Wisdom of the Word Wednesday

“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.” 1 John 3:23

“Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” John 6:29

“And He said to him, “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:37-40

I love how He really summed up ALL the commandments by essentially combining them into two commandments. The first four commandments are God related (vertical) and the last 6 are mankind related (horizontal). If we believe in Jesus, we will by shear love for Him want to keep the first four commandments. If we love one another, again, just by shear desire to do this we will keep the last 6 commandments.

 Just think if we believe in Jesus we won’t have a desire to serve other gods, make idols, profane His name. (Now, I am not sure about the fourth commandment, it doesn’t seem like many keep this commandment anymore. I need to do some serious research on this one. I know God has never rescinded any of His commandments, so it is still a viable commandment.)

In the same way, if we love each other, we will desire to honor our parents, we won’t lie to each other, steal from each other, we won’t commit adultery, covet what each other has, kill each other.

But, can we do this ALL on our own? No, of course not, when we believe in Jesus, He will give us the strength and power to keep these commandments. We can NEVER do it in our own strength. The desire will come when we commit our lives to Him and allow Him to do the work in our lives.

I am so thankful that He doesn’t leave us to our own strength to do His will, once we accept His gift of salvation. He is always right with us, guiding us, empowering us and strengthening us.

“But when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.” John 16:13

“but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” Acts 1:8

“And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

“Whoever speaks, let him speak, as it were, the utterances of God; whoever serves, let him do so as by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 4:11

Wisdom of the Word Wednesday

"But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth." 1 John 3:17-18

With the world like it is now, these verses should really resonate with believers. If we have ANYTHING that could be used by others we should not hesitate to give to others who are in need. God will bring people across our paths who have needs that we can meet, if we are aware of the needs and do not meet them, can we truly call ourselves a believer? So many people say, they are a Christian, but do their fruits bear them out? Doing things for others does not make us a Christian, but because we are a Christian we should want to do for others. Everything we have is a gift from God, so why wouldn't we want to share what God has blessed us with, with others? 

Take a look around you, is there a need that you are aware of that you can help with. If there is, don't hesitate to bless someone with what God has blessed you with. Don't hoard your blessings, give freely and you will be blessed, as well as those who you share with. Also, don't forget that blessings come in MANY forms, not just material things or money. You can share your time, talents, "ears", you name it.

Wisdom of the Word Wednesday

“Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.” 1 John 3:4-8

What does it mean to practice sin? I looked up practice in the dictionary and here is what it says, “repeated performance or systematic exercise for the purpose of acquiring skill or proficiency” as in practice makes perfect. So everyone who practices sin is proficient at it or is becoming proficient at it. Not only do they practice sin but they also practice lawlessness. They see the laws as not pertaining to them. They pick and choose which ones they are going to follow. Sin and lawlessness are doing things intentionally that they know is wrong. God has written His Law on our hearts, so no one is without excuse. They can’t say that no one told them doing such and such was wrong, God has given them a witness and that is His Law written on their hearts.   

"But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Jeremiah 31:33

“For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.” Romans 2:14-16

I thank God almost every day for the sacrifice His Son made so we no longer need to live under the Law. I know that I was a Law breaker and that is why Jesus had to die. The only sacrifice that would wash away my sins was from the blood of a perfect sacrifice, one without sin. Jesus was the ONLY sinless one. The blood of goats, bulls and lambs only covered the sins of those in ancient times, but did not remove the guilt or the stain. Jesus not only forgives our sins, He washes us white as snow and removes the guilt involved in sin, since we have nothing to fear. Fear means there is guilt and guilt leads to punishment.

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.” 1 John 4:18

If people claim to be a Christian but continue practicing sin, they are not of God. For we become a new creation when we accept Christ as our Saviour. We might stumble or fall, but we will not practice sinning and lawlessness.

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”2 Corinthians 5:17

Praise God for His purpose in sending His Son... “to destroy the works of the devil.” May we do our part in living out our lives before this lost and dying world, so they can see the difference He has made in our lives and so they will listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and have the works of the devil destroyed in their lives.

Wisdom of the Word Wednesday

“See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.” 

1 John 3:1

God has lavished His love on us, because that is who He is. God is love, so He could do no less. His character dictates that He lavish us with unconditional love.

Before we came to be the children of God we were children of the evil one. Could you imagine going to the most vile person on earth and taking one of their children into your home and loving them with your whole heart and lavishing on them all that is yours? Well, that is what God has done for us. We belonged to Satan. While we were still living our lives with our evil father influencing our lives, God sent His one and only Son to die for us. He had never committed one sin and was pure and holy, without any blame. He then gave us the opportunity to leave our vile, evil father and accepted us unconditionally as His children.  We are heirs to all that belongs to Him...which is EVERYTHING that He has created. Can you imagine all that God has created? It all belongs to us, because we are His children. That is how much He loves us.

Do you ever wonder why the world treats Christians the way it does? Satan wants to break Christians so they will turn their backs on God and His precious Son and the free gift He offers to us. If he can’t break us then he wants to kill us so we can no longer influence his children. The world does not really know us, because we are children of God and the things of God are foolishness to the world and they can’t understand us.

“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.”  

John 15:18-19

(Jesus speaking to the Father) 

"I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” John 17:14

“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.”  James 1:2-3

Wisdom From the Word Wednesday

1 John 2:15-16

“Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.”

the world-“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2 “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” James 1:27


if anyone loves the world-“You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” James 4:4


the lust of the flesh-“But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.” Romans 13:14 “Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.” Ephesians 2:3 “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.” 1 Peter 2:11


the lust of the eyes-“Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, nor are the eyes of man ever satisfied.” Proverbs 27:20


the boastful pride of life-“But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.” James 4:16


What does the world have to offer that lasts but for a moment? EVERYTHING in this world is temporary. What God has for us is ETERNAL. Why would we want to even risk losing eternity with God for a momentary “pleasure” here on earth. Once we indulge ourselves with earthly pleasures, are we satisfied? NEVER! We are never satisfied. Getting what we want only breeds discontent. We will want more and more and never be satisfied. Let’s put off all the earthly desires and wrap ourselves in God’s love, because that is the only thing that will bring satisfaction. He wants to pour His love into our lives and in return asks us to pour ourselves into others lives.

Love God NOT the world!

Wisdom From the Word Wednesday

1 John 2:4-6

“The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected by this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”

Last week we saw that we know we have come to know God WHEN we keep His Commandments. This week, in verse 4, we discover that we are a liar if we claim to know God and yet DO NOT keep His Commandments.

What are God’s Commandments? We know the 10 Commandments:

Deuteronomy 5:7-21

1. You shall have no other gods before Me.

2. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

4. Observe the sabbath day to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you, so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to observe the sabbath day.

5. Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you on the land which the LORD your God gives you.

6. You shall not murder.

7. You shall not commit adultery.

8. You shall not steal.

9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

10. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field or his male servant or his female servant, his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.'

Jesus let’s us know what the greatest commandment is:

Matthew 22:36-40

"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And He said to him, “‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' "This is the great and foremost commandment.”The second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' "On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."

Why did God give us His Commandments? Was it to be bossy? Was it to keep us from having fun? Was it to be mean? Did He have a purpose? Yes, He did have a purpose. He knew we would need boundaries, because they provide us with security and we know what it expected of us. God loved us enough to give us our boundaries. We see this in our children. If we don’t provide them with boundaries, if they don’t know what is expected of them, they become fearful and out of control. God gave us boundaries to protect us, protect others and to teach us to respect and honor Him. So, if we truly love God, we will demonstrate that love to Him by keeping His Commandments.

Wisdom From the Word Wednesday

1 John 2:1-3, "My little Children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin. And if anyone sins we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.
   And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments."

I looked up some of the words in the original Greek in which it was written. Here is what I found.

writing: grapho-to describe
Advocate: parakletos-an intercessor, consoler, comforter
righteous: dikaios-innocent, holy, just, meet
propitiation: hilasmos-atonement, payment
keep: tereo-to guard, to fulfill a command

John is describing these things for us, not just giving us a superficial idea of how we can know that we are a Christian. He gives details, word pictures, he spells it out. He doesn't want us to have any doubts.

It is so awesome that Jesus is our Advocate before the Father. He intercedes on our behalf. He is also there to comfort and console us. We all need a comforter from time to time. And He is able to do these things, because He is righteous. He has never sinned, He is holy, innocent of any wrong doing. And because He is holy, innocent He was the only one who could qualify to be our propitiation, the payment for our sins.

Here again we are given a clear picture of how we can know that we are Christians (know God)...we keep, fulfill His commandments. It really isn't a hard concept to understand. Of course, we must ask for strength and desire to do this, as we are unable to do it in our own strength. And God is faithful to give us what we need, if only we would ask.

Wisdom From the Word Wednesday

Light...1 John 1:5-10

The Message—

God is Light---in Him is NO darkness at ALL

“This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.”-1 John 1:5

James 1:17 calls Him the Father of lights—in Him is NO variation or shifting shadows. Can we even begin to imagine how “BRIGHT” God is, if there is NO darkness at all around HIM? He is so bright that he totally dispels ALL darkness. Of course, His light is more than just light for the eyes. It is light for the soul, as well. His light illuminates our hearts and shows us where sin is hiding. Since God is light, we would expect Jesus also to be light, as He and the Father are one.

Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life."-John 8:12

And to take it a step further, since Jesus is light, when we are joined with Him we become the light of the world, we also become children of light.

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”-Matthew 5:14-16.

“...but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.”-Ephesians 5:8b-13

Read the rest of the verses in this chapter (1 John 1:6-10). Each of these verses begins with “if”. If we are living...

In the Light...
-then we are walking in the light (“Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.” Isaiah 2:5)
-then we have fellowship with one another
-then Jesus’ blood cleanses us from all sin (“who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds” Titus 2:14)
-we are confessing our sins (“I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"; and You forgave the guilt of my sin.” Psalm 32:5)
-our sins are forgiven
-we are cleansed from all unrighteousness (“who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds” Titus 2:14)

In the Darkness...
-we are walking in darkness (“Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life."John 8:12)
-we are lying and not practicing the truth (“and you have not come to know Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you, but I do know Him and keep His word.” John 8:55)
-we are saying we have no sin
- we are deceiving ourselves
- we are without the truth (“You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” John 8:44)
-we are saying we have not sinned ("What is man, that he should be pure, or he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?” Job 15:14)
-then God’s Word in not in us

Are you walking in the Light or the darkness?