Hello and welcome to Beauty - the no-frills, no-nonsense podcast about all things beauty. True Beauty. God’s Beauty. I am your host, Deanna, and today we are going to look at the rest of 2 John. It doesn’t seem possible that we can wrap this letter up in two days, but here we are!

After his greeting, John starts this portion of his letter with an acknowledgment of the lady’s children. How happy she must have been to read those words and know that she invested in her children well. That’s the goal of parenthood, right? It isn’t to get our kids into a great college or perfect career. It isn’t to see them live the American dream, which I would say is a deeply flawed dream (but that is a conversation for another time). No, the goal of parenting is to raise your kids to know truth so they remain near to God, walk in obedience, and love well. That is exactly what John goes on to describe in the next verses. He doesn’t come at her with the voice of authority. He writes with a gentle spirit and confirms with her what love truly is.

But why does he need to tell this lady about love? Surely she is already aware of what it means to love, as we saw in John’s greeting she was a woman defined by love and truth. Well, we get the answer starting in verse seven.

There are deceivers among us.

There were people going around trying to subvert the faith and John was warning the lady about them. Warning her is an act of love, too. It helps to protect her, to keep her alert and on guard against the false teachers so she isn’t led astray. But he doesn’t stop with a simple warning. He tells her how to respond when they come knocking at her door. He basically says,”Don’t even entertain them.” Don’t open your door. Don’t let them in. Don’t listen to their words. He even says not to greet them! That doesn’t sound very Christian-like. Aren’t we supposed to be kind to everyone and see people the way Jesus sees them? Why, yes, we are. But Jesus sees the false teachers as being antichrists. People who deny the faith have great ability to destroy the souls of those who don’t. John was warning the lady to protect her soul so she is not judged by God for sharing in their sin of unbelief.

Does that raise your eyebrow the way it did mine? Aren’t we used to ministering to people and meeting people where they are? Standing in the gap for them in their sin and praying for God to transform them? Again I say - yes! The difference here is that these people in 2 John were heretics. They were knowingly teaching false things about Jesus. This lady clearly had a solid foundation and great faith, and John still felt the need to warn her. This tells me they were good at swaying people to question what they know to be true.

I feel like this is a relevant warning to us today, as well - especially in a world filled with confusion. I feel like some people of influence have all the right words and if those words do not fall on discerning ears, they can be taken for truth, quickly leading people astray and stealing their soul. It is happening!! We must be on guard. We must not put ourselves in situations where we may fall. It becomes a great reminder to stay near to God and to be discerning and wise about who we let influence our lives.

John said in one short letter the same things he had said in his first longer one. Instead of addressing a whole church, he addressed one person. He made it personal. And we should too. What do you think John would say to you today? Where do you need to be careful and wise so that on the day of judgment you hear the words, “well done…?”

D 🙂

Hello and welcome to Beauty - the no-frills, no-nonsense podcast about all things beauty. True Beauty. God’s Beauty. I am your host, Deanna, and today we circle back to confidence. If you’ve been following along with the 1 John study, you know we talked about confidence in week five. In true John fashion, we find ourselves repeating this topic once more. I hope you are seeing how John ties things together for our full understanding. Dig in to 1 John 5:14-17 today - reading and writing these verses and allowing time to think about their meaning. 

I listen to several podcasts, one being Becket Cook. Becket is a man who was living in sin at one time in his life. Occasionally, on his podcast, he shares pieces of this and how he came to faith. You can look him up on your own; his story is fascinating and a testament to the grace and mercy of God. I bring him up here because a few weeks ago, he shared how he ended up at a church service and a random person prayed for him. At the end of this church service, they had a time of worship and they invited people to come and pray with someone should they want to. He describes having this internal conflict about going up to someone and asking for prayer. He eventually does, and he says to this person, “Hi, I’m not a Christian and I don’t know what I believe, but I’m here.” The person who prayed for him, of course, prayed, and Becket remembers thinking, “Why does this complete stranger care about me so much?” On his podcast, he and the person who prayed for him both describe their experience and how they saw God move in that moment and in Becket’s life ever since. This is the type of story I think about when I think about today’s verses. 

Prayer is powerful - because God meets us in the words and he moves in love. 

Verses 14 and 15 start with the reminder that we can have confidence in going to God. As a reminder, God is not a genie in a bottle. We don’t get everything we ask for just because we ask for it. In fact, as we mature in our faith, we stop asking for worldly things and start asking for the things that align with his heart. We learn to pray the promises of God, and of course, we learn those promises by staying near to him. Then John starts to talk about praying for others. He has done this before, but this time he says we should pray for others who are in sin; and we should pray for their heart to be transformed. 

I don’t know how to adequately explain what John was saying about sins leading to death, but I do know that sinners can be led to life. When we pray for a friend who is in sin, we have every reason to believe God can choose to save them just as he once saved us.  Make no mistake about it - God honors obedience. He will meet us as we stand in the gap for others and he will meet them in ways beyond our expectations. We only need to pray. They only need to receive the invitation. 

How do you stand in the gap for others?

D 😀

Hello and welcome to Beauty - the no-frills, no-nonsense podcast about all things beauty. True beauty. God’s beauty. I am your host, Deanna, and today we are talking about testimony. 

Have you heard things like, “Our life should be a testimony…” and “We all have a testimony…?” If you’ve been around church for more than a week, I’m pretty certain you have. These are common concepts that get brought up, especially in youth and college-age ministries. The point is that we are a witness to the work of Christ. People see him and his works through us. We don’t need powerful, life-altering testimonies. We just need to live a life that points to Jesus in everything we do. 

Well today’s verses take testimony to a new level. If we are to trust each others testimony, how much more important is it for us to trust God’s testimony? Who even thought God had a testimony? He’s God!! He is the testimony, right? We’ll get to that in a minute. First, take time to read and write 1 John 5:6‐9. I want to highlight just two things.

Do verses 6-8 hit you square between the eyes and make you see circles? What the heck does John mean when he talks about Spirit, water, and blood? That is a great question - and there are several answers, depending on which smart bible scholar you read. It seems to me, the most popular consensus is that John is talking about the Holy Spirit (obvi), the water from baptism, and the blood from Jesus’ atoning sacrifice on the cross. Do some research of your own to see what you think! It is because of these three that we even have verse 9 ‐ a testimony. The testimony. God’s testimony - about his son, Jesus. And that is the most beautiful thing.

How do you share your testimony with others? How do you share God’s testimony in the process?

D 🙂

Hello and welcome to Beauty - the no-frills, no-nonsense podcast about all things beauty. True beauty. God’s beauty. I am your host, Deanna, and I have been thinking a lot about how to wrap up 1 John 4. John said most of this stuff already- sometimes multiple times. I hope you appreciate his repetition and the wisdom it carries. While we are talking about love once again, today’s verses focus on one aspect of love that has not been on repeat - our love for God. 

Take a minute to press pause so you can read and write 1 John 4:17-21.

We know God is love, and today we see how that love comes full circle. As we stay near to God, walk in obedience, and love well, we naturally grow in our faith. We do these things in pursuit of a holiness, a righteousness, we will never reach this side of heaven. If, while living our days, we were like Jesus - we can then be confident on the day of judgment. We don’t have to fear that day, because of love. Because love is made complete in us as we stand before God. Because he loved us and we loved in response. Can you think of anything more beautiful?

No flowery words today can adequately sum up the love God has for us. It is something we experience. It is a beautiful thing now. Can you imagine what it will be like when it is made perfect?

D 🙂

Hello and welcome to Beauty – the no-frills, no-nonsense podcast about all things beauty. True beauty. God’s beauty. I am your host, Deanna, and I do not apologize that it took us almost an entire two weeks to get through 1 John 3. I could have shortened it, for sure – but I didn’t want to rush the rich lessons, so thank you for sticking with me as we have come to the final two verses in the chapter. John has a lot to say to his readers and we have a lot to learn, so let's dig in!

I love all things chocolate - and when peanut butter is swirled in, it takes chocolate to the next level. When I was younger, mom used to have these “splurge” moments at the grocery store. When I was with her in one of those moments, I fully took advantage of it and added a tub of chocolate peanut butter ice cream and a bottle of magic chocolate shell to the cart. I loved nothing more than squirting that chocolate on top of the ice cream, letting it harden, and then digging in. There is something terribly satisfying about cracking a hard shell of chocolate on top of a soft bowl of ice cream. I would save some of the bigger pieces of chocolate shell and eat them last, and it was pure delight.

We aren’t here to talk about ice cream, though talking about it makes me foresee it in my near future. But, I will focus right now, and talk about 1 John 3: 23-24.

Yesterday we saw how we can have confidence in Christ. We can be confident in him, and we can go confidently to him. The only prerequisite is to know him, love him, and obey him. I don’t think I did a good job about explaining this yesterday, so I will go back to that for just a moment today. It doesn’t hurt a bit because it also helps us understand these last two verses of chapter three.

Satan was waging war against the church and John was trying to help his readers see that they can have confidence in God. He wanted them to know that God is bigger than their heart. It is pleasing to God for us to go to him in prayer and he wants to give us that which we ask for because we keep his commandments. We have to remember the “keep his commandments” part. His commandments extend beyond “love God and love others.” Remember, we have to read scripture as a whole. And the reason I encourage you to not only read scripture, but also to write it out is so that you write scripture on your heart; so that you can recall it and use it to connect the dots as you read and study and learn.

Take a minute to flip your bible to the left, and read Matthew 16:24.

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.’”

You should probably write that one down too…

When we go to God, we can do so confidently and expectantly, but he won’t give us the material things we desire because, as children of God, we probably won’t desire them (since we have denied ourselves and all…). Our prayers our powerful when they are focused on God - his will, his kingdom, and his glory - not our own.

Verse 23 takes this further by spelling out two commandments – believe in Jesus and love one another. Believing in Jesus takes knowledge of who he is and trusting that he is who he says he is. I mean, how can we confidently go to a God we don’t really know? When we accept him as Lord and Savior of our life, we also accept what he would do with our life – which could be something radically different than we anticipated, prior to knowing him. Believing in Jesus takes a certain level of faith, even before faith is nurtured and grown.

So, the first and greatest thing we can do is to have a simple faith in trusting Jesus, and before we can obey the next command, we must obey the first. This is one of those both/and situations – not either/or. It is really one command with two parts. The second part is to love others. Do you feel like John is beating a dead horse here? I do – which means it is a message he doesn’t want us to miss.

Love. Is. Critical.

As you already know, I am a simple girl. Everything about me is simple (except my anxiety), so I appreciate John’s simplicity. There are no long lists to consider. No complicated tasks to remember. No fear of forgetting and no need for a post-it note reminder. Just two things – trust in Jesus and love people. When we do these two things, we know we are children of God because we can only do these things by staying near to him, walking in obedience, and loving well. This is the shell of our faith. It isn’t a magic chocolate ice cream topping that you can crack. It is a sturdy shell of faith, filled with the Holy Spirit, who guides us on a beautiful journey this side of heaven and into the presence of the one who saved us in the first place.

Tell me about your shell of faith - and maybe your favorite ice cream, too.

D  🙂

Hello and welcome to Beauty, the no-frills, no-nonsense podcast about all things beauty. True beauty. God’s beauty. I am your host, Deanna, and today we are talking about the greatness of our Father’s love!

Today, as we continue to walk through the book of 1 John, we are going to talk about God’s extravagant love for us. If you have been following along with this study, you know the drill. And if this is your first day joining - welcome! This isn’t a deep dive study, but rather a helpful resource for you to learn how to study. We begin each day by reading and writing the verses we will look at. Today, that is 1 John 3:1‐3. Once you read and write these verses, take a look at the words you wrote and see if you can identify a progression. 

Did you spot it in each verse? These three verses tell us what we are, what we will be, and what we should be. 

First, John tells us what we are. 

We are children on God.

Those are more than simple lyrics in a worship song. If you have claimed God as Lord and Savior, you are adopted into the family. You are a child of God. That is the beauty and reality of your life. 

John then goes on to share, in verse two, what will be in the future for those who claim their place in the family. God’s great love continues - even after death. We have something to look forward to because he is coming back for his church. When he does, we will not only see him, but we will also become like him. 

John wraps this up in verse three with the reason why it is important for us to know who we are and what we will be. 

“Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.”

It is motivation. In knowing that Christ will return for us; in knowing we will see him in all his glory and become like him for eternity, we should be motivated to live a life worthy of being claimed. 

One of my commentaries said, “To know God does not bring spiritual complacency, but purity of life.” 

This goes back to the previous chapters. Remember, we can’t just read and forget. We have to connect the dots. In the previous chapters, John urges his friends to walk in the light and be obedient to God. He tells them to seek forgiveness and to stay near to truth. He encourages them to love well. This does not sound like complacent faith to me. This is active faith. This is a pursuit of righteous living. And it is this type of engagement that will prepare us for the moment in eternity that John describes in verse 3. And that, my friends, is a beautiful thing. 

We should be focused on the things before us with the knowledge of what is ahead of us. What is the here and now stuff of life that you need to pay attention to so you don’t lose sight of your future hope? 

D 🙂

Have you missed part of the study? You can find links to each days thoughts here. Links will be updated on Friday’s. 

Hello and welcome to Beauty - the no frills, no nonsense podcast about all things beauty. True beauty. God’s beauty. Today, we are wading in the water and chatting about a antichrists. I won’t be getting real deep with this, so don’t freak out. 

If you didn’t read the blog post on worldliness yesterday, you should take a minute to do so. While you’re at it, you should also read and write the scripture from yesterday, and add today’s in the mix, so you are up-to-speed - 1 John 2:18-19.

Just like believers are to emulate Jesus, the enemy has non-believers doing the same for his team. This is what John is referring to in these two verses.

The Anti-Christ (capital A) is the final one who seeks to replace Christ on the throne. But the antichrists (little a) go before him to set the stage. These are non-believers, like the false teachers John is writing to warn his friends about. He doesn’t want them to be swayed by lies and fall prey to the world. 

These false teachers were doing just that - teaching false doctrine. How do we know? Well, John tells us right there in scripture - these false teachers went out from them. They went in a different direction, the way of the enemy, because they were never really true believers. They were imposters. They came into the church and rose from within the church, and they tried to deceive the church.

Notice John didn’t focus on the final Anti-Christ. He is more concerned with what is in front of him - and we should be as well. 

Who are the people you allow to pour into your life - willingly or not? Think about the worldliness from yesterday’s verses and start to make connections.

Be aware of the things you allow into your life. The enemy wants to destroy us. It is a beautiful thing when we are not only aware, but also prepared, and not led astray.

D 🙂

Hello and welcome to Beauty – the no-frills, no-nonsense podcast about all things beauty. True beauty. God’s beauty. I am your host, Deanna, and today we are wrapping up the second week of our 1 John study. We are in chapter two, verses 12-14, and you know the drill – press pause so you can take the time you need to read and write this passage of scripture.

All week, we have talked about sin, obedience, and love – and today, we are going to tie a pretty bow on top…until Monday, when we will unwravel it again with talk about love of the world, the antichrists, and how to recognize God.

Today’s verses address children, fathers, and young men – but John is addressing these as levels of spiritual growth. In one of my commentaries, it says John is addressing “ranks of disciples,” and I loved that imagery. If you look around you at church on Sunday, you will realize we are not all at the same place on the journey.

John addressed the little children first. These would be the new Christians. This group is usually very curious and hungry for truth. I have to believe John speaks to them first from a place of encouragement, so they knew they were seen and so they could learn from what he would say to those further along on their journey. All believers start here – forgiven and excited to know the forgiver.

John addresses the most faithful next – the people who are mature in faith. But even though they have a lifetime of knowledge and experience, they still have room to grow. Remember, we never fully arrive this side of heaven.

I love that John spoke first to the new Christians and then to the mature ones because it leaves everyone else in the middle. These are the people still traveling a road that seems not to end, and they get to hear everything John has to say.

The enemy seeks to kill, steal, and destroy, but all Christians, no matter where they are on their journey, can be taught to defeat him – not in their own strength, but in the strength of the Lord. We get this strength by knowing the word of God. This is the weapon used against the enemy. This is what every Christian needs to hear and be reminded of with each step on their journey.

So, how does this tie into what we have been reading all week?

Great question. I’m glad you asked!

Prior to this specific address, John talks about obedience and love - abiding in God and walking in his ways. Being forgiven draws us closer to God and gives us the desire to obey him. When we obey him, we are choosing a life of love, which goes beyond simple kindness – and that, my friends, is a beautiful thing.

Your homework tonight (and this weekend) is to catch up on any lessons you missed (see the videos on IG) and then think about your own journey of faith. Where are you? Are you a new Christian? An emerging disciple? Or a mature Christian? What have you learned so far on your journey? Where do you need to grow? What do you need to take the next step?  

I can't wait to hear where you are on your journey, so be sure to share!

D 😊

Hello and welcome to Beauty - the no-frills, no-nonsense podcast about all things beauty. True beauty. God’s beauty. I am your host, Deanna, and today we are going to continue talking about obedience as we dive into 1 John 2:1-2. If you haven’t already, go ahead and press pause on this high quality podcast so you can read and write today’s scripture.

My son is a freshman this year and has entered the world of high school football. I would be lying if I told you I was excited about that. I am just not a sports person, except for baseball, and even then my knowledge is basically just enough to get by. In football, I know who the quarterback is. All the other people on the field? Not so much - so this illustration I’m about to use might be a little weak.

John starts this chapter by sharing why he wrote in the first place - (answer) so they wouldn’t sin. I feel like we downplay sin a bit and say things like, “I’m human,” to justify a bad decision. Or, “God made me that way,” as if God knew we’d sin so it must be okay - which couldn’t be further from the truth. God doesn’t want you to sin. True, he knows you are human, but he also knows you are not powerless in resisting sin. You are making a conscious choice.

Sometimes when the quarterback throws the ball and that one guy catches it - he gets tackled. Let’s call that tackle, sin. It happens. But remember from chapter one that we are to walk in the light. This means being honest with God, owning our sin, and claiming our forgiveness.

Sometimes, when the quarterback throws the ball, the guy catches it and runs. Let’s call the run, walking in the light. That has to do with obedience. I suppose it probably has something to do with the team listening to the play that was called, but I really don’t know for sure. I have no idea how a touchdown happens…

But stay with me.

If you were the guy running with the football, trying not to be pushed to the ground before you cross a magical finish line, you could say you were a person running with God (under those Friday night lights), trying to avoid sin. But maybe you get tackled along the way.

Tackle = Sin

John tells us in these verses that Jesus died on the cross to satisfy the punishment for sin. He did this for everyone. But what if I told it it was only temporary? You see, the full wrath of God is only satisfied eternally for those who believe; for those who come to faith. So, the gift of Jesus on the cross was made for everyone, but not everyone will receive the gift.

This is where obedience comes in.

If we accept the gift, we have to walk in the light. And if we walk in the light, we have to obey. And if we are going to obey, we have to know God and what he commands. If if we are going to know him and his commands, we have to spend time with him.

I’m sure all the people on a football team have a specific job and they all work together to meet the goal of scoring the most points. In the body of Christ, that means helping each other to learn and grow. It means speaking truth in love. It means both offering forgiveness and accepting forgiveness. It means extending grace and mercy. What else does it mean to you?

Just as the football team who loses game after game learns how to improve just a little bit - the Christian who learns to obey will address the sin that tackles her on her journey so she can get up, wipe the dirt off, and keep walking.

I suspect every good football team has a game plan. I would imagine every good coach scopes out his team and plugs in his players based on size and ability and strength. I’m completely guessing, but that is what I would do if I knew what I was doing. So, that is what I am suggesting you do today. What are your strengths and weaknesses? Where do you need help - extra accountability - walking in the light? Find someone to be on your team to help you get a touchdown. We aren’t meant to do this alone. It is a beautiful thing when we come alongside each other to learn and grow and build the kingdom of God.

D 🙂

Hello and welcome to Beauty - the no-frills, no-nonsense podcast about all things beauty. True beauty. God’s beauty. I am your host, Deanna, and today we are digging into the book of 1 John. Hopefully you are going through this study with us, and if you aren’t, well, it is not too late to join in on the fun. You only missed the first assignment and there is no test - so you still pass and you can make up the work on your own. 

The assignment given yesterday was to read up on the book of 1 John and just find out some information about it - like who wrote the book and why. What did you discover? Did you find the book of 1 John was likely written by John, the disciple whom Jesus loved? Some scholars believe he may have written this letter at the time he was living in exile. John never identifies himself in the letters. He just affirms he was part of a group who could testify to the facts about Jesus. I love his display of humility. I have a goal to write a book someday. This would make me feel known in a way I have never felt known - even by complete strangers. And here is John, writing from a very different posture. Convicting…

The letter he wrote was written to the church with the intent of encouraging them in their faith. They were being taught things that were not consistent of Jesus and John took this very seriously and wrote from a place of love to encourage and disciple them in their faith. John knew false doctrine would be detrimental to people and he swooped in to help, confirming the certainties of Christ they had began to question. He was unapologetic, direct, and firm, in a loving and authoritative way. He kept it simple for his audience and left no room for doubt. His letter is not written to a specific church, but scholars believe it was written to the seven churches around Ephesus, the same churches he wrote to in Revelation. I love the way scripture connects itself. 

I chose to start with 1 John because of its simplicity and emphasis on love - two of my favorite things. You will see as you read through this short book, John compares various things: light and dark; truth and lies; love of God and love of the world, to name a few. All still very relevant today, but more importantly, these comparisons help us to discover or remember the basics of our faith. They point to the joy in a life lived with Christ, an encouragement to pursue holiness, and a reminder of eternity. The bottom line? When we truly surrender our life to Christ, we strive to obey his commands (all of them) and live a life of love. 

Friends, we are studying for a purpose. When you finish your study of 1 John (and any other book of the bible you read), you should be able to answer the question, “What is the big idea?” Think back to your elementary school days when you were taught some basic reading comprehension skills. That is the skill you need to employ when you read scripture. As you read and study, keep this question in mind so you can connect the dots. Remember who John is writing to - people who were disappointed and frustrated. Look at the reasons for that discouragement and the response John provides. This will help you begin to make connections. 

As you read through this book, I pray you will do so with fresh eyes alert to learning. And as you learn, I pray your faith will be deepened. 

Today’s homework is to take what you learned about the book of 1 John and begin to read. That should be no surprise - reading scripture is the first step in knowing scripture. Start by reading 1 John 1 - the whole chapter. It is only ten verses. I want to encourage you to read from a physical bible rather than an app on your phone. Highlight and underline and write out the things that stir your heart. This will help you read intentionally and for understanding. Pull out your journal or a random notebook begging to be written in, and jot down any questions you might have about the text as you read. This helps guide your study as you seek to learn and it will help you do more than a simple read to check something off your to-do list.

The goal as we read scripture is not to figure out what the text means to us, but rather what we learn about God through the text. We want to see how he shows up and how people find grace and experience mercy. Not everything in scripture is written for us specifically and we won’t “get” something out of every verse, so don’t put that pressure on yourself. Keep your eyes open so you see God in the story and learn more about him. He is unchanging. When we discover who he was for others, we can be confident he will be the same for us. Different times. Different circumstances. Different people. Same God - and I am excited for you to see him in a new way. 

Be sure to share a question or two you wrote down as you read. Let’s see if we can find some answers together. 

D 🙂