Glory Awaits!
Note from Jesus Dear Beloved, As My apostle Paul’s death grew near, he was confident of his deliverance as well as My return. Hear his beautiful words of faith: For I am already being poured out, and the last drops of this drink offering are all that remain; it’s almost time for me to leave. I have fought the good fight, I have stayed on course and finished the race, and through it all, I have kept believing. I look forward to what’s in store for me: a crown of righteousness that the Lord — the always right and just judge — will give me that day (but it is not only for me, but for all those who love and long for His appearing). (2 Timothy 4:6-8) Glory awaits. A new heaven and a new earth await. Your reward for a life of faithfulness awaits. There will come a time when your suffering will melt away into the glorious deliverance that I will bring you. I will bring justice and comfort for all who have waited patiently and endured injustice, hardship, pain, and anguish for My sake (2 Thessalonians 1:5-10). Throughout the centuries since My first coming to earth, My disciples have awaited My triumphant return. I have not forgotten. I will return at the time appointed by the Father (Mark 13:32). I will come, and you will share in My glory because you have placed your faith, your life, and your future in My hands (Colossians 3:1-4). So be faithful. Don’t give in to despair. Remember My promises for those who long for My appearing: At the end of time, I will bring the fullness of My kingdom and the full experience of My glory to My people forever. Your adoption into glory with Me is coming and will bring everlasting grace to you! Verses to Live Your world is struggling with its brokenness and decay. You struggle with your own mortality and the injustice and unfairness in your world. You are tired of saying goodbye in death to precious people you love. If you are bone-weary because of physical, emotional, and spiritual pain, please know, dear beloved, that these problems will all disappear with My return. Glory awaits! Now I’m sure of this: the sufferings we endure now are not even worth comparing to the glory that is coming and will be revealed in us. For all of creation is waiting, yearning for the time when the children of God will be revealed. You see, all of creation has collapsed into emptiness, not by its own choosing, but by God’s. Still He placed within it a deep and abiding hope that creation would one day be liberated from its slavery to corruption and experience the glorious freedom of the children of God. For we know that all creation groans in unison with birthing pains up until now. And there is more; it’s not just creation—all of us are groaning together too. Though we have already tasted the firstfruits of the Spirit, we are longing for the total redemption of our bodies that comes when our adoption as children of God is complete— for we have been saved in this hope and for this future. But hope does not involve what we already have or see. For who goes around hoping for what he already has? But if we wait expectantly for things we have never seen, then we hope with true perseverance and eager anticipation. (Romans 8:18-25) The day of the Lord will come unexpectedly like a thief in the night; and on that day, the sky will vanish with a roar, the elements will melt with intense heat, and the earth and all the works done on it will be seen as they truly are. Knowing that one day all this will come to pass, think what sort of people you ought to be — how you should be living faithful and godly lives, waiting hopefully for and hastening the coming of God’s day when the heavens will vanish in flames and the elements melt away with intense heat. What will happen next, and what we hope for, is what God promised: a new heaven and a new earth where justice reigns. (2 Peter 3:10-13) I looked again and could hardly believe my eyes. Everything above me was new. Everything below me was new. Everything around me was new because the heaven and earth that had been passed away, and the sea was gone, completely. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride on her wedding day, adorned for her husband and for His eyes only. And I heard a great voice, coming from the throne. A Voice: See, the home of God is with His people. He will live among them; They will be His people, And God Himself will be with them. The prophecies are fulfilled: He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; Mourning no more, crying no more, pain no more, For the first things have gone away. (Revelation 21:1-4) Response in Prayer O God, my Father, give me strength, courage, endurance, and faith to trust in Jesus’ coming. I long for that day, Father. I trust that justice, mercy, and grace are on the way and will triumph over injustice, violence, and death and that I will share in Jesus’ reign for ever and ever. In His name, I pray. Amen. ‘A Year with Jesus’ is written by Phil Ware. © 1998-2024, Heartlight, Inc. ‘A Year with Jesus‘ is part of the Heartlight Network.All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Voice™. © 2008 by Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Strong Words of Warning!
Note from Jesus Dear Disciple, The verses you will read today contain strong warnings and harsh language for false teachers. These false teachers were leading My followers astray. They were creating havoc in the fellowship meals (“love feasts”) and gatherings of My disciples. These false teachers were self-absorbed and had perverted grace to justify their sinful lifestyles. The first set of verses you read comes from the first part of Jude. These verses are so similar to 2 Peter chapter 2 that I include only Jude’s words for today’s reading. The second set of verses comes from 2 Peter chapter 3. The third set comes from the end of Jude’s short letter. He concludes his letter with praise for the Father. He reminds My disciples that the Father is the only One Who can save them and He will do just that! The short little letter called Jude is best understood more like a “tract for troubled times.” It is an emergency note written with urgency. The second chapter of 2 Peter contains very similar wording: Depraved souls who stand condemned have made a mockery of the grace given to you, using it as a pretext for a life of sinful excess, lived without any thought of God. Both Peter and Jude used images from the Old Testament and also reminded their readers of the punishment the Father brought on rebellious and wanton sinners. These images were written as warnings to My disciples so that they would recognize the gravity of the false teaching and the false teachers who spread it. These false teachers were “dreamers who have slipped in and defiled your community, rejected those in charge, and insulted the glorious majesty of the heavenly messengers.” Jude had intended to send a much happier letter of encouragement centered on the salvation the disciples shared. However, his heart was so troubled by these false teachers that he sent his short message about them instead. Peter had a very similar strong teaching that paralleled Jude’s message as he addressed similar problems. He followed his warning about these false teachers with teaching about the judgment coming on those who are godless and make life difficult for My disciples and lead them astray. He described that coming judgment in terms consistent with the fate of the false teachers described in Jude’s note. I want you to notice the strong language used for those who perverted grace into an excuse for immorality and who “lived without any thought of God.” I also want you to recognize that both of these writers ended their messages with encouragement. They were confident that the Father would continue to work in the lives of My disciples and bring them complete salvation. Until the time they fully experienced salvation, Jude reminded My followers to care for each other. They were to deal with those who had been influenced by the false teachers based on their need and what led them to fall away: [Y]ou must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives. (Jude 1:22-23 NLT) Jude’s last words are especially encouraging and helpful. Carefully notice the third set of verses below. They are beautiful, reliable, and very practical. Remember, you cannot save yourself; your salvation depends on the Father’s grace and your trust in Him. Your Father is good. He can and will transform you and bring you to Himself as His pure and holy child. Verses to Live Please read straight through these verses as one continuous reading. I want you to get the flow of the message. Look for the strong language that Peter and Jude used to describe the false teachers. Also, look for the encouragement offered at the end of the second and third sets of verses. I AM confident in good things with you and your faith. But I also want you to be aware that there are false teachers who will try to lead you away from Me. So keep your focus on the Father, walk with Me in the Spirit. Jude, a slave of Jesus the Anointed and a brother of James, to you, the ones whom God our Father loves and has called and whom Jesus, the Anointed One, has kept. Kindness, peace, love — may they never stop blooming in you and from you. Friends, I have been trying to write you about our common salvation. But these days my heart is troubled, and I am compelled to write to you and encourage you to continue struggling for the faith that was entrusted to the saints once and for all. Vile men have slithered in among us. Depraved souls who stand condemned have made a mockery of the grace given to us, using it as a pretext for a life of excess, lived without any thought of God. These poor fools have denied Jesus the Anointed, our one Lord and Master. You have heard the stories many times, and the Spirit has enlightened you about their meaning, but you still need to be reminded. Remember when the Lord saved our ancestors from the land in Egypt? He breathed life into their earthen lungs and took back the life from those who did not believe. And God has kept the rebellious heavenly messengers bound and chained in utter darkness — shadowy gloom — until the time when His judgment arrives, because they failed to keep their rightful positions and abandoned their appointed realms. Sodom and Gomorrah and all their neighbors were defeated by their own sexual perversions as they pursued the strange and unnatural impulses of the flesh. Let these who went their own way and are experiencing the eternal heat of God’s vengeance — a punishment by fire — be a warning to you. These stories are examples to help you understand the fate of those dreamers who have slipped
Peter’s Parting Exhortations
Note from Jesus Dear Precious Disciple, Much as 2 Timothy serves as a farewell message for Paul as he nears the end of his life, 2 Peter plays a similar role for the apostle Peter. He writes this letter to help churches to be able to resist false teachers and to know how to live productive lives of service and faithfulness after he is gone: I want to be certain you will be able to call these things to mind anytime you need them even after I am gone. Your verses today emphasize continued growth — adding this virtue to that virtue and to that virtue another virtue and to another virtue yet one more virtue… As Peter states, continued growth is necessary so that: [Y]ou will never be ineffective or unproductive in your relationship with our Lord Jesus. [Y]ou will never fall along the way; and you can be sure that you will be richly welcomed into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Anointed, our Liberating King. While each of these virtues from the verses below is important, the commitment to continued growth is especially important, and these virtues that Peter charges the disciples to have will then be byproducts of that continued growth. The Holy Spirit is at work transforming you to become ever more like Me (2 Corinthians 3:18), producing the character and compassion in you that you know as the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Paul talked about not having arrived to full maturity, but pressing on to reach it personally (Philippians 3:12-16). Here Peter makes a similar point with My disciples in their own walk toward becoming conformed fully to My “divine nature.” The goal, as Peter states it, is this: [T]o reflect God’s true nature through the knowledge of the One Who called us by His glory and virtue. Through these things, we have received God’s great and valuable promises, so we might escape the corruption of worldly desires and share in the divine nature. So as long as Peter can “draw breath,” he will “keep on stirring you [My disciples] up with these reminders”! As you read these verses, I hope you will feel the urgency in Peter’s words and recognize the importance of not losing your passion for growing to be more and more like Me. The “eternal kingdom” awaits you, so pursue My character and compassion — “the divine nature” — and know with assurance that My glory awaits you! Verses to Live The last words of people before they die are often etched into the memories of their loved ones. Peter is hoping that is exactly what happens with the words of this letter he is sending to My disciples. I have preserved these words for you so that their message can be etched into your memory and displayed in your lives. Their theme is simple and clear: “[G]row in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” Simon Peter, a servant and emissary of Jesus the Anointed One, to those who have received the same precious faith we share through the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus the Anointed. I wish you a full measure of grace and peace as you grow in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need to experience life and to reflect God’s true nature through the knowledge of the One Who called us by His glory and virtue. Through these things, we have received God’s great and valuable promises, so we might escape the corruption of worldly desires and share in the divine nature. To achieve this, you will need to add virtue to your faith, and then knowledge to your virtue; to knowledge, add discipline; to discipline, add endurance; to endurance, add godliness; to godliness, add affection for others as sisters and brothers; and to affection, at last, add love. For if you possess these traits and multiply them, then you will never be ineffective or unproductive in your relationship with our Lord Jesus the Anointed; but if you don’t have these qualities, then you will be nearsighted and blind, forgetting that your past sins have been washed away. Therefore, brothers and sisters, work that much harder to confirm that God has called you and claimed you. If you do this, then you will never fall along the way; and you can be sure that you will be richly welcomed into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Anointed, our Liberating King. That is why I will keep reminding you of these things, even though I know that you believe them and have made these truths a part of your lives; as long as I draw breath, I know it is right for me to keep on stirring you up with these reminders. I know that soon I must die and lay down this old body that’s been my home — our Lord Jesus the Anointed has told me so. But before my exodus from this life, I want to be certain you will be able to call these things to mind anytime you need them even after I am gone. (2 Peter 1:1-15) Response in Prayer Father, life can wear me down and distract me. I can become bored and chase after things that don’t matter much, but that fascinate me. So I thank You for Peter’s words today that urge me to keep growing and pursuing a life that seeks to share in Your “divine nature” by growing in knowledge and in the experience of Your presence and nature. I offer myself afresh today, to be molded and conformed to Jesus, in Whose name I pray. Amen. ‘A Year with Jesus’ is written by Phil Ware. © 1998-2024, Heartlight, Inc. ‘A Year with Jesus‘ is part of the Heartlight Network.All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Voice™. © 2008 by Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission.
Your Broken World
Note from Jesus Dear Disciple, The beloved elder John wrote to My disciples because he deeply loved them and wanted them to find eternal life in me. His words to begin 3 John beautifully reveal this part of his heart: I, the elder, to Gaius, who is much loved by all and loved in truth by me. My beloved friend, I pray that everything is going well for you and that your body is as healthy as your soul is prosperous. I was thrilled when the brothers and sisters came and told me stories of your faithfulness as you continue to walk in the truth. The greatest joy in my life is hearing how my children are walking in the truth. (3 John 1:1-4) Each of John’s three letters at almost the end of your Bibles is short, yet full of practical truth filled with John’s genuine emotional connection to My disciples. John knew that his time was short. He knew the power of the “diabolical one”. He knew that the allure of the corrupted world was pervasive. Like Paul and Peter before him, John left words for My precious disciples urging them to stay on the right path. He warned them about being a stumbling block to others. He wanted them to demonstrate their love for Me in the way they lived. He wanted My disciples to follow My example of obedient love for the Father, compassion for those around Me, and moral purity in My dealings with all people. John urges these disciples to live faithfully through a series of encouragements and warnings that he repeated throughout his short letter of 1 John. As his chosen themes combine and repeat, working their way through his short letter, My beloved disciple gives you the truth on how to live in any age. His simple words serve as a necessary warning about the dangers of falling in love with the broken and sinful world. They remind My disciples of the importance of loving the truth, loving Me, and loving their brothers and sisters. Today you finish your readings in 1, 2, and 3 John. Hear John’s simple but powerful message as My will expressed through this faithful old apostle. Recognize this message as an important reminder preparing you for our coming journey into the book of Revelation. The world around you is broken. There is beauty in the created universe, but everything that humanity has touched has also been stained by sin’s grip on your world. Don’t be deceived by the world’s allure! Remember all that it offers you is temporary. The world can offer only a broken and temporary substitute for the eternal life I have shared with you. Don’t be surprised when the world doesn’t love you when you live for me: Consider the kind of extravagant love the Father has lavished on us — He calls us children of God! It’s true; we are His beloved children. And in the same way, the world didn’t recognize Him, the world does not recognize us either. (1 John 3:1) Brothers and sisters, don’t be shocked if the corrupt world despises you. (1 John 3:13) Even more, John doesn’t want you to get caught up in loving the world and being led away from Me. His words are true. His words are your warning. Don’t trade away the life I came to bring you for the temporary, fleeting, and corrupted enticements of the world! Verses to Live Take a few minutes and look up all the times the word “world” is used in John’s writings — the Gospel of John; 1, 2, and 3 John; and Revelation. The world, corrupted and lost, is a major theme for John. Not loving the things of this world was one of John’s primary concerns. The following verses can help you understand why John had these concerns. Contemplate his words. Heed them. Realize that I came to bring life to you. The underlined sentences at the end of today’s verses point out the contrast between the fleeting, temporary nature of the allures of your world and the eternal life that comes from doing God’s will. All the world’s enticements are really only cheap, fleeting, and shallow substitutes for the true life I long to give you. Don’t fall in love with this corrupt world or worship the things it can offer. Those who love its corrupt ways don’t have the Father’s love living within them. All the things the world can offer to you — the allure of pleasure, the passion to have things, and the pompous sense of superiority — do not come from the Father. These are the rotten fruits of this world. This corrupt world is already wasting away, as are its selfish desires. But the person really doing God’s will — that person will never cease to be. (1 John 2:15-17) Response in Prayer Give me strength, dear Father, to resist the allure of the world. I know in my heart that it is a poor and deadly substitute for the life that You have given me in Jesus. Sometimes, dear Father, the ridicule of those who don’t believe and the enticements of this world do distract me and lead me away from a whole-hearted dedication to you. Please forgive me. Sometimes my losses in this world have captured all of my energy in grief, anger, and confusion. Please strengthen and reclaim me. I know my world is broken, but it is the world I know. So please help me be strong as I keep my eyes on Jesus and seek His life and not the world’s shallow substitutes. It is in His name I pray. Amen. ‘A Year with Jesus’ is written by Phil Ware. © 1998-2024, Heartlight, Inc. ‘A Year with Jesus‘ is part of the Heartlight Network.All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Voice™. © 2008 by Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Truth about Sin
Note from Jesus Dear Beloved, As God’s child, you need to know that some truth is very basic and very simple. You also need to realize that the evil one, whom John called the “diabolical one,” wants to confuse you. He wants things to appear to be complicated, and he lies to you about what’s important. Some believe him. However, you can tell those who are My disciples, God’s adopted children, and My younger siblings by faith. They live good moral lives full of good deeds, but those who don’t live this kind of life are not My disciples and are not God’s children. You will not live life perfectly. None of the Father’s children, except for Me, ever has or ever will. You will slip into an occasional sin. However, My disciples do not, as John describes it, live “a life of habitual sin.” My disciples, the Father’s children, don’t “persist in sin”: Sin is not their way of life and certainly not their desired way to live. My disciples long to live as I did, dedicated to the Father and reflecting His righteous character and gracious compassion. When they do stumble and sin, they confess it instead of trying to hide it. My sacrifice on the cross cleanses them of their sin (1 John 1:5-10). I don’t want you to sin even one sin because it entraps, damages, and brings with it harsh consequences. However, I will forgive and cleanse you of these unwanted sins. It’s the “habitual” nature of sin and the willingness to “persist” in sin that ultimately reveals the disloyalty to the Father in a person’s heart. If you are struggling alone with your sin, please remember John’s call for you to confess your sins (1 John 1:7-9). That doesn’t mean that you confess them just to the Father or Me. You also need to get the help of another couple of brothers or sisters in the Father’s family to walk alongside you and strengthen you (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12). Confess your sins to these spiritual partners. You need confidants in the faith who can walk beside you, encourage you, challenge you to live the life you want to live in Me, and help you overcome the power of sin’s allure because it seeks to destroy you (James 1:13-15). No one should want the “moral anarchy” of sin and the damage it brings. As James said: So own up to your sins to one another and pray for one another. In the end, you may be healed. Your prayers are powerful when they are rooted in a righteous life. (James 5:16). Sin will not be your lifestyle because you are God’s child — the Father’s spiritual DNA is alive in you through the Holy Spirit. You have been adopted into My family of grace. So let the true Spirit-transformed you shine through in your daily life! Verses to Live John’s words are simple and clear. Don’t let anyone convince you of anything other than My high standards when it comes to morality. While none of you is perfect, the fruit of a good person’s life shows through in good deeds as well as in an obedient and godly lifestyle. John makes that very clear in the following verses from his short letter of 1 John. You are my little children, so I am writing these things to help you avoid sin. If, however, any believer does sin, we have a high-powered defense lawyer — Jesus the Anointed, the righteous — arguing on our behalf before the Father. It was through His sacrificial death that our sins were atoned. But He did not stop there — He died for the sins of the whole world. We know we have joined Him in an intimate relationship because we live out His commands. If someone claims, “I am in an intimate relationship with Him,” but this big talker doesn’t live out His commands, then this individual is a liar and a stranger to the truth. But if someone responds to and obeys His word, then God’s love has truly taken root and filled him. This is how we know we are in an intimate relationship with Him: anyone who says, “I live in intimacy with Him,” should walk the path Jesus walked. (1 John 2:1-6). So now, my little children, live in Him, so that whenever He is revealed, we will have confidence and not have to hang our heads in shame before Him when He comes. If you know that He is just and faithful, then you also know that everyone who lives faithfully and acts justly has been born into a new life through Him. Consider the kind of extravagant love the Father has lavished on us — He calls us children of God! It’s true; we are His beloved children. And in the same way the world didn’t recognize Him, the world does not recognize us either. My loved ones, we have been adopted into God’s family; and we are officially His children now. The full picture of our destiny is not yet clear, but we know this much: when Jesus appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him just as He is. All those who focus their hopes on Him and His coming seek to purify themselves just as He is pure. Everyone who lives a life of habitual sin is living in moral anarchy. That’s what sin is. You realize that He came to eradicate sins, that there is not the slightest bit of sin in Him. The ones who live in an intimate relationship with Him do not persist in sin, but anyone who persists in sin has not seen and does not know the real Jesus. Children, don’t let anyone pull one over on you. The one doing the right thing is just imitating Jesus, the Righteous One. The one persisting in sin belongs to the diabolical one, who has been all about sin from the beginning. That is
Love Each Other!
Note from Jesus Dear Beloved, You are the Father’s child! You are precious! The Father adopted you into Our — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit’s — family. I paid the purchase price for your adoption. You are a blood-bought and blood-redeemed child of the King of Glory! Despite your lack of perfection, you are a precious child in the Father’s family. So is every other person who is a Christian! The point of these words is simple. We love you. We love all your brothers and sisters in our spiritual family. We expect you to love, accept, help, receive, and value your brothers and sisters as much as you hope We will love, accept, help, receive, and value you. Love one another! Verses to Live John was known for his teaching about love. He taught about the Father’s love for a lost world (John 3:16-17). He proclaimed My love for My disciples as well as My expectation that My disciples will love each other (John 15:12-17). What follows is a collection of verses from 1 John about God’s loving you and your loving each other as brothers and sisters. Read these words. More than reading them, let them linger in your heart and commit to living them. Love one another; not just in words, but from the heart demonstrate love for each other! People will recognize that you are My disciples because of the way you demonstrate My love with each other (John 13:34-35). Not only that, but your love is one way for you to reveal God to your world (1 John 4:12). My loved ones, in one sense, I am not writing a new command for you. I am only reminding you of the old command. It’s a word you already know, a word that has existed from the beginning. However, in another sense, I am writing a new command for you. The new command is the truth that He lived; and now you are living it, too, because the darkness is fading and the true light is already shining among you. Anyone who says, “I live in the light,” but hates his brother or sister is still living in the shadows. Anyone who loves his brother or sister lives in the light and will not trip because his conscience is clear. But anyone who hates his brother is in the darkness, stumbling around with no idea where he is going, blinded by the darkness. (1 John 2:7-11) Consider the kind of extravagant love the Father has lavished on us — He calls us children of God. (1 John 3:1) The central truth — the one you have heard since the beginning of your faith — is that we must love one another. Please do not act like Cain, who was of the evil one. He brutally murdered his own brother. Why would he do something so despicable? Because his life was devoted to evil and selfishness, and his brother chose to do what is right. Brothers and sisters, don’t be shocked if the corrupt world despises you. We know that we have crossed over from death to real life because we are devoted to true love for our brothers and sisters. Anyone who does not love lives among corpses. Everyone who hates other members of God’s family is a murderer. Does a murderer possess the beautiful life that never ends? No. We know what true love looks like because of Jesus. He gave His life for us, and He calls us to give our lives for our brothers and sisters. If a person owns the kinds of things we need to make it in the world but refuses to share with those in need, is it even possible that God’s love lives in him? My little children, don’t just talk about love as an idea or a theory. Make it your true way of life, and live in the pattern of gracious love. (1 John 3:11-18) His command is clear: believe in the name of His Son, Jesus the Anointed, and love one another as He commanded. The one who follows His teaching and walks this path lives in an intimate relationship with God. How do we know that He lives in us? By the gift of His Spirit. (1 John 3:23-24) My loved ones, let us devote ourselves to loving one another. Love comes straight from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and truly knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. Because of this, the love of God is a reality among us: God sent His only Son into the world so that we could find true life through Him. This is the embodiment of true love: not that we have loved God first, but that He loved us and sent His unique Son on a special mission to become an atoning sacrifice for our sins. So, my loved ones, if God loved us so sacrificially, surely we should love one another. No one has ever seen God with human eyes; but if we love one another, God truly lives in us. Consequently God’s love has accomplished its mission among us. (1 John 4:7-12) We have experienced and we have entrusted our lives to the love of God in us. God is love. Anyone who lives faithfully in love also lives faithfully in God, and God lives in him. This love is fulfilled with us, so that on the day of judgment we have confidence based on our identification with Jesus in this world. Love will never invoke fear. Perfect love expels fear, particularly the fear of punishment. The one who fears punishment has not been completed through love. We love because He has first loved us. If someone claims, “I love God,” but hates his brother or sister, then he is a liar. Anyone who does not love a brother or sister, whom he has seen, cannot possibly love God, Whom he has
Confidence
Note from Jesus Dear Disciple, John was a masterful writer. He used a simple vocabulary to share nuances of truth and depths of theological insight. His use of such simple language to communicate such depths still astounds scholars. His messages intrigue the most educated, speak to the heart of the weary, and give a clear, easily understandable message of truth. So when John says something very clearly and forcefully, you won’t miss his message. The verses today from 1 John emphasize how you can be confident of your salvation, how eternal life has already begun for My disciples, and how the Spirit of God in you is greater than the spirit at work in the world. John wanted his readers who faced doubts about their salvation to be confident about it! I did not come to create religious doubt. I came to find and save lost people (Luke 19:10). I came because We — Father, Son, and Spirit — love the lost people of the world and want them saved (John 3:16-17). I don’t want My disciples worried about whether they are inside of grace’s grasp. I don’t want you worried about your eternal destiny. John also didn’t want you to doubt. As he wrote 1 John, he had to deal with two opposite ends of a problem. Some of My disciples to whom he wrote were precious, good, sweet, kind people who believed in Me and were seeking to live as they should. Unfortunately, they were concerned about their salvation because they had been led to believe that they had to know enough or had to do enough to merit My salvation. They knew they had stumbled some and slipped into some sin. This ongoing struggle with sin made them feel worse and wrestle with doubt even more. However, there were others who were religiously arrogant. They talked about knowing Me at a special spiritual level, so they thought they didn’t have to be worried about the sinful things they did on a fleshly level. They were saying they were good, even though they persistently and intentionally indulged in sin. They insinuated that if the first group of My disciples had enough special knowledge, they wouldn’t be hung up on sin and could be confident in their salvation. John had the unenviable task of writing one simple letter to address both needs at the same time because both groups existed in the same churches. The Spirit did a masterful job of breathing truth through John and into the words that you read. John’s writing addressed believing in Me, doing good and godly things, loving your brothers and sisters in Christ, and pursuing a relationship with Me instead of sinking into some religious system. These teachings allowed both groups of these believers to assess where they stood in their relationship with the Father. The doubters could see that they really were in fellowship with the Father. The arrogant could recognize that they needed to correct some things in their lives if they were to be in fellowship with the Father. The focus today for you, however, is confidence in your relationship with the Father. I want you to be confident of your eternal life. Today’s message is for you. It is for your encouragement. I want it to boost your confidence in being the Father’s child! Verses to Live Today I want you to focus on the verses that talk about the confidence you can and should have as My disciple. You believe in Me. You believe that I am the Father’s Son, God come in human flesh. You are living a life full of goodness and obedience and not living a life that “persists” in sin. You love your brothers and sisters. You long to do more than know about Us and participate in religious exercises. You want to know Us and to enter into a relationship with the Father as His child. You want to experience Me, not only as Savior but also as your older brother and example. You want to recognize the presence of the Holy Spirit, Who is your anointing from the Father and Who teaches you and guides you into all truth about Me. These verses are for you. We want to tell you about the One Who was from the beginning. We have seen Him with our own eyes, heard Him with our own ears, and touched Him with our own hands. This One is the manifestation of the life-giving Voice, and He showed us real life, eternal life. We have seen it all, and we can’t keep what we witnessed quiet — we have to share it with you. We are inviting you to experience eternal life through the One Who was with the Father and came down to us. What we saw and heard we pass on to you so that you, too, will be connected with us intimately and become family. Our family is united by our connection with the Father and His Son Jesus, the Anointed One; and we write all this because retelling this story fulfills our joy. (1 John 1:1-4) If we walk step by step in the light, where the Father is, then we are ultimately connected to each other through the sacrifice of Jesus His Son. His blood purifies us from all our sins. If we go around bragging, “We have no sin,” then we are fooling ourselves and are strangers to the truth. But if we own up to our sins, God shows that He is faithful and just by forgiving us of our sins and purifying us from the pollution of all the bad things we have done. (1 John 1:7-9) I am writing to you, my children, because your sins have been forgiven by the authority of His name. I am writing to you, fathers and mothers, because you have known Him as the Creator, as the One Who started everything. I am writing to you, young people, because He has
Relationship with the Father
Note from Jesus Dear Child of the Glorious and Gracious Father, As John neared the end of his physical life, he wrote three short letters to help churches facing all sorts of challenges. He also wrote the Apocalypse, which you know as the book of Revelation. Each of these writings deals with real and problematic issues for My disciples near the end of the first century. For the next several days, you will be reading from the short letters of John. Today, your focus will be the first chapter and a little of the second chapter of 1 John. First John is a beautiful little tapestry of pastoral concern for My followers. John emphasizes what the Father wants and doesn’t want in His relationship with you as His child. The Father doesn’t want just a bunch of religious adherents going through religious motions. He wants a genuine relationship with you as His child. In this relationship, you are open and transparent with your Father. You bring everything into the light with nothing hidden. When you are open about who you are and about what is going on in your life and when you demonstrate My love, then you are walking in the Father’s light (1 John 1:7). My sacrifice purifies you from all sin. This relationship in the light of My Father’s glory and grace should bring you confidence in your relationship with Us. You know Us and have a relationship with Us as Father, Son, and Spirit. There are three ways that you can assure your heart that you are in this special relationship with us: When you believe in Me as the Father’s Son, God Who came in human flesh. When love is demonstrated in your relationships with each other. When there is goodness found in your actions. These three qualities allow you to rest assured that your relationship with the Father is secured and life-giving. This is how you walk in the Father’s light. The six themes emphasized by the words underlined above are woven into the tapestry of this short letter again and again. John doesn’t have huge blocks of teaching about any one of these in one place. Instead, like a beautiful piece of symphonic music, he weaves these key themes into his music again and again with slight variations and connections. If you read this letter several times, the Spirit helps you pick these themes up as the soundtrack of your life. Here are these six key themes emphasized in 1 John: Relationship with the Father is a genuine relationship, not a shallow religiosity. Confidence comes from your relationship with the Father because of My sacrifice, His grace, and the Spirit’s assurance in your heart. Knowledge of Me and that I AM just and faithful leads My disciples to live faithfully and act justly. Faith that I AM the Father’s Son, Jesus, Who came as God in human flesh, is the key to your overcoming the world and living for Me. Love for each other as brothers and sisters shows that you know the Father’s love and are the Father’s children. Goodness is found in your actions, thoughts, and words when you are in a genuine relationship with the Father. Listen for these themes. Since 1 John is so short, read it several times over the next several days. Don’t try to dissect each short passage, but listen to the letter as you would listen to a great piece of music. Let the interplay of the themes seep into your heart and capture your life. Each of these six themes will repeat in different connections with each other as a short musical riff and then connect you to the next theme. And like all good music, the interplay of these themes brings a freshness to your life — and in this case, it brings you the assurance and joy of eternal life that actually has already begun for you as My disciple! Verses to Live Today’s verses begin with a paragraph about your relationship with the Father and with each other. These relationships bring you an experience of eternal life. They provide you a connection with the Father and Me. This connection is about relationships and experiences that are intimately real and that bring you into Our family. These relationships are based upon My mission as God in human flesh Who lived among real people who could see Me, hear Me, and touch Me both before and after My crucifixion and resurrection. It was this mission that the Father sent Me to accomplish and that made your relationship with the Father as His beloved child possible. You don’t have to pretend that you are perfect. Just bring who you are to the Father. Be open, honest, and transparent with Him in the light of His glory and grace. When you are, My sacrifice for you purifies you, connects you to others who are saved by this same grace, and prepares you to live for Me. So be filled with hope and joy as you read these words of assurance from My beloved disciple, John. We want to tell you about the One Who was from the beginning. We have seen Him with our own eyes, heard Him with our own ears, and touched Him with our own hands. This One is the manifestation of the life-giving Voice, and He showed us real life, eternal life. We have seen it all, and we can’t keep what we witnessed quiet — we have to share it with you. We are inviting you to experience eternal life through the One Who was with the Father and came down to us. What we saw and heard we pass on to you so that you, too, will be connected with us intimately and become family. Our family is united by our connection with the Father and His Son Jesus, the Anointed One; and we write all this because retelling this story fulfills our joy. What we are telling
The Foundation
Note from Jesus Dear Disciple, The foundation for everything you hold dear as a Christian and as My disciple is this one fundamental truth: I came as God, in human flesh, Jesus the Christ, the Anointed One, the Son of the only true and living God. Peter confessed something very similar to this at a vital turning point in My ministry and in his life (Matthew 16:16). Over the centuries, many have tried to make Me less than God come in human flesh, but for Me to be the Son of the Father meant no less than this. When I identified Myself as the Father’s Son, My Jewish opponents wanted to kill Me for “making himself [Myself] equal with God” (John 5:16-18 NLT). To come as the Son of God meant, and still means, that I was God in human flesh. I was God come in human flesh from conception through the cross to the resurrection and the ascension! People have speculated trying to determine someone specific who is the evil antiChrist. However, John reminded My disciples that they needed to be seriously concerned about those among them who were obviously antiChrists: the many religious people who were (and still are) trying to separate My identity from the Father. They want to make Me less than God in human flesh. Some even claim that I was a created being — that I was not always in existence and not really God. These false doctrines and notions undermine the power of My cross (1 Corinthians 1:17-18; Colossians 2:15; Philippians 2:5-11). They discount the incredible grace of My full humanity in My incarnation (John 1:1-18). They dispute what it means for Me to be the true, living, and complete Word and Message of God (Hebrews 1:1-3). I was with the Father at creation. Not only did I make all things, but I continue to hold them together by My will and power (John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:15-19). I sent you the anointing, the Holy Spirit, to be with you. The Spirit will guide you into all truth so that you will not be led astray by the antiChrists in your day (John 16:12-15). You don’t need to fear these false teachers; just test the spirit of these teachers to see if they bring the truth about Me (1 John 4:1-6). If they do not, don’t associate with them. Those who do not hold to My genuine identity undermine Who I AM and what I did to bring you salvation. If you hold to My true identity, if you believe in Me as Peter did, you can rest assured of this one certainty: you can be sure of your salvation! Verses to Live What follows is a collection of John’s strong words about the antiChrists who seek to undermine My identity. They existed in the early days of My church, and they exist in your day. Please know this: you must heed John’s words of warning, but not in fear. Trust in the Holy Spirit Whom I poured out on you when you were born into the Father’s family (John 16:5-11; Titus 3:3-7). The Spirit is your anointing, your assurance that you have the truth and that you belong to the Father. So believe in Me and trust what I say to you: your anointing will guide you into all truth and will confirm what John says about Me! My children, this is the final hour. You have heard that the antiChrist, the greatest enemy to His kingdom, is coming, but in fact, many antiChrists are already here. This development tells us how late it really is. A group has left us, but they were not part of our family. If they were truly our brothers and sisters, they would have remained for the duration with us. When they left, they made it ever so obvious that they were not part of us. You have been given an anointing, a special touch from the Holy One. You know the truth. I am not writing to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it. You know that no lie belongs to the truth. The liar is the one who says, “Jesus is not really the Anointed One.” This is the antiChrist, the one denying both the Father and the Son. Anyone who denies the Son does not know the Father. The one affirming the Son enjoys an intimate relationship with the Father as well. Let the good news, the story you have heard from the beginning of your journey, live in and take hold of you. If that happens and you focus on the good news, then you will always remain in a relationship with the Son and the Father. This is what He promised us: eternal life. I also am writing to warn you about some who are attempting to deceive you. You have an anointing. You received it from Him, and His anointing remains on you. You do not need any other teacher. But as His anointing instructs you in all the essentials (all the truth uncontaminated by darkness and lies), it teaches you this: “Remain connected to Him.” (1 John 2:18-27) There is a sure way for us to know that we belong to the truth. Even though our inner thoughts may condemn us with storms of guilt and constant reminders of our failures, we can know in our hearts that in His presence God Himself is greater than any accusation. He knows all things. My loved ones, if our hearts cannot condemn us, then we can stand with confidence before God. Whatever we may ask, we receive it from Him because we follow His commands and take the path that pleases Him. His command is clear: believe in the name of His Son, Jesus the Anointed, and love one another as He commanded. The one who follows His teaching and walks this path lives in an intimate relationship with God. How do we know
Trial by Fire
Note from Jesus Dear Friends, Years before Peter wrote his short letter known as 1 Peter to My disciples, he was repeatedly persecuted. He regularly encountered strong opposition from the Sanhedrin, the same Jewish ruling council in Jerusalem that had called for My death. On one of those occasions when the Sanhedrin had threatened Peter and My other apostles, they left rejoicing. Luke described it this way: As they left the council, they weren’t discouraged at all. In fact, they were filled with joy over being considered worthy to suffer disgrace for the sake of His [My] name. And constantly, whether in public, in the temple, or in their homes, they kept teaching and proclaiming Jesus as the Anointed One, the Liberating King. (Acts 5:41-42) Years later, Peter wrote to believers in Asia Minor as they faced the same kind of treatment he had endured. He reminded them to follow the example he set years earlier: [I]f you should suffer for being a Christian, don’t think of it as a disgrace… Praise God that you’re permitted to carry this name. In addition to rejoicing, Peter encouraged these believers facing their own “trial by fire” to do things that would help them in their time of persecution. He called on them to do the following: Stay focused on what is eternally important. Pray. Love each other faithfully. Share hospitality. Use their gifts, whether they were speaking or serving gifts. These gifts enabled them to bless each other and honor the Father. Consider themselves blessed as they rejoiced in suffering for My name, being fully assured that they would share in My coming glory with Me. Remember the Holy Spirit rested upon and lived within them, so they were not alone even in times of suffering. Make sure their suffering was for doing what was right and not what was wrong. Praise God that they wore My name, Jesus, the Anointed One. Be humble before the Father, knowing that He would lift them up at the right time. Share their burdens and cares with the Father because He loved them, cared for them, and longed to help shoulder their hardships. Be disciplined and on guard because the evil one was roaming like a hungry lion looking to devour people. Don’t fear the devil, but resist him using their strong faith knowing that they were not alone in their suffering. Remember that the same Father Who will share His eternal presence with them in glory will also restore, support, strengthen, and establish them in their lives as they await participating in that glorious presence. This list is especially important for all who are facing suffering, trial, and persecution. Not only is it practical, but it is also encouraging. Peter wanted My disciples facing their own “trial by fire” to have a readily available set of strategies to remain faithful. Despite the obvious and painful difficulties they faced, he wanted these disciples to remember that victory and glory awaited them. Near the beginning and the end of his letter, Peter rejoiced because of My victory over sin, death, and hell. He assured his readers that all who sincerely believe in Me will share in My glory. Near the beginning, he said: Although you haven’t seen Jesus, you still love Him. Although you don’t yet see Him, you do believe in Him and celebrate with a joy that is glorious and beyond words. You are receiving the salvation of your souls as the result of your faith. (1 Peter 1:8-9) You can find his rejoicing near the end of his letter toward the end of the second set of verses below. Verses to Live The following two sets of verses come from chapter 4 and chapter 5 in 1 Peter. The first part of chapter 5 has two exhortations that are related to leadership but are not included here. In those verses, Peter first makes an impassioned call for elders to serve as shepherds of My flock: they are not bosses that lord it over those they lead but are to be loving shepherds (1 Peter 5:1-4). Second, he calls for the younger men to follow the elders’ leadership and to be humble (1 Peter 5:5). Strong leadership is essential always but especially when My people are facing persecution. These words and guidelines today are extraordinarily valuable to help My people know what to do when faced with persecution. I want you to incorporate them into your life as My disciple. We are coming to the end of all things, so be serious and keep your wits about you in order to pray more forcefully. Most of all, love each other steadily and unselfishly, because love makes up for many faults. Show hospitality to each other without complaint. Use whatever gift you’ve received for the good of one another so that you can show yourselves to be good stewards of God’s grace in all its varieties. If you’re called upon to talk, speak as though God put the words in your mouth; if you’re called upon to serve others, serve as though you had the strength of God behind you. In these ways, God may be glorified in all you do through Jesus the Anointed, to Whom belongs glory and power, now and forever. Amen. Dear ones, don’t be surprised when you experience your trial by fire. It is not something strange and unusual, but it is something you should rejoice in. In it you share the Anointed’s sufferings, and you will be that much more joyful when His glory is revealed. If anyone condemns you for following Jesus as the Anointed One, consider yourself blessed. The glorious Spirit of God rests on you. But none of you should ever merit suffering like those who have murdered or stolen, meddled in the affairs of others or done evil things. But if you should suffer for being a Christian, don’t think of it as a disgrace, as it would be if you had done wrong.