Category Archives: Refresh & Restore

Refresh & Restore — February 10, 2021

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.[1] 

1 John 2:15-17

Greetings, Sojourner!

I am glad to be back at our 1 John study after a bit of a mental break. Instead of writing a devotion last week, I took the opportunity to get some extra time in the Word – reading and listening, not to study but to spend time with the Lord. Those who support me closely in writing these were relieved and glad I took the break; I am, too.

I was all geared up to write this devotion last week, so it has been simmering in my thoughts longer than usual. Time and again, my thoughts returned to Demas.

If you have no idea who Demas is, do not feel bad. He is typically limited to random Bible trivia since his name only shows up three times in the Bible. The first two times mention him being with Paul on one of his missionary journeys and sending his regards to the Colossian church and Philemon (Colossians 4:14, Philemon 24). The final reference tells us that Paul was alone at the end of his life, partly because “Demas, in love with this present world…, deserted [him and went] to Thessalonica” (2 Timothy 4:10).

That is all the information we have about him. He was with Paul until the world came calling. Then he left.

Demas’ story fits well with today’s passage. Here, John transitions from reminding us to love one another to warning us to “not love the world or the things in the world” (v. 15a). When he talks about the world here, he is not talking about the earth and caring for it as a part of God’s creation. He is talking about the ways of the world – the ways of the flesh. It is similar to Paul’s words in Romans 12:2: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” The ways of the world are contrary to the Way, that is Christ (John 14:6). We are to conform to Christ and imitate Him – not the world.

John continues his warning in verse 15 by explaining that “if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him”. There is a firm line drawn here. One cannot give their love – their allegiance, faith, and trust – fully to two things. The Way and the world – the Father and the flesh – are polar opposites. Jesus explained that no one can “serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other” (Luke 16:13). James asks his original audience (and us), “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God” (James 4:4)? What could be more serious than finding oneself on the opposite side of God Most High? Do we love Him or the world? Depending on our answer, we are either a friend of God or His enemy. There is no middle ground.

At this point, you may be wondering where the refreshing and restoring has gone. My answer is simple: nowhere. These truths are tough, but needed. This is not a stepping-on-toes moment. No, this is a soul-evaluation moment. This has been a call for me to look at my own life and evaluate my priorities – to evaluate my worship. I have had to repent of my worldly focus in some areas. You may need to also.

Thankfully, John does not just spiritually sucker punch us and move on; he helps us to see what it looks like to love the world. Danny Akin has written that verse 16 “is one of the most important verses in the Bible”[2] because it “identifies in vivid terms the weapons the world uses to seduce men and women into joining its side.” This is good news for us because it shows us areas to look at so repentance can occur – so refreshment and restoration can occur.

Perhaps the scariest thing for me about verse 16 is that all those weapons of the world reside inside of me – “desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life”. They originate in my sinful heart. And they are in yours as well.

The Bible gives us clear examples to see how these weapons have defeated people in the past and how God Himself overcame them.

These weapons were first used on the very first people. Genesis 3:6 shows how all three of these weapons were used to bring sin and death to Adam and Eve: “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food (desires of the flesh) and that it was a delight to the eyes (desires of the eyes) and that the tree was desired to make one wise (pride of life), she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was there with her, and he ate.”

Satan, in the form of the Serpent (Revelation 12:9), came and helped the first humans bring sin and death into the world. He twisted the Word of God, and Adam and Eve let him. But Satan cannot bear the blame. James 1:14-15 makes it quite clear what happened to them and to us:

“But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”

Sin and death continued from that point onward.

If we were left to Adam and Eve to save us, we would have no hope. The way that temptation and a love for the flesh worked in their lives is the same way it works in our own. Thankfully, we have a better example in the way that Jesus handled the same temptations.

In Luke 4:1-13, we see Jesus being tempted by Satan. He had been in the wilderness, eating nothing, for forty days. Luke 4:2 tells us Jesus was “hungry”. Satan told Jesus that He should “command this stone to become bread” (Luke 4:3), appealing to the desire of Jesus’ flesh. But Jesus reminded him of what the Word of God says in Deuteronomy 8:3 – and did not sin.

Next, Satan “showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time”, offering to give Jesus “authority” and “glory” if He would only bow down in worship (Luke 4:5-6). But Jesus reminded him of what the Word of God says in Deuteronomy 6:13 – and did not sin.

Finally, he took Jesus to the highest point on the temple and tempted Jesus to jump (Luke 4:9). He even quoted some Scripture himself, reminding Jesus that Psalm 91:11-12 promise that no harm would come to Him – that angles will “guard” Him and keep even His foot from striking “against a stone”. But Jesus reminded him of what the Word of God says in Deuteronomy 6:16. He did not sin.

It is in Christ’s handling of temptation that we find hope. We are all very susceptible to fail because of the desires of our flesh and eyes and our pride. Jesus is not.

The desires of our flesh are powerful because they come from what we want deep down in our hearts. But, if we are in Christ, we do not have to fear our sinful hearts because “He also put His seal on us and [has] given us His Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee” (2 Corinthians 1:22). And, remember, “if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1)!

The desires of our eyes are powerful, too, because it is through them that we find many opportunities for sin. Rather than spying out opportunities for sin, we should be “looking to Jesus, the founder and protector of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2) and seeking “the things that are above, where Christ is” (Colossians 3:1). Then, we may see God answer the cry of the psalmist in our own lives: “Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways” (Psalm 119:37).

The pride of life is powerful, too. It also hits a bit harder than the first two. This is the part of us that thinks that we can do some things better than God. It is when we think too highly of our own power and possessions and position. It is when we want to receive worship and glory that is only due to God. And, just as God gives us a way out of the first two temptations, He takes care of us here as well. Let us look at the last verse that Jesus quoted to Satan – the one that made him tuck tail and run away: “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test…” (Deuteronomy 6:16).

I draw your attention to this command because it reminds us that hope in Jesus is eternal when this world is “passing away along with its desires” (v. 17). You see, Satan was reminded of something that scared him and should give us courage. He was reminded that Jesus is God and is not to be trifled with or tested! And so long as we trust Christ as Savior and Lord – so long as we love and worship Him, Satan and the desires of our flesh will be kept in check!

We looked at some tough words from James 4 earlier. Let us look now at the good news he brings later in that same passage:

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.”

James 4:7-8a

You and I do not have to meet the same end as Demas. Our story need not end with us “in love with this present world” having deserted Christ. He is “rich in mercy” and loves us with a great love (Ephesians 2:4). The world cares only for itself. Jesus “loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). The world brings only the wages of my sin – death (Romans 6:23).

I pray that this reminder finds you looking to Christ as your hope and away from the world – and that repentance is granted where we need it (2 Timothy 2:25).

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Jn 2:15–17.

[2] Daniel L. Akin et al., Exalting Jesus in 1,2,3 John (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2014).

Refresh & Restore — January 28, 2021

7 Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. 8 At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. 9 Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. 10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.[1] 

1 John 2:7-11

Greetings, Sojourner – “Beloved”!

I am struck by the way that John writes to his original audience. He refers to them often as “little children” (2:1, 12, 18, 28; 3:7, 18); now, he calls them “beloved” (2:7; 3:2, 21; 4:1, 7, 11). He loves them, and it shows. But this word we see as “beloved” is more than a regular term for someone you care about. The love in it is the word agape – God’s never-ending, unfailing love. “Beloved” is a word that is unique to the Church. It is rooted in His love for us. It refers to those who love God and worship Him. And it is a greeting specific to the family of God – those united by their adoption through faith in Christ (John 1:12, Galatians 4:5-6).

I greet you the same today, beloved Sojourner, knowing that as we journey through this world that we are loved by God. That love is at the heart of John’s writing. It is one of the themes that we loop through over and over: life, light, and love, all of which we will see in today’s passage.

Before we get too far, I want to address the issue of following/keeping commandments. So far in 1 John, we have seen the importance of walking in the same way that Jesus walked (2:6) and how we should keep His commandments (2:3), His Word (2:4), and abide in Him through all of that (2:5). It is easy to get legalistic when we talk about being obedient and keeping commandments. So, I would like to revisit a statement from the end of last week’s devotion:

“We follow Him, learning from Him, and keep His commandments. We do not keep His commandments to earn our freedom but because of our freedom, in love and gratitude for what He has done for us.”

It is important that we do not fall back into trying to keep the Law (Galatians 5:1; Romans 6:14-18). Any reference to keeping commandments here speaks to following Christ and imitating Him (Ephesians 5:1) because He loves us and gave Himself up for us (Ephesians 5:2). We obey because we love Him (4:19) and trust that His Way is better than ours (John 14:6, Isaiah 55:9). To keep His commandments is not to earn salvation but to see that salvation has taken root in our hearts and lives (Colossians 2:6-7).

The commandment that John talks about here mirrors Jesus’ exact teaching:

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

John 13:34-35

This was no doubt unforgettable for John as it was part of Jesus’ last supper with His disciples on the night before He was arrested, the day before He was crucified. That night would impact the rest of John’s life (1:1-3). It was that same “new commandment”, given straight from the mouth of God, that John references here: love others as Christ loved us.

You have no doubt heard this commandment before. It was Jesus’ upgraded version of the commandment found in Leviticus 19:18 – “You shall not take vengeance or bear grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself” – which has been a feature of many Sunday School lessons and sermons. Yet Jesus’ command, especially the way it is referenced in 1 John, is not based out of loving like we love ourselves or treating others how we would like to be treated. No, this is no “golden rule”; this is a heart overflowing with the love we receive from Christ.

Jesus’ love for us in salvation should impact the way that we interact with other people. Having received grace, we should be gracious. Having received mercy, we should be merciful. Having experienced the love of God, we should love others. But, as simple as that sounds, it is extremely difficult.

Part of the reason that this is difficult is because it requires more than just lip-service. Here where I live in the American South, “I love you” and “love” are thrown about casually. The love that Jesus commands of us is anything but casual. His love is a “greater love” (John 15:13). He loved us “while we were yet sinners” (Romans 5:8). It is because God is “rich in mercy” and out of the “great love with which He loved us” that we have Life at all (Ephesians 2:4)! I speak from experience when I say that the true difficulty lies in acknowledging how difficult I am to love and how amazing the love of God is that He could ever love and save a “wretch like me”.

This is the reason that love becomes the defining characteristic of what it is to be a Christian. Just like Jesus told His original disciples that they would be known by their love for one another, the standard is the same for us. How we love God and share that love with others shows whether we are in darkness or light (2:7-8). In fact, hating our “brother” is an indicator that we live and stumble in the darkness (2:9-10).

Darkness is most definitely of Satan and not of God, but it also comes from our own sinful hearts. If we allow our hatred of someone – especially one close enough to be considered a brother in Christ (we will study more on this in the future) – to blind us, the darkness comes from that hatred; our own sinful hearts and desires have clouded our judgment and led us astray (Jeremiah 17:9).

If you are like me, this is where you start justifying your hatred. No, I do not know what they did to you. No, I have not experienced what you have. But God has (Hebrews 4:14-16)! He has experienced how I have sinned against Him (Psalm 51:4). His heart has been grieved time and again (Genesis 6:6, Ephesians 4:30).

And it is at the feet of the One who would be righteous to cast us out that we learn to love and forgive instead. Or, if our love for ourselves and hatred for others makes us unable (or unwilling) to forgive and let go of hate, we find that we truly abide in darkness and have not experienced the love of Christ at all (2:9, Matthew 6:14-15).

Rather than rationalizing your hatred, beloved, I urge you to repent – to not “abandon the love you had at first” (Revelation 2:4). The beauty of repentance is that it is always met with love. Always.

If you look at today’s passage and feel more than a little inadequate, you are not alone. I remind you that we are incapable of following Christ’s commandments perfectly. Remember, when we sin we have an Advocate (2:2) to meet us where we are and carry us through. I believe that John included this next section (2:12-14) to illustrate that, no matter where we are in our walk with Christ, none of us have arrived:

12  I am writing to you, little children,
because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.
13  I am writing to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
     I am writing to you, young men,
because you have overcome the evil one.
     I write to you, children,
because you know the Father.
14  I write to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
     I write to you, young men,
because you are strong,
and the word of God abides in you,
and you have overcome the evil one.[2]

John pauses here to give a special word to Christ-followers in every stage of walking with Him: “little children” who are just starting out with Him, “fathers” who have walked with Him for many years, and “young men” who are actively (and often through error and trials) seeking to serve the Lord.

To the children, he reminds them that they have been forgiven of their sins (2:12) and adopted by the Father into the family of God (2:13). When we sin and stumble, these things are easy to forget and necessary to remember to continue following Christ.

To the fathers (and mothers) in the faith, he reminds them that their relationship is grounded in “Him who is from the beginning” (2:13-14) – both the beginning of all things and the beginning of their walk when they were but children in their faith.

And to the young men (and women) who are in the midst of spiritual warfare and service of the Lord – not yet mature in their faith but actively walking with Christ, he reminds them that the evil one has already been overcome (2:13) and that the strength to win the battle comes from the Lord as found and taught from His Word (2:14).

Wherever you are on your journey – baby or an elder – Christ still has something for you. Rest assured, that His same new commandment still applies. Go out and find ways to “love one another” today.

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Jn 2:7–11.

[2] ESV, 1 Jn 2:12–14.

Refresh & Restore — January 21, 2021

1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.[1]   

1 John 2:1-6

Greetings, Sojourner!

I absolutely love this week’s passage. It shows us so much of Christ’s heart for us and introduces us to some unique aspects of His character. It also shows us John’s heart for his original audience and, I hope, it shows a bit of mine for you.

Remember that the passage that we look at each week comes out of the larger whole of 1 John. So far, we have seen that what John writes in this letter flows out of his personal experience and testimony with Jesus (1:1-4). We have also seen that, to “walk in the light” (1:7), we must repent consistently of our sin and trust in Christ – that how we see and talk about our sin matters (1:5-10). And it is the seriousness of our sin that brings us into today’s verses.

John starts this paragraph with “my little children” (2:1). This shows that he cares about them. The fact that he calls them that in this paragraph shows that what he is talking to them about is serious. It reflects how parents talk to their children in times of extreme danger or importance. Speaking from experience, I find that when my children are terrified that I remind them to “listen to Daddy” and my tone is the same as it was when I spoke to them as infants cradled in my arms. John is talking to his spiritual children about sin.

In fact, he expands his purpose for writing to include “so [they/we] may not sin” (2:1). I want to clarify that this does not point to personal, human perfection. It is unattainable on earth. This is not a cop out; it is merely the truth. It is in our nature to sin and our sin nature continually wages war against the Spirit of God in us (Romans 6:23, 7:15-20; Galatians 5:16-17). But even though this is true, we have to be careful in how we talk about sin. Knowing that we will always struggle with sin does not give us an excuse to sin (Galatians 5:1). Sometimes, even knowing that there is forgiveness to be had can tempt us to sin more and more (Romans 6:1-2).

Just as John showed us in last week’s passage, we must have an appropriate view of sin. If we deny our sinfulness, we are liars who have no part in Christ (1:8). But, if we confess our sins to him in repentance and faith in Christ, “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1:9). I do not know about you, but I struggle with the reality of my sin. I long for the day when I will see Jesus face-to-face and no longer struggle with sin. But I would be a fool to think that I had arrived at perfection before I kneel before perfection Himself in glory.

So, how does the reality of my continued sin fit with John’s purpose of writing “that [I] may not sin”? John acknowledges the reality of sin in verse 2: “But if anyone does sin”.

The picture that we see unfold in verse 2 is that of a courtroom. Our sin deserves death and hell (Romans 6:23, Revelation 21:8), and we are very clearly guilty (Romans 3:10, 23). As we saw last week, to plead innocent would be a lie and show that we are not in Christ (1:8). To plead guilty would be the truth. And, standing before the righteous Judge (Psalm 50:6, 75:7; 1 Corinthians 5:13; 2 Corinthians 5:10), we would be as aware of our sins as Isaiah was when he stood in the presence of God:

“Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

Isaiah 6:5

As in any criminal trial, there is a prosecutor – an accuser. His name is Satan (which literally translates as “the accuser”). Revelation 12:10 describes him as “the accuser of our brothers” and actively accusing them “day and night before our God”. He will have plenty of evidence against us – all we have said and done. And, if we are honest, we know we are guilty of everything he accuses us of and that we have sinned against God (Psalm 51:4). In fact, if we look in the Word, we know that God already knows everything (and so much more, including our thoughts, desires, and motivations) that Satan brings before the court (Hebrews 4:12-13).

Do you yet grasp the gravity of our situation? Surely you know how this works. We have seen enough courtroom dramas to know when a prosecutor has nailed the proverbial coffin shut with evidence. Yet this is exactly where John begins: “But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (2:1).

The word advocate is used only a handful of times in the New Testament, and most of those times it is translated as Helper or Comforter and refers to the Holy Spirit (John 14:16, 26; 16:17). It paints the picture of one who shows up on behalf of another. In the case of the Holy Spirit, it refers to Jesus leaving His Spirit with His people once He ascended back into heaven. In the case of our advocate, Jesus Himself appears on our behalf – defense attorney, key witness, evidence, and Divine plea bargain.

Let me be clear that this is the point where our earthly legal dramas fail to picture what is going on here. Much of what we see on television (and assume happens often in the real-world) centers around someone “getting off” instead of being found guilty. As I said earlier, we are most assuredly guilty. Again, I remind you that everything the accuser says about us is true – all the evidence is genuine. The sin is ours, and we willfully committed each sin.

Our advocate is “Jesus Christ the righteous”. Were He to try to get the charges merely thrown out, He would not be righteous. There is “a record of debt” and “legal demands” that come with our sin (Colossians 2:14). The Judge cannot allow the debt to remain unpaid. But every penny – every good deed – that we have ever been capable of is not a drop in the bucket compared to the sin debt we owe.

Our accuser no doubt delights in this. What prosecutor could keep from delighting in a sure win? Yet our advocate steps forward and enters Himself into evidence. He is not just advocate but also propitiation (2:2).

Please, do not let the size of these words intimidate you. They are not fancy, academic words. They are Bible words that are important to our understanding of what Christ has done for us. The word propitiation means a sacrifice that trades wrath for favor, anger for gladness, Christ’s sinlessness for the punishment our sin deserves (Isaiah 53:5).

As our propitiation, Jesus covers our sin and shame. He decides to fully bear our punishment and gives us the favor He has as the Son of God, so, now, when the Judge looks out, He does not see our sin but His Son. How does Jesus do this? He does it “by cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands” by “set[ting] it aside, nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14). He – the sinless Lamb of God (1 Peter 1:19) – took on our sin so that “we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Rather than judgment, we find mercy. Instead of being condemned, we find grace. Since the Judge sees a son in the place of a sinner, we gain eternal life rather than the death sentence we deserve. And the accuser’s cries go unheard like those of a bug meeting the heel of a boot (Genesis 3:15). And we can rejoice that “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).

What do we do with this freedom?

We follow Him, learning from Him, and keep His commandments (2:3-4). We do not keep His commandments to earn our freedom but because of our freedom, in love and gratitude for what He has done for us (Matthew 11:29).

We see the love that He showed us through His death and resurrection (Romans 5:8) show up in our own lives (2:5). We love Him because He loves us (4:19). And we show that love to others for the same reason (4:11, Matthew 22:38-39).

We reflect His Light and Life (2:6) like the moon does the sun – a pale reflection but pointing to Him, nevertheless. And, hopefully, just as the moon pulls the tides toward it, people will be drawn to our Savior because they see Him in us.

I do not have to ask if you are struggling with sin. But I ask that when you do, you run to the advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous. “He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25). Now, that is good news!

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Jn 2:1–6.

Refresh & Restore — January 14, 2021

5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 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. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.[1]

1 John 1:5-10

Greetings, Sojourner!

What a privilege it is to get to spend time together in the Word of God. When turmoil, confusion, and fear seem to be the norm, it is good to see the eternal perspective of God found in His Word. And, especially in the context of 1 John 1, we get to see the same hope that was promised in Christ long ago by the prophet Isaiah:

The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shone.

Isaiah 9:2

This is part of what John wanted to show in his first letter. No matter how dark the darkness seems – whether in the world or in our own hearts – there is hope because “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all” (v. 5). Let us dive into today’s passage, and may the Word of God shine into our lives today.

Since we are going through a book of the Bible together, it is important that we see how each week’s passage flows as part of the larger text – sentences into paragraphs into sections into chapters into the whole book. This week’s passage flows out of the introduction last week by John getting specific about the message that he “heard” and “proclaim[ed]” (vv. 1, 3) – a message directly from God and not man.

The message he writes here either sums up or elaborates on what he wrote previously in his gospel. This is cool because 1) he has already shared specifically what he “heard” directly from Jesus, and 2) the Word of God is the best commentary for itself (i.e., the verses that are cited in this devotion clear up the meaning of the word and bear more weight than any of the other words). Here are some of the verses from the gospel of John that are drawn on in today’s passage:

  • In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (1:4-5)
  • The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. (1:9)
  • But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” (3:21)
  • Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I Am the Light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (8:12)
  • So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” (12:35-36)
  • I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. (12:46)

John wanted his original readers – and us – to look at the way that Christ – the Light– shines despite the darkness – that it is His shining that ultimately drives the darkness away because it cannot contend with Him. And, just like it is the nature of light to shine, Jesus revealed/manifested Himself to us (v. 2) and shines his “glory…full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). This is good news. It also carries with it some bad news.

The problem with light shining into darkness is that everything is revealed – good and bad. My wife and I were so excited to buy “daylight” bright light bulbs for our formerly dark bathroom. Now, we face the stark reality of each day that we age. The bags under my eyes are darker and deeper there. My pores seem magnified. Scars, wrinkles, and blemishes look like chasms in my face. And Candice remains beautiful.

The rest of today’s passage deals with what is found and exposed in the light – how we walk in either light or darkness exposes the state of our hearts and our fellowship (or lack of it) with Christ. It is important here that we note that all of the verses that we are looking at today have “we” as the subject. John is not pointing fingers but showing how everyone, everywhere, for all time who takes these positions (including himself) is included. He does this by making “if” statements that can help diagnose our relationship with Christ with each statement building on the others to help us understand what it means to “walk in the light, as He is in the light” (v. 7).

The first “if” statement is in verse 6: “If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness”. Fellowship with God – that relationship that flows out of the grace of God in salvation – does not dwell in darkness. We saw in John 1:5 earlier that the darkness will never overcome the light, and, if we have fellowship with God, we live in the light. Let us check our own hearts. Do we claim to have fellowship with God? Are we walking (living/behaving/participating) in darkness? James 4:4 tells us the question we need to ask regarding our walk with Christ: “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?”

The next “if” statement shifts to the brightness of the light and is given in a positive tone (emphasis added): “But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light”. Jesus – the Light – is always the contrast to darkness. Walking (again living/behaving/participating) with Him is the opposite of walking in darkness. If we walk with Him, we have fellowship with God (v. 6) and that fellowship extends to our brothers and sisters in Christ because of the shared experience of having been cleansed from sin by “the blood of Jesus” (v. 7). That fellowship will extend to heaven where it will be sung, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation…” (Revelation 5:9). And, in heaven, all will “walk in the light” because it “has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb” (Revelation 21:23).

Verse 8’s “if” statement shifts back to the darkness: “if we say we have no sin”. The Bible is clear on this subject. Not one single person is righteous in their own works (Romans 3:10); in fact, “all have sinned” (Romans 3:23). Every, single human being from Adam to Kingdom come (except Christ) is a sinner. And, if we convince ourselves that we are not, we “deceive ourselves”. I like the way that Charles Spurgeon put it:

“He who cannot find water in the sea is not more foolish than the man who cannot perceive sin in his members. As the salt flavors every drop in the Atlantic, so does every sin affect every atom of our nature.”

The word “deceive” there means to “lead astray”. So, by saying that we have no sin, we are causing ourselves to stumble. And we are revealing that the Truth (Jesus Himself is the Truth – John 14:6) is “not in us”. Hear me, beloved Sojourner, how we react to our sin matters – whether we choose to conceal it or confess it matters. We might be able to convince ourselves that we are sinless and perfect. We may even be able to convince other people. But the Light recognizes the darkness, and nothing is hidden from Him (Hebrews 4:13).

The final positive “if” statement is where we need to be in our walk with Christ: “if we confess our sins” (v. 9). This is the appropriate attitude for a Christ-follower regarding sin. We should not deny it but admit it and receive the forgiveness that Christ promises (Proverbs 28:13, Psalm 32:5). When we confess our sin and “draw near to the throne of grace” where Christ is seated, “we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). You see, Christ does not just do away with sin. Verse 9 makes it clear that he is “faithful” and “just” in his forgiveness. He is faithful in His forgiveness because He does what He has said He would do for those who have confessed and believed in Him (Romans 10:9). He is just because He paid the penalty for our sin (Romans 5:8, 2 Corinthians 5:21). So, I ask again, are we walking in darkness or light? Do we deny and excuse our sin, or do we confess our need for the Savior? Our answers to these questions make all the difference in this world and the next.

John’s last “if” statement shows why all of these questions matter: “If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us” (v. 10). We simply cannot have it both ways. No lie can be the Truth, nor can darkness be Light. And, since it is His voice that created this universe, His Word goes. And by the Word – Christ Himself – we are either saved or left to the death we earn ourselves through sin (Romans 6:23).

He does not ask for perfection from us. He provides that for us. He asks only that we repent and believe.

Do you?

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Jn 1:5–10.

Refresh & Restore — January 7, 2021

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.[1]

1 John 1:1-4

Greetings, Sojourner!

Here we are in our first Refresh & Restore of 2021, and I find myself both excited and nervous. I am excited because getting to open the Word and journey through it with you brings me great joy and is a special time for me each week. But I find myself anxious at how small I am compared to the massive task of “rightly handling the Word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). But I trust in the power of the Word (2 Timothy 3:16, Hebrews 4:12) more than I fear my own inadequacies. As Augustine said, “Where Scripture speaks, God speaks”; and we so desperately need to hear Him.

What we are setting out to do in this new year – seeking to walk through whole books and sections of the Bible, to genuinely understand it – is not a new task. We will break it down like Isaiah had to in his time: “precept upon precept” and “line upon line” (Isaiah 28:10). We will join in with the likes of Ezra and Nehemiah who, upon returning home from exile, “read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading” (Nehemiah 8:8).

So, today, let us set out to read and understand John’s first epistle (letter) and look at the Life, Light, and Love that comes only from walking with Christ – the Word of God.

The first thing we see is how he opens 1 John and how it fits with the gospel of John. He started his gospel by describing how Jesus is eternal and God:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

John 1:1

Where the other gospels begin with the birth of Christ and/or the work of John the Baptist, John’s gospel goes back before the beginning and shows that Jesus has always been and always been God. 1 John begins by showing us how we can know Him through the experience of those who knew Him as the God who saved them from their sins and the divine Man who was their friend on earth.

John was writing here as he and Peter said in Acts 4:20: “for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard”. He is bringing Jesus, who “was from the beginning” (v. 1), into focus, showing us how He became knowable. Jesus “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14) and lived a fully human life; He could be “heard”, “seen”, “looked upon”, and “touched”. He was not some abstract being or god. He is neither myth nor legend. He is real.

John is relaying his first-hand experience with Jesus so that we can know Him. He does this so that when he talks about the “Word of Life” it is not some idea to be thought about but, rather, a Person to be known. Back when John was writing, there were people who were trying to convince others that God did not “become flesh”. They wanted to challenge that truth and replace it with theories and ideas (because theories and ideas can be ignored or changed as needed). But John shows that there was more to Jesus.

He was not only the “Word of Life” but the Life (John 14:6). And because He came – was born, lived, died in our place, and rose from the dead – the Life was “made manifest” (v. 2). We do not typically use language like this, so it may be a bit hard to wrap our minds around. But the word translated “made manifest” literally means “to make visible”, “to cause to be seen”, or “to make known”. That is exactly what happened. God, in Jesus, was “born in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:7); He became a man to make Himself known to us. “And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8) so that, by knowing, believing, and trusting in Him we might become “wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15).

This is literally what John is doing here in this letter: He is sharing the Life with us. He wants us to know that he has “seen it”. He wants to “testify to it” so that we can believe it. And he wants to “proclaim” it – “the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest” (v. 2) so that we can have it too.

We have already talked about how John wrote his gospel to show us Christ and his first letter so that we can know Him. Now, we see how he goes from showing how to have eternal life in his gospel – “whosoever believes in Him shall have eternal life” (John 3:16) – to showing in 1 John how we can know we have eternal life.

Those who have eternal life have “fellowship” with John, all believers, and – especially – with “the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ” (v. 3). The word fellowship has a lot of (pardon the made-up word) churchiness associated with it. Where I live in the Southern US, the word fellowship could be associated with the awkward, pre-Covid greeting time at some churches, but it is most often associated with eating (I can almost taste fried chicken as I type this) meals at church gatherings. But the type of fellowship – the very concept that is at the heart of what John is saying here – is so much more than a shared meal, a handshake, or even a hug. It is not a way of life or even a part of life. It is a result of having eternal life – of associating with the Life.

The word here translated “fellowship” is a special word. It could translate as a “close association”, “community”, or “a close, mutual relationship”, but all those things can exist outside of eternal life. They are too regular to communicate what John is talking about here. The “fellowship” he refers to comes out of the shared experience flowing from the grace of God in salvation. It is community built upon the foundation of the gospel – that we are all sinners and are only saved by the grace of God in Christ alone.

The closest earthly example that I can relate it to would be a group of people who survived some tragedy. They would have a bond based on their shared experience of having lived through something together. But that is where the illustration falls apart. The fellowship with God that comes from salvation produces our fellowship with one another. And we do not share the experience of living through something; we share the experience of the Life. We can celebrate the fact that, despite the “wages of [our] sin [being] death”, we have received the “free gift of God…eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). We are family – “fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (Ephesians 3:7). This is a bond like no other.

Through knowing Christ in this way – the way that John knew Him, John shares with us the same thing that Jesus gave to him: complete joy. Here in verse 4, John echoes the promise that Jesus made to him – a promise he heard with his own ears. “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11).

Joy means the reason for or object of gladness and delight. When we receive Christ, when we are fully known and loved by Him, He becomes the object of our delight and the reason that our hearts can be glad. He has already taken our sin upon Himself on the cross and defeated death, and He is willing to exchange our sorrows for joy. What better news could there be? For that reason, John tells his original readers and us today that he is “writing these things so that our joy may be complete” (v. 4).

I am immensely thankful for the testimony of John – that He would share all that he had heard and seen of His friend Jesus with us. I am even more thankful that Jesus – the Word of Life – came that we “may have Life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).

Have you experienced the eternal life that comes only from Jesus? All it takes to have eternal life is the same as with any gift – to receive it, to receive Christ because “to all who…receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). It is my prayer that – if you have not repented and believed in Jesus Christ – you do just that. He promises that “whoever comes to [Him] will never [be] cast out” (John 6:37). He will never – never – cast you out but instead make sure that your joy is completely full forever.

Amen.

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Jn 1:1–4.

Refresh & Restore — December 31, 2020

19 Remember my affliction and my wanderings,
the wormwood and the gall!
20 My soul continually remembers it
and is bowed down within me.
21 But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.” [1]

Lamentations 3:19-24

Greetings, Sojourner!

This is the thirty-seventh Refresh & Restore devotion! I have enjoyed writing these and hope that they have been some help to you as well. So, today, we will look once again to Jesus for hope now and in the future, seeking to be refreshed by His presence while we await the restoration of things as He has promised (Acts 3:19-21).

Today, we will spend time in God’s Word as usual, but I ask that you check out the update regarding the future of Refresh & Restore in 2021.

As we are no doubt ready to leave this dreadful year, I think it is important that we have an appropriate outlook on the future and what will and will not provide the hope and relief that we so desperately seek. I think that word – desperate – describes many of us. For that reason, the book of Lamentations is quite appropriate.

The book of Lamentations is believed to have been written after the fall of Jerusalem around 586BC and written by the prophet Jeremiah. What is clear about this book is that it is a book of mourning – grieving things lost and crying out over desperate times. There has been plenty of both this year. We seem to be preoccupied by these things, talking about them more and more with each passing day. This, fueled by 24/7 news coverage and social media overload, causes us to be focused on it more intensely than ever before in human history.

Jeremiah shows that he can identify with this. Throughout Lamentations 3, he talks about how he has “seen affliction under the rod of [God’s] wrath” (v. 1), dwelled in “darkness without any light” (v. 2), suffered physical and emotional pain (vv. 4-5), felt isolated from others (vv. 7, 9), been mocked and ridiculed (v. 14), descended into bitterness and depression due to it all (vv. 15-17), and forgotten what it feels like to hope and trust in God (v. 18).

2020 has not been like this for everyone, but I have talked to numerous people who are and have been struggling this year. These issues hit home. They are real. They are raw. God has a word for us in such times and experiences and feelings.

That is where our passage begins today. He remembers his “affliction” and “wanderings” (v. 19) and talks about it with terms like “wormwood” and “gall”, showing how bitter he is about it all. This has affected him greatly and caused his soul to be “bowed down” within him, obsessively focusing on it (v. 20). But there is hope! He says, “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope…” (v. 21).

In the times when hope seems lost, we need something to “call to mind” – like a post-it note or book mark in our brains – to help us unstick our minds from tragedy, grief, or despair. I have written in the past about my own struggles with depression, anxiety, and general mental-stuck-on-negativity-ness (this, of course is the clinical term). Isolation and a near-constant barrage of negative information does this to people. And you would think in the middle of a book of the Bible that is basically called “lamenting” would do the same thing; however, we need to realize that the focus of this chapter is verse 21. It is the thing that is called to mind that brings hope. And it shows itself in four parts.

The first part is that “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases” (v. 22a). This is especially important for us because Jeremiah shows that what he calls to mind is what he knows about God’s character. He reminds himself of God’s “steadfast love” (sometimes translated “loving-kindness”). This is a special word that shows up around 250 times in the Old Testament. It illustrates the forever-love that God has for His people and is always associated with His grace, mercy, forgiveness, and compassion. Jeremiah’s words here remind me of two great passages about God’s love:

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord”

Romans 8:38-39

and

“Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes, all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”

1 Corinthians 13:7-8a

How good it is to “call to mind” the love of God.

The second part of Jeremiah’s reminder is that the Lord’s “mercies never come to an end” (v. 22b). I was asked earlier today if God ever stops loving us or gets tired of fooling with us because of our sin. Jeremiah gives us a good answer and a necessary reminder. God’s mercy – His compassion – will never stop. He said as much in Malachi 3:6: “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed”. The proof of God’s love for His people is His continued patience. That does not mean He is always pleased with us. It certainly does not mean that He sits in approval of the sin that grieves Him. It means He loves us anyway.

If you have not noticed, all four parts of Jeremiah’s reminder build on one another. We have seen how his never-ending love flows into His mercy; now, we can see in the third part of his reminder how often we need His mercy. It is “new every morning” (v. 23a). I like the way that Job talks about this. When he speaks of this, he is shocked by God’s response to His people: “What is man, that you make so much of him, and that you set your heart on him, visit him every morning and test him every moment” (Job 7:17-18). What he wonders Jeremiah sets his mind on: God has abundant mercy that is given out regularly. It is out of God being “rich in mercy” and “the great love with which He loved us” (Ephesians 2:4) that we find salvation in the first place.

All the love and mercy that God can pour out to His people comes solely from Him and is not based on us. This is the final part of Jeremiah’s reminder: “great is [His] faithfulness” (v. 23b). The psalmist says that “Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds” (Psalm 36:5); that gives new meaning to “I love you this much”!

In the book of Lamentations, Jeremiah is primarily dealing out prophecies of punishment to Judah. But, as bad as their outlook and situation appeared to be, God would and did continue to love them. Their sin did not change who He was or what He had promised them. His faithfulness – despite their faithlessness – would win out in the end. They as a people would survive His punishment. And, in the same way, those who trust in God through Christ today can bank on the fact that “great is [His] faithfulness” because He truly is all that He has promised.

So, all Jeremiah had to say to himself was “The Lord is my portion…therefore I will hope in Him” (v. 24). He could remember that the Lord had “dealt bountifully” with him (Psalm 116:7). And, in the midst of depression and suffering, remember and returning to the Lord brought hope. It can do the same for us today.

I do not know what tomorrow holds. I have no promises or predictions for 2021. But I know this: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8), and, if we will put our trust in Him, our hope will not “put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:5).

I love you and continue to pray for you. If you need a listening ear, feel free to reach out. But know that you can always go directly to God to “receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).[2]

***Update on future Refresh & Restore devotions***

I would like to try something new for this upcoming year. I would like to walk through a whole book of the Bible.

I plan on starting small with 1 John to try it out, and I intend to walk through the whole thing before I make up my mind whether this is the direction we should lean toward in the future. Whether we continue in this past that or mix it up with short series like we have in the past remains to be seen, but, either way, I look forward to continuing to spend time in the Word with you as long as God allows us to continue!

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), La 3:19–24.

[2] For more help on this subject, feel free to check out the message from Christ Community Church from December 27, 2020.

Refresh & Restore — December 17, 2020

16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. 18 Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

John 3:16-19

Merry Christmas, Sojourner!

The Christmas season can feel a bit like tug-of-war sometimes. There is the pull of the world and commercialism. There is a definite push toward giving – and especially receiving – and going and doing and seeing. Yet there is always a tug at our hearts that is reminding us that there is more to Christmas than lights and presents. That tug prompts our hearts to look for something holy rather than a holiday.

I find myself pondering, year after year, how God feels about all of this. How much of Christmas focuses on or even includes Christ?

Much time is spent this time of year discussing and debating what is the true meaning of Christmas. Many argue for joy or peace or hope or family or giving or kindness. And it is almost certainly each of those things, at least a little bit. But the meaning of Christmas is most definitely love – the steadfast, always-and-forever, never-stopping, never-giving-up love of God.

God’s love for His people is unbelievable. Arguably, the greatest verse that describes His love is the one that is most familiar to us – John 3:16. In this verse, we see the heart of the Father. We see a love that outshines any earthly love. And, as a father, I cannot fathom loving anyone or anything that much. Our Father loved so much that He gave His only Son.

I have been blessed with two children. I would not put up with either of them being harmed, much less killed, for any of you. I remember the day that my oldest child was born. As I stood there, terrified and holding her in my arms, Daddy leaned in and whispered: “Now, you understand Christmas; now, you start to understand Easter.” That moment, when my heart was filled with more love than I could ever imagine, is the first moment I could feel the anguish and care – but still only a glimpse – that God the Father has for us. Yet I would deny you all to save my children. But our Father is not like that.

God demonstrates His love for us in that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). His love flows from Him “being rich in mercy” (Ephesians 2:4). He loves us enough that we can “be called children of God” (1 John 3:1). And it is because He “did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all” that we can trust that He will take care of us and keep His promises to us (Romans 8:32).

The way that Jesus describes the love of God in John 3 is simple enough that new believers can drink of it and deep enough for those who have believed for decades can eat and still be full. How beautiful and fulfilling it is to be loved by God and get to love Him in return.

Let us dive a little deeper.

God gave Himself for us in the person of Jesus so that we could have everlasting life. He did not come to condemn us or beat us down in our sin. He came to rescue us from our sin and the condemnation that it already deserved! This confuses some because they feel the need to beat people down for their sin, but there is no need for beating down or condemnation. The Law has already done that (John 5:45). One must look no further than their own hearts to believe that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) and “none is righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10). We have enough condemnation on our own merits and minds to last us a lifetime. What we need is a Savior to take care of eternity!

I like the way that Paul David Tripp puts it: Jesus “would live on our behalf the life we could have never lived, He would willingly die the death that you and I deserve to die, and He would rise from the tomb as the conqueror of sin and death[1]”! His life covers ours. His death replaced ours. His Life gives us life eternal. He bore our sins and carries our guilt and shame and condemnation (Isaiah 53:4-5) – so why hold on to it?

Jesus goes on to explain that He did not have to come to make judgment regarding the world because the verdict had already been given: “the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than light” (v. 19). As bad as we hate to admit it, we know that to be true. We see it in the world around us every day. And we see it in our own hearts. Things seem darker and drearier every single day. Many are quick to agree with the old adage that the world is going to hell in a handbasket. But what about “for God so loved the world”? Where is the gospel influence – the good news – amid so much bad?

Let John 1:4-5 shine into your dark and dreary worldview:

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

The Light. Shines. In Darkness. Darkness and light cannot co-exist. We live in a world where the darkness is trying to snuff out the light. But that is utter foolishness! Darkness has no power where light is present. You can shut yourself in the darkest room you can find, and a single candle will chase away the darkness. And Jesus, the Light of the World (John 8:12), is better and brighter than all the candles ever made, past, present, and future. He – the Light – shines in darkness, and – try as it may – the darkness cannot do anything but leave!

This should not come as a surprise to us. After all, the birth of Christ had been foretold over centuries before God ever “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Look at the good news promised through the prophet Isaiah:

  • The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. (Isaiah 9:2)
  • I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness, I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prison those who sit in darkness. (Isaiah 42:6-7)

The prophecies continued in the months prior to His birth through John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah:

…because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet in the way of peace. (Luke 1:78-79)

The good news is there. All that is left is for us to believe it.

I know that there is much going on around us that gives us pause and can cause fear and anxiety. I know that the holidays are not always a time of joy and happiness for everyone. But I know that God loves me – and that I love Him. I can echo Job in saying that “I know that my Redeemer lives” (Job 19:25). I can echo Paul and shout to you, “If God is for us, who can be against us” (Romans 8:31)! I can tell you that no matter the darkness around you, the Light has come.

As we gear up for whatever Christmas 2020 looks like, may our hearts be lifted by the greatest gift that will ever be given – the gift of the Son for our salvation by God the Father. But no gift is ever effective unless it is received. If you will but “confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). Receiving the “free gift of God” (Romans 6:23) is as simple as receiving Him as Savior and Lord.

Once you receive that gift, the lights and presents at Christmas lose some of their glimmer and glamour. After all, they pale in comparison to the Light of the world and His presence in our lives. And darkness – around us or within us – cannot abide in His presence; it must flee. We can pray and sing the Christmas hymn of old:

O come, Thou Day-Spring, Come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel[2]

And Emmanuel – God with us – bring Light and rejoicing to us and ours as well. As always, I love and pray for you all. If you need someone to listen or to pray for you, feel free to reach out. I may not be able to meet your needs, but I can point to the One who can.

[1] Paul David Tripp, Come Let Us Adore Him: An Advent Reading Plan, YouVersion Bible App

[2] “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”, John Mason Neale &Thomas Helmore © Words: Public Domain; Music: Public Domain

Refresh & Restore – December 10, 2020

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

Luke 2:8-12

Merry Christmas, Sojourner!

I still cannot believe that it is nearly Christmas. I know that I said that last week, but it is still the case for me. We have begun singing Christmas songs at church, our tree is up at home, and there have been ugly sweater sightings all around. To top it all off, I have tasked myself this week to write about joy.

The concept of joy is often foreign for most of us, but it seems especially distant in December 2020. While this season is often difficult for many under normal circumstances, this year has added many unforeseen difficulties. Did I mention that I was going to talk to you about joy today? Even as I sit here typing, I think that this is an odd place to begin. But, then again, Jesus – the source of our joy – decided that His earthly beginning would be odder still.

All of us have seen a movie, television show, or fairy tale that shows the birth of a royal baby. Princes and delegates come from all around. The whole kingdom waits in anticipation of the birth of the child of the king.

But that is not how the King of kings and Lord of lords began His time on earth. He did not choose to be born in a castle – and there were many fine palaces available at the time. He could have been born in the capital and shut the city down with parades and celebration, but, instead, He chose to be born in a seemingly insignificant town – and, even then, in the equivalent of a barn with a feeding trough as His first cradle. He could have had kings and emperors come to bow the knee – and they all inevitably would (Philippians 2:10-11), but He chose a ragtag group of shepherds camping out and taking care of their flocks.

Now, as odd as that is, He did not hold back on the spectacle or the announcement. He gave those shepherds a birth announcement that would outshine all others. Can you imagine what it was like to be those shepherds? They were minding their sheep when, all of a sudden, the angel army of the Lord showed up out of nowhere, fully arrayed in the glory and splendor of the Lord.

Naturally, the shepherds were terrified! Our translation above says they were “filled with great fear”, but the three words that make that phrase in the original language could be translated as “to be afraid”, “mega”, and “source or occasion for fear” – two different words for fear! They were frightened and mega-afraid; who could blame them?

The darkness was filled with light. The shepherds were filled with fear. But the angels brought news that would cure both. They brought “good news of great joy”. And it is in that message that they gave those “certain poor shepherds in fields where they lay”[1] where we will find our joy in the same good news:

“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

(vv. 10b-12)

Good News for All People

I doubt that the shepherds felt that the angels’ sudden appearance was a good thing, but the first bit of good news that they gave was that the shepherds did not need to be afraid. I think that the angels’ response to the shepherds was that their mega-fear was going to be replaced with mega-joy, and that joy was to be “for all people” – available to every, single person.

But, to understand the good news, we must understand the truth about all people. We have all “sinned and fall[en] short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), and “none are righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10). We are sinners. And just as shepherds do not usually receive royal birth announcements, no one is lining up to rescue sinners. But that is just what Jesus came to do! In Matthew 1:21, Gabriel told Joseph that Jesus would “save His people from their sins”. That is good news that brings great joy.

People are often confuse joy and happiness. Happiness is fleeting. If I was to be totally honest, I am not very happy right now. But I have joy. The word translated joy here in this passage means “reason for gladness” or “object of joy/delight”. It is rooted in something deeper than happiness. For sinners caught in their sin and facing a holy God, there is nothing to be happy about. To be faced with the consequences of our sin, namely death (Romans 6:23), is no object or reason to be glad and nothing in which to delight. But Jesus was born to change all of that.

For Unto You is Born a Savior

As I stated above, a sinner standing before a holy God is a frightening prospect. There is nothing we can do to clean ourselves up. We cannot cover our sin. Our shame is on full display before God. It is bad news.

Bad news does not bring happiness, and it is does not produce a reason for gladness. BUT GOD “shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). “BUT GOD, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us” (Ephesians 2:4) provides a way for us to be saved. “BUT when the goodness and loving kindness of GOD our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy” (Titus 3:4-5).

Just as the angels interjected themselves into the peaceful night of the shepherds, God Himself interjected Himself into our timeline to be born as our Savior. Yes, the reality of our sin is terrible news, BUT GOD came to us as a child. He put on flesh and lived among us (John 1:14). At just the right time in history, God was born as a little baby in Bethlehem to make a way for us – for all people – to be saved (Galatians 4:4-5, John 14:6).

He explains it as clearly in Scripture as the angels’ voices rang out on that clear night so many years ago. Romans 10:9 tells us “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Any and every one – all people – who turn away from their sin and trust in Him as their Savior and Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13).

That is good news! That gives reason for gladness. Jesus is the only person – the only thing at all in this universe – that can truly and constantly be the object of our joy and delight. And, just as those shepherds were able to rejoice that night, we can rejoice in Him today.

And This Will Be a Sign For You

This year is probably not going your way. I have found more than enough reasons to complain and am likely to find more yet, BUT GOD has given us reason for joy. The shepherds give us a good example of how to proceed and how to put Jesus as the true object of joy in our lives.

You see, the shepherds did everything that the angels told them to do. They went to Bethlehem and found everything exactly the way that they were told by the angels. They found their sign – the baby wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger. It was the same sign that was prophesied so many years before by the prophet Isaiah:

“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”

Isaiah 7:14

Those dirty, unworthy shepherds were standing in the presence of God Almighty. He was every bit the King of kings and Lord of lords in that tiny, helpless child as He was when was nailed to the cross –  as He was when He walked out of the tomb – and as He will be for all time. He is just as much Immanuel (which means God with us) for us today as He was for those shepherds.

The God that has always been humbled Himself and became a baby. He lived the life that we are not capable of, and He died the death that we deserve. The wages of sin is still death; He just loved us enough to die in our place (Galatians 2:20). He loved us enough to give us His Life as a free gift, ready to be received by faith in Him (Romans 6:23). Have you received that gift? Have you trusted in Him as Savior and Lord? Have you called out to Him?

The “good news of great joy…for all people” that the angels shared with the shepherds is still good news today. I pray that you look to Him as the reason and object of your joy and gladness today.

[1] “The First Noel”

Refresh & Restore — 12/3/2020

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23    “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

Matthew 1:18-25

Greetings, Sojourner!

It is hard to believe that Christmas is almost here! Even though Christmas trees have been out at Wal-Mart since before Halloween, the events of 2020 just have not allowed for the regular passage of time. But, in just a few short weeks, ready or not, it will indeed be Christmas.

The purpose of these devotions has always centered around the idea of being refreshed by the presence of King Jesus while we wait for Him to restore everything as He promised (Acts 3:19-21). It is my hope that this Christmas we will be able to feel the presence of Jesus, especially in the middle of everything that this year has thrown at us. Over the next few weeks, we will look at the hope, joy, and love that come only from the Lord. For us today, what could be more fitting a beginning than hope?

Can you imagine what it was like to be the earthly, adopted father of Jesus? A lot of people (and rightly so) have spent a great deal of time wondering what it must have been like for Mary, and I do not want to downplay what all she must have gone through. I have no doubt that her community was quick to brand her with a scarlet letter and cast her out as a loose woman. I cannot imagine how hard that must have been. But, today, I find myself looking through Joseph’s eyes.

The Bible describes Joseph as “a just man” who was “unwilling to put [Mary] to shame” (v. 19). While this seems to be a complete description of him, I believe that these two things contradict each other. You see, Joseph could have still been just had he brought Mary before their village and had her put to death for her apparent adultery (Leviticus 20:10, Deuteronomy 22:22). Before you rise in anger here, imagine whether you would have believed in the virgin birth if you had lived down the street from Mary. As bad as I hate to admit it, I would likely have been casting gossip and selecting rocks. But Joseph was different – at least a little different.

Joseph was indeed a just man, but he was also a man of grace and mercy. Grace and mercy always contradict justice. They swap the pain of punishment on the part of the one who committed the injustice and place the burden of pain and shame on the one giving the grace and mercy. Joseph was unwilling to put her to shame, which means he was going to bear the shame himself. People always look at Mary and can see why God would choose her to be Jesus’ mom, but it is noticeably clear here why Joseph would get to be the man to raise Him.

This, in and of itself, should give us hope. We do not have to quake in fear of the justice of God if we have received His grace and mercy. Mary had to be scared, but, all of a sudden, the one man who could have called for her life did not seek to heap shame upon her. We do not see much of Joseph, but what we do see of him points to the God who put on flesh, grew up in his house, and took up his profession (John 1:14, Mark 6:3)!

The very same night he decided to show Mary the mercy of a quiet divorce, an angel came to him in a dream (v. 20). The angel let him know that Mary’s claims of a virgin pregnancy were true and that he should not be afraid to continue as her husband. This is good news for us as the Church, the bride of Christ! Rather than casting us away because of our legitimately sinning against Him, He gave Himself for us (James 4:4, Ephesians 5:23-27). Although their earthly relationship would be subject to gossip and ridicule, it would actually be a beautiful picture of the gospel and redemption! And there is always hope to be found in the gospel. There is always hope for the redeemed.

The angel continued to tell him that Mary’s son should be named “Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (v. 21). This may not seem to be a big point, but the name of Jesus is something special. In Hebrew and Aramaic it would be Yeshua, which means whose help is Yahweh or the Lord is salvation. This should not be glazed over, because there is no other name like the name of Jesus. There is “no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). The name of Jesus is the name that God the Father “bestowed on Him…that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow…” (Philippians 2:9-10). The Father “exalted [Jesus] at His right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins” (Acts 5:31).

Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, would grow up and learn to be a man in Joseph’s house. He would grow to be the mediator between Joseph and God by giving His life as a “ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time” (1 Timothy 2:5). He would learn to work and form wood in Joseph’s workshop before He would hang on the tree in Joseph’s (and our) place (Galatians 3:13).

That night, while Joseph slept, the uneasiness and fear at the prospect of divorcing Mary gave way to peace. And it gave way to hope.

After all the many years that the Lord had been silent with His people, He fulfilled His promise to them by sending them Emmanuel. The word Emmanuel is incredibly special. God showed it to His people through the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 8:8-10). He spoke of nations rising against God’s people. Their fierce armies would threaten doom and destruction. But Emmanuel would fill the land and make all their threats against the Lord’s people amount to nothing. The fierceness of their armies and might of their threats “will not stand, for God is with us” (Isaiah 8:10), which is exactly what Emmanuel means – God with us.

This gave Israel hope during their exile in the land of Babylon. It gave hope to the early believers who realized that the Messiah had come. And it gives hope to us still today.

We do not have to fear all the things that come against us because God is with us. We do not have to worry about the impending doom on the horizon because God is with us.

While this passage is not often cited in the context of Christmas, I believe Romans 8:31-34 is the epitome of Emmanuel:

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died – more than that, who was raised – who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

We have nothing to fear because God is with us, His name is Jesus, and He loves us. He will never leave us. He will never stop loving us. Those are immovable truths. They are facts. And they give hope.

I have no doubt that 2020, the gift that keeps on giving, still has more surprises in store. I know that there will be dark days we have yet to experience. They will shake us and our faith. But there are no days that will shake the throne of heaven – the throne of the King of kings. I know that God has all of this under control – that He has not and will not be caught off guard or surprised. These facts should give us hope.

I like the way that the Jesus Storybook Bible (yes, a children’s book) reflects today’s passage. When you read these words, notice the hope that comes from what it says about Jesus:

“Mary and Joseph named Him Jesus, ‘Emmanuel’ – which means ‘God has come to live with us.’ Because, of course, He had.”

Just as Joseph rested as he dreamt of the hope yet to come in His life, may we rest and hope in the promises of Emmanuel – of God with us. Because, of course, He is.

Refresh & Restore — Thanksgiving 2020

1 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good,
for His steadfast love endures forever!
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
whom He has redeemed from trouble
3 and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.
—
8 Let them thank the Lord for His steadfast love, for His wondrous works to the children of man!

Psalm 107:1-3, 8

Greetings, Sojourner, and “Happy Thanksgiving” to you and yours!

I hope that this devotion finds you in a place where you are opening up your heart in gratitude for all that God has given you and expressing that thanks to Him and sharing what you are thankful for with family, friends, and food!

Today, I am thankful for the steadfast love of God that is so much more than I deserve! The way that the Bible presents this love completely and utterly blows my mind:

  • “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
  • “…but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
  • “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved….” (Ephesians 2:4-5)

The love of God stands out in my mind – probably because it seems so foreign to me. I understand the need for His wrath. It only takes a quick look at my own sin to see why that makes sense. I also understand His righteousness. Looking at the way that He carries Himself through His Word shows that to be true. But the fact that He loves me – “a sinner, condemned, unclean”[1] – that I do not understand. However, it is because of this that I am immensely thankful!

I think the psalmist of Psalm 107 gives us context for just how thankful we should be. First and foremost, we give thanks to God because He is good. His goodness has nothing to do with what we receive from Him. It is just “who He [is]”[2], plain and simple (Luke 18:19). He would still be good if He had never shown His “steadfast love” to any of us. Thankfully, however, that love that He shows us “endures forever”!

Not only should we give thanks to God because of His goodness and love, but we should give thanks to Him because He redeems. The word “redeemed” means to buy back or to make free. So, when the psalmist says “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so”, he is calling all who have been made free from their trouble and sin to give thanks to God and let our world know what He has done. If He has “redeemed [you] from trouble”, “say so”. If He has set you free from slavery to sin, “say so”. If He has saved you, “say so” – and say thanks!

This psalm was likely sung after Israel returned home from their exile in Babylon. Their redemption and thankfulness were specific to what God had done for them. After all, it was God who “gathered” them back home from “the lands” and the four corners of the world. And, just like their thanksgiving and praise was supposed to be specific, ours should too.

Let us take a brief tour through the rest of Psalm 107 to see some examples of God redeeming His people.

Some of the redeemed (Psalm 107:4-9) spent time wandering and alone, without food or drink, enduring times of trouble and distress. God delivered them by leading them out of trouble, satisfying their thirst and filling their bellies. They thanked God for His continual love and told people what He had done for them.

Others (Psalm 107:10-16) walked paths of the darkness of the shadow of death. They found themselves imprisoned by iron bars and various afflictions. All of that turmoil is because they chose to ignore the Most High. But, because of His great love, He brought them out of the darkness – shined His light to remove the shadow of death – and burst open their prisons. They thanked God for loving them despite their ignoring Him and shared His works with those around them.

Finally, there were also those (Psalm 107:17-22) whose sinful ways had shown them to be fools. Their foolishness nearly cost them their lives. But God – through His Word – kept them from death and healed them. They thanked God for His love and Life and made sure that other fools knew about the wisdom of their God.

Each of these groups had two things in common. First, their troubles were of their own making. Their sin disrupted their lives (Romans 6:23). Second, God was their only Way out of their trouble. In each of those sections of Psalm 107 (vv. 8, 15, 21, 31), we see their response to their being redeemed: “Let them thank the Lord for His steadfast love, for His wondrous works to the children of man!” But look at what comes first every time (vv. 6, 13, 19, 28): “Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress.”

That may seem to simple, but repentance almost never is. If we say that we do not enjoy the sin that we commit, we are lying. We are not tempted with chores and labors of obligation. We are tempted by those things that make our sinful hearts delight. Those wandering alone did not set out to trapse through the wilderness. No, their path began by following the desires of their hearts. Those in the darkness did not expect to find themselves in the shadow of death; they just merely played in its dusky edges until they could no longer see the light. That is why God’s love is described as steadfast – it sticks with us through thick and thin, from our foolishness to our repentance.

That is good news!

When I think of my sin, I think of my Savior. When I think of my failures, I am reminded of His strength. When I am confronted with my past, I meet Him in my present with thanksgiving.

Maybe you are still wandering and alone in the shadow of death. The same Savior that delivered Israel and every saved sinner in history is available to you. Cry out to the Him in your trouble, and He will deliver you from your distress. The way to do that is clear. Romans 10:9 tells us “…if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Call out to Him. Confess your sin to Him. Trust in Him. Let Him lead you. Repent, and say thanks.

As always, know that I love you and am praying for you. I hope that your heart is moved toward thankfulness to God today, and I want to leave you with a few verses that illustrate thankfulness. May today be a day where our gratitude to God is clear and constant. And may this be the first of many days where we give Him the thanks He is due.

—

4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in every way you were enriched in Him in all speech and all knowledge – 6 even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you – 7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:4-8

21 I thank You that You have answered me
and have become my salvation.

Psalm 118:21

15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Colossians 3:15-17

1 We give thanks to you, O God;
we give thanks, for your name is near.
We recount your wondrous deeds.

Psalm 75:1

1 Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon His name;
make known His deeds among the peoples!
2 Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;
tell of all His wondrous works!
3 Glory in His holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!

Psalm 105:1-3

[1] “I Stand Amazed in the Presence”, Charles Hutchinson Gabriel  

[2] “Good, Good Father”, Chris Tomlin