Saturday, October 26, 2024

PT-1 "Introduction to 1 John 2:15-17"

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/26/2024 6:53 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                   Focus:  PT-1 “Introduction to 1 John 2:15-17”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference:  1 John 2:15-17

 

            Message of the verses:  15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”

 

            John MacArthur entitles this eighth chapter in his commentary on 1 John “The Love God Hates,” and after reading these verses one will be able to understand why he used that name for these verses. 

 

            In my morning Spiritual Diary on the gospel of Matthew I came across something interesting to me that I think fits very well in this section, I hope you will too.

 

            “In his devotional book Quiet Talks with World Winners, S. D. Gordon recounted the story of a group of amateur climbers who planned to accent Mount Blanc in the French Alps.  On the evening before the climb, the guides started the basic requirement for success.  Because it was an exceedingly difficult climb, one could reach the top by taking only the necessary equipment for climbing, leaving all unnecessary accessories behind.

 

            “One athletic young man discounted the guides’ advice, thinking it could not possibly apply to him.  He showed up for the climb with a blanket, a small case of wine, a camera, a set of notebooks, and a pocketful of snacks.  Although warned again by the guides, the strong-willed young man nevertheless started out ahead of the rest to prove his superior skill and endurance.

 

            “But as the other climbers proceeded up the mountainside, they began to notice various articles left on the path.  First, they noticed the young’s man food and wine, a short while later the notebooks and camera, and finally the blanket.  The young man managed to reach the peak, but, just as the guides had predicted, he did so only after discarding all his unnecessary paraphernalia.

 

            “Apply that illustration to the church, Mr. Gordon comments that, unlike that young climber, who eventually paid the price for success, many Christians, when they discover they cannot reach the top with their loads, simply stop climbing and settle down on the mountainside.”

 

            My thoughts that what happens to believers who do not make it to the top is that they perhaps fall out of love for the Lord Jesus Christ and the work that He wants all believers do accomplish in His name.  The believers who stop part way up the mountain, as illustrated in this story, are the ones who fall in love with the world system, and therefore they do not fulfill the things of the Lord as they walk with Him.  My advice to myself and to believers who read this is to continue to the top of the “mountain” in order to have rewards at the Judgment seat of Christ.

 

            Lord willing I will begin to work on this introduction more in the next SD.  Just focus on this story I have quoted and allow the Spirit of God to do a work in your heart and I will try to do the same thing.

 

10/26/2024 7:06 PM  

 

No comments:

Post a Comment