Tag Archives: Christ

Confidence with God

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Who is your worst critic? Who runs you down the most?  It’s you isn’t it?  Most people tell themselves things that, if spoken to others, would qualify as emotional abuse.  That is why John talked about how to “set our hearts at rest… whenever our hearts condemn us.”  

Because we start life disconnected from God’s Spirit, we adapt; we learn to trust our feelings instead, to assess our situation.  But feelings are notoriously unreliable guides.  You can be surrounded by people who love you and still feel insecure.  You can have a problem at work and drag your feelings (anger, frutration, etc.) back home with you.  But when we trust Jesus, He connects us to His Spirit.  Now we can listen to His input and wean ourselves off trusting our feelings.  We still have feelings, but we understand how subjective and unreliable they are.  Jesus called His Spirit “the Spirit of Truth.” (John 14:17)  As Jesus says, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)

Freedom from having to trust our feelings, having access to the Spirit of Truth, comes with significant advantages:

Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from Him anything we ask, because we obey His commands and do what pleases Him.  (1 John 3:21-22)

Marlon Brando played The Godfather with such skill, we could easily understand why people feared “the Don.”  People in his presence acted with great reserve and an exaggerated show of respect.  But there was one scene that showed him out in his garden, with his little grandson fooling around, trying to tackle him at the knees, laughing and playing.  Perhaps it is wrong to illustrate anything about God with a movie about the Mafia.  But can you see the freedom that comes when we know we can be confident in God’s presence, freely asking Him for things that we know will please Him?  Can you picture yourself in short pants, tackling God about the knees?  Laughing with Him in His garden?

Here is how:

And this is His command: to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us. Those who obey His commands live in Him, and He in them. And this is how we know that He lives in us: We know it by the Spirit He gave us.  (1 John 3:23-24 )

Dead or Alive?

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If you get trained in CPR, they frequently say things like, “Don’t worry about tearing their clothes or breaking a rib; they are dead; they won’t care – that is, unless you can bring them back to life!   Puts the whole deal into perspective.  It really matters when you go from death to life.

Jesus knew that humans were not connected to the Holy Spirit and were dead – “dead” like a cell phone is dead without a cell signal. (For another analogy, see Who Can Fix It?)  But Jesus came with spiritual CPR.  He said,

“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. (John 5:24)

Notice, that “eternal life” is not something given once a person dies, but is given at the moment of belief.  The crossover from death to life has already happened for those who believe. It is the Holy Spirit, living in their souls.  But this “new life” is given to people who had always assumed they were already alive!  But how can we be sure this new life is real?  How can we check?  On a phone, you make a call: if it goes through, you know your phone isn’t dead.  How can we know about eternal life?

John says:

We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.  (1 John 3:14)

But what is “love?”  Anybody who has ever exchanged valentines in 3rd Grade knows that the word, love, is pretty loosey-goosey.  And everybody loves somebody in some kind of way.  But John doesn’t leave us wondering: He is talking about the kind of love that is the exact opposite of hate.

Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.   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.  (1 John 3:15-16)

Hate is a response designed to protect myself from someone who I think wants to take something away from me (could be money, girlfriend, fame, prestige, an aisle seat…).  Love, John says, is a response motivating me to give myself to someone because they have a need.  This isn’t 3rd Grade valentine love.  It’s not “I love you, I need you, I wa-aaaa-nt you…”  Not even close.  This is, “I will give myself up for you.”  Even if you hate me.

But let’s face it: we are not often in a situation where laying down our lives would make any difference for someone else.  So, John makes it practical, …  and threatening.  He says:

If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?  Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.  (1 John 3:17-18)

Are you dead or alive?  John says, consider your response when you see someone in need.  If we turn away, hoping someone else takes care of the need, or perhaps rationalizing why it would be wrong for us to help, then “how can the love of God be in [us]?”  Whose love?  God’s!  Where?  In us! This kind of self-sacrificial love is so contrary to our ordinary human impulse that, when we see it in ourselves, we know God is doing it, we know God’s Spirit lives in us.   God’s love doesn’t just say, “I love you;” it puts that love into action!

John is not claiming that everyone who believes in Jesus is  immediately transformed into the person Mother Teresa wished she could be.  John knows that receiving the Spirit does not make us suddenly perfect in every way.  However, if you habitually harbor an attitude of hatred toward someone, or if you habitually turn away with indifference from someone else’s need, you have good reason to question whether you have “passed from death to life.”

But, if you notice a change in your heart, and find yourself acting with self-sacrificial concern for others, the costly kind of love Jesus extended to us,

This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence  whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. (1 John 3:19-20)

Greeting Jesus

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The monk hammers on the old wooden door, waking the abbot.  Blustering and stammering, he says, “There’s a man downstairs who says he is Jesus and has returned!  What should we do?”   “Look busy!”

Old joke, but it raises a good question.  If Jesus returned and came up to you, what would your reaction be?  If you knew that you were face to face with the Son of Almighty God, the Savior, what would you feel?  Fear?  Regret?  Shame?  Embarrassment?  Any of those strike a chord?  Quite probably so.  But what if you could be sure it was appropriate to run to meet Him with complete confidence and joy, without a trace of sheepishness or shame?  Turns out, that is what is intended for us, who have placed our trust in Jesus:

And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.  (1 John 2:28)

You have seen the videos: a child is in school, going through her daily activities, when suddenly Dad appears, home from his service in Afghanistan.  How does she respond?  She runs to him, embraces him with joyful tears.  That’s the idea for our response when Jesus returns!

But how?  How can that be possible?  I mean, … the Son of God…?  John shows us how.  First, our relationship to Jesus is that of a “dear child.”  By faith in Christ, we have been given the right to become a child of God.

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God... (John 1:12)

[Jesus said,] “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”  (Mark 10:15)

As a child of God, when you see “Papa,” run to Him!  He will be so glad to see you coming.

Secondly, John says “continue in Him.”   The word translated “continue” is the same word previously translated “remain.”  It means to make your permanent home in Him.  Abide in Him.  There’s more on this word in “Stay Home.”  You make your home in Jesus and He will make His home in you.  When you see Him coming toward you, it will be like coming home!

Chew on that…   The more you do, the more you will taste of its deep truths.  You are meant to sing this song as your own: “Joy to the world! The Lord is come!”

No Small Detail

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On Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, near Atlanta, GA, a new billboard now invites people to “Find Jesus in the Quran.”  Surprised?  Don’t be.  Most of the religions I checked have some form of belief in Jesus.  The problem is not what these religions (Muslim, Jew, Hindu, Buddhism, Baha’i, and even some watered down versions of Christianity!) believe about Jesus, but what they do NOT believe about Him.  They believe He was a prophet, an angelic being, a wise teacher, an incarnation of love, etc.  But they do not believe that Jesus, as the Son of God, is the human manifestation of God.

What difference does that make?  It’s no small detail, but a make or break essential.  Here is what this “wise teacher” said about Himself:

Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. (John 14:9b)

I and the Father are one. (John 10:30)

Don’t avoid the meaning of this second, simple statement; the people who first heard it did not misunderstand what He meant.  As they picked up rocks to bash His brains out, they said they were doing so:

“… because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”  (John 10:33b)

To say that Jesus was merely a “wise teacher” is to ignore Who He claimed to be.  You can’t have a watered down version of Jesus without denying that He told the truth.  To deny Who He is, is to oppose Who He is.  Here is how John stated this blunt truth:

Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son.  No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. (1 John 2:22-23)

You might find someone called Jesus in the Quran, but you will not find The Son of God, The Savior in that book.  Make sure you know Who He really is!

Personal note:  Thanks for waiting; we had a great time visiting kids and grand-kids for Thanksgiving, arriving back in Colorado just as the state became freeze-dried by an arctic blast.  Brrrrrrrr…

For Spiritual Teenagers

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When a person discovers the truth about Jesus and surrenders to Him, the first few days and weeks of new life is filled with wonder — and also doubt.  Is it really true my sins are forgiven?  Is God really accessible to me as my Father?  In John’s first letter he “sings a song” to those who experience those doubts.  He calls them “dear children” and reassures them of the truth of  those promises.  (See: No Doubt)

But following Jesus isn’t just about coming to faith in Jesus, it’s a lifelong process of learning to consistently live according to Jesus’ “upside-down” understanding of reality.  Jesus’ teachings tend to contradict the knee-jerk reactions we learn from the world.  His command to love with self-sacrifice is perhaps the most stark example of that (See: John vs. John Lennon).  Living by Jesus’ teachings is only possible by the power of His Holy Spirit within us.

Most of us are like spiritual teenagers.  We have passed the excitement and wonder of new life in Christ and are now experimenting and learning how to live this new life.  Frequently we stumble with painful awkwardness.  John “sings his song” to us, too.  He says:

I write to you, young men,
because you have overcome the evil one  (1 John 2:13b)
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.  (1 John 2:14b)

Addressing us as “young men,” John repeats his most urgent reminder:  “you have overcome the evil one.”  Peter, from first hand experience, knew that “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a restless lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).  Lions look for the weak and the frightened.  They don’t waste their energy on those who know they are strong.   That’s why John wants us to know, in the adolescence of this new life in Christ, that we have overcome the evil one.

How did we do that?  Jesus did it, on our behalf, on the cross.  Without meaning to diminish the sacred significance of the crucifixion in any way, it was the ultimate “rope a dope.”  Jesus allowed Satan to take his best shot.  And then He got back up.  In Him we have overcome Satan.

It doesn’t feel  that way, though, does it?  In a fight, or in most athletic contests, there are many things that happen that cause us to feel as though we have lost.  But the person that knows he will win, the one who can feel it in his bones, generally does win.  In our case, John says, we have already won!  

John also reminds us “adolescents in Jesus” that we are strong.  How so?  It’s not in our own strength, but “…because the Word of God lives in you.”   He doesn’t mean we have memorized a bunch of Scripture, although that is a good thing to do.  It is the “logos” of God, the mind and mindset of God that lives in us by His Holy Spirit.

If you have not yet surrendered to Jesus, keep looking and investigating until you become convinced of Who He really is.  None of this will fully make sense to you until you experience it in Jesus.  If you have surrendered by faith, if you have received the new life of the Holy Spirit, then John wants you to understand that the struggle you experience is a normal part of the deal.  It’s as normal as a teenager’s voice cracking when he tries to ask a girl to go to the prom.   But, as you struggle with these various, normal temptations, remember these truths:  you have already won the fight against Satan, and it is the Spirit of God, the Living Word of God in you in Whom you are strong.

Deep Lyrics

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How many people do you know who break into song when they are trying to teach you something?  Me either.  It’s pretty rare, I’d think.  But pretty cool, too. Hanging out with an old guy who did that would be pretty interesting.  Guy like John.   John’s been laying out all this astonishing stuff in his letter –  stuff about the Word of Life, the Holy Spirit, overcoming sin, and loving in a radical way.  Then, unexpectedly, he breaks into song!   Like most good songs, the lyrics are pretty simple on the surface but carry a mother-lode of deep meaning for the one who stops to ponder what they say.  Here it is:

     I write to you, dear children,
because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
     I write to you, fathers,
because you have known him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you have overcome the evil one.
I write to you, dear children,
because you have known the Father.
     I write to you, fathers,
because you have known 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.  (1 John 2:12-14)

Don’t be fooled by how apparently simple this is.  Chew on it and try to tease out what John is trying to  sing/say…

Facing the Truth about Sin

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There was no “Delete” key in the first century.  So, when John wrote: “and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin” (1 john 1:7b), he needed to clarify what he meant.  John knew people would read that and ask if he was claiming that followers of Jesus become sinless.  So he explained:

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.   (1 John 1:8-9)

There are people who claim to follow Christ and also claim to be sinless.  John says those folks are deceiving themselves.  More than that, he says  “the truth is not in [them].”  It’s important to understand that John is warning such people that they have not truly begun a relationship of faith with Jesus.  How can he be sure?  Jesus gives the Holy Spirit,  the “Spirit of Truth,” to everyone who truly believes and follows Him (John 14:17).  Jesus promised his followers, “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.”  (John 16:13a).   Someone who is self-deceived about sin is almost certainly also self-deceived about his relationship with Jesus.

But those who have the Spirit of Truth, will experience His Truth as it pertains to their condition, whenever they sin.  They will be painfully aware that they have sinned again (and again)!

John reassures such people that, as we acknowledge our sin (confess, or agree with what the Spirit has shown us), God is faithful to forgive us.  “Faithful” means we can count on Him to do so.   God also is “just.”  How can it be just for God to keep on forgiving us?  God forgives us with complete and perfect justice because “the blood of Jesus”  (v.7) has paid the full penalty for our sin.  Do you struggle to wrap your mind around that?  Me too.  But it is the truth.

And it gets better:  John says, God, Who faithfully forgives us with justice, then “purifies us from all unrighteousness.”   When you screw up and sin, don’t you feel dirty?  Don’t you feel as though you are smeared with a stain that you cannot wash away?  Despite how you feel, the truth is, God lovingly washes you clean.  He restores you and gives you a clean slate.  It is hard for us to feel clean, and yet, in truth, we are clean.  Amazing…

But, you may be wondering, how often can we expect God to keep doing that for us?  Look back to the quote above and see it for yourself:  He cleanses us from “all unrighteousness.”  The word, all, literally means “each and every one.”   More amazing…

The more the Spirit makes us aware of how often we sin, the more the message of God’s forgiveness, His justice and His washing seems.  Amazing and very, very humbling.  But true.

How You Walk

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“Let’s eat Grandma!”  Put one comma in that disgusting sentence and it makes all the difference for Grandma: “Let’s eat, Grandma!”  What makes all the difference in 1 John is understanding the word, walk, in these verses:

If we claim to have fellowship with him (God) yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (1 John 1:6-7)

John wrote this letter to tell about a special relationship he and others have with God, that he calls “koinonia,” or fellowship (See: Flood Muck and Koinonia).  John wants you to have that same fellowship with God, too.

We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. (1 John 1:3)

But how do you know if you have that fellowship or not?  John says you can tell by “your walk.”  He says, since God is light, since in God there is no darkness (See: Light Reading), the people who have this fellowship with Him do not “walk in darkness.”

But what does that mean, exactly?  Do you walk in darkness?  Are you a liar?  Have you been fooling yourself?  What does John mean by “walking?”

When John says “walk” he is talking about the regular direction and character of your life.  “Walking in darkness” means living a lifestyle at odds with the direction and character God intended for us humans when He designed us.  “Walking in the light” refers to a lifestyle that is harmonious with what God intended.  For example, one who walks in the light would tend to love those who treat him badly.  One who walks in the darkness would try to get revenge against them.

WATCH OUT!  IT IS EASY TO MISUNDERSTAND THIS!

First, John is not saying that if you try real hard to be good, then you will earn a relationship with God!  Rather, he says that when you have a relationship with God (the one that comes when you trust Jesus Christ), you can tell it by the change in the direction and character of your life.  The “koinonia” relationship one has with God causes him to turn around, and heading toward the light and away from the darkness.

Secondly, “Walking in the light” It does not mean living a totally sinless life, but, rather, a lifestyle that tends to be harmonious with God’s design.  Do you see where he says “the blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin”?  Doesn’t that mean we live a sinless life?  No way, and John is going to explain that further in the next verses.  Notice that John does not say the blood of Jesus purified us from all sin, but that it purifies us.  The form of the word he uses means that this purification happens in a continuous way, as we walk in the light but still sin.

You have seen offers online to clean viruses off your computer. But unless you get an antivirus program that continuously does that, keeping your computer clean every time it was attacked, it would quickly become hopelessly corrupted.  That’s how the blood of Christ works to purify us from sin when we “walk in the light.”

So, John wants us to ask, which direction are you walking?  Toward the light or away from it?   Don’t fool yourself or lie to others about this.  If you see that you are walking in the darkness, don’t try to turn yourself around.  Ask Jesus to do it, and trust Him.  You will soon see the difference.  You will see it in your “walk.”

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  John 8:12

Light Reading

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This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5)

What is Light?   To a physicist light is electromagnetic radiation, radiant energy shining out from a source.  If you are lost at night, light is hope.  Artists know light as the ultimate medium.  A philosopher might equate light with truth.  A mechanic needs light to know why your car makes that screeching sound. A prisoner in solitary knows light is life.

John says God is light – completely.  There is nothing of God that resembles darkness at all.  Consider:

Morally, light is perfect righteousness, absolute purity:

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness,  Isaiah 5:20a

God reveals Himself through the prophets as light:

For these commands are a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the corrections of discipline are the way to life, (Proverbs 6:23)

God sent Jesus as The Light:

I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth, I will also make you a light for the Gentiles that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.  (Isaiah 49:6)

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

John Mayer, singing about his struggle to do the right thing in Gravity, makes this plea:  “Keep me where the light is…   keep me where the light is…”   f

Amen.

The Holy Spirit in a Flood

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If you have wondered why these posts have been more intermittent lately, it is because our church in Lyons, Colorado, has been greatly affected by the horrendous flooding.  There is much to be done.

Here is a first-hand account from one of the women in that church, a vivid example of how it looks when the Holy Spirit lives inside us.

http://www.therivercolorado.blogspot.com/

If you would like to help with flood relief, please visit this home page for The River Church:

http://www.therivercolorado.org

Thank you.