Gtcotr/ss020424
John 13:23 Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved.
Scholars widely agree that John was humbly referring to himself in this passage, as the disciple whom Jesus loved. We believe John wrote this account under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit while reflecting back on the event which had taken place in his life perhaps 70 years earlier.
As a young man, the Apostle John presented himself as ambitious, intolerant, and a bit vindictive, (Mark 10:35-37; Mark 9:38; Luke 9:54 respectively). Spending time with Jesus must have changed all of that. We know John was much older he wrote this, but we also know:
Life does not always change people for the better, but time with Jesus will.
Many imagine John’s mother to be the sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Based on that belief, John and Jesus were cousins. This would help to explain several other occurrences mentioned in the Gospels.
At any rate, it is accepted that the last living Apostle of the Lamb, the Apostle John, was in his mid to late 90’s when he wrote the letter we know as First John. Given this, John walked with Jesus for 3 ½ years during the earthly life and ministry of Christ, and then followed Christ for another 7 decades after the cross. Through these years John learned the lessons of love and proved the value of his personal decision to follow Jesus.
A lifetime removed from that young Galilean boy who was cleaning the nets with his father, John had become a fisher of men. This is the elder Apostle who writes to us in hopes it will change our lives. Listen to this everlasting truth while we consider What We Know. Humble John writes:
1 John 5 NLT
10 ¶ All who believe in the
Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true. Those who
don’t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe
what God has testified about his Son.
11 And this is what God has
testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
12 Whoever has the Son has
life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.
13 I have written this to you
who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have
eternal life.
14 ¶ And we are confident
that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him.
15 And since we know
he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us
what we ask for.
16 If you see a Christian
brother or sister sinning in a way that does not lead to death, you should
pray, and God will give that person life. But there is a sin that leads to
death, and I am not saying you should pray for those who commit it.
17 All wicked actions are
sin, but not every sin leads to death.
18 ¶ We know that
God’s children do not make a practice of sinning, for God’s Son holds them
securely, and the evil one cannot touch them.
19 We know that we are
children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil
one.
20 And we know that
the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can
know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because
we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and
he is eternal life.
21 Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.
Since we know what we know, keep away from those things that might take God’s place in your heart.
What are some things that want to take God’s place in our lives?
It’s been almost 4 decades ago since I first came across this passage and asked myself that same question. How can I identify those things that want to take God’s place in my life? After much prayer, counsel, and consideration of the scriptures, I concluded God had given mankind richly all things to enjoy (1 Timothy 6:17). It has never been what we have that takes the place of God in our lives, but rather what has us.
It is not about what you have, but what has you.
Here are the 5 categories of blessings God has given us to enjoy and not to worship. When any one of these comes before God, our lives are out of order, and we are headed for disappointment.
1.
Love
a. God is love but love
is not God. (1 John 4:8)
b. We are admonished to
not love the world. (1 John 2:15)
c. Samson (Judges 16:4)
fell in love with Delilah.
d. The love of money is
the root of all evil. (1 Timothy 6:10)
e. Misplaced love is a
recipe for disappointment.
2.
Sex
a. The first commandment
God gave to Adam and Eve was “Be fruitful and multiply.” (Genesis 1:28)
b. He knew what He was
saying.
c. Sex outside of the
covenant of marriage is sin. (1Cor 6:9)
i. A person is not having
sex, sex has them. (2Pet 2:14)
d. Sex is the way a
person can talk, look, touch, or think about another person to whom they are
married. Without that God blessed covenant – it is sin. (Exodus 20:14)
e. Again – they are not
having sex … sex has them!
f. This is a sure recipe
for disappointment. (Proverbs 5)
3.
Money
a. Money is neither good
or bad … it’s how you use it or how it uses you. (1 Timothy 6:17-18)
b. God wants you to have
money. However, He does not want money to have you. (Mark 10:24)
c. Jesus said you will
serve one of two masters. (Matthew 6:24)
i. God
ii. Money
d. Serving money will be
a recipe for disappointment. (1Tim 6:10)
4.
Power
a. God gives us power over
serpents and scorpions … not over people. (Luke 10:19 & Ephesians 6:12)
b. God expects us to use
our power to serve people, not to become their lords. (1 Peter 5:3)
c. If you want to be
great, you must become the servant of all. (Mark 9:35 & Mark 10:44)
d. The devil promised
Jesus power over the whole world if Jesus would only worship him. (Luke 4:6-7)
i. It’s no different
today.
ii. If you have power … it
comes from another source, and it must be used to benefit that source’s desire.
(John 8:44)
e. The source of your
power owns and controls you. (Romans 6)
f. Getting hooked up to
the wrong power source is a recipe for disappointment.
5.
Position
a. Jesus said the pride
of life is an enemy of God.
b. Pride of
(Greek) – ‘bios’ = livelihood, i.e.: biography.
i. One should never be
trusted to write their own autobiography. (lol) (Proverbs 25:27)
ii. Many times these works
would be more correctly categorized as a “Lie-ography”.
(Acts 5:1-11 & Pro 25:14)
iii. Lying to get a job is
wrong. (2 Corinthians 11:13)
c. Protecting your position with man instead of your relationship with Jesus is a recipe for disappointment. (Jeremiah 2:8)
Jesus loved John and time with Jesus changed John’s life. John wrote in his old age to encourage us to embrace that same life change he experienced.
1 John 5
10 All who believe in the Son
of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true …
19 We know that we are
children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil
one.
20 And we know that
the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can
know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because
we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and
he is eternal life.
21 Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.
Time
with Jesus! Do you know Him today? If not, why not? Let’s pray …
