1 John 3
Monday— See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God… (v 1)
“Wait, you’re what?” Dev called. “I’m an heiress!” answered Sylvie. “Have you seen ‘The Princess Diaries’?” she asked. “It’s like that. Just found out! Great uncle or some such. He didn’t have any kids. Left his millions to distant relatives and I’m one of them!” Dev gaped at his friend. “Are you serious? Why would he do that? How much are you getting?” Sylvie stopped twirling to grasp Dev’s hands. “I don’t even know yet!” she laughed. “But it’s a bunch! And get this…he was a duke or earl or some grand title and I inherit that too! Can you believe it? Me, a nobody—but because of him, I’m suddenly a somebody!”
That’s the idea John is trying to convey. When we receive Jesus’ competed work on our behalf, we become heirs of all God has (Rom. 8:17). We’re nobodies, but because of Jesus, we’re suddenly somebodies! It’s not enough that God pardons us; He then adopts us as His own children. He didn’t have to do that. He could have sighed, rolled His eyes, and said, “Okay, you’re forgiven but stay out of my sight.” But He did the opposite. When we surrender our lives to the lordship of His Son, God the Father does a happy dance and signs the adoption papers. “They’re mine!” He shouts. “Angels, wait until you see what I’ve got for my kids! I can’t want to share my wealth with them!” Why would He do that? What kind of love is that?
Challenge: Have you wrapped your mind around the lavish love God has for every sinner who surrenders to Jesus?
Prayer: Father, I can only call you that because you stooped low enough to invite me to be your child. I don’t know why you did that, but you did and I’ll spend the rest of my life living in thanks for it. What kind of love is that? In Jesus’ name, amen.
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Tuesday— No one who remains in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has seen Him or known Him. (v 6)
“Yeah, I got saved at a revival a few years ago, but nothing changed much. Felt kinda warm and fuzzy for a couple of days, but went back to my old ways before the next weekend. I don’t really get all this ‘Jesus changed me’ talk,” said Warren. Pete frowned. “Well, that’s a problem, my friend,” he said. “What makes you think you ‘got saved,’ as you call it?” Warren stiffened. “Well, I did all the stuff… walked down, got baptized, joined a church… what would you call it?” Pete smiled. “I’d call it ‘doing all the stuff,’” he said. “But real salvation changes you inside. You can’t go back to your old ways because they don’t fit anymore.”
John confidently writes bold words like “no one who remains in Him keeps on sinning” because he knew about the heart change. A fish doesn’t have to fight to stay off land; his nature won’t let him live there. A peach tree doesn’t fight to keep from producing bananas. It produces peaches because of its nature. When Jesus saves us, He flips our nature. He takes the sin-indulging, self-worshiping nature we’re born with and flips it into a sin-hating, God-worshiping nature that is eager to please God. We’ll mess up. We won’t always get it right. But as our new nature develops, we get it right more than we get it wrong. We’ll sin. Frequently. But we can no longer live in it because our new nature won’t let us. Sin doesn’t fit anymore.
Challenge: One sure way to tell if a supposed salvation was real is whether or not the person can continue to live in sin.
Prayer: Lord, thank you that you continue to work on me. You’ve changed my nature. I used to sin happily and was fine with it. Since I met Jesus, sin grieves me. I hate it and am grateful you don’t let me get away with it. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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Wednesday— Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. (v 13)
HATE has become the weapon of choice for many. Accuse someone of hate and you automatically have the upper hand because no one wants to be thought of as a hater. If someone disagrees with you politically, morally, financially, or otherwise, accuse them of being a hater and they back off. Hate slings labels like sexism, racism, supremacy, and bigotry that also help silence anyone with a different viewpoint. Those are real evils, but ironically the people screaming loudest are usually the LEAST tolerant. Their activism is often a cover for the real problem: a hatred of biblical values. That’s nothing new. John wrote about it 2000 years ago. But Jesus was loving, so why would the world hate Jesus’ followers?
Jesus Himself said it would happen (Jn 15:18). He was, after all, murdered by a hate-fueled crowd. But after seeing His love, miracles, and healings, why did people hate Him? The same reason they do now: He wasn’t the Messiah they wanted. He’s still not. People don’t want God, they want a superpower who will bless and validate their lifestyles. But the real God comes with expectations, commands, and requirements that ALWAYS challenge our natural inclinations. And when His followers mention those requirements, people get mad. SO mad, in fact, that they try to silence the messenger in hopes the message will change. It didn’t when they silenced Jesus and it won’t when they silence us. But hate from tolerant people is expected
Challenge: Even when you’re representing Jesus well to the world, don’t be surprised if it hates you.
Prayer: Lord, I don’t like to be called a hater, but that’s what they called you, so it shouldn’t surprise or silence me when someone calls me that. Help me be sure they hate me because of YOU and not my own hatefulness. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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Thursday— Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. (v 18)
“Too bad about the Johnson’s house burning down,” said Ralph as he drove away from the Sunday service. His wife Myra agreed. “Oh yes, poor things,” she said. “Let’s pray for them.” Ralph nodded and pulled into traffic. “Yes, hope the Lord blesses them. He’s got cancer too, I heard. Must be rough.” Myra cleared her throat. “They took up an offering for them,” she said. “Should we have put in something? Maybe we should see if they need help with the cleanup.” Ralph frowned. “We’re saving for a house,” he said. “And work is super busy right now. No time or money to spare. Their insurance will handle it—if they had it.”
In our age of information overload, it’s easy to develop compassion fatigue. We hear of tragedies constantly and feel helpless. We can do nothing about the school shooting in Oregon, the tsunami in Asia, the triple-murder in New York, or the fatal crash on the highway, so we tune it out. “Not my circus, not my monkeys,” we tell ourselves in order to stay sane. But in protecting our own sense of security, we can lose something important. Godly compassion. Compassion FEELS bad about someone’s trouble; godly compassion DOES something about it. We can’t help everyone, but when God nudges our hearts, we can donate $10 to the GoFundMe, a Saturday morning to the tornado victim, or $100 to stop human trafficking. Godly compassion learns to be sensitive to that gentle God-nudge that says, “You can do something here.” And it responds
Challenge: While we can’t be pushovers for every decent cause, we need to be sensitive to God-nudges prompting us to act.
Prayer: Father, am I sensitive enough to your voice nudging me to act when I hear of a local tragedy? I can’t stop world hunger, but I can sponsor a child. Can’t stop tornado damage, but I can help. Help me love by actions. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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Friday— If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. (v 20)
“You’re worthless,” the voice hissed in the back of Jacob’s mind. He rolled over in bed. 2:34 am. That’s usually when the thoughts were worst. “You’ll never get past what you did,” the voice continued. “God hasn’t forgiven you. People just told you that. He’s disgusted with you. You’ll never…you’ll never…you’ll never…” Condemning voices usually get stuck on that. They declare hopelessness over you, remind you of past sins you’ve long ago repented of. But there they are, in living color, parading before your mind’s eye as though they happened yesterday. Our hearts are not always on our side (Jer. 17:9).
Anyone who advises us to “follow our hearts” has never seriously studied the human heart. Our hearts are fickle (remember that bad breakup?) and self-centered. They change on a whim and eagerly team up with Satan when he’s in a mood to kick us at our lowest. A typical heart might sound like this in a 24-hour period: “Hey, why does she get that and not me? I hope he fails. I’m the greatest. Why don’t people appreciate me? I wish I was rich. Woah, look at that hottie! Wish they were mine for ten minutes…Stupid bills. Wish I was dead. I can’t believe I did that stupid thing in college. Ugh…I hate myself for doing that. I’ll never be anything important…” Isn’t it good to know God is greater than our hearts? Let His view—not yours—define you.
Challenge: God knows the craziness of the human heart and promises that He’s greater and we should listen to Him, not it.
Prayer: Father, it’s embarrassing to think that you know how crazy my thoughts get. But thank you that they don’t have to define me. Your word is truth, not my own heart. Help me to base all attitudes on what you say. In Jesus’ name, amen.
