1 John 5:1-5
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
5 Whoever
believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father
loves the child born of Him. 2 By
this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His
commandments. 3 For this is the love of
God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.
4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the
world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.
5 Who is the
one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
(https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=I+John+5%3A+1-5&version=NASB)
Matthew 22:36-40New American Standard Bible (NASB)
36 “Teacher,
which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And
He said to him, “‘You shall love
the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all
your mind.’ 38 This is the great and ]foremost
commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your
neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On
these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
(https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+22%3A36-40&version=NASB)
Last week I wrote about certainty in uncertain times. I had the most views on that post as I think people are all uncertain about the days in which we live. However, as it says in Ecclesiastes 1:9, “there is nothing new under the sun”. Since sin arrived into this world with the bite of that forbidden fruit, sin has been happening. When we start seeing those things as “normal” rather than as sin, God’s heart is grieved, just as we see in Genesis 6:5-8New American Standard Bible (NASB):
5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the
earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 The
Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in
His heart. 7 The Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the
land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am
sorry that I have made them.” 8 But
Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
(https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+6%3A5-8&version=NASB)
Why
do you think Noah found favor in the sight of the Lord?
9 These are the
records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless
in his time; Noah walked with God. (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+6%3A9&version=NASB)Yes, he was a righteous man and there were none other like him in the land. Now let’s forward ahead a whole bunch of years. Now we are in the days just prior to Jesus coming to earth as a newborn babe. Seems to me that things were not as bad as in the days of Noah so why did Jesus need to come to earth? Malachi gives us these words: Malachi 2:17-3:1New American Standard Bible (NASB)
17 You have
wearied the Lord with your
words. Yet you say, “How have we wearied Him?”
In that you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delights in them,” or, “Where is the
God of justice?”
3 “Behold, I
am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the
Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the
covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts.
Just from reading this
scripture I believe the times prior to the days of Jesus were much like they
are today. Today we hear how God is love
and how He loves everyone. We hear how
we need to accept everyone, every religion, all is good, yet this is not what the word of God says. Today people can live on this earth, not
follow the Lord, never claim Him as their own (as far as we know) and they die. Somehow we believe that if God is a God of
love then He won’t send anyone to hell.
Have you ever heard that argument?
I certainly have. What we tend to
forget is that God is a Just God, He is a God who loves those who believe on
His name AND keep His commandments. Keeping His commandments is not a way to
salvation but it is evidence of our commitment to Him. As the scripture says today, they are not
burdensome. We should delight in keeping
His commandments.
One last verse in
Malachi for today as I feel it is important to share, Malachi 3:6a, “For
I the Lord do not change,” these are important words to remember. It is not up to the Lord to change, it is up
to us to change.
Are we keeping His
commandments to Love the Lord our God with all our hearts, soul and mind? Are we loving our neighbors as ourselves? Are we living righteous lives in the sight of
our Lord? Are we believing in His name
and living lives that show that we believe?
As you seek Him today, may you be encouraged to live your lives pleasing
to our Father in Heaven. Don’t worry
about the future if the future includes the Lord your God. He has this under His care. He has proven to us time and time again that
He is a loving God but He is also a just God.
Seek Him and know and you will overcome this world when you love the
Lord your God and keep His commandments.
Seeking Him with all my
heart,
Sheila
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