If We Confess Our Sins

1 John 1:7-9 (ESV)

7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

 How is it that we who are sinful creatures can walk in the light of Jesus and have fellowship with Him. Despite our best efforts and noble intentions, sin is present in our lives. The way of the new covenant is as follows. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Our salvation depends on our repentance and His mercy. Walking with Him in His light will be according to our confession of sin and His faithful forgiveness. 

Unbind Him, And Let Him Go

John 11:43-44 (ESV)

43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

Jesus calls us by name from death to life. We are reborn from above, but we are still wrapped in varying degrees with the grave clothes of our former ways and the desires of our mortal flesh. We are unbound as we grow in His word through our efforts and from those around us in the body of Christ. In the unity of the Holy Spirit, we are unbound over time into the maturity of Christ. With joy we have entered the fellowship of life with God and with those who belong to the body of Christ. 

Love One Another

John 13:34-35 (ESV)

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Love is the essence of our relationship with God and with each other in the body of Christ. The Father loves the Son in the fellowship with the Holy Spirit. We are in the Son by the presence of the Holy Spirit and therefore participate in the fellowship of love found in the unity of the Spirit. 

We are the light of the world which is powered by the love of God, for God so loved the world. 

Unbind Him

John 11:43-44 (ESV)

43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

Jesus calls us by name from death to life. We are reborn from above, but we are still wrapped in varying degrees with the grave clothes of our former ways and the desires of our mortal flesh. We are unbound as we grow in His word through our efforts and from those around us in the body of Christ. In the unity of the Holy Spirit, we are unbound over time into the maturity of Christ. With joy we have entered the fellowship of life with God and with those who belong to the body of Christ. 

The Light Of Life

John 8:12 (ESV)

I Am the Light of the World

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

A fish has no idea it swims in water, just as someone walking in darkness knows nothing of the light. He has always walked in darkness, though now and then he longs for something more. That’s because we are created for the light. Without the light, something is missing. 

It is the light that provides the more abundant life of God, which is eternal life with the riches of heaven that are beyond our imaginations. 

Whoever Comes To Me

John 6:33-35 (ESV)

33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

Jesus is the bread of life. The Israelites would seek the bread from heaven daily, finding it each morning where it had fallen to the ground. It would sustain them during their time in the wilderness. Water would even flow from a rock. 

“Give us this day our daily bread”, we pray when we gather to worship on our wilderness journey. The living waters of the Spirit flows to each one who believes. Their journey foreshadowed ours. The Israelites finally reached their promised land, and so shall we. 

My Food

John 4:34 (ESV)

Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.

Our daily bread is to do the will of our Father. Collectively we pray, “Give us this our daily bread”. He has prepared the way we should go long ago. Jesus has shown us the way.