Archive for April, 2009

Back to the Basics

Thursday, April 30th, 2009

I John 2:24-25 “See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us – even eternal life.”
I have been a Christian for a long time. Decades. And during that time, I have [...]

Liar, Liar

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009

I John 2:22-23 “Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the anti-christ – he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”

John’s use of the word anti-christ here [...]

One Bad Egg

Tuesday, April 28th, 2009

I John 2:21 “I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.”
I’ve always heard you should crack an egg in a bowl by itself before adding it to the others. This way, if it’s bad, the whole [...]

The Truth of a Matter

Monday, April 27th, 2009

I John 2:20 “But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.”
Have you ever served on a jury? I have, and it wasn’t an easy task. Both the defendant and the plaintiff had their versions of the truth, and it was the jury’s job to figure out what [...]

In Sheep's Clothing

Sunday, April 26th, 2009

I John 2:18-19 “Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went away from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to [...]

Getting Old

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

I John 2:17 “The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.”

In my bathroom are dozens of tubes and pots and containers of lotions, cleansers and cosmetics, each one promising to make me look younger and more beautiful. Many of them promise to reverse time, take [...]

Mocha Moo-Latte

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009

I John 2:16 “For everything in the world – the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does – comes not from the Father but from the world.”
Okay, John gets a little personal here, don’t you think? He is no longer just referring to materialism. [...]

Skin Deep

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

I John 2:15 “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
The Greek word for world is kosmos, from which we get our word cosmetic. Funny that the word for a skin-deep beauty actually has its root in the [...]

Cradle to Grave

Monday, April 20th, 2009

I John 2:12-14 “I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name. I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, dear children, because [...]

Turn on the Light

Sunday, April 19th, 2009

I John 2:9-11 “Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does [...]