Devotionary

Latest Episodes:

Ep 192 – 1 John 2:12-17 PT 3 Jul 01, 2017

Show notes

In this, the third episode on at 1 John 2, verses 12-17, we'll be discussing, "Misplaced Love." John is going to contrast a love for God as illustrated in our love for others with a love for the world and the things it offers. These are not two available options for our love, they are opposites. You can't love the world and love God at the same time. And it is hard to love others when we're busy loving the things of this world and buying into their constant temptations to meet our every self-centered need. Love for the world is innately selfish. It is all about us. We love the world for what it can offer us in return. We give it our time, attention and affections, because it promises to make us happy, fulfilled, successful, popular, and satisfied. But love for God is other-oriented. It focuses on the needs of others. We love, not to get something in return, but simply because He first loved us. Loving the world makes it all about us. Loving God makes it all about others.

Ep 191 – 1 John 2:12-17 PT 2 Jun 30, 2017

Show notes

This is our second episode looking at 1 John 2, verses 12-17, and is entitled, "A Timely Reminder", because it contains some encouraging words we all need to hear. While John was writing to a particular group of believers, his words are inspired by the Holy Spirit and are timeless in nature. In these verses, he will remind us of some irrefutable facts about us due to our relationship with Jesus Christ. It is amazing how easy it is for us to forget these truths or simply become so complacent about them, that they no longer carry any weight in our lives. But John would have us reconsider the incredible nature of what God has done for us and to us as a result of His Son's death on the cross. We have been made right with God. No more condemnation. No more fear of death. We have forgiveness of sins and the peace that comes with knowing that our eternity is secure. And if there was ever a time we needed to hear those words, it is now.

Ep 190 – 1 John 2:12-17 PT 1 Jun 29, 2017

Show notes

For the next seven days, we will be looking at 1 John 2, verses 12-17. As we saw in the first 11 verses of this chapter, John has the ability to squeeze a lot of content into a very small space. These verses are packed with insight and encouragement, and in them, he will address the need for believers to stand firm in their faith, fully confident that Christ has accomplished a major victory for them. They are fully equipped to live the life they have been called to live. They need not fear failure or losing their salvation. While they will face confrontation from the world and the ongoing attacks of the enemy, the victory is assured because Jesus has taken care of it. John will give some strong words of warning about falling in love with the world. It is impossible to love God and share that affection with a fallen world that is diametrically opposed to Him. This world is temporal, not eternal. What it offers is of no value compared to the knowledge that we have new life in Christ now and eternal life waiting for us in the future.

Ep 189 – 1 John 2:3-11 PT 7 Jun 28, 2017

Show notes

This is the final episode on 1 John 2:3-11 and it is entitled, "I Know That I Know." John wanted his readers to know that they know. In other words, he was anxious that the believers to whom he was writing were confident in their knowledge of God. And the best way to assure them of their relationship with God was to be found in their obedience TO God. Those who have come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior, will live differently, because they have the Spirit of God living within them. They have a new capacity to live in obedience to God because they possess the power of God in the form of His Spirit. It is when we see that we are actually able to obey God that we begin to realize that our relationship with Him is real and our knowledge of Him has moved from head knowledge to actual heart knowledge. Anyone can claim to know God. But it is only those who have actually come into a relationship with Him through faith in His Son who can truly boast of knowing God. And the proof is in their obedience to Him.

Ep 188 – 1 John 2:3-11 PT 6 Jun 27, 2017

Show notes

Anyone who has ever spent any time in the dark knows that stumbling comes with the territory. The inability to see clearly makes it almost impossible for us to walk safely and confidently. And in this, the sixth episode on 1 John 2, verses 3-11, we are going to hear what John has to say about the consequences of living in the dark. I've entitled this episode, "No Cause for Stumbling" because John is going to tell us that we should have no excuse if we stumble and fall or if we cause another to do the same. We are children of the light. We have the light of Christ living within us and the light of God's Word available to us. So, seeing clearly and walking confidently should not be a problem for us. Unless of course, we choose to ignore the light. Darkness is nothing more than an absence of light. And when we refuse to spend time in the Word, deepening our relationship with God and growing in our knowledge of Jesus Christ, we end up stumbling around in the dark. And like the blind leading the blind, our lifestyle influences all those around us.

Ep 187 – 1 John 2:3-11 PT 5 Jun 26, 2017

Show notes

As should be fairly obvious by now, these nine verses are jam-packed and that's why we are doing our fifth episode on 1 John chapter two, verses 3-11. This one is called, "Something Old. Something New" and will take a look at John's new take on an old commandment. As has been the case in the last four episodes, the subject matter is love, but this time, John will link our love of God with our love of others. And who did he get that idea from? Jesus Himself. Jesus was the one who described the love of God and others as the two greatest commandments. And John simply drives home the point that you can't truly love God if you refuse to love your brother or sister in Christ. One of the things we tend to forget is that our love for others is actually an expression of our love for God. When we love those whom He has made, we are loving Him. His love for us is meant to flow through us, not come to a screeching halt on us. His love is intended to be shared. And while Jesus Christ was the ultimate expression of the love of God, as Christ-followers, we are to manifest that love to others on a daily basis.

Ep 186 – 1 John 2:3-11 PT 4 Jun 25, 2017

Show notes

This is episode four on 1 John chapter two, verses 3-11 and we will continue to dig into John's admonition that we love others. John describes what we are to do as a new commandment, one given to us by Jesus Himself. This is not an optional or discretionary suggestion, but a command. And our obedience to it is not left up to our own flesh, weakened as it is by sin. We have been given the Spirit of God, who provides us with the power of God, and makes it possible to love as we have been loved by God. In a world that is marred by hate and superficial forms of selfish, self-centered love, we are to model Christ-like love that is totally selfless and sacrificial. That is why Jesus said the world would know we are His disciples by the way we love one another. That kind of love is not of this world. It is supernatural and impossible to create on our own. The world doesn't have a version of that kind of love. It is alien and other-worldly. Men can try to fake it, but they can't make it. One of the reasons God left us here is so that we might be the means by which His love manifests itself in flesh and blood.

Ep 185 – 1 John 2:3-11 PT 3 Jun 24, 2017

Show notes

In this third episode on 1 John chapter two, verse 3-11, we will be looking at what it means to walk like Jesus walked. John will point blank tell us that our walk or lifestyle is to emulate that of Jesus. And when we walk as He walked, we will know that we are in Him. In other words, we will have assurance of our salvation by virtue of our transformed behavior. But one of the things John will drive home is that a love for others is to be a hallmark of the one who has come to know Christ. Jesus loved, so we are to love. And we are to love as He has loved us. And to claim that you know Christ and have had the darkness of your life exposed and replaced with the light of Christ, all the while hating another brother or sister in Christ is a sign that something is desperately wrong. Love is a non-negotiable outcome of having your heart transformed by the grace, mercy and love of God. Failure to love is evidence that you have never fully experienced the love and forgiveness of God. It is to walk in the flesh, not like Jesus walked.

Ep 184 – 1 John 2:3-11 PT 2 Jun 23, 2017

Show notes

This is part two in our look at 1 John chapter two, verse 3-11. This episode is entitled "The Fading Darkness" and will deal with John's assessment of the state of things since the Light of the world entered the scene. It may surprise you. Because we live in a time when it seems like the darkness, or evil, is having a field day and the good guys are losing. But John would have us remember that the darkness is passing away, whether it looks like it or not. Jesus Christ has conquered death and sin. He has already won the victory and it only a matter of time before His light eliminates the darkness once and for all. But in the meantime, we are to be His lights in this world. We are to reflect the light of Christ in such a way that our lives not only expose the darkness around us, they help eliminate it. The church, the body of Christ, is to be an agent of change in the world, providing evidence of God's miraculous and gracious transformative power, made possible through His Son. Like Him, we are to be lights in the world, shining strongly so that the darkness around us fades away.

Ep 183 – 1 John 2:3-11 PT 1 Jun 22, 2017

Show notes

In today's episode, we will be in 1 John chapter two, verse 3-11. I've entitled this episode "By This We Know", which just happens to be the name of this entire series. John will use that phrase repeatedly throughout his letter, because he wants his readers to know for certain that they are saved and that they can live lives that express the reality of their salvation. He wants them to know that they have been transformed from darkness into light. But if that is the case, as he strongly believes it is, their lives should reflect their new nature. Their behavior should give evidence of the radical transformation that faith in Christ has brought about. One of the main evidences John gives of having been saved is a new-found ability to keep the commands of Christ. Obedience becomes not only possible, but a normal part of the believer's life. We not only have Christ living in us, we have His life being expressed through us – in our words and actions. And that Spirit-produced ability to live Christ-like is proof of our salvation.

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