Words to live by

Posted on April 18, 2016 by Don Merritt

tumblr_o1ptwrfkKv1uhju00o1_1280Source: Christianstuffs

Posted in Christian Life | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Leading Quiet Lives

Posted on April 17, 2016 by Don Merritt

Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

1Thessalonians 4:11-12

What great advice! Paul’s instructions here need little amplification from me or anyone else, but I might just add this…

Leading quiet lives is out of fashion these days with tweets, texts and people sounding off all the time.  I used to tell my kids that their friends don’t need to know about every little thought that passes their consciousness.  Of course teenagers tend to think their parents don’t know anything and they texted or posted or spoke frequently, and frequently got a face full in return… Hardly an example of leading a quiet life.

Back in Paul’s time, working with your hands would refer to someone who was self-supporting and not dependant on others.  It didn’t mean that they work in a factory as opposed to an office, for neither existed at the time.

Most importantly, the result of his instruction is that we maintain a good reputation in the community so that we reflect well on the Gospel we preach.  Boy, does this ever apply to us!

Living in this way allows us to focus our attention where it needs to be focused; on our relationship with Jesus Christ.  He is our hope, not this world.  He is the center of our beings, not gossip and social media.  He is the reason we are on this planet, not making millions. It is this understanding that is step one to a peaceful and satisfying life.

Posted in Bible | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

3 John: Some Things Never Change

Posted on April 16, 2016 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 day, 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 about sums it 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 b 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 are due.  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.

Posted in Bible | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

A Curious Letter

Posted on April 15, 2016 by Don Merritt

John’s second letter 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 an 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, and 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. 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 into our homes such an individual, 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. With that said, what shall we do?  In discussing the first letter, much was said both in posts and comments 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 was three years of training, teaching, relationship and learning.  They didn’t skip from following to leading over night.  If you consider the example of Paul, he encountered Jesus on that famous road to Damascus, but he didn’t jump right in to a leadership role.  After that, he went home to Tarsus and remained for several years. It is likely that he grew into maturity in 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 , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Thrill-packed Ending

Posted on April 15, 2016 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’s making it sound like any sin can be forgiven, except one; and this one sin can be committed by our “brother or sister.”  Obviously old John needs to brush up on his Calvinism!

All kidding aside, 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 the 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.

Posted in Bible | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

His Will

Posted on April 14, 2016 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” to the end of a prayer 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 has to 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 looses 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 , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Haves and Have Nots

Posted on April 14, 2016 by Don Merritt

RT 5-2015 182-LP

This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

1 John 5:6-12

What an interesting text: Do you remember John’s warning about antichrists in chapters 1 and 4? John was warning the people of his time against the false teachings of the Gnostics, who denied that Jesus came in the flesh, and that He was “from the Father.”  John is taking aim at them again in this text when he speaks of the testimony of three witnesses.  In our time, while this is still a very important point, we tend to get into arguments about the water and blood part, with various interpretations regarding John’s meaning. For our purposes, I’ll give you my idea on this point, but I’ll spare you the lengthy dissertation on it, since I’d prefer to focus on application rather than systematic theology, and you probably would as well.

One of the main points of contention between Christian teaching and that of the Gnostics was whether or not Jesus came in the flesh; in a human body.  The Gnostic approach was that He came more in a spirit form and not in physical form, since everybody knows that the physical body is evil… or so they said.  It is always interesting to me to hear Christians who maintain this, since the notion of the human body being evil or dirty is a Western impulse, not a Biblical teaching… but alas, I digress!  That the Spirit testifies that Jesus is from the Father is obviously a reference to the Holy Spirit who testifies about Jesus.  The water, in my view, is a reference to His baptism.  To be baptized is a physical activity, in which an actual body is needed; a spirit would be rather impossible to immerse in water.  The blood, as I see it, is a reference to what Jesus did on the cross, since it would be a difficult thing to nail a spirit to a cross and have it bleed.  The water as a giver of testimony seems to me to refer to the baptism of a new follower of Jesus, who is immersed as a testimony of dying and raising again a new creation.  The blood is declared when we partake of Communion, where we declare for all time the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

When you put these three things together, you have an ongoing testimony about Jesus from the Holy Spirit, from millions of baptisms, and from our observance of Communion that Jesus came in the flesh from the Father.  You might also note that the Old Testament Law requires the testimony of two or three witnesses, and John is providing three. If your reading of this is different from mine, that’s fine, for the larger point for us is what follows…

Let’s pick up John’s discussion here in verse 9:

We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  (5:9-11)

His point that we will readily believe a human testimony, but not God’s is a warning to all of us.  There are all sorts of human teachings about Jesus, many of which are designed to convince us that He never even existed, and the difference between life and death is whether or not we will accept God’s testimony, given not only by His Word, but by the Spirit. Just think about how crucial this is!

Then comes the most important, bottom-line statement of all in verse 12:

Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Please take a moment for this to sink in… and recall our discussion last time about keeping His commands.

Yes, this is what I think we need to consider.  Some of John’s writings are a little cryptic; he has a way of meandering around in a circle, and his meaning is vague… until he drops the bomb at the end, and this is one of them.  It’s one thing for us to say that life is in Christ, but the other side of the proverbial coin is that outside of Christ there is only doom.

Jesus has commanded that we make disciples, and that begins with leading the lost to Him.  There is a great deal at stake with this process, and John has made that abundantly clear in verse 12, wouldn’t you agree?  Maybe there was a time when you could share the peril and doom with a person who didn’t know Him, but if there was such a time, it is long gone.  I am aware that many Christians have been impressed with this, and out of their misguided love, they have run out and shared the warning… and driven off those whom they had hoped to save.  The world around us, our culture, and our society has picked up on this, and rather than be flattered that someone cared, they became enraged at the affront of it all, causing no end of trouble.

When Jesus Christ is involved, there is always hope!  In this case, there is a simple, if not always easy, answer: Share His love in grace.  In loving relationship, many will respond to His love.  We must be sensitive to the fact that so many have a negative image of Christianity, whether it is fair or not.  Approaching people in love means that we bother to actually care about them, it takes time, and it is a kind of investment in people, without judgments, without threats, without doom.  Even the most hardened hearts can be mended by the love of God… and I think it is especially important to bear in mind that it is God’s love that we must display in sharing with others

Posted in Bible | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Photo of the Week: April 13, 2016

Posted on April 13, 2016 by Don Merritt

May9 059

Posted in Photo of the Week | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Keep His Commands

Posted on April 13, 2016 by Don Merritt

RT 5-2015 137-PV-LP

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

1 John 5:1-5

As we begin the final chapter of John’s letter, John continues to tell us that we must love God and love each other. He’s been doing this for dozens of verses now; for some who read this, John is going to throw you another curve.

The curve is in verse 2:  This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.  I’ve never heard anyone argue with the loving God part; that seems easy, almost abstract, but carrying out His commands is often a sticking point. As we have stated many times going through this letter, God’s commands can be summed up very easily.  We are to love God, and love one another.

Oh, hold on, did I forget one?  Yes, thank you for reminding me, it’s love God, love one another and make disciples. That’s the one many people get stuck on… There are all kinds of criticisms for this, as though I (or someone else) made it up or something, but that is simply not the case.  What was Jesus’ final command?

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matthew 28:18-20

 Since I have blogged on this so many times already, rather than to explain it again, let’s just try a new approach. First, how can we ever say that we love God, but we won’t follow His command to share that love with others? How can we say we love others, and not share the love of God with them? Come on now, that wouldn’t even make sense, would it?  God first loved us, so He sent His Son to die for our sins, thus if we don’t share God’s love with others who are lost, are we not sharing because God really didn’t love them as much as He loved us?

OK, fine.  We share with the lost and they enter into relationship with Jesus Christ; now they are our brother or sister in the Lord.  So what then? Will we just stand by and watch them struggle with their new faith, or will we help them along their way?  Which choice demonstrates love in action?

John goes on to mention that obeying His commands isn’t burdensome because in Him, we have overcome the world.  Ever wonder what that has to do with anything?  What is it that would hold us back from making disciples?  Go ahead and make a short mental list of what might hold you back.  Got it?  OK, good.  Does it have things like being afraid they’ll say no?  How about not wanting others to think you’re weird? Maybe you’re afraid that you won’t know all the answers. Yes, there are other possibilities, but in my experience, these are the kinds of things people usually say.  In Him, we’ve overcome the world, and these are thoughts of the world, not His thoughts.  Was Jesus ever afraid of rejection or embarrassment or afraid of anything this world could do to Him?  No.  Why would we be concerned about such things? We have overcome the world because of our faith. Sometimes, like you, I need to remind myself about that…

To carry out God’s commands is not burdensome, because it is a joy; I can tell you from my own experience that there is no greater joy in this life than to see a person I have mentored, grow in their faith, and step up to serve God because of their love for Him.  Yes, it is by far the greatest joy there is.

Posted in Bible | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

We love because He first loved us

Posted on April 13, 2016 by Don Merritt

IL714 037-LR

We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

1 John 4:19-21

This just about sums it all up, don’t you think?  God so loves us that He went to extreme measures in showing it, sending His Son to die for us… because so great was God’s love. (John 3:16)

If God loves us, and we in turn love God, then we must also love our brother or sister.  As you can see from these verses, there is no negotiating to be done.  In fact, John says that it is a command from God that we love our brother.  End of discussion!

Well… almost.  It may strike some as odd that God has commanded love.  It is really a fair question to ask if someone asked it… How can I be commanded to love?  I see my brother or sister, and I don’t feel anything for them. As I’ve written before words are funny things; they mean stuff.  In English, we only have one word: “Love.”  John wrote in Greek.  Greek has five words for our “love” and they mean different things.  The word that John used here is agapaō which is the word used in the New Testament for God’s love; it is not the word for romantic love. When we are commanded to love one another, this command has nothing whatsoever to do with emotions.  Instead, it has everything do with attitude.

To love your brother or sister in Christ means to put their interests ahead of your own. If your brother or sister is in need, we are to take care of their need before we take care of our need.  We are to be willing to set aside our cares and hurts to see to the needs of others… just like Jesus did.  If we see our brother or sister hurting, we do something about it. Jesus saw us hurting from sin and death, so He did something about it, setting aside His own personal needs… that is unless you’d claim that He really needed to be tortured and murdered, or that it was His idea of fun…

This is the attitude that makes the Body of Christ possible.  If we were to approach the Body (church) as our little plaything or as our chance to be important, or in the way humans often approach things, then the Body will fight and divide.  Hmm, we might think about that one! If we approach it as people who love one another and put others ahead of ourselves, the Body is the most amazing and awesome thing this side of Heaven, as they say.

So, can we do it?  Sure we can!  We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.  It begins with a commitment to follow Jesus, and it carries on when we are more satisfied in His presence than when we are any place else. Need help or guidance in this?  No problem; seek Him, and follow where He leads.  You’ll know what to do.

Posted in Bible | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments