1 John 2:15-17
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” When you have a clean windshield it is much easier to see clearly, of course. What happens after driving it for a few days, it quickly becomes blurred by all the bug bodies, bird poop, ridiculous amounts of pollen, etc. After a while without a wash your visibility becomes distorted and unclear, if it becomes bad enough you then are unable to see things that could cause damage like potholes or massive objects in the road. The scripture says that “...the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world.” The lust of the flesh and eyes are when we are wanting things that please us which would be greed, covetousness, jealousy, aesthetics, and sensual pleasure.The other would be pride of life which was confusing at first for me. It is not simply the pride of being alive, but our livelihood. It is all that supports our lives like our jobs, 401Ks, cars, material safety nets. All of it is truly monetary and briefly satisfying. Therefore, if we are not allowing time for our windshields to be cleaned more and more then we will unknowingly begin to love the world. The evil one is a master manipulator cleverly altering our vision to see things through the worlds value system like when looking through the distorted glass. So then how do we see clearly? What can we do about it? When I first started driving my mother would always encourage me to wash my windshield anytime I could. I can hear her now, ”Tess, you can think more clearly when your windshield is clean.” Ha, she was right in more ways the one. When I stop, take stock of my heart, see the idolatry and wickedness that is there (it is always there in some manifestation), confess and repent daily then I’m able to see where my vision is blurred. This is something we must do day after day. When practicing the act of “cleaning our windshield” our eyes will be opened time after time to see an even bigger difference between the worlds way and the Lord’s way. It should leave us viewing a place that is broken and hurting and believing in Jesus Christ. He will clean our windshield and provide us the clarity to see the sin in our hearts which will leave us only wanting Him more. Turn your Eyes Upon Jesus - Helen H. Lemmel O soul, are you weary and troubled? No light in the darkness you see? There’s light for a look at the Savior, And life more abundant and free! Refrain: Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace. Through death into life everlasting He passed, and we follow Him there; O’er us sin no more hath dominion— For more than conquerors we are! His Word shall not fail you—He promised; Believe Him, and all will be well: Then go to a world that is dying, His perfect salvation to tell!
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Its awesome when God gives you a layup, The text we are studying today is 1 John 2:7-14 (Read) before teaching on this first let me tell you about my last few weeks and how God has orchestrated his word to to teach to share this devo with you. In my Community Group we are studying Lord prayer in a book called Alone with God By John Macarthur. Due to the Business of Holidays and things going on on life in the last 3 week we had not been able to do the study, due to various thing. The topic of the Chapter which I read twice trying to be a good student was on the Topic of Forgiveness, “Forgive us our Debtors” based on the scripture of Matthew 6:12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. Which correlates with how John is talking to the People in in 1 John. John urges them to obey Christ fully and to love all the members of God’s family (2:3–17). There is hostility going on and some division for some who no longer acknowledge Jesus as messiah. In the passage Refers to the commandment to love others is both old and new. It is old because it comes from the Old Testament (Leviticus 19:18). It is new because Jesus interpreted it in a radically new way (John 13:34, 35). In the Christian church, love is not only expressed by showing respect; it is also expressed through self-sacrifice and servanthood (John 15:13). In fact, it can be defined as “selfless giving,” reaching beyond friends to enemies and persecutors (Matthew 5:43-48). Love should be the unifying force and the identifying mark of the Christian community. Love is the key to walking in the light, because we cannot grow spiritually while we hate others. Our growing relationship with God will result in growing relationships with others Does this mean that if you dislike someone you aren’t a Christian? These verses are not talking about disliking a disagreeable Christian brother or sister. On that note notice the descriptors he calls everyone Children, fathers, and young men (family titles), we are are a family of believers. There will always be people we will not like as well as others. John’s words focus on the attitude that causes us to ignore or despise others, to treat them as irritants, competitors, or enemies. Christian love is not a feeling but a choice. We can choose to be concerned with people’s well being and treat them with respect, whether or not we feel affection toward them. If we choose to love others, God will help us express our love. In John Macarthur's book he talks about some reasons we should forgive the list is many but I will share a few:
2. 2nd G: Get the Log Out of Your Own Eye - One of the most challenging principles of peacemaking is set forth in Matthew 7:5 where Jesus says, “You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye." 3. 3rd G: Gently Restore - Another key principle of peacemaking involves an effort to help others understand how they have contributed to a conflict. 4. 4th G: Go and be Reconciled One of the most unique features of biblical peacemaking is the pursuit of genuine forgiveness and reconciliation. He Lists the 1st G as Glorify God through which should be the reason for seeking Reconciliation. I think it is definitely the correct order of how we should think of when approaching conflict. The title of this Devo I Chose is from a Psalm: The Psalmist wrote in Psalms 115:1 “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness! “ And John quoting Jesus points to the reason too. John 13:31-35 31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. 33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ 34 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. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another Glorify is defined as to describe or represent as admirable, especially unjustifiably. So when you love your fellow brother, sister, etc... even when it is hard you are Representing God as an ambassador to show to yourself and others that God is admirable and attractive. Deepening our love for Christ and for his people. So let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith Galatians 6:9-10. As we’ve started the 1 John series, in order to understand today’s passage we must understand the overview of the entire book and what happened before. 1 John was written by the Apostle John to believers in Western Asia (modern day Turkey), around 85-95AD, to encourage them in their salvation found in Jesus Christ and to rebuke the heretical teachings of that time called Gnosticism. The central teaching of Gnosticism is that the spirit is good and matter is evil. This means that anything spiritual in contrast with God is good but anything in regards to the body and its sinful nature is evil, therefore Gnostics believed in order to achieve salvation, to escape the body, is by special knowledge and not by faith in Christ.
Last time Coach Stephanie encompassed her testimony with 1 John Chapter 1 talking about what it meant to live a life of darkness before Christ and did not submit to the Truth and love found in Christ. As 1 John 1:8 states, she claim to be without sin and was blinded by her own self reliance and understanding, but realizing, as verse 7 and 9 states she soon found out her need for a Savior that would bring the Light of love in her heart and would forgive her for her sins eternally and purify her from all unrighteousness, and now the freedom she lives in Christ. Before we dive into a part of Chapter 2, I want to express a simple statement I live by ever since I started walking in my faith that is “to know Him and to make Him known.” I believe and hope as we read verses 1-6 you will see the simplicity, but yet the depth, of what I believe John encourages us to see how to know the love of God through Christ and through Christ, we make Him known. -1 John 2:1-6 To Know Him: 1 John 2:1-2 As we read this, I hope you can already sense and know the assurance of salvation the Apostle John exhorts to the believers then and to us today. The first 2 lines are The Good News and our hope. It reflects Jesus is our Advocate, the Righteous One, our atoning sacrifice before God. To understand the depth of this gift from God (Romans 6:23) we must understand that we are not sinless before our Holy God, and to stand before Him on His throne, we have someone who speaks on our behalf who God sent to earth, out of God’s love (John 3:16), to be our substitute atonement for all eternity. As Scripture says, Jesus is our Savior, our King, our Gift from God, our Messiah, Our Lion and Lamb, Our one True Mediator, Our Light of the world, Our Word that became flesh, and so many more titles that hold true to His divinity and his compassion for us. When we truly seek God with our heart (Jeremiah 29:13), confess wholeheartedly with our mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in our heart God raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 10:9-10) to conquer sin and death, we can confidently say we know Him, know we are forgiven, we have the assurance of salvation, and of all we are called God’s children (John 1:12). Here are some of God’s Truth and Promises from Scripture to reflect and comfort you with His assurance of Salvation for your life. · John 5:24 · 1 John 5:11-13 · John 3:16 · 1 Peter 3:18 · Romans 3:23-24 · Romans 5:8 · Romans 6:23 · Romans 10:9-10 · 2 Corinthians 5:17-18 To Make Him Known: 1 John 2:3-6 As we reflect on these next verses, we see the Apostle John continues to encourage the believers on what it means to know him in a relationship with God by faith in Christ, as well as rebuke the Gnostics that knowing Him has no special knowledge but God’s revelation of righteousness that is received through faith (Romans 1:17). The Apostle John then follows up in the context of the passage explaining that if you know Him, again through faith in Christ, then we are to understand to keep His commands and obey God. Verses 5 and 6 give a definition of what obedience is, that is to obey His word and to live as Jesus did. As Matthew states in 11:28-29, obedience reflects coming to Jesus as we are, weary and burdened, taking up His yoke and learn from Him because He is gentle, humble in heart and will give us rest. Luke 9:23, also describes obedience as self denial and dedication, by trusting in faith, to take up your cross daily. You may think or ask what does obedience practically look like? Let me first explain that obedience is not special knowledge, rules or rituals that the Gnostics, Pharisees, or Sadducees distorted back then or what we may know as modern-day religiosity or legalism. Obedience is, we are made alive with Christ as new creations (2 Corinth. 5:17). By the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we are filled with joy and a sense of purpose to live our lives for Him in a way of an abiding relationship. We look to seek first His Kingdom and righteousness (Matthew 6:33), to serve Him (Mark 10:44-45), Love Him (Mark 12:30) and to Love others (Mark 12:31). We desire to spend time with God daily to listen to Him speak from His Word (2 Tim. 3:16-17), we yearn to speak and pray to God (1 Thes. 5:17), we look to enjoy sweet fellowship with friends and family around us (Hebrews 11:24-25), and we rejoice to allow God to use us for His Glory to be His witnesses before others (Matthew 4:19). Reflection As I was meditating on this passage and reflecting what God’s done in my life, It brought me back to reflect the testimony of how God has used ChristFit as His desire to know me and reveal more of who He is to me through this ministry. My ChristFit testimony is I came to ChristFit back in 2011-12 when it used to be at Jeff Reed’s garage Saturday mornings. Before coming to ChristFit, I would say I was a professing believer in Christ but didn’t know what an abiding relationship was to seek and follow The Lord. At that time I was in a toxic relationship, still one foot in the world and one foot in the church, along with living somewhat isolated and not being vulnerable to allow others in my life. At that time a faithful friend, named Wes Ffolkes, invited me to ChristFit on several occasions which I continually turned him down. With pride and insecurities, I was stuck in my own vanity and trusted my own self-reliance. Finally, after the toxic relationship ended I knew I wanted to seek the Lord with all my heart but didn’t know how. God, being faithful as He is, responded and it was again through the invitation from Wes to check out ChristFit and Watermark’s Young Adults ministry called The Porch. With my so called pride hiding my despair, I decided to check out the ChristFit ministry/CrossFit…which by the way I remember thinking “What is CrossFit?” I remember clearly the Saturday morning I was driving out to ChristFit, my buddy Wes called me and said he could not make it that morning because he had a “breakfast date”…Thanks Wes haha!! I arrive at ChristFit seeing people flipping tires, sled pulls, burpees, the battle rope being whipped, and thought to myself what have I walked into?! I remembering being somewhat timid and didn’t really know anyone but soon met Jeff and the rest of the community which welcomed me with open arms, as well as this new found fitness called CrossFit that welcomed me and I almost threw up during my first workout, LOL. What made ChristFit so different from any sort of ministry I had been a part of was the authenticity and intentionality of everyone there. People were genuinely introducing themselves and wanting to get to know me and anyone else that was new. I also remember hearing people talk about their previous life of sin struggles and talked openly in such a way that they all were there to listen, encourage each other, pray for one another, and rest in the comfort of knowing their identity and freedom was all in the foundation of Jesus Christ. From there God really opened my heart and eyes to see more of Him and to know what it really meant to have an abiding relationship with Him through the community at ChristFit. From there God continued to be faithful and opened doors such as being part of a Community Group that organically came together from men all a part of the ChristFit community. God put men from ChristFit in my life to pour into me and mentor me in my walk to continue to Know God and from there my heart wanted to make Him Known. Some of my fondest memories will be the fellowship of men, Saturday mornings before ChristFit started, to share what we were learning in the Word, praying for one another, doing scripture memory and if we didn’t have our scripture memorized we would do a fun group activity called “Burpees”, which this was my first introduction of what it meant to store God’s Word in my heart. I loved the sweet conversations and fellowship we had when we all would go to Buzz Brews afterward to hang out and share “community pancakes”, especially with my good friend Brad. (inside joke) As this may be my last “official” time leading ChristFit Unashamed, however will still be around to participate with the community and be a “substitute teacher” every now and then, I want to take an opportunity to Thank God, thank you all here at ChristFit for all for how you’ve loved me and drawn me closer to know my loving Father in Heaven. Thank you Lord for our dear friend and a personal mentor Jeff Reed, for his faithfulness to start, serve, and steward what God had put in his heart to create in this ministry. Who knew, but God, that what started as a few friends hanging out in someone’s garage gym back in 2009 would come to the fruition we see today. Thank you, Lord, for our brother Jordan for continuing the ministry at ChristFit North when we didn’t know what the next stages of ChristFit would take after Jeff’s garage and also being faithful during your time of leading the ministry. I want to say thank you, I love you, and express my sincerest gratitude to these faithful men and women God put in my life. Thank you to these fellow brothers: Wes, Kevin, Brad, Brian C., Odie, Larry, Jaime, Aaron, Jay, Jarid, Michael B, Nick, Reagan, Nathan, and Steven for walking alongside me, to impart God’s truth, and show me what it means to be someone after God’s own heart. Thank you to these faithful sisters Amanda,Trece, Britanni, Sarah C, Maggie, Julie, Rachel, Page, AD, BG, Christyne, and Stephanie for encouraging me during these times of growth, teaching and explaining to me the depths what Godly men look like, and what we as men are to do when loving and caring for our sisters in Christ. Or in the words of one of my mentors, Pastor Tommy Nelson would say, “No woman wants a wuss, she wants a man who will lead her and point her to Christ.” Haha. To the current ChristFit Unashamed team, what fun adventures it has been since the ministry evolved back in 2014. As Paul exhorted Timothy, I’d also like to exhort the current team: Larry, Steven, Stephanie, Brie, Jon, Kelsi, Mike, and Evan. Continue to guard what’s been entrusted to your care. Continue to live out the Gospel as our mission states to BUILD others up, SERVE one another, CONNECT others to The Body/ The Church/ Our Community through The CROSS-fit of our Savior using the CrossFit methods. May your ambitions with stewarding the ministry not get entangled with personal statuses, appearances, entitlements, but to simply help others come to know Him and make Him known by continually making Jesus Christ famous. I’m encouraged how you all are Unashamed in your faith, and in that the humility to recognize how Unashamed God was first for us. Finally to the ChristFit community, you will all not know how much you’ve all have played a role in my life and I’m sure in countless others who’ve walked through that door. I continue to encourage our community as others walk in that door, checking out ChristFit, to spur them on towards love and good deeds, pursue meeting up that person you may engage with, and continue to encourage each other as the day comes along (Hebrews 10:24-25). You never know who that next person could be who is feeling broken, lost, or weary, in need of refuge. May we never be ashamed of The Gospel because it is the Power of God that brings salvation through Christ, for everyone who believes…Romans 1:16 I am from a small town called Collinsville Texas but for the past 7 years I have resided in Denton Texas. I graduated from TWU with a Bachelors in Business in 2016. My job field right now is in healthcare and I am looking too expanded to future opportunities. My hobbies include Crossfit, Reading, and spending time with family and friends. I enjoy cooking when I have free time. I volunteer at Christfit every Sunday at 3PM and serve on Welcome Mat every Tuesday night at The Porch.
Growing up in a broken household I had heard about God but never truly knew him. My attendance to church was very rare. As I got older I got involved in an unhealthy relationship that turned abusive. This left me searching for love and control and I developed a lack of trust in people. At the age of 20 my dad passed away from pancreatic cancer after a year of battling. This left me with hatred and anger towards God. My depression and suicidal thoughts were at an all-time high. Eventually this led me down a destructive path. I found myself partying and engaging in the wrong crowd. My nights consisted of drinking, smoking weed and searching for affection from others. Even though I was doing all these things I still had a void that could not be filled. One day as I was scrolling through insta aka Instagram, I came across a photo one of my friends posted. It was picture of a Cross with sins nailed to it. Sins like adultery, porn, anxiety, and pride. There was a red line marked through all of them. I reached out and asked him where this was taken and he said The Porch at Watermark. After attending a few months, I learned the truth about the undeniable love of God. I finally began to understand the good news of Jesus. I realized that I was a slave to my own desires and needed a great savior. God sent his son Jesus to die and pay the price of my debts. This sacrifice was a true representation of his love and grace. He was buried with our transgressions and God raised him from the dead proving that he could defeat all sin. 2 Corinthians 5:17-18 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; Even after I found Christ it was not easy. Following the time after I accepted Christ, I went through a break up that led me through a dark time. This time I was at a point where I wanted to take my own life. It was my old self coming back to haunt me. But by the Grace of God, he rescued me from my selfish desires. During this season life began to change. I began Regeneration through Watermark Community church which is a 12 step ministry for when life is broken. Through community and reading the word of God, my heart began to seek to know him and the true gift of forgiveness. I knew my life before Christ was meaningless and because of him I have a new life and I have been set free. I first heard about Christfit though Facebook. I currently live in Denton so my friend and I decided to make the drive to go check it out. When we did we loved it! It was awesome to see so many people building each other up during the workout and then coming together to pray and hear/share the word. My hope for Christfit is that it continues to grow and be a platform to glorify God. Also that is would be a place where biblical community is exemplified. |
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