caring is from God

Posted on March 10, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

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caring is from God

1 John 4:7-5:4a (JDV)

1 John 4:7 Dear ones, let us care about one another, because caring is from God, and everyone who cares has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:8 The one who does not care does not know God, because God is care.
1 John 4:9 God’s care was revealed among us in this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him.
1 John 4:10 Caring consists in this: not that we cared about God, but that he cared about us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our failures.
1 John 4:11 Dear ones, if God cared about us in this way, we also must care about one another.
1 John 4:12 No one has ever seen God. If we care about one another, God stays in us and his care is made complete in us.
1 John 4:13 This is how we know that we are staying in him and he in us: He has given us of his Breath.
1 John 4:14 And we have seen and we testify that the Father has sent his Son as the world’s Savior.
1 John 4:15 Whoever declares that Jesus is the Son of God – God stays in him and he in God.
1 John 4:16 And we have come to know and to believe the care that God has for us. God is care, and the one who stays caring stays in God, and God stays in him.
1 John 4:17 In this, care is made complete with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because as he is, so also are we in this world.
1 John 4:18 There is no fear in care; instead, perfect care drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So, the one who fears does not care completely.
1 John 4:19 We care because he first cared about us.
1 John 4:20 If anyone says, “I care about God,” and yet hates his brother or sister, he is a liar. For the person who does not care about his brother or sister whom he has seen cannot care about God whom he has not seen.
1 John 4:21 And we have this command from him: The one who cares about God must also care about his brother and sister.
1 John 5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who cares about the Father also cares about the one born of him.
1 John 5:2 This is how we know that we care about God’s children: when we care about God and obey his commands.
1 John 5:3 Because this is what care for God entails: keeping his commands. And his commands are not a burden,
1 John 5:4a because everyone who has been born from God conquers the world.

caring is from God

Caring does not begin with human effort. It begins with God. The impulse to care for others is not a natural achievement but a sign of divine contact. God cared for humanity long before anyone recognized Him, and that prior care becomes the source of every genuine act of love that flows from believers. When caring appears in a life, it is evidence of having been touched by God. When caring is absent, the absence itself reveals that the life has not yet been shaped by His presence. John treats love not as an optional virtue but as the unmistakable symptom of divine life.

This caring spreads outward in every direction, but its first expression is always toward Jesus—the Son whom the Father loves. The believer’s relationship with Christ becomes the initial arena where the infection of divine care shows itself. Those who have been touched by God begin to cherish the One whom God cherishes. From that center, caring naturally extends to others who belong to Him. The community of believers becomes the place where this divine contagion is most visible. As the group fellowships together, signs of infection appear: patience, generosity, forgiveness, and a willingness to bear one another’s burdens. These are not manufactured behaviors; they are the natural outflow of a heart reshaped by God’s own love.

Caring also produces obedience. This connection is simple and deeply human. People obey those they respect and care about. They especially obey those who have shown care for them. When the heart recognizes the depth of God’s love, obedience ceases to be a burden and becomes a response of gratitude. God’s commands are no longer external demands but expressions of the One who has already poured out His care. Obedience becomes the practical form that love takes.

In this way, caring becomes both the root and the fruit of spiritual life. It originates in God’s initiative, spreads through the community of faith, and expresses itself in joyful obedience. The presence of caring reveals the presence of God. The absence of caring reveals the absence of His life. John’s vision is clear: the people of God are known not by claims or creeds alone but by the unmistakable contagion of divine care flowing through their lives.

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be careful little ears

Posted on March 9, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

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be careful little ears

1 John 4:1-6 (JDV)

1 John 4:1 Dear friends, do not believe every breath, but test the breaths to see if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
1 John 4:2 This is how you know the Breath of God: Every breath that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,
1 John 4:3 but every breath that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the breath of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming; even now it is already in the world.
1 John 4:4 You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
1 John 4:5 They are from the world. Therefore, what they say is from the world, and the world listens to them.
1 John 4:6 We are from God. Anyone who knows God listens to us; anyone who is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we know the Breath of truth and the breath of deception.

be careful little ears

John echoes the warning first voiced by Jesus: this age will not be marked by a shortage of spiritual voices but by an abundance of false ones. Jesus said that false prophets would multiply, and John confirms that this prediction was already unfolding in his own lifetime. These teachers had not only appeared but had established themselves, presenting their messages with confidence and attempting to influence the churches. Their presence required discernment, not naïve acceptance.

Because of this, John urges a posture of holy skepticism. He commands the believers to “test the breaths”—to evaluate the very words that came from the mouths of those claiming to speak for God. The imagery is vivid. A prophet’s message is like breath: invisible, yet powerful; intangible, yet capable of giving life or spreading poison. John insists that every such breath must be examined. Not every spiritual-sounding voice originates from the Spirit of God.

John provides clear criteria for this testing. True prophets confess that Jesus Christ came from heaven and truly existed in the flesh. This confession is not a mere formula but a declaration of the incarnation—the eternal Son entering real human life. In John’s context, this was a dividing line. Some teachers denied that the divine Christ could have taken on genuine flesh. Others separated the heavenly Christ from the earthly Jesus. John rejects all such distortions. A true prophet affirms the full reality of the incarnation as proclaimed in 2:14–15.

Another test is agreement with the apostolic teaching. John states that those who truly speak from God align with the message handed down by the apostles. They do not innovate a new gospel or drift into private revelations detached from the apostolic witness. The apostles had seen, heard, and touched the Word of life. Their testimony forms the foundation of the church’s faith. Any voice that contradicts or sidesteps that testimony reveals its origin.

John’s instruction is pastoral as much as it is doctrinal. He wants the church to be protected from deception and anchored in truth. Testing the breaths is not an act of suspicion toward everyone but an act of loyalty to Christ. It ensures that the community remains rooted in the message that brings life, and guarded against the voices that would lead it astray.

LORD, help us to be discerning about whom we listen to — careful about whom we read, and what we watch.

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Cain or Christ?

Posted on March 8, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

20250308

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Cain or Christ?

1 John 3:11-24 (JDV)

1 John 3:11 Because this is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should care about one another,
1 John 3:12 unlike Cain, who was from the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.
1 John 3:13 Do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.
1 John 3:14 We know that we have passed from death to life because we care about our brothers and sisters. The one who does not care stays in death.
1 John 3:15 Everyone who hates his brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has permanent life staying in him.
1 John 3:16 This is how we have come to know care: He gave up his throat for us. We should also give up our throats for our brothers and sisters.
1 John 3:17 If anyone has this world’s goods and sees a fellow believer in need but withholds compassion from him – how does God’s care stay in him?
1 John 3:18 Little children, let us not care in mere word or speech, but in action and in truth.
1 John 3:19 This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and will reassure our hearts before him
1 John 3:20 whenever our hearts condemn us; because God is greater than our hearts, and he knows all things.
1 John 3:21 Dear friends, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have confidence before God
1 John 3:22 and receive whatever we ask from him because we keep his commands and do what is pleasing in his sight.
1 John 3:23 Now this is his command: that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and care about one another as he commanded us.
1 John 3:24 The one who keeps his commands stays in him, and he in him. And the way we know that he stays in us is from the Breath he has given us.

Cain or Christ?

John turns to the story of Cain and Abel because it exposes, in stark and unforgettable form, the contrast between refusing to care for a brother and offering one’s life in faith. Cain hardened his heart, rejected responsibility, and ultimately destroyed the one he should have protected. Abel, though his life was brief, demonstrated genuine faith in the way he lived and worshiped. His story does not end in the grave. He will rise to permanent life when Christ returns. Cain, however, remained in death, and his end reflects that reality. John draws a sober conclusion from this: no murderer has permanent life residing in him. A heart that destroys cannot be a heart in which the life of God abides.

Yet John does not turn the story into an allegory. He does not urge believers to imitate Abel. Abel’s faith is honored, but he is not the model. John directs attention instead to Jesus. The Lord surrendered His life—literally gave up His throat—for the sake of those who were His enemies. His act of self-giving love becomes the pattern for all who claim to belong to Him. The measure of genuine life is not found in admiration of Abel but in imitation of Christ. The willingness to lay down one’s life, to give up comfort, pride, or advantage for the good of brothers and sisters, becomes the evidence that the promised inheritance of permanent life is already at work.

John presses the point further by removing all illustrations and comparisons. He distills the entire teaching into a single, unmistakable command. The command is twofold but inseparable: believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and care for one another as He commanded. Faith in Christ and love for the family of God are not parallel options; they are one unified expression of the life God gives. Belief without love is empty. Love without belief is rootless. Together they form the unmistakable sign that the life of the coming age is already present.

In this way, John leads his readers from an ancient story to the cross, and from the cross to the daily practice of sacrificial care. The life that Christ gives is not theoretical. It is demonstrated in concrete acts of love that mirror His own self-giving. This is how the children of God show that permanent life is already dwelling in them.

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proving our testimony

Posted on March 7, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

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proving our testimony

1 John 2:28-3:10 (JDV)

1 John 2:28 So now, little children, stay in him so that when he appears we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
1 John 2:29 If you know that he is righteous, you know this as well: Everyone who does what is right has been born of him.
1 John 3:1 See what great care the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children — and we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn’t know him.
1 John 3:2 Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him as he is.
1 John 3:3 And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure.
1 John 3:4 Everyone who fails practices lawlessness; and failure is lawlessness.
1 John 3:5 You know that he was revealed so that he might take away failures, and there is no failure in him.
1 John 3:6 Everyone who stays in him does not fail; everyone who fails has not seen him or known him.
1 John 3:7 Children, let no one deceive you. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.
1 John 3:8 The one who fails is of the devil, because the devil has failed from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the devil’s works.
1 John 3:9 Everyone who has been born of God does not fail, because his seed stays in him; he is not able to fail, because he has been born of God.
1 John 3:10 This is how God’s children and the devil’s children become obvious. Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not care about his brother or sister.

proving our testimony

John stands firmly with James in insisting that verbal confession alone is not the measure of genuine faith. Words can be spoken easily, and doctrinal claims can be rehearsed without the heart ever being transformed. The early church faced this reality, and John addresses it with clarity: true children of God will not continue in patterns of habitual failure toward God. The life that has been touched by divine grace begins to change. The direction of the heart shifts. The habits of the old life lose their grip, and new habits—shaped by love—begin to take root.

This does not mean perfection. John is not describing a life without struggle or moments of weakness. He is describing a life whose trajectory has changed. Those who belong to God begin to move away from persistent patterns of disobedience and toward consistent patterns of love. Love becomes the defining mark of their identity. It is not an occasional gesture but a steady practice. It becomes the natural expression of a heart reshaped by the presence of God.

John ties this directly to the work of Christ. If the blood of Christ has made a person righteous before God, then that righteousness will not remain hidden. It will express itself in actions, decisions, and relationships. Righteousness is not merely a status; it becomes a lived reality. The grace that justifies also sanctifies. The cleansing blood that removes guilt also empowers obedience. The life of Christ within the believer produces practices that reflect His character.

In this way, the believer’s life becomes the evidence of the testimony. The claim to belong to God is validated not by eloquent speech or theological precision but by the visible fruit of righteousness and love. John is not dismissing doctrine; he is insisting that doctrine must be embodied. Faith that remains theoretical is not the faith he describes. True faith becomes incarnate in daily conduct.

This is why John speaks with such pastoral urgency. He wants the church to understand that assurance is not found in empty claims but in the lived reality of God’s transforming work. As the children of God grow in love and righteousness, their lives bear witness to the truth of their confession. Their conduct becomes the proof that the life of God truly abides in them.

LORD, we want to prove who we are by what we do.

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stay with him

Posted on March 6, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

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stay with him

1 John 2:18-27 (JDV)

1 John 2:18 Children, it is the last hour. And as you have heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know that it is the last hour.
1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; because if they had belonged to us, they would have stayed with us. However, they went out so that it might be made clear that none of them belongs to us.
1 John 2:20 But you have an anointing from the Sacred One, and all of you know the truth.
1 John 2:21 I have not written to you because you don’t know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie comes from the truth.
1 John 2:22 Who is the liar, if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This one is the antichrist: the one who denies the Father and the Son.
1 John 2:23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; he who confesses the Son has the Father as well.
1 John 2:24 That you have heard from the beginning should stay with you. If what you have heard from the beginning stays with you, then you will stay in the Son and in the Father.
1 John 2:25 And this is the promise that he himself made to us: permanent life.
1 John 2:26 I have written these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you.
1 John 2:27 As for you, the anointing you received from him stays in you, and you don’t need anyone to teach you. Instead, his anointing teaches you about all things and is true and is not a lie; just as it has taught you, stay with him.

stay with him

John describes a moment in the first century when a significant number of people, once considered part of the Christian community, departed from it. Their leaving was not a quiet withdrawal but the beginning of new groups formed around their own teachings and convictions. After separating themselves from the fellowship, they attempted to persuade others to follow them. This was not merely a disagreement within the family of faith; it was an active effort to draw believers away from the apostolic message and the shared life of the church.

John names these individuals “antichrists.” The word is intentionally strong. It carries the weight of opposition, deception, and danger. John is not speaking about a distant apocalyptic figure but about real people whose actions opposed the work of Christ by undermining the unity and truth of the church. The term is meant to awaken a proper sense of seriousness. Defection from the body of Christ is not a minor matter. It is a rupture in fellowship, a rejection of apostolic teaching, and a denial of the life that flows from abiding in the Son and the Father.

By using such a charged word, John is not trying to stir panic but to sharpen discernment. He wants the believers to understand the gravity of what is happening around them. Those who left had once appeared to belong, but their departure revealed that their connection to the community was superficial. Their leaving exposed the true nature of their commitment. John’s language helps the church see that not every claim to Christian identity is genuine, and not every spiritual-sounding voice leads toward Christ.

At the same time, John writes with pastoral intent. His goal is not only to warn but to encourage. He wants those who remain to stay anchored in the truth they have received. He reminds them that they possess an anointing from the Holy One, a divine enablement that equips them to discern truth from falsehood. His words are meant to steady the faithful, to strengthen their resolve, and to assure them that abiding in Christ is the path of life.

In this way, John’s message becomes both a caution and a comfort. It exposes the seriousness of turning away from the body of Christ, and it affirms the importance of remaining in the fellowship where the truth of Christ is proclaimed and preserved.

LORD, we want to stay with you.

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do what Daddy wants

Posted on March 5, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

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do what Daddy wants

1 John 2:12-17 (JDV)

1 John 2:12 I am writing to you, little children, since your failures have been forgiven on account of his name.
1 John 2:13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you have come to know the one who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have conquered the evil one.
1 John 2:14 I have written to you, children, because you have come to know the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you have come to know the one who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, God’s word stays in you, and you have conquered the evil one.
1 John 2:15 Do not care about the world or the things in the world. If anyone cares about the world, the care of the Father is not in him.
1 John 2:16 For everything in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions — is not from the Father but is from the world.
1 John 2:17 And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does what God wants stays permanently.

do what Daddy wants

John addresses the entire family of believers, not a structure of wood and stone but a living community made up of people at different stages of spiritual maturity. Some are young in the faith, some are seasoned, and others stand somewhere in between. Yet despite these differences, they share a common struggle. All are being pulled toward the same distractions—toward desires rooted in the flesh, toward the glitter of what the eyes can see, and toward the quiet pride that grows from possessions and accomplishments. These temptations are not unique to one group; they press on every believer, regardless of age or experience.

John’s answer to this shared danger is the care of the Father. This care has both an inward and outward dimension. It is the Father’s faithful care for His children, and it is the children’s responsive care for Him. The relationship is not abstract. It is expressed in imitation—doing what the Father desires, walking in His ways, and shaping life according to His commands. Even the smallest child understands this basic truth: love for a father is shown by doing what the father asks. John applies that simple, early lesson to the entire Christian life.

The pull toward temporary things is powerful, but its power is short-lived. The desires that seem so urgent today will fade tomorrow. The world that fuels those desires is itself passing away. What feels solid is actually fragile. What appears lasting is already dissolving. John calls the church to see beyond the surface, to look past the temporary shine of the world and fix attention on the enduring voice of the Father.

Learning to listen to that voice requires a deliberate shift of focus. Instead of being captivated by what is fading, believers are invited to anchor themselves in what is eternal. The Father’s care is steady, and obedience to His will becomes the pathway to stability. As the heart turns away from the temporary and toward the One who remains forever, spiritual clarity grows. The family of God learns to live not by the impulses of the moment but by the enduring desires of the Father, doing what He wants and finding life in His care.

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walking like he walked

Posted on March 4, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

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walking like he walked

1 John 2:3-11 (JDV)

1 John 2:3 This is how we know that we know him: since we keep his commands.
1 John 2:4 The one who says, “I have come to know him,” and yet doesn’t keep his commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
1 John 2:5 But whoever keeps his word, truly in him the care of God is made complete. This is how we know we are in him:
1 John 2:6 The one who says he is staying in him should be walking like he walked.
1 John 2:7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old command that you have had from the beginning. The old command is the word you have heard.
1 John 2:8 Yet I am writing you a new command, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.
1 John 2:9 The one who says he is in the light but hates his brother or sister is in the darkness until now.
1 John 2:10 The one who cares about his brother or sister stays in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.
1 John 2:11 But the one who hates his brother or sister is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and doesn’t know where he’s going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

walking like he walked

Confidence in salvation grows in the soil of obedience, not merely in the recitation of a creed. Doctrinal statements have their place, but they cannot substitute for the lived reality of following the Savior’s way. Assurance is not an abstract feeling that descends from the sky; it is the steady fruit that appears when a life is shaped by the teachings of Christ. When the pattern of daily conduct aligns with the pattern of the Lord’s own life, confidence begins to rise naturally, quietly, and unmistakably.

Because of this, the Lord in His compassion places certain people in the community of faith who stretch and test commitment. These neighbors, brothers, and sisters are not accidents. Their presence is purposeful. Their words may irritate, their habits may unsettle, and their decisions may provoke frustration. Yet these very tensions become the proving ground of genuine faith. The test is not designed to crush but to reveal. It exposes whether the life of Christ is truly taking root or whether faith remains only a theory.

Walking away from such people would be the easiest response. Distance promises relief. Avoidance promises peace. But neither produces the maturity that leads to assurance. The call is to embrace these challenging relationships with love—real, patient, sacrificial love. This love is not sentimental; it is the deliberate choice to act toward others as Christ has acted toward humanity. It is the willingness to absorb irritation without retaliation, to respond to provocation with gentleness, and to meet weakness with compassion.

In this way, the very people who seem to unsettle the heart become instruments of grace. They draw out the character of Christ within the believer. They reveal whether the gospel has penetrated deeply enough to shape reactions, attitudes, and desires. As love is practiced in difficult places, confidence in Christ grows. Assurance becomes less about internal feelings and more about the visible evidence of a transformed life.

The result is a settled conviction that salvation is real, that Christ is present, and that His life is being formed within the community of faith. Through the challenge of imperfect relationships, the Lord grants the gift of assurance—a confidence grounded not in words alone but in a life that reflects His own.

LORD, give us the wisdom to love those you bring to us — to walk like you walked.

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hide or heal?

Posted on March 3, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

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hide or heal?

1 John 1:5-2:2 (JDV)

1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in him.
1 John 1:6 If we would say, “We participate with him,” and yet we walk in darkness, we would be lying and are not practicing the truth.
1 John 1:7 Since we are walking in the light as he himself is in the light, we participate with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all failure.
1 John 1:8 If we would say, “We have no failure,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1 John 1:9 Since we confess our failures, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our failures and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:10 If we would say, “We have not failed,” we would be making him a liar, and his word would not be in us.
1 John 2:1 My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not fail. But if anyone does fail, we have an advocate with the Father — Jesus Christ the righteous one.
1 John 2:2 He himself is the atoning sacrifice for our failures, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.

hide or heal?

Failing is not a small or selective category. It is not limited to deliberate rebellion, nor is it confined to the moments when someone knowingly chooses what is wrong. Failure includes every instance of falling short, every moment when the mark is missed, whether through weakness, ignorance, carelessness, or willful defiance. Using the language of failure does not soften the reality traditionally named by the word sin. Instead, it widens the frame. It exposes how deeply the problem runs and how completely it touches every part of human life. Failure is not an occasional misstep; it is the condition of a humanity that cannot, on its own, live in perfect alignment with the will of God.

The cross speaks directly into that condition. The death of the Lord is not a partial remedy or a sacrifice aimed only at certain categories of wrongdoing. It is the one sufficient offering for every form of failure—intentional or unintentional, visible or hidden, respectable or shameful. Nothing falls outside its reach. The cross stands as God’s declaration that no failure is too great to be forgiven and no wound too deep to be healed.

Hearing the gospel places every person at a crossroads. One path is the way of confession—bringing failures into the light, naming them honestly, and trusting that the blood of Christ restores what is broken. Confession is not merely admitting fault; it is opening the heart to divine healing. It is the posture that allows grace to do its work.

The other path is concealment. Failure can be hidden behind a carefully maintained darkness, a respectable façade that keeps the truth out of sight. This darkness may look moral, religious, or disciplined, but it is still darkness. Those who choose concealment may speak the language of faith and claim fellowship with God, yet the claim rings hollow. Healing cannot occur where the wound is denied. Restoration cannot begin where the disease is covered rather than acknowledged.

The gospel insists on this simple but searching truth: there is no cure without exposure. The physician of souls does not force treatment on those who refuse to admit their need. Grace is abundant, but it is never imposed. The cross stands open to all, but only those who step into the light of truth receive its healing power.

LORD, give us the wisdom to seek your healing restoration, not to hide our failures.

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joy in the gospel

Posted on March 2, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

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joy in the gospel

1 John 1:1-4 (JDV)

1 John 1:1 The reality that was from the beginning, that we have heard, that we have seen with our eyes, that we have observed and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life —
1 John 1:2 and that life was revealed, and we have seen it and we testify and declare to you the permanent life that was with the Father and was revealed to us —
1 John 1:3 that we have seen and heard we also declare to you, so that you may also participate with us; and we really participate with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
1 John 1:4 We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

joy in the gospel

John’s joy is the reality of the gospel of grace through Jesus Christ. But it is more than a doctrine he believes. It is a person he has met. He has heard, seen, observed and touched this person. He can never be persuaded to reject Jesus. Do do so would be to deny his own experience. His joy is made more complete by sharing what he knows.

He also knows that Jesus is the possessor and the grantor of permanent life. His very existence is a promise from God of immortality for his followers. When John and the other apostles saw Jesus, they recognized that he had been with the Father, and that he was a revelation from the Father. But what was that revelation? It was that we can also be more than we are. Our weak temporary lives can be changed and we can participate with the Father and the Son. We can also have permanent life. His joy is made more complete by sharing that good news.

So, John writes. He must write because he must get the gospel’s message out. He feels compassion for those who do not yet know the good news. But he is motivated by more than pity. He writes because sharing the gospel makes him happy. It completes his joy. It is the joy of passing on the most essential truths ever revealed to humanity. It is the joy of inviting others to experience the person of Christ.

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she was their “little sister”

Posted on March 1, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

20250301

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she was their “little sister”

Song of Songs 8:8-14 (JDV)

Song of Songs 8:8 Our sister is young; she has no breasts. What will we do for our sister on the day she is spoken for?
Song of Songs 8:9 If she is a wall, we will build a silver barricade on her. If she is a door, we will enclose her with cedar planks.
Song of Songs 8:10 I am a wall and my breasts like towers. So, in his eyes I have become like one who finds peace.
Song of Songs 8:11 Solomon owned a vineyard in Baal-hamon. He leased the vineyard to tenants. Each was to bring for his fruit one thousand pieces of silver.
Song of Songs 8:12 I have my own vineyard. The one thousand are for you, Solomon, but two hundred for those who take care of its fruits.
Song of Songs 8:13 You who dwell in the gardens, companions are listening for your voice; let me hear you!
Song of Songs 8:14 Run away with me, my love, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices.

she was their “little sister”

The anticipated day has come, and the bride and groom enjoy each other, and find peace in each other’s arms. But she remembers the community who guarded her chastity when she was their “little sister.” One of the underlying messages of this poem is how marital love is sacred, and thus should be protected. Real friends protect each other. Real lovers wait until the time is right.

LORD, give us the wisdom to enjoy love as it was meant to be, unencumbered by guilt, unashamed before you.

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