DAY 1 - MARCH 15, 2010

TITLE:   “LET US LOVE ONE ANOTHER”

WEEKLY SCRIPTURE READING:   I John 4:7-18

DAILY SCRIPTURE READING:  I John 4:7

KEY VERSE: “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.”  I John 4:7

 

The theme of loving one another is not new in I John. He has addressed it before in this book and will return to it again before the book ends. This theme of loving one another is also significant in the gospel of John. In John 15:12, the scripture declares, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”  Love for one another identified the disciples of Jesus, giving clear testimony to who they were. Jesus said, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35

 

The theme of loving one another is not just significant in the writings of John. Loving one another is a major issue with God. The apostle Paul wrote, “May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.”  I Thessalonians 3:12. In the twelfth chapter of Romans, Paul gives a picture of what love looks like. Here is a brief overview of some of the key aspects of love brought out in Romans 12:9-18. 

 

  • 12:9  - Love is sincere, hates what is evil and clings to what is good
  • 12:10 - Love is devoted and committed to one another
  • 12:10 – Love is honoring one another above ourselves
  • 12:11 - Love is not lacking in zeal, but keeps its spiritual fervor
  • 12:11 - Love serves the Lord
  • 12: 12 - Love is joyful in hope
  • 12:12 - Love is patient in affliction
  • 12:12 - Love is faithful in prayer
  • 12:13  - Love shares with God’s people who are in need
  • 12:13 - Love practices hospitality.
  • 12: 14  - Love blesses those who persecute you
  • 12:15  - Love rejoices with those who rejoice
  • 12:15 – Love mourns with those who mourn
  • 12:16  - Love lives in harmony one another
  • 12:16  - Love is not conceited
  • 12:17  - Love does not repay evil with evil
  • 12:17  - Love is careful to do what is right
  • 12:18  - As much as is possible, love lives in peace

 

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.”  I John 4:7

 

 

 

 

DAY 2  - MARCH 16, 2010

TITLE:   “WE OUGHT TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER”

WEEKLY SCRIPTURE READING:   I John 4:7-18

DAILY SCRIPTURE READING:  I John 4: 8-11

KEY VERSE: “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” I John 4:11

 

You are loved by God. Wow! Let me say that again. You are loved by God. His great love for you is the life-changing example and motivation for loving others. The neat thing about God’s love is that He has showed His love to us. In other words, God’s love is visible in Jesus. As John wrote, “He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.”  I John 4:9

 

The Apostle Paul reveals the visible and personal aspects of God’s love when he writes, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8. God has exposed His great love for you on the cross. John wrote, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”  I John 4:10

 

God’s love is the model of authentic love. After writing about the great love of God for us, John again returns to the theme of loving one another. In the light of the great love God has shown us, the right thing to do is to love one another.  God’s love lays an obligation upon us. People need to be loved. The verb, “ought”, used in verse eleven, emphasizes love as our Christian obligation. Everyone loved by God owes a debt. Paul wrote, “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.” Romans 13:8. We are not commended to do something that is alien to our experience or beyond the resource that we have to draw from, for God shows us and empowers us to love others. Loving one another is God’s plan.

 

Will you love others today? Little actions can reveal a lot of love. Scott Gross tells a story about a freezing cold day in Denver.  Scott wanted to stay home, but he braved it out to the Convention Center, where a group of people were to meet. He needed to get some batteries, so he ran across the street to a 7-Eleven store. Scott tells about an elderly man at the store, who made his way to the front. It seemed to take forever for him to get out his change for coffee and a muffin. Why would he come out in this weather for those two small items? The lady cashier called him by name and was rather patient with him. Taking both his hands in hers, she held them against her face. Responding that they were still cold, she rubbed them in her hands for a while, and then straightened up his coat and shawl around his neck. Telling him to be careful out there because she was looking forward to seeing him again, he left. Scott said, after talking to the clerk, it was clear to him. That man did not come for a muffin and coffee. He came to be loved. He came to have his heart warmed. People need to be loved today. Others need their hearts warmed. Will you love others today?

 

 

DAY 3 – MARCH 17, 2010

TITLE:   “HE HAS GIVEN US OF HIS SPIRIT”

WEEKLY SCRIPTURE READING:   I John 4:7-18

DAILY SCRIPTURE READING:  I John 4: 12-13

KEY VERSE:  “We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.”  I John 4:13

 

True love can only come from God. As Thomas Cook observed many years ago, “What a wonderful truth this is, that God’s love for us shall be in us and become our love for others.” Love for one another testifies to the fact that God, through His Spirit, is dwelling in us. God’s Holy Spirit is the gift God has promised us. Jesus said, “And I will ask the father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-the Spirit of truth…” John 14:16-17a. The Holy Spirit gives us the power we need to live the life God has called us to live and to love the way God has called us to love.

 

God does not just tell us that we are to love one another. He empowers us to love one another through His Spirit within us. God’s power within us through the Holy Spirit enables us to live the life God has called us to live. I heard an insightful story about a child that once asked, “Grandpa, what’s the wind?” The grandfather, who was an old fisherman, replied, “I can’t explain the wind to you but, I can teach you how to raise your sail.” When we open our hearts and lives to the filling and working of the Holy Spirit, we are able to sail the seas of life in obedience to the Lord and to do what He calls us to do.

 

Though there are many things we do not know, the Word of God does tell us that the Holy Spirit does many things in our lives. According to the scripture, the Holy Spirit convicts, guides, empowers, and teaches us. The Holy Spirit gives peace and enables us to do what is right. The Holy Spirit gives assurance of salvation and purifies the heart. The Holy Spirit bears fruit in our lives. Loving one another is one of the fruits of the dwelling of the Spirit of God in our lives.

 

The story is told that a young artist, who was studying under a great artist, one day, came to the studio and begged for his master’s brush. The request was granted, and with high heart, the young man went away to his own painting. A short while later, he returned with the brush, complaining that he could do no better with it than he could with his own brush. A servant in the studio, hearing the young artist’s complaint, said to him, “It’s not the master’s brush you need, but the master’s spirit.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DAY 4 – MARCH 18, 2010

TITLE:   “WHAT A SAVIOR!”

WEEKLY SCRIPTURE READING:   I John 4:7-18

DAILY SCRIPTURE READING:  I John 4: 14

KEY VERSE:  “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.”   I John 4:14

 

There are many titles or words used to describe Jesus in scripture. Among the titles and words used. In I John, there are words like “Word of Life” “The Life,”  “Son,” “Advocate,”  “Righteous One”,  “Atoning Sacrifice”, and  “Holy One,”  In this passage, He is described as the Savior of the World.  Wow! Take a moment to let the width and depth of that title sink in. What a Savior!

Years ago, D.M. Stearns was preaching in Philadelphia. At the close of the service, a stranger came up to him and said, "I don't like the way you spoke about the cross. I think that instead of emphasizing the death of Christ, it would be far better to preach Jesus, the teacher and example." Stearns replied, "If I presented Christ in that way, would you be willing to follow Him?" "I certainly would," said the stranger without hesitation. "All right then," said the preacher, "let's take the first step. He did not sin. Can you claim that for yourself?" The man looked confused and somewhat surprised. "Why, no," he said. "I acknowledge that I do sin." Stearns replied, "Then your greatest need is to have a Savior, not an example!"

Jesus is our teacher and example, but He is so much more. He is not just my Savior or yours. He is the Savior of the world. His salvation is for all. “What a Savior!”  As John recorded, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:16 

 

Take a few moments to reflect on the words of this song, written by Philip P. Bliss, as you think about Jesus, the Savior of the World. “What a Savior!”

 

“Man of Sorrows!” what a name, For the Son of God, who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim. Hallelujah! What a Savior!

 

Bearing shame and scoffing rude, In my place condemned He stood;
Sealed my pardon with His blood. Hallelujah! What a Savior!

 

Guilty, vile, and helpless we; Spotless Lamb of God was He;
“Full atonement!” can it be? Hallelujah! What a Savior!

 

Lifted up was He to die; “It is finished!” was His cry;
Now in Heav’n exalted high. Hallelujah! What a Savior!

 

When He comes, our glorious King, All His ransomed home to bring,
Then anew His song we’ll sing: Hallelujah! What a Savior!

 

DAY 5 – MARCH 19, 2010

TITLE:   “RELY ON THE LOVE OF GOD”

WEEKLY SCRIPTURE READING:   I John 4:7-18

DAILY SCRIPTURE READING:  I John 4: 15-18

KEY VERSE:  “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us….”  I John 4:16

In one of his books, author, Max Lucado tells of baseball pitcher, Don Sutton. For an extraordinary pitcher, he performed few extraordinary feats. Though a veteran of 21 seasons, in only one did he win more than 20 games. He never pitched a no-hitter and only once did he lead the league in any category (2.21 ERA, 1980). Yet, on June 21, 1986, Don Sutton rubbed pitching elbows with the true legends of baseball by becoming the 13th pitcher to win 300 games. His analysis of his success is worth noting. "A grinder and a mechanic", is what he calls himself. "I never considered myself flamboyant or exceptional. But, all my life, I've found a way to get the job done." And, get it done he did. Through two decades, six presidential terms, and four trades, he consistently did what pitchers are supposed to do: win games. With tunnel vision devotion, he spent 21 seasons redefining greatness. He has been called the "family sedan" of baseball's men on the mound. He was reliable.

Have you ever had one of those days where you went out to get in your car to go some place and your car did not start?  For many of us, it can be disappointing and challenging when you depend on something and it breaks down or does not work when you need it to. Most of us like to have things and people in our lives that we can depend upon, things and people that are reliable.

In the midst of a world where people may let you down and things in life break down there is something and someone you can rely upon. You can rely upon the love God has for you. God and His love for you are trustworthy. You can personally rely upon the love of God today and every day because He loves you. Yes, God loves you. Regardless of the situations you may be facing today God loves you with all of His love. You can rely upon His love to be enough. His love will be enough if you will rely upon it. His love will not fail you today. You can depend upon God’s love every moment of every day for everything you face in every situation. His love will never let you down. You can rely upon His love today.

The love of God is greater far, Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star, And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care, God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled, And pardoned from his sin.

 O love of God, how rich and pure! How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure The saints’ and angels’ song.  (Fred­er­ick Leh­man)