A Love for the Lost

God’s Amazing Love Series Fifth of five reflections on the love of God Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’” —Luke 15:3-6 NIV We’ve spent over a month celebrating God’s deep love for us. Yet, a question still remains. What if I walk away from that love by my own choice? What if I reject that love because I’m angry […] Read more »

February 21. 1 John 4:1-6

February 21. 1 John 4:1-6 A blessed Lord's Day to you! Be sure to watch for a video posted later on today, introducing our last and final week of our study. It's been a FULL month as we've looked at John's life and gospel and letters. We'll end in the book of Revelation, a very fitting place to finish! Today, however, we are introduced to the false prophets more specifically. John wants us to be aware that not everyone who attends church and says they are a believer speaks truth. In fact, if someone walks among us and does not honor Jesus as God come in flesh, crucified and risen again, they are "anti" Christ! The core belief of Christ followers is of course associated […] Read more »

Week Four Readings

And ... here are the readings for our last week together starting on Monday, February 22nd. Looking forward to finishing the study with a look at Revelation. <3 May God bless you as you read!   Read more »

February 20. 1 John 3:11-24

February 20. 1 John 3:11-24 Happy Saturday! Today, we continue with John's firm words on how a Christian ought to live. I think the key verse of this section would be 1 John 3:18. "Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth." John does not want church attenders to pay lip service to belief but show no evidence of that belief in their lives. We need to walk the walk, don't we? He is very clear that there ought to be no hatred toward another in the heart of a Christian. Have you ever been there, though? So wounded and so betrayed that hate and bitterness started to fester in your heart? Be encouraged by John's words, not […] Read more »

February 19. 1 John 3:1-10

February 19. 1 John 3:1-10 Hello dear friend and happy Friday! I hope your time in the Word this past week has been rich. Remember, as you head into the weekend, to make a plan so that you don't miss your time with the Lord! We are now in the heart of this letter to the churches that John wrote. I love reading the verses that deal with the honor we have to be God's children. Let's talk about that first. The NIV translation of 1 John 3:1a reads, "See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! ..." That word, "lavish" is such a rich word, isn't it? Lavish calls up […] Read more »

February 18. 1 John 2:15-29

February 18. 1 John 2:15-29 John is now in the middle of his letter and full of warnings against temptations to stray and encouragements to listen to the Holy Spirit who lives within these believers. He wants so much for them to stay in close connection with the Lord. He knows the many temptations out there from within the church and without. Let's look at both, because both still exist today and we all need to be aware of them, too. The world can tempt us away from our first love, Who is Jesus. John lists three specific ways. First, we can choose to elevate what "feels good" temporarily over what IS good. That applies to SO many things, doesn't it? It can be as […] Read more »

February 17. 1 John 2:1-14

February 17. 1 John 2:1-14 Dear fellow students of the Word,  how thankful I am for you! Thanks for daily getting up and making the time to meet with God "with me" as I do the same! Thanks for caring enough to not just rush through it, but find a verse and talk to God in your response to it. Thanks for wanting to walk in the light. It's so nice to not be alone. Speaking of "dear" did you notice how John starts out calling his fellow Christians dear children? What a sweet thing to say. He's the older statesman now, and the majority of the people receiving this letter are younger than him in age and younger than him in spiritual years as […] Read more »

February 16. 1 John 1:5-10

February 16. 1 John 1:5-10 John is back to his light and darkness theme in this portion of Chapter 1. Sounds to me like he had some people out there in the churches who were declaring that they never sinned. He wants to make it very clear to us that all of us have sinned. Every. Single. One of us. To willfully declare we are perfect and therefore not in need of God's saving forgiveness is to be in the darkness. It's one of the things about dark and light, isn't it? The darker it is, the less detail we notice. The lighter it is, the more is revealed. The closer we step toward Jesus, Light of the world, the more clearly we see how […] Read more »