Photo of the Week: February 4, 2026

Posted on February 4, 2026 by Don Merritt
Posted in Photo of the Week | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

3 John: Some Things Never Change

Posted on February 4, 2026 by Don Merritt

John’s last letter. So short, so telling. John is writing to his friend and brother Gaius.  He seems to have been a leader in the church, and even though there are other mentions of men with this name in Scripture, it was a very common name; we can’t be sure if he has other mentions or not.  Gaius was obviously serving others and sharing God’s love with them. He was hosting a group of missionaries, apparently, and these workers were people he didn’t know.

Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers to you. They have told the church about your love. Please send them on their way in a manner that honors God. It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. We ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth.

3 John 2-8

Gaius is the kind of Christian who is worthy of imitation.  He is serving in love, he is putting others first, he is doing the kinds of things we should be doing.  But there is another guy who comes up in the letter…

I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us. So when I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us. Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other believers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.

 Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone—and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.

3 John 9-12

This dude Diotrephes is all too common in our time, and obviously they had this sort of nonsense going on even in John’s Day.  Did you catch what Join said about him at the beginning? He said that Diotrephes “loves to be first.” Well, that sums up! Do you know others who love to be first?  They are the important ones, they are the ones who can’t be inconvenienced, they are the ones who always have the last word, who always get their way, and who must always be in charge− they want to be the bride at every wedding, and the corpse at every funeral.  No doubt you are reminded here of the words of Jesus when He said the first will be last and the last will be first.

This Diotrephes won’t welcome the Apostle to the church, and kicks others out for welcoming the strangers that Gaius has taken in. Diotrephes seems to have much to say about others. A bunch of nonsense (or gossip) is being spread about people like John himself, who should be given the respect they deserve.  I wonder if Diotrephes is doing this because he must be in the spotlight and just can’t handle it when someone else gets attention.

Maybe we’ll never know the exact motivation, but I think we recognize the person, and John is telling us not to emulate them or their behavior.  Who can argue with that advice?

Finally, another good guy is mentioned: Demetrius.  So, there you have it, two brothers who are serving faithfully, and one bad apple.  It seems that the bad apple makes the most noise, but the faithful servants are making a difference for the Gospel.  I’d say there might be a lesson in this for us to learn.

Posted in Bible | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Father’s Warnings

Posted on February 4, 2026 by Don Merritt

Proverbs 4

With chapter 4, we begin a new section of the book, extending through chapter 6. This new section is introduced by the first use of the address “my sons” and takes on the tone of a warning rather than a positive exhortation as in the first three chapters. In the first of these discourses, the seventh in the book so far, we are set in a home in which a father is speaking to his sons, rather than a teacher speaking to students. As I read through this chapter, I was struck by one thing that seems to ring clear above all else: The father is having a hard time persuading his sons to take his teaching seriously; in fact, the entire discourse is that of a father who is trying to persuade his sons to listen to him, to persuade them that the path of wisdom is the right path for them to take in their lives. As a father myself, I can relate!

I can remember many times when I found myself having to try to convince my kids that I knew as much about life in general and the ways of the world as their friends who were every bit as clueless as my kids, and the truth is that more often than not, they preferred the advice of their ignorant friends.

I can also relate as a teacher, for it is all too common to hear from a student that things the Bible teaches are simply so difficult and hard to put into practice that nobody can do it… so why bother? Again, this is amazingly clueless about the realities of life and what is possible; oh yes, I can relate with the father in this chapter.

For the ancient Israelites, the highest duty of a father was to teach his sons. They taught their sons how to live, how to earn a living, how to get along in the community and to follow the Law of Moses. They passed down the wisdom of the ages to their sons, wisdom from Scripture, and wisdom from experience, and I’m guessing that they had the same kinds of frustrations that we have today; their sons probably already knew everything. Look at the passage again, notice that the whole chapter is a father telling his sons that wisdom is better than wickedness; one might expect that the very definition of the words would take care of that, but alas, they don’t.

For us today, are we any different? One time I was talking to a friend about the things I was teaching. I told him about the amazing things going on, and how I had recently told the people that we need to put our spiritual gifts into action by showing up and getting out of His way. My friend laughed and said that it sounds like my simplistic style of teaching, but that other people can’t just do that; it doesn’t really work that way because nobody has enough faith.

“Really? Seriously? Nobody?”

“That’s right; there are too many questions that need answers.”

“Like what?”

“Like having enough faith to let go of ego.”

That really didn’t seem to be a question to me; more like an objection. I could almost hear my eldest repeating her most common teenage objection: “But Dad, I don’t want to!”

Yep, I can relate to the father in this chapter. I can only imagine how hard it will be for him in the next chapter when he speaks to his sons about sex!

Posted in Bible | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

2 John: A Curious Letter

Posted on February 3, 2026 by Don Merritt

It begins by referencing its recipient as a “chosen lady” without ever mentioning a name.  Some have voiced speculation over the years as to who that lady might have been, but since the text doesn’t say, I will leave it alone.  The rest of the first six verses read much like 1 John, but verse 7 begins a particular warning that is the purpose of the letter.

John is warning the lady about antichrist!

As in the previous letter, he describes antichrist as one who “does not acknowledge that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh.”

Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them. Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work.

2 John 8-11

This is a very stern warning indeed!  It seems to me that John is telling the lady that if we allow ourselves to be deceived by these antichrists, we run the risk of losing what we have in Christ. Now I realize that many may disagree with me, but that is how I read it.  You might recall John’s teaching about “sins that lead to death” as opposed to “sins that do not lead to death.”  However you might prefer to explain this passage, John is clearly talking about a danger of being deceived into “sin that leads to death.” He even goes so far as to say that we mustn’t welcome or allow such an individual into our homes, or we will share in their wicked ways.

You just don’t see things like this very often in New Testament Scripture.

Apparently, these antichrists bring with them a clear and present danger to a believer with their ability to deceive.  I think it’s particularly interesting that John notes at the end of the letter that he has more to say on the subject but wants to speak to this lady in person.  He wants to do some disciplining, it would seem.

You might recall that in 1 John, we had assurances that by the Spirit within us, we can overcome this “spirit of antichrist.”  What I am taking away from all of this, is that as mature believers, we should have no problem identifying antichrist, but as less than mature believers, we might be vulnerable. I could be wrong of course, since John hasn’t said that explicitly, but it seems likely. What shall we do with that said, what shall we do?  In discussing the first letter, much was about “making disciples.”  I’ve pointed out many times here, that there are a few facets of this making disciples business.  First, for the maker of disciples, there are two aspects: First is to lead the non-believer into relationship with Jesus Christ.  Second is to lead the new Christian to maturity in Christ so they may also make disciples.  But there is a third aspect, and that is for those of us who are not yet mature believers to make ourselves available to be led, nurtured and guided through this process of growth.

We must remember that Jesus’ first command to His disciples was to follow Him.  His last command was to go and make disciples.  In between these two commands there was three years of training, teaching, relationship and learning.  They didn’t skip from following to leading overnight.  If you consider the example of Paul, he encountered Jesus of that famous road to Damascus, but he didn’t jump right into a leadership role.  After that, he went home to Tarsus and remained for several years. It is likely that he grew into maturity during that time.

When I was a very young Christian, I was sure that if I ever ran into a demonic situation, or a face to face with the devil, that I could easily recognize and handle the situation.  Lucky for me, God knew better and kept me from such things: If He hadn’t, I would surely have been consumed by my immaturity and folly.  With some maturity and experience, not to mention growth in my faith, I’m not so easy to deceive as I once was.  Even so, John’s warning is one that I take to heart, and I hope the lady he sent the letter to, and all of you will do the same.

Posted in Bible | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Wisdom, Creation and Duty

Posted on February 3, 2026 by Don Merritt

Proverbs 3:19-35

In this post, we’ll finish chapter 3 as we see the fifth and sixth discourses.

Wisdom in Creation

Solomon shifts his thinking somewhat in this discourse, from an exhortation to pursue and attain wisdom, to what God’s wisdom has accomplished in creation and in our lives. He begins in verses 19-20 making what I consider to be a very interesting point: God put His wisdom into action to create the universe. Elsewhere in Scripture, particularly in the New Testament, we see God’s act of creation stemming from His powerful Word. Yet here, Solomon asserts that God’s wisdom and knowledge was the essential ingredient for the Creation. Is this a contradiction, or is it another way of saying the same thing?

In my view, it is the latter, for what is God’s Word, what does it consist of? God’s Word is first and foremost a Person, and that Person is Truth and Wisdom itself; that Person is Jesus Christ. Thus, when God spoke the words to create the universe, those words were the very divine application of His wisdom and knowledge, as well as the application of His power. Verses 21-26 encourage the students to apply wisdom to their everyday lives, for in doing so, they will avoid the pitfalls of life, they will be confident in their comings and goings because they have an ally in God, whose divine attribute of wisdom they will have made their own attribute.

Wisdom and duty

This, the sixth discourse, extends from verse 27 through the end of the chapter, and it seeks to apply what has been said in the previous section. Wisdom is a divine attribute, and as such it requires that a person apply it properly in their daily life when dealing with others. The first part of this discourse is in verses 27-30 in which several examples of conduct are given; take a look at them. I don’t know about you, but these verses remind me of something Jesus taught: “Do unto others as you would they should do unto you.” The next verse sums this up as it transitions to the final part of the passage in telling us that we should not emulate the ways of the violent. As we go on through this book, you might notice that the violent and foolish are terms used to describe those who reject the divine attribute of wisdom. Essentially, these refer to the same person that Jesus would later call the proud.

Verses 31-35 tell the students that the Lord will not tolerate our rejection of wisdom, and thus any such rejection will result in disaster. I must point out that the tradition of Judaism is in every sense a tradition of wisdom; we would do well to study the wisdom of Judaism. Christianity, on the other hand, is based upon relationship, the relationship brought about by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. As we grow in our relationship with Him, we become wise in His ways, just as Solomon’s students would become wise as they sought education, knowledge and wisdom.

Posted in Bible | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Thrill-packed Ending

Posted on February 2, 2026 by Don Merritt

If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.

1 John 5:16-17

As we move along through this letter, we think we have John all figured out, and then we come to these two verses, so near to the end of the letter. At first, they don’t seem to belong, what is John talking about?  Where did this come from?

So, let’s see if we can follow him… if a brother sins, we are to pray for him, and God will give him life.  OK, I think I get it; God will forgive the sin and straighten the guy out.  Hold on, that is if the sin isn’t a sin that leads to death; but I thought death was the price of all sin!  John is making it sound like any sin can be forgiven, except one; and this one sin can be committed by our “brother or sister.”  

John could have at least mentioned what that sin is… leaving that little detail out makes this hard to follow, at least for me− I wonder why he would do that.  Maybe he didn’t think he needed to mention it, maybe he thought he’d already covered that somewhere; could that part have been lost over time or something? Let’s think.

What was the letter about? Oh, yes, it was about false teachers, in fact it was about a certain kind of false teacher, Gnostic false teachers, who claimed that Jesus didn’t come in the flesh.  Hold on− John came up with a special word to describe them: Antichrist! Aha! Now this is beginning to make sense, the antichrist is not to be forgiven; you don’t need to pray for this. When your brother stumbles, pray for him, when you stumble ask God and He will forgive.  Stay away from an antichrist.

We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them. We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

1 John 5:18-20

John is winding up the letter now, as he recounts some basic facts of Christian life.  A follower of Jesus is not to continue in the old ways. He or she has been buried with Christ, and arisen again as a new creation, leaving the old behind.  The “One who was born of God” which is to say the Lord Jesus, keeps us safe from the evil one.  This is a pretty important statement for us to keep in mind, especially when we are looking for somebody to blame for our mistakes.  John points out that the whole world is under the control of the evil one, and you will no doubt recall that he has already warned us not to love the world, now you know why.

Now, John drops in a comforting and powerful thought: Jesus has given us understanding so that we may know who is true; it is Jesus who is true.  If we have the understanding to know who is true, we can also discern who is not.  Maybe this is why the arguments and understanding of this world can be so attractive to the world and appear so idiotic to a follower of Jesus… and vice-versa.  Hmmm, might want to ponder that for a bit.  God is the one who is true, and the giver of eternal life.

Lastly, John reminds us in verse 21 to stay away from idols, and the letter closes.

Yet the excitement is far from over; John wrote 2 more letters!

See you next time.

Posted in Bible | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Blessing of Wisdom

Posted on February 2, 2026 by Don Merritt

Proverbs 3:1-18

This fourth discourse can be said to be a continuation of the third. It has two sections, verses 1-12 contain exhortations from the teacher to his students to hold onto wisdom, and vv. 13-18 discuss the blessings of wisdom.

The exhortations are made up of a series of two verse couplets, beginning with vv. 1-2 which discuss obedience to God. The second couplet (vv. 3-4) tells the student to remember him, the third (vv. 5-6) tells the student to trust God, the fourth (vv. 7-8) to reverence God, the fifth (vv. 9-10) to honor God, and finally, the sixth (vv. 11-12) to submit to God.  The student who does these things will gain wisdom, and wisdom has many blessings.

The blessings of wisdom are set forth for the student. In 13-14, we see that wisdom is better than silver or gold, for wisdom has a yield much greater than both of them. In 15-16, wisdom is shown to be better than rubies, then wisdom is said to bring about long life, and more wealth than by any other means. Then the section concludes by telling the student that wisdom brings about a pleasant and peaceful life of many years, and much happiness.

Blessed are those who find wisdom,
    those who gain understanding,
for she is more profitable than silver
    and yields better returns than gold.

Psalm 3:13-14

It’s interesting that Solomon uses this device to appeal to his students to prefer wisdom over anything else, for in doing so, he has set up a contrast between wisdom and other things in this life under the sun, that most people would like to get their hands on; silver and gold, for instance… or can we just say money here? Most anyone you talk to would tell you they would like to have more money, for with money they can buy the things they need, like food and shelter, but also because money can provide a person with the desires of their heart. They can have fancy things, luxury things, or they can have a better education or better opportunities for whatever they want to do. By contrast, wisdom delivers a superior return on investment, for investing in wisdom can bring a longer life, because wisdom will guide a person to be prudent in their actions, avoiding situations that can cut life short or imperil their health. Wisdom can also bring peace and happiness that money cannot buy and jewels cannot provide, by enabling a person to get along better in their community, make better personal and business decisions and choices that come from better priorities.

In short, of all the things a person can strive for under the sun, wisdom is the one thing that outshines all the rest. Solomon has now set up the fifth and sixth discourses, in which he will take a subtle shift in his thinking…

Posted in Bible | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

In His Cathedral

Posted on February 1, 2026 by Don Merritt
tumblr_metvkr2zFh1qas1mto6_r3_1280

The greatest of cathedrals are not made by the hands of men, but by the very hand of God Himself.  In those cathedrals, you can go to pray and to listen to the sounds that are not sounds made by men.

If you listen very carefully, you may even hear the voice of God.

People often say that they can worship God anywhere; in the desert, by the sea, in the forest…  I happen to agree with them, for these are wonderful places to worship Him.  Surrounded by His awesome creation, taking it all in, it revives our spirit.

I can only think of one better place to worship God than in the midst of His creation, and that is in the midst of His people, for when we are in the midst of His people, we are not only surrounded by His handiwork, but we are also right in the midst of His purpose.

Posted in Christian living | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Gone Into Hididng

Posted on January 31, 2026 by Don Merritt

Tom was a Christian.  He was committed; he was serious. He worked in a factory, and many of his coworkers were tough men, men who used rough language and who liked to drink and play hard…

Tom was afraid that if he didn’t go along with them that he wouldn’t fit in, that he wouldn’t be accepted.  He didn’t want them to think that he was soft or strange; he just wanted to be one of the guys.  So, when he was at work he talked like the rest.  When the boys went out for a few brewskies on Thursday nights, Tom went along and behaved just the way everyone else did: He was one of the boys.

The boys liked to make fun of Christians… OK, the boys made fun of everybody, there wasn’t anything about making fun of Christians that was special; it wasn’t even intended to be anything more than fun, but it made Tom uncomfortable.  In time, the boys picked up on this, and one day someone asked him after several brews if he was a “churchie”.

Tom denied his faith. He didn’t really mean to; he just wanted to fit in.

A few days later when Tom was in his weekly Bible study, he learned something, something that he already knew.  Jesus had made an interesting comment one day when He told His listeners that if they acknowledge Him before men, He would acknowledge them before the Father…

Tom felt convicted because he knew that he had denied Jesus before men; those men who were his friends.

Tom had not only hidden his faith, but he had also hidden from his faith…

Another passage ran through Tom’s mind that evening.  Jesus had told His disciples that the reason that people don’t follow Him was that they preferred the praise of men.

Tom was ashamed.

Posted in Christian living | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

His Will

Posted on January 30, 2026 by Don Merritt

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

1 John 5:13-15

These three simple verses are encouraging ones, for they assure us of two wonderful things.  First, we have eternal life.  Second, anything we ask for in prayer will be done, if we ask in God’s will. This is our focus here: God’s will.

The whole idea of tacking “in Jesus’ name, Amen” has always struck me as trying to work the system just a little bit.  Of course, we do that because Jesus is recorded three times in John’s gospel telling His disciples that anything they ask for in His name will be given them.  Never mind that all three times were firmly within the context of doing God’s will, all we need to do is tack on the magic words… Only it doesn’t work like that.

Yeah, I hate to be the one who must tell you that God thought of that one already.

Our prayers that are outside of God’s will aren’t guaranteed to be answered, because God is all about His purposes, and we are His servants, not the other way around.  So, the question really is what is within God’s will? It isn’t always in God’s will that nice things happen, that the sick are always healed and that the bad guy loses the game.  In fact, it can be quite difficult to discern His will in some situations, especially when we are emotionally invested.  There are some things that are always within the scope of God’s eternal purpose, can you guess what they are?

Yep, that’s right, you got it!  Things that pertain to saving the lost and making disciples are always within His will.  Not things that just make it easier for us, or that make us look like heroes, but things that get those “Kingdom things” done. In this area, prayer is so powerful it can be scary… in a good way.

We must pray big prayers, with boldness, and with the sure expectancy that God will do great things with them, but we need to ensure that our prayers are to advance God’s priorities, according to God’s ways of doing things.

OK, here we go… big bold “God’s will” prayers and no more little “me” ones. Just watch and see what amazing things He can do!

Posted in Bible | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments