Verse of the Day 6/3

Through the Bible - 2 Chronicles 13-15, John 15:1-17   

Good morning,

In yesterday's verse we were given the command to "love one another".  The theme is repeated in John's epistles as well.

The disciples asked to see the Father, Jesus told them that if they've seen Him they've seen the Father.  You may hear people today say that they would believe in Jesus if they could see Him.  Not that we can live perfect lives as Jesus did, but we should strive to follow Him.  As we do so, those same people should be able to see Jesus in us.

1 John 4:11-12 (Amplified Bible)  Beloved, if God loved us so [very much], we also ought to love one another.   ¹²No man has at any time [yet] seen God. But if we love one another, God abides (lives and remains) in us and His love (that love which is essentially His) is brought to completion (to its full maturity, runs its full course, is perfected) in us!

I read the following from Ray Ortlund's blog the other day.  I thought that it went well with what we've been considering.  "Do you have the Spirit of God in you?  You have some religion, most of you.  But what kind is it?  Is it a home-made article?  Did you make yourself what you are?  If so, you are a lost man up to this moment.  If you have gone no further than you have walked yourself, you are not on the road to heaven yet, you have got your face turned the wrong way.  But if you have received something which neither flesh nor blood could reveal to you, if you have been led to do the very thing which you once hated and to love that which you once despised and to despise what your heart and your pride were once set on, then, if this is the Spirit's work, rejoice, for where he has begun the good work he will carry it on.

And you may know whether it is the Spirit's work by this.  Have you been led to Christ, and away from self?  Have you been led away from all feelings, from all doings, from all willings, from all prayings, as the ground of your trust and your hope, and have you been brought nakedly to rely upon the finished work of Christ?  If so, this is more than human nature ever taught any man.  This is a height to which human nature never climbed.  The Spirit of God has done that, and he will never leave what he has once begun. . . .

But if you do not have the Spirit of Christ, you are not his.  May the Spirit lead you to your room now to weep, now to repent, and now to look to Christ, and may you now have a divine life implanted which neither time nor eternity shall be able to destroy."   C. H. Spurgeon

Today's New Testament reading is in John 15 about the vine and the fruit.  Read the passage if you have a few minutes and see what words jump out at you.

 

Lord willing, we'll go there tomorrow.

 

In Christ,
Mike
mikevw@bellsouth.net
http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com
Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace  NIV
1 John 4:7-16

 

God Is Love

 

My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn't know the first thing about God, because God is love — so you can't know him if you don't love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about — not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they've done to our relationship with God.

 

My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us — perfect love!

 

This is how we know we're living steadily and deeply in him, and he in us: He's given us life from his life, from his very own Spirit. Also, we've seen for ourselves and continue to state openly that the Father sent his Son as Savior of the world. Everyone who confesses that Jesus is God's Son participates continuously in an intimate relationship with God. We know it so well, we've embraced it heart and soul, this love that comes from God.   - The Message