What does it take to move from outside, from watching, from shivering in anxiety and loneliness, to being inside, on the ride, living with peace and joy?

This is the journey, from knowing to believing God’s love, to abiding in God’s love. So we know that we abide in Him and He in us.

Photo by Umberto on Unsplash

Permalink

What is Love? What isn’t Love?

What love is real love?

These are questions John answers in 1 John 4:7-11.

Photo by Umberto on Unsplash

Permalink

Once upon a time, no one could see God.

But then Jesus came!

But then Jesus left.

But then, something even more astonishing happened.

And now—thanks be to God!—we can see Him again.

Photo by Umberto on Unsplash

Permalink

Conflict affects every part of our lives. We do not like conflict.

But God can use conflict. God is at work, even in conflict.

Grace can grow from conflict.

Photo by Oliver Hale on Unsplash

Permalink

Our practices grow from beliefs planted by teachers who are filled with spirits. So it is really important to know: Is this The Spirit who is from God? Or are these spirits from the world (and from “him who is in the world”)?

So we must test these spirits by testing their teachings.

Photo by Umberto on Unsplash

Permalink

Love is what is right. It doesn’t always feel like it—it often feels quite foolish! But it is the mark of having true life, the mark of belong to Jesus.

Photo by Umberto on Unsplash

Permalink

There is a powerful, real, sometimes painful, but kind of obvious, connection between our identity as God’s Children, and what we do with our lives. Or, as John says it, what we practice.

Photo by Umberto on Unsplash

Permalink

In 1John, John is writing to strengthen his readers’ sense of their identity in Christ. Chapter 3 begins with one of the most memorable, simple, and profound affirmations in the whole book: “We are children of God.”

Photo by Umberto on Unsplash

Permalink

John speaks often about the subject of “life.” What does he mean by this? Don’t we have it already? Is this what Jesus offers? How do we get it? And how does the Easter-event of Christ’s Resurrection fit into these questions?

Photo by Umberto on Unsplash

Permalink

John says that we have “the anointing.” What does this mean? And what does it mean for us?

The significance ranges from the most metaphysically profound to the most thoroughly practical and experiential. We cannot do without a clearer understanding of this All-Important central feature of what Christ has given to us.

Photo by Umberto on Unsplash

Permalink