THOUGHTS FROM THE 21 DAYS, DAY 17

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.

Beloved, I am not writing to you a new commandment, but an old one, which you have had from the beginning. This commandment is the message you have heard. 8Then again, I am also writing to you a new commandment, which is true in Him and also in you. For the darkness is fading and the true light is already shining.

9If anyone claims to be in the light but hates his brother, he is still in the darkness. 10Whoever loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no cause of stumbling in him. 11But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness. He does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

MEDITATIONAL THOUGHT:Walking in love is walking in the light; hatred keeps you in darkness, stumbling aimlessly.

MY THOUGHTS: I feel like most of the world is stumbling around aimlessly. We are now in a time when so many are saying, “Love is hate and hate is love.”

That is mostly Because in this world we are not working with an accurate definition of love. Paul the Apostle gives us God’s definition in 1 Corinthians 13.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails.

If it’s not patient, it’s not love.

If it’s not kind, it’s not love.

If it is jealous because it feels insecure in itself, it’s not love.

If it calls attention to itself, it’s not love.

If it is based in self promotion or protection, it’s not love.

If it steals honor from others, it is not love.

If it is about you, it’s not love.

If it is based in an angry attitude, it’s not love.

If it calls up the negative past, it’s not love.

If it is attracted to or motivated by sinful behavior or thinking, it’s not love.

If it denies the truth of Scripture to have its own way, it’s not love.

If it protects self over the needs of the one supposedly loved, it’s not love.

If it doesn’t trust the person to be who they are and can’t love them as they are, it’s not love.

If it doesn’t keep God’s future plans in mind, it’s not love.

If it gives up, it’s not love.

If it’s not all those things together, it’s not love.

THOUGHTS FROM THE 21 DAYS, DAY 16

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles, Uncategorized

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.

Beloved, I am not writing to you a new commandment, but an old one, which you have had from the beginning. This commandment is the message you have heard. 8Then again, I am also writing to you a new commandment, which is true in Him and also in you. For the darkness is fading and the true light is already shining.

9If anyone claims to be in the light but hates his brother, he is still in the darkness. 10Whoever loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no cause of stumbling in him. 11But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness. He does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

MEDITATIONAL THOUGHT: The commandment to love one another is both old (from the beginning) and new (embodied in Christ).

MY THOUGHTS: St. Augustine of Hippo said, The New is in the Old concealed; the Old is in the New revealed.”

Here in John 2 we see that love and restoration has been God’s point all along. From the Old Testament to and through the New Testament love is thread that runs and hems everything together. Restoration of a whole is the point. There can be no salvation without love and there can be no salvation without restoration.

Hate is a separator and so it has no place in the body of Christ because it has no place in God where people are concerned. The only thing God hates is sin itself because it has the potential to separate God from the ones He loves.

THOUGHTS FROM THE 21 DAYS, DAY 15

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.

3 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God[a] is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did. 1 JOHN 2:3-6

MEDITATIONAL THOUGHT:Holiness is an unmistakable byproduct of God’s grace in your life.

MY THOUGHTS: Holiness comes from salvation not vice versa. I am shocked by how much I have changed over the course of my life. I am equally shocked by how much more I see needs to be changed as I move forward into the future. When I was a young Christian man I thought I truly knew myself . I truly thought I knew what in me needed changing. The longer I have lived in Christ the more I have seen of myself that God would change. Life experience and Life with Jesus has shown me things in my deepest heart that needed changing. Many of these things I wasn’t even aware were a part of me way back when I was a young man. They were there, but they were hidden… asleep until life circumstances brought them to the surface.

Yet here is something else I have learned. Jesus is still the remedy for all my sin of thought, word, and deed. His mercies are new every morning!

THOUGHTS FROM THE 21 DAYS, DAY 14

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.

3 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God[a] is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did. 1 JOHN 2:3-6

MEDITATIONAL THOUGHT:Whoever claims to abide in Christ must walk as Jesus did, following His example.

MY THOUGHTS:

Whenever I hear the word “abide” I think back to John chapter 15:7 “If ye abide  in me, and my words abide  in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”

Verse 6 uses the word “abide”. Here in our translation it is translation as “live” but the Greek work “meno” is the same word used in John 15.

Here is John is answering the question that everyone who reads John 15:7 asks …”How do I abide in Christ?”

He who wants to abide must live like Jesus lived, literally “walk like Jesus walked.”

Jesus walked at the direction of His Father. He was always about His Father’s business. He was always watching to see what His Father was doing and joining Him in that work. We must do the same.

WHAT DO YOU SEE GOD DOING AROUND YOU? WHAT IS THE FATHER’S BUSINESS YOU SEE BEFORE YOU RIGHT NOW?

THOUGHTS FROM THE 21 DAYS DAY 13

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.

3 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God[a] is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did. 1 JOHN 2:3-6

MEDITATIONAL THOUGHT:

. Keeping God’s commands is the evidence that you truly know Him, not just an intellectual acknowledgment.

MY THOUGHTS:

Here we come to the juxtaposition of thoughts. Salvation is not about the works we do…but knowing Him does depend on the works we do and eternal life is knowing God…therefore salvation is about the works we do? How does that work?

Well Scripture is clear, our salvation does not depend on our good works. You cannot earn salvation. It is a free gift from Jesus to you…but you must receive it…and when you do the gift itself will automatically begin to change what you do and how you do life.

No one who truly knows Jesus stays exactly as they are, because truly knowing Jesus changes a person at the root of their existence. It’s not the change that saves us. It is salvation that changes us.