3 John

1 The Elder,
To the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth:
2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. 3 For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
5 Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren and[b] for strangers, 6 who have borne witness of your love before the church. If you send them forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God, you will do well,7 because they went forth for His name’s sake, taking nothing from the Gentiles. 8 We therefore ought to receive[c] such, that we may become fellow workers for the truth.
9 I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us. 10 Therefore, if I come, I will call to mind his deeds which he does, prating against us with malicious words. And not content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren, and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church.
11 Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but[d] he who does evil has not seen God.
12 Demetrius has a good testimony from all, and from the truth itself. And we also bear witness, and you know that our testimony is true.
13 I had many things to write, but I do not wish to write to you with pen and ink; 14 but I hope to see you shortly, and we shall speak face to face.
Peace to you. Our friends greet you. Greet the friends by name.
3rd John wraps up these letters that GOD used John to give to those of his day and all of GOD's people down through the ages. These letters were meant to encourage the readers then and now.
A key word that shows up multiple times in this chapter is beloved. 4 times John calls Gaius beloved  as he gives words of encouragement to him. What is his message?
The testimony given to him of Gaius was that he was known by the brethren to be a faithful man, one who walks in truth. Gaius took care of the body of believers by him and for strangers. This witness was a shining light to those who saw his testimony.
After words of praise of Gaius' character, words of exhortation are given to remain faithful and to not be swayed by false teachings. John exposes Diotrephes and his desire for fame instead of loving GOD more than himself. He testifies against Diotrephes poor character and lack of love for others. Gaius is warned against imitating those who do evil.
Another name that comes up is Demetrius. Like Gaius, his testimony is pure, and he is someone looked up to by others in the body for the right reasons. He holds to the truth and does not believe lies or seek glory for himself.
John has many things to share with Gaius, but desires to do so face to face. Regular, personal fellowship should be a goal for all followers of Christ. We are not meant to walk through this life alone, in isolation from the body if there is any other option.

Key Thoughts

1. When we are faithful GOD is glorified, the body of Christ is edified, and others have a godly example of what kinds of evil we are to flee from.
2. We are to do good to all, both the body and strangers we do not know, for GOD is glorified in this.
3. GOD will use His servants to at times name names of those we are not to follow because they lead GOD's children astray. A person's doctrine can be examined and if it does not match GOD's Word, it is false and should not be followed.
4. We are not to follow those that speak lies. They will often speak words close to the truth, but there will be small differences that are harder to detect. Only by being in GOD's word regularly and getting to know Him will we be able to see clearly the truth from the lie.
5. Regular fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ is very important for our personal, spiritual growth. It's goal is to edify, encourage, and at times exhort us so that we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord.

2 John 1

Continuing on with this journey, we enter 2 John 1. This passage can be broken down into bite size pieces by looking at verses 1-3 as an Introduction, or Greeting, verses 4-6 as a command to walk in Christ, verses 7-11 as a charge to watch out for deceivers, or Anti-Christs, and finally, verses 12-13 as a farewell or conclusion. This letter is not very long, but it is filled with truths important to understand and practice in daily living.

The passage starts out with the words, "The Elder." The writer, believed to be John, was indeed up in age by the time this book was written, but that is not really the point of these two words. The elder here is focused, not on age, but on maturity. John was one who walked alongside Jesus. He was entrusted with Jesus' mother Mary when Jesus was laying down his life on the cross. John was an apostle of the church, one of the very first called by Jesus to follow Him. He was a strong elder in the early church and did his best to exhort and encourage the believers of his day to stand fast, remember our Hope, and turn away from evil and pursue good.

His greeting focuses on expressing a blessing toward those he is seeking to address in this letter. He reminds his readers of the truth of God which they had received and that this brings about a unique relationship for all believers. He then moves into rejoicing that some are walking in truth, but that others are not and he is pleading with them to remember who they belong to.

He goes on to warn them about false teachers, those anti-Christ. These people do not believe in Jesus, who He is, what He did and is doing, but instead they are using the church as a platform for deception and to confuse people and draw them away from the truth. These false teachers teach others not to abide in the doctrine of Christ. John tells his readers not to listen to them, receive them in their homes, or even to greet them, because to do so makes that person a contributor to their evil deeds. It reminds me that we are to be careful who are friends are because more often then not they drag us down with them instead of us dragging them up with us.

John's farewell shares that his desire is to come and see them for he has many more things to share with them. He desires their company and to see them face to face and share the joy we all have in Jesus.

Thought and Application Questions

1. As you get older, what will be your role in the body of Christ? John was the elder, respected, sought after, and known for edifying others. What needs to happen in your spiritual life so that others will see you as an Elder, one worth listening to and receiving instruction from?
2. When you talk to others do you take the time to express love and greet them with a blessing, or are you abrupt in your conversation so that others feel you are not interested or a bother?
3. When you are struggling with conversation with others, do you take the conversation back to the cross and that which you hold in common with others so that God will get the glory and those you are talking with are blessed even if you can think of nothing to share of yourself? Are you willing to let the conversation be about God?
4. What is your response when you see others of our spiritual family walking in sin? Do you overlook it because you are a sinner too? Are you willing for God to use you to help others leave that sin which so easily ensnares them so that they turn back to Jesus, the One who loves them best?
5. What false teachers are you listening to? Are you able to tell false teachers from true ones? What are the marks of a true teacher and a false one? Take some time to write out a list from scripture so you can tell the difference.
6. Do you earnestly desire to have fellowship with other believers? Do others see you as friendly and loving? If you think the answer might be no to either/or of these questions, take some time to pray through and study what it means to be part of God's family and to have fellowship with the body of Christ. We are not meant to live this life alone and lonely. We are meant to have fellowship with God and with our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

I John 5

As I wrap up I John by going through it's 21 verses, the first question I am confronted with is the last question I left with from 4, what do I believe about Jesus? Is He truly the Savior of the world? If the answer is yes, then I am told that I am a child of God. Why does this question keep coming up? What we believe about Jesus, who He is, what He did, and continues to do, is foundational to the whole reason why He had to come in the way He did.

When we get to verse 3 we see that loving God and keeping His commandments are tied together. In our fallen nature we know that following God, obeying Him, and loving Him are hard. We are told that in our flesh we do the the things we should not do, and do not want to do, but yet we still do it. Romans 7 makes it clear we have a war going on between our flesh and our spirit and sometimes the flesh wins. When this happens our call from our Lord is to repent. To call our sin as it really is, sin and to seek forgiveness and to turn away from it and toward Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith. This goes along well with verse 4 which talks about overcoming the world. In Christ we can overcome even when we fall. The important truth to remember is that we get back up again and do not quit, and do not turn back. By this we show the world that Jesus is real and that we would follow Him anywhere and everywhere even being subject to our own humbling to do it.

Moving forward to verse 6 gives us a beautiful picture of who Jesus is. He came by water and blood. What does this mean? All through scripture water is representative of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is who overshadowed Mary in order for her to conceive in the first place. The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove when He was baptized and The Father spoke from heaven. The Holy Spirit is who indwells followers of Christ and bears witness and speaks truth to us when we are prone to listen to lies from the enemy. He came by blood in a couple of ways. First He was born physically like all men and women are with the exception of Adam and Eve. This is doubly true since His earthly mother was a virgin. In addition to this he came as the Passover lamb. He poured out His blood as a sacrifice to redeem that which was lost. Like the Passover lamb in the Old Testament who had its blood shed to cover the doorways of the Hebrews in Egypt so that the angel of death would pass over them, He was a member of the family before being killed by those that were supposed to love and care for Him. This is what gave safety to us all.

Verses 7-8 talk about witnesses. Three witnesses are declared, which is important. In a court of law 2 witnesses who were in absolute agreement were necessary to be considered credible. In this instance 3 witnesses of impeccable character are given so that we can know that their witness is accurate. In addition to this one of those witnesses, The Spirit, lives in followers of Christ. That witness increases the witnesses of the truth exponentially and shows a far greater witness than the world has ever seen to the truth of Jesus and who He is. What is this witness for? To declare that Jesus is real, He is the Savior, the Son, and in Him is life. That life is eternal. Anyone who has not received Jesus does not have life.

Verse 14 moves us to prayer. In Christ, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, we can talk to our Father and ask in Jesus name and it will be given to us. This is not a prosperity message, but one that recognizes that we want what God wants and will ask according to His character, not our selfish desires. In this we can be confident that He both hears us and will answer.  In addition, this section of verses tells us how important it is to watch out for one another. We do this by not ignoring each other's sins. If we see a fellow brother or sister sinning, we are to go to them and talk to them, in love, about it with the desire to see them restored to the Lord. We also see here that there is a sin leading to death, but we are not told what that is.

Our final section of verses, 18-21, tells us to reject what is false because we know the truth. Once again we see a passage that has caused many believers to despair because of its seeming perfection. This isn't about being perfect after we have received Jesus. None but Jesus has been perfect, for the entirety of their lives, who has walked this earth. What we are to do is to confess our sins, repent, or turn away from those sins and turn back to Jesus and walk in His way. It is an unfortunate truth that most of us have to do this many times a day. The key is that we feel that conviction of sin when we do it and we want to be right with God. This is how we know that we belong to Him and not to the devil who is the enemy.

Thought Questions

1. When you sin, do you feel that sense that you have done something wrong and you need to go to the Lord and ask for forgiveness? Think about the last time you sinned. What went through your mind to do when it happened?
2. How much time in a week do you spend in the Word of God? Are you washing your heart and mind in the water of the word so that your mind is being renewed? If not, what do you need to do to correct this so that you are not stumbling more each day?
3. What kind of a witness do you say you are for Jesus? What does your life actually show about that witness? If there are things that are hindering you from being a true witness, what are they and are you willing to purge them from your life? Keep in mind these things will not be people like husbands and children. 
4. When you see family and friends around you doing something sinful, what is your response to it? Do you care enough to speak up in love and help them? How can you show your love by stepping up to the plate and helping them turn away from those things that are holding them back from pursuing a wonderful relationship with Jesus?
5. What false teaching are you listening to or trapped by that need to be sifted through and rejected? How can you know what is false and what is true? When you sin, do you feel that sense of conviction by it, or is your heart hard? 

I John 4

This passage starts out with a warning about listening to people who claim to be of Christ, but teach a different message from Him. God tells us through John to make sure we are testing the spirit of the person to make sure they really are of God and not trying to deceive us. Many people today claim to have a word from the Lord, but the word they are giving out is not from God because it does not measure up to God as He has revealed Himself to us in Scripture. The passage tells us one way we can know if the person speaking is really of God. "By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God."  Are there people who confess this truth and still teach wrongly and their word needs to be taken with great care? Yes. Many prosperity ministers will teach true elements of the gospel and yet the word they give relating to their area of sin is not in truth.

We are give a huge word of comfort in verse 4 when we see that He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world. Those who are not followers of Christ have a tendency to ignore key teachings of the gospel. Not walking in truth leads to a great deal of despair and hopelessness. We who are in Him can know we belong to Him. The passage goes on to talk again about love. God is love. If we say we hate someone, don't like them, etc... and then say we love God, we are lying. God is love and we cannot love God and hate others. God's greatest act of love was to send Jesus Christ to be our Savior. God took on human flesh, became part of His own creation and was willing to not only do that but suffer and die  because he became sin for us. His self-sacrifice serves as our example of how to love others, whether they deserve it or not.

Verse 12 talks about how love each other and abiding in Him are uniquely tied together. We have someone special in our lives who allows us to do what is otherwise impossible. Loving others is hard, and it actually goes against our human nature, which is to be pretty self-absorbed. We have the Holy Spirit, and therefore all we need to genuinely put away our hatred and antipathy toward others and to love them through Christ. Many people in our lives are hard to please, hard to deal with and just not a joy to interact with. Loving them is the highest form of loving God in many instances because it takes a supernatural measure of grace to bring it about.

The last topic I pull out of this passage is how perfect love casts out fear. I struggle with fear a lot. I do not have perfect love for my Savior. I love Him, but not as He deserves. Each day as I remember these words in this passage and think about what His love for me caused, and gives me I learn a little bit more to be less fearful and to walk by faith instead. It is an uphill battle that is worth the burn in my spirit to bring about the endurance to run the race before me. Really this passage, at its heart, is all about loving God by loving others and how this shows the world our genuine faith. After all, like I have pointed out already, loving others, especially those who don't deserve it, is hard, and takes God in order to really do it.

Thought Questions

1. Which ministers or programs do you listen to on a regular basis? What are they teaching? Are they teaching true to scripture or are there parts of the teaching you are listening to that are really not according to God's word?
2. When the words, "God is love," come to mind, what does that mean to you? Is it what the world is teaching about love, or what the Bible teaches about love?
3. Who do you say Jesus Christ is?
4. Is there anyone in your life now, or from the past that you do not love, and in fact hate, or dislike that you need to ask God to give you a new attitude about? Will you take that step today and start working on resolving this in your heart?
5. What are you fearful of? What steps can you start to take today to trust God and let go of the fear?

I John 3

Day 3

So many of the great hymns of the faith come right out of scripture. The hymn, "Behold What Manner of Love the Father Hath Given Unto Us," is an excellent example. Pardon the advertisement. The passage starts out with a huge blessing of telling us how blessed we are to be called God's children. John tells us that this is a way we can know that God, our Father in heaven, does indeed love us. I don't know about you, but for me that has a great deal of meaning. Sometimes my days are a struggle, and this passage provides a great deal of comfort.

As we move along in the passage we see something very interesting. This passage always sparks my imagination because it tells me we don't know what we will be yet, but that it will eventually be revealed to us. We do know that we will be like Him, Jesus, and that when He is revealed, what we shall be will be revealed too. This book was written after Pentacost, after the Holy Spirit came to live within us, so the passage isn't talking about this. It has a different meaning. It says we shall be like Him because we shall see Him as He really is. I cannot help but think of how Jesus is revealed to us in Revelation. John sees Him in all His glory, and John hadn't seen Him yet here in this book. John does not go back though to this book and make any kind of amendment saying, "see this is what I meant!" He lets is stand, because God has a purpose for it just as it is. It gets my heart and mind pondering deep things to read this passage. It causes me to be intrigued by God and His Word. I believe that is always a good thing. It draws me into His depths and gets me excited to know Him better.

Verses 4-9 sometimes make my heart quake. I sin every day. I don't want to sin, but I do in a variety of ways. Does this passage mean we can be perfectly obedient and that when I fail it somehow means that I am not really saved? I have  heard the cry of others asking this question. It does not mean this. This passage is about those that sin, don't care that they sin, profess the name of Christ while they don't care that they sin, and are truly lost. A child of God, even when we sin, still desires somewhere in us to turn away from that sin, to repent when we do sin and to turn back to our Lord and seek forgiveness.

Verses 10-15 talk about loving others. Loving family, friends, strangers, and that if our hearts are filled with hate, we don't love God because God is love and we cannot hate others and love God. Cain is used as an example of this. Once, many years ago, I hated my earthly dad. I really did. Along the way I received Christ and had an encounter with this passage. God opened my hardened heart up through a great deal of soul searching and pain and helped me first to love my dad with His love, and then over time with a genuine love of my own. Only God can transform hearts like that.

Verses 16-23 talk about how important it is not only to love others, but to do it in very practical ways. To show love for others. Don't pass a brother or sister by if you can help them. Prayerfully ask the Lord to direct you how you can help. If you have something you are not using and another has need of it, then be generous of heart and share it. This isn't talking about satisfying other's wants, but genuine needs.  We show the love of Christ in us when we let our love be real, genuine and practical.

Our final verse, 24, makes  it clear that we are to live by His commandments. When the world sees us doing this, they see the light of Him who we belong to in us and that, Him in  us, has the ability to make a difference in this dark world we rattle around in.

Thought Questions.

1. When you hear about God's love for you, is it real to you? Do you believe you are loved by Him? What needs to happen inside you to embrace the reality and truth of His love for you?
2. What gets you excited about reading and studying the Word of God for yourself?
3. When you sin, what is your response? Be really honest with yourself. Do you want to be like Jesus, or are you too content with the world? What needs to be stripped away in regard to personal sin so that Jesus is the One you yearn for?
4. Is there anyone in your life you hate? How about just dislike? Who do you need to ask the Lord to help you love with His love so that you are learning to put away the negative, painful emotions that are holding you back?
5. Who in your life needs you to practice that practical love toward them? What is God revealing to you about the steps to practice that love toward someone else? 

Be a light set on a hill. When you follow and obey our Lord, then others will see your love for Him and for them, and it will either plant a seed, water it, or cause God to reap the harvest in that person's life!

I John 2

29 verses that shares with the reader who Jesus is, what He did and does, how we can be sure we know Him, what our spiritual state is, an exhortation to love God more than the world, and a glimse of the end of days so that we need to let the truth of God abide in us.

As I read through this passage, I am reminded how wretched I am. We are given precious, truth-filled words full of hope so that we can reject the lies and sinfulness of this world. Still we sin. We choose the wrong things often. How wonderful it is to know that we do not walk alone through this life. Verse 1 tells us we have an Advocate, Jesus Christ who came to save us and sanctify us for Himself. He is propitiation, or atonement, for our sin.

So, we know He is the Savior, but how can we know that we know Him, really know Him? A test here in this passage shares that we can know that we know Him if we keep His commandments. Many people claim to know Him, but don't really. Does this mean we can keep His commandments perfectly? No. If we were able to do that we wouldn't need a Savior. We are lost in our trespasses and sins. We need a Savior because we were born dead in those sins. By God's grace, through Christ we can be re-born spiritually. In Christ we can do what was impossible before. We can keep His word, follow His commandments, believe in Him and in His truth, and walk through this life with our eyes fixed on Him. Apart from Christ that is not possible.

We are challenged in this passage to love our brother, to put away hatred. Many people claim God for their own, but have hatred in their hearts for others. It is not possible to hate others and love God. Why? God is Love and in His is no darkness at all. The world is filled with false Christ's. People who seek to deceive us. We are warned not to listen to them. We have been given the truth, God's Word to direct us, give us hope, and so that we cannot be deceived by liars and false prophets. Those who are the children of God will seek to abide in Him, and to look toward His appearing confidently because we belong to Him.

Go through this passage very carefully and answer the following Questions.

1. What do you believe about the Bible? Is it God's Word, or a good book with some great teachings?

2. Who causes you grief in your life that has caused you to hate them? Maybe there are people who haven't caused you grief, but you just don't like them. Who does God say they are to you? How important is it for you to learn to love them?

3. What is your spiritual state? What needs to happen so that your spiritual state reflects Chris?

4. In this last hour who do you follow in this life? Are there teachers that speak false words that keep you occupied with things of this world to your detriment? Who's teaching do you need to stir away from so that you cannot be deceived?

5. Do you look forward to His coming, or does it give you a sense of dread? If dread, what can help you to turn this around so that you are eagerly awaiting the return of the Lord?

I John 1

Reading the Bible is to get a glimpse into the heart, minds and lives of those who followed GOD, and those who did not. It is important for me to say the scripture declares itself God-breathed, coming directly from the heart and mind of GOD Himself. Those men who wrote down the words GOD wanted them to say said that this is exactly what they did, they wrote down what they were told to write down.

I John starts out with a declaration. What is going to be given to us, the readers, was seen by the one who wrote down these words given to him. He heard our Savior, touched our Savior, saw our Savior. John tells us that our Savior came into the world and that he and those with him are declaring that truth. Why? So that we, who came after, who haven't seen with our eyes or touched with our hands, can know that He is real, His Word is truth, and so that we can join in fellowship with those who came before us at Jesus' feet.

To hear this truth brings great joy for many.

This first chapter of I John tells us who Jesus is. He is the Word of Life, He is Truth, He is Real, He is Light, His blood cleanses from all sin, He is Faithful,

This passage tells us that if we deny Him, if we do not believe in these words, then the truth is not in us. It also tells us that if we declare that we have no sin in us, we are liars and the truth is not in us. Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost, He came, The Truth, to declare who He is, who we are, and how much we need Him.

Thought Questions

1. Who do you say Jesus is?
2. What do you believe about the Bible?
3. What or who is your source of Joy?
4. Looking through the names and character of Jesus from this first chapter, choose one to meditate on this week and look through the scriptures for that name to get to know Him better.
5. What sin are you struggling with that you need Jesus to give you freedom from?
6. John declares the Word of the Lord to those who will listen. Who can you share Jesus with this week to encourage or help them walk in the truth?
7. Look ahead today and read I John Chapter 2.