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1 John 3:16

By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

Personal Challenge

God does not expect us to know how to love Him and our neighbor without giving us a clear example. That example is Jesus. He became a human being so that He could be one of us. He lived His life in one of the hardest times in human history. He loved us so much that He gave His life for us. If we know Him, love Him, and strive to be like Him, then we too will be laying our lives down for our brethren. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

1 John 3:1

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

Encouraging Words

Those of us who have chosen to give our lives to Christ and strive to follow in His footsteps have been proclaimed by God to be called His children. Through Christ, we have been adopted into His family. As His children though, the world no longer sees us as part of its family and begins to show its dislike for us just as it shows its dislike for God. As this happens more and more in our lives we should rejoice because this means that we are becoming more like Him. Glory be to God!

1 John 2:17

And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

Personal challenge

Throughout the history of the Church, people have given there all to the Church. Some have given all of their possessions. Some their time by becoming ascetics, monastics, priests, and volunteers in their local church. Some have even given their lives as martyrs. The world looks at these committed Christians and sees them as foolish. As a Christian, however, we look at the promises of our God and see that the things of the’s world mean nothing compared to the eternity that He has for us. We are happy to give up those things that are temporary for the opportunity to abide with our God forever as His children. Glory be to God!

1 John 2:7

Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning.

Personal Challenge

From the beginning of God’s creation, there has been one commandment for all to follow. All other instructions, guidance, and even the old covenant law are based on this commandment. Love! Love our God. Love our neighbor. Love those who love us. Love those who hate us. Love ourselves. This single commandment comes from God’s very nature, which is that He is love. We have no excuse for not knowing what He wants us to do. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

1 John 2:4-6

He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

Personal challenge

John does not pull any punches here. If I claim to “know” Christ, to be one of His followers, is there evidence of that in my life? Do I keep His commandments? Do I love God and strive to be like His Son? Do I love my neighbor? How do I love my neighbor? Am I loving, caring, and compassionate toward my family, my friends, those whom I work with or just run into every day? Do I take care of the widow, the orphan, the naked, the poor, the alien (immigrant amongst us)? If I am not doing these things, if I am not expressing God’s love in this world that He has placed me, then there is the possibility that my proclamation that I “know” God, is actually a lie, a facade. These are sobering questions to ask, but necessary to keep me focusing on Christ and striving to walk as He walked. A walk that took Him to the cross for all of us. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

1 John 1:9

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Command with a Promise

Our God is faithful and just. We can count on the truth that He will never falter in the fulfillment of His promises. We, on the other hand, can easily stray from our relationship with Him and sin. We make choices all the time that do not measure up to what God wants from us. Here is where the command followed by a promise comes onto play. We can run back to our God and confess our sins to Him and He promises to forgive us of those sins and to cleanse us of our unrighteousness. He will never falter on that promise. Glory be to God!

1 John 1:5-7

This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Personal challenge

God is light, uncreated and pure light. When we received Christ and the Holy Spirit into our lives we came into fellowship with God in that light. We are still given our free will to choose to walk in that light or walk in the darkness of the world. If we choose to continually walk in that darkness then we must question whether or not our choice to follow Him was the truth or a lie. To be a truth it must continually drive us to be in God’s light and separate from the darkness of the world. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

1 John 1:1-3

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.

Encouraging Words

Jesus did not provide for us our salvation in a vacuum. He did it in fellowship with His disciples. He did not show up one day and give His life for us without spending time in a relationship with the very people He came to save. He came as an infant so that He could spend His entire life as a human being like the rest of us. He grew up in fellowship with His family, His neighbors, the leaders of His community, and later His disciples. It is through fellowship with one another that we all learn what it is to be human. More importantly, it is through fellowship that we learn how to love our neighbor and to die to self for our neighbor. Besides, God through eternity is in fellowship as Father, son, and Holy Spirit. Glory be to God!

2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

Encouraging Words

The Church has been waiting for over 2,000 years for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ so that He can establish His new heaven on earth. Many times we get impatient and even lose hope that He really is coming back. God is not playing some kind of cosmic joke on us. He is being long-suffering and giving us all, both Christians and non-Christians, time to come to Him and to grow in Him. He desires that all who do not know Him or have never heard of Him to be given the chance to come to Him. He desires that all of us who claim Him as our Lord repent of our sinful ways and carry His Good News to those who have not heard. He is long-suffering for us all. Lord, have mercy!