God's Children Are Overcomers: On The Winning Team! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in 1 John 4:4,

“You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”

This morning my thoughts have been centered on the blessedness of being on the “winning team”.

Whether it’s the news, hearing of those who take advantage of others while seeking their own gain, people being unfair to others, politicians, religious charlatans, our judicial system that seems to be less than just so often, predators of all kinds of stripes, a growing darkness that seeks to destroy all which has been produced by our Judeo-Christian heritage (western civilization) etc., hearing of these things have a way of being disheartening at times.

But then I am reminded that we who have embraced Jesus Christ have One who will make all things right one day. We have anchored ourselves to the winning team. “the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” One day all these wrongs will be made right.

This is so much the case that Paul encourages us to keep from condemning these miserable exploiters who seek to take advantage of others. He tells us to leave it to the Lord. “Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.” 1 Corinthians 4:5.

In Revelation 21:6-8 we read, “He said to me: ‘It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.’”

In reading this I find I must admit, there, but for the grace of God, go I. The end of things will be a horror for those who reject the true God and continue in their ways. This thought leads me to compassion and concern: is there anything I can do to help these see the light?

It is wonderful being on the “winning team” that overcomes. How I wish all were!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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The Son Of God Took On A Human Body! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in 1 John 4:2b,

“Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God…”

Here is an amazing reality: as we read in verse 9, God, “sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him”. He came as one of his own creations, God as man – with a human body! Fully God and fully man! Paul tells us in Colossians 2:9 that, “in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form…”, that is, in human bodily form.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God "… is God over all, forever praised! Amen.” Romans 9:5b. He is our Creator God as John tells us in John 1:1-3, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”

From my understanding of this, it differentiates the Son from the other members of the Trinity. In taking a body, Jesus Christ set aside what is called “omnipresence” and became local in bodily existence. Peter notes this when he points out that Jesus Christ is currently in heaven (as opposed to everywhere, specifically here on earth), to stay there, until the appointed time of his return to earth, “He [Jesus Christ] must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.” Acts 3:21.

Look at what our Creator God has done! In his desire to create an identity we can relate to, as well as having a body to sacrifice for us, he has taken on human form! In his love and passion for us as his creation, he has taken on humanity, Hebrews 2:14-17!

In Romans 8:29 we read, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” Here is a well known verse that speaks to the change God brings about within us, that we might be “brothers”, in a sense, to Jesus.

What is assumed in Paul’s statement is that the Son of God has done something on his part to bring this about as well: while being God he took on humanity that “he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” Jesus Christ is God and always will be, we are humanity, his creation, and always will be… but look at what he has done!

What an astonishing truth! It is breathtaking to consider!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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The Holy Spirit Dwells Within Us! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in 1 John 3:24b,

“This is how we know that he [God] lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.”

There is an experiential validation of our new life in Jesus Christ. This validation comes in the person of the Holy Spirit. In the wisdom and love of God, he has chosen to dwell within us as his children through the Holy Spirit. Throughout this letter, John points to the changes the Holy Spirit brings in the lives of believers so that his readers can tell who false teachers are (who are missing these changes) and take encouragement in recognizing these very same validating changes within themselves.

Where God dwells in a sinful and fallen world, change takes place! The Holy Spirit starts a wonderful transformation in our lives that bring a richness and fullness in life as we begin the process of being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, Romans 8:29. From the well-known passage in Galatians 5:22-23 we know these changes include: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

The Holy Spirit enables us to live our lives in ways that are pleasing to our God. We are now enabled to “clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Colossians 3:12-14. God’s people are the most pleasurable and wonderful people to spend time with!

There are so many wonderful things that come into our lives as believers because the Holy Spirit dwells within us. He acts as a seal upon each of our lives guaranteeing our inheritance in eternal life, Ephesians 1:13-14. He gifts us with talents and abilities to serve one another and motivates us to do so, 1 Corinthians 12:4-11. The Holy Spirit illuminates our minds by revealing to us the truths contained in the Scriptures and the things of God, 1 Corinthians 2:6-16. He is our counselor, our teacher, he guides us into all truth, he brings us peace and confidence and he reveals the things of Jesus Christ to us in such a way that we find ourselves in glorious awe and admiration of him. John 14:25-27 and John 16:12-15.

How wonderful it is that we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.

God Has Given Us The Holy Spirit! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in 1 John 3:24,

“This is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.”

John speaks of a subjective reality that demonstrates the truth that God lives in us: “We know it by the Spirit he gave us.” Those who have embraced Jesus Christ in faith have received the Holy Spirit. As Jesus promised, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” John 14:16-17.

How wonderful God has chosen to dwell within believers! Jesus told us in the passage in John 14, verse 26, “The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” At the end of his life now, John tells his readers that which he knows from a lifetime of experience: the Holy Spirit dwells within and leads us into truth.

This is the very same Holy Spirit who inspired certain ones, such as John, Paul, and others, to write things down for us that he wants us to know. In 2 Peter 1:20-21 we read, “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

This is that same Holy Spirit that illuminates our minds and our hearts by making the Scriptures come alive as we read of in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

How wonderful God has chosen such a way to provide us confidence, assurance, and a means to grow into spiritual maturity, in coming to dwell within us though the Holy Spirit!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.

What God Requires From Believers Is Not Complicated - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in 1 John 3:23-24a,

“This is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them.”

Here, from John’s pen, is what God requires of us: to believe in Jesus Christ and to love one another. Imagine! Of all the things God could require of us, he simply asks us to recognize who Jesus Christ is and what he has done for us and to treat one another in a loving way! That doesn’t seem so overwhelming to me.

There is no end to the many things a lot of folks say we have to do to please God. I have seen lists of the things a person has to do in order to be saved. These seven requirements or those twelve (or whatever) things you have to do. As a believer, now that we are “in”, there are fresh lists of all sorts of things we need to do.

I don’t see a big list here from John. In his gospel, John says “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God…” John 1:12. In Romans 10:9 we read, “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” That seems pretty simple to me.

Sometimes I wonder if we don’t get overly complicated with all kinds of things we pile into lists of the things we need to do in order to live our lives pleasing to God. I certainly wouldn’t criticize the wonderful intentions we all have, but sometimes I just wonder…

A lot of Scripture tells us how to live out these simple commands John gives us. One passage that I feel has great bearing on our deportment as believers is found in Colossians 3:12-14 “Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” What a wonderful way to describe how to love one another! Again, it seems pretty simple to me. It does require humility though…

Just before the passage in Colossians 3 we read in verses 5-10, “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” Maybe this is where things get complicated for us. The many expressions of our sin nature seem to require attention in so many areas of our lives.

Yet, we are told that the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within each of us when we embrace Jesus Christ in faith and that he is in conflict with our sin nature, Galatians 5:17. As Paul reminds us in Romans 8:9, “You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.” It would seem to me there is a natural (or should I say “supernatural”) tendency for those of us indwelled by the Holy Spirit to live consistently with what God is doing in our lives and that these many areas would take care of themselves.

Simple does not necessarily rule out challenging at times…  Just a few rambling thoughts this morning.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.