March 18, 2015 JUST AS HE COMMANDED
1 John 3:7: “Little children, let no one deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous;”
1 John 3:22-24: “and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. And the one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And we know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given.”
To take the name of “Christian” is no small matter as it means we are not who we use to be-things are different-we are a new people. There is really no way to blend the old person we use to be, with the new person we are now. It is true that we still have the same physical body and we still live in the here and now, however, our heart has been made new. It must be said that we, even as believers, can quench the work that God has done and is doing in us but not without loss of peace and purpose. With that being said, it is God’s plan and His desire for us to live according to our true identity and thus experience life to the fullest. God has provided the scriptures and has given us the Holy Spirit in order that we can learn our true identity. The world presents the counterfeit to the truth by telling us that making “self” happy is the goal in life. Believers are called to live their lives in such a way that it is consistent with the gospel and are in keeping with what Jesus taught and demonstrated. We are not clones, and we are each unique; but we are called to live as His children-a life that is well defined. The word “Christian” means to be “like Christ.” This does not mean we never sin or falter, but that we have a heart to walk in His ways. As with scriptures in general, what is said in the verses above is easily understood but yet profound. If we are practicing righteousness, then we are righteous; and we practice righteousness because our Father is righteous! There is a warning not to be deceived and the warning is that it’s not enough just to say that we are Christians or just to say that we are righteous. There is a popular teaching that says it does not matter what we do because we are saved by grace and that is all that really matters and so we, in a sense, excuse wrong actions and wrong thought based on this misconception. When we discover that God is our Father and we know His love, we want to keep His word-His commandments, and in fact, it is our joy to keep His word because His words are life. In these verses, there is a connection between keeping His commandments and doing the things that please Him and having our prayers answered! Also, God abides in the one who keeps His commandments. We are not saved by keeping His commandments, and unlike the people in the Old Testament, we can keep the commandments that Jesus has given-because He lives in us. The key word is “believe;” as we live out of what we believe-not what we say we believe. The gospel, including the “commandments”, are all based on love because God is love, and because we love Him, we naturally want to do the things that are pleasing to Him. There is a book by Peter Lord called Turkey and Eagles and it is about discovering our identity as Christians. There was a young Eagle who got lost from his parents and this Eagle started living with a group of turkeys. The Eagle spent a lot of time walking around searching for food on the ground-life was difficult and unfulfilling. Finally, the Eagle discovered that he could fly-that he could soar up high above the ground-he discovered that He was an Eagle. As it was with the Eagle, it’s a great day when we learn that we are sons and daughters of God. May we view scriptures as revealing our true identity and may our lives reflect our Father.
Matthew 11:29-30: “Take MY yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and MY load is light.”
James 1:22: “But prove yourselves to be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”
Blessings, Buddy
1 John 3:7: “Little children, let no one deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous;”
1 John 3:22-24: “and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. And the one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And we know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given.”
To take the name of “Christian” is no small matter as it means we are not who we use to be-things are different-we are a new people. There is really no way to blend the old person we use to be, with the new person we are now. It is true that we still have the same physical body and we still live in the here and now, however, our heart has been made new. It must be said that we, even as believers, can quench the work that God has done and is doing in us but not without loss of peace and purpose. With that being said, it is God’s plan and His desire for us to live according to our true identity and thus experience life to the fullest. God has provided the scriptures and has given us the Holy Spirit in order that we can learn our true identity. The world presents the counterfeit to the truth by telling us that making “self” happy is the goal in life. Believers are called to live their lives in such a way that it is consistent with the gospel and are in keeping with what Jesus taught and demonstrated. We are not clones, and we are each unique; but we are called to live as His children-a life that is well defined. The word “Christian” means to be “like Christ.” This does not mean we never sin or falter, but that we have a heart to walk in His ways. As with scriptures in general, what is said in the verses above is easily understood but yet profound. If we are practicing righteousness, then we are righteous; and we practice righteousness because our Father is righteous! There is a warning not to be deceived and the warning is that it’s not enough just to say that we are Christians or just to say that we are righteous. There is a popular teaching that says it does not matter what we do because we are saved by grace and that is all that really matters and so we, in a sense, excuse wrong actions and wrong thought based on this misconception. When we discover that God is our Father and we know His love, we want to keep His word-His commandments, and in fact, it is our joy to keep His word because His words are life. In these verses, there is a connection between keeping His commandments and doing the things that please Him and having our prayers answered! Also, God abides in the one who keeps His commandments. We are not saved by keeping His commandments, and unlike the people in the Old Testament, we can keep the commandments that Jesus has given-because He lives in us. The key word is “believe;” as we live out of what we believe-not what we say we believe. The gospel, including the “commandments”, are all based on love because God is love, and because we love Him, we naturally want to do the things that are pleasing to Him. There is a book by Peter Lord called Turkey and Eagles and it is about discovering our identity as Christians. There was a young Eagle who got lost from his parents and this Eagle started living with a group of turkeys. The Eagle spent a lot of time walking around searching for food on the ground-life was difficult and unfulfilling. Finally, the Eagle discovered that he could fly-that he could soar up high above the ground-he discovered that He was an Eagle. As it was with the Eagle, it’s a great day when we learn that we are sons and daughters of God. May we view scriptures as revealing our true identity and may our lives reflect our Father.
Matthew 11:29-30: “Take MY yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and MY load is light.”
James 1:22: “But prove yourselves to be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”
Blessings, Buddy
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