Taught by Grace

The godly person walks in happiness when they separate from the ungodly influence of the world by filling their mind with the truth of God's Word. They delight in God's Word. They meditate upon God's Word. Reading the Bible will not be the only thing we do, but it should fill our hearts and minds in everything we do! The Word of God must be our delight and meditation throughout the entire day. 

The blessed man has two attitudes towards God's Word in Psalm 1:2:

He Delights in God's Word - His pleasure and desire are centered upon the Bible. 

He Meditates on God's Word - He thinks on the Bible throughout his day. 

How's your relationship with God's Word? May we grow deeper in our love for the Bible. May we be more faithful in our obedience to the Bible. May we be stronger in our meditation upon the Bible!

The inaugural Psalm declares the happiness of the godly man. He is blessed because he has separated from the influence of the world and set his heart upon God's Word. Biblical happiness is not found in joyous circumstances, but contentment in God and His path. 

This first episode deals with the godly man's separation from the ungodly's influence. 

He avoids the advice of those who live without care for God. 

He walks distinctly from those who live contrary to God. 

He does not dwell among those who mock God. 

The Christian should walk this path because he has been declared righteous by God and in walking this path, he will find that there is no greater pleasure than to be satisfied with God's life!

In the final episode of our journey through First John, we see some more certainties of the Christian life. The Christian will live differently because of the new nature we have received in Christ.

The Christian should not live in uncertainty but in certainty. The letter of First John was written with emphatic periods instead of uncertain question marks. In this week's episode, we embark upon a two-part journey through the final section of verses in First John. We will see five certainties about the Christian's life.

Certain about Assurance of Salvation

Certain about Answered Prayer

Certain about the New Birth

Certain about Eternal Life

Certain about God's preeminence

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a historical, factual event, but it is more than that. It has a very practical impact upon our lives today. There are three implications from First Corinthians 15 upon our lives, because Jesus is alive. 

We have a Faith that is True (1-20).

We have a Future that is Triumphant (20-57).

We must be Faithful in the Task (58). 

If Christ was not alive, we would be absolutely hopeless. Everything that we believe and do would be nothing but vanity and emptiness. However, He is not in the grave. He is alive! Now, no act of service for His glory is vanity. It does not matter how small or insignificant it may seem, our labor is not in vain when it is done in Him. This is all true because Jesus lives!

The death of Jesus on the cross was not an accident. He died as the substitutionary sacrifice for the ungodly. He died for those who had wronged Him so that they might have life! This is the glorious truth of what Jesus did for us on the cross.

The Christian is an overcomer! We overcome this world by our faith in Jesus Christ. 1 John 5:4-12 displays the truth about the certainty of our faith in Jesus.

We have seen what love is and why we are to love through our study in the epistle of First John. In today's episode, we see how a Christian can know that he is displaying the love God has commanded him to display. This is revealed in loving obedience to the Word of God. We love one another best by walking in the truth because God has shown us what love is in His Word.

The love of God has been displayed to us through what Jesus did for us. Now, we are called to love one another. We are able to love because we are indwelt by the Spirit of God through faith in Jesus Christ. We have personally believed God's love for us, therefore, we are now able to love one another.

God's clarion call for Christians is that we love one another. This week we see that this command is rooted in the character of God and demonstration of His love. He is love and He has demonstrated His love towards us in sending Jesus to save us from our sins. This is what should motivate us to love one another! We have the ultimate example in Jesus Christ and this should call us to lovingly serve fellow-believers in Christ.