Tag: Jesus Christ

Wednesday Morning: 24 Jul 2019 – 1 John 4:7-21 ~ God’s children: live in God’s love.

Wednesday Morning

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Opening (A Collect for Grace – Wednesday)

O Lord, our heavenly Father, almighty and everlasting God, you have brought us safely to the beginning of this day: Defend us by your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin nor run into any danger; and that guided by your Spirit, we may do what is righteous in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Morning Reading – 1 John 4:7-21 (NLT)

Loving One Another

Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.

And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.

God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.

Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. We love each other because he loved us first.

If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.
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Morning Reflection:

God’s children: live in God’s love.

Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God.
Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God.
But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
– 1 John 4:7-8 –

Have you ever wondered why there are so many conflicts and divisions among professed believers? Could it be that we are more interested in fixing one another (doctrinally, or behaviorally) than we are in loving one another? But how can we love people with whom we disagree?

“The love which the New Testament enjoins involves a consuming passion
for the well-being of others, and this love has its wellspring in God.” (Bruce)

Loving other believers is our response to God’s own love, and his loving activity in Christ and in the the Church.

+ God’s love expresses the nature and character of God; God creates in love, God rules in love, God judges in love.
+ God’s love was revealed to us by sending his Son to die that we might receive eternal life.
+ God’s love is produced in us by God’s Spirit; through whom we are born of God, and know God.

“Since no one in all humanity is beyond the reach of our Savior’s sacrificial death,
no brother or sister should be beyond our sacrificial love.” (Hodges)

Questions for consideration:

  • Have you ever experienced conflict, or division, in the Church? How was it resolved? Please explain?
  • How could the conflict, or division, have been mitigated by sacrificial love? Please explain.
  • What part did you play (if any) in the conflict? Is there anyone with whom you need to be reconciled? Please explain.
  • How can you grow closer to God and, in so doing, “grow more perfect” in love? Please explain.

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Morning Prayer: For Daily Growth (Richard of Chichester) –

Thanks be to thee, my Lord Jesus Christ, for all the pains and insults thou hast borne for me, and all the benefits thou hast given me. O most merciful Redeemer, Friend, and Brother: Grant that I may see thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, and follow thee more nearly, day by day. Amen.

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“How Deep The Father’s Love For Us” – Selah

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Closing:

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever He may send you. May He guide you through the wilderness, and protect you through the storm. May He bring you home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown you. May He bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Tuesday Morning: 23 Jul 2019 – 1 John 3:13-4:6 ~ God’s children: love like Christ.

Tuesday Morning

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Opening (A Collect for Peace – Tuesday)

O God, the author of peace and lover of concord, to know you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom: Defend us, your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries, through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Morning Reading – 1 John 3:13-4:6 (NLT)

So don’t be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.

If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead. Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.

We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?

Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.

Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him.

And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us. Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us.

Discerning False Prophets

Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.

But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. Those people belong to this world, so they speak from the world’s viewpoint, and the world listens to them. But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception.

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Morning Reflection:

God’s children: love like Christ.

We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us.
So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.
– 1 John 3:16 –

Love like Christ:  Jesus laid down His life once, therefore we ought to lay down our lives repeatedly in self-sacrificing love. John’s concern is to encourage obedient and active love from believers.

+ Demonstrates a believer’s true character, or righteousness.
+ Relieves a believer’s guilt in not being able all needs no matter how generous.
+ Reminds believers that God judges our real motives because he looks at our hearts.

Answered Prayer: “There is nothing mechanical or magical about prayer. For it to be effective, the will of the intercessor needs to be in line with the will of God; and such a conformity of wills is brought about only as the believer lives in Christ.” (Smalley)

Questions for consideration:

  • Can you think of examples when you sacrificed your self-interest for the good of others? Please explain.
  • When you think of the needs of the people in your sphere of influence, or believers around the world, which ones touch your heart? How have you responded? Please explain.
  • When you consider that God knows our motives – “to him all hearts are open, all desires known, and from him no secrets are hidden” – does that comfort you? Please explain.
  • When you pray, do you want what you want or what God wants? Please explain.

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Morning Prayer: Love So Easy and So Hard (John van de Laar) –

Can it be that easy, Jesus?

Can it be that hard?
That what You want for us is just to love
and be loved?

Is it possible that even those who have tried the hardest,
signed on the dotted line,
sat for years in classes
and strained their eyes from reading,
dressed in all the most appropriate garments,
and spoken with only the most measured words…
that these can miss You?

How can it be when those who have hardly tried at all,
who have damaged themselves and others so much,
that in the end they have nowhere else to turn
but to throw themselves on Your grace…
that these are the ones You search out?

How do we make sense of this, Jesus?
How do we love so scandalously, so inclusively?
How do we allow ourselves to be loved enough,
that all our hard and sharp edges
grow soft and round?

Help us to find the humility and courage,
the boldness and grace,
that in our loving and being loved,
we may somehow ignite our world with a compassion so fierce
that violence and abuse,
rejection and condemnation,
neglect and greed
become unthinkable.

Amen.
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“The Greatest Commands” – Atrium singing at Embassy Suites in Huntsville, Alabama. Exposure Youth Camp 2015.

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Closing:

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever He may send you. May He guide you through the wilderness, and protect you through the storm. May He bring you home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown you. May He bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Monday Morning: 22 Jul 2019 – 1 John 3:1-12 ~ God’s children: will be like Christ.

Monday Morning

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Opening (A Collect for the Renewal of Life – Monday)

O God, the King eternal, whose light divides the day from the night and turns the shadow of death into the morning: Drive far from us all wrong desires, incline our hearts to keep your law, and guide our feet into the way of peace; that, having done your will with cheerfulness during the day, we may, when night comes, rejoice to give you thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Morning Reading – 1 John 3:1-12 (NLT)

See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.

Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God. And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him. Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is.

Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.

Love One Another

This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous.
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Morning Reflection:

God’s children: will be like Christ.

Dear friends, we are already God’s children,
but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears.
But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.
And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.
– 1 John 3:2-3 –

Once again, John addresses the life of believers between the ages – “we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be when Christ appears.” But one thing we do know – God’s children will be like Christ – we will fully reflect his image.

It’s because of this eager expectation of Christ’s imminent return – and our transformation into the Christ-like people we were created to be – that we are motivated to not make a practice of sinning, to do what is right, and to love other believers. In fact, John says, these are the proof that we truly are children of God – saved by grace, through faith, to become like Christ.

Questions for consideration:

  • All of us sin and fall short of the glory of God. But God’s children receive forgiveness through confession and true repentance, and do not make a practice of sinning. So how are you doing? Is there something you need to stop thinking, feeling, or doing? Please explain.
  • We belong to God, not this world – we are the children of God – and that inevitably brings us into conflict with the values and practices of worldly people, people who belong to the devil. As a child of God, where have you run into conflict with the world’s values and practices when you tried to do what’s right in God’s sight? How have you responded? Has the Holy Spirit helped you? Please explain.
  • God’s people are made up of a wide variety of people with different personalities, lifestyles, and traditions. When you think of believers in your circle of influence, who are the easiest to love? And who are the most difficult to love? Where do you need God’s help in loving difficult believers? Please explain.
  • What would it take for you to become more Christ-like now? Please explain.

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Morning Prayer: For Union with Christ (Anima Christi) –

Soul of Christ, sanctify me. Body of Christ, save me. Blood of Christ, inebriate me. Water from the side of Christ, wash me. Passion of Christ, strengthen me. O good Jesus, hear me. Within thy wounds hide me. Permit me not to be separated from thee. From the wicked foe defend me. In the hour of my death call me, and bid me come to thee, that with thy saints I may praise thee for ever and ever. Amen.

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“Christ Be All Around Me” – Gabriel Hughes.

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Closing:

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever He may send you. May He guide you through the wilderness, and protect you through the storm. May He bring you home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown you. May He bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

6th Sunday after Pentecost, 21 Jul 2019 – Luke 10:38-42 ~ The better choice: worship over worry.

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Opening Prayer:

Eternal God, you draw near to us in Christ and make yourself our guest. Amid the cares of our daily lives, make us attentive to your voice and alert to your presence, that we may treasure your word above all else. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.
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“Is He Worthy?” – Chris Tomlin

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A Reading from the Gospels: Luke 10:38-42 (NLT)

As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”

But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”
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Intercession:

God of grace and glory: we come before you today in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In your mercy, hear our prayers and help us. We pray especially –

+ That believers may choose worship over worry….
+ That hospitality and mercy may be a mark of believers….
+ That believers may welcome the weary and care for the needy….
+ That believers may be strengthened through the power of your Spirit….
+ That those on vacation may return home refreshed and renewed….
+ That troubled people may have believing friends to calm their fears….
+ That the sick may be healed and the demonized set free by the power of your Spirit….

God of grace and glory: you have shown us your mercy through faith in your Son, Jesus Christ. Make us a gracious and merciful people that we might freely give to others what we have received from you, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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“How Can I Keep From Singing” – Audrey Assad

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Closing: Colossians 1:11-14 (adapted) –

May God strengthen you with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. And may you be filled with joy,  always thanking the Father. For he has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. And he has rescued you from the kingdom of darkness and transferred you into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased your freedom and forgave your sins.
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+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen

Saturday Morning, 20 Jul 2019 – 1 John 2:18-29 ~ Remain faithful to the truth.

Saturday Morning

+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Opening:  (A Collect for Sabbath Rest – Saturday)

Almighty God, who after the creation of the world rested from all your works and set aside a day of rest for all your creatures: Grant that we, putting away all earthly anxieties, may be duly prepared to meet you in worship, and that our rest here upon earth may be a preparation for the eternal rest promised to your people in heaven; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Morning Reading: 1 John 2:18-29 (NLT)

Warning about Antichrists

Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the Antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared. From this we know that the last hour has come. These people left our churches, but they never really belonged with us; otherwise they would have stayed with us. When they left, it proved that they did not belong with us.

But you are not like that, for the Holy One has given you his Spirit, and all of you know the truth. So I am writing to you not because you don’t know the truth but because you know the difference between truth and lies. And who is a liar? Anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ. Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist. Anyone who denies the Son doesn’t have the Father, either. But anyone who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

So you must remain faithful to what you have been taught from the beginning. If you do, you will remain in fellowship with the Son and with the Father. And in this fellowship we enjoy the eternal life he promised us.

I am writing these things to warn you about those who want to lead you astray. But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.

Living as Children of God

And now, dear children, remain in fellowship with Christ so that when he returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back from him in shame.

Since we know that Christ is righteous, we also know that all who do what is right are God’s children.
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Morning Reflection:

Remain faithful to the truth.

“The Holy One has given you his Spirit, and all of you know the truth.”
– 1 John 2:20 –

We are currently living between ages – on the one hand, the Kingdom of God is already present among us; on the other hand, the Kingdom of God is not yet present in all its fullness and glory. Jesus ushered in the Kingdom with his incarnation; when he returns, the Kingdom of God will be revealed in all its glory.

John’s concern for us is that we remain faithful to the truth while we wait for the imminent return of Christ. No matter how long we wait, Christ’s return is always at hand… close… fast approaching… coming. So how do we distinguish between truth and falsehood, without being led astray by false prophets and antichrists?

By allowing the Holy Spirit who dwells within every believer to guide us into all truth:

+ The Holy Spirit reveals to us everything the Son has heard from the Father.
+ The Holy Spirit enables us to distinguish between truth and lies.
+ The Holy Spirit confirms that Jesus is the Christ, the beloved Son of the Father.
+ The Holy Spirit teaches us everything we need to know to remain in fellowship with Christ.
+ The Holy Spirit empowers us to live as children of God.

Questions for consideration:

  • Can you think of a time when the Holy Spirit gave you new insight into Jesus’ teachings? Or applied Jesus’ teachings to your personal circumstances? Please explain.
  • Can you think of a time when the Holy Spirit helped you distinguish truth from lies? On TV? In the News? From neighbors or friends? In church? Please explain.
  • Do you believe that Jesus is the long-awaited Christ (Messiah), the Son of the Living God? How did you come to your decision? Please explain.
  • Where do you need the Power of the Holy Spirit to live right now as a child of God? Please explain.

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Morning Prayer:

Prayer for Submission to God’s Will (Joseph Mercier)

O Holy Spirit, beloved of my soul, I adore you. Enlighten me, guide me, strengthen me, console me. Tell me what I should do; give me your orders. I promise to submit myself to all that you desire of me and to accept all that you permit to happen to me. Let me only know your will. Amen.
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“Come Holy Spirit” –

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Closing:

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever He may send you. May He guide you through the wilderness, and protect you through the storm. May He bring you home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown you. May He bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen