July 18, 2013
We are loved by the Father so much that we are called "children of God." And that is what we are—"children of God." There is a reason why we don't fit in with the world. It is because we are strangers. The world cannot possibly understand us because they don't know Him.
Christianity is a concept you really cannot understand without experiencing it. As Christians, we know we were made in the image of God; we are children of God; and when Christ returns we will be made like Him because we will see Christ as He really is. What a day that will be!! While we eagerly await that day, it is a foreign concept to people who have not accepted Christ as LORD.
Until that time, we have the responsibility to live as Christ taught.
Those two statements are very clear. If Christ is truly living in you, then He is Master and you are not able to continue in sin. The reverse is also true. If you do not change your hearts and lives and you continue to sin and live a lifestyle contrary to God's Word, then the truth is you never really understood Christ; you've never truly known Him; you are not a child of God; and He is not your Father. The narrow road is in fact—narrow. I John 3:10 - "Those who do not do what is right are not God's children, and those who do not love their brothers and sisters are not God's children."
It doesn't get much plainer than that.
From the very beginning of the Bible there has been one clear message: you must love God and you must love others. And from the very beginning, both teachings were broken. Cain killed Abel because he was jealous of him. Cain was corrupt, his heart was evil, and he was out to destroy his brother who had done nothing against Him.
Our actions reveal the truth about our hearts. Sin (darkness) and Truth (light) cannot co-mingle. It should be no surprise that people of the world (as slaves of Satan) seek to harm you and hurt you. However, it was shocking to us when our own family members purposely set out (using trickery and then this lawsuit) to seek our destruction, especially since we thought we were like minded with them. What we now know (by the evidence of their actions and by searching God's Word) is that my sister and brother-in-law's actions show the truth about their hearts. I John 3:15 - "Everyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderers have eternal life in them." Jesus taught in Matthew 5:21–26 that hating someone in your heart is the same as the act of murder.
Hatred. Is there another way to describe the actions of my sister and brother-in-law. I wish there was. To purposely deceive and trick us and then file a lawsuit to try and ruin us—is hatred. Oh, they've couched it as "business" or "unfortunate" or whatever, but the bottom line is that in their interest of self-promotion, everything is on the table and nothing is sacred even if it means the destruction of others. There is a whole of list of other family and friends (as evidenced by my brother-in-law's list of broken relationships) who were victims of the same thinking, and there are others who are still unaware of the truth behind the scenes. I'm sure my sister and brother-in-law don't see their actions as a hatred of others. Whatever happens to the other person is just collateral damage to what they want or think they deserve. But, it is hatred. I've witnessed first hand the clenched teeth, the pointed fingers, and the squinted eyes.
God in the Old Testament and Jesus in the New Testament taught the same message. They commanded that we love one another. I John 3:18 - "We should love people not only with words and talk, but by our actions and true caring." You cannot be a child of God and seek the harm of other people. Cannot. I John 3:23 - "This is what God commands (not suggests): that we believe in his Son, Jesus Christ (Him as Master and we as servants) and that we love each other, just as he commanded." (Emphasis and comments mine.)
You cannot purposely and intentionally choose to go against God's teachings and Jesus' clarifications and still have the blessing of being at one with God. I John 3:22 - "God gives us what we ask for because we obey God's commands and do what pleases him." This verse isn't referring to selfish "things." When we do what He commands and when we do what pleases Him, THEN our desires align with His desires and God gives us what we ask for, and we are in fellowship with him. I John 3:24 - "The people who obey God's commands live in God, and God lives in them. We KNOW that God lives in us because of the Spirit God gave us." Reminds me of the old camp song, "We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord.... they will know we are Christians by our love."
Matthew 22:37–39 - Jesus said (quoting Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18), "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and most important command. And the second is like the first: Love your neighbor as yourself."
Next Entry: I John 4:1 – 5:21
We are loved by the Father so much that we are called "children of God." And that is what we are—"children of God." There is a reason why we don't fit in with the world. It is because we are strangers. The world cannot possibly understand us because they don't know Him.
Christianity is a concept you really cannot understand without experiencing it. As Christians, we know we were made in the image of God; we are children of God; and when Christ returns we will be made like Him because we will see Christ as He really is. What a day that will be!! While we eagerly await that day, it is a foreign concept to people who have not accepted Christ as LORD.
Until that time, we have the responsibility to live as Christ taught.
- Christ is love—we must show love
- Christ is pure—we need to keep ourselves pure
- There is no sin in Christ—we cannot go on sinning
- Christ is all that is right—we must do what is right
- Christ is light—we cannot have darkness in us
Those two statements are very clear. If Christ is truly living in you, then He is Master and you are not able to continue in sin. The reverse is also true. If you do not change your hearts and lives and you continue to sin and live a lifestyle contrary to God's Word, then the truth is you never really understood Christ; you've never truly known Him; you are not a child of God; and He is not your Father. The narrow road is in fact—narrow. I John 3:10 - "Those who do not do what is right are not God's children, and those who do not love their brothers and sisters are not God's children."
It doesn't get much plainer than that.
From the very beginning of the Bible there has been one clear message: you must love God and you must love others. And from the very beginning, both teachings were broken. Cain killed Abel because he was jealous of him. Cain was corrupt, his heart was evil, and he was out to destroy his brother who had done nothing against Him.
Our actions reveal the truth about our hearts. Sin (darkness) and Truth (light) cannot co-mingle. It should be no surprise that people of the world (as slaves of Satan) seek to harm you and hurt you. However, it was shocking to us when our own family members purposely set out (using trickery and then this lawsuit) to seek our destruction, especially since we thought we were like minded with them. What we now know (by the evidence of their actions and by searching God's Word) is that my sister and brother-in-law's actions show the truth about their hearts. I John 3:15 - "Everyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderers have eternal life in them." Jesus taught in Matthew 5:21–26 that hating someone in your heart is the same as the act of murder.
Hatred. Is there another way to describe the actions of my sister and brother-in-law. I wish there was. To purposely deceive and trick us and then file a lawsuit to try and ruin us—is hatred. Oh, they've couched it as "business" or "unfortunate" or whatever, but the bottom line is that in their interest of self-promotion, everything is on the table and nothing is sacred even if it means the destruction of others. There is a whole of list of other family and friends (as evidenced by my brother-in-law's list of broken relationships) who were victims of the same thinking, and there are others who are still unaware of the truth behind the scenes. I'm sure my sister and brother-in-law don't see their actions as a hatred of others. Whatever happens to the other person is just collateral damage to what they want or think they deserve. But, it is hatred. I've witnessed first hand the clenched teeth, the pointed fingers, and the squinted eyes.
God in the Old Testament and Jesus in the New Testament taught the same message. They commanded that we love one another. I John 3:18 - "We should love people not only with words and talk, but by our actions and true caring." You cannot be a child of God and seek the harm of other people. Cannot. I John 3:23 - "This is what God commands (not suggests): that we believe in his Son, Jesus Christ (Him as Master and we as servants) and that we love each other, just as he commanded." (Emphasis and comments mine.)
You cannot purposely and intentionally choose to go against God's teachings and Jesus' clarifications and still have the blessing of being at one with God. I John 3:22 - "God gives us what we ask for because we obey God's commands and do what pleases him." This verse isn't referring to selfish "things." When we do what He commands and when we do what pleases Him, THEN our desires align with His desires and God gives us what we ask for, and we are in fellowship with him. I John 3:24 - "The people who obey God's commands live in God, and God lives in them. We KNOW that God lives in us because of the Spirit God gave us." Reminds me of the old camp song, "We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord.... they will know we are Christians by our love."
Matthew 22:37–39 - Jesus said (quoting Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18), "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and most important command. And the second is like the first: Love your neighbor as yourself."
Next Entry: I John 4:1 – 5:21
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