Ecclesiastes 1 -- He DID Learn SOMETHING

Solomon would have made a terrible fiction writer.  His first sentence would probably have been, “The butler did it.”  For once he had determined that life on this earth without God was futile, he spilled the beans, and he did it often.

He gave real meaning to the old adage, “Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it.”  He’d asked for wisdom, and God had said, “OKAY..”  Solomon said, “I have become very wise … I know what wisdom and knowledge really are … This turned out to be like chasing the wind.”  There’s real satisfaction if I ever saw it.

In verse 7 he says, “All the rivers flow to the sea, but the sea never becomes full.”  I don’t think he was trying to impress us with his knowledge of the science involved in the evaporation cycle of water.  Instead, I think he was talking about his desires, and the fact that he never became satisfied from anything.  That’s exactly what we will find when we try to derive our satisfaction from anyone or anything other than God.

Father, my own quest for knowledge left me terribly empty and far from You.  It was only when You drew me back and taught me to find my satisfaction only in obeying You that I found real happiness and fulfillment in this life.  Thank You for showing me what eluded Solomon all those years!  And keep me knowing it for the rest of my life on this earth.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

3 John 1-15 Which One Of Four Am I?

John’s short letter to a dear friend shows us, warts and all, a glimpse into what was going on in the early church years after Jesus had ascended to Heaven.  John was a respected elder statesman of the church – probably one of the few left at the time who had actually spent time with Jesus.

He was writing to his spiritual brother Gaius.  Gaius didn’t appear to be a preacher or a teacher.  But he was definitely supporting those who did preach and teach.  Back then, the love offerings were probably small, and honorariums probably nonexistent for visiting preachers.  But Gaius opened his home and his pantry to any who came to preach or teach, putting their minds at ease about their well-being when in his city so that they could fully devote themselves to delivering God’s messages.  John says that when we do this type of ministry, we share in the work they are doing.

Gaius wasn’t doing all this for recognition, but people in the church certainly knew and approved of his hospitality ministry.  Another man wasn’t so fortunate in the area of public opinion, however. 

Diotrephes had become a virtual dictator in his church, lying about the apostles and directing others not to accept certain believers into the church.  He even kicked out those of his own church who dared to go against his commands.  John said, “So if I come, I will talk about what Diotrephes is doing …”  He wasn’t planning on tiptoeing around the subject.  Diotrephes was evil and infesting the church.  John’s promise to discuss it tells us that any such behavior shouldn’t be stepped lightly around in our own churches.

I suppose there could be four possibilities for church people and individual responses to what they do in the church:

1)       Good people like Gaius doing good things and being uplifted by church members for what they are doing.

2)       Evil people like Diotrephes doing evil things and being seen for what they are by church members.

3)       People who are doing good, but who encounter opposition within the church for no good reason.

4)      People who are doing “not good” things, but who aren’t being called to task about doing so by the church.

John’s letter and my commentary seem to challenge each of us to truthfully place ourselves into the appropriate category and then, once we see where we really are, we’re challenged to move to the category where God would have us, if necessary, whether in the “doing” department or in the “viewing” department.  If we’re doing wrong, it needs to stop.  If our view of what others are doing is incorrect, we’re to see it as God does and agree with Him, rather than simply attacking because we don’t like it.

Father, I pray that I will never be a hindrance to what You are doing in the church.  Keep me from ever speaking evil about someone who truly is doing Your will.  However, knowing that evil thrives when good men do nothing, let me never fail to speak up, as John did, against those who would, through their actions or their comments, try to cause unneeded strife in Your church.  Please allow me to carry out Your will as part of our church as You reveal it to me, and protect me from those who would wrongly stir up trouble as Diotrephes did.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

2 John 1-13 -- Love And Living The Way God Commanded

“I ask you that we all love each other.  And love means living the way God commanded us to live.”

If we stuck that definition of love back into that first sentence, it would read, “I ask that we all live the way God commanded us to live [toward] each other.”

It sounds like, therefore, we aren’t loving others if we aren’t living the way God commanded us to live!  In other words, our all-knowing God has determined throughout history the best way for each person to live to glorify Him.  Doing so will not only bring glory to God.  It will also result in the fullest, most beneficial life for that person.  But, in God’s wisdom, it will also at the very same time result in a fuller life for every believer (and, in fact, every unbeliever) we might ever know!  God planned for us to love others as part of our Christian life, blessing them as well as ourselves in the process.  Just imagine what this world would be like if every Christian lived as God would have him live!  Love would super-abound!

Father, when I live as You commanded, I’m not trying to get all A’s on a spiritual report card.  Instead, You will be using me to show Your love to others as well.  Help me to keep in mind that it isn’t ever just about me.  We are all a community of believers, and working together in love, we glorify You in the eyes of the world in the process!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

1 John 5 -- Getting Down To The Basics

“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is God’s child.”  My commentary added:  “Belief here is not mere intellectual assent to the fact, but rather a committal of one’s life to Jesus as the Christ.”  In verses 2-3, John talks about the actions of those who are truly saved:  They will be characterized by a desire to DO the will of God – willing obedience to His commands.

He also says that God’s commands are not too hard for us.  My commentary added:  “He doesn’t mean that they are not difficult, but rather that they are the very things which born again people love to do.”  It was likened to a mother being told to care for her newborn.  Yes, it’s work, but it is also exactly what she would enjoy doing.

In verse 12, he says, “Whoever has the Son has life, but whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”  In my commentary:  “Eternal life is not found in education or philosophy or science or good works or religion or the church.  To have life, one must have the Son of God.”

Years ago, I fell into that trap of intellectualism, wrongly convinced of what I thought I knew.  But I’d let myself forget who knew me and loved me enough to die for me.  He loved me enough to draw me back to Himself, out of my wrong-headed thinking.  Eternal life is not a philosophy – it’s a Person.  And simply acknowledging that He lived is not enough – He requires a committal of my life to Him as Lord.

Father, I make it a point now to tell others what it took me so long to discover – that Jesus wants to be the Boss of my life, and I must let Him be that Boss.  Thank You for revealing Your truth to me.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

1 John 4 -- Figuring Out "Him In Us, And Us In Him"

I remember years ago how hard it was for me to grasp the concept of all the “Him in us, us in Him” wording that John uses here.  After all, we don’t have that type of relationship with anyone but God. 

My commentary provided great examples to help me understand it all.  Verse 15 says, “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God has God living inside, and that person lives in God.”  My commentary said, “It is hard for us (Yea!  Not just me!) to visualize such a relationship, but we might compare it to a poker in the fire, a sponge in the water, or a balloon in the air.  In each case, the object is in the element and the element is in the object.”

Wow!  That’s so much easier to see.  I particularly like “the poker in the fire (and the fire in the poker).”

Father, help me, and others, to get around the “church talk” that we sometimes so freely use but which may stump not just unbelievers, but Christians as well.  Remind me often of this illustration so that I can see more clearly the very close relationship I am to maintain with You.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

1 John 3 -- A Christian Sinning

John tells us a lot about what a believer ought to look like and how he ought to live.  Since we all still sin while we are living in these bodies that are sin-infected, it's important to distinguish what he says about believers vs. nonbelievers.

 

In 3:4 my commentary says, "Sin is lawlessness.  It is insubordination to God, wanting one's own way, and refusing to acknowledge the Lord as rightful Sovereign.  In essence, it is placing one's own will above the will of God.  It is opposition to a Living Person who has the right to be obeyed."

 

The focus seems to be on willfullness and defiance of God.  In 3:6, my commentary said, "John is not here speaking about isolated acts of sin, but rather continued, habitual, characteristic behavior.  This verse does not imply that when a Christian commits an act of sin, he loses his salvation.  Rather, it says that when a person sins habitually, it is conclusive that he was never regenerated."

 

About 3:9, it also said, "Verse nine repeats the impossibility of one who has been born of God going on in sin ... The believer does not have thie sin habit.  He does not defiantly continue in sin ... Rather than being an excuse for the Christian to go out and sin, his eternal security is a guarantee he will not go on sinning.  He cannot sin habitually because he has been born of God.  This divine relationship precludes the possibility of continuance in sin as a lifestyle."

 

When Christians do sin, we should be quick to confess and forsake our sins, because the Holy Spirit will be speaking to our hearts about it, causing us to feel the separation from God that our sin has caused, and we will not want to place our own will above the will of God.

 

Father, I thank You that You do guarantee that I have eternal life because I have believed in Your Son's sacrifice for me.  Help me never to take that sacrifice lightly by uncaringly sinning against You.  Prick my conscience when I do sin, and cause me misery in my soul so that I will confess and forsake my sin and come running back to You.

 

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

1 John 2 -- Not "Just A Little", But "None"

John says that he writes to us so we will NOT sin.  He did not write, “ … so that you sin just as little as you can,” my commentary said.  It also pointed out that Jesus likewise told the woman caught in adultery, “Go and sin NO MORE.” 

God knows we are dust, and that we will sin again, and when we sin (not when we confess our sin), He comes to us to repair the broken fellowship with us.  He seeks to bring up to the point where we desire to confess our sin and stop doing it.  Our sin breaks our fellowship with God, but never our relationship, it added.

Verse 3 reminded us of a very important fact, “We can be sure that we know God if we obey His commands.”  And that amounts to not sinning.

Father, how each of us would probably dearly love to never sin again and hurt Your heart.  Yet we do it anyway.  And in ways we can never imagine or fathom, You continue to love us anyway, despite ourselves.  Thank You for such love.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford