Feb 3

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  scbubba added a text contribution Rejoice while you are grieving

  I love the hope that Peter is going on about here. The fact that he doesn't just gloss over the fact that we have trials in this life and that we will have season of grieving actually intensifies the hope. I've seen too many "think positive, don't be sad" approaches to the Christian faith. It's not real life. This passage from Peter solidifies my trust that Jesus will be there helping me through the realities of this life. Jesus isn't just a continual dose of… Read more »

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Dec 21

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  scbubba added a text contribution Love and Obedience

  John hits me again with Love - "obey his commands." For my relationship with God love and obedience become synonymous. But not a heavy, obligatory, "do I have to" kind of obedience: "his commands are not burdensome". I read this and what wells up inside of me is a desire to do the things God puts before me. To be the person he created me to be. To want to do what it is that he has planned. Not "I have to do this" but "I get to do this"! There i… Read more »

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Dec 19

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  scbubba added a text contribution Make the love real.

  I can just feel John's passion for telling people about God's love. I mean, he is pouring it out big in 1 John 4: "This is love", "God is love", "Whoever lives in love lives in God", "We love because he first loved us". This sort of emotion makes me question how I live my life at times. In the light of this kind of radical love, why do I choose to be so inward and selfish so much? Why do I ignore the obvious needs of the people around me? John… Read more »

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Dec 18

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  scbubba added a text contribution Love Story.

  John's description of god's love in this chapter always melts my heart. Just like Jesus answering the question about the greatest commandment, 1 John 4 highlights what I think is the quintessential message in God's Word: "I Love You" "I Love You" is what we need to hear, what we need to know, what we need to understand. "I Love you" is what God is saying over and over and over to us throughout the Bible, throughout history, and throughout our lives.… Read more »

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  scbubba added a text contribution Love one another. Really.

  In case we didn't already get it when Jesus told us and again when Paul and then Peter said it, John hits us with it one more time. Love one another. No, really. If I want to feel the love of God and I mean filled up with it, I MUST show love. "Not with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." I'm not perfect at this by any stretch of the imagination. I am getting better at it, I think. But not through me just being a "good person." Oh no. As I have spent mo… Read more »

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Dec 16

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  scbubba added a text contribution Rejoice!

  I love how John puts it right here: It's a great thing that we are children of God. It is even greater that it is because of the incredibly great love that God has for us! When I read these verses, I am just filled up with joy. How amazing that He loves us so much that we are considered children. I lknow how much love I feel for my kids and I've seen the love that adoptive parents have for the children they have. To think that these types of love are just pale reflections of the lo… Read more »

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Dec 15

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  scbubba added a text contribution Loving people without loving the world

  This part of John's letter seems to be very well known among most all of the Christian folks I know. I've known it, intellectually, for as long as I can recall. But what does it really mean in our lives today? Here in the Bible-belt Southeastern USA, it seems to mean erecting a holy wall around the like minded church folk, huddling up with each other and pointing fingers out at everyone else. But then falling back into worldly ways when we aren't with "church friends". I… Read more »

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  scbubba added a text contribution Walk in the light

  I love how John cuts right to the quick with verses 5 - 10. God doesn't mix light and dark. We are either in the light or we are not. We can make all the claims we want but our pride, our ego, our good intentions, our excuses, and our pretenses don't put us in the light. This makes me think about the "stained glass masquerade" at many churches where so many people put forth the "I walk in the light" facade on Sunday and play in the dark the rest of the week. I'… Read more »

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