HillThread ~ Supporting Missions

1 John 4:13-21

“This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: 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. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”

What is love? is a question asked by theologians, philosophers and ethicists; by romantic poets and adolescents; by betrayed spouses and abandoned children; by the hope ful and the hopeless; by the dreamy-eyed and the cynical. Answers to the question are many. And, sadly enough, many of the answers betray a hard-edged cynicism. The familiar folk song “Lemon Tree” has a father giving his son this advice: “Don’t put your faith in love, my boy. . . . I fear you’ll find that love is like the lovely lemon tree . . . very pretty, and the lemon flower is sweet, but the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat.” In short, dream about love, sing about it, write about it–but avoid it, for it does not bring hope and joy, only hopelessness and bitterness.

The author of 1 John has a different view of the matter. Simply and boldly he writes, God is love. Inadvertently this often gets turned around to read “love is God.” If love is God, then it is what we live for, what we serve, the ultimate standard of all. Augustine wrote that, prior to his conversion, “I loved not yet, yet I loved to love. . . . I sought what I might love, in love with loving” (Confessions 3.1). Love itself was what was sought, cherished, hoped for. Love is, as one pop song of the sixties had it, “all you need.”

But John does not write “love is God,” that love is the final and supreme good. He writes, God is love. If we want to know what love is, then we must let God define it. As Frederick Buechner comments, “To say that love is God is romantic idealism. To say that God is love is either the last straw or the ultimate truth” (1973:54). For John, it is indeed the ultimate truth. God is not hate, anger, bitterness or deceit, but love. Love does not de scribe the fullness of God, but God defines the fullness of love. In this section of the epistle (4:13–5:5), we are shown that God is the standard of love (4:13-16); the one who encourages us in love (4:17-18); the source of love (4:19-20); and the one who commands us to love (4:21–5:5).God Is the Standard of Love (4:13-16).

1 John 4:7-12

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”

God’s life-giving love is the theme of this passage. As John develops this theme, he makes three important points: God is the source of all love (4:7-8); God models what genuine love is (4:9-10); and God commands us to love each other (4:11-12). We move from the assertion that God is love to the command that we are to love each other. Indeed, the whole point of the passage is to trace the relationship between God’s love and human love, and to show how human love flows from God’s own love, which is the source of love

In short, God not only gives us the command to love but has also modeled for us what true love is, just as Jesus modeled love for his disciples when he washed their feet before his death (Jn 13:1-17). Love that does not express itself concretely and in service to others is not love (1 Jn 3:16-18). But even more, God also empowers us to love. By confession of the Son whom God has sent, we are born of God and come to know God, who is love (v. 7); we are given life (v. 9); our sins are forgiven (v. 10). We come into the realm of life and love, in which we are given life and are empowered to extend the same kind of life-giving love to others. In Christ, we have come to know the source of love.

1 John 4:1-6

“Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.

But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because greater is He that is in you than the one who is in the world. Those people belong to this world, so they speak from the world’s viewpoint, and the world listens to them. But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception.”

What this passage gives us is a “field guide” to identifying or discerning “spirits”. (Don’t be overwhelmed by the word ‘spirit’. Basically, a person is either inspired by God through the Holy Spirit, which is someone we want to listen to, or they are not inspired by God, which we definitely want to avoid.) Specifically, it calls attention to two distinct “field marks” of various spirits: first, what they say or teach; second, who hears or accepts their teaching. That seems straightforward enough. With this knowledge in mind, we ought to be able to venture forth to spot and identify a variety of spirits, simply by checking each species against our guide. Why, then, does it seem that so many people cannot see the spirits for what they are and fall prey to all varieties of heresies, misin terpretations of Scripture, cults and fads? And even when we can discern truth from error and determine that a particular teaching, person or group is wrong, what are we to do? Such questions are not easily answered.

Our best defense is to remain in a close relationship with God through Jesus by means of committing to personal worship time, reading our Bible, prayer, corporate worship with other believers, Bible studies and times of praise.

2 Timothy is Paul’s second letter to his friend Timothy. They had spent much time together in the years before the letter was written, but now Timothy is on his own, not with Paul anymore.

Paul’s letter is a mix of Reminding Timothy about the Foundations of Christians Service and Encouraging Timothy to persevere through the difficult times.

In 2 Timothy 3:10-11, Paul is sharing some of his life experiences with Timothy in an effort to encourage him. Think of it as a flashback. To better understand these verses, it would help if you have read about the persecution Paul suffered while on his missionary journeys in the book of Acts. So here’s a very short overview. Paul and Barnabas would enter a town, preach the Gospel, win people to Christ, make non-believers upset, and these non-believers would be so upset, they would plan something bad for the missionaries so they would know that they weren’t wecome, then Paul and Barnabas would escape somehow, and move on to the next town, spreading the gospel.

Here are the quick back stories of Paul’s escape that he mentioned to Timothy. These are found during Paul’s first missionary journey in Acts 13-14:

• In Antioch, we are told that they were persecuted against and “expelled” from the city. No mention of physical harm at this point.
• In Iconium, they found out about the plot to stone them before any rocks were thrown, and they escaped without a scratch.
• In Lystra, they stoned Paul so badly, they all thought he was dead, so they dragged him outside of the city and left his body to rot. But Paul wasn’t dead and some disciples came and got him.

So, that was the short back story for what Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:10-11; and again, in these verses that we’re about to read, Paul is encouraging Timothy to persevere when faced with difficult times. There is wisdom in his words that we can use in Our lives as well.

2 Timothy 3:10-11
“ 10 But you, Timothy, certainly know what I teach, and how I live, and what my purpose in life is. You know my faith, my patience, my love, and my endurance. 11 You know how much persecution and suffering I have endured. You know all about how I was persecuted in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra—but the Lord rescued me from all of it.”

We can focus on two things from these verses:
1. First, Paul described all three of his persecution experiences on his 1st missionary journey as “being rescued from God”. He didn’t nit-pick (like I probably would have done). He did say, “God, you really saved me in Antioch and Iconium, but you fumbled the ball when it came to Lystra. What were you thinking man?” He didn’t have that attitude, instead, he saw God’s divine intervention in all three places. Paul rejoiced that he had another day to share the gospel, whether he was completely healthy, or whether he was beaten and bloodied. He was thankful for his next breath.
2. The second thing we need to focus on his the word Paul uses for “rescue”. The original greek word Paul uses literally means to “draw or snatch from danger”. But listen very carefully to the second half of the definition, “to draw closer to oneself rather than merely rescue from danger.” You see, God wasn’t only interested in saving Paul from difficulty or danger, God wanted to draw Paul closer to Himself. Every time God delivers us, the point is ultimately to draw us closer to Himself, not just simply save us a few scratches or a headaches. No matter if we get to avoid pain and suffering, or if we must persevere through the pain and suffering, our deliverance comes when we are dragged away from the enemy of our souls and toward the heart of God.

James 1:2
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance”

That will do it for today’s Bible study, I hope you have a great day and I hope none of us will waste a moment that God has given us. We’ll talk to you next time.

2 Peter 1:3-4
“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”

Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by the Holy Spirit. We are also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to others—tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted.

–From the book ‘Crazy Love:

“The Good News – the best news in the world – is that you can have a close, intimate, personal relationship with God Himself. Do you believe that God is the greatest thing you can experience in the whole world? Do you believe that the Good News of the Gospel is not merely about forgiveness, but that you also have access to a loving God?

Some of the best things in life are the gifts from the One who steadfastly loves us. But an important question to ask ourselves is this . . . Are we in love with God, or just His stuff?

Imagine how awful it would feel to have your child say to you, ‘I don’t really love you or want your love, but I WOULD like my allowance please.’

Our love for Him always comes out of His love for us. Do you love this God who is everything, or do you just love everything He gives you? Do you really believe that God loves you, individually, personally, and intimately? ”

Related Text:
1 John 4:19
“We love because he first loved us.”

Psalm 27:4
“One thing I ask of the LORD,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple.”

Galatians 3:25-26
“But now you have arrived at your destination: By faith in Christ you are in direct relationship with God. Your baptism in Christ was not just washing you up for a fresh start. It also involved dressing you in an adult faith wardrobe—Christ’s life, the fulfillment of God’s original promise.”

Not enough time in your day? Join the club. Time has become our most precious commodity and it usually goes to the highest bidder.

Did you know that in 1965 experts predicted that withing 20 years we would be working 22-hour weeks and retire by the age of 40? They predicted this believing that computers would make everything so much easier and streamlined. Well, it’s the 21-st century – computers are doing their thing, we’re constantly connected to work by email, smartphones, and home offices. Since 1965, our leisure time has actually decreased by 37% and the average work week has increased to 47 hours. (And some of us wish our week was as short as 47 hours)

What did the experts overlook in 1965? Our appetite! The more we have, the more we want; and the more we want, the more we will sacrifice to get it. Family time,God time, church time, vacation time, prayer time, relaxing time. We’ve become machines with one goal – get more.

To build a relationship with God, we must “add on a small room upstairs.” (2 Kings 4:10) – “Let’s make a small room on the roof and put in it a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp for him. Then he can stay there whenever he comes to us.” Then, we can have a place to meet God every day. But we can’t make unrealistic expectations like “I’m going to start getting up at 4:30 and pray for an hour.” More than likely, by the third day we’re exhausted.

Carve out tome time that will allow you to continue meeting with God. A relationship must be worked on every day. Start each day with a prayer, then punctuate it with a praise. Find something you are thankful for and let God know.

If we have time for coffee breaks, there is surely time for a prayer break. We just need to want God as much as we want a caffeine boost!

Psalm 119:164
“Seven times each day I stop and shout praises
for the way you keep everything running right.”

Romans 12:6
“So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t.”

Confront your defects of character to maximize your walk with the Lord. Call them what they are – hindrances to a productive life in the Spirit – and begin to work through them one by one.

Here are 6 common ones, some I even know too personally:

1. Pride – Spiritual pride, social pride, racial pride. God opposes pride. ” . . . in humility consider others better than yourselves.” (Philippians 2:3) don’t let pride be your downfall.

2. Insecurity – Insecure people are generally unwilling to take risks. But faith in God is reckless, it isn’t safe. The key to overcoming insecurity is to truly believe and live knowing that God is wit us.

3. Moodiness – Moody people are like the wind; unstable. They tend to be undependable. Moodiness is hard to overcome because being defensive about it often arises when it’s being dealt with. Confession to God and prayer helps.

4. Perfectionism – This is the obsessive need to always be flawless in everything. Imagine trying to be a perfectionist while serving on a mission trip. If you’ve ever been on a mission trip, you know that being flexible is key to all of the hiccups that happen. A perfectionist would probably bring things to a hault. They can’t affirm themselves, and when things don’t go as they planned, they tend to shut down or shut out. We need to learn that God loves us “warts and all” and He can use us even though we’re nowhere near perfect.

5. Overly Sensitive – These people are constantly licking their wounds and turning inward. They are often unaware of others pains and struggles and needs because the focus is on them and their wounds and who wounded them. Increase your sensitivity to others by turning your focus from inward to outward.

6. Being Negative – Negative people are depressing to be around. Their personality says no to life in general. Being negative is rooted in fear, and the antidote to fear is unwaivering faith in God.

Related Text:
“But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” – Hebrews 3:13

Colossians 3:13
“Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

The power to forgive is the only power we have over anyone who hurts us. And I would argue that our refusal to forgive allows anger to have control over us.

When we say, “I no longer hold it against you,” both sides are set free from the negative bond that existed between us. But there’s more: we also free ourselves from the burden of being the offended one. As long as we refuse to forgive those who offended us, we carry them like lead weights around our necks. The grudge we hold onto infects all parts of our lives, and if not treated, like any infection it will eventually bring us down. The great temptation is to hang on to the anger we have towards our enemies. Forgiveness not only liberates the offenders, but it liberates us as well. It’s the only way to freedom from anger.

Unfortunately, forgiving doesn’t necessarily mean forgetting. Though we forgive someone, the offense isn’t always easily forgettable. Here’s the deal though, forgiveness changes how we remember. It converts the curse into a blessing. Forgiveness means we no longer have to suffer as victims when the memory returns to us.

Today, release the power you may be holding over someone. Prayerfully ask God to give you the love and the strength to forgive.

Related Text:
Colossians 3:12-15
“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. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”

1 John 3:1
“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”

The most amazing thing about God’s love is that is is unconditional.

God doesn’t say, “I love you if . . . ” There are no “ifs” in God heart. His love for us doesn’t depend on what we say or do, on our looks or intelligence, on our success or popularity, or even our performances. His love for us existed before we were born, and it will exist through all of our mistakes. His love exists from eternity to eternity, and is not bound by time or circumstances.

Jesus showed exactly how much He loves us this way, while we were still living in sin apart from Him, He died on a cross for us. (Romans 5:8)

Now, unconditional love doesn’t mean that og doesn’t care what we say or do. No Way! Love without condition isn’t love without concern. Unconditional love isn’t unconditional approval. God doesn’t approve of our disobedience.

Loving unconditionally means that God loves us even when we blow it. God waits for us with love and anticipation the way the father waited for the prodigal son to return. We must rest in the assurance that, even through we sin, God’s love never fails, He never gives up on loving us. We need to know that, because sin has a way of making us think that no one can love us after all the bad stuff we’ve done.

Even though God doesn’t approve of our mistakes, He still loves us so very much! God’s love is the magnet that draws us back to Him.

Related Text:
Romans 5