Everything

Purify Self

And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. 1 John 3:3

This is the key verse of 1 John 2:28-3:3 which talks about the coming of Jesus and our eternal destiny. Since we will see God face to face and will be completely transformed into glorified bodies fit for heavenly and eternal living, even now, we are called to purify ourselves just as He is pure.

The verse implies that purifying oneself is an automatic/natural response of everyone who have been given the hope of eternal life.

Purifies himself. This shows who does the purifying. Sure, God has His part. He gives the strength and resources for us to purify ourselves but mainly, it is our responsibility to keep ourselves pure and find ways to make ourselves more like His Son Jesus.

My discipler always told me that my personal growth is my responsibility—not others’. Thus, I can’t blame anyone if I’m not growing.

Question is, am I doing my part in purifying myself in light of my external destiny and the nearing coming of Christ?

I would say yes but that would require showing evidence of results. If the standard of purity is God, then surely I’m far from getting to that point.

I guess a better question would be: “Am I more pure today than I was a year ago? Am I making progress?”

Undeserved Title

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! (1 John 3:1a)

Wow! What a thought right? I like to read this as ‘Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on me, that I should be called a child of God!’

How can God, the Creator of the universe, the All-knowing, Almighty God, love me and call me his child??? He knows me too well yet even if I am such a wretched, filthy, sinful and rebellious, He finds me shows mercy on me.

Why would He do such a marvelous thing?

This reminds me of the story of Hosea when God asked him to take a prostitute (Gomer) to be his bride. I couldn’t imagine myself doing such a thing! Why would I love someone such filthy and disgraceful? God wanted Hosea to do this in order to reflect His relationship to His people, Israel, and their rebellion against Him. Here are some verses I found encouraging from that book:

Hosea 2:6-8 “Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, and wall her in, so that she cannot find her paths. She will chase her lovers, but not overtake them; Yes, she will seek tem, but not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, for then it was better for me than now.’ For she did not know that I gave her grain, new wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold—which they prepared for Baal.”

Hosea 2:14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, will bring her back into the wilderness, and speak comfort to her.”

Hosea 2:19-20 “I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in lovingkindness and mercy; I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord.”

Hosea 2:23 “Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth, and I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy. Then I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You are My people!’ And they shall say, ‘You are my God!’”

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on me, that I should be called a child of God!

Confidence in His Coming

We've been talking about the coming of Christ lately at church. And there's a good question there that gets me all the time:

If Jesus Christ comes to get His people today, will I be excited and full of joy?
Or will I be full of shame that I was caught in a bad shape?

The Bible says, "And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming." (1 John 2:28)

The key action point in this verse is "abide in him". 'Abiding' simply means 'remaining'. God wants me to remain grounded and immersed in Him and in His Word--His 'love boundaries' and protective commandments.

This reminds me of Psalm 91:1 which says, "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty."

He who remains in the Lord will find no shame when He returns, but will find rest and joy.

Do not love the world

I came across that verse again. And it made me ask myself: Am I a lover of the world? Do I love the world more than I love God?

I guess if you base it on my behavior in the past few months then the answer would be a BIG SAD YES.

What have I been up to? Sadly (and this is going to be embarrassing), I tried to satisfy my fleshly lusts particularly the youthful, sexual kind; I coveted things--material things--; and finally, I became envious of others who are getting better things than I am. I wanted a better job with a better pay so I can have "things" that can make me happy.

What is God saying about all these?

STOP IT!

God's word says, "¹⁵ Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. ¹⁶ For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world." (1 John 2:15-16)


So how am I to respond to this?

• Love God
• Be thankful and content
  
• Remember that everything in the world is temporary