saw Jesus, he heard Jesus, he touched Jesus and that he had, and is continuing to enjoy, fellowship with God the Father and His Son, Jesus.

John says that you cannot hide from God, so why try. Own up to your sin, receive the cleansing forgiveness of Jesus and immerse yourself in the fellowship of believers as together we immerse ourselves in the fellowship of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Yes, the enormity of it all is overwhelming. That just makes it more wonderful when you make the leap of faith into the loving arms of Jesus.

So, kick off your shoes and dive in. Life in Christ is fine!

What word or phrase in these verses

Attracts your attention?

Reflect on that word or phrase.

What insights come to you?

How does this passage touch your life today?

Reading for 21-Apr-12       1 John 2

Titus 1, 2, & 3

In chapter 3:4-8, Paul provides us with a wonderful summary of the Christian life. Everything we need to know is in this brief passage. We’re saved by God’s grace. Our sins are forgiven and we have received new life in Christ. God has given us His Holy Spirit and declared we have right standing to be in His glorious presence. And, God gives us the confidence that we have inherited His promise of eternal life.

Paul believes this confidence will manifest itself through our devotion in doing good deeds for the Kingdom of God.

Got confidence?

What word or phrase in these verses

Attracts your attention?

Reflect on that word or phrase.

What insights come to you?

How does this passage touch your life today?

Reading for 20-Apr-12       1 John 1