Category: Verses of Hope

1 John 4:7-8 “Love One Another”

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

We have spent the past several weeks seeing how much God loves us through the verses we’ve learned. The book of 1 John goes into great depth to explain God’s love for us. There are several verses in 1 John that would be great to memorize and put on our heart. Here are a few:

1 John 3:1 – “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”

1 John 3:16 – “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 and sisters.”

1 John 3:23-24 – “And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24 The one who keeps God’s commands lives 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.”

Do you see common, recurring messages in these words? We have been made children of God! The world does not know us because the world does not know Him. If we keep God’s commands we live in Him and He in us.

We have studied and now have a glimpse into God’s love for us; His unconditional love for you and me. That should compel us to love one another, and this will be our focus in 1 John 4:7-8. Loving one another means bringing heaven to earth. Listen to Toby Mac Speak Life:

 

 

Weekend Post – The Truth

John 14:6 – “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

If you were at church today and heard Pastor Kirk’s message, you saw reference to this verse, which was one of our verses we studied a few weeks back. I hope when you heard and read the verse today in the notes, you said, “Wow! I know this verse.”

I also hope you realized both the truth and the hope in Pastor Kirk’s message today that despite the world’s view that ‘it doesn’t matter what I believe,’ we not only know the truth, but we find our hope in the truth of Jesus and his response to Thomas, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” As Pastor Kirk pointed out, Christianity isn’t an exclusive faith. Jesus, knowing that the world would provide many false truths and false hopes, provides everyone the open door and clear path to finding the way, the truth, and the life everlasting.

Tying back to our current verse, Ephesians 2:4-5 “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved,” when we were saved, when we confessed our sins and believed in our heart that He was raised from the dead, we were made alive with Christ! His grace saved us. His grace continues to save us! His grace is not a free pass to continue to sin. It is His amazing gift to overcome our brokenness and to die to our selfish nature. I leave you a song by All Sons and Daughters that speaks to His grace for you and me:

 

 

 

Ephesians 2:4-5

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”

Transgression – an act that goes against a law, rule, or code of conduct; an offense. Transgression is one of those “church words” we’ve heard all of our lives, but do we really understand? We know in our gut that transgression must be bad, but have we given much thought to the meaning? I looked up the etymology (history) of transgression. The word originates from Late Latin transgressionem (nominative transgressio) “a transgression of the law,” in classical Latin, “a going over, a going across,” the law. In other words, when we sin, we “go over” or “step over” the moral boundary God has established for us. Paul says, “we were dead in transgressions”. What does that mean to you? How is our life dead when we live in sin?

 

Ephesians 2:4-5

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,  made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”

“MADE US ALIVE WITH CHRIST” We know that we were dead in our sin, and that by His grace we are saved and have eternal life. But I want you to think beyond just the salvation aspect of being alive in Christ. Once we become one with Jesus and begin the transformational process of dying to ourself, HE fills us with His Spirit. The more we die to our own ways and the pattern of the world, Christ fills our heart with His joy. Have you noticed this? Our joy is made complete through Him and though we still have struggles and people that upset us or do us wrong, we still have His joy in our heart.

What does being “alive with Christ” mean for you? Reflect on this today… I hope to see you tonight at Fuel! Jim

2 Corinthians 5:17 (Final Post)

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, they are a  new creation: The old has gone, the new is here!”

We finalize 2 Corinthians 5:17 with the final statement – “THE OLD HAS GONE, THE NEW IS HERE!” Now you may not have noticed, but the end of this statement has an exclamation point. In spite of my personal excitement, I didn’t add that exclamation point, it was already there. Paul had the same excitement when he penned them and we should too!

The common problem I see with many Christians is that they have a hard time letting go of the old. I hope you will reflect on these words today.

Have a great weekend! Jim

2 Corinthians 5:17

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

I hope this next part of the verse gets you fired up! “THE NEW CREATION HAS COME”. You are a New Creation in Christ Jesus! Are you connecting the pieces together yet through the verses we’ve studied thus far? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Then the Word became flesh, and He made His dwelling among us. John said they saw His Glory, the glory of the one and only Son, sent by the Father, and full of grace and truth. Because He is the way, and truth and life, we no longer lean on our own understanding but allow the Good Shepherd to guide our path. And because we have experienced Christ, and the fullness of His Love, we are in Him, we are a New Creation!

Have you experienced the love of Christ and know you have been transformed and are a New Creation? Pray over this today! Walk in the knowledge that you are a New Creation! If you haven’t felt that depth of Christ’s love yet, that’s okay. I didn’t find the love of Jesus until I was in my 30’s. BUT, if that is you, talk with Pastor Joe or me or one of the youth leaders. You don’t have to wait until your 30’s to experience the love of Christ and believe me, you don’t want to wait.

2 Corinthians 5:17

“THEREFORE IF ANYONE IS IN CHRIST”

Are you ONE ?  Remember John 15:5? Jesus said, “I AM THE VINE; YOU ARE THE BRANCHES. IF YOU REMAIN IN ME AND I REMAIN IN YOU, YOU WILL BEAR MUCH FRUIT. APART FROM ME YOU CAN DO NOTHING.” As we learned in Proverbs 3:5, we TRUST IN THE LORD and lean not on our understanding. And the reason we trust in the Lord? The reason is because we ARE IN CHRIST,

My hope is that God speaks to each of us about being in Christ. That being in Christ makes us a NEW CREATION. Today, please reflect on being in Christ.

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord”

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.”

This week we study a new verse, Proverbs 3:5-6,  that many of you have probably heard or possibly know. This is another foundational verse to our Christian walk and the favorite and most meaningful verse for many Christians. Trusting the Lord is core to our faith. We hear these words, but what do they mean? As we study this verse over the next few days, I want us to delve deep into the meaning of “trusting the Lord”.

Today we begin with “TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART”. These words are so important to our Christian faith that we may spend a few days reflecting on these words. I want your input. Add a comment and let’s start a discussion. These words are simply too important not to take time to reflect on.