We love Him because He first loved Us (Part 2 of 5)

Hello Friends!

Welcome back to part two of “We love Him because He first loved Us.”

Let’s continue our study with the second lesson: THE PRIORITY OF GOD’S ELECTING CHOICE…

We love Him because He first loved Us (Part 2 of 5)

It was really surprising to me that after I became a Christian and started reading the Bible, I found that these words are taken directly from Scripture: “We love Him, because He first loved us.”

What I didn’t understand then – but I understand now! – is that this verse isn’t speaking merely about the motive for our love. It is a profound statement about the grace of God that sovereignly secures our love and transforms us from God-hating enemies into adopted sons and daughters whose hearts naturally overflow with the purest kind of love. Not only love for God, but also love for one another.

“He loved us first”. That is exactly what our verse says. It is also the whole gist of what the doctrine of election teaches. God’s love for us precedes any movement toward God on our part – God loved us first. The apostle John is actually echoing something Jesus once said to him. That last night prior to the crucifixion, when the disciples were alone together with Jesus, after they ate the Passover meal together in the Upper Room, Jesus said to them:

You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you – John 15:16

Now, John and the other apostles might have protested, “But that’s not true, Lord; we did choose You.” After all, they had left all to follow Him. Peter also said so explicitly:

Then Peter began to say to Him, “See, we have left all and followed You – Mark 10:28

They had made a conscious, deliberate choice to abandon their former lives, their loved ones, their livelihoods, and all they had – in order to follow Jesus Christ. They had indeed chosen to devote their lives to following Him. And in the case of John and his brother James, giving up their livelihood meant giving up the family fishing business, which by all appearances was a lucrative business for them.

John himself had met Jesus while John was under the discipleship of John the Baptist. As soon as he and Andrew understood that John the Baptist was pointing to Jesus as the promised Messiah, they left John the Baptist in order to follow Jesus. In a very real sense, they did choose Jesus. So what did Jesus mean when He said “You did not choose Me, but I chose you”?

He meant simply that whether they realized it or not, He had chosen them first. His choice was the decisive one. They would never have chosen Him at all had He not first chosen them. They loved Him because He first loved them.

Even if you are not completely convinced of God’s electing choice, you implicitly affirm this truth. You acknowledge it every time you thank Him for saving you. You know in your heart that you cannot take personal credit for your love toward God. You did not love Him first – “We love him, because He first loved us.” You and I are no better than the unbelieving people who still hate and reject Him. The only reason we love Him while they remain at enmity with God is that God’s loving grace has worked a miracle in our hearts to enable us to return His love.

The Apostle Paul asks:

 For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? – 1 Corinthians 4:7

Do not think for a moment that you can take credit for your love toward Christ. If you love Him at all, it is only because He first loved you. That is the very essence of the doctrine of election.

“We love Him, because He first loved us.” In other words, God took the initiative in salvation. God is both the Author and the Finisher of our faith. He started the process and He finished the process. His love for us not only came before any love we have for Him; but His love is what secured our love for Him. That’s exactly what this text says – “We love Him, because He first loved us.”…

Thank you for reading! Don’t miss next week’s edition as we investigate lesson #3…

May the Lord Jesus Christ continue to bless you with His perfect love, mercy and grace!

Keep looking up and sharing the Gospel while there is still time… Hallelujah and Maranatha – come quickly Lord Jesus!

 

Blessings!

Shane <><

Afraid or Lazy?

Are you afraid of the world? Does your fear prompt you to ignore the Bible or hide your faith?

Here’s a parable of a man who was entrusted with responsibility, but his fear resulted in a lack of productivity.

Matthew 25:24-29 ²⁴ “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵ So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ ²⁶ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? ²⁷ Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. ²⁸ “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. ²⁹ For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.

The man told his master he was afraid and so did nothing. However, his master told him he was wicked and lazy. If he was truly just afraid, he could have done the bare minimum of putting the gold in a bank. I also wonder if the man was hoping his master wouldn’t return, and if no one else knew where the master’s gold was, then the man could keep it himself and do as he pleased.

Do you and I do the same thing today? Do we think Jesus won’t come back in our life time and so we can live our own way for now? Or, are we afraid of the world? Or just plain lazy? If the bag of gold (or talent) was the Bible, is your Bible hidden? Or is it on the shelf collecting dust? Or is it being read and used to produce fruit in your life and the lives of those around you? 

God has entrusted each of us with the Bible. Will it multiply in abundance in your life?

Or, because of fear or laziness, will blessings and rewards be given to someone else instead of you?

Alice

Being Green

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  Romans 5:1-4

I was a Sesame Street kid (probably still am).  My mother made sure that what little television I saw was of that show.  One of my favorite lifelong lessons came from it and one of its main characters, Kermit the Frog.  When he was in a solemn mood, he would sing, “It’s not easy being green.”  Now many of us growing up thought it would be pretty cool to be a frog and maybe even green, but as I grew older, I understood the song was not about disdain for his color or being a frog.  It was about how his loving and caring personality often gets taken advantage of because either he was too nice or it seemed too convenient.  He did not shy away from being who he was.  After all, he’s a frog, and yes, he is green.  There is a lot to be said for someone who accepts the challenges that come with who they are and willingly embraces everything with it. 

A growing Christian faith is not always meant to be easy or comforting.  It is meant to be rewarding with the hope of God’s glory being revealed in one’s life.  While there are times our walk of faith will be fun, there are times God will ask of us to walk through something we do not want to face.  There are conflicts that I do not want to face, and sometimes, I run away because the pain or stress is too much!  Yet, God would look upon me, and nudge to tell me not to not give up and continue to fight knowing there is perseverance, character, and hope to be gained.  Our goal as Christians is not to fall into the comfort of a simplified faith.  It is instead to challenge ourselves, face our fears, and find true glory in our suffering for a wonderful and gracious God.

Our journey of faith is about persevering to the end.  No, it is not easy, but Dr. Brene Brown said it best saying, “You can choose courage or you can choose comfort.  You cannot have both.”  When we have shown courage to overcome fears, we will hear the verses of 2 Timothy 4:7 saying, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”  Isn’t that what we should all aspire for?  What suffering must you persevere through today?  My prayer is that with our faith, we all can accept ‘being green.’  Amen.

Tues Devo: Appreciate the moment....afterwards...

Philippians 1:12-14 “Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear.” (NASB)

Hello,

My kids love going to the zoo.  (If you have an hour or two to kill, just ask my son to tell you about his last trip – or any trip for that matter!) One thing you see there is everyone trying to get to the front. You see, the view is better of the animals from the front…you don’t have to strain to see around those tall people. We like to be in the front. We don’t just do this at the zoo, we tend to do this in everything. We want to see what is coming and be aware of whatever is in front of us. We feel like that is how we get the full appreciation of the moment. We take in the scenery and then try to remember everything that happens.

But with God, that appreciation typically comes after the fact. We step through things in life, and don’t usually get to appreciate the moments before or as they happen. But if we use our faith, and just step through while trusting God – we will be able to sometime later turn back and appreciate the moment afterwards.

I can’t promise when that afterwards will be. Paul got to see his while he was still on earth, seeing the Gospel spread and believers increasing in courage. But I am also sure there are things that he didn’t see or know of until he reached heaven, and could appreciate at that time.

Belief for salvation is not the only faith taking item in our lives – we must continually walk in faith. We should though periodically look back and appreciate what God uses in our lives – and it is the walking in faith that will allow those moments to come later.

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill

We love Him because He first loved Us (Part 1 of 5)

Hello Friends!

Welcome to a new 5-part Daily Devotions series titled “We love Him because He first loved Us.” This series will investigate the often misunderstood doctrine of the sovereignty of God’s saving purpose based on the Word of God.

Please join us over the next five weeks as we learn more about this very important truth.

Let’s begin our study with the first lesson: THE PERVERSENESS OF OUR FALLEN STATE…

We love Him because He first loved Us (Part 1 of 5)

Old musical hymns are wonderful, aren’t they?. One that may be familiar to you is, “Oh, How I love Jesus!” The closing line of that song is intriguing: “Oh, how I love Jesus… because He first loved me.” If you are indeed familiar with this beautiful hymn, you no doubt know that this is also what the Apostle John says in the Holy Bible:

We love Him, because He first loved us – 1 John 4:19

Look at it closely and you’ll see at least five great doctrinal lessons this verse teaches us. Today, we’ll consider the first one; then we’ll look at the other four in the coming weeks.

For some reason, before becoming a Christian, hearing the chorus of that song had always struck me as a strange reason for loving Jesus. Of course, in my unregenerate state, I had almost no understanding whatsoever of the love of Jesus Christ for me. He loved me but was I supposed to love Him too? Besides, loving Him just because He loved me first didn’t seem like a particularly noble or admirable reason for loving Him. Love is supposed to be unconditional, isn’t it? So “because He first loved me” never sounded like quite an adequate motive for loving Jesus. 

Incidentally, there’s a minor textual issue in this verse that I ought to mention. In the King James and New King James Versions, this verse is translated just the way I have read it: “We love Him, because He first loved us.” That’s because the Greek texts from which the King James Version was translated include the object Him.

It doesn’t matter which reading you prefer, because our capacity for loving God is dependent on our ability to have true love. If we couldn’t love at all, we certainly couldn’t love God. Therefore, the meaning of this verse includes the truth that “We love Him, because He first loved us.”

Think with me for a moment about the implications of that phrase at the end: “He first loved us.” In other words, there was a time when we didn’t love Him. That is the very essence of sinful depravity, isn’t it? A failure to love God as we ought. Nothing is more utterly and totally depraved than a heart devoid of love for God. As the Apostle Paul also said:

The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God – Romans 8:7

That describes a hopeless state of utter inability to love God, obey His commands or to please Him. That is the state of all whose hearts have not been renewed by Jesus Christ. 

This is a particularly poignant expression coming from the apostle John, who in his gospel refers to himself repeatedly as “that disciple whom Jesus loved.” Notice that in John’s own mind, Jesus’ love for him completely defined who he was. 

Why was this such a prominent feature in John’s thinking? I think he gives us a clue right here in our verse. The reason he was so preoccupied with the love of Christ for him is that he knew that love was utterly undeserved. He was keenly aware of his own sinfulness. As amazed as John was with the love of Christ for him, he must have been equally amazed at the thought that his own heart had once been devoid of any love for One who was so lovely. How can the human heart be so cold to One who is so worthy of our love? Anyone who truly appreciates the glory of Christ’s love, as John did, will be appalled and horrified at the realization that our own hearts do not love Him as we ought to. The knowledge of how perfectly He loves us produces such a sense of utter unworthiness, doesn’t it? 

You can see this vividly, even at the end of John’s life, when he sees a vision of the risen Jesus Christ in the book of Revelation where he writes:

And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead – Revelation 1:17

He was literally frightened into a coma, because this vision of the glorified Christ smote him with such an overpowering sense of his own sinfulness. And in an almost involuntary response, he collapsed on his face out of fear. 

That same overpowering consciousness of sin and shame is implied in the words of our verse, “We love Him, because He first loved us.” We are so utterly and totally depraved that if God Himself did not love us with a redeeming love, we would never have loved Him at all. If that does not fill you with a consciousness of your own sin and if it doesn’t shock you with a stark realization of the impenetrable hardness of the fallen human heart – then you need to meditate on it a little longer. 

It is my hope that you can see how this verse clearly and forcefully underscores the very essence of human depravity. There is nothing more desperately wicked than a heart that fails to love God. There is nothing more blind and irrational and sinful than not loving Someone so worthy of our love. We should need no motive to love Him other than the sheer glory His perfect being. And yet, we would not love Him at all if He had not first loved us!

Remember, this is the first and great commandment: 

Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” – Matthew 22:37

The whole of God’s law is summarized and epitomized in that one simple rule. To break that commandment is to fail in every single point of the law. There is nothing more completely and totally wicked. And yet, our verse reminds us that we are so hopelessly and thoroughly wicked that not one of us could ever truly love God unless God Himself enabled us to do so. It means that we are totally unable to save ourselves. We have a debilitating moral inability that makes our love for Him an utter impossibility until He intervenes to give us the ability to love Him. 

We cannot by sheer force of will set our hearts to love Him, because as fallen creatures we are so in love with our own sin and rebellion that our desires are twisted. Our affections are warped and hopelessly corrupted. And we are powerless to change ourselves:

Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil – Jeremiah 13:23

The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint – Isaiah 1:5

The [unregenerate] heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked—who can possibly understand it? – Jeremiah 17:9

Our hearts are poisoned by sin, and that is why we do not and cannot love God on our own. That is precisely what is meant by total depravity. It’s not that we are as evil as we could possibly be, but that evil has infected us totally—in every part of our soul—so that we are incapable of righteous desires and holy motives and loving affections toward God. I hope you can see how this truth is implied in this text… 

Thank you for reading! Don’t miss next week’s edition as we investigate lesson #2…

May the Lord Jesus Christ continue to bless you with His perfect love, mercy and grace!

Keep looking up and sharing the Gospel while there is still time… Hallelujah and Maranatha – come quickly Lord Jesus!

Blessings!

Shane <><

First Thanks

10 Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home.  Calling together his friends and Zeresh, his wife, 11 Haman boasted to them about his vast wealth, his many sons, and all the ways the king had honored him and how he had elevated him above the other nobles and officials. 12 “And that’s not all,” Haman added. “I’m the only person Queen Esther invited to accompany the king to the banquet she gave. And she has invited me along with the king tomorrow.  Esther 5

Haman is on cloud nine.  He's feeling awesome and powerful.  The queen has invited him and the king to be her private guests at a feast, not once, but twice!  This isn't a small dinner party, this is a feast, with only three people invited.  I can only imagine the delicious-ness of the food in front of all of them.

Back to the subject: Haman has wonderful news to boast about, and who does he turn to first?  His friends and his wife.  Therein lies the problem.  When things take a turn for the worse, people will often say that they turn to God first, which may very well be true, I'm not here to judge or point that out if they don't - but what about when things are turning for the good?  The really, really good?  Do you say thanks to God first or do you run to share the good news with your friends and family?

It doesn't have to be much.  When I receive good news, I'll sometimes only throw up a quick thank you prayer to God, and then run to my family.  Later, when I'm doing my devotional and prayer time, I'll then spend more time thanking him.  For example, earlier this year I won an award that meant a lot to me.  The first thing I did when I found out was throw up a quick prayer, "Thank you God letting me have a positive impact in these young lives."  And then I immediately began calling family and friends to share in the good news.  The next time I did my devotions, I spent more time thanking and praising God for what had happened.

That's the focus - Thanking God.  It's first and foremost.  Haman didn't thank whomever he served, so his own selfish desires took root.  He wanted to boast to those he knew, not thank anyone for the honor.  Who do you reach to first when things go positively?

Prepared and Ready

Has your house or car ever been broken into? Has your wallet or purse ever been stolen? Knowing what you know now, what would you have done differently to prepare for or prevent the incident?

A lady in one of my Bible studies had her car broken into one Friday night this year. They broke her window and grabbed her satchel. It contained her Bible and Bible study materials. She thought the robber might drop the bag somewhere once they found out it didn’t have anything of monetary value in it. However, she never found it. Her husband was especially not happy, because he had regularly reminded her not to leave any bag or anything visible in the car. Obviously, she’ll be more likely to remember that now! (Plus, maybe we’ll find out in Heaven that God used the Bible and Bible study materials in the life of the thief!)

Matthew 24:42-44      ⁴² “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. ⁴³ But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴ So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

If Jesus were to come back today, would you and I be prepared? Would we be ready?

Would there be anything we wish we would have done or said or prioritized differently?

We can start right now to be better prepared and ready! One sure way is by studying and applying God’s Word to truly know Him!

Alice

Telling Our Own Story

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. 1 Peter 3:3-4
   
One of my colleagues has mastered the skill of telling their own story.  Here is how it works.  A situation will occur where a peer asks questions about a situation.  The reality is the peer just wants information to help solve a problem.  However, my colleague will tell their own story saying, “They are questioning my judgment!”  I have to laugh about it because I can clearly see what is happening, and then subtly inform my colleague of what the reality is.  The truth of the matter is we all fall prey to this.  We might see someone homeless, and ‘tell our own story’ that they must be lazy.  Or we see a child running wild in a store with their mom chasing them, and then we ‘tell our own story’ that they are not a very good parent.  It raises the question that as a Christian what is the true story about us and how does God see us?

God knows us inside and out, and focuses on the potential of what we can be.  There are numerous stories in the Bible that show how God uses people for His will to be done.  In many cases, these were not perfect people, and like us, they had sinned before God.  However, God saw the ‘inner self’ of those individuals, and used them where they were rewarded for making the choice to follow God.  We often gravitate to the ugly stuff of other people because it sounds more interesting (ex. We love to tear down our heroes after building them up).  However, if we were to use our God centered lens, we’d see the potential, beauty, and positive aspects of people.  That is at the center of a Christian’s heart.

Seeing things through God’s eyes always provides the right story.  The Pharisees had ‘told their own story’ that Jesus was blasphemous and disobeyed God’s laws.  The reality was Jesus is the Son of God who sacrificed His life so that we would not suffer for our sins.  When you begin to assess another’s situation or motive, remember to ask yourself like those bumper stickers would ask, “What would Jesus do?”  How can you see others as God sees them?  Do you tell your own story to justify wrongdoing before God?  My prayer is that we see the world as God’s sees it and not tell our own story. Amen.

Tues Devo: Whose Orders?

Exodus 1:15-17 “Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other was named Puah; and he said, “When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live.” (NASB)

Hello,

Ever been faced with a scenario where you just don’t quite feel right about a decision in front of you? The right choice is fairly obvious, but the impact of that choice is not something you want to think about? Well, you are not the first! The midwives faced this test – the obvious choice was to not kill the babies (up there on my list of most obvious things) – but the consequences here are strong. The king of Egypt could have them killed for not obeying. They could even cover it up, as death rates were much higher then than now. But they evaluated the two sets of orders – one from God and one from Pharaoh – and made their stand based on who is really in control, and on the long term, not the short term.

What did they get for obedience? Not only protected, but God blessed them with families of their own.

Whose orders will you follow?

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill