For today, One Year Bible Online links here. Christmas is coming soon. Let us remember what it is truly about, the birth of Jesus Christ. Let us strive to not be caught up in the commercialism which is what this season is about for many in our society today.

    When those who are in authority are godly, people are happy and thrive. When the wicked rule, people suffer, even if they are not directly oppressed by those rulers. When the government rules justly a nation will be stable and the economy will thrive. When those in government use their power for their own interest, the nation will be on the path to destruction.

    Let us watch God as a slave watches his master, intently studying Him so as to know His will, reacting to every little sign to gain His favour and avoid His displeasure. Do we really do this? Or are we so sure of God’s mercy that we do not worry about what will please Him, or what will anger Him? Oh God, please forgive me for those times when I have not taken into account what You desire me to do.

    Not everyone who claims to speak on behalf of God is guided by God’s Spirit. Anyone who is speaking a message given to them by God’s Spirit will acknowledge that Jesus actually lived, died, and rose from the dead. Anyone who does not acknowledge this truth about Jesus is not from God. The latter have the spirit of this world in them and are speaking from the viewpoint of this world. Therefore the world will readily listen to them. Those who truly follow Christ have God’s Spirit within them. If we have God’s Spirit within us we will listen to those who speak the message given by God’s Spirit. Those who do not have God’s Spirit will not listen to that message. In this way we are able to distinguish those who have God’s Spirit from those who do not.
    John continues telling us how to recognize those who know and belong to God. God is love (but love is not God), therefore everyone who truly loves others knows God. Anyone who does not love others does not know God. Here he teaches us a key part of the Christian message. No one has seen God directly, but if we love one another, others will see that God lives in us and see Him through us. As we allow God’s love to grow in us we will fear less and less. If we do fear it is because we do not yet experience God’s love fully. Let us continue to grow in our love so that we learn not to fear anything.
    This passage is packed full of insight. John goes on to tell us that we love because God first loved us. This is an important insight into human nature. We are only capable of loving if we have been loved. If you look at people around you you will notice that those who do the best job of loving others were well loved by others. When you find an exception to this rule, it is someone who is filled with God’s Spirit. Which means that it is not an exception after all. Ultimately, this tells us that our job in this world is to pass God’s love on to others, especially those who have never experienced love from a human being. All love is originally from God.

    The book of Daniel ends with an account of a “king of the north” who will do as he pleases. He will be victorious in many battles, then suddenly his time will run out. After his death, a time of great anguish will occur, but those whose name is written in the book of life will be rescued. The dead will rise, some to everlasting life, some to everlasting shame. Then the account contains several cryptic comments about how long these things will go on. At one point it says, “It will go on for a time, times, and half a time.” At another point we are told, “…, there will be 1290 days. And blessed are those who wait and remain until the end of the 1,335 days!” I will not pretend to have any understanding of what those mean. I have heard, and read, various interpretations of those, but none that I find convincing. At this point, the important meaning I take from them is that while the suffering will go on for a long time, it is still a limited, measurable amount of time. When measured against eternity, the suffering will not go on for all that long at all.

     I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. In order to make that possible I read the passages and write my thoughts a day in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

     Today’s passage continues the vision/prophecy that was in yesterday’s passage. Many people have attempted to take the times from this passage and tie them to specific events in order to calculate when Christ will return. However, I do not believe that the purpose of this passage is to tell us when some particular event is going to take place. Rather this passage is to remind us that a day of great anguish is coming and that those whose names are written in the book of life will be rescued when that day arrives. In that day, the wise will stand out and those who lead others to righteousness will be beacons.

     John reminds us not to believe everyone who claims to speak with the Spirit of God. The first and most important test is whether or not they acknowledge that Jesus was a real, historical person. Anyone who claims to be a prophet but does not acknowledge to truth about Christ is not from God. John then returns to his main theme of this letter, that we are to love one another. He gives us God’s example of love for us to follow. God did not love us because we loved Him. God loved us and sent His Son to die for us when we were in open rebellion against Him. Let us follow His example and love those around us, even when they hate us and treat us badly. If God could love us when we were in our sin, how can we claim that we cannot love someone because of what they have done to us? God is love and if we allow His Spirit to live in us, He will show us how to love even those who seem the most unlovable.
     If we are afraid the answer is to come to God and ask Him to fill us with love. Perhaps the reason we are afraid is because we have failed to love someone in our life in the way which God calls us to. We experience fear because we have not fully experienced God’s love for us. We cannot fully experience God’s love for us until we fully love God. We do not fully love God if we have negative feelings toward any of our fellow believers. My motivation to love is that God loved me. If God loved me, as unlovable as I can be, how can I find others unlovable? As we are filled with God’s love for one another and for God we will find that God’s love drives fear out of us.

     The proud may ridicule me and the arrogant may hold me in contempt, but I will trust in God and rely on His mercy. O Lord, let me keep my eyes focused on You, so that I may react to the smallest sign that You give me as to Your will. When You show me Your will, motivate me to eagerly do it.

     The people of a nation will prosper and thrive when its rulers are godly and just. When the rulers are wicked and corrupt the people and the nation will suffer and fall. There is a direct correlation between government policies which encourage just and moral behavior and the economic health of a country.