obliteration

Posted on March 20, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

20250320

Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com

obliteration

Nahum 1:1-15 (JDV)

Nahum 1:1 A pronouncement concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
Nahum 1:2 Yahveh is a jealous and avenging God; Yahveh takes vengeance and is fierce in wrath. Yahveh takes vengeance against his foes; he is furious with his enemies.
Nahum 1:3 Yahveh is slow to anger but great in power; Yahveh will never leave the guilty unpunished. His road is in the whirlwind and storm, and clouds are the dust beneath his feet.
Nahum 1:4 He rebukes the sea and dries it up, and he makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither; even the flower of Lebanon withers.
Nahum 1:5 The mountains quake before him, and the hills melt; the land trembles at his presence — the world and all who live in it.
Nahum 1:6 Who can withstand his indignation? Who can endure his burning anger? His wrath is poured out like fire; even rocks are shattered before him.
Nahum 1:7 Yahveh is good, a stronghold in a day of distress; he cares for those who take refuge in him.
Nahum 1:8 But he will completely destroy Nineveh with an overwhelming flood, and he will chase his enemies into darkness.
Nahum 1:9 Whatever you plot against Yahveh, he will completely destroy; oppression will not rise up a second time.
Nahum 1:10 Because they will be consumed like entangled thorns, like the drink of a drunkard and like straw that is fully dry.
Nahum 1:11 One has gone out from you, who plots evil against Yahveh, and is a wicked counselor.
Nahum 1:12 This is what Yahveh says: Though they are strong and numerous, they will still be sheared off, and he will pass away. Though I have punished you, I will punish you no longer.
Nahum 1:13 For I will now break off his yoke from you and tear off your shackles.
Nahum 1:14 Yahveh has issued an order concerning you: There will be no offspring to carry on your name. I will cut down the carved idol and cast image from the house of your gods; I will prepare your grave, for you are contemptible.
Nahum 1:15 Notice the mountains — the feet of the herald, who proclaims peace. Celebrate your festivals, Judah; fulfill your vows. For the wicked one will never again march through you; he will be entirely cut down.

obliteration

The Ninevites are at it again, and this time God is determined to obliterate them. He has his tolerance for evil, and will allow the wicked time to repent, as we saw in Jonah. But when a nation, a people, or a person consistently does evil in his sight, and does not repent, he will make of them “a complete end” (9). They will be “consumed like stubble, fully dried” (10). The LORD promises his people a peace so thorough that “never again shall the worthless pass through you; he is utterly cut off” (15).

LORD, forgive us for our unfaithfulness. Make us a people who survive to your peace, not a people who come to an end.

Posted in destruction in hell | Tagged | Leave a comment

what he knew about God

Posted on March 19, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

20250319

Photo by Jhon Angel Casco Conde on Pexels.com

what he knew about God

Micah 7:14-20 (JDV)

Micah 7:14 Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock you possess. They live alone in a woodland surrounded by pastures. Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead as in ancient times.
Micah 7:15 I will perform miracles for them as in the days of your exodus from the land of Egypt.
Micah 7:16 Nations will see and be ashamed of all their power. They will put their hands over their mouths, and their ears will become deaf.
Micah 7:17 They will lick the dust like a snake; they will come trembling out of their hiding places like reptiles slithering on the ground. They will tremble in the presence of Yahveh our God and stand in awe of you.
Micah 7:18 Who is a God like you, forgiving iniquity and passing over rebellion for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not hold on to his anger forever because he delights in faithful love.
Micah 7:19 He will again have compassion on us and vanquish our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
Micah 7:20 You will show loyalty to Jacob and faithful love to Abraham, as you swore to our fathers from days long ago.

what he knew about God

Micah lived among a people who had forgotten about God. But Micah held on to two theological truths which stubbornly refused to fade away. The LORD is a great shepherd who had brought his people where he wanted them, he can do it again. The LORD has the capacity to forgive so completely it is like having thrown the offending sins into the depths of the sea. When things looked their worst. Micah held to what he knew about God.

LORD, may our understanding of who you are sustain us when nothing else seems to work.

Posted in confidence, forgiveness, trust, truth | Tagged | Leave a comment

miles of crimson bushes

Posted on March 18, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

20250318

miles of crimson bushes

Micah 7:1-13 (JDV)

Micah 7:1 How sad for me! Because I am like one who — after the summer fruit has been gathered after the gleaning of the grape harvest — finds no grape cluster to eat, no early fig, which I crave.
Micah 7:2 Faithful people have vanished from the land; no one is upright among the people. They all wait in ambush to shed blood; they hunt each other with a net.
Micah 7:3 Both hands are good at accomplishing evil: the official and the judge demand a bribe; when the powerful man communicates the greed of his throat, they plot it together.
Micah 7:4 The best of them is like a brier; the most upright is worse than a hedge of thorns. The day of your guards, the day of your punishment, is coming; their panic is here now.
Micah 7:5: Do not rely on a friend; don’t trust in a close companion. Seal your mouth from the woman who lies in your arms.
Micah 7:6 Surely a son considers his father a fool, a daughter opposes her mother, and a daughter-in-law is against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the men of his household.
Micah 7:7 But I will look to Yahveh and wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.
Micah 7:8 Do not rejoice over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will stand up; though I sit in darkness, Yahveh will be my light.
Micah 7:9 Because I have sinned against him, I must endure Yahveh’s rage until he champions my cause and establishes justice for me. He will bring me into the light; I will see his salvation.
Micah 7:10 Then my enemy will see, and she will be covered with shame, the one who said to me, “Where is Yahveh your God?” My eyes will look at her triumphantly; she will be trampled like mud in the streets at that time.
Micah 7:11 A day will come for rebuilding your walls; your boundary will be extended on that day.
Micah 7:12 On that day, people will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, even from Egypt to the Euphrates River and from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.
Micah 7:13 Then the land will become a sinister desolation because of those who live there and because of their actions.

miles of crimson bushes

When I lived in Maine, I enjoyed looking on the bright red blueberry barrens, after harvest. It was an awesome sight to see miles of crimson bushes. Yet, it meant that there was no fruit left. The berries had already been harvested. This is how Micah saw his people. There was no righteousness left, no fruit for his master. Even his loved ones – even the one who lies in his arms – everyone was asking him where God was. Micah chose to wait for the LORD to reappear.

LORD, make us people who trust you, who dare to wait for you to show up, even when everyone around us is denying your existence.

Posted in patience, trust | Tagged | Leave a comment

plead your case

Posted on March 17, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

20250317

Photo by KATRIN BOLOVTSOVA on Pexels.com

plead your case

Micah 6:1-16 (JDV)

Micah 6:1 Now listen to what Yahveh is saying: Rise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your complaint.
Micah 6:2 Listen to Yahveh’s lawsuit, you mountains and enduring foundations of the land, because Yahveh has a case against his people and will argue it against Israel.
Micah 6:3 My people, what have I done to you, or how have I wearied you? Testify against me!
Micah 6:4 Indeed, I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from that place of slavery. I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam ahead of you.
Micah 6:5 My people, remember what King Balak of Moab proposed, what Balaam son of Beor answered him, and what happened from the Acacia Grove to Gilgal so that you may acknowledge Yahveh’s righteous acts.
Micah 6:6 What should I bring before Yahveh when I bow before God on high? Should I come before him with burnt offerings, with year-old calves?
Micah 6:7 Would Yahveh be pleased with thousands of rams or with ten thousand oil streams? Should I give my firstborn for my transgression, the offspring of my body for my throat’s sin?
Micah 6:8 Mankind, he has told each of you what is good and what Yahveh requires of you: to act justly, love faithfulness, and walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:9 The voice of Yahveh calls out to the city (and it is wise to fear your name): “Pay attention to the rod and the one who ordained it.
Micah 6:10 Are there still the treasures of wickedness and the accursed short measure in the house of the wicked?
Micah 6:11 Can I excuse wicked scales or bags of deceptive weights?
Micah 6:12 For the wealthy of the city are full of violence, and those who live there speak lies; the tongues in their mouths are deceitful.
Micah 6:13: “As a result, I have begun to strike you severely, bringing desolation because of your sins.
Micah 6:14 You will eat but not be satisfied, for there will be hunger within you. What you acquire, you cannot preserve, and what you do preserve, I will give to the sword.
Micah 6:15 You will sow but not reap; you will press olives but not anoint yourself with oil; and you will tread grapes but not drink the wine.
Micah 6:16 The statutes of Omri and all the practices of Ahab’s house have been observed; you have followed their policies. Therefore, I will make you a lonely place and those who live in the city an object of contempt; you will bear the scorn of my people.”

plead your case

The LORD calls on his people to prepare their case, and he will argue his. He had established his nation in order to declare his glory, but they had shamed him. All the animal sacrifices in the world cannot atone for that. The LORD simply wanted his people to do good works – to be just, kind, and humble before him. That would bring him glory. Instead, they followed their corrupt kings and filled the land with deceit and violence. Case closed. Punishment deserved.

LORD, we want to bring glory to your name. Teach us how to be fair, kind, and humble before your greatness.

Posted in glory, humility, restoration | Leave a comment

our full story

Posted on March 16, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

20250316

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

our full story

Micah 5:1-15 (JDV)

Micah 5:1 Now, a daughter who is under attack, you slash yourself in grief; a siege is set against us! They are striking the judge of Israel on the cheek with a rod.
Micah 5:2 Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are small among the clans of Judah; one will come from you to be ruler over Israel for me. His origin is from antiquity, from ancient times.
Micah 5:3 Therefore, Israel will be abandoned until she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of the ruler’s brothers will return to the people of Israel.
Micah 5:4 He will stand and shepherd them in the strength of Yahveh, in the majestic name of Yahveh, his God. They will live securely, for then his greatness will extend to the ends of the land.
Micah 5:5: He will be their peace. When Assyria invades our land, when it marches against our fortresses, we will raise against it seven shepherds, even eight leaders of men.
Micah 5:6 They will shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword, the land of Nimrod with a drawn blade. So he will rescue us from Assyria when it invades our land when it marches against our territory.
Micah 5:7 Then the remnant of Jacob will be among many peoples like dew from Yahveh, like showers on the grass, which do not wait for anyone or linger for humanity.
Micah 5:8 Then the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, among many peoples, like a lion among animals of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, which tramples and tears as it passes through, and there is no one to rescue them.
Micah 5:9 Your hand will be lifted against your adversaries, and all your enemies will be destroyed.
Micah 5:10 In that day – this is Yahveh’s declaration – I will remove your horses from you and wreck your chariots.
Micah 5:11 I will remove the cities of your land and tear down all your fortresses.
Micah 5:12 I will remove sorceries from your hands, and you will not have any more fortune-tellers.
Micah 5:13: I will remove your carved images and sacred pillars from you so that you will no longer worship the work of your hands.
Micah 5:14 I will pull up the Asherah poles from among you and demolish your cities.
Micah 5:15 I will take vengeance in anger and wrath against the nations that have not obeyed me.

our full story

When the Messiah comes, his rescued people will no longer need battle preparations, but will live in peace in their own land. They will also participate in his dominion of the nations. This Messiah will be born in Bethlehem, and will be great to the ends of the earth. Micah combines aspects of Christ’s first and second comings. He sees the Lord’s advents from a distance. The LORD also sees our lives that way. He sees the struggles you now face in the present. But he also sees your eternal victory in the future. He believes in you because he loves you. And he also knows the full story.

LORD, give us the insight to believe in our full story.

Posted in Christmas, restoration, second coming | Tagged | Leave a comment

judgment, then restoration

Posted on March 15, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

20250315

Photo by Tim Gouw on Pexels.com

judgment, then restoration

Micah 4:1-13 (JDV)

Micah 4:1 In the last days, the mountain of Yahveh’s house will be established at the top of the mountains and raised above the hills. Peoples will stream to it,
Micah 4:2 and many nations will say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of Yahveh, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways so we may walk his paths.” For instruction will go out of Zion and the word of Yahveh from Jerusalem.
Micah 4:3 He will settle disputes among many peoples and provide arbitration for strong nations that are far away. They will beat their swords into plows and their spears into pruning knives. Nation will not take up the sword against the nation, and they will never again train for war.
Micah 4:4 But each person will sit under his grapevine and his fig tree with no one to frighten him, for the mouth of Yahveh of Armies has spoken.
Micah 4:5 Though all the peoples walk in the name of their gods, we will walk in the name of Yahveh, our God forever and ever.
Micah 4:6 On that day – this is Yahveh’s declaration – I will assemble the lame and gather the scattered, those I have injured.
Micah 4:7 I will make the lame into a remnant, those far removed into a strong nation. Then Yahveh will reign over them in Mount Zion from this time on and forever.
Micah 4:8 And you, watchtower for the flock, the fortified hill of Daughter Zion, the former rule will come to you; sovereignty will come to Daughter Jerusalem.
Micah 4:9 Now, why are you shouting? Is there no king with you? Has your counselor perished so that anguish grips you like a woman in labor?
Micah 4:10 Convulse and cry out, Daughter Zion, like a woman in labor, for now, you will leave the city and camp in the open fields. You will go to Babylon; there, you will be rescued; there, Yahveh will redeem you from the grasp of your enemies!
Micah 4:11 Many nations have assembled against you; they say, “Let her be defiled, and let us feast our eyes on Zion.”
Micah 4:12 But they do not know Yahveh’s intentions or understand his plan, that he has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.
Micah 4:13 Rise and thresh, Daughter Zion, for I will make your horns iron and your hooves bronze so you can crush many peoples. Then you will set apart their plunder for Yahveh, their wealth for the Lord of all the land.

judgment, then restoration

This promise needs to be read in the context of the threat from the LORD in Micah 3. Mt. Zion must first be reduced to rubble in judgment, then the LORD will restore it and make it into the mount where people come to learn about him and his ways. The LORD will assemble the lame and gather those who have been driven away. God has only one assembly that he gathers from among the nations. Are you his?

LORD, we submit to your judgment for our sins. Redeem us – those you had cast off. Restore your kingdom, LORD.

Posted in church, restoration | Tagged | Leave a comment

plowing the city

Posted on March 14, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

20250314

Photo by Nicolas Veithen on Pexels.com

plowing the city

Micah 3:1-12 (JDV)

Micah 3:1 Then I said, “Now listen, leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel. Aren’t you supposed to know what is just?
Micah 3:2: You hate good and love evil. You tear off people’s skin and strip their flesh from their bones.
Micah 3:3 You eat the flesh of my people after you strip their skin from them and break their bones. You chop them up like flesh for the cooking pot, like meat in a cauldron.”
Micah 3:4 They will cry out to Yahveh, but he will not answer them. He will hide his face from them at that time because of the crimes they have committed.
Micah 3:5 This is what Yahveh says concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, proclaim peace when they have food to sink their teeth into but commit to war against the one who puts nothing in their mouths.
Micah 3:6 Therefore, it will be a night for you– without visions; it will grow dark for you– without divination. The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn black over them.
Micah 3:7 Then the seers will be ashamed and the diviners disappointed. They will all cover their mouths because there will be no answer from God.
Micah 3:8 As for me, however, I am filled with power by the Breath of Yahveh, with justice and courage, to proclaim to Jacob his rebellion and to Israel his sin.
Micah 3:9 Listen to this, leaders of the house of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel, who abhor justice and pervert everything right,
Micah 3:10, who build Zion with bloodshed and Jerusalem with injustice.
Micah 3:11 Her leaders issue rulings for a bribe, her priests teach for payment, and her prophets practice divination for silver. Yet they lean on Yahveh, saying, “Isn’t Yahveh among us? No disaster will overtake us.”
Micah 3:12 Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become ruins, and the temple’s mountain will be a high thicket.

plowing the city

It’s plowing time again for our garden plot here in Delco. That make this passage all the more appropriate.

Micah spoke out against a corrupt leadership. The priests, prophets and political heads were stirring up the people to war against those who refused to give them tribute or bribes. As such, they were devouring their people. The greed and violence was so prominent that the LORD had determined to plow the whole city of Jerusalem like a field. God cannot stand it when people who call themselves by his name take advantage of each other for their own profit. He will judge them.

LORD, forgive us for making choices on the basis of selfish gain. Teach us to deal honorably with each other because we are yours.

Posted in leadership | Tagged | Leave a comment

wine and beer

Posted on March 13, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

20250313

Photo by Prem Singh Tanwar on Pexels.com

wine and beer

Micah 1:1-2:13 (JDV)

Micah 1:1 The word of Yahveh that came to Micah the Moreshite — what he saw regarding Samaria and Jerusalem in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Micah 1:2 Listen, all you people; pay attention, land, and everyone in it! Lord Yahveh will be a witness against you, The Lord, from his holy temple.
Micah 1:3 Notice that Yahveh is leaving his place and coming down to trample the heights of the land.
Micah 1:4 The mountains will melt beneath him, and the valleys will split apart, like wax near a fire, like water cascading down a mountainside.
Micah 1:5 All this will happen because of Jacob’s rebellion and the sins of the house of Israel. What is the rebellion of Jacob? Isn’t it Samaria? And what is the high place of Judah? Isn’t it Jerusalem?
Micah 1:6 Therefore, I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the countryside, a planting area for a vineyard. I will roll her stones into the valley and expose her foundations.
Micah 1:7 All her carved images will be smashed to pieces; all her wages will be burned in the fire, and I will make all her idols a sinister desolation. Since she collected the wages of a prostitute, they will be used again for a prostitute.
Micah 1:8 Because of this, I will passionately demonstrate sorrow and yell; I will walk barefoot and naked. I will howl like the jackals and mourn like ostriches.
Micah 1:9 For her injury is incurable and has reached even Judah; it has approached my people’s city gate, as far as Jerusalem.
Micah 1:10 Don’t announce it in Gath; don’t weep at all. Roll in the dust in Beth-leaphrah.
Micah 1:11 Depart in shameful nakedness, you who live in Shaphir; the ones living in Zaanan will not come out. Beth-ezel is lamenting; its support is taken from you.
Micah 1:12 Though the ones living in Maroth squirm for something good, disaster has come from Yahveh to the gate of Jerusalem.
Micah 1:13 Harness the horses to the chariot, you who live in Lachish. This was the first sin for Daughter Zion because Israel’s acts of rebellion can be traced to you.
Micah 1:14 Therefore, send farewell gifts to Moresheth-gath; the houses of Achzib are a deception to the kings of Israel.
Micah 1:15 I will again bring a conqueror against you who live in Mareshah. The nobility of Israel will come to Adullam.
Micah 1:16 Shave yourselves bald and cut off your hair in sorrow for your precious children; make yourselves as bald as an eagle, for they have been taken from you into exile.
Micah 2:1 Woe to those who dream up wickedness and prepare evil plans on their beds! At morning light, they accomplish it because the power is in their hands.
Micah 2:2 They covet fields and seize them; they also take houses. They deprive a man of his home and a person of his inheritance.
Micah 2:3 Therefore, Yahveh says: Notice, I am now planning a disaster against this nation; you cannot free your necks from it. Then, you will not walk so proudly because it will be an evil time.
Micah 2:4 In that day, one will take up a taunt against you and lament mournfully, saying, “We are ruined! He measures out the allotted land of my people. How he removes it from me! He allots our fields to traitors.”
Micah 2:5 Therefore, there will be no one in the assembly of Yahveh to divide the land by casting lots.
Micah 2:6: “Quit your preaching,” they preach. “They should not preach these things; shame will not overtake us.”
Micah 2:7 House of Jacob, should it be asked, “Is the Breath of Yahveh shortened? Are these the things he does?” Don’t my words bring good to the one who walks uprightly?
Micah 2:8 But recently my people have risen like an enemy: You strip off the splendid robe from those passing through confidently, like those returning from war.
Micah 2:9 You force the women of my people out of their comfortable homes, and you take my blessing from their children forever.
Micah 2:10 Get up and leave, for this is not your place of rest because defilement brings destruction– a grievous destruction!
Micah 2:11 If a man comes and utters empty lies– “I will preach to you about wine and beer”– he would be just the preacher for this people!
Micah 2:12 I will gather all of you, Jacob; I will collect the remnant of Israel. I will bring them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture. It won’t be quiet with people.
Micah 2:13 One who breaks open the way will advance before them; they will break out, pass through the city gate, and leave by it. Their King will pass through before them, Yahveh as their leader.

wine and beer

Micah prophesied to a people who were busy taking advantage of each other. They would devise ways of ruining their neighbors for their own profit – while still lying in bed in the morning. Then they would get up and do their evil deeds. Micah told them that God was doing the same thing to them. They would face disaster, and their children who survived would go into exile. They told him not to preach such things. They wanted a preacher who would tell them that wine and beer were their destinies.

LORD, give us ears to hear your whole word before it is too late for our generation.

Posted in addiction, prophecy | Tagged | Leave a comment

holding on to Christ

Posted on March 12, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

20250312

Photo by Allan Mas on Pexels.com

holding on to Christ

1 John 5:13-21 (JDV)

1 John 5:13 I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have permanent life.
1 John 5:14 This is the confidence we have in his presence: If we are asking for anything that he wants, he hears us.
1 John 5:15 And if we know that he hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked of him.
1 John 5:16 If anyone sees a fellow believer failing in a way that doesn’t lead to death, he should ask, and God will give life to him — to those who fail in a way that doesn’t lead to death. There is failure that leads to death. I am not saying he should pray about that.
1 John 5:17 All unrighteousness is failure, and there is failure that doesn’t lead to death.
1 John 5:18 We know that everyone who has been born from God does not fail, but the one who is born from God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.
1 John 5:19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world is under the sway of the evil one.
1 John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know the true one. We are in the true one – that is, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and permanent life.
1 John 5:21 Little children, preserve yourselves from idols.

John gathers his entire letter into a set of simple, searching statements that help believers discern whether the inheritance of permanent life truly awaits them. These are not abstract doctrines but lived realities—signs that the life of God is already present and active. Each statement reflects a relational posture toward the Son, toward prayer, toward holiness, and toward the world’s idols. Taken together, they form a portrait of a life anchored in Christ.

I believe in the name of the Son of God.
This is the foundation. Belief in the Son is not merely agreement with a doctrine but trust in the person, work, and authority of Jesus. To believe in His name is to rely on Him as the source of life, the mediator of salvation, and the One who will raise the dead at the last day.

When I pray, I know that He hears me.
Confidence in prayer is a sign of relationship. Those who belong to God do not pray into a void. They pray with the settled awareness that the Father listens. This assurance is not emotional hype; it is the fruit of abiding in Christ.

I know that He has given me what I have asked before.
Memory strengthens faith. Looking back on answered prayer confirms that God has acted, cared, and provided. Past faithfulness becomes evidence of present belonging.

I know He keeps me from the evil one.
Protection is another mark of divine life. The believer is not immune from temptation or struggle, but there is a real preservation at work. Christ guards His own. The evil one cannot claim those who are held by the Son.

I know who He is, and I am in Him.
This is the heart of assurance: knowing Christ and knowing oneself to be united with Him. Union with Christ is not a feeling but a reality that shapes identity, behavior, and hope.

I stay away from idols.
Idols are anything that competes with God for trust, affection, or obedience. Turning from idols is a sign that the heart has been captured by the true God. It shows that the believer’s loyalty is no longer divided.

These statements are not a checklist for earning salvation. They are the evidences of a life already touched by God. John’s point is clear: confidence does not come from holding a doctrine about Christ, but from holding on to Christ Himself. The inheritance of permanent life belongs to those who cling to the Son, walk with Him, and bear the marks of His life within them.

Posted in confidence, eternal life | Tagged | Leave a comment

two possible destinies

Posted on March 11, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

20250311

Photo by James Wheeler on Pexels.com

two possible destinies

1 John 5:4b-12 (JDV)

1 John 5:4b This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith.
1 John 5:5 Who is the one who conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
1 John 5:6 Jesus Christ — he is the one who came by water and blood, not by water only, but by water and by blood. And the Breath is the one who testifies, because the Breath is the truth.
1 John 5:7 Because there are three that testify:
1 John 5:8 the Breath, the water, and the blood — and these three agree.
1 John 5:9 If we accept human testimony, God’s testimony is greater, because it is God’s testimony that he has given about his Son.
1 John 5:10 The one who believes in the Son of God has this testimony within himself. The one who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony God has given about his Son.
1 John 5:11 And this is the testimony: God has given us permanent life, and this life is in his Son.
1 John 5:12 The person who has the Son has life. The person who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

two possible destinies

John often takes the vast sweep of eternal reality and expresses it in statements so clear that they cut through every distraction. One of his most striking summaries divides the entire human race into two groups with two destinies. “The person who has the Son has life. The person who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” In that single contrast, John captures the purpose of life in the present and the outcome of life in the future. The aim of life now is to receive the permanent life that God will give in the age to come. That life is found only in Christ. Those who are joined to Him will attain that goal. Those who are not joined to Him will not.

Jesus taught the same truth long before John wrote it down. When He compared Himself to the bronze serpent lifted up by Moses, He revealed that His own lifting up on the cross would make eternal life available to all who believe. The famous words that follow—God loving the world, giving His only Son, and granting permanent life to all who believe—reinforce the same twofold destiny. There is no third category. There is no middle ground. The alternatives are stark: to perish forever or to live forever.

Jesus also taught that these destinies begin with resurrection. Every human being will rise. Believers will experience a “resurrection of life,” entering the permanent life promised by God. Unbelievers will experience a “resurrection of judgment,” a resurrection that leads not to life but to the final verdict. That verdict culminates in what Scripture calls the second death—the irreversible end of those who refused the life offered in Christ.

John’s simplicity is not simplistic. It is clarity born from revelation. He strips away the illusions that people often use to soften the seriousness of their choices. He reminds the church that eternity is not a vague continuation of earthly existence but a decisive outcome determined by one relationship: having the Son or not having Him.

There are only two possible destinies. Both are permanent, but only one is life.

Posted in destruction in hell, eternal life, Jesus Christ | Tagged | Leave a comment