John 1:1-18 ~ No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.

Sun, drawn by Alexander Gardere http://www.alexandergardere.com/ These are my son's High School art projects

John 1:1-18

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴ In him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

⁶ There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. ⁸ He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

⁹ The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. ¹¹ He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. ¹² But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, ¹³ who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. ¹⁵ ( John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) ¹⁶ For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.

John 1 is my favorite Scripture verse. It came alive to me one spring day sitting in a Bible Study in St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, where we attended for 35 years. It was read out loud and it was a definite "God" moment. As it was read, sunlight poured into the windows. Not one single person in the room sat with dry eyes. Wonder of God.

I read this from Ray Stedman and it is wonderful.


There are two of Jesus' disciples whom I would particularly like to have known in the days of their earthly life. One is Peter, and the other is John. I like these two men. I am especially impressed by the change that fellowship with the Lord Jesus produced in their lives. This is what intrigues me about these two.

Peter, as you know, was erratic, impulsive, brash. As someone has well said, "Whenever Peter enters a scene, it's always with a thud." He seems to have a gift for putting his foot in his mouth -- he suffered from hoof-in-mouth disease. Yet the Lord made him a steady, stable, dependable rock, as his name implies. He became a rallying point, a gathering point for the Christians in the days of the persecutions which broke out in the first century. It was only because he was with the Lord, and knew the Lord. Most of the change took place after the Lord's death and resurrection, however, so we do not need to feel that it was the personal presence of Jesus that changed these men. He changed them after he died and rose again, just as he can change us.

John was the other one who was dramatically changed by our Lord. He was a young man, the youngest of all the disciples. In fact, many scholars feel that he was a teenager when he first started to follow the Lord. Perhaps he was seventeen or eighteen years of age. Along with his brother, James, he was a hot-headed young man, given to sharp and impulsive utterances with a tendency toward blowing off steam. He was probably a loudmouth, because Jesus nicknamed him Son of Thunder. That was our Lord's gentle way of labeling John's problem. He just kept the thunder rolling all the time. So our Lord called both James and John Sons of Thunder.

But John became the apostle of love. He was noted for his gentleness and his graciousness and his goodness. He was called "The Virgin." As far as we know, he never married. There is no record that he ever did. But he was called "virgin" primarily because of the purity of his life. He became a man who was characterized by such an outstanding devotion and love for the Lord Jesus, that all his life he was singled out as the apostle of love.

Now it is this John who writes these letters to us. You may know that this first letter of John is possibly the last of the New Testament to be written. It may well have been written after the Gospel of John. It is perhaps, therefore, the last word we have from the apostles. It undoubtedly comes from near the close of the first century, perhaps even the year 100 A.D., as some scholars tell us. It was written from the city of Ephesus, where John spent the latter years of his life.

It was possibly written to the Christians in this city of Ephesus, who were facing -- as we are -- dangers and difficulties of living in a godless, pagan world, given over to the worship of sex and to licentious practices, lovers of human wisdom (as all these Greek cities were) and especially desirous of exalting man and his abilities. Now that sounds very much like our modern western world, doesn't it? First John was written to people in this kind of situation then, and therefore it has a lot to say to us.

In one of the commentaries of First John, the author says, "The Epistle of First John defies outlining." For many years, I would have agreed with that statement. I thought John was kind of a rambler. He just wrote on and changed the subject frequently. It did not look as if there was any rhyme or reason to his letter. But as I preached through a series of thirty-five messages on this letter, I began to see its makeup.

John is concerned about one thing, primarily, and that is authentic Christianity! I suppose that even as early as the close of the first century, some of the dullness and deadness and drabness with which Christianity has sometimes been plagued, had begun to appear. The freshness, the vitality, the newness, the excitement, the drama of the Christian faith had begun to lose its glow and its glamor.

John, therefore, is led of God to call people back to the vital things, the things that make for real life. So he is concerned about an authentic Christian manifestation, and authentic Christianity is always made up of the same three elements. The body of this letter of First John is an emphasis upon the three essential things that make Christianity genuinely Christian. They are truth, righteousness, and love. Those three, held in perfect balance, are a sign of genuine Christianity. These become, therefore, the marks that John emphasizes as proof to anyone that he or she is a Christian. The letter gives us a wonderful measuring stick whereby we can test our own lives. How are we doing? Do we fulfill the qualifications? Do we manifest truth, righteousness and love? There is a prelude that I will discuss in a minute, but beginning at verse eighteen of chapter two, and carrying on through chapter four, verse twenty-one, you have his emphasis on these three things: truth, righteousness and love.

But before he begins that, he gives us a prelude, which is really the key to the way truth, righteousness and love can be made manifest in your life. There is a relationship that is necessary. That relationship John terms fellowship with Christ -- oneness with him, an identification of your life with Jesus Christ. Now if you do not have that, you cannot produce righteousness, truth and love. It is impossible.

Someone has said that it is possible to search through all the writings of Socrates, Aristotle, Plato, Confucius and Buddha, and other great world leaders of moral and ethical thought, to find everything that is written in the New Testament that exhorts man as to what to do. In other words, if all you need is good advice, you do not need the Bible. You can get plenty of good advice from these other religions. But one thing these other leaders do not give you is the how. How! That is what John is talking about.

How do you follow this good advice? You know the Golden Rule is not found only in the New Testament. You find an expression of the Golden Rule, is always in a negative form, in other religions. Do not do to others as you do not want them to do to you. Ah, but in Christ you find the secret of how! It is by unity with him -- union with him; fellowship with the Lord Jesus; he dwelling in you and you dwelling in him. That is what John begins to talk about.

He says from the very beginning that he has a personal experience of this. "I saw him," he says. "I felt him. I heard him. I touched him. He was a real person; there was nothing phony or sham about him. In the fellowship of his life, I found it possible to begin to love, to walk in truth, in obedient righteousness with God," (1 John 1:1-2). That is the heart and key to this letter, as he begins with this note of fellowship with Jesus Christ.

You will notice that all through this letter he emphasizes the fact that Jesus appeared in history. That is the first theme he talks about under the heading of truth. The truth about Jesus is that he is God and man. He is both -- the eternal God, linked with all the great revelations of the Old Testament that mark out the being and character of God -- and he is man; having come in the flesh, he lived among us, was a man, suffered as a man, died as a man. All this, so that we might share his life -- his divine nature. Now this was opposed to a philosophy that was very current in John's day. It was what we call "gnosticism." The nearest thing to it today is Christian Science, which is almost pure gnosticism. Gnosticism taught that matter is evil and spirit is good. Therefore, the spirit of man is imprisoned in an evil body. The purpose of this life is to teach us how to somehow rise above the evil of our body and release the spirit from the evil, material body, thus achieving nirvana, or heaven, or whatever you want to call it.

Now you will notice that that is still very commonly accepted in many places. It is against that idea that John writes and says, "Now don't follow that," because Jesus has come in truth. The truth about Jesus is that he came as God -- became man -- and anybody who does not say that about Jesus Christ is a liar.

The problem was that there were many people back in those days who were wonderful. They gave the appearance of being suave and gentle and thoughtful and courteous. They were not out to destroy Christianity; they were out to improve upon it. So they just dropped out, de-emphasized some of the things that the New Testament says about Jesus and emphasized others that agreed with what they wanted to teach. Thus, they attempted to make Christianity intellectually respectable.

This process is still going on today. But John says that if you give way to this, if you succumb to this kind of delusion, you will find that you have been tricked and end up not a Christian at all. You will be following a lie and become a victim of a sham and a delusion. The results of that are terrible.

In the second section, the apostle emphasized righteousness. Christianity is not just signing the doctrine or creed. It is not just writing your name under a statement of belief -- "We believe in God the Father Almighty, and in Jesus Christ his Son, our Lord who suffered under Pontius Pilate and was crucified, dead and buried and on the third day..." and so on. It is not that. It is more than truth. It is also righteousness. It means that your behavior changes. The emphasis of John, as with all the writers of the New Testament, is this: "Look," he says, "if you really have Jesus Christ living in you, you can't be the same person. You cannot go on living in sin, doing wrong things, lying and stealing, living in sexual immorality. You cannot do it."

You see, these Gnostics were saying, "Look, if spirit is good and matter is evil and our bodies are matter, then the only thing that counts is the spirit. What you do with your body doesn't make any difference. So if you want to indulge the lusts of it, go ahead. It won't affect your spiritual standing with God." As a result they were turning (as Jude puts it) the grace of God into licentiousness. People were being taught, Christians were being taught, that they could practice all the immorality of their day, and God would still treat them exactly the same. It would not change their relationship one whit. But John says,

No one born of God commit sin; for God's nature abides in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. (1 John 3:9 RSV)

The two are incompatible. You cannot have the Holy Spirit living in you and live an unholy life. If you live the unholy life and profess to be a Christian, you are a liar, says John. He is very blunt about it.

Yet, there is still a third thing. It is easy for Christians to say today, "Well, yes, this is true. We've got to teach the truth, obey the truth, and believe the truth about Christ. And of course, we've got to stop doing the things the world is doing." That is as far as they go. Have you heard Christians get up and testify along this line? They say, "I used to smoke and drink and dance and go to the movies and play cards and gamble and all these terrible things. But I don't do any of them any more. I believe in the Lord. I've stopped all these things." They leave the impression that it ought to make everyone become a Christian, to see such a tremendous change.

But what you discover, soon enough, is that people are not a bit impressed by what you have stopped doing. Not the least bit. Why, worldlings can stop doing these things if they have a good reason. And they do it. If that is the basis of your Christian testimony, you have got nothing more to say than they do. No, the world is not a bit impressed by stopping something.

What does impress them is seeing you do something they cannot do. That is Love. That is why John says that the third mark of a genuine Christian is that he begins to love -- not those that love him (anybody can do that, is Jesus' remark) -- but beginning to love those who do not love you; to treat kindly those who mistreat you; to return good for evil and to pray for those who spitefully use you; to welcome and treat kindly those who are against you and are trying to hurt you. This is the mark, isn't it? You no longer treat those who have needs around you with callous indifference, but you respond to them and do not shut them out of your life. John says, "If a man comes to your door and says, 'I'm hungry, and I don't have anything to wear,' and you have what he needs, and you say to him, 'Well, that's all right brother. We'll pray for you. Go away and be filled and be warmed,' it is ridiculous to say that the love of God dwells in you. It is absurd. How can you say that? If you do not love your brother whom you can see, how can you say that you love God whom you don't see?" (1 John 4:20). See how practical he gets in these matters?

So he emphasized that fellowship with the Lord Jesus, a oneness, a day-by-day walk with him, opening your heart to his word, letting his light shine upon you -- thus letting yourself be changed by the power of Christ -- will result in truth about Jesus righteousness in your personal behavior and love toward your brothers, your fellow members of the human race, as well as those fellow members of the church of God.

Then the final result, and the closing note of the letter, is assurance. You know things with a knowledge that is unshakable, which nobody can shatter, and no rational arguments will disturb. You know that what God has told you is true. You know that what he has revealed about the world is true. You have a continually growing certainty that underlies your life. As we read in John's closing note:

We know that one born of God does not sin, but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. (1 John 5:18 RSV)

That is righteousness. We know, he says, that we are of God, the very nature and being of God -- the God who is love -- and that the whole world is in the power of the evil one. That is why they cannot love. They talk about it and they want it. They search for it, but they cannot find it -- because God is love. We know that we are of God, he says,

And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, to know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. (1 John 5:20 RSV)

What a declaration that is, in an age when everybody is telling us that you cannot know anything for sure, that nobody knows anything for certain. John says that we do. We know. We have been given an understanding.

Here is his final word and it is such an important one. One that I think ought to ring in our ears every day:

Little children, keep yourselves from idols. (1 John. 5:21)

Why? Well, because the first and great commandment is, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind," (Matthew 22:37b). That is the chief end of man. And idolatry is loving something else as God. What is an idol? It is a substitute God. Your God is what you get excited about. What you save your money for. What you spend it on. That is your God. What is important to you, that is your God.

Little children -- you who have found the true God -- keep yourselves from these secondary idols, these substitute gods that demand your attention. Give yourself, alone, to the One who can fulfill in you ail your heart's desires. It is a great word, isn't it? The word that will lead us safely through all the difficulties along our path.

Prayer:

Our Father, you know the many idols that loom before us each day -- the god of pleasure, the god of selfishness, the god, Narcissus, who makes us love ourselves, admire ourselves, look to ourselves; the god of love, Venus -- how we follow her, Lord, and exalt her when we should not; the god, Bacchus, who makes us revel in pleasure as if that were the chief end in life, as if fun were the reason for living. Lord, deliver us from these gods, these false gods that will rob us of our faith, of our love for humanity. Make us fall more truly in love with the Lord Jesus who alone is the only true God, who has come to give us an understanding of ourselves and the world around us, and has come to teach us righteousness and how to love with a heart that is self-giving instead of self-serving. These things we ask, Lord, in this twentieth-century hour, knowing that we are exposed to the same dangers that they were in the first century, and so desperately needing your power. We ask it in Jesus' name, Amen.


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Psalm 50 ~ my faithful ones

Psalm 50:1-6

David Cochran Audio, English Standard Version

A Psalm of Asaph.

The Mighty One, God the Lord,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
² Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God shines forth.

³ Our God comes; he does not keep silence;^{[May our God come and not keep silence]}
before him is a devouring fire,
around him a mighty tempest.
⁴ He calls to the heavens above
and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
⁵ “Gather to me my faithful ones,
who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”
⁶ The heavens declare his righteousness,
for God himself is judge! Selah

The thing about being God - He can use whatever means of communication He wants. I've never been one privileged to audibly hear God. A woman in my Bible Study says she feels her stomach let her know a conviction of God is upon her and it motivates her to do more of what He wants.

I read the Scriptures and feel I've had a letter from God. As I've said before, mostly what I 'hear' is uplifting - and He corrects me. Occasionally I read about the enemies of Israel and realize - oh... um... that's me. Sometimes I am the wronged person and have to give it to the LORD and realize - well, it's not much I can do about it, try not to be bitter (- said lightly, but this can be a struggle). Sometimes Scriptures bring the realization to begin thinking about how to make a plan to communicate better. I am especially good at bringing a brick and bat to a feather boa - needed commentary. Occasionally I read about the enemies of God and realize I am doing wrong in bad attitudes. And He loves me. Who would ever want - to not - be part of that? - The Scriptures bring me all of this on a daily basis. The God of Love.

I know a dear woman I love and have struggles with in communication. And she sat on her back porch one day and said to the LORD - "I have served You. I have loved You. I have fed Your people. I have been a good woman - why am I about to be divorced and loose all of what I have wanted and worked for?" With all her heart she cried out to the LORD. And she heard the answer. Word for word. And she repeated what she heard to a few people she trusted. Later we realized it was Psalm 50.

This is a woman who has had some fierce struggles in life. But I can tell you, she is like all the people in the Bible - she has been victorious, she has been wrong, she has been wronged, she has been self-serving, she has been hard-working. For all of the troubles, our Father God is still here for her.

Bigger than all of us. Better than all. Over all. In all situations - God. God is for us.

Matthew 7:7
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

1 John 5:14
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

John 14:13
And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.


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Luke 18:9-14 ~ went up into the Temple to pray

Tim Hawkins - Things You Don't Say to Your Wife. Hahahahhahahahahhahahahahhahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahahahahah

Luke 18:9-14

David Cochran Audio, English Standard Version

⁹ He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: ¹⁰ “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed ^{[standing, prayed to himself]} thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’

¹³ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ ¹⁴ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

We are all on a journey. Some days we do well, other times - not so well. Saved only by grace. The Lord lifts our head.

The two statements could be the two men.

Job 21:25
Another man dies in bitterness of soul, never having enjoyed anything good.

Proverbs 14:10
The heart knows its own bitterness, and no stranger shares its joy.

Gratitude and looking for the blessing make light shine on the path ahead. Without gratitude, empathy and humor - life will eat your lunch - and never thank you for it.

Hebrews 12:15
See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;

Psalm 50:23
The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;
to one who orders his way rightly
I will show the salvation of God!”


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Mark 8:27-33 ~ the Son of Man

Jesus teaching, painted by James Tissot

Mark 8:27-33

David Cochran Audio, English Standard Version

²⁷ And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” ²⁸ And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” ²⁹ And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” ³⁰ And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

³¹ And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. ³² And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ³³ But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Suffering. No one's favorite thing. Difficult things happen in life. A godly woman I know got breast cancer and her teenage daughter, a big youth group goer, really had a difficult time reconciling cancer and suffering to our God of Love. My teenage son said to me when baby Isabelle died, "Didn't God know we all four would have loved her and we would have taken care of her????" He was so hurt, I had to follow him through the house asking him a hundred questions & he just shook his head, before he could put his finger on what was causing him to be mute and suffer. My husband almost always has to comment to me something when our Minister says 'God has no coincidences'. It still causes pain today - off and on. I hate the misty eyed-ness of fleeting remembrances. Loathe lingering self-pity and public displays of weakness when it sweeps over.

You have to love Peter for wanting Jesus to stick around hail and hearty. Who wants to see anyone they care for suffer?

Isaiah 55:8
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.

We wonder why. We just aren't really supposed to know all of God's plans. Just as people get together in conversations and we enjoy each other and rub each the wrong way - we are entwined in God's plan like spaghetti. So do Father God's plans for all of us live and move and have our being with Him.

Life isn't heaven. But we had Truth and Grace choose us. God could have deleted us like the video game of the Sims - He thought we should be loved instead. He chose us for eternity. We are loved, precious, special and important to Him. Jesus chose to be For us. Even if it involved work and struggle and effort.

Suffering -... it isn't just for mortals. Something to remember. Just as we wonder and worry for our own children, whatever their age - God is for us. Children of God.


Psalm 68:19
Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation. Selah

1 Peter 5:7
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Psalm 37:24
Though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand.



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John 4:46-54 ~ Jesus had said to him

John 4:46-54

So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. ⁴⁷ When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. ⁴⁸ So Jesus said to him, “Unless you ^[plural] see signs and wonders you will not believe.” ⁴⁹ The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” ⁵⁰ Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.

⁵¹ As he was going down, his servants ^{[bondservants]} met him and told him that his son was recovering. ⁵² So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” ⁵³ The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household. ⁵⁴ This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.

So many times in the Bible Study I am studying, in our ladies group, "Anointed, Transformed, Redeemed" (Priscilla Shirer, Beth Moore, Kay Arthur) - David records asking the Lord what he should do. What is striking about David is, he does what the LORD says he should do. Because, more importantly, David believed God and acted in faith.

Galatians 3:6
just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”

Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Matthew 9:28
When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.”

Mark 5:30
And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?”

Mark 9:23
All things are possible to him who believes


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Matthew 27:27-50 ~ a man of Cyrene, Simon by name.

The Scala Sancta (Holy Stairsa) are the 28 steps leading up to the Praetorium of Pontius Pilate, Antonia Fortress, in Jerusalem, where Jesus Christ stood during path to the Cross. The stairs were, reputedly, brought to Rome by St. Helena in the 4th Century. This is one relic I can see being actual stairs Jesus stood upon. For centuries these white marble steps, Scala Santa, have attracted Christian pilgrims honoring the Passion of Jesus. Martin Luther had the opposite reaction and shortly left the Church over climbing the Scala Sancta on his knees (required to go up the stairs) and the indulgences for forgiveness at the time, also required, in the Church.


Matthew 27:27-50

David Cochran Audio, English Standard Version

27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters, ^[praetorium] and they gathered the whole battalion before him. ²⁸ And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, ²⁹ and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” ³⁰ And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. ³¹ And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.

32 As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. ³³ And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull),

³⁴ they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. ³⁵ And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. ³⁶ Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. ³⁷ And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” ³⁸ Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. ³⁹ And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”

⁴¹ So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, ⁴² “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. ⁴³ He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” ⁴⁴ And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.

⁴⁵ Now from the sixth hour ^[noon] there was darkness over all the land ^[earth] until the ninth hour. ⁴⁶ And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” ⁴⁷ And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” ⁴⁸ And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. ⁴⁹ But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” ⁵⁰ And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.

(Yes, yes, yes we all realize this outcropping of rock has changed shape over 2,000 years, but it is overlooking the city - a Biblical requirement and, come on, if this is indeed the place God's Son died for us - it is going to have some preservation aspect to it.)


When you listen to a Sermon on the Prodigal Son or you do a Bible Study - people will frequently say that they are the judgmental older brother or they realize they are the younger son. And in that idea of placing ourselves in the middle of the Gospel (the days Jesus choose to walk among us as grace upon grace) where would you have been the day of the crucifixion? Where you there when the Crucified my LORD.

Remember Luke 23:27
And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him.

There were a lot of people there that day. It's an important fact to remember.

When I think of that day, I'm pretty sure I would have been one of the thousands of women who turned up that day. Would anyone have left untouched?

Peter, who had much to lose - did not turn up. Not even Thomas, who'd promised to go with Jesus right up to death right Before Lazarus was raised. But another Simon was there. Matthew 27:32; Mark 15:21 & Luke 23:26. Simon gets three mentions in the Scriptures.


Mark 15:21
And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.

The thing that touches me is this -

Romans 16:13
Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too.

That day the Son of God continued to Love. To provide for us atonement of our sins. Because of that day, we are victorious over death in the name and grace of Jesus Christ. We should be touched by that love and do as Jesus asked us to do.


John 13:34
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

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1 Timothy 1:1-17 ~ to the ages of ages. Amen.

Jesus was going to Heaven to see Joseph, too. It was God's Plan Joseph was not on earth during the ministry of Jesus. Kindness to Joseph. Turbulent.

1 Timothy 1:1-17

¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,

² To Timothy, my true child in the faith:

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

³ As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, ⁴ nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship ^{[good order]} from God that is by faith. ⁵ The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. ⁶ Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, ⁷ desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.

⁸ Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, ⁹ understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, ¹⁰ the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers,liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound ^[healthy] doctrine, ¹¹ in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.

Jesus Christ Came to Save Sinners !!!!!

¹² I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, ¹³ though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, ¹⁴ and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. ¹⁶ But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. ¹⁷ To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever ^{[to the ages of ages]} Amen. 

 

Bibles should come with a like button. FB needs a Meh button. This particular passage is especially cheering after returning from a regular check-up doctors visit. And better yet when it is heard orally. I was coaxed into reading the Scriptures each day at the age of 16. The words and idea - God writing me a letter poured into me. So, I've read the Bible each day. And I have to say, I find it uplifting almost always. Except for the those days when I'm learning I have to improve. But even that is uplifting when done in love. There isn't a loving parent in the world who doesn't lovingly correct a child. John Birch, Open to God, The Methodist Church in Britain. wrote such a beautiful commentary on 1 Timothy 1:1-17 - I'm going to have to borrow it:

This week's theme: The Pastoral Heart

 

Monday 13th February 2012

1 Timothy 1:1-17

"The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the foremost. But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example of those who would believe in him for eternal life." (vv. 15-16)

Background

Paul knew where he had come from. Here was the arch-enemy of the Church, transformed into arguably its most influential voice and evangelist. He remembered well the cruelty he had shown to Christians he pursued with such vigour. It's difficult to overestimate the brutality of Saul (as he was then), as by his own admission he was a very violent man (verse 13). After his Damascus road experience everything changed (Acts 9). Interestingly it is the patience of Jesus that Paul was so thankful for. Despite the damage he had done to the fledgling Church, Jesus had a plan for his Paul's life which he had to pinch himself at times to comprehend. Paul saw his experience as an example of how great was God's patience and grace. He offered up his life as an example of a pattern that others might see in their own lives. If someone like Paul could be loved and used by God then there was hope for all of humankind! Paul didn't claim to have chosen Christ. It was Christ who chose him at the point he was throwing his life away, and he was forever thankful that Christ not only chose him, but trusted and appointed him to be his ambassador (verse 12). There is much within this passage which speaks of the value of all human beings. The early Christians were wary of Paul when he came to them not as a persecutor, but as servant and teacher (Acts 9:21). It was the presence and power of God's Spirit in his life, and the love he showed that convinced them he was on their side! This is a timely reminder not to write anyone off as being beyond redemption, and also not to underestimate the grace and power of God to transform a life that is lost, into a life of service.

To Ponder

a) How often do you give thanks for the work of grace that God has done in your life and that of your Christian friends?

b) Have you ever written someone off as 'beyond redemption'? Is so, what does Paul's story say to you?

c) God calls all kinds of people to a life of service or ministry. Have you ever considered the possibility that he might be calling you? And what might that be?

 

 

 

I love John Newton's (Amazing Grace) paraphrased saying - “I am not the man I ought to be, I am not the man I wish to be, and I am not the man I hope to be, but by the grace of God, I am not the man I used to be.” 

 

Today I am grateful for this Timothy letter.... it was written for me. And for you. I've loved the Timothy letters for so long, we had a great cat we called T.C. - Timothy Cat. Amazing love. This unconditional love is what God gives us. In Abundance. 

 

Read the letter again, you are God's Timothy.   <><

Mark 1:40-45 ~ clean

Mark 1:40-45

English Standard Version, David Cochran Audio

And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” ⁴¹ Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” ⁴² And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. ⁴³ And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, ⁴⁴ and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” ⁴⁵ But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.

People who are not acquainted with the Scriptures don't have any desire to be. What would ever draw them to Scripture? Jesus is a leper to them. No slice of 'Christianity' on my plate today, please.

Test yourself. Where is your faith going.

I've heard people say the Scriptures were written by the 'man' to control the masses. " Jesus visited the lepers because the leper union wanted compensation" - so they wrote that part in.

And yet.... the Scriptures give real insight.

Mark 8:22-26
²² And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. ²³ And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” ²⁴ And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” ²⁵ Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. ²⁶ And he sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.”

When a blind man is healed, it would take the brain a while to understand the images the eyes see - Are you incredulous the Scriptures would know this?

The Church, using human hands, human faults tries to do the work of Jesus. For 2,000 years the Church has made mistakes but gets back up and tries again. We all play a different part each day. Some days we are the leper - needy. Some days we are Jesus - the healer, the needed hand to touch and comfort. Some days, sadly, sadly, sadly - we live in a world where Jesus is the leper.



Faith is a gift. But Faith is fruit. It requires some tending. Just as it isn't good to put an elderly parent in a corner and say, "Be well." Life is busy. Especially for the family with 2 careers - where the candle goes at both ends. I remember a long-ago college friend named Suzanne - she wanted so much to attend Church - but it was overwhelming for her. Who are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John???

The message to the Christian is be like Jesus. We cannot possibly know what goes on with others. We can only make an uniformed guess. Jesus didn't ask the leper if he picked it up at a bar - He reached out to help. He didn't ask the leper to be anything but Glad of Salvation. He cleansed the leper because He Loved him. Just that way, warts and all.

John 8:15
You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.

The message to the borderline is this - do not even enter the village. What? If your Sundays are so busy you can't get to Church - then sit and rest. If you have the energy to clean the house, shop and make the day pleasant - you are not treating Jesus with anything but leprosy. Your grandchildren are going to be telling you at Christmas that they don't believe in that angel business. Do the work of Faith. Feed your soul and feed those around you - for eternity. Commandment #8 was arrived at with work and determination. For you.

The message to the people further out on the border is this - if you do have some eyes of faith and you see the truth in Jesus healing in Mark 8 - knock the sleep out of your eyes. Tend the faith.

Philippians 1:6
And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

Hebrews 3:5
Scripture says, "If you hear God speak today, don't be stubborn. Don't be stubborn like those who rebelled."

Joshua 24:15
And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

Honor Commandment #8.


Here was our Sermon, at HopePointe - Rev. Clark Lowenfield, on 1 John 5.

All Sermons on 1 John, Walking in the Light.



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Psalm 90 ~ we bring our years to an end like a sigh.

Rainy rice fields. Taken from the Church of the Holy Spirit website - Vientiane, Laos: an international group of believers and seekers from many different backgrounds, sharing together the Good News of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Communion services customarily follow a liturgy drawn from the Anglican Church for an international congregation from a range of backgrounds and traditions.

Our Church, HopePointe, was a pioneer Church - without a permanent building - and called Church of the Holy Spirit, also Anglican. The photo actually took me to this website.

Psalm 90

¹ Lord, you have been our dwelling place^{[our refuge]}
in all generations.
² Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

³ You return man to dust
and say, “Return, O children of man!”
⁴ For a thousand years in your sight
are but as yesterday when it is past,
or as a watch in the night.

⁵ You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream,
like grass that is renewed in the morning:
⁶ in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
in the evening it fades and withers.

⁷ For we are brought to an end by your anger;
by your wrath we are dismayed.
⁸ You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your presence.

⁹ For all our days pass away under your wrath;
we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
¹⁰ The years of our life are seventy,
or even by reason of strength eighty;
yet their span^{[ pride]} is but toil and trouble;
they are soon gone, and we fly away.
¹¹ Who considers the power of your anger,
and your wrath according to the fear of you?

¹² So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
¹³ Return, O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
¹⁴ Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
¹⁵ Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
and for as many years as we have seen evil.
¹⁶ Let your work be shown to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children.
¹⁷ Let the favor^[beauty] of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish the work of our hands upon us;
yes, establish the work of our hands!

A cousin-in-law of mine has passed away in the Lord. She was in her 7os and experienced cancer, passing away quickly. We did not know each other well, Susan lived in Washington Parish, Louisiana and was the town's librarian. We shared two decades ago, what it was like to struggle with a mortally ill infant. It was the type of loss that brings understanding to a conversation.

One very rainy and beautiful weekend, we all celebrated the 50th Wedding Anniversary of my Uncle Frank and Aunt Nora together. The photo reminded me of that Louisiana weekend. It was so very amazingly green, and so lovely. Everyone was smiling. No rice fields, but the green spring time was stunning.

I know my great-aunt Hazel prayed for her only child, William, to come home safely from World War I. And William was killed. I know God heard her prayers and Hazel experienced God's peace. Hazel talked about William a lot She really enjoyed remembering him. My mother told me Aunt Hazel talked of William more than my mom thought she should. Aunt Hazel had William's portrait painted. And it went to another cousin, after Aunt Hazel passed on, who became ill and William's painting was thrown to be given away or thrown away. An uncle was asked if he wanted to travel 6 hours to look over everything being put out. There was William's portrait.

My uncle took it and asked our family in Franklinton, LA (where William lived) if there would be a good place for William's painting. And it was given to our cousin Susan, who was the town librarian. William's painting will hang in the Franklinton, LA Library because William died defending his country.

One generation remembering another. It fits together. And makes life a gentler place. God is not God of the dead. But God of the living.


Isaiah 40:1-11

1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the LORD’s hand
double for all her sins.

3 A voice cries: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

4 Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.

5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."

6 A voice says, "Cry!"
And I said, "What shall I cry?"
All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the LORD blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.

9 Get you up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good news;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good news;
lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,

"Behold your God!"
10 Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
11 He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms;
he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young.



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2 Timothy 2:14-26 ~ one approved

2 Timothy 2:14-26

English Standard Version, David Cochran Audio

¹⁴ Remind them of these things, and charge them before God ^{[the Lord]} not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. ¹⁵ Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, ^{[one approved after being tested]} a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. ¹⁶ But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, ¹⁷ and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸ who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. ¹⁹ But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

²⁰ Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. ²¹ Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.

²² So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. ²³ Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. ²⁴ And the Lord's servant ^{[bondservant]} must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, ²⁵ correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶ and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

Matthew 23:23
"How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your mint, dill, and cummin, but have neglected the more important matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. These are the things you should have practiced, without neglecting the others."


We can take all of our denomination differences. We may look at King James Version or the English Standard Version and stake our claim. Or we can say - God is Love.

Jesus never quoted the added Chapter and Verse. He merely said, "It is written." Jesus gave us ideals and He lived them. Mercy with Truth over all else. Every day. His Father's ideals and He gave His life for them. For us.

Beyond that..... we must say to ourselves each day - cast the first stone. And our attitudes and words must reflect the ideals of Jesus. And the mercy of Jesus.


Romans 4:25
He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

Church at Varengeville Against the Sunlight - (Wings of Morning.) Painted By Claude Monet.

John 1

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴ In him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

⁹ The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. ¹¹ He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. ¹² But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, ¹³ who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. ¹⁵ (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) ¹⁶ For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

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