Historical Posts
1 John 03:04-09 – Sin and the Child of God
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Text: 1 John 3:4-9
Introduction
1. This morning, we saw that the true child of God purifies himself because of the hope of being like Jesus one day – 1 John 3:2-3
2. In discussing purity, the subject of sin naturally arises
a. Which may be why John moves right into a discussion of sin and the child of God – 1 John 3:4-9
b. It also fits into John’s overall theme of combating the teaching that sinning did not affect one’s relationship with God
3. How shall the true child of God regard sin? Is it something to be taken lightly? Not if the apostle John has anything to say about it!
Body
I. THE DEFINITION OF SIN
A. AS UNDERSTOOD BY SOME
1. Sin is nothing more than a violation of human relationships
2. Which can be easily resolved by correcting relationship problems
3. While SOME sins may be a violation of human relationships, the true meaning of sin goes much further than that
B. THE LITERAL MEANING OF THE WORD SIN
1. The Greek word for sin literally means to miss the mark
2. For example, as when an archer fails to hit the center of the target
3. So sin is some kind of action (or lack of it) in which one fails to meet the goal intended by God – Romans 3:23
C. AS DEFINED BY JOHN
1. Sin is lawlessness (NKJV), or transgression of the law (KJV)
2. The word for lawlessness means illegality, i.e. violation of law
a. For example, to break or violate a law, such as the law of God
b. In other words, to steal when the law says Thou shalt not steal
3. So sin occurs when you DO WHAT IS FORBIDDEN (commonly called a sin of commission)
D. AS DEFINED BY JAMES
1. James describes another kind of sin – James 4:17
2. So sin is also committed when you FAIL TO DO WHAT IS GOOD OR COMMANDED (often called a sin of omission)
a. For example, failing to love your brother
b. While you may not do wrong toward your brother, failure to do good is just as much a sin!
E. IN BOTH OF THESE DEFINITIONS OF SIN
1. One has failed to meet a certain standard (they have missed the mark)
2. In this case, the standard is the law of God
a. Which, when carefully noted, is designed to help us in our relationships with:
1) God
2) Other people
3) Even self
b. Every command of God, both negative and positive, affect these relationships in one way or the other
F. Failure to understand the true nature of sin is one reason why there is so much apathy toward it today. But every time we sin, we adversely affect our relationship with either God, others, or our own selves!
II. THE ORIGIN OF SIN – 1 John 3:8a
A. SIN IS OF THE DEVIL!
1. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning.
2. This statement of John is reminiscent of one made by Jesus – John 8:44
3. From the beginning the devil has been the father or origin of sin (he is a liar and the father of it)
B. THOSE WHO SIN ARE OF THE DEVIL!
1. Since he is the father of sin, those who practice sin are his children
2. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do – John 8:44a
3. So when we miss the mark by either:
a. Doing what is forbidden
b. Failing to do what is commanded
c. We demonstrate the influences of the devil in our lives!
C. If sin can make one to be the children of the devil, than that ought to tell us something about the terribleness of sin!
III. THE DEFEAT OF SIN – 1 John 3:5a, 8b
A. THIS WAS THE PURPOSE OF CHRIST’S COMING
1. He was manifested to take away our sins – 1 John 3:5a
2. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil – 1 John 3:8b
3. As John the Baptist declared: Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! – John 1:29
4. To continue to walk in sin, therefore, is to undermine the purpose of our Lord’s coming!
B. CONSIDER WHAT IT COST JESUS TO ACCOMPLISH THIS PURPOSE
1. Nothing less than His own death! – 1 Corinthians 15:3
2. Nothing less than His precious blood! – Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 1:18-19
3. Does not this tell us something about the terribleness of sin?
C. When we properly understand what sin is, and how terrible it must be in God’s sight, then for the child of God there can only be one goal: what John describes as not abiding in sin
IV. NOT ABIDING IN SIN – 1 John 3:6-7, 9
A. WHOEVER ABIDES IN HIM DOES NOT SIN… – 1 JN 3:6
1. The phrase does not sin is present tense in the Greek, suggesting a practice of not CONTINUING IN SIN
a. John has already affirmed that Christians sin – John 1:8, 10
b. To say we have no sin is to lie, and to make God a liar
c. So John is talking about one who does not continuously practice sin
2. Such is true of those who abide in Him
a. Those who abide in Jesus do not continuously engage in sin
b. That is because they:
1) Let that which they have heard from the beginning abide in them – 1 John 2:24
2) Strive to walk even as Jesus walked – 1 John 2:6-7
3. But the one who continuously practices sin has neither seen Jesus nor known him (despite any claims to the contrary!) – 1 John 3:6
B. WHOEVER HAS BEEN BORN OF GOD DOES NOT SIN… 1 John 3:9
1. Again, John uses the present tense when he says does not sin
a. He is not suggesting that one born of God never sins
b. But that one truly born of God does not continuously practice sin
2. And why is that? Because His seed remains in Him
a. The seed is that life-giving principle that makes one a child of God
b. Which clearly involves the Word of God – 1 Peter 1:22-23
3. As long as one allows the seed (the Word of God) to remain in him, he is born of God
a. As such he does not continuously practice sin
b. Nor can he continuously practice sin, if the seed is remaining in him
c. Instead, he continuously practices righteousness! – 1 John 3:7
Conclusion
1. Again, it helpful to remember that John is dealing with the idea that one can claim to be born of God and not be concerned about sin in their life
2. But when we are aware of:
a. The definition of sin
b. The origin of sin
c. The defeat of sin
d. The abandonment of sin
3. Our attitude toward sin will certainly be different than those John was having to combat!
4. What is your attitude toward sin?
a. Have you been born again through obedience to the Word of God?
b. Are you letting that seed remain in you so that you do not continuously practice sin?
1 John 03:01-03 – The Children of God – audio
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Text: 1 John 3:1-3
Introduction
1. In 1 John 2:29, for the first time John speaks of Christians as those who are born of God
a. It is an expression that will be used time and again throughout the remainder of this epistle – 1 John 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 4, 18
b. It is a figurative expression, emphasizing that the Christian’s spiritual life is a result of the redemptive work of God – Colossians 2:12-13
c. As a result of this working of God in our lives, we have been born again, and can therefore be properly called God’s children
2. That we can be called children of God was amazing to John, and in our text (1 John 3:1-3) he desires that we consider:
a. The significance of being called the children of God
b. The news of what we shall be
c. The transformation that is to take place in our lives
Body
I. WHAT WE ARE AS CHILDREN OF GOD
A. WE ARE RECIPIENTS OF GOD’S LOVE – 1 John 3:1a
1. Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!
2. It is through the love of God that we can even become His children – John 3:16, 1 John 4:9-10
3. It is an honor for God to even take notice of us, how much love God must have to allow us to become His children!
B. WE ARE UNKNOWN BY THE WORLD – 1 John 3:1b
1. …the world does not know us…
2. That is, they do not truly recognize, appreciate or understand what we have become in Christ
3. They may even deem us as religious fanatics, fools – 1 Corinthians 4:9-13
4. But this is understandable:
a. For the world did not (and still does not) really know Jesus – John 1:11
b. And for now, our lives are hidden in Jesus – Colossians 3:3-4
5. Loved and honored by God, unknown and sometimes despised by the world; that is what we are today as the children of God.
II. WHAT WE SHALL BE AS CHILDREN OF GOD
A. IT HAS NOT YET BEEN FULLY REVEALED
1. Exactly what we shall be like has not yet been revealed
2. Which may be that due to our finite capability to comprehend
3. In general terms we have been promised a spiritual body and immortality – 1 Corinthians 15:42-44; 50-53
4. But there is something else, hinted at by both Paul and John
B. WE SHALL BE LIKE JESUS!
1. …we know that we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
2. Paul also says that we will be like Jesus when He comes…
a. We shall bear the image of the heavenly Man – 1 Corinthians 15:49
b. Our lowly bodies will undergo a wonderful transformation to become like Jesus – Philippians 3:20-21
III. WHAT WE SHOULD BE AS CHILDREN OF GOD (3)
A. OUGHT TO BE MOTIVATED BY OUR HOPE
1. “everyone who has this hope…”
2. The hope of which John writes, of course, is the earnest expectation that we will be like Jesus when He comes
B. DILIGENTLY INVOLVED IN PURIFYING ONE’S SELF
1. This involves the idea of being set apart for a holy purpose, which Christians are taught to pursue – Hebrews 12:14
2. How can Christians purify themselves?
a. First and foremost by appropriating the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus! – 1 John 1:9
b. Only then can we hope to be truly holy and without blemish – Ephesians 5:25-27
c. But we also have an obligation to remove ourselves from things that would defile us – 2 Corinthians 6:16-7:1
Conclusion
1. By virtue of God’s love for us, and His working in us, we can truly be called the children of God!
2. However, to become a child of God, and truly remain such, we must be willing to cooperate with God
a. When our faith joins with the working of God, we can become His children! – Colossians 2:12-13; Galatians 3:26-27
b. As long as our faith remains strong, we have the assurance of receiving the promises God has made – Hebrews 3:12-14; 4:1-2; Revelation 2:10
3. Is the love our heavenly Father has shown in making us His children, serving to motivate us to remain faithful to Him!
Been in a fuss lately?
Maybe it was with your spouse or kids. Could’ve been a coworker or neighbor. Maybe even someone at church.
It doesn’t really matter what it was about, or who the person was, but I can predict a couple of things: One, it was unpleasant, and two, somebody was being selfish. Those two facts are amazingly consistent.
Something pretty bad was going on in the church James was writing to, and he gives us several hints. It’s also amazing how much things haven’t changed in the last two thousand years:
“Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” (James 4:1–3, NKJV)
“What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” (James 4:1–3, ESV)
Those of you who are married know what it’s like to argue, at least occasionally. If you’ve got a sibling, you’ve been in a few dozen (or hundred?). If you’ve got more than one kid, you’ve refereed a quarrel or two. If you’ve ever had a job or interacted with other human beings closely, you’ve had a disagreement.
In other words, if you’re alive you know what James is talking about.
But it’s interesting to hear what he says about the cause of quarrels. It’s usually not just a difference of opinion, and often it’s not about right and wrong.
It’s about the sinful stuff inside of us. It’s about selfishness and lust and covetousness. It’s about our being very concerned about getting what we want.
So let’s pray about this today. Ask God to remove your selfishness. Ask him to use your desires to seek him, not things that hurt you and others. Ask him to address your pride.
We can’t fix other people, and it’s frustrating and futile even to try. But we can submit to God as he works on our flaws, and whatever he does in us will improve all our relationships.
I Like Forgiveness Quite a Bit – audio
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I like forgiveness quite a bit, don’t you?
I like for my wife to forgive me when I have been rude or unkind. I like for my kids to forgive my impatience. I like others to extend heaps of forgiveness to me when I need it. I especially like God’s forgiveness. As believers, we revel in the fact that God does not hold sin against us… that he removes our sins from us “as far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12).
We like that.
But there’s a part of forgiveness that’s not as easy to enjoy. Jesus mentions it near the end of his model prayer: “and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:12). And to make sure we didn’t miss that little phrase, he adds this postscript: “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14-15).
“Forgive us our debts” – we like that.
“…as we also have forgiven our debtors” – not so much.
I’m not sure why it’s so hard to forgive others, but it might be that withholding it gives us a little power over them. We can use it against them at some point – “Do you remember when you…?”
Or maybe it’s that we think they do not really deserve it. They might not be completely genuine in their repentance. Maybe they will do it again. They ought to get what they deserve.
But Jesus calls us to a higher road, of course. He asks us to forgive as we’ve been forgiven, which means that we can’t forgive only those who deserve it. Remember, we do not deserve God’s forgiveness either.
It means we can’t be concerned about their getting properly punished, because we don’t get the punishment we deserve. And it means we can’t hold a grudge over their heads, because when the Lord forgives us, he never brings it up again.
Are you holding something against your spouse? Are you nursing a grudge against a friend? Do you have something against someone at church? Is your relationship with one of your kids strained?
Relationships are always complicated, but the first step you might take is to forgive, to let the past go, to drop the grudge. It probably won’t be the easiest part about your walk with Christ, but it’s crucial.
We forgive because we have been forgiven, and we forgive so that we will be forgiven.
(Thanks to Chuck Webster for these thoughts!)
Psalm 139:13-17 The Gift of Life – audio
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Text: Psalm 139:13-17 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.
Introduction
The body is a masterpiece of exquisite design. Beautifully “engineered,” it is governed by several hundred systems of control each interacting with and affecting the other. The brain has 10 billion nerve cells to record what it sees and hears. Our skin has more than 2 million tiny sweat glands about 3000 per square inch all part of the intricate system which keeps the body at an even temperature. A “pump” in our chest makes the blood travel 168 million miles a day equivalent of 6720 times around the world! The lining of the stomach contains 35 million glands secreting juices which aid the process of digestion.
These are but a few of the involved processes and chemical wonders which operate to sustain this wonderful and fearfully made life. A young student had been impressed with the fact that most new products have some “bugs” that must be ironed out before they can operate efficiently. As he stood gazing at a chart showing the organs, nerves, arteries, and glands in the human body, he suddenly exclaimed, “Just think, the first time God put it together, it worked!”
In honor of the unborn that have needlessly been murdered at the hands of abortionists, I would like to talk about the wonderful gift of life we have been given by God our Creator and the battle that ensues for that very life. Let’s give honor to God the Father who is the creator of all things, including each one of us!
As we look at the gift of life, I want to take the time to look at the whole panorama of our lives from the moment of conception in the womb till the time we return to the earth. I want us to see the battle that goes on between God and the devil for our lives from the moment we are conceived till the time we die. It is a battle for life!
Job 5:6-12 For affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble spring from the ground; yet man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward. “But as for me, I would seek God, and to God I would commit my cause; Who does great things, and unsearchable, marvelous things without number. He gives rain on the earth, and sends waters on the fields. He sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn are lifted to safety. He frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot carry out their plans.
Body
I. God’s Involvement In The Creation Of Life.
1. We Are Fearfully And Wonderfully Made By Our Creator.
Psalms 139:13-17 For You have formed my inward parts; Yaiah ou have covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!
Isaiah 44:24 Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb: “I am the LORD, who makes all things, Who stretches out the heavens all alone, Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself…
As we see from these passages of scripture, even though life comes as a result of a man and a woman coming together in sexual unity, we are fearfully and wonderfully made by our Creator, God of the Universe. As a result we should praise and honor Him for the wonderful work He does in creating us. We should be eternally grateful.
2. The Beginning of Life in the Womb.
There has been much discussion and debate as to when life really begins, but David makes it clear that his life as well as ours began in the womb, because God is the God of the living.
Psalms 22:10 I was cast upon You from birth. From My mother’s womb You have been My God.
- The 20th Day after conception – In the watery world of the womb, the developing child is a complex, dynamic and rapidly growing individual. By the 20th day the foundations of the brain, spinal cord, and entire nervous system have been established. The heart begins to beat in irregular patterns by 21 days and in smooth rhythmic contractions a week later.
- The end of the first month – through the 8th week – By the end of the first month, the child will have grown ten thousand times his or her original size, and by birth the child’s weight will have increased six billion times. Lines in the hands and fingerprints begin to be etched by the 8th week, and these will remain a distinctive feature of the individual throughout his or her life.
- After eight weeks – After eight weeks, the child bears all the external features and internal organs of a full-term baby. From now until fully grown, generally around 25 years of age, the body will change mainly in terms of size and gradual refinements.
- The third month – In the third month, the child becomes very active. If the womb had windows we would see graceful and fluid motions as the child sleeps and wakes, makes fists, sucks his thumb, fans her toes, and seeks positions of comfort. During the remaining months in the womb, the child continues to develop activities, and even to learn, in preparation for the day of birth.
- The most dangerous stage – You would think that in this state of life the child would be relatively safe, but this is one of the most dangerous battles for life that this person will ever face. It’s ironic that in the child’s most innocent stage of life there is a fierce battle raging for the life of this tiny unborn infant.
Psalms 10:8 He sits in the lurking places of the villages; In the secret places he murders the innocent; His eyes are secretly fixed on the helpless.
Satan has been trying to destroy God’s creative beings since the beginning of time, when he first tried to destroy Adam & Eve, God’s first created beings His lust for blood and revenge has continued throughout the ages to the degree that he has been successful in the slaughtering of millions and millions of unborn babies, who are in the secret place of their mother’s womb fixed in a helpless condition against the forces of evil.
II. Abortion Is A Ploy Of Satan To Thwart God’s Plan.
Satan attacks and destroys God’s creative works with any weapon he can conceive. He has now been successful at using our own laws of the land as an effective weapon of destruction. He has infiltrated our society, feeding on the selfishness and greed of man to legalize his pattern of destruction and killing; convincing us that the killing of unborn children is a woman’s choice.
- Those of us who stand against this tide of violence and killing are considered politically incorrect. We have truly fallen prey to the times that God warned us about when “evil is called good and good is called evil.”
- What does God’s Word say about the killing of unborn children? Does a woman or a man have a right before God to make this critical choice concerning someone God has created?
Deuteronomy 32:39 Now see that I, even I, am He, and there is no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; nor is there any who can deliver from My hand. - Only God has the right to bring the innocent home to Himself. Only God has the right to open or close wombs, but man has taken matters into his own hands. Mothers with their selfish excuses and doctors with their sharp instruments are playing God!
Exodus 23:7 Keep yourself far from a false matter; do not kill the innocent and righteous. For I will not justify the wicked.
Exodus 21:22-23 “If men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no lasting harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman’s husband imposes on him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. “But if any lasting harm follows, then you shall give life for life…” - If abortion happens unintentionally through unnecessary roughness it is wrong – how much more so when it happens willfully.
My shining feet will never run on early morning lawn;
my feet were crushed before they had a chance to greet the dawn.
My fingers now will never stretch to touch the winning tape;
my race was done before I learned the smallest steps to take.
My growing height will never be recorded on the wall;
my growth was stopped when I was still unseen, and very small.
My lips and tongue will never taste the good fruits of the earth;
for I myself was judged to be a fruit of little worth.
My eyes will never scan the sky for my high flying kite;
for when still blind, destroyed were they in the black womb of night.
I’ll never stand upon a hill Spring’s winds in my hair;
aborted winds of thought closed in on Motherhood’s despair.
I’ll never walk the shores of life or know the tides of time;
for I was coming but unloved, and that my only crime.
Nameless am I, a grain of sand, one of the countless dead;
but the deed that made me ashen grey floats on seas of red.
(Fay Clayton, Christian Crusade Weekly, Jan. 18, 1976)
- What should be the battle plan against the slaughter of unborn children?
Proverbs 24:11-12 Deliver those who are drawn toward death, and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, “Surely we did not know this,” does not He who weighs the hearts consider it? he who keeps your soul, does He not know it? and will He not render to each man according to his deeds? - We can take a stand for truth and speak with conviction what our convictions are to friends, letters to editors etc.
- We can pray fervently in this area, wrestling against the rulers of darkness and the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly realms.
- We can offer all the help and support we can to insure mothers to carry their child to full term.
- We can work with pro-life candidates, helping them to get elected into office. It’s a shame to live in a country that has legislated murder.
- We must continue to spread the life changing gospel – that’s when lives are really changed.
- Melody Green writes, “Abortion is not an issue that you can remain “neutral” on. You are either for it or against it. What would you do if you were walking down the street, and looking up, you saw a woman about to throw her three-month-old baby out the window? Would you turn and walk away saying, `Well, I wouldn’t do that, but I won’t interfere. It’s her decision – that baby’s probably messing up her life anyway.'”
III. The Battle For Life After Birth.
The battle for man’s soul begins in the womb and continues from birth; throughout his life. As soon as a person is born the sparks begin to fly.
But Satan will be there every step of the way to lead try and lead us in his destructive paths.
1. Satan Tried To Destroy Jesus After His Birth.
Matthew 2:16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.
Satan shows his total disregard for life when he influenced Herod to have all the male children in Bethlehem and its districts, who were born around the time of Jesus to be put to death. He tried to destroy the giver of eternal life, the only one who has the power to save our souls from eternal corruption. Jesus came to give us life abundant, but Satan came to kill, destroy and steal.
John 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
2. As parents, God sets you as guardians over your children.
You are to watch out and protect them, just as Joseph and Mary did for Jesus. They escaped from the hand of the enemy into Egypt.
God Does Answer Prayers
Ever prayed a prayer you didn’t really think God would answer?
Why do we do that?
Maybe it’s because we’ve focused so much on what God doesn’t do that we forget about what he does.
“Well,” we think, “I know he created the world and parted the Red Sea and raised Jesus from the grave, but now . . .”
I’m not suggesting God is still resurrecting people, but I wonder if perhaps we ought to focus more on his might and power and less on all the reasons why he won’t do something.
When we’re struggling, James tells us to ask God for wisdom to see his hand at work.
Then he adds this:
But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. (James 1:6-8).
Another translation says, “But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt” (NIV).
Or, “But he must ask in faith without any doubting” (NASB).
Maybe that passage convicts you as it does me.
It reminds me that I ought to pray with confidence in the power of my God.
It helps me remember that God really listens to me, that he cares about my needs, my wants, my struggles.
And he can answer.
He can work in incredible ways to bring about what’s best for his children, and we ought to believe that he still does that.
Today, let’s focus on believing in the God to whom we pray.
Let’s ask him to convict us of his power and strength.
Let’s talk to him, fully believing that he will answer and accomplish his will in us.
Remember: the God we call Father is the same God who spoke the world into existence. Surely he can find a way to do whatever it is we need him to do.
Help! audio
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Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise (James 5:13).
I suppose we’re more likely to obey the first part of that verse than we are the second. It’s easy to let all of life’s stresses cause us to forget our need to praise God for everything good. If we’re not careful, talking to God can be more like a 911 call – something when do only when we find ourselves in a difficult spot.
Talking to God, though – praising him – ought to be what we do in every situation.
When we’re hurting or sad, we pour out our hearts to him.
When we’re joyful – when he’s blessed us – we praise him.
James recognizes that life has its ups and downs.
We’ll have problems like everyone else; when we do, we pray about it. But we should also recognize that God gives us so many joys.
What’s right in your life today?
Can you hear the birds singing outside? Perhaps you’ve already taken a walk in the cool springtime air this morning. God’s blessings surround us, and most of us have quite a few things to smile about.
A soft bed and a comfortable house. Water to drink and food to eat. A job that supports our families, healthy kids, faithful friends, a stable, peaceful country.
And most of all, of course, we’ve got Christ. Even if we have problems, which we do, nothing can dampen the fact that we’re forgiven.
Saved from sin. Washed in the blood. Justified, sanctified, and soon to be glorified.
So today, take time to praise.
List the blessings God’s poured into your life, and thank him for every single one of them.
But especially thank him for giving you hope in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior.
The Presence of God – audio
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I can’t imagine what it’ll be like to be in God’s presence, but I’m pretty sure it’ll be the best thing about heaven.
- What will it feel like?
- What will he look like?
- What will it be like?
I want that, but I’m not ready for it yet. People can’t be in the presence of God, not actually, not yet. We couldn’t survive it.
Whenever God revealed himself to people in the Bible—even in some kind of limited way—he spelled out the things they must do to be ready . . . and not die.
After the Israelites left Egypt, God met them at Sinai to give them his law, but he couldn’t just “come down” and talk to them. He told Moses to consecrate them for two days, let them wash their clothes, and be ready the third day. And then he put limits concerning how close they could come to the mountain where God would reveal himself. Get too close and die. Break through the barrier to try to get a glimpse of God . . . and die. It was a serious matter.
That’s the way it’s always been. We can’t come close to God because of our sins. We’ve got to be cleansed to enter God’s presence.
That’s why verses like this one are fascinating: “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (James 4:8a).
Us? Close to God? How?
Through Jesus, of course. He cleanses us, makes us holy, and grants us access to God.
Remember the temple’s veil being torn in two pieces during the crucifixion? That veil had always symbolized a barrier between sinful people and a holy God. When Jesus died, he tore the barrier down.
But what James puts right after he tells us to draw near to God is interesting: “Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will lift you up” (James 4:8b-10).
We still don’t come to God flippantly.
He’s forgiven us, but that does not mean we stop repenting. He’s declared us righteous, but we still acknowledge our sinfulness.
We are reminded of that weekly when we come to the Lord’s Table. We don’t deserve to commune with Christ, and it’s incredible that he lets us sit and eat and drink with him.
But as we draw near to him we remember.
We remember the ways we’ve sinned against him. We remember the times we lost focus and said something wrong or did something sinful or thought something impure.
And so we draw near to God, but not without remembering what it cost to give us that access.
One day, when we receive our glorified bodies, we’ll draw near to him with no barriers at all.
No sinful flesh, no broken vessel. We’ll bask in his immeasurable holiness and light.
That’s the day we’re all waiting for.
Valuable, Important, Forgiven – audio
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Text: Colossians 2:11-13
We are all valuable to God.
We are all important to God.
We are all forgiven by God in the same way.
Peacemaker – audio
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You have probably been around a guy who brings strife when he walks into a room.
He’s either in an argument with someone or trying to get one started. He’s also pretty good at getting people mad at one another. If you hear about a feud going on at work, you have a pretty good idea who’s in the middle of it. Know the guy?
Then there’s the girl whom everyone goes to when they’re having problems with someone.
They know she’ll be fair, level-headed, and sensible. If called on to arbitrate she won’t be ruled by anger or other emotions. She brings people together, settles disputes, helps people get along. She’s a peacemaker – have you met her?
It’s not hard to figure out which one the Lord favors.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9).
Think about that last statement – “they shall be called sons of God.” In other words, they are like God.
In fact, it might be said that we’re never more like God than when we’re bringing people together. After all, that’s pretty much what the whole Bible story is about – God, through Christ, brings us out of rebellion back into a relationship with him. As our Mediator, the God-Man, Jesus joins our hands with God’s hands, restoring the relationship that we broke.
Jesus is the greatest peacemaker ever. Want to be like Jesus?
Help a couple of disgruntled friends get beyond whatever got between them. Build bridges. Mend fences.
Be a calming influence with the people around you. Break down prejudices of all kinds—whether racial, social, class, or whatever. Peacemakers break down obstacles and help people get along.
Better yet, and perhaps this is what Jesus ultimately had in mind, be a peacemaker between God and sinful humanity. The peace has been established through Jesus, but God might use you to help someone find his way back to him.
You might be the Andrew who brings Peter to Jesus (John 1:40-41).
You might be the Paul who helps two sisters to stop quarrelling (Philippians 4:2).
You might be the one God uses to bring peace between your spouse and God, or between your children and God, or between a co-worker, friend, uncle, or neighbor and God.
The most miserable person in the room is the one who’s at odds with the people around him, and with God.
The one who looks most like Jesus is the one who brings peace wherever he goes.
Praise – audio
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Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise (James 5:13).
I suppose we’re more likely to obey the first part of that verse than we are the second. It’s easy to let all of life’s stresses cause us to forget our need to praise God for everything good. If we’re not careful, talking to God can be more like a 911 call – something when do only when we find ourselves in a difficult spot.
Talking to God, though – praising him – ought to be what we do in every situation.
- When we’re hurting or sad, we pour out our hearts to him.
- When we’re joyful, when he’s blessed us, we praise him.
James recognizes that life has its ups and downs. We’ll have problems like everyone else; when we do, we pray about it. But we should also recognize that God gives us so many joys.
What’s right in your life today?
Can you hear the birds singing outside? Perhaps you’ve already taken a walk in the cool springtime air this morning. God’s blessings surround us, and most of us have quite a few things to smile about.
A soft bed and a comfortable house. Water to drink and food to eat. A job that supports our families, healthy kids, faithful friends, a stable, peaceful country.
And most of all, of course, we’ve got Christ.
Even if we have problems, which we do, nothing can dampen the fact that we are forgiven.
Saved from sin. Washed in the blood. Justified, sanctified, and soon to be glorified.
So today, take time to praise.
List the blessings God’s poured into your life, and thank him for every single one of them.
But especially thank him for giving you hope in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior.
Salt – audio
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We’ve all probably engaged in a little hand-wringing about the future of our country.
What will happen, we ask, if we continue heading down a path that ignores God, flaunts rebellion, and mocks righteousness? What will it look like when our kids or grandkids become adults? Will God turn his back on us?
Those questions, though unavoidable, do little good.
What Jesus said about anxiety applies here.
Worrying about the future accomplishes nothing. But thankfully, there’s something we can do, and Jesus refers to it here:
“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.” (Matthew 5:13, NKJV)
When we think of salt, we probably think of the flavor it adds to our meals, but in Jesus’ world its most basic function was to preserve food. And that seems to fit the context here best as well.
Jesus is calling us to slow down the decay and corruption of the world around us.
Abraham once had a fascinating conversation with God in Genesis 18:16-33 about how many righteous people it would take to save Sodom. “Will you spare the city if it has 50 righteous souls living there?” Abraham asked. God said yes. “Forty-five?” Again, God said yes. So Abraham asked about 40, 30, 20, and finally 10. God would withhold his destruction if only a handful of righteous people could be found.
I have often thought that God has blessed America because we have honored him in many ways. We have protected religious freedoms and maintained conservative morals. Our leaders have listened to Christian voices, and we have preserved many aspects of the Judeo-Christian ethic. Is there a connection between those facts and our country’s prosperity?
A strong argument could be made that those things are changing, of course. Recent trends seem to reflect an increasingly secular, anti-God mindset. Even so, it still does no good to wring our hands and decry the loss of our country’s Christian foundation.
What Jesus tells us to do is keep being the salt.
None of us have any idea how long God will spare our nation, but what we must do is to follow Jesus and model him to the people around us. We need to sanctify him in our homes. We need to teach our children and grandchildren to love him more than anything in the world. We need to adore him, worship him, serve him.
It was a tragedy that even 10 righteous souls could not be found in Sodom, and God destroyed the city. What about us? Is there enough righteousness for God to keep his protective arms around us?
That’s his decision, of course, but regardless, he’s challenged us to be those righteous souls, to be the preservative in our spheres of influence.
He’s calling us to be salt.
Light of the World – audio
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One of the things the Pharisees couldn’t stand about Jesus was the crowd he hung around with. They didn’t know what to do with someone who claimed to be a Rabbi yet spent his time with undesirables. Tax collectors. Drunks. Adulterers. Prostitutes.
How could he? Here’s his answer: “I’m the light of the world” (John 8:12).
It is hard for light to affect something it doesn’t touch. He came to call sinners to repentance, but they never would have heard about it if he had not walked the streets on their side of town.
We don’t have a problem with that, though, because we like the idea of Jesus associating with outcasts. After all, he’s the Son of God, so he’s perfect, blameless. Their sin couldn’t rub off on him.
But notice the huge change in pronoun here:
“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14–16)
Sometimes he said, “I’m the light of the world,” but here he says “You” are.
As in me. As in you.
We are the light of the world.
It’s a reflected light, of course, because we can’t generate any on our own. We reflect his light to a dark world so that they may see it and glorify him.
But there’s an important point that we shouldn’t miss. In order for us to light up the world, we’ve got to be in the world. We’ve got to be intentional about spending time with people who don’t know Christ so that they might see him in us.
I might be tempted to schedule my days so that I spend time with people who look, think, and talk like me. You might be tempted just to go to work or school and do what you’ve got to do so you can get back home to your safe place.
But Jesus calls us to do more than that. He calls us to walk their streets. He asks us to get to know them, understand them and really see them.
Thousands of people in our communities live in a very dark world, and they might never see the light if you and I seclude ourselves, either physically or emotionally, and connect only with people just like us.
You are the light of the world.
To be honest, that scares me, because it pulls me out of my comfort zone, away from my safe place. But discipleship has never really been about being comfortable, has it?
If we follow Jesus, we’ll go where he goes, and that means we’ll intentionally spend quite a bit of time with messed up people. They’re the ones who really need his light.
More Grace – audio
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“For we all stumble in many things,” James wrote (James 3:2).
Amen to that. Most Christians I know are quite aware of the myriad ways they fall short.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but James is on a bit of a negative kick. He accuses his Christian readers of lusting, fighting, and coveting. He insinuates that they’re selfish, then – if that wasn’t enough – he calls them adulterers. He doesn’t seem very happy, does he?
I’m glad there’s this next verse, because it brings us back to the place we all need to be: But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6).
Isn’t that beautiful? He gives more grace!
We all stumble in many ways, but he gives more grace. Every day we fall short, but he gives more grace. We struggle and fall and get up and fall again, but he gives more grace.
It reminds me of what Paul wrote in Romans 5:20: “where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.” All of us need a lot of that grace, don’t we? It’s good that it’s not a finite resource.
But notice the last part of James’ thought: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
One thing will put a barrier between us and God’s grace, and that’s pride.
Pride makes us think that we don’t need God that we’re doing pretty well on our own. Pride trusts in our own righteousness, our own ability to be good, do good, and look good. Pride emphasizes self over God, works over grace, appearance over substance.
So in James’ statement there’s a tremendous promise, but also a warning. God gives more grace to anyone willing to accept it – what an incredible blessing! But he withholds it from the proud – nothing could be worse.
Today, let’s pray something like this:
Father, remove all traces of pride from our hearts and fill us with your humility. Though we’re not worthy, please give us more grace. Never oppose us. Never reject us. Keep us humble and within your will. We ask this through Jesus. Amen.
Pure Minds – audio
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Most of the time my mind is going in a million different directions.
If you ask me something, and I request some time to think about it and get back with you, I’d better write it down immediately. If not, I’ll forget about it within 30 seconds. I don’t know if it’s the inevitable effects of getting older, or just an easily distracted mind. Or maybe some combination of both.
I suspect I’m not alone.
If Satan can’t get us to abandon Christ, he’ll just make us so busy that the Lord is just another thing on our to-do list.
- Bed made? Check.
- Exercise? Check.
- Kids up and dressed? Check (sorta).
- Quick prayer as I run out the door? Check.
And so the day goes.
Whisper a quick prayer before eating lunch at your desk, and an exhausted Thank-you-for-getting-me-through-this-day prayer before sinking into oblivion to prepare to repeat the next day.
To that kind of mind, my mind and yours, Jesus says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8).
Much of my life I’ve thought that meant that I need to keep my heart clean – keep the garbage and sinful thoughts out – but now I’m not sure that’s exactly right, at least not here.
I think Jesus meant that my heart doesn’t need to get too full – full of distractions, to-do lists, chores, deadlines, stresses.
As one commentator puts it, “The ‘pure in heart’ exhibit a single-minded devotion to God that stems from the internal cleansing created by following Jesus” (Craig Blomberg, p. 100).
A single-minded devotion. That’s what I need. It’s what you need.
Something that’s pure is unmixed, unadulterated. Pure water or pure gold or pure milk has nothing added to it to dilute its value.
Same with us. God wants to fill our hearts with him so that there’s no room for anything else. That doesn’t mean, of course, that we won’t have concerns about work or school or bills. But it does mean that we filter everything in our lives through him.
God doesn’t want just one part of our mind.
He doesn’t want just a little slice of it, but he also doesn’t want the biggest slice. He’s not one of many jostling for a little bit of our time and attention.
He wants it all.
And once he’s got it, all those distractions and worries seem so much smaller.
Once he’s got it, then you and I will see God everywhere we look.
Does God Care? – audio
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Where is God?
Does he even know what’s going on in my life?
Does he care?
Because he doesn’t speak directly to us, and because we can’t literally see him, It is easy to start thinking he’s not there, or if he is, he’s not particularly interested in the things we’re facing. Especially the bad stuff. Where is he when all that happens?
To those of us who struggle with this – which is probably all of us – Jesus spoke some of the most comforting words anyone has ever said:
“Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Matthew 10:29–31
A day’s wage was a denarius, and a penny was 1/16 of a denarius. Since two sparrows were sold for a penny that means one sparrow was worth 1/32 of how much a man would make in a day.
Translation: not much.
Which was Jesus’ point. Sparrows had less value than almost anything in his world, but God noticed even their problems. Adding to the tenderness of the passage, Jesus said that God even knows how many hairs we’ve got on our heads.
In other words, he cares about us. A lot.
Satan tries to get us to think that God is distant, uninterested, uninvolved. But Jesus says that God is infinitely concerned about every struggle, every difficulty, and every hurt.
Sometimes we need to think about God’s love in global terms – “for God so loved the world . . .” – there’s not a spot on the planet that escapes his notice. But we also need to take comfort in the intimate nature of his personal love. He cares about me. And you. And your spouse or kid or mom or dad. Even your grumpy neighbor.
Whenever I see a bird lying on the side of the road, it reminds me of these words from Jesus. God took notice of that little blue jay, wren, or sparrow.
Just think how much he must care about your problems.
Words – audio
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As a preacher and as human being, I use a lot of words.
That’s probably part of the reason this passage has puzzled – and scared – me. Maybe it’s bothered you a little as well.
But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the Day of Judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned – Matthew 12:36–37
I’m pretty sure I use quite a few “careless” words, probably every day. Don’t you?
Maybe an off-handed remark to your spouse or child, perhaps an off-the-cuff comment to a co-worker. Some of our words are carefully thought out, while many, probably most, aren’t. What does Jesus mean?
Did he intend to imply that our innocent small talk is wrong, like when we’re talking about last night’s rain or next week’s game? I don’t think so. It helps to read what the Lord said just before:
Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things – Matthew 12:33–35
Jesus is saying that our words matter because they reflect our hearts. Good people say good things, while bad hearts produce evil speech.
There’s an important implication here: we learn more about our hearts from what we say without thinking than we do by looking at our carefully rehearsed speech. This means that you’d learn more about who I really am by hearing how I speak to people conversationally than you do by listening to this invitation. I’ve reworked the words on this page several times, but my “careless” words—the ones I use in normal conversation—more likely reflect the real me.
What about you? Are your words too critical? Do they build up or tear down? Are they positive or negative?
Our words matter, but mostly because they say something about our hearts. We don’t really fix our speech by learning to speak more nicely and be more honest. Our speech gets fixed when our hearts grow closer to Jesus.
God cares more about what’s inside us than he does about what comes out of us.
So we need to work on our hearts by spending time with the Lord. Loving him more, praising him more, wanting to please him more.
What Jesus said should cause us to think before we speak, but it should especially cause us to ask him to take control of our hearts. That’s where the words, good or bad, come from.
Obey – audio
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Mark Twain famously quipped, “It ain’t those parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me; it is the parts that I do understand.”
I’m not sure exactly how he meant that, but in some ways I agree with him. There’s a lot about the Bible I don’t grasp, but I have plenty to do just to work on the parts I get.
Here is one of the parts I do understand: God wants us to do what he says.
You already knew that, of course, but it doesn’t hurt us to be reminded. It’s easy to get lulled into a sense of complacency and forget some of the basics.
James emphasizes this point here, and his in-your-face approach shows how serious he is about making himself clear:
“But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” (James 2:20-26).
It jumped out at me recently how often God tests people’s faith by telling them to do something that doesn’t make any sense at all.
In Abraham’s case, what God commanded him not only didn’t make sense, but it was also completely contrary to God’s nature. Did Abraham trust him enough to do something sinful? Did he believe in God strongly enough to offer a child sacrifice, a horrible practice he’d turned his back on when he began walking with God? Yes he did. By this point in his life he’d learned just to trust God . . . to do whatever he said.
And that’s a pretty good lesson for all of us – do whatever he says.
It’s not hard to do right when it’s relatively low sacrifice. It’s easy to follow Jesus when the road is smooth. But I think God is interested in something more substantial than that. He wants to know if our faith will lead us to do something more significant than attend church services, smile pretty, and act christianly.
I think he wants to know if we have real faith – genuine, life-changing, God-honoring trust.
He wants us to have the kind of faith that obeys even when what God said does not make sense to us. Even when it’s different from what we want to do. Even when it hurts. James’ major point in this section is that there’s no such thing as a faith that refuses obey. That’s a faith that’s dead, which is not faith at all.
Stains – audio
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We live in the world, and it’s hard to keep it from rubbing off on us.
Sometimes it’s tempting just to escape it, isn’t it? Moving to the proverbial deserted island or to a rural mountain in Tibet doesn’t sound bad at all. Some believers in church history tried that route, retreating to caves, deserts, or monasteries, but it rarely worked well. But tempting as it might be sometimes, God never called us to retreat from the world.
So here we are. We live and work and play in it, all the while seeing daily reminders that it’s a pretty messed-up place. Immorality, violence, deceit, corruption . . . it’s everywhere.
And in the middle of all that we hear commands like this one from James:
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world (James 1:27).
Keep yourself unstained from the world, he says.
In the world, but not of the world, as it’s sometimes put (cf. John 15:19). That’s fairly easy to say, but not so easy to practice. What do we do? Part of the answer is we’ve got to recognize what’s going on. We’ve got to see the world for what it is. We need to ask ourselves daily:
- Are there any significant differences between me and my non-Christian friends?
- How are my values different from the world’s?
- Am I becoming more like Jesus or more like the world?
The thing that makes it so tough is that the world stains us slowly, gradually, subtly.
Perhaps you’ve heard the anecdote about boiling a frog. Put it in boiling water, and it’ll jump out. Put it in cold water and gradually heat it up, and it’ll be cooked to death. I’m not sure if that’s true of frogs, but I’m pretty sure it’s true of us.
The world is all around us, and it affects us without our knowledge. We make small compromises, then at some point we’ve changed without even really knowing.
Let’s pray about this today.
- Ask the Lord to make you vigilant.
- Ask him to help you see the small changes the world is trying to make in your life.
- Ask him to work in you through his Spirit to transform you into what he wants you to be, instead of allowing the world to conform you to its image.
Let the Spirit have his way with you.
Abounding Love – audio
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Some things you just can’t have too much of:
- Ice cream.
- College football.
- Precious kisses from your baby son or daughter.
Of course Paul was not talking about any of those things in Philippians 1, though I doubt he would disagree with me.
Here’s what he says:
“And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1:9–11)
Our English translations struggle to communicate Paul’s emphatic language in this passage:
- “And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more . . .” (NRSV)
- “I pray that your love will keep on growing more and more . . .” (GNB)
- “That your love may abound more and more . . .” (ESV)
The verb “abound” itself is strong, meaning “to be present in abundance,” and the way Paul uses it here means “to keep on abounding”. But then he adds this phrase: “still more and more” (though most translations leave the “still” out).
He could’ve prayed that our love might abound, or that it might “abound more.” If he wanted to add a little more emphasis, he could have asked that it “abound more and more.”
But that wasn’t good enough, so he asked for their love to “abound still more and more.”
I think what he’s telling us is clear: you can’t have too much love.
- Ever felt like your spouse loved you too much?
- Have your kids ever loved you too much?
- Ever felt there was too much love in your life?
Probably not, and Paul says he prays that our love will just keep on growing.
If you’re married, he’s asking God to multiply your love for your spouse.
If you’ve got kids, he wants you to love them more every day.
And of course, ultimately, most importantly, he’s praying that we’ll abound in love for God as we mature in faith that we’ll be obsessively in love with Jesus, that we’ll love the Spirit of God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Paul is praying for something huge for you and me.
And it’s what I’m praying for you as we study together tonight, and what I hope you’re praying for me as well.
Let’s be ridiculously, extraordinarily, overwhelmingly in love with our God.
Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” (John 14:15)