THOUGHTS FROM THE 21 DAYS, DAY 37

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

In January our church held its annual congregational fast. For 21 days we prayed together, fasted together and meditated on 1 John . Here are my thoughts from those times of devotion in 1 John.

For vthis is the message that you have heard from the beginning, wthat weshould love one another. 12 We should not be like xCain, who was of the evil oneand murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? yBecause his own deedswere evil and his brother’s righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, brothers,3 zthat theworld hates you. 14 We know that awe have passed out of death into life, becausewe love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15 bEveryone whohates his brother is a murderer, and you know that cno murderer has eternal lifeabiding in him.16 By this we know love, that dhe laid down his life for us, and ewe ought to laydown our lives for the brothers. 17 But fif anyone has the world’s goods and seeshis brother in need, yet gcloses his heart against him, hhow does God’s love abidein him? 18 Little children, let us not ilove in word or talk but in deed and jin truth I John 3:11-18

MEDITATIONAL THOUGHTS:You should not be surprised if the world hates you; you have passed from death to life because you love your brothers and sisters.

MY THOUGHTS: I don’t like to be disliked. I have , however, come to realize that being disliked is an unavoidable destination. It is not about the destination, everybody gets disliked by somebody at some time. It is what causes me to get there that makes a difference.

Am I disliked because I am a jerk, or am I disliked because I have loved Jesus and because I have loved people as Jesus loved them? I have been around the church long enough to know that there are a bunch of self righteous jerks in it who say that they are “being persecuted for righteousness sake” when they are just being plain nasty. I have also been in the church long enough to know that the world around us finds many of our beliefs not just wrong but dangerous and so they hate us because of what we believe and because of Whom we serve.

“Look, he is coming with the clouds,” and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”; and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.” So shall it be! Amen. Rev. 1:7

THOUGHTS FROM THE 21 DAYS, DAY 36

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

In January our church held its annual congregational fast. For 21 days we prayed together, fasted together and meditated on 1 John . Here are my thoughts from those times of devotion in 1 John.

Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; jsin islawlessness. 5 You know that khe appeared in order to ltake away sins, and minhim there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; nno one whokeeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, olet no onedeceive you. pWhoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.8 qWhoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has beensinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was rto destroythe works of the devil. 9 sNo one born of God makes a practice of sinning, forGod’s2 seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has beenborn of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are thechildren of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, tnoris the one who udoes not love his brother. 1 JOHN 3:4-10

MEDITATIONAL THOUGHT:

Practicing righteousness is the sign that you are a child of God.

MY THOUGHTS: As children of God we are growing in righteousness. We are growing in our knowledge of the Word of God and we are growing in our ability and strength to live out that knowledge. At least we are if we are Christians. If there is no growth. If there is no change. If there is no increase in knowledge, then there is no Christianity.

Here’s the thing, spiritual growth is a lot like physical growth. It just happens as long as we are healthy. The problem comes when we think we can take control of our physical growth. Some who aren’t growing tall according to their pace or plan hang from bars at the gym trying to stretch themselves. Others who think they are growing larger than they would like to go on crash diets. Physical growth and its pace in our lives are not really under our control and neither is spiritual growth. So we work on the things in our spiritual life we think are important trying to kick the habits that are most problematic to us or others and meanwhile we neglect the only things that can really help us, the things that connect us to the God of change.

Do you want to grow spiritually and increase in righteousness? Focus on your relationship with Jesus. He makes all things beautiful in His time!

THOUGHTS FROM THE 21 DAYS, DAY 35

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

In January our church held its annual congregational fast. For 21 days we prayed together, fasted together and meditated on 1 John . Here are my thoughts from those times of devotion in 1 John.

Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; jsin islawlessness. 5 You know that khe appeared in order to ltake away sins, and minhim there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; nno one whokeeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, olet no onedeceive you. pWhoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.8 qWhoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has beensinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was rto destroythe works of the devil. 9 sNo one born of God makes a practice of sinning, forGod’s2 seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has beenborn of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are thechildren of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, tnoris the one who udoes not love his brother. 1 JOHN 3:4-10

MEDITATIONAL THOUGHT:The Son of God appeared for this purpose: to destroy the works of the devil.

MY THOUGHTS: The enemy’s plan was to take over the whole world and everything in it….BUT GOD HAD OTHER PLANS! God’s plan of salvation was that through His Son Jesus everything that had been lost could be restored. The plan of salvation does not just redeem individual souls. It is not just about forgiveness of sins and the bestowal of eternal life. It is about resurrecting everything that sin and death and the devil have touched! Destroying the works of the devil in all their manifestations is God’s plan!!!

THOUGHTS FROM THE 21 DAYS, DAY 34

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

In January our church held its annual congregational fast. For 21 days we prayed together, fasted together and meditated on 1 John . Here are my thoughts from those times of devotion in 1 John.

Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; jsin islawlessness. 5 You know that khe appeared in order to ltake away sins, and minhim there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; nno one whokeeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, olet no onedeceive you. pWhoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.8 qWhoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has beensinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was rto destroythe works of the devil. 9 sNo one born of God makes a practice of sinning, forGod’s2 seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has beenborn of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are thechildren of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, tnoris the one who udoes not love his brother. 1 JOHN 3:4-10

MEDITATIONAL THOUGHT: No one who abides in Him keeps on sinning willfully; a transformed life is the evidence of new birth.

MY THOUGHTS: I think this verse often brings a mistaken understanding of what it means to abide in Christ. It can inspire the mistaken thinking that the one who abides will never struggle with evil or sin. It can also make us think that becoming free from sin, is something we are creating rather than being something Christ has already accomplished for us.

The truth is that if we have put our faith in Christ freedom from sin is assured and secured. The freedom is a byproduct of belonging to Christ and by becoming one with Him, but the freedom while established is progressive in its manifestation and that manifestation is enhanced or impeded by the time we spend in the presence of the Savior.

THOUGHTS FROM THE 21 DAYS, DAY 33

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

In January our church held its annual congregational fast. For 21 days we prayed together, fasted together and meditated on 1 John . Here are my thoughts from those times of devotion in 1 John.

See ywhat kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be calledzchildren of God; and so we are. The reason why athe world does not knowus is that bit did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are zGod’s children cnow, and whatwe will be dhas not yet appeared; but we know that ewhen he appears1 fwe shallbe like him, because gwe shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who hthus hopesin him ipurifies himself as he is pure. 1 JOHN 3:1-3

MEDITATIONAL THOUGHT:. Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies themselves, just as He is pure.

MY THOUGHTS: Purity is the quality of being clean, unmixed, or untainted, free from physical pollutants, foreign elements, or moral guilt

Purity is that idea of having an undivided heart, a heart that doesn’t equivocate with itself because it has come to oneness of purpose. It is our hope that causes us to do the hard work of purification. Our hope is in being co heirs with Christ for all eternity. That reward causes us to continually turn our attention on Jesus who alone can give us the strength to purify ourselves from every thought and mindset that does not line up with his purpose.