“…this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should LOVE ONE ANOTHER. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brothers were righteous. Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, IF THE WORLD HATES YOU. We know that WE HAVE PASSED FROM DEATH TO LIFE, because WE LOVE EACH OTHER. Anyone who does not love REMAINS in death. Anyone who HATES a brother or sister IS A MURDERER, and you know that NO MURDERER HAS ETERNAL LIFE residing in him. This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And WE OUGHT TO LAY DOWN OUR LIVES for our brothers and sisters.” (1 John 3:11-16)
Remember, Jesus gave us a new commandment, “A new command I give you: LOVE one another. As I HAVE LOVED YOU, so you MUST love one another.” (John 13:34) John said “we should love one another” Jesus said “we MUST love one another” because it is a commandment! What do we have in common? The Word of God! But wait isn’t there a lot we don’t know about the Word? “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but THE THINGS REVEALED BELONG TO US…” (Deut. 29:29) How will we know what God wants us to know? By Faith, “Faith SHOWS THE REALITY of what we hope for; it is THE EVIDENCE of things we cannot see.” (Heb. 11:1) God’s Word has the ability to reveal itself to us!
How can it do that? Why it is, “…living (alive) and powerful (full of power), and sharper than any two-edged sword…” (Heb. 4:12) It is not just words on a page it is life and power, it GETS INTO OUR LIVES and changes us! And not only that “All Scripture is GOD–BREATHED (theopneustos: theo: God, pneustos: breath) and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be THOROUGHLY EQUIPPED for every good work.” (2 Tim. 3:16-17)
THIS IS WHAT IS SO AWESOME ABOUT GOD’S DESIRE TO GET US INTO HIS WORD, HE BREATHS HIS WORD INTO US SO WE WILL BE MORE LIKE HIM AND COME ALIVE TO THE WORD OF GOD!!!
-Bill Stockham