I Will Consume Them - Jeremiah 14:11-12

Jeremiah 14:11-12 ESV 

The Lord said to me: “Do not pray for the welfare of this people. Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, and though they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.”

These are the three judgements that become three horsemen in Revelation. They follow the white horseman who is the beast impersonating Christ. They represent the plagues of judgment incurred by an unfaithful Israel. 

Moses warned Israel what would happen if they were unfaithful to the covenant. The Lord long begged them to return before saying enough was enough. 

The time of Jacob's trouble is now and is to come. But a time for reconciliation will follow.   

T Work - Genesis 2:15

Genesis 2:15 ESV

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

Genesis 3:22-23

Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.

We are created for work, to bear the fruit of the Lord. Adam was formed from the earth and placed in the Garden to work and keep it. His disobedience caused his return to the ground from which he came, and it is there his work would continue. This is where we all live and work, in the shadow of death. 

Jesus restores us to the Garden state. We remain in the valley of the shadow of death but we have entered the light of the Lord and have become the light of the world. 

We now can choose to obey Him and thus choose life. Our work becomes bearing the fruit of the Spirit. In this way we multiply and subdue the earth, our earth and world. We are able to overcome the world by becoming children of God. 

To Seek The Lord - Zechariah 8:20-23

Zechariah 8:20-23 ESV 

“Thus says the Lord of hosts: Peoples shall yet come, even the inhabitants of many cities. The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts; I myself am going.’ Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’”

Israel will be restored and will be the gates of the new Jerusalem. The nations will come to worship God, the people of the earth will seek the temple of His dwelling. This is the house of the Lord which is the Bride of Christ. There are many rooms in this house, prepared by the Lord. 

He who has begun a good and new work in you will finish it. 

Have Borne Witness - John 1:32-34

John 1:32-34 ESV 

And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

I see the Spirit descend from heaven and remain on each one who repents and believes in Jesus Christ. We rise from the water of our baptism a new creation in Christ. This is our baptism with the Holy Spirit, our sealing and union with the body of Christ. As long as we remain on earth so is the Spirit present. 

When the Lord returns, we will meet Him in the air. We will no longer be joined in Spirit only, but in body as well. 

I bear witness that we are sons of God. 

The One Who Conquers - Revelation 2:7

Revelation 2:7 ESV 

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’

Revelation 2:11

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’

Revelation 2:17

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’

Revelation 2:26

The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations,

Revelation 3:5

The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.

Revelation 3:12

The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.

Revelation 3:21

The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.

In all seven letters to the churches from Jesus in Revelation we see the the same message. The rewards of heaven are bestowed on the one who conquers. These words are for believers who have placed their faith in Christ. The rewards are many, but only one receives them. He who perseveres. 

When we are told to hold on to what we have through repentance and walk with the Lord, we will never fail. No one can snatch us out of His hand. However, we can choose to walk in any direction and away from the Lord. Just as we have come to the Lord, we can leave. 

With Him we are more than conquerors. Without Him we are nothing. 

Stay attached to the vine and bear the fruit of the Spirit. He will never leave us. Never  leave Him. 

The Word

"Let there be light."

That light was the life of men. 

Called to life, we become children of light. 

God spoke it and it is so. 

This is the word. 

And Does Them - Matthew 7:24-27

Matthew 7:24-27 ESV 

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

Hearing the words of Jesus and agreeing with them is not enough. We must put them into practice in our life in order to enter the life of God. 

It is the word mixed with faith that saves and something is required of us more than simply agreeing with God. We must be active in that word. The word is living and by living in the word we will not fall, but stand firm on the rock of our salvation. By renewing our mind with the word we begin transforming into the image of Christ.

This is our part of working out our salvation, in the becoming of who we are. 

The Wrath Of God - John 3:7

Jeremiah 14:11-12 ESV 

The Lord said to me: “Do not pray for the welfare of this people. Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, and though they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.”

Jeremiah 15:1-2

The Lord Will Not Relent

Then the Lord said to me, “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go! And when they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord:

“‘Those who are for pestilence, to pestilence,

and those who are for the sword, to the sword;

those who are for famine, to famine,

and those who are for captivity, to captivity.’

Ezekiel 14:21

“For thus says the Lord God: How much more when I send upon Jerusalem my four disastrous acts of judgment, sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast!

Revelation 6:7-8

When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.

Matthew 3:7

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

John 3:36

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Romans 4:15

For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.

Romans 5:9

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

1 Thessalonians 5:9

For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Revelation 3:10

Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.

The four horsemen in Revelation represent judgement, the wrath of God. This does not apply to the children of God. This is for those that dwell on the earth. Israel will be at the center of the storm, as are her enemies that surround her. This is the the time of Jacob's trouble and the climax of her punishment. 

A multitude will come out of the great tribulation and enter the kingdom of heaven. 

We are saved from the wrath of God. Thanks be to God!

To Walk With God

To walk with God requires flesh and spirit. 

Our spirit dwells in our flesh. 

Christ came to dwell in our flesh. 

The Holy Spirit comes to dwell in our flesh. 

God is with us. 

This is how we walk with God. We are together one. 

The Branch - Zechariah 6:12-15

Zechariah 6:12-15 ESV 

And say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. It is he who shall build the temple of the Lord and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne. And there shall be a priest on his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.”’ And the crown shall be in the temple of the Lord as a reminder to Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen the son of Zephaniah.

“And those who are far off shall come and help to build the temple of the Lord. And you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. And this shall come to pass, if you will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.”

The Branch is Jesus Christ. The temple He builds is the body of Christ, which He raised in three days. He is the shoot of Jessie and the vine of the Church. 

He is King and Priest who sits upon the throne. 

Those from afar are the Gentiles who choose God and become part of that temple. They are the ones who believe and obey the Lord. These become branches of the vine which is the Lord. 

These Three Agree - 1 John 5:6-12

1 John 5:6-12 ESV 

This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

God has provided the the testimony of His Son through the birth and death and life as the Son of Man. Jesus came to us through the water of our humanity and His blood was shed on our behalf.  Through the water of repentance we come in order to follow Him. John baptized Jesus for the sake of our righteousness, to show us the way. He did not need to repent because He did not sin. It prepares us for baptism in His blood. 

He has and is doing this through the Holy Spirit, from conception, to filling, to leading. This same Spirit is given to us, bringing us to life, filling us, and leading us to the eternal life of God. The testimony is the Spirit and we have that Spirit within ourselves. We become sons of God. 

He brings us to the water of repentance, washes us clean with the blood of Christ, and brings us into all truth. We have Christ and life. 

There are three that testify to the same truth. We only have to agree to walk with Him. 

The One Who Believes - 1 John 5:1-5

1 John 5:1-5 ESV 

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

Everyone who believes Jesus and in Jesus has been born again. Our spirits are given life from the womb of the earth. Our Father is God. 

Whoever loves Jesus loves the Father. Jesus was born of the Father, and so are we. God enters man by entering Jesus. Man enters God by entering Jesus. Through Jesus we become one. 

We love God by keeping His commandments, His word. Our faith in His word overcomes the world. We are the world until we place our faith in the God who is ever and eternally before us. This begins before we leave this body of flesh, but we never leave the presence of God. We have begun the journey of leaving this body of flesh when we entered the body of Christ and for us eternity has begun. This is the present and eternal kingdom of heaven. 

These verses express the essence of what is necessary to be part of the body of Christ. The word of God has entered our hearts and is expressed in our lives. We are known by God. By His light we become the light of the world. 

Have You Understood? - Matthew 13:51-52

Matthew 13:51-52 

New and Old Treasures

“Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.” And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

In these verses Scripture likens the treasure of the kingdom of heaven to the word of God as revealed in the Old and New Testaments. Our training comes from that word, for the Spirit provides and inhabits that word for our salvation. Through the truth of that word we begin to store our treasure in heaven. 

The Spirit brings us into all understanding. 

Perfect Love - 1 John 4:17-19

1 John 4:17-19 ESV 

By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us.

God's love is perfect without us. It's work is complete in us when we have no fear of judgment. When we realize we have nothing to fear from God, it affords the freedom God intends for His children. While His love is perfect, our understanding of this perfect love may not.

Christ has done a perfect work for us. His mercy has removed the judgment which plagued mankind. A person can fear judgment without reason, by not fully believing what God has done. This does not diminish the gift of God, but it does diminish the joy and realization of that gift.

"Perfect love casts out fear." When we accept His love and what it does in our life, we are no longer fearful of one day standing before the Lord. We are then able to love and be loved in the way God intends. That is perfect love. 

We Abide - 1 John 4:13-16

1 John 4:13-16 ESV 

By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

His Spirit is the way of abiding in God, the only way. The only way we can have access to God is for Him to make a way. He has done that through His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus remains with us by the Holy Spirit given to us when we confess the Son. He is with us. 

We understand His love and life to be with us. We abide in the house of God. He tabernacles with His people. 

Beloved -1 John 4:7-12

1 John 4:7-12 ESV 

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

We are beloved because God loves us. To each one of us He says, "This is my son with whom I am well pleased."

God is love and we are born of the same essence, in His image. 

He sent His only Son because of love. He is sending you and me because of that love. Christ obeyed God and expressed that love. We who follow Christ are to be like Him. We who are beloved are to be love.  

I Never Knew You - Matthew 7:21-23

Matthew 7:21-23 ESV

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Someone made the observation that this could be the scariest thing said by Jesus. The idea that a person could think they have received the salvation of Jesus, do things in His name, yet not be known by Him, even called lawless, is as frightening as it is possible.

What might be missing? Could it be love? If we are without love, we have nothing in common with the love of God. It is love that calls to us. God is love. It is love that answers that call. By answering His call, we enter and are united with His love and light. 

With love comes the knowing and being known. Love covers a multitude of sins and without it we are nothing. The children of God will be known by their love, not what we do, but what we are. 

Listening - 1 John 4:4-6

1 John 4:4-6 ESV 

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

We who believe God have overcome the world. We have risen with the Lord from the earth of a natural man into the kingdom of heaven, the realm and house of God. 

What one is able to hear depends on where one is, what is close to that person. We can hear God only if He is with us. Having the Spirit is having God. This doesn't mean we always listen, but it does mean we can. By this we can know. 

The Spirit is moving and you can't tell where it comes and goes. Unless you're listening. 

What do you hear?

More Than Angels

The angels are created creatures. Man is a created creature. 

Jesus was born from above in the form of man who is born in the world below. 

We who believe come into this world as man, but leave this world when we are reborn into the life God. 

We will be something more than angels in the end, for we will be like Him. 

Make It My Own - Philippians 3:12-16

Philippians 3:12-16 ESV 

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

The same Greek word (τέλειος) is translated in this passage as "perfect" and "mature". 

How can Paul say he is not perfect and complete, but then say for those that are perfect and complete to think in this way?

He may be saying we are complete and perfected in Christ and are able to stand in the presence of God because we stand with Christ. The key phrase may be "I press on to make it my own". This implies he presses to become ever more like the perfect man Jesus Christ here on earth, to follow and continue live and grow into image of Jesus. We have a model before us and a journey to complete before our resurrection is consummated. What we will be we do not know, but we know we will be like Him. 

James 1:2-4

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

This is the working out or living in the new life we have been given. He made us His own. What is His has become ours. 

Steadfastness in our faith will make us perfect and bring us to perfection. 

That Confesses - 1 John 4:1-3

1 John 4:1-3 ESV 

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.

There are many spirits that walk the earth, but few are born from above. The Spirit of God unifies the body of Christ and dwells in the heart of each believer. The Spirit enables us to confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh from God and the same Spirit of Christ has come into our flesh. 

Christ has come, but so has antichrist. We bear the light in a dark world. We are in the world, but not of the world. Look for the light within a person who confesses the true light. We shine His light as Israel was not able to do. They will pick up that light upon His return. 

They will share that light with the world and a great multitude without number will come out the great tribulation and don robes of righteousness. This will continue after the tribulation to fill the world with the knowledge of God, as Adam and Eve were called to do, but failed. 

They will not be the bride of Christ, for the bride will already be joined with Christ. They will made righteous and be able to pass through the gates of the New Jerusalem, but will remain in His kingdom on earth. Christ will sit on the throne of David, and His kingdom will last forever. 

Keeps His Commandments - 1 John 3:19-24

1 John 3:19-24 ESV 

By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.

God is greater than our heart and our weakness. He knows everything about us and loves us still. Whenever we might be prone to judge in ourselves, we can take comfort in the knowledge that He has already judged us and now calls us His children. 

The past is forgiven, but the abiding takes place in the present. His word endures forever. We must abide in His word to abide in God. Our walk with Him is a journey that requires two to be in agreement. Where two or more are gathered, there is the Spirit. It is the Spirit that unifies us into one. 

Keeping His commandments proves the abiding and we receive the witness of the Holy Spirit. 

Yet Closes His Heart - 1 John 3:16-18

1 John 3:16-18 ESV 

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

Indifference is not compatible with God's love. John speaks of sharing the love of God with others. His love is poured out into our hearts and we are filled to overflowing, unless we close the door. 

God's love does not see our plight and wish us the best, but is active to the point of sacrifice to make us whole. 

If we close the doors of God's love in our lives, we are closing the door to God, for He is love. This is why it is possible for a believer to hear Him knocking at the door so that He might come in. Opening the door allows His love to enter and flow through us. It is then our cup overflows. 

Because We Love - 1 John 3:11-15

1 John 3:11-15 ESV 

For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

From the beginning can take us all the way back to the beginning where the offspring of Adam and Eve live out the outcome of the knowledge of good and evil. Evil has infected those chosen to bring the light into the world. Cain displays and acts with the inevitable effects of the evil one. Satan was a murderer from the beginning. 

This may seem an unexpected event for the plans of God, one that He didn't see coming. This is not possible for the one who sees the end from the beginning. It can be easy to forget that God is not like us. He is not bound by the limits of our thinking and existence. His ways are not our ways. 

The power of God is made perfect, or complete, in our weakness. There is nothing lacking in the power of God that requires our weakness for perfection. It is when we are weak that we are able to see the need for something or someone other than self. We can begin to comprehend the power and love of God only when we are able to look beyond ourselves and choose God. 

The world is under the power of the evil one. The evil one hates God, and therefore the love of God. Hate is the opposite of love, just as death is the opposite of life. The evil one opposes God because he embodies hate and death. 

Those who have entered life have become the enemy of world.

Practice - 1 John 3:4-10

1 John 3:4-10 ESV 

Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

We are in the process of becoming someone and something. This life is a practice round for the life to come. We usually get better at the things we practice. The trouble is not all things make us better. 

We cannot change how, when, or where we are born in the flesh. But we do have a say in who will be our spiritual father. We do have a say in our spiritual birth and condition. We do have a say as to our life and death. 

This will manifest not in what we say alone, but what we do. What we practice. This practice implies a process of becoming, of building toward a particular end. It is a journey through our time on earth, a linear and horizontal process. It is also a journey of another kind, a vertical process of up or down, one which encompasses our spiritual progress. 

Practice can make perfect, but it can also be our undoing. Either way we are given the desires of our heart. Consider carefully that which you choose. 

We choose in whose house we will dwell. I think we will all prefer our Heavenly Father's abode. The other option is down, way down. 

And So We Are - 1 John 3:1-3

1 John 3:1-3 ESV 

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

The Father calls men to be His children. The invitation is to all and all who respond to His love are loved by Him, adopted by Him, and are joined with Him in the body of Christ. This is the same body that was rejected and slain in form of Jesus Christ. We now are manifest in that same rejected body, the body of Christ. 

When He appears we will be like Him because we have become part of His body. The glory of His body will be in full view. 

We often think it is impossible for us to pure like Him. How can that be? It is impossible for flesh to be pure. That is so, but we are more than flesh. We have become children of God. Nothing is impossible for Him. Our spirit is made alive in His Spirit. His Spirit is pure and we have entered the life of His Spirit, which is the life of the Son. We have become brothers and sisters of Christ, sharing in all that He is. He is pure, righteous, blessed and beloved. 

And so we are. 

The Anointing - 1 John 2:26-29

1 John 2:26-29 ESV 

I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.

And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

The Holy Spirit is the anointing we have received. The boundary of our world changes when we accept Christ, when we receive His Spirit. That anointing seals us in the body of Christ. 

He is the Spirit of truth and that is what He teaches. 

The Last Hour - 1 John 2:18-25

1 John 2:18-25 ESV 

Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life.

If Christ is the light of the world, then antichrist would be the darkness of the world. The separation between the two is at the center of creation. 

Our choice and purpose is choosing between the two. Choosing Christ is choosing the light of God. That light is eternal life.

Not choosing Christ means remaining in the dark, the shadow of death. 

It is the last hour. The choice is ours. The time is now. 

Desires - 1 John 2:15-17

1 John 2:15-17 ESV 

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Who or what is first in our life? It boils down to the choice between self and God. Do we give preference to our will or to the will of the Father?

Desire is not a bad thing by itself. It is the object and importance we place on a given desire that gives shape to our lives and defines who we are. 

Desiring God and doing His will is the reason for desire. Understanding this is the key to receiving the desires of our heart. Seek Him first and all things will be added. 

I Write To You - 1 John 2:12-14

1 John 2:12-14 ESV 

I am writing to you, little children,

because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake.

I am writing to you, fathers,

because you know him who is from the beginning.

I am writing to you, young men,

because you have overcome the evil one.

I write to you, children,

because you know the Father.

I write to you, fathers,

because you know him who is from the beginning.

I write to you, young men,

because you are strong,

and the word of God abides in you,

and you have overcome the evil one.

John writes to three groups within the body of Christ: the children, the fathers, and the young men. 

The children have been saved and know the Father, the Lord. We all are a part of this group if we have trusted in the Lord. John often refers to the body of Christ as little children and that is how we enter kingdom of heaven, We become the sons and daughters of the living God. 

The fathers might represent Old Testament Israel who were God's chosen people. They were the first people to whom God revealed Himself, and therefore knew God from the beginning. But the beginning of the full revelation God was in Christ. He is the beginning and the end. 

The young men may represent those who grow in the strength of the Lord that they overcome the evil one. They are not just saved and protected by the Lord, but become more than conquerors. They are warriors in the spiritual warfare all around us. 

The purpose of the law and the message of the gospel is love. This is the light of the 

Lord and was from the beginning. Knowing God is receiving and expressing His love as revealed in Christ, as Christ is revealed in us. 

He writes to all men and women who love the Lord. He created man as male and female. This has not changed. 

Darkness Is Passing Away - 1 John 2:7-11

1 John 2:7-11 ESV 

Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

The separation of light and darkness called for at the beginning of creation is the subject of these verses. Another definition of the two are brought before us and help us understand what God is doing. 

Light is equated with love. Darkness is equated with hate. Both are in the world, but the light is shining and overcoming the darkness, for God so loved the world. 

The way of light is straight and the path smooth. There is no cause for stumbling. The way of darkness is wandering without knowledge, lost and stumbling on the path to nowhere. 

His Word - 1 John 2:1-6

1 John 2:1-6 ESV 

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

Knowing God manifests in our lives by living according to His word, by walking as He walked. When we obey God, His love in our lives is complete. His word is life and is transforming and this is the effect on lives abiding in His word. 

Are we perfect in our walk? No. But we walk with the one who is perfect. 

Jesus Christ is the word, the word of God.