Be With Me is a daily 7 minute chronological walk through the New Testament hosted by Michael Smith. It is for everyone who is curious about what Jesus actually said and did in the gospels. Most episodes will leave you with at least one good thought to chew on for the rest of the day. We start with the Bible and hopefully end with Awe. We are walking through the chronological events of Jesus' life and then thoughtfully considering them. It is meant to spur the devotional life of the Christian and the not-yet-Christian. We occasionally venture into the Old Testament when it helps our understanding of the New Testament events. Everybody has 7 minutes. Everybody needs to wonder. Be With Me is hosted by Michael Smith who has absolutely no special qualifications to do a podcast. He is not a pastor. He has not been to seminary. He does not lead a mega-church. He is not a professional and he has no more credentials than you do. He does, however, follow a great God with an observant eye and a curious heart. Each day, he starts with a study bible and aims for astonishment. ‘be with him’ for 7 minutes as he sets out daily to discover the God who invites us to ‘Be With Me.’
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123John is a love story of God to people. It is about a loving God who then evidences that love by action. Similarly, our being loved and being in God's family should give evidence as well. He asks of us that our allegiance result in evidence.
We are spiritual children. This means that we OOZE needfulness and adoptability. Remember, SUFFICIENT people don't think they need a savior. We are before a God who is in the forgiveness business. Why? because we are in the SIN business and that must be taken care of.
Listen for some of the great highlights of 1 John Chapters 1&2 and then come back tomorrow by visiting bewithme.us.
Michael Smith:
Good morning, my brothers and sisters, welcome to the best of 123. John, this is season 26. Episode number three, I'm going to kind of throw together First John, second, John and Third John all together in a bit of review over the next couple of days. So first, second, third John are a book or is a book about really loving God and consequently, then really loving his people. So the relationship with God is going to be demonstrated in real life with boots on with people. So let me go to First John chapter one verses seven. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. And the blood of Jesus, His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, He's faithful, and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So it is also a book about the reality of behaviors towards our sins. And that's demonstrate that eventually is demonstrated by Christian behaviors and beliefs and worldviews and even fellowship with his his people. So if Missouri is the show me state, then this is the Show Me book. And God has to be in the forgiveness business. Well, why is that? Well, that's because we're in the sin business, and to say otherwise, makes God a liar. So we confess, we confess our sins, why is that to get help? So if you've ever met an alcoholic who says, quote, I'm an alcoholic, unquote, you know that you found someone who is serious about their problem, their difficulty, and similarly, in the church, confession before God, and perhaps even confession before man unlocks, you know, finds the finds of people who are in greement, in agreement that we need a remedy, we need help we need we need somebody to help us. So first, John tells us the truth about God. And it tells us the truth about sin. Now, why is that? Well, not just to be woe is me, but to unlock the advocate. This is from to one My little children, I'm writing things things to you, so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with a Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. So we have an advocate a helper, and we give witness to him helping us and we give evidence of his help with us now, who do we give evidence that we've kind of done business with sin with? Well, first of all, the the first person we give evidence to is ourselves, the second person is the church. And then then eventually, if you do do that good enough, then you you go out into the world. Now first jhana is a love story. Don't ever forget that. It's God's love story to the to us, He gives us a miracle. And we're then are supposed to act like it, how act lighted by loving the Brotherhood. So we kind of get this miracle. So we give a miracle. And we enjoy God's forgiveness, and his an access to him. And it's strengthening by him. Why is that so that we can be a blessing. So we get this treasure, so that we can give a treasure. In 215. It says, Don't Don't do not love the world, or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of the life is not from the Father, but is from the world. So I thought when, when I was looking at that I thought that was passage was going to major on sin. And certainly the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life certainly categorizes all the big sins. But what I was surprised with is by the love of God, and it was sitting with a thought of valuing the love of God in the context of the bright and shiny bits of sin. And when you put the love of God and having and valuing the love of God, the shiny bits of sin become less shiny. So I love that first John is so real, and how real is it? Well, it talks very frankly, about opposition to this whole wonderful river of love that God's talking about. And he labels them as antichrists. So it's kind of a theme of the book and in certain persons are identified that are, you know, swimming upstream, upstream from this. First John to 19 says, They went out from us, but they were not up us for if they had been us, they would have continued with us. But they went out that it might become plain that they are not of us. So one of the other big themes other than opposition is that continuance is the test of reality, for those that now oppose God, but also even for us. So during Christ's time, signs and wonders were used to authenticate his message. But now, now that we have the message today, the message is used to authenticate signs, so don't be confused about people that may oppose him. Okay, so first, John is a love story, for sure. It's all it's a relationship story. It's a forgiveness story. And then it's also a warning story. So there's going to be opposition, there'll be some haters and doubters and oppressors. And but the contrast is we are to love and we are to have confidence and not shrink at his appearing or are we die are appearing before him. So we are to abide with him now so that he can be abiding with us on that day, and we're supposed to abide with them, stick with him now abide with them, making her home with them, so that we can make her home with them on that day. One of the things I love about first, John is he talks he's an older man, but he talks to these people as children. And I was considering what what makes children what's the defining characteristic of children. And he says that we've been happy to be adopted into his family. And so what is it that makes us adoptable? Well, it's need fulness. So suffering, or I'm sorry, sufficiency. People that are sufficient don't need to be adopted, we lose need fulness wheat ooze smallness and child likeness. So what kind of love does does God demonstrate? It's an adoptive love. It's a family love. It's a need answering love. Next, tomorrow we'll talk about practicing sin and, and making ongoing decisions for sins, keeping on sinning and the horror of it. Stick around. See you then.
