John 3

In many ways I am like my Father. My Dad likes science and math. He was a science teacher. I like science and math. I became an engineer. My Dad likes sports. He was and still is a coach. I like sports. I became a fan. People say our voices sound alike. We are about the same height. We both look darn good in gray hair.

When I became a Christian I gained a heavenly Father. John 3:1 reminds us that we are children of God. Have I picked up any qualities from my heavenly Father?

Jesus was like that. He told Thomas, "If you have seen me you have seen the Father". Jesus was the perfect earthly example of our heavenly Father. When people saw Jesus they saw His Father.

When people see you do they see your Father in you? Do they see evidence of your Father's heart. Do they hear your Father's voice? Do they feel your Father's touch?

John is really challenging us to "purify ourselves". Show the family resemblence. Stay away from sin, don't get sucked into things of the world and love one another. These are the things that Jesus did that showed the world what His Father was like.

It is great blessing to have a good earthly father for a role model. It is a great challenge to have a perfect heavenly Father and a big brother who never did anything wrong.

Are you becoming more like Jesus? Do you want to?

1 John 2B

This week we are in 1 John 2:15-29. John talks about remaining in Christ but first he talks about two things that are outside of Christ: the world and the spirit of antichrist. There is a big difference between being in Christ and outside of Christ.

In Christ we have the truth. In Christ we are in the light. In Christ we have fellowship with the Father through the Son. In Christ we have the anointing of the Holy Spirit. In Christ we have eternal life.

Outside of Christ is the world. Outside of Christ is the spirit of antichrist. Outside of Christ is darkness. Outside of Christ are things that can draw us away from Christ. Outside of Christ are things that will pass away.

John calls us to remain in Jesus. Jesus said the same thing, “Remain in me”.

How do we “Remain in Him”?

2 John

Light and Darkness. A new command and an old one. Obeying His commands.

God is light in HIm is no darkness at all. This is how Jesus lived. He walked in the light without sin and had perfect fellowship with God. This is our goal but we are not perfect and we sin. But when we sin we have Jesus on our side. He is our advocate to speak for us. But He is also the complete sacrifice for our sins. But we need to face our sins, confess, repent and be forgiven and purified. John makes is clear he is saying: "Do not sin", but when you do there is a remedy. Jesus will help you fix it.

When we focus on obeying Gods commands we need to be careful not to make the mistake of the Pharisees and fall into legalism. In John 13:34 Jesus said he was giving his disciples a new command. "As I have loved you so you must love one another. By this all men will know you are my disciples, if you love one another." This is not a new command to love one another. Jesus said that the second greatest commandment was to love your neighbor as yourself. What is new is this part: "As I have loved you". When God walked in a human body this is how he loved. Jesus has given us the example and He has given us the Holy Spirit.

What does it mean to walk in the light? Do not sin. When you do sin confess your sins to God and be assured of your forgiveness thanks to the blood of Jesus. But this is only the beginning. To love others as Jesus loved is far greater than just avoiding sin. The commands of Jesus are active they tell us what we should do much more often than they tell us what to avoid.

1 John

"If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth."
"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us."
"If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives."

As I read 1 John 1 and 2 this week, his logic arguments are very simple, and yet if taken at their word, very broad reaching.

In 1 John 2:22 he says, "Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist-he denies the Father and the Son." This is a very black and white approach to explaining the antichrist. John has an approach that is sort of just an if-then, black-white approach to writing. Seems like the world we live in has become more gray. A believer can have a small faith, developing faith. The "come and see", then the "follow me", "be with me", "remain in me". So do we have degrees of faith? If its a process of maturity, does this book work with that approach to faith? Or is it simply, believe, you are saved, don't believe and your the antichrist?

1 John 1

I love this letter. John starts out with a very important fact. He actually saw Jesus. He heard Him and he touched Him. John wasn't just repeating what he had heard about Jesus. He was there. He's not making this stuff up.

Today the people with the most powerful testimonies are the ones who are actually walking with Him. They are not just repeating what they learned about Jesus in church. They are telling the story of what Jesus is doing in their lives. He may not touch us physically like he touched John but he still touches lives. And lives touched by Jesus have an impact on the world.

Ruth 3-4

Ruth, Naomi and Boaz. I see a lesson in each one.

Ruth: She goes to Boaz and lays at his feet. This reminded me of the story of Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, sitting at the feet of Jesus. She cleaned herself up and dressed nice to go into the presence of her redeemer. What a message for us. We should take time to come into God's presence, to sit at the feet of Jesus. But when we do we shouldn't do it casually. Clean ourselves up, confess our sins, give Him our full attention, set aside our valuable time and just be with Him.

Naomi: The empty bitter Naomi now sees the hand of God at work and she becomes Ruth's counselor. She advises her and Ruth faithfully obeys. Ruth showed kindness to Naomi and now Naomi returns the kindness with her wise counsel. A new Christian or a seeker may need someone to show them the way to Jesus. On the other side we can all benefit at times from wise counsel even when it comes unexpectedly from the one you thought you were blessing.

Boaz: Boaz is the redeemer. When he spreads his garment over Ruth he takes her under his care and changes her life forever. When he goes to the next of kin and offers to pay the price for the land and accept Ruth along with it he became her kinsman-redeemer. Without a redeemer Ruth and Naomi would have lived a life of poor widows. Because of her redeemer Ruth will become a mother of kings. Having a redeemer changes everything. Jesus is our redeemer. Having Jesus redeem us changes everything.

The name Ruth means Mercy. This is the story of a merciful God.

May the Lord bless you as you study his word and live it out.

Your fellow student.

Dave Morris

Ruth Chapters 1 & 2

This week we will study the first 2 chapters of Ruth.

I love the book of Ruth. Several things stand out for me in this story:

- Ruth was not a Jew. She was a Moabite, but when she committed herself to accept the God of Israel as her God, God blessed her.

- Ruth was totally devoted to her mother-in-law even though it would appear she had nothing to gain from this relationship.

- Boaz was a redeemer who became an ancestor of David the deliverer of Israel and Jesus the redeemer of the world.

The message for us is

- God will accept anyone from any background who accepts Jesus as their Savior.

- A life devoted to others is noticed by God.

- We all need a redeemer. Jesus is our redeemer.

May God richly bless you this week.

Dave Morris

Judges 17-18

A man named Micah sets up his own little place of worship in his house. He makes idols out of silver. He even hires his own Levite to be his priest.

What a great idea. Set up your own religion. It can be in your own house. You can be totally in charge. Hiring your own priest is a great idea because if he tells you something don't like you can just fire him. You don't have the bother of travelling to meet with other believers to worship. You don't even have to leave the house.

It's a great plan. The only problem is this is not God's plan. Micah and his mother had a desire to worship God but they violated many clear commands of God along the way. God told them.

If we desire to worship God he tells us how to do it. In Christ we have freedom. It's not about the place any more or bringing the right kind of animal but God still gives instructions in his word that are to be obeyed.

In those days Israel had no king. Everyone did as they saw fit. We can expect that statement to describe the world. It shouldn't describe the church.

May God bless your week.

Dave Morris

Samson and Delilah

Judges 16 - Samson and Delilah

When we read about Samson we have to be amazed that he was so foolish. He was in a situation that he knew was dangerous. He was in a relationship with someone who was trying to harm him. He should have run from Delilah the first time she tried to trick him. But Samson knew he was strong. He had it under control. He was just toying with this woman. She was no match for him. He was Samson, ruler of Israel. He must have had a good laugh every time he tricked her.

Have you ever been a fool like that? Have you ever seen your friends or family members being a fool like that? They are in a dangerous situation or a bad relationship that is trying to destroy them but they "Have it under control". It could be a male-female relationship but it could also be a job, an addiction, a friendship or even a hobby.

In the Gospel according to Kenny Rogers it says: "You gotta know when to hold em and know when to fold em, know when to walk away and know when to run." Samson should have walked away.

We are not as different from Samson as we might like to think.

Dave

Sunday March 7th Teaching

Greetings all:

This week we are in chapters 14 and 15 of Judges. The little baby Samson who was born to the humble Mr. and Mrs. Manoah has grown up into a big hairy young man with an attitude. He doesn't listen to his parents and marries a Philistine woman. This marriage causes him trouble right from the start. But when he Spirit of the Lord comes on him someone is going to die. First a lion, then 30 Philistines, then 1000 men of Judah.

I don't think that I would like Samson but I think that I would be very afraid of him. Samson was surely an awesome individual to behold but I am seeing nothing attractive about him spiritually in these two Chapters. He was raised by godly parents to be a man of God, separated from birth for a special purpose. But he seems to be using the gifts that God has given him to kill anyone who ticks him off. He also appears to be a prideful young man. When he kills 1000 men with the jawbone of an ass he does not praise God but credits his own strength only.

But God is still going to use him and 1000 years later he will be listed in Hebrews with the men of faith from the Old Testament. What can we learn from the life of Samson?

Dave Morris

Lets Chat

As I was reading Judges this morning, I was thinking what a dork Samson was, and yet considered a 'man of God'...how's that? And what's up with Delilah? Was she that wicked, or Samson that dumb? Anyway, thought maybe others could weigh in on what they are reading and offer other thoughts as to why God used certain people, and worked certain ways. So join in, post a thought or two. Would love to hear why you think Samson was used by God when he clearly wasn't a rule follower in regard to the nazerite calling he had.