His Love Ministries

PHILIPPIANS 2:5-11 THE MIND OF CHRIST

 
INTRODUCTION
 In verses 1-4 of this second chapter, Paul wrote about "The Unity
   That Produces Joy", in which he described:
The MOTIVATION for having this unity
The NATURE of this unity
The ATTITUDES necessary to have this unity
 In describing the latter, he called upon the Philippians to:
Do nothing through selfish ambition or conceit
Have lowliness of mind in which they esteem others better than themselves
Look out for the interests of others, and not only those of their own
In verse 5, Paul continues to exhort them to have "this mind" (the attitudes of verses 3-4), pointing out that this is also the "mind of Christ"
In verses (6-11), Paul defines the "mind of Christ" (or the attitude of Christ
 
v6 Jesus did not have SELFISH AMBITION OR CONCEIT
He abandoned a Sovereign Position
PRIOR TO HIS INCARNATION or coming in human flesh
Jesus was "in the form of God" The word form in Greek is morphe- the essence or literally the essential nature of something
In other words, He has always existed as God – John 8:56 "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad." 57 Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?" 58 Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."
John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me. 16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Col 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
He was also "equal with God"
     John 1:1 3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
1John 5:7 For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.
 V6 YET CHRIST DID NOT CONSIDER SUCH EQUALITY "ROBBERY"...
Literally, "a thing to be grasped"; that is, something to be laid hold of, and retained jealously
Isaiah 14:12  "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! 13 For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ 15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit.
The "glory" of equality with God which Christ enjoyed from eternity was not something He felt like He HAD to cling on to
A true demonstration of a lack of selfish ambition and conceit on the part of our Lord!
 
Jesus LOOKED OUT FOR THE INTERESTS OF OTHERS (7-8)
He took a servant’s place and approached a sinful people
 WHEN CHRIST BECAME FLESH...
   V7   1. He "made Himself of no reputation" John 4:24 "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
Some versions say, "emptied Himself” this is the Kenosis or self-emptying
Jn 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
First of all, He gave up His heavenly glory. He gave up His heavenly glory. He dove into the water and went all the way down to the black cold water to the slime and the ooze of this world. And that's why He cries out in John 17 and says, "Father, restore Me to the glory I had with You before the world began." Glory when He was face to face with God. He gave up His glory for the muck of this earth. He gave up the worship of angels, the adoring presence of angels for the spittle of men. He gave up all of the shining brilliance of the glories of heaven for the dark prison where He was kept before His death. Yes, He emptied out His glory in that sense.
Secondly, He emptied Himself of independent authority. I don't understand how the trinity operates. I know it operates in perfect harmony. In addition, I know that in perfect harmony, there would be no discord and no disagreement and that would be the way it is in the trinity. Nonetheless, in some way mysterious to my mind, which I will never understand, He completely submitted Himself to the will of the Father. I will never understand that and I don't want you to even think about it too long or you'll be under the bed saying the Greek alphabet because it does not compute. However, the point is He laid aside a voluntary exercise of His own will and He learned to be a servant and He submitted Himself. In addition, He was obedient, it says in verse 8. He was obedient. I don't understand that but He was obedient. In the garden He says, "Not My will but Thine be done." He learned obedience by the things He suffered, Hebrews 5 says. He said I am...I am come to do the Father's will, John 5:30. Therefore, He set aside His independent authority.
Thirdly, He set aside the prerogatives of His deity. Alternatively, He set aside the voluntary use of His attributes. You say, "Did He stop being omniscient?" No. "Did He stop being omnipresent?" No. "Did He stop being unchangeable God?" No. He didn't stop being anything; He just didn't use those attributes. Some have said He gave up the prerogatives of His deity. I know He was omniscient. He knew everything because He knew what was in the heart of a man, John 2. I know He was omnipresent because He saw Nathaniel when He wasn't even where Nathaniel was in His human form. He didn't give up any of His deity but He gave up the free exercise of those attributes and limited Himself to the point where in Matthew 24:36 He says, "No man knows when the Son of Man will come," not men and not even the Son of Man. He restricted His omniscience. So He gave up the rights of His deity.
Fourthly, He gave up His personal riches...He gave up His personal riches. Though He was rich yet for your sakes He became poor, 2 Corinthians 8:9, that you through His poverty might be made rich. He became terribly poor in this world...terribly poor. He had nothing...nothing.
And then lastly, , He gave up a favorable relationship to God. "He who knew no sin was made sin for us...He who knew no sin was made sin for us." And as a result, He says, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" He gave up a favorable relationship to God.
Though He gave up the full expression of his heavenly glory and the full enjoyment of it, though He gave up independent authority and exercise of His own will and learned obedience, though He gave up the prerogatives to express all of the majesty of all of His attributes which He could have done, by the way, and though He gave up personal riches for the poverty of this world and though He gave up a favorable relationship with God when He was made sin, He never ceased to be God, never. He remained fully God. He remained fully God.
 He took upon Himself "the form of a servant" – same word Morphe, literally became a servant. John 13:3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, 4 rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. 5 After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.
Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."
He came in the likeness of men He was the same as a man, but different in that He was sinless
Likeness means He was truly human, wept, got hungry, tired in all ways like us but without sin
He could experience their temptations and sufferings –
He 2:17-18 17 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.
V8 And being found in appearance as a man – He looked like us because He was like us.
He "humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross"
Galatians 3:13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree")
DO WE HAVE "THE MIND OF CHRIST"?
We do, if we are looking out for the interests of others
We do, if we are willing to humble ourselves, even sacrifice ourselves if it be in the best interests of others
 1Jn 3:16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
III. Jesus is HIGHLY EXALTED BY GOD (9-11) – He ascended as a Supreme Prince
V9 JESUS is a good example of Matthew 23:12:  "He that humbles himself shall be exalted"
1Peter 5:6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
For God has highly exalted Jesus
By giving Him "the name LORD which is above every name"
Ac 4:12 "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
V10 that at His name "every knee should bow...that every tongue should confess" He is Lord! -
2Th 1:10 when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.
V11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
 Romans 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
 We have seen in this passage that "The Mind Of Christ" involves...
Humility
Obedience
Sacrifice
Great Reward
 It was Christmas Eve in the Midwest. There was a man who had been in a family where his wife and his children were Christians but he was not. And he rejected it. He sat home that Christmas eve in front of the fire. It was cold out and the snow was blowing. His wife and the little children had gone to the chapel in the nearby village for a Christmas Eve service to honor the Christ they loved. He sat by the fire reading the paper.
All of a sudden, he heard a loud and repeated thumping. He thought someone was banging on the door. He went to the door and opened it but found no one was there. By the time he got settled back into his chair, he heard it again and again. And he was bewildered as to what was causing it until he realized that something seemed to be smashing against the window. And so he went to the drapes and he pulled the drapes aside and to his amazement, a flock of birds was flying into the window. A snowstorm, you see, had blown in. And the birds had been caught away from their shelter and they couldn't find their way back. They couldn't fight the wind. They saw the lighted window and the warmth of the light had attracted them. And they were literally flying into the glass trying to get to the light to get warm. They would freeze to death, you see, if they didn't find some shelter.
Well, the man who had refused to go with his family to the Christmas Eve service because he had no interest in the Christ of Christmas was all of a sudden very compassionate for these poor birds. And so he wondered how he could help them. And so he opened the door, went out in the cold, and tried to chase them away so that they wouldn't kill themselves against the window. And then he ran to the barn and he threw the doors open and he whistled and he shooed them and did everything he could to get them to fly to the barn, they wouldn't do it. He even went so far as to take some corn and some bread and make a big trail from the window to the barn. And they wouldn't follow it.
In frustration, he said to himself, "If I could just communicate with them. If I could just tell them that I don't want to hurt them, that there's warmth and there's shelter and that they'd need to stop beating themselves to death against the glass. But I'm a man and they're birds and we don't speak the same language. Oh, if I could just become a bird, I think I could tell them."
And then it hit him. And in that moment, said Paul Harvey, the whole meaning of Christmas dawned on that man. Mankind had been beating itself to death against the barrier that kept him from the warmth of God's love until somebody became a man and told us the way.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32
 
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten. 
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
 

1 PETER 2:2-3 DESIRING AND GROWING BY GOD’S WORD

              1 Peter 2:2-3 says as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Where do you get your spiritual wisdom and understanding from? I want to challenge you to read a chapter or a short book of the Bible for a week to 30 days straight and see what happens when you do. Maybe try it for 90 days. You might miss a day or two here or there, but keep at it and see how much you learn. Look for repeated words and phrases, you will be amazed at how much God will show you if you do this.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32
 Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten. 
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions

John 3:16-21 GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD

This week’s message tells us of God’s great love for us and how anyone who calls on Him for forgiveness of sins can be saved, if they would just be willing to believe and trust in Christ and Him alone. We want to ask you what do you think it will take for you to get to heaven?  Are you trusting in Christ and Him only?
John 3:16 -17 says for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  Did you hear that.  Jesus did not come to condemn you, but to save you through His death on the cross.  So what would you say if God asked you why should I let you into my Heaven.  Will it be I am trusting in Jesus Christ and Him alone for salvation.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32
 
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten. 
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
 
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions

1 PETER 2:2 DESIRING GOD’S WORD

1 Peter 2:2 says As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: here Peter urges those who are Christians to desire the milk of the word which is Christ or the word of God itself. Either way we are to long for and develop an appetite for the things of God, especially for Christ and His word which teaches us who we are and what we ought to believe. To develop an appetite for the word we must read it daily and the more we read the more we will want to know what it says and how to behave. Ask God to give you this desire and longing to read and understand His word.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32
 
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten. 
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions

25 Years of Ministry Dedicated to Reaching out to Those the World Has Forgotten!

Dear Friend of the Ministry,
          Christmas time is a wonderful season. It is the time we humbly remember the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ and the price He paid for us. It is a time when we joyfully give, remembering the greatest gift ever given.
          We want to thank you for your kind prayers and financial support over the past year. Without your generosity, this ministry could not have accomplished all that it has. Our desire during this special time of the year is that we might continuously share the glorious gospel with those whom the world has forgotten. 
           2022 has been a recovery year. We are still recovering from the challenges we encountered due to Covid. At the end of 2021 we lost two of our full-time ministers; however, there have been many blessings as well. Although many services were still canceled the first half of this year, facilities are beginning to allow us back in to provide services. God gave us an opportunity to add a bi-monthly service at Generations of Batesburg-Leesville Senior Care. Senior care homes in Savannah are also ready for us to return and have church services with the residents, but we are still in need of male Bible teachers to fill those spots. Please keep this in your prayers.
          The Harvest is Plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. –Matt 9:37-38
 
God answered our prayer for male teachers at Coastal Harbor for kids in Savannah; Mike Wilson and Lawrence Wright are teaching the Bible to the boys. We also began partnering with Mountaineer Ministries, ministering to care homes in western NC, northern SC, and eastern TN.
 
We praise God for allowing us to be able to reach the forgotten, with the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a blessing to watch the power of God’s Word change people’s lives and see them grow in the Lord.
 Some of His Love Ministries’ yearly accomplishments as of 12/2/22:
Bible Studies/Church Services: 451
Birthday & Encouragement cards were given to residents
Ministered to over 4,932 people
Devotionals and Sermons are on Sermonaudio.com, iTunes & You Tube
Gave out at least 113 Bibles
Professions of faith: at least 18
             Please keep His Love Ministries in your prayers, and we ask, should you find yourself in a position to make an additional year-end gift, that you prayerfully consider partnering with us as we seek to expand the reach of the ministry in the coming year. His Love Ministries belongs to God, and we pray for Him to accomplish His work and purpose through us.
             May God bless you and yours, and may all the joy that this season brings be yours!
 
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,      
  
Marty and Shelly McKenzie
 
 
*If you are not currently a monthly supporter, please prayerfully consider being a HLM partner helping us to reach the forgotten by committing to a monthly gift of $25, $50, or as the Lord leads.
 
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HIS LOVE MINISTRIES
P. O. Box 1881, Lexington, SC. 29071
 

1 PETER 2:15 FOR THIS IS THE WILL OF GOD

1 Peter 2:15 says For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men-- as Christians ought to obey the laws of the land because the Bible tells us to unless it specifically violates Christian principles or our conscience. We are free in Christ in that we have been set free from our condemnation and can now do good because of who we are in Him and His power that enables us. We are not free to disobey any law we don’t like just because we don’t like it. This displeases God. Are we showing the world we are different by the way we live, love, and obey?
                1 Peter 2:15-17 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men-- 16 as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. 17 Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.     
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32
 Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten. 
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions

JOHN 2:23-25 THE CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE BY JESUS

John 2:23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. 24 But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, 25 and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.
In the second part of Jesus Cleansing the Temple we will hear the third and last reason in this section that John will show us why Jesus is God.  This is the fact that He knows the heart of man and what is in it. Only God knows man and what he is and what he is truly capable of doing in his wickedness. Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? 10 I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.  Jesus will not commit to these people because he knows theirs is not a real belief in Him.  In the next section of scripture we will listen to the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus and see how he is an example of chapter 2, verses 24 and 25.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32
 
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten. 
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions

GENESIS 22:2 TESTING OUR FAITH

In Genesis 22:2 God said, "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go and offer him as a burnt offering." God called on Abraham to make five great sacrifices: his country, his family, his nephew Lot, his son’s Ishmael, and Isaac. Each sacrifice involved something obviously dear to Abraham, but each resulted in greater blessings from God. God was testing Abraham’s faith as He does ours to prove it’s character and strength.  Thankfully God does not always test us to such extremes, but when He does test us it is to make us more like Him. What have you given up or sacrificed for God?
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten. 
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions

JOHN 3:22-29 THE TRANSITION FROM JOHN TO JESUS

John 3:22 After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptized. 23 Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized. 24 For John had not yet been thrown into prison. 25 Then there arose a dispute between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified--behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!" 27 John answered and said, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. 28 "You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but, 'I have been sent before Him.' 29 "He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.
 
Here we see the transition from John’s ministry to Jesus’ ministry.  As usual people always get jealous of others even though John has been telling his disciples and us from the very beginning that his job was just to point the way to Jesus and that he is only the newspaper boy telling us to read all about it, Jesus is coming, you need to get your life right with God.  He then tells us that he is only the friend of the bridegroom and that person is Jesus.  His job is to protect the bride and get them ready for when the bridegroom comes, then he is off the scene because his job is done.  Everything John does and says points us to Jesus, does your life and mine?
 
All other Gospels have Jesus going into ministry immediately after His baptism, John gives us all info
Jesus wanted to be with disciples
Jesus wanted to baptize
Jesus wanted to cause confrontation
Important overlap so John can point people to Jesus.
Transitional passage from the old covenant to the beginning of the new –End of the Old
V22-26 Jesus goes out where John is baptizing so as to set up a confrontation between the two ways Numbers 11:26-30 Moses had the same problem
Joh 3:22 ¶ After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptized. Joh 4:2
Jesus and His disciples had been in the city of Jerusalem, where He had cleansed the temple (2:13-22), performed a number of signs (2:23), and spoken with Nicodemus (3:1-21). They are now leaving the city of Jerusalem, making their way into the countryside.  There, Jesus “spent time with” His disciples. We should ponder these three words, “spent time with,” because they remind us of a very important element of discipleship. As it should be, the church is very interested in discipleship. Jesus is seen as the model for “discipling,” and rightly so. Nevertheless, our discipleship programs seldom do what our Lord actually did. Rather, we emphasize a kind of classroom instruction, and usually a highly structured program with “accountability” and other controls. While this may be commendable, I cannot overlook the fact that Jesus “spent time” with His disciples. To be our Lord’s disciple was to “be with Him”:
Discipleship is about witnessing, accountability, and one-on-one relationships with those who come to faith in Christ. But first and foremost, a disciple is one who spends time with the Master.
Let us not lose sight of the fact that a significant part of our Lord’s discipling was simply spending time with His disciples.
Jesus'  conversation  with  Nicodemus  evidently  happened  in  Jerusalem (2:23). Jerusalem was within Judea. After that conversation, Jesus went out into the Judean countryside. Jesus had not yet commissioned the Twelve. That   commissioning   happened   after   John   the   Baptist's imprisonment (Mark 1:14). The disciples who accompanied Jesus may not have been the Twelve, but they were His followers and they could have included all or some of the Twelve. This is the only record in the Gospels that Jesus engaged in a baptizing ministry similar to John the Baptist's. It was undoubtedly baptism expressing repentance rather than "Christian baptism." The writer later explained that Jesus did not do the baptizing Himself, but His disciples did (4:2). Jesus was also spending time with these disciples undoubtedly to help them understand and appreciate who He really was.
23 Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized. 1Sa 9:4; Mt 3:5-6
 24 For John had not yet been thrown into prison. Mt 14:3
John then interjects a parenthetical explanation in verse 24: “(For John had not yet been thrown into prison.)” Why would the Apostle John feel this statement is necessary? The Synoptic Gospels all start our Lord’s public ministry after the arrest of John the Baptist:
14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee and proclaimed the gospel of God. 15 He said, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the gospel!” (Mark 1:14-15; see also Matthew 4:12f.)
From him alone we learn that between Jesus' temptation and John the Baptist's arrest John and Jesus worked side by side for a time. His reference to John the Baptist's imprisonment is important because it helps the reader see that John's account does not contradict the Synoptics. Yet his primary concern was John the Baptist's witness to Jesus.
At this later point in time, Jesus picked up where John left off, with virtually the same message as John. Only in the Gospel of John do we learn of an earlier time when both John and Jesus were ministering simultaneously, with both groups (John and his disciples, and Jesus and His disciples) doing virtually the same thing at the same time (baptizing those who came to them).
John wants his readers to know of this unique, if very brief, period of simultaneous ministry because it is the setting from which a perceived problem arises. This problem arises because of our Lord’s successful ministry at this time. In our text, the Apostle John bids what I suspect is a sad farewell to John the Baptist. He will be referred to later in this Gospel, but this is the last time we read his own words. Our text is a fitting tribute to a great man. John the Baptist’s response here is a model of humility and Christian servanthood. Let us listen very carefully, not only to his words, but to his heart.
John’s Disciples Are Distressed (3:25-26)
 25 Then there arose a dispute between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purification.
John tells us of a dispute between the disciples of John and “a Jew or Jews,”[i] who argue over ceremonial washing. If this Jew was resistant to John’s message and his baptism, it may well be that he argues for the superiority of the Jewish ceremonial cleansings. Somehow, the conversation seems to gravitate to a comparison of John’s baptism with that of Jesus. The dispute between John’s disciples and this Jew appears to prompt them to return to John with their concerns about Jesus.
We are not told what is said in this dispute. For the purposes of illustration and clarification, allow me to suggest one possible scenario: John’s disciples encounter a Jew and ask him if he wishes to be baptized. He responds that he is not interested; he is convinced that the Jewish ceremonial cleansings are more effective. Unwilling to leave it at this, the disciples begin to debate with him. Seeing that he is not making any progress, the Jew may have “put the icing on the cake” with a statement something like: “Well what are you so dogmatic about? Don’t you know that Jesus is baptizing in the same way you are, and far more people are going to Him than to you folks? Why don’t you just give it up?”
John’s disciples return to him frustrated and upset, not with the Jew, but with Jesus. They are distressed that Jesus and His disciples are more successful than they are. In fact, they almost seem distressed at John the Baptist, irritated that he has not done anything to remedy this situation. After all, it was John who pointed the crowds to Jesus, and he who had greatly contributed to the success of Jesus. Listen to the anger and frustration in their words to their “master”:
 26 And they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified--behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!"Joh 1:7,15,27,34
 
The words of John’s disciples give them away. Notice how they choose to refer to Jesus. They do not call Him by name (Jesus), nor do they refer to Him as the Messiah, though that is the way John refers to Him. They speak of Jesus as “the one who was with you, … the one about whom you testified.” I believe they did so because they actually came to resent who Jesus was. His identity and His success are related. If they are jealous of His success, they are not as enthusiastic about His identity as they should be. Neither are they as enthusiastic about acknowledging Jesus as Messiah as John is. John associates himself with Jesus, giving Jesus credibility. Worse yet, from their point of view, John testifies about Jesus (notice that they don’t mention what he testifies). Now, they complain, “everyone is going to him!”
Note the similarity of these words to the words of the Pharisees:
17 So the crowd who had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead were continuing to testify about it. 18 Because they had heard that Jesus had performed this miraculous sign, the crowd went out to meet him. 19 Thus the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you can do nothing. Look, the world has gone after him!” (John 12:17-19, emphasis mine.)
One is also reminded of these words in the Book of Numbers:
26 But two men had remained in the camp: the name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them. Now they were among those listed, but who had not gone out to the tabernacle; yet they prophesied in the camp. 27 And a young man ran and told Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28 So Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, one of his choice men, answered and said, “Moses my lord, forbid them!” 29 Then Moses said to him, “Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!” (Numbers 11:26-29, NKJV)
Lest we think John’s disciples are the exception, let me suggest that their mindset is virtually the same as the disciples of our Lord. Our Lord’s disciples are jealous for Jesus’ success. They don’t like it when others attempt the same ministries they perform (see Mark 9:38; Luke 9:49). They dread the thought of failure and suffering (Matthew 16:21-22). In the Gospels, the disciples of John and the disciples of our Lord are in it for themselves, until they learn the meaning of taking up one’s cross. John’s disciples therefore are put out with John for having created this situation. They do not like the fact that Jesus is now baptizing, just as they are, but with greater success. They see the end in view, for themselves and for their ministry. Yet this is the way God meant it to be.
This raises an interesting issue: Why don’t John’s disciples—the ones chastising him—leave John to follow Jesus? Why do they stay on with John? What do they expect, as far as the future is concerned? John’s ministry was to introduce the Messiah. He has done that, and his mission has been accomplished. John’s disciples are acting as though John is the Messiah. They seem to think that their mission and ministry will continue on indefinitely. Judging from the broad impact of John’s teaching (e.g., Acts 19), they may have worked at it for some time. But they look upon Jesus as their competition, rather than as the culmination of their ministry. None of these men seem to be considering leaving John and joining Jesus, as the first two disciples of John did.[ii] Had they cast their lot in with John, so that now they are unwilling to face up to what is in store for him and for them? It seems so. It is not a pretty picture which the Apostle John draws for us, but it is certainly true to life.
With the attitude of John’s disciples, one can understand why it was necessary for John to be imprisoned and then beheaded by Herod. Even then, one wonders how long it took John’s disciples to give it up and to begin to preach Christ
 
A Servant’s Heart (3:27-30)
V27-28 A ministry can only be given by God – I am only a messenger boy or a paper boy
I am only to understand my role and do what God has called ME to do. Not be jealous
2 things we should never say, I don’t need you and you have no need of me
27 John answered and said, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.1Co 4:7; Heb 5:4; Jas 1:17
 28 "You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but, 'I have been sent before Him.'Mal 3:1; Mr 1:2; Lu 1:17; Joh 1:20,27
 V27 Mark of a new Christian is that Jesus is v21, deeds have been done in Christ.
1Co 4:7 For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?
Ps 84:10 For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
29 "He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. Song 5:1; Mt 22:2; 2Co 11:2; Eph 5:25,27; Re 21:9
V29 John is but the voice, Jesus, my sheep hear my voice, Jesus is the real voice
John 8:47 "He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."
V29 John is not the Messiah, only the bridegroom’s friend – his job was to protect the bride for up to a week and put the hand of the bride into the bridegrooms and then he was done
John’s ministry is the ministry he received from God. His God-given ministry was not to be the Messiah, but to introduce the Messiah. He was the forerunner; Jesus was the fulfillment, the grand finale. John illustrates what he is saying by using the analogy of marriage. Jesus is the “bridegroom”; John is the “friend of the bridegroom.” The “friend of the bridegroom” is not distressed when the “bridegroom” appears at the wedding celebration to take his bride—he is elated. The friend’s task is to bring the bride and the groom together. When the voice of the groom is heard, the friend of the groom knows his task is accomplished, and he can rejoice in fulfilling his mission. He can rejoice that the bride and the groom are joined in marriage.[iii]
The ones that belong to Jesus respond with joy, not the way Nicodemus did in vs 9 and v20
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32
 
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten. 
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
 
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
[i] Some manuscripts have the plural here. It really doesn’t seem to matter whether the dispute was with one Jew or many.
[ii] If the Apostle John was the second disciple of John the Baptist to follow Jesus, think how he must have felt as he wrote this account, realizing this could have been him, and knowing that he is exposing the self-serving attitude of his former associates.
[iii] One can hardly dismiss the distinct possibility that John has a double meaning here, based on the fact that Israel is represented as the “bride” of God (Isaiah 62:4-5; Jeremiah 2:2; Hosea 2:19; Ezekiel 16; Malachi 2:11. See also Matthew 22:1ff.; 25:1ff.; Ephesians 5:32; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Revelation 19; 21:2, 9; 22:17.).

PSALM 7:1-6 GOD PROTECTS THOSE WHO TRUST IN HIM

In Psalm 7:1 David says O LORD my God, in You I put my trust; Save me from all those who persecute me; And deliver me. In verses 1-6 we see David asking for protection from those who are mistreating him because He knows God protects those who trust in Him. He knew that only God could rescue him. He declares his innocence and willingness to die if the charges were true.  He called on God who is the Judge of everyone to act on his behalf and get justice for him.  David knew where to go and who to pray to when his enemies were after him.  Where do we go? 
We always need to go to God first in any and all situations because He is a righteous God.  He is the answer to all our problems whether He solves them or not.  He will comfort us and care for us and give us the ability to love those who don’t deserve it.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten. 
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
 
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
 

JOHN 1:9 JESUS GIVES ALL AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE SAVED

Verse 9 - Or that was the true light which coming into the world gives light to every man.  Written backward for emphasis on light – remember light stands for Biblical truth, purity, and holiness
-Highlights the incarnation of Jesus Christ which gives light to every man – Through Gods sovereign power God has planted his knowledge in man through creation and mans conscience.  Enough to be responsible. – Romans 1:18-22, The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 ¶ since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20  For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-- his eternal power and divine nature-- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. 21  For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22  Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23  and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
Romans 2:11  For God does not show favoritism. 12  All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. 13  For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. 14  (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, 15  since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.) 16  This will take place on the day when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.
This leads to either looking to the light or rejecting it.
-Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of the light that God placed in man’s heart-
The world- John uses it 75 times in the gospel– invisible spiritual system of evil dominated by Satan and all that it offers is opposition to God, his people, and his world. 
            Verse 9 - most of the time John uses it in a negative manner.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten. 
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
 

JOHN 8:32 THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE

People seem to be constantly celebrating their Freedom and what it means to them. Usually it is a sin that they think they are free to do because it is their right, but There is a freedom that truly sets us free and it comes only from knowing Christ. I pray you know this true freedom from sin's ultimate penalty. If you don't and want to be truly free please ask God to forgive you and save you because of Jesus’ payment for your sin on the cross. He died for you. Don't wait, do it now. “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten. 
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions

A CHALLENGE TO GO LUKE 4:16-21

A Challenge To Go Luke 4:16-21 Is A Message About Our Call As Christians
The Info Below is About His Love Ministries And How We Got Started
Marty McKenzie was called to preach in 1992, but he answered: "I can't talk in front of people!"
His Love Ministries is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit Christian Ministry.It is based on Matthew 25:35-40 For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.' 37 "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, `Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 `When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' 40 "And the King will answer and say to them, `Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.' and James 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
The Key Verse is 40, And the King will answer and say to them, `Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'
In 1997 I became convinced that I was to be involved in Ministry, specifically, Jail and Prison.  A mission was laid on my heart to go to the jails and prisons, to minister to those that had messed up their life and could be changed by the Gospel.
I was called to preach in 1992, but felt I can't talk in front of people!" It took five years of struggling with God’s call and being prepared by Him before I started preaching at Effingham Prison in 1997.
In 1999 God laid it on my heart and opened the doors for me to begin providing services in the Nursing Homes and Assisted Living facilities.
In 2000 I got laid off from my job of 18 years which opened the door after 3 more years of God preparing me to go into full time ministry on March17th 2003.
Later in 2008 God led us to minister over at Coastal Harbor to the youth and then they called me to ask me to come to the adults also.
When we felt led to move and expand the ministry in the Columbia/Lexington, SC in 2018 I became involved more heavily in the Prison Ministry and also began to minister to the Veterans at a Transitional Home.
 
"I started this ministry to serve the forgotten in our community,". "We consider ourselves an extension of mainline churches, even though we don't have church buildings for ourselves. Our office is our homes, and we don't buy many supplies. We provide services - that is our goal."
His Love Ministries mission is to take the gospel of Jesus Christ and Him crucified to people in places who cannot get out to hear this good news.
                We do this through:
Bible Studies
Church Services
Biblical Counsel
Supplying Bibles and other Biblical Materials that encourage spiritual growth.
Social media using daily devotions on several platforms, Podcast Devotionals and online Sermons that can be found on many podcast directories.
Due to the serious nature of preaching Christ and Him Crucified and the nature of the places we minister in we are seeking:
Solid biblical truth teachers
Consistent and disciplined people
People willing to do behind the scenes work without the recognition.
The goal of HLM is to spread the gospel to those who really need to hear it and equip those who know Christ as Lord and Savior to minister to others. We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
We provide services in Georgia throughout Savannah, Chatham County, Effingham County, and in South Carolina in Batesburg-Leesville, Lexington, and Columbia.
We currently provide 51 bible studies/church services a month. 610 a year.PRAY THIS number will increase and that we are able to get back into more facilities.
Effingham Prison
COASTAL HARBOR TREATMENT CTR FOR CHILDREN/ADULTS – 8 Units of People
veterans in crisis or homeless
TOBY’S PLACE HOMELESS SHELTER FOR WOMEN, COLUMBIA, SC
ASSISTED LIVING FACILITIES – LEXINGTON & Batesburg-Leesville, SC
Total Facilities Ministered To – 9 with 16 different areas of ministry within these facilities.
Plus We have partnered with Mountaineer Ministries. They are currently ministering to 28 Care Homes in Upstate SC and Western NC and have conducted 68 Church services and ministered to 900 people since July.
Today His Love Ministries is a Non-Profit Organization that has been on mission since December of 1997.  We provide Church Services, Bible Studies, and Devotional Messages to people in facilities who otherwise would not be able to hear the Good News and be spiritually nourished. 
Pray for volunteers to help grow and strengthen HLM for the cause of Christ. Luke 10:2 Then He said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten. 
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions

THE MOST IMPORTANT VERSES IN THE BIBLE GENESIS 15:5-6

God promised Abraham that He would have more spiritual children than the stars. Genesis 15:5-6 are probably the most important verses in the Bible in that it shows that salvation is by faith for the first time.  Here is the first verse in the Bible that clearly speaks of (1) 'faith,' (2) 'righteousness,' and (3) 'justification.'" Here we see that Abraham believed in a Christ to come.  He did not understand all of the prophecies that Jesus would fulfill that became clear in the New Testament. Remember that all Scripture is profitable and read all of it, not just the easy parts but plan to read it from cover to cover and get all that God wants us to learn from it. 
Genesis 15:5-6 Then He brought him outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be." 6 And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
 
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten. 
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
 
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions

MATTHEW 11:28-30 IF LIFE IS BEATING YOU DOWN, THERE’S HOPE

MATTHEW 11:28 "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
What is life sending your way that is beating you down and leaving you without any hope or feeling helpless in light of all that is going on. Jesus Christ can save you and give you a new way of dealing with the problems and difficulties in your life.  Trust in Him today. Paul said in Philippians 4:6-9 to not be anxious about anything but take it all to God and the peace that passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds.  He also said not to think on and fill your mind with the bad things but to dwell on what is good.  That is the cure for all the craziness going on.
“Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built." (Luke 6:47-48)
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten. 
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions

MATTHEW 5:17-18 GOD SAID IT AND HE MEANT IT, DO YOU BELIEVE IT?

The phrase "For assuredly, I say to you”, "truly I say to you", "I tell you the truth" or “Amen, Amen” depending on your translation means what Jesus is about to say is very important. Jesus says that even the smallest letter or piece of the Old Testament writings will not go away until He has fulfilled all that He plans to do in the future. Jesus was implying by this that all Scripture is inspired of God (God Breathed) and are His very words written down for us to live by. When He says inspired He means down to the very letters used, not just the words.  Jesus quoted the Old Testament frequently and so confirmed the truth written there. When God says something, you can be sure He meant it and He says every word of Scripture is there for our benefit.  Read it every day to be given wisdom and understanding.
Matthew 5:17-18 "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
 
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten. 
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions

MATTHEW 5:13-16 HOW OUR LIVES ARE TO INFLUENCE OTHERS

The Distinctiveness of being a Kingdom Citizen…Salt and Light v13-16
Salt
Gives flavor..live differently…do not be conformed, but be ye transformed
Preserves….Stops the corruption of society or decaying
Stings… the truth hurts…Heb 4:12
It Heals
Causes Thirst
Light
Shows the truth, uncovers sin….stands for holiness, purity, righteousness
A godly life gives convincing testimony of the saving power of the Gospel
Brings glory to God
 Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten. 
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
 
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions

LUKE 11:2 PRAY FOR OUR NATION

Hi, I ‘m Marty McKenzie with His Love Ministries. In Luke 11:2 Jesus said to them, "When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. I would like to ask you to pray every time you hear this devotional or think about it to please pray for our world, our nation, it’s leaders, and for us to come back to God.  That God would be glorified because of the way we live for Him, that people will be saved, and that we would live in obedience to God’s Word so that He is pleased with our lives. That is His will being done.  Will you do that with me?
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
   John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
 
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32
 
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten. 
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
 
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions

Matthew 12:1-14 How Is Your Heart?

This is a milestone chapter in the Gospel of Matthew; it focuses on the rejection of the Messiah. In many ways, this chapter is a turning point; the mounting, growing unbelief of Israel crystallizes in this chapter with rejection. Just like Israel many today believe that it is something that we do or can do that will get us into heaven, but we can never get to heaven without Jesus shed blood on the cross and His grace that allows us to be forgiven if we ask Him to forgive us and save us. Is your relationship to God rules, laws, or do you realize that those are only things to assist us? They can never stand in the way of meeting needs, serving God, and showing mercy, because they violate the heart of God. Where is your heart toward God? Are you trapped in a bunch of rules, or do you know an easy yoke and a light burden?
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten. 
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
 
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions

1 JOHN SUMMARY

Written to combat Gnosticism. A Preoccupation with deliverance from the flesh dualistic view of man [matter was evil and spirit was good].  · Matter is inherently evil.
It was Peter’s task to talk about the kingdom of God, Paul about the church of God, but John is concerned with the family of God, to bring them back to the basics of truth.  He was a net mender
In Chapter 5, Verse 13, he gives us the main reason he writes this book: “I write this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.”… I am writing this to assure you” – that you might find security,
At the close of this letter John tells us, “He who has the Son has life; he who has not the Son of God has not life,” {1 Jn 5:12 RSV}.
 
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten. 
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions

30 SECOND DEVOTIONAL MATTHEW 16 WHAT IT MEANS TO FOLLOW JESUS

In Matthew 16 Jesus said, "If any man follow Me, let him take up his cross and follow Me." This is talking about the suffering sacrificial side of following Jesus. What does it mean to take up your cross and bear your cross? Jesus is saying here that we should sacrifice ourselves for His cause. And Jesus is saying the same thing today, are you willing to sacrifice everything you hold dear, everything you love, all the stupid little things that occupy your time, all your dreams and all your ambitions to be obedient to His cause? That's the real issue. Will you make that pledge today?
Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.28 “Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”
 
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten. 
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions

1 JOHN 5:19-21 FINAL ASSURANCES FOR THE CHRISTIAN

1 John 5:19 - We are Of God
1 John 5:20 - Son of God has come and given us understanding  Heb 1 – Son has spoken to us in these last days.
This is the secret of the life that is real. Because we have met the true God, through His Son Jesus Christ, we are in contact with reality. Our fellowship is with a God who is genuine. As we have seen, the word “real” means “the original as opposed to a copy” and “the authentic as opposed to an imitation.” Jesus Christ is the true Light (John 1:9), and true Bread (John 6:32), and true Vine (John 15:1), and Truth itself (John 14:6). He is the Original; everything else is a copy. He is authentic; everything else is only an imitation.
 
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten. 
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
 
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions

JOHN 12:26 BEING WHERE JESUS HAS LED YOU 30 SECOND DEVOTIONAL

Following Jesus means being where He is. Jesus said in John 12:26 that, "If any man serve Me, let him follow Me that where I am, there will My servant be also." In other words, Jesus wants His servants to go where He goes. That's the first thing about following. You go where He goes. Real simple. And in all the days of your life, in all the circumstances of your life, in all the places of your life, in all the relationships of your life, you should be able to say when asked, "Why are you here?" I'm here because I'm following Jesus and this is where He's led me today. How about you, can you say this is true in your life?
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten. 
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions

1 JOHN 5:14-18 CHRISTIAN CERTAINTIES

1John 5:14
1) Confidence of freedom from shame at the rapture, 2:28,
2) Confidence of a clear conscience in prayer, 3:21-22, and
3) Confidence at the judgment seat of Christ because our love resembles God’s love, 4:17.
Principle: God is accessible to the believer.
Confidence in prayer is for those who are born again yet many experience frustration in prayer. They can trust God for eternal life but they cannot trust Him for this life. We trust God for a life without end but we do not trust Him to meet our financial needs.
We have a general faith in God but very little confidence in Him. We know that we place confidence in God if we have an effective prayer life.
Matt. 7:7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”
Eph 3:20 “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
Application: Our right of asking God for petitions and intercessions is unconditional. Our right rests on the person and work of Christ. That is why we come in Jesus’ name.
John 14:24 “Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”
 
The Christian today has access to the God of the universe because Jesus broke the barrier between God and the Christian. The Christian has uninhibited boldness in prayer because of the work of Jesus Christ.
Heb. 4:14” Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
that if we ask anything
“If we ask” presumes expectation. Since the Christian is certain that he possesses eternal life (5:13), he can be confident that God answers prayer.
Principle: We must know the will of God to have confidence in prayer.
because God did not answer their prayer. They assume that prayer fails to meet their needs.
Some Christians use prayer as a genie that persuades God to do what they want. If they rub the genie the right way, they get what they want. This is a parody of prayer. By this they make outlandish demands on God that they believe is their right. God promises to meet our needs, not our “greed”. This is praying “according to our lusts,”
James 4:3 “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.”
Genuine prayer prays in God’s will and according to God’s nature. Prayer outside God’s will is an insult to His integrity. There is a wide range wherein we can pray. We pray for what God requires, not what we desire.
Prayer is not an endeavor to move God to see things our way. It is not an attempt to change God’s values or standards. God is not willing to give His child something that is not good for him. God wants to give what is in the best interest of the child of God. God does not pander to self-gratification.
Phil. 4:19” And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
Our prayers must align themselves with the will of God and be consistent with the character and plan of God for the universe. Jesus said, “Not my will but Yours be done”.
according to His will,
God always answers prayer that is asked “according to His will.” God reveals His will in the Word of God. God answers prayer according to certain standards. For example, we must ask in Jesus name (John 14:13; 15:16) and be in fellowship (John 15:7; 1 John 3:22) for God to answer prayer. Another condition is to have confidence that God hears and responds to prayer.
there are many prayers God never hears.
Psalm 66:8 “If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.”
1 Peter 3:7 “Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.”
1 John 5:15 “And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”
When a child of God believes God’s promises in prayer, God moves His hand for that believer.
Application: God has certain ground rules for answered prayer. Here are a number of qualifications to answered prayer:
Praying in Jesus name (prayer that is consistent with His person and work and based on that authority), John 14:13-14; 16:23-24
Abiding in fellowship (the Spirit-filled life), John 15:7; Ps 66:18; James 4:3
Ask in faith, James 1:5-8; Je 33:33
Ask according to God’s will, 1 John 5:14
God never violates Himself to answer our prayers. He will not contradict His holiness to answer prayer.
Matt. 7:11 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”
Prov. 15:8, “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, But the prayer of the upright is His delight.”
Prov. 15:29 “The Lord is far from the wicked, But He hears the prayer of the righteous.”
Luke 11:1 “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”
Luke 18:1 “Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart…”
Acts 6:4 “…but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
1 John 5:16 “If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death
John continues his discussion on prayer in this verse but he extends the issue to praying for those in spiritual need.
The object of prayer in this verse is a believer out of fellowship. The word “brother” clearly indicates that the person in need is a Christian (2:9-11; 3:14-15; 5:1). The words “a sin” indicate that the issue at hand is a specific sin or an identifiable sin.
The person who prays about this situation must “see” the sin for himself.
which does not lead to death,
The idea of “death” here is not spiritual death but physical death. Some Christians die prematurely because of protracted unconfessed sin (1 Cor. 5:5; 11:30).
Principle: Some Christians die physically before their time.
Application: Christians begin eternal life at the point of salvation and can never lose that salvation at any future point.
John 10:28 “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.”
John 17:11 “Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.”
However, Christians can lose the experience of abundant living.  John 10:10 “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
There are a number of occasions of the “sin unto death” in the Word of God. Ananias and Sapphira are cases in point (Acts 5:1-11). God sentenced them to death for misrepresentation of the facts. Paul assigned a Christian living in incest to death should he not repent (1 Cor. 5:1-5).
Moses committed the sin unto death by striking the rock (Nu 20:8, 12). Achan committed the sin unto death by hiding condemned garments in the book of Joshua. He and his family were put to death for this.
Many Christians do not die in bed. God does not allow them to live out their full amount of years. God jerks them up short and takes them home to be with Him. He takes them home with a dishonorable discharge. That is a miserable way to go home to meet God. God saves their soul so as by fire. He saves some people by the skin of their teeth.
1 Cor. 3:15 “If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”
James 5:14 “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. James 5:16 “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”\
1 Tim. 5:24 “Some men’s sins are clearly evident, preceding them to judgment, but those of some men follow later. 25 Likewise, the good works of some are clearly evident, and those that are otherwise cannot be hidden.”
1 John 5:17
“All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.”
All unrighteousness is sin,
“All unrighteousness” is an occasion for intercessory prayer except for the sin unto death (5:16).
5:18-20 Final Assurances
1 John 5:18 No one born of God Sins
“We know Principle: Once it was natural to sin but now it is unnatural.
 
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten. 
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions

GOD HAS GIVEN US ETERNAL LIFE, AND THIS LIFE IS IN HIS SON 1 JOHN 5:6-13

The witness of God concerning His Son, says verse 9 It is our faith in Him that overcomes the world.  We must believe in the true Son of God, the true Christ, the eternal one. 
 in chapter 2 verse 22, "Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ, this is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son...that is the equality between God the Father and God the Son.  Whoever denies the Son doesn't have the Father, the one who confesses the Son has the Father also."  One's Christology is critical, the right view of Christ is essential to salvation.  Again in chapter 3 John affirms this.  Verse 23, "This is His commandment that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ."  Chapter 4 again, verses 1 and 2, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, tests the spirits to see whether they're from God because many false prophets have gone out into the world.  By this you know the Spirit of God.  Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God and this is the spirit of antichrist." 
chapter 4 to verses 9 and 10 we read: "By this the love of God was manifested in us that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.  In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."  Understanding and believing the truth about Christ and His redemptive work is absolutely critical.  Chapter 5 verse 1, "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God."  And what is our faith?  Verse 5, "Believing that Jesus is the Son of God." his is the witness of God concerning His Son.  This is the testimony of God.  Down in verse 10, "The one who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself." That is if you believe Jesus Christ to be who the Father says He is, you have received God's testimony.  The one who does not believe that Jesus is who God said He is, makes God into a liar.  And so we have in this text this most important theme of the witness of God.  God here summarizes His testimony concerning His Son.  John here is elaborating on a single statement that he made in his gospel, John 20:31, "These are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that believing you might have life through His name."  That was the purpose for which he wrote the whole of the gospel of John the great "I Am" titles that compose so much of that gospel.  And, of course, the gospel of John starts with the great statement that” In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. 
If you want to know the testimony of God, don't listen to the Jehovah's Witnesses, listen to God's true witness recorded through the gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke and most notably John, whose purpose is to write things that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and believing have life through His name.
What does "water and blood" mean?
That is not any divine statement, that's a very physical, very human affirmation that this person was dead.
Then there's a second view that has gained some popularity that this refers to the two ordinances of the church.  Water, referring to baptism; and blood, referring to the communion service...baptism and the Lord's table. that doesn't give any divine witness either because that's a function of the church.  That's not a God-given witness, that's a church witness, isn't it? 
And I would say something else, as well.  In the baptism of Christ He identified with sinners, didn't He?  He identified with sinners.  You see, baptism was baptism of repentance.  It was baptism of repentance.  He didn't have anything to repent of.  But there in that most unique way He told John, "You have to baptize Me."  John said no, the reverse is true.  And He said, "No, you have to baptize Me.  I need to fulfill all righteousness."  And there He was in His baptism identifying with sinners and defining the reason He came.  And the Father gave witness, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."
And the second divine testimony was given at His blood, as it were, or at His death, that at the end of His ministry.  That too defined His ministry because as He had identified with sinners in going into the waters of a baptism of repentance, He fully identified with sinners at the cross by taking their punishment.  Those are tremendously defining events, two monumental experiences bracketing His ministry of redemption.  And so the Father says, "I gave testimony at His baptism, testimony at His death."
Some time after 90 A.D., a serious heresy had already developed which said that Jesus was God's Son at His baptism, but not at the cross. This is part of the developing of Gnosticism. We've seen how they believe that spirit was good and matter was evil, and so they denied the full doctrine of the incarnation that God, the good Spirit, could ever take up permanent residence in a human being, was unacceptable to the dualism of their thinking.  They did allow the Christ's Spirit to come down at the baptism, stay awhile and then go away.  They could not involve God in flesh in any permanent way and certainly not in the sufferings of death. 
Verse 7, "And it is the Spirit who bears witness because the Spirit is the truth," or, "Because He is the Spirit of Truth."  The third member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, gives witness from the Father of the Son because He's the Spirit of Truth.  He always speaks what is true.  Doesn't just mean that but it does mean that. 
verse 8 then says, "For there are three that bear witness, the Spirit and the water and the blood and the three are in agreement."
we find the very same thing here in chapter 5 verse 13, to know you're saved you have to know you believe in the Son of God.  The name of the Son of God means all that He is...all that He's done.  And so belonging to Jesus Christ, belonging to God starts with believing in Jesus Christ Anything else is antichrist and cuts one off from salvation and eternal life.
Now the question is, what is it that brings us to this conviction?  What is it that brings us to this faith?  What is it that brings us to this believing?  And the answer is, the witness of God.  verse 17 of Matthew 3, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."  The Father is perfectly pleased with the Son.   bore witness saying, 'I beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven and He remained on Him.'"
Matthew chapter 27, verse 45. "From the sixth hour, darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour."  Supernatural darkness verse 51, "Behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom."  That cannot be done by men, far too high, far too heavy. And the earth shook."  God literally shook the planet.  "And the rocks were split and the tombs were opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised and coming out of the tombs.  After His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many." 
 verse 54 says, "Now the centurion and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became frightened and said...what?... 'Truly this was the Son of God.'" Not only did the centurion say it but those who were with him said it.  There's no other conclusion.  This was the Son of God.  Here was God's testimony at the cross. And you could also say that the Father's testimony was given at the cross by the fulfillment on the cross of the Old Testament pictures.  For example, Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 He was smitten of God and afflicted, that's why He said, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"  
God then gave His testimony.  Why did He give it? 
Verse 11, The purpose for God's testimony. Here's the reason for the witness.  "The witness is this, that God has given us eternal life." the reason that God gives this witness is because God has given us eternal life and this life is in His Son.  So if you don't have the witness of God that brings you to believe in His Son, you don't have eternal life.  Eternal life, is life in God's Kingdom, the next life, eternal life. 
It's always about eternal life.
Our response to God's witness.  And with this we'll back up to verse 10. What should be our response?
Verse 10, "The one who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself.  The one who does not believe God has made Him a liar because he has not believed in the witness that God has borne concerning His Son." You who believe have received an eternal life and you have a lifelong grip on Jesus Christ, you will never let go.  "Those who went out from us went out from us because they never were of us, but you hold on to life through faith in Jesus Christ."
verse 12.  "He who has the Son has the life.  He who does not have the Son of God does not have the life." 
Is that simple enough?  If you don't have Christ, you don't have life. 
John 1:12 is a good place to end.  "As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name."  If you haven't received Jesus Christ, believed in His name, you have not been saved. All of that the Father's testimony through these three great confirming categories of evidence.  And the end result is if you believe, you embrace the truth and you are saved and you are given eternal life.  If you don't, you make God a liar because you will not believe.  It's as simple as this.  If you have the Son, you have eternal life.  If you don't, you have no eternal life.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten. 
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
 
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions

JOB SAID IN CHAPTER 19:23 “OH THAT MY WORDS WERE WRITTEN

Job said in Chapter 19:23 “Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! God did write Job's words down forever in His Word for those of us who know Christ and need a deeper walk with the Him and also to give us hope when are going through tough times and don’t always know why.  We need to remember no matter what we are going through God means for it to bring glory to Him by making us more like Him, also to show a watching world how we respond to trials, and to show us and them that He is faithful to us no matter how tough life gets.  Look at these 3 verses in Romans 8. Verse 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Verse 37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  Song Through it all https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO5Qt2VQn4k
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten. 
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions

1 JOHN 4.20- 5.1-5 LOVE THE BRETHREN AND FAITH THAT GIVES US THE VICTORY THAT OVERCOMES THE WORLD

1 John 4:20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.
1 John 5:1 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. 4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
 
And then in verse 20, for the seventh time in 1 John, "If someone says..."  Seven times John deals with claims and every time he gives a warning.  "If someone says," in this case, "I love God, I'm a Christian, I'm a believer, but is characterized by hate toward his brother, he's a liar.  He doesn't love his brother whom he's seen, he can't love God whom he's not seen."  You can't claim to love the invisible God and not love the God that's in His people.  You can't claim to love the invisible Christ and not love Christ in His people.  It's absurd.  So it's only reasonable then to say true believers are characterized by loving the way God loves, sacrificial, selfless love.
And then John closes this section with a command, just as he began it, "This commandment we have from Him," John is saying it's not mine, it's His, "that the one who loves God should love his brother also."  With an unreturned love, you might say, wanting nothing in return, an unconditional love that accepts and forgives, a vicarious love that bears the pain of others, a self-giving love that practices sacrifice and a righteous love that tolerates no sin.
There is the wonderful love that a husband and a wife share, that a family shares, that children share with parents, friend with friend.  We're not talking about any of those human loves which are enhanced and enriched by the love of Christ in the heart of believers.  We're talking about this kind of love that extends toward anybody that has a need, particularly those in the family of God.  It is a perfect kind of love, a different love than the world's kind of love.  It is a whole, complete love and it is the essence of God manifest in Christ.  It is our testimony, it is the assurance of our salvation.  It is our confidence in judgment and it is only reasonable because you could never truly have the love of God in you and not love others with that love.  Perfect love is the mark of the true believer. 
Conclusion
At the beginning of this chapter the question was asked, Which is the most important of John’s three tests: righteousness, love, or truth? We answered that love was the most important, but at this point we have several additional insights for knowing why.
The first reason is obviously that we need love most, particularly in the so-called evangelical churches. These have sound doctrine, at least to a point. There is a measure of righteousness. But often, sadly, there is very little love. Without it, however, there is no true demonstration of the life of Christ within or true worship of the Father. The second reason is that Jesus himself made love the first and second of the commandments. The first commandment is love for God (Deut. 6:4). The second is love for one another (Lev. 19:18). The two properly belong together. As Jesus said, “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matt. 22:40). The third reason is that it was the realization of this double love in us for both God and man that was the object of Christ’s coming. This is what John seems to speak about in the opening verses of the letter when he says, “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ” (1:3). That is, the coming of Christ is proclaimed so that those who hear of his incarnation and death might believe in him and thereby learn to love both God and one another.
The devil is the one who disrupts. The Lord Jesus Christ is the one who draws together. Moreover, in the drawing together into fellowship, love is the key factor. Little surprise then that we have this commandment from him: “Whoever loves God must also love his brother.”[1]
it is by practicing a real and self-sacrificing love for one another that we learn to love the one who sacrificed himself for us.[2]
V1,4,5 - Faith.  The first test to give evidence or proof that you're an overcomer is your faith.  Here is again the definition of somebody who is an overcomer, "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God."  That's simple enough, isn't it?  Overcomers are those born of God. 
That is to say the reason we are overcomers is because we have been given new life.  We have been begotten by God.  We now possess the life of God.  And the only people who are born of God, the only people who received the new birth who are regenerate are those who believe that Jesus is the Christ.  Overcomers then are those who believe that Jesus is the Messiah, God in human flesh.  And, of course, that's an abbreviated statement.  Jesus is Christ and you can fill it with the whole thing, all that's true about Jesus is implied there.  Overcomers believe in Jesus.  If you don't believe in Jesus, you're not an overcomer. 
 
if you haven't been begotten of God you are not an overcomer, you are still under the power of Satan, under the power of death, under the power of sin and the law, under the power of the world, and under the influence of the false teachers who move through the world.
John 1:12 it says, "As many as received Him, as received Christ, to them He gave the right to become the children of God, even to those who believe in His name."  You believe in the name of Jesus Christ, God makes you His child. 
Once a person is regenerated, once they have become a believer in Jesus Christ and been born again and justified and adopted into the family of God, once they have been delivered from sin and death and hell, once they have been converted, adopted and sanctified, Christians are invincible in the ultimate sense.  This, of course, means that our salvation is eternal.  We are eternally secure.  We will persevere to the very end.  Nothing can remove us from the Savior's grasp.  We sin, we fail, we struggle but we never ever lose any battle ultimately, finally, with the world, with the flesh, or with the devil.  Our faith, our salvation are indestructible.
 
Our victory then starts at the moment of our salvation and we are given a permanent faith that never ever runs out.  Moments of questioning, moments of doubt...sure.  And the Lord is gracious to us in our time of doubt.  Doubt is a temptation.  Doubt is a sin.  But if you are a true Christian, doubt will always be a wrong response, a sinful response because if you are God's, your salvation is forever and so is the faith that He gave you.  He has defeated every enemy.  He has triumphed over Satan, demons, the kingdom of darkness, death, hell, sin, the Law, the world, false teaching and you are a super-conqueror cause you've been given a permanent faith.  And that faith, the one who is believing, is because you have been begotten of God.  And having been born of God, as verse 4 says, you are an overcomer and your victory was gained by our faith.  And who is the one, verse 5, who has overcome the world but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
The word is used by our Lord Jesus Himself in John 16:33, He uses the verb form when He says, "In this world you shall have tribulation, be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." 
Romans chapter 8.  At the close of that great eighth chapter where Paul is speaking about the unconquerable position of Christians in Christ, he says, verse 37, "In all these things we are more than conquerors
"We're super-conquerors.  invincible, unconquerable.  So much that, "Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, or any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  There is nothing that can conquer us, not tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or sword.  We are super-conquerors.  We are the unconquerable.  We are the overcomers.
Revelation 12:11, "They overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb."  They overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. 
Revelation 21, verse 7 says, "He that overcomes shall inherit these things."  Overcomes get not only triumph over Satan, but a triumph over Satan that results in an eternal heaven.  And all that heaven is becomes ours.  We are the true victors.
John certainly affirmed this idea earlier in his epistle if you go back to chapter 2, for a moment.  And verse 13, "I'm writing to you young men," and he's not talking about chronological age, but those who spiritually are growing up.  "Because you have overcome the evil one."  How so?  Verse 14, end of the verse, "The Word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one." 
Not only have we become overcomes of Satan as powerful as he is, but we have become overcomers in the realm of life as well.  That is, we have overcome death.  I think the most notable portion of Scripture that speaks to that is 1 Corinthians 15 and just a reminder, it says at the end of verse 54 in this great fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians, "Death is swallowed up in victory.  O, death, where is your sting."  The sting of death is sin, the power of sin is the law but thanks be to God that gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Victory over death because victory over sin, victory over law.  That is to say we triumph over what sin wants to do to us.  We triumph over what the law wants to do, the perfect, holy, righteous Law of God crushes us because we break it.  It sentences us to damnation for our sins.  But in Christ we triumph over the Law, over sin, over death which is the penalty the Law imposes.
We go from believing in right doctrine, the doctrinal test, to the moral or ethical test and the second of John's three tests presented here to verify overcomers is love.  Go back to verse 1.  "Whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him."  Verse 2, "By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God."  Verse 2 - Love , "By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God
You can tell an overcomer very simply.  He or she loves God and loves whom God loves, the children born of Him
If you love God, you long more than anything else to be in His presence, to hear Him speak, to praise Him and worship Him. And if you love His people, you long to be with them and to be the source of their needs being met as much as you can.  You pray for them.  You nurture them.  You counsel them.  You speak to them kindly.  You exhort them.  You encourage them.  You confront them.  Do whatever you need to do, all those one-anothers of the New Testament for their spiritual benefit because you care. 
Look at the end of verse 2-3.  "We know that we love the children of God when we love God...and here it comes...and observe His commandments.  For this is the love of God that we keep His commandments are His commandments are not burdensome."
The third characteristic that marks those who are overcomers, is obedience
Now let's put this together.  We believe in God.  We believe in Christ who is God.  And that faith produces love and that love produces obedience.  If I believe that Christ is who He is.  I believe Christ is exactly who the New Testament says He is.  If I believe God is who the Scripture reveals Him to be, then He is going to draw out of my heart all my love and all my praise and all my adoration and all my interest and all my attention.  And I'm going to be consumed with Him as the priority of my life.  And as a second priority I'm going to be consumed with the people He loves because whoever He loves I love.  It's just how it works.  And if I truly love Him that way, the expression of that love is going to come in keeping His commandments, and considering His commandments as not burdensome...not burdensome.  If you love somebody, and they ask you to do something, you can't do it fast enough, right?  True love always issues in obedience, always rushes to the will of the person who asks, always longs to meet the need.
At this point, we can review and understand the practical meaning of “maturing love” in our daily lives. As our love for the Father matures, we have confidence and are no longer afraid of His will. We also are honest toward others and lose our fear of being rejected. And we have a new attitude toward the Word of God: it is the expression of God’s love, and we enjoy obeying it. Confidence toward God, honesty toward others, and joyful obedience are the marks of perfecting love and the ingredients that make up a happy Christian life.[3]
 
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten. 
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
 
[1] Boice, J. M. (2004). The Epistles of John: an expositional commentary (pp. 121–122). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.
[2] Boice, J. M. (2004). The Epistles of John: an expositional commentary (p. 121). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.
[3] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 524). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

1 TIMOTHY 6:11 BUT YOU, O MAN OF GOD

1 TiMOTHY 6:11 But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Do you have a plan to pursue Godliness in your life? I bet you and I have planned all kinds of other things that we would like to do that don‘t include this. If you don’t have a plan, you are missing out on the most important thing you can ever do for now and eternity. 1 John 2:17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
 
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten. 
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
 

1 JOHN 4:13-19 BY THIS WE KNOW THAT WE BELONG TO HIM

1 John 4:13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. 17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. 19 We love Him because He first loved us.
Love and Sound Doctrine (vv. 13–16)
In the last verse of the preceding section, John has concluded that if we love one another, two things may be said to follow: first, that God abides in us, and second, that God’s love is perfected in us. These two conclusions give the outline for the next two sections of this chapter. In the first section (vv. 13–16) God’s indwelling of the Christian is discussed in greater detail; in the second (vv. 17–21) the perfection of love is analyzed. That the indwelling of the Christian by God is the theme of the first section is evident from the threefold repetition of the idea: once in verse 13 (“we live in him and he in us”), once in verse 15 (“God lives in him and he in God”), and once in verse 16 (“whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him”).
It is not easy to give a simple outline to this section of the chapter, however, as it was, for instance, for verses 7–12 on the basis of the threefold repetition of the phrase “love one another.” Still, the major ideas are obvious. First, we know that we dwell in God and God in us because of the Spirit, whom he has given to us (v. 13). Then, second, we know that he has given us the Spirit because we have come to believe in Christ and love the brethren (vv. 14–16).[1]
v13-16 But fourthly, we are to love one another because love is the assurance of our salvation
Here's how we know we're saved.  Here's how we know we abide in Him and He in us, again emphasizing He is in us.  How do we know we're in Him and He's in us?  One, because He's given us His Spirit. You say, "I can't see the Holy Spirit.  I can't feel the Holy Spirit.  I don't know that I can say for sure I've received the Holy Spirit.  How can I say that I'm sure I'm saved because He's given us the Spirit? 
John’s first point is that believers know that they dwell in God and God in them because of the Holy Spirit whom God has given to them. By this John emphasizes that God is always first in spiritual things and that apart from his gracious activity by the Holy Spirit to open blind eyes to perceive the truth and move rebellious wills to turn from sin to the Savior, no one would believe in Christ or love the brethren. In the next few verses John is going to talk of belief in Christ and love of the brethren, but we must not think, as some commentators have, that these are conditions by which we are enabled to dwell in God or remain in him. To believe in Christ and to love the brethren are not conditions by which we may dwell in God but rather are evidences of the fact that God has already taken possession of our lives to make this possible.[1]
V14 Here is how you know that you've been given the Spirit.  "Because you believe the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world and you confess Jesus is the Son of God."  In other words, it is your belief in the gospel that is evidence of the ministry and presence of the Holy Spirit, right?  Because you couldn't know that apart from the Spirit, is that not so?  Sinners are dead in trespasses and sin, they are blind, you have no capacity, it's not of him who wills or him who runs, it's not according to the will of man or the will of the flesh, you can't know God, God is not known by human wisdom.  He's not known by human intelligence.  "Natural man understands not the things of God, they are foolishness to him.
4:14. The apostle now reached a climactic point in his argument. He had just written that “if we love each other,” then the God whom no one has seen abides “in us and His love is made complete in us.” The result of this experience is that we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. Since the first person plural in verses 7–13 is clearly meant to include the readers, the “we” of this verse includes them as well. The indwelling God, whose presence is manifested in the midst of a loving Christian community, thus becomes in a sense truly visible to the eye of faith. Though no one “has seen” (tetheatai, “beheld”) God (v. 12), believers who abide in Him (v. 13) “have seen” (tetheametha, “behold”) the Son as He is manifested among loving Christians. Christians who behold this manifestation have in fact “seen” and can “testify” to the fundamental truth that “the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.” This great truth can be put on display through the instrumentality of Christian love. With these words, John reached the goal he had announced in the prologue (1:1–4), namely, that his readers might share the apostles’ experience. The apostles had “seen” (heōrakamen) the “life which was with the Father and … appeared to us” (1:2). In a loving Christian community, the believers can see that too. The term “Life” in 1:2, though it refers to Christ incarnate, nevertheless was carefully chosen by the writer. What his readers could witness is the renewed manifestation of that Life in their fellow Christians. But, as he had argued ever since 2:29, the “life” which Christians possess by new birth is inherently sinless and can only be manifested through righteousness and Christlike love. But when that occurs, Christ whom the apostles saw in the flesh is, in a real but spiritual sense, “seen” again (4:14).[1]
The Holy Spirit’s Gifts
This leads directly to John’s next point, for, having said that it is always God who is first in spiritual things, the question with which he next wants to deal is this: Is God thus at work spiritually in me? In answer to this question he therefore now argues that if God is at work, the evidences for it will be seen in a combination of love and sound doctrine. In other words, we may know that we have the Spirit because we have come to confess Christ and dwell in love.[1]
The confession of Christ is mentioned first because it is at the point of confession that the Christian life may properly be said to begin. “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 him and he in God” (vv. 14–15). Once again, as in numerous spots throughout the letter, John phrases his confession of Christ in words that would be especially challenging to those faced with the Gnostic heresies. He emphasizes that God the Father sent the eternal Son to be the Savior and that the historical Jesus is that eternal Son.
This should not obscure the fact that there are additional theological riches in the verses, however. For one thing, there is the doctrine of a lost world that needs a Savior. This “world,” as was pointed out in the earlier discussion of 2:15–17, means the world of men as it is in rebellion against God. A second doctrine is the full deity of Jesus Christ. A third is the focal point of his mission, which was to be the “Savior of the world.” It was for this that God “sent” him, says John. A fourth is the matter of God’s own motivation in the work of salvation, which is “the love God has for us” (v. 16).[1]
He comes to the point in verse 16.  "And we have come to know and believed the love which God has for us."  This is just really the conclusion of this flow here.  How do I know I'm a Christian?  Because God gave me His Spirit.  And He only gives His Spirit to those that are His.  He only takes up residency in those that are His.  How do I know He gave me His Spirit?  Because I believe the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.  And I confess that Jesus is the Son of God.  In other words, I believe the gospel which I can't believe apart from the work of the Spirit.
Eph 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
You look at your life, is that what you see?  If it is, if you love Christ even though you're not always faithful as you should be, if you love God the Father, and you love to worship Him, and you love to honor Him, and you cherish His glory, and if you find yourself drawn to the brethren and the fellowship, sacrificially serving one another, and even compassionately, lovingly caring for those outside the gospel so that you give them the saving truth of Jesus Christ, this is evidence that God is in you, the God of love because of the work of the Holy Spirit.
The second evidence of the Spirit’s activity is love for God and one another, for John concludes by saying, “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.” In other words, the love to which Christians were exhorted in verses 7–12 is now said not only to be a most solemn duty but also to be a striking evidence of the Spirit’s activity.
Here certainly, in a combination of the ideas of the internal work of the Holy Spirit, belief in Christ as the Son of God and Savior, and the supreme point of Christian ethics which is a two-pronged love both for God and man, is a high point of the epistle. John is dealing with the subject of assurance (as he has been throughout) and has expressed it under several aspects. There is a subjective side, but it is without those unreliable, so-called spiritual experiences on which so many depend: tongues, miracles, feelings, and so forth. There is also an objective side, but this is not without those tender expressions of love that temper mere orthodoxy and validate it. Dodd writes of these verses:
This closely knit statement therefore places the reality of the Christian experience of God beyond question, guarding against the dangers of subjectivism on the one hand, and of mere traditionalism on the other; placing equal and co-ordinate stress on love to God, which is the heart of religion, and love to man, which is the foundation of morality, without allowing religion to sink to the level of mere moralism, or morality to be dissolved in mysticism. The passage is the high-water mark of the thought of the epistle.[1]
Love’s Perfection (vv. 17–21)
17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.
If people are afraid, it is because of something in the past that haunts them, or something in the present that upsets them, or something in the future that they feel threatens them. Or it may be a combination of all three. A believer in Jesus Christ does not have to fear the past, present, or future, for he has experienced the love of God and this love is being perfected in him day by day.
“It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27). But a Christian does not fear future judgment, because Christ has suffered his judgment for him on the cross. “Truly, truly I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life” (John 5:24, nasb). “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1, nasb). For a Christian, judgment is not future; it is past. His sins have been judged already at the cross, and they will never be brought against him again.
V17 because as He is, so are we in this world. This means that the Father deals with us as He deals with His own beloved Son. How, then, can we ever be afraid? We do not have to be afraid of the future, because our sins were judged in Christ when He died on the cross. The Father cannot judge our sins again without judging His Son, for “as He is, so are we in this world.”[1]
In verses 13–16 John has developed the first of two ideas introduced for the first time in verse 12, the indwelling of the Christian by God. Now he returns to the second of those two ideas, the perfection of love, and explains what he means practically. Earlier, when he had said, “If we love each other, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us,” the reader might well have been left with the question of how such a thing could be possible. God’s attributes are perfection; he is perfection. Consequently, we might wonder how God’s love could be perfected in us, or anywhere else for that matter. Now John explains his meaning, showing that his emphasis was not so much upon that love that God has in himself (which obviously is already perfect) but rather upon our love both for God and one another. This has its source in God and is brought to completion by him. “Made complete” here does not mean totally without flaw in a moral or any other sense. It means “whole” or “mature,” and it refers to that state of mind and activity in which the Christian is to find himself when the love of God within him, expressing itself in the believer’s own love, has accomplished that which God fully intends it to accomplish.
No doubt there are many aspects of love’s perfection, but from this greater number John singles out two. First, there is confidence in view of God’s coming judgment (vv. 17–18). Second, there is love of the brethren (vv. 19–21).[1]
Confidence
This is the third time in the letter that the word “confidence” (parrēsia) occurs, and it will occur once more. In two of the four instances it refers to confidence before God in reference to prayer (3:21; 5:14). In the other two instances, one of which is this text, it refers to confidence before God in view of Christ’s return and the execution of his righteous judgment against sin (2:28; 4:17).
The idea of God’s judgment is an unpopular one today, but it is not necessarily less popular than it was in John’s time. The problem is simply that men and women do not like the idea of having to account to God for their actions. So they tend to discount the idea, hoping that the day of judgment might just go away. But judgment is the only logical idea of the three ideas usually associated with the end times. In most systems of theology the end events focus around three things: the return of Christ, the resurrection, and the judgment.[1]
V17-18 Number five, we are commanded to love because love is our confidence in judgment. 
I look ahead at judgment and I would...I might say to myself, "Well I don't have any fear of judgment, after all, I believe in Jesus."  Some people would say that.  You hear people say that all the time.  "Oh, I'm not worried about death, I'm a good guy and I believe in Jesus, God certainly will let me into His heaven."
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
 It's not just the theology that is the issue.  Confidence in the anticipation of the day of judgment comes from perfect love being your experience.  The day of judgment simply looks at the final reckoning, the final in the broadest sense.  In chapter 2 verse 28 it says, "Now, little children, abide in Him so that when He appears we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming."  It just looks at the end and says you can live your life with no fear, never fearing the coming of Jesus Christ, never fearing standing before the throne of God, before the judgment.  In fact, it says here in verse 17, "You may have confidence," it actually means, boldness.
Go back to chapter 3 verse 21, "If our heart does not condemn us, we have...same word...boldness before God," the kind of boldness that whatever we ask we receive from Him.  If you know you're God's, if your heart assures you by this love and obedience that characterizes your life, you can go into the presence of God with boldness and confidence and ask what you will and receive it.  That's chapter 3.  Here in chapter 4 you can look ahead at judgment without fear.  How wonderful is that?  You can live without fear. 
1 John chapter 3, you remember this, verse 2?  "Beloved, now are we children of God."  He's the Son of God, and we're children of God.  "It has not appeared yet what we shall be," you can't tell right now what we are, "we know that when He appears we shall be like Him."  We can be confident in looking ahead at the judgment because when we get to that place, we're going to be made like Jesus Christ.   And so, we can live this life with that absolute confidence
verse 18 explains it further.  "So there is no fear in love."  If you love like this, if you love in this perfect love, this mature, this whole love, there's no fear.  You don't fear judgment.  You don't fear the return of Christ, you long for it.  You say with John, "Even so, come Lord Jesus, come quickly."  We have no fear of judgment. 
Fear connects with punishment.  And if you're afraid of that day, and you're afraid of the coming of Christ, and you're afraid of the Rapture, then you are not perfected in love because where this love is shed abroad in your heart, this love exists, there's no fear...there's no fear.
Heb 2:15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
 Luke 1:74 To grant us that we, Being delivered from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear,
Ro 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father."
2Ti 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
a disobedient Christian, a Christian who is sinful and fallen into some kind of pattern of sin, even though it goes against the grain of his nature, even though it's contrary to what he longs for and desires in his truest and purest self, it's a sort of Romans 7 battle and he's losing it, that Christian can lose that confidence
Moreover, the day of judgment is as fixed in God’s eternal timetable as any other day in world history. This is the significance of the word “day.” Technically speaking, the day of judgment is not necessarily a twenty-four-hour period. At all events, it certainly includes a series of judgments upon the earth (Revelation 6–16), the beast and the false prophet (Rev. 19:20), the gentile nations (Joel 3:14; Matt. 25:31–46), Israel (Ezek. 20:33–44), and all individuals at the judgment of the great white throne (Rev. 20:11–15). The reason it is called a “day” is that it is fixed in God’s timetable and will surely come.
In view of this logical and unalterable day in which the thoughts and deeds of men and women are to be judged, an individual might well fear. But John says that in the case of Christians perfect love casts out terror. This does not mean that love for God is the ground of our acceptance before him. The only possible ground is the death of Christ for us and faith in him. It means rather that by love for God any unreasonable fears are quieted and we come to rest in the fact that the one who was for us in Christ will allow nothing to destroy the eternal relationship that the death of Christ established (Rom. 8:31–39).[1]
The sinner must begin by fearing the God against whom he has sinned; but, having believed in Christ who has atoned for sin, he may put away fear and grow in confidence before him
19 We love Him because He first loved us.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten. 
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The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions

PROVERBS 6 SAYS GOD HATES PRIDE

It is so sad that we live in a world so obsessed with image. someone recently said, I love cocky, but God hates pride as He says in Proverbs 6. That is what is being taught to children and adults in all areas of life. There is nothing wrong with looking good and doing your best, but not when it is only about that. Everywhere you look it is talked about and promoted over and over again.  Christians build themselves up too and make their lives look like they are perfect and they have it all together.  It is sad to look around and realize that everyone is obsessed with looking like they are the best.  But that is not what God likes, He does hate it.  What do people see when they look at us?  Proverbs 6 says God hates Pride. Here are just a few verses Proverbs 3:34 Surely He scorns the scornful, But gives grace to the humble.
Proverbs 6:16 These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: 17 A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood,
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten. 
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
 
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions