Leaflet Academy

And the greatest of these is...

8:31 AM, Nov. 5, 2007 .. Posted in Bible Stuff .. 0 comments .. Link

Well, our sermon last night really challenged me somewhere I needed to be challenged! It was also on an issue that I have been thinking about for some time, so I thought I might mention it here briefly:

1 John 4:7-21
7   Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
8   He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
9   In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent hs only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
10   Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11   Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
12   No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
13   Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.
14   And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.
15   Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
16   And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
17   Herein is our love made perfect, that we might have boldness in the day of judgement: because as he is, so are we in the world.
18   There is no fear in lov; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
19   We love him, because he first loved us.
20   If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
21   And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

Now, this issue is a tricky one for christians. Honestly, it is very easy to not like other christians :) Most churches today (sadly) have their little cliques and social groups. But here we are told to love our brethren, and that we lie if we claim that we love God, but do not love our brethren.

What does it mean to love? Verse 19 gives a hint: 'We love him, because he first loved us.'

Pastor mentioned two types of love: One is a 'because' love - I love him/her because she is nice to me. I love them because they helped me. I love them because they did something kind for me.

But as soon as that person is no longer nice/helping/kind - well I fall out of love, don't I? This is a shallow love, an imperfect love! Pastor related this to 'liking' a person.

The other type of love, the 'blessed' love, happens when we love someone regardless of whether or not we like them. They might just get on your nerves a bit. They might truly be unlovable. They might have personally persecuted you. Or you might genuinely like them, but have just 'grown up' in your love, so that you love them whether they are nice to you specifically or not. To love someone regardless is to have a perfect love, the same type of love that God has.

And this is where the point is: You see, God loved us while we were his enemies! There was nothing lovable about us when he sent his Son to die for us! So God has a perfect love towards us. We, who love him because he first loved us, have an imperfect love towards him - he has been kind to us, so we love him. As we mature in our christian faith, we can have a perfect love of God, where we love him regardless of what he has done for us, and despite whatever circumstances we might personally be facing; nevertheless, we start with an imperfect love of God.

And likewise, we start with an imperfect love of fellow christians. We love those who do well by us, and hate those who don't. This is perfectly normal for a non-christian so why should it be any different for us, right?

v 16 - And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

You see, we are different from non-believers; we have God dwelling in us. And he has the perfect love. His dwelling in us with the perfect love allows us to have this perfect love towards others. We can 'catch' this ability to love perfectly from God!

Not only can we now love perfectly, but we must do so.

v 20    If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

If you claim to be a christian, and do not love your christian brethren, you are a liar. You need to get yourself right with God. The first chapter of this book has some great verses for you:

1 John 1:8-9
8   If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9   If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Now there is a reason why all this has been stirring in my mind for some time. There seems to be a movement today in some modern liberal churches to consider loving others a sin. Seriously! It is considered far better to be nasty to someone in the cause of 'being real'. We must not pretend to like someone we don't, but tell the truth at all times, whether we think the other person is scum of the earth or not! This is clearly a great distortion of the bible. No I do not think it is ok to consider another christian to be 'scum of the earth' and act as though you like them. You must genuinely act as though you care for them, and with great shame and humility ask God to help you to like the person that you are loving too. Treat them with respect at all times - including when they are not there, including when you are just thinking about them! Yes perfect love is very hard, and no we can't learn it overnight - but God loved that person so much he let his Son DIE for them, so surely you should love them too?

I have actually read a blog post here by someone who claims that it is a very dangerous sin to act in a loving manner towards a christian who you don't like. She has seen kids grow up to reject the faith because their parents were two-faced - nice to someone's face, and nasty behind their backs. Yes in this case the parents did something wrong. They talked about a fellow christian behind their back. No wonder their kids rejected the faith!

Likewise, I have known christians who have stopped fellowshipping with other christians, simply because they cannot get along with them! It's time to 'grow up' in our love, people!

Don't get me wrong; this is a very hard teaching for me. It is one that makes perfect intellectual sense, yet one that is going to be very difficult to put into practice. I am not pointing the finger at anyone (how could I do that in a post on love?) But I wanted to point to some false teaching that is prevalant in the church today, as a warning.

Beloved, let us love one another.

Journey to the center of John's first epistle :)

9:47 PM, Nov. 1, 2007 .. Posted in Bible Stuff .. 2 comments .. Link

Well. I was saved at five, and went to many churches from then until adulthood - with many huge spaces in between, I am afraid. I was often encouraged to have a daily quiet time, but few really taught how to do that or encouraged accountability in the matter. I am greatly blessed to currently attend a church where the pastor does both, and I have recently taken to keeping a 'Continuing in the Word Daily' journal.

The basic idea of it is this: You pick a portion of the bible, and read a small section each day (about four verses) and write them out. You write them, using the kjv, inserting line spaces where punctuation marks exist, in order to help you break it up into separate thoughts. Then you leave a blank line in between each verse. On the side of the page, you leave space to write your personal journals and challenges that come to mind as you read that passage.

It should be noted that you may feel free to read wider in your bible, and to read deeply in other sections as well; but I do think this is a good way to get an intimate view of sections of the bible.

We started with Psalm 119, then continued onto Ephesians. Today, the first of a new month, we start on 1 John. Now I certainly don't intend to do my CITWD online every day :) But today's reading really jumped out at me, so here goes:

1 John 1:1-4

vs 1
That which was from the beginning,
which we have heard,
which we have seen with our eyes,
which we have looked upon,
and our hands have handled,
of the Word of life;

vs 2
(For the life was manifested,
and we have seen it,
and bear witness,
and shew unto you that eternal life,
which was with the Father,
and was manifested unto us;)

vs 3
That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you,
that ye also may have fellowship with us:
and truly our fellowship is with the Father,
and with his Son Jesus Christ.

vs 4
And these things write we unto you,
that your joy may be full.

Now, I'm not going to write out exactly what I wrote in my own journal; after all, they are a little personal :)

But here are some of my thoughts on the passage:

WOW! I love the first two verses. "which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled..." Jesus Christ is not some mythical figure. He is God, come in the flesh. People saw him, heard him, touched him, loved him, reviled him, killed him, mourned him, and rejoiced with him. Can you imagine what it must have been like to actually touch him? Even just the hem of his cloak? Seeing his miracles first hand would be pretty cool, but imagine just seeing him.

And yet, one day I will.

I do not know when that will be. But I wonder; will I be ready? Will I be a Mary, sitting at his feet, or a Martha, so caught up in the cares of this world that I earn his gentle (or not so gentle) rebuke?

It is only in the last year and a half that I have really started to take real bible study seriously. As a young christian I know that on some days I (spiritually) do everything (well, most things anyway) right, but on others I go to bed at night needing to deal with guilty feelings. I can still get angry easily, especially when I fear for my kids, and I can still speak to quickly; I need to be quick to hear, but slow to speak...

So yeah; I guess this makes me feel that I want to be more constant in my obedience to Christ. This will take a lot of learning on my part, and a lot of grace on His... He is more than capable of fulfilling his part of the equation, I know :)

The other thing I thought of when I read this was:

WOW! The kjv translators knew how to make smilie faces out of a semi colon and an end bracket ;) Were they cool or what???

Anyway, if anyone would like to share their thoughts on these four verses, feel free to comment below. And if you are floundering for a way to do your own private bible study; well, having your own journal is an excellent way to start.

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