God is light and love. Those who have fellowship with God are becoming more holy and more loving. But how? We become like God by abiding in Him—experiencing an intimate, close relationship. Abiding is more than a superficial acquaintance. Abiding involves ongoing daily dependence on him. To put it simply, abiding means keeping the words of God in our hearts and minds, so that they are renewing and reviving us, shaping and sanctifying us, filling and forming us.

If God is love, how can He hate? The Bible makes several references to God's hatred, not of individuals, but of sin and unrighteousness—sin and evil are contrary to God’s nature. We cannot love with a perfect love nor can we hate with a perfect hatred but God can both love and hate perfectly, because He is God. His love extends to every person and has been proven through the sacrifice of Jesus. God may despise the sins committed by people, yet He deeply loves each person.

Love is at the core of God’s being, and it has been for eternity. But what is love? God’s love is chiefly displayed in the revelation of Jesus, not simply in the cross but also in the resurrection and God’s sanctifying work in us. God's love is unconditional, and it's not based on feelings or emotions. He doesn't love us because we're lovable or because we make Him feel good; He loves us because He is love. He created us to have a loving relationship with Him, and He sacrificed His own Son to restore that relationship.

Light is a common symbol for God’s presence, but what does it mean? Throughout the Bible light symbolizes God’s holiness and God’s guiding presence. God is holy and he leads people into holiness. Jesus is the ultimate guide to holiness and in his resurrection, we are empowered to follow Jesus.

The phrase ‘God is love’ comes from 1 John and is used to convey many different ideas of who God is. But ‘God is love’ is not the only ‘God is’ in 1 John—it also says that ‘God is light’. In the book of 1 John, John proclaims who God is in light of the revelation of Jesus. After the Resurrection, the disciples truly saw that Jesus was the central revelation of God’s character and spent the rest of their lives proclaiming that revelation. In the book of 1 John, John testifies to what they saw in Jesus, that God is light and love.

Have you heard the good news? Christ’s grave is empty. He is risen, just as he said. So let your hearts rise up and rejoice. Because Jesus rose from the dead, we too can rise up from the dead...even while we are yet living and breathing. Abundant life is ours to experience today, if we believe in Jesus and place our lives in His hands. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

Rev. Martin Nicholas invites you to worship at Sugar Land Methodist Church for Holy Week and Easter services.

In the social media age, vainglory (pride) is one of the shiniest of vices. The constant attempt to secure happiness through attention is all around us. Jesus lived his life to the glory of the Father and in the service of others and found true admiration and glory. In this upcoming Holy Week, may God direct our thoughts and attention towards what matters most, Jesus Christ our King. Let’s choose to focus on worshipping Jesus, thanking Him for the gift of His sacrifice, celebrating the power of the Resurrection, and the new life found in Him alone.

Recently, anger seems an overwhelming part of our cultural, political, and personal rhetoric. Should we be concerned, or is anger an appropriate response to perceived injustices? Anger in and of itself is not a vice. The problem is that human anger hardly ever counters the injustice it is aimed at. It is instead self-serving. Jesus models a life of gentleness and righteous anger. Shouldn’t we follow his example?

Greed has gone from being a vice to being wisdom in our secular age. Greed promises security and self-sufficiency. At its root greed offers a replacement for trust in God for our security. Jesus lived a life of extreme trust in God’s will and invites a security that goes deeper than the bank or the grave.