A Surprise about Idols

 

1 John 5: 19-21

“We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.  And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ.  He is the true God and eternal life.  Little Children, keep yourselves from idols.”

When you read the Scripture above what jumps off the page, for me it is the world is not a fun place for Christians, it’s the enemy’s territory, and a war is raging for the minds and hearts of everyone who has chosen light over darkness.  My thoughts went to what the Lord said in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.  I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”  But there was something else that jumped off the page and that is John’s warning, “keep yourselves from idols.” 

It is clear that in John’s time on the planet people had house gods, and the Gentile had many such idols or false gods such as Dagon, Diana, Molech, and we also know they worshiped objects like the gold calf and heavenly bodies.  We also understand that those things still happen in some parts of the globe, but not in the United States of America.  I can say with full assurance that the Rice family has never had an idol in our house that we bowed to, we were not big on statutes or anything that looked like an idol.  So maybe John was not referring to us who live in a more enlightened time?

One of the advantages of not having a lot of education is I often look up words to make sure I understand the meaning, and hopefully to use the word correctly.  What does the dictionary tell us about idols: “An idol is an image or other material object representing a deity to which religious worship is addressed or any person or thing regarded with blind admiration, adoration, or devotion.”

After reading that, I’m not so sure the Rice’s were not idol worshippers!  As I stated above, we did not do images or other material objects representing a deity that we worshipped, but what about football players?  In my case, it may have been any of these guys; Tony Dorsett, Bob Hayes, Michael Irvin, Tom Landry, Bob Lilly, Mel Renfro, Tex Schramm, Emmitt Smith, Roger Staubach, Randy White, they all fit the definition of “any person or thing regarded with blind admiration, adoration, or devotion.” 

It is easy to have an idol, it could be your family, wife, friend, children, job, food, sports, golf, or fishing; yes, an idol is anything that takes the place of God in your actions and your thought life.  The apostle John, under the control of the Spirit, spoke a warning to us, “Little Children, keep yourselves from idols.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Is Prayer a last Hope Thing?

 

1 John 5:15-16

“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.  And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.”

Confidence, is that what is lacking in my life and maybe yours when it comes to prayer?  Is prayer a last hope thing, does the need have to be so great before we stop and pray?  And when we pray do we believe God cares about us, about you?  If we are intellectually honest, then it is clear that God knows all, is always present, and is all-powerful, knows our thoughts, our needs, and our circumstances, so that being true, why are our prayers not being answered?   My first thought is he just does not care, have you ever come to that conclusion?  If those thoughts are invading your mind look to the Scriptures and see if that voice is in agreement with the word of God:

• God continually calls us to come to Him with our burdens and find rest for our souls. (Matthew 11:28 & 29)

• He invites us to cast our worries on Him because He cares. (1 Peter 5:7)
• He invites us to come to His throne and ask for mercy and grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)
• He will be our Comforter in sorrow when our heart is faint. (Jeremiah 8:18)
• He offers strength when we are weak. (Philippians 4:13)
• He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds. (Psalm 147:3)

So if he cares why are my prayers going unheard, could the problem be my lack of confidence when I pray, or could it be some other reason:

• Husbands should always know that God will not answer the prayers of a husband who is not showing honor to his wife.  1Peter 3:7 

• Unbelief will keep God from listening to your request; Matthew 21:22, James 1:6-8

• We ask with wrong motives: James 4:3

• Unconfessed sin keep God from hearing our prayers: Isaiah 59:1-2

• When we have the ability to help someone in need and don’t God tells us He will not answer our prayers: Proverbs 21:13

• We don’t remain in God, then His word does not remain in us, and without that we have no confidence, and our prayers go no where: John 15:7
•  

If you and I are abiding, in agreement with Scripture then we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, and we know we have the requests that we ask of Him, so it’s time to be thankful, with confidence that your prayer is answered.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The Red Fire Truck at Plimper's Hardware

 

1 John 5:13, 14

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know you have eternal life.  And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.  And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.”

Can you remember a time as a small child when you wanted something, you even ask for it, but deep down you knew it was not going to happen, but then somehow it happened and you were so thrilled.  For me, it was that big red fire truck that I had seen at Plimper’s hardware, I was six and foolish enough to believe that somehow it could be mine.  I remember mother saying something like that’s a nice fire truck, but we do not have that kind of money, you need to look for something smaller and she meant something that cost a lot less.  I knew Christmas was only months away and for the Rice family that meant getting an apple or orange and a very small inexpensive gift.  Many times it was something that mother had made for us.  Did I pray for that red fire engine?   I’m sure I did, and yet Christmas came and went and the fire truck was still sitting on display at the store; my birthday also came and yet no fire engine, I was loosing hope, but each time we walked by Plimper’s hardware I would run to the window and see that marvelous red fire engine on display.  But death came to my dream, it was the lowest moment of life for a 6 ½ year old, we had looked into the window at Plimper’s and that spectacular red fire engine was no longer in the window, someone owned my dream, it was death to a vision.  I do not recall what happened at that moment, but I do know this I quit praying for that truck, it was out of the window, it was no longer there, all my hopes and prayers had been wasted.  Have you ever felt that way?

Christmas came with no real expectation, others on my street would get nice presents, but not us, this year would be just like last year.  And was I right, my sister got a dress mother had made and maybe some socks or shoes she needed for school, my brother got an orange in his stocking and some small items that made him happy, and all I had gotten was an orange in my stocking, the few gifts were opened, the little tree was sitting in the corner of the living room and Christmas was over.  I will never forget when my daddy came down the hall carrying a large box and said Bobby, it seems we overlooked this, it has your name on it, and he was smiling and as I looked at mother she also was smiling and so was my brother and sister, they knew what was in the box, it was the biggest box I had ever seen, and yes, inside was my marvelous red fire truck!  I found out later that mother and dad had been paying on that truck for over a year, back then we called that lay-away.  It had been bought and paid for by mother and dad, who give up something each month so that I could have my dream.  It had been like many of my prayers, on lay-away till God knew the time was right.

The gift of eternal life came to us at a price impossible to pay, God’s lay-away plan happened some 2000 years ago when Jesus paid for our sin.  It was a grace lay-away, and it requires you by faith to receive your gift of salvation.  It is explained in Ephesians 2:8&9, “For by grace you have been saved though faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

As a child I never wanted God’s will, unless His will agreed with mine, or when it came to red fire engines.  I wonder, could that be our problem as Christians?  That we no longer believe His will for exceeds anything we could dream of.  The Holy Spirit addresses this problem in James 4, and it is a prayer stopper, and not only are we told why our prayers are not answered, we are given the answer to wanting the will of God over our will.  In fact, when verse 10 is lived out in our life, our desires will be not my will, but my Father’s will. 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The Vapor life Part II

 

1 John 5:6-12

It was not that long ago we discussed the vapor life, that life is common to all people, it’s much like a flower, one day it is blooming and the next it is dead; Jesus tells us that is the best we can hope for without Him.  In 1John 5:6-12 we have a testimony concerning the Son of God, and in that account we have a guarantee of eternal life. 

Before addressing the eternal life, what does the vapor life look like?  Like all life it begins at conception and then birth, and it goes something like this for most people; at birth there is need for nurturing, then to simplify this time line, you get your first haircut, you go to school, you get a job or you get married, you buy a home or you rent, you have children, or maybe you don’t, and then you retire, and at the end of your time line you once more need care and nurturing, and you die, that is the vapor life.  The center of the vapor life is you and it is void of authority, as old Blue Eyes sang this song, “You did it your way!”

The eternal life addresses all the same things as the vapor life, with this exception, at some point in that time line you come to understand that the vapor life is empty, it has no hope, and often at this point we begin to search for meaning, and often we try to fill that hole in our hearts with stuff or people, or it may be religion, but to have eternal life, that life is found only in Jesus Christ.  The apostle John states in verses 10-12, these words: “Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself.   Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son.  And this is the testimony that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

One of the most quoted verses in the Bible is John 3:16, and to transfer from the vapor life to the eternal life requires a person to put faith in what that verse imparts.  But Jesus goes on after verse 16 to share why many will not leave the vapor life and put their faith and hope in the Him.  Jesus addressed the why in verses 19 & 20, “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.”  Note: it is so important that we understand Jesus is talking from God’s view, not the worlds, and surely not man’s.)  “For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.”  It comes down to, will I do it my way and enter eternity void of a relationship with God, never knowing the peace and joy that He has to offer, or to at some point, and I pray that may be today, to bow your knee and confess that the vapor life is at best empty, and that you want to enter into God’s time line, by having this testimony that God gave us eternal life and this life is in his Son.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Parcel Abiding

 

1 John 5:1-5

“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.”

Jan and I enjoy Colorado, some of our dearest friends live in Golden, and we always look forward to spending time with them.  This is how those visits go; we bask in fellowship and comfort of John and Brenda’s home in the foothills of Golden, Colorado.  If the visit takes place in the spring of the year, I awake to a morning of beauty, as I look out into the valley below all I can see is green grass down in the meadows and it will be in the low 60’s.  For the few days of each trip we abide together, we walk and talk, we pray, we share, we eat often and play games, it is refreshing and John reminds me that what we are enjoying is what God desires with us, each and every day.  We have been abiding, and to believe that reading a few verses in the morning, and then going about your day with no fellowship with the Father is abiding, that would be a poor understanding of what the Scripture is telling us.

So it seems that many of us who believe by faith that God has given us eternal life; that Jesus Christ took on flesh and became lower than His Creation to buy us back out of the control of sin, still do not abide.  Could that be the answer to why so many are easily taken captive by the worlds system and by the deception of the evil one?  I often blame it on being raised Baptist, because most Baptists believe that doing makes you Christ like.  But after years of doing and doing, I’ve come to the understanding that it is almost impossible to abide while trying to do so much for God.  Oswald Chambers had this to say on doing: “To-day in Christian work we are suffering from a phase of spiritual dyspepsia that emphasizes doing.  The great thing to do is to be a believer in Jesus.  With Jesus it is never “Do, do,” but “Be, be and I will do through you.”   By abiding we become what God has planed for us. Verse two states; “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.”  John goes on to explain the love of God, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.  And his commandments are not burdensome.” 

As I reflect on the above Scriptures, it become clear that not abiding leads to not keeping His commandments and the end of that is a wide road to running my own show, and living independently of God’s authority.  Our victory comes from abiding, from fellowship with the Father, from confession and agreement that we need and we trust His hand and we desire His face.  Verse four tells us who we are and God is clear on this, we are over-comers, we are victorious over life and death, because of our faith.  Verse five states, “Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

A life Lived outside of Love

 

1John 4: 7-21

A life lived outside of love will leave a child unstable, and often full of fear, always searching for acceptance.  As that person ages, they may be exposed to love, but they are like a dog trying to catch a bus, now what am I going to do with that?  I John 4:7-21 tells us that love is God and a life lived on planet earth outside of Jesus Christ have a big love hole in it. 

The apostle John gives clarity to this in verses 7-9, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.  Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.  In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.”  If you believe as I do that all Scripture is God breathed, it is void of error, then it becomes important to see life from heaven’s view.  So verses 7-9 have great encouragement, but also make me come full circle to this big problem; often I am full of self and let the worlds-system control my thinking.

So how was this love manifested, “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1John 4:10)  One of the greatest mistakes is to believe we are seekers of God that is until His Spirit comes to live in our life (1John 4:19).  God in his great love for us atoned for the sin that kept us dead to God by sending His Son to pay in full the price of sin.  My problem is not God abiding in me, verse 15 gives me understanding that when I confessed that Jesus is the Son of God, at that moment God came to live in me and I in Him.  So I come full circle to the question, why am I so easily taken captive by the cares of life?  In verse 18 it is stated; “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts our fear.  For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.”  I am being perfected, but I am not yet perfected, and neither are you, but if we do not love our brothers who we see, how can we love a God who is unseen?  Verse 20 says the following, “If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” 

So when you say God is abiding in me, what do you mean?  When you say His Spirit lives in me what do you mean?  Our understanding of God’s love abiding in us has everything to do with the way we live, the way we love, and with our thought life and the desires of our heart. 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The spirit of antichrist

 

1 John 4:1-6

In 1John 4:1-6 the Holy Spirit is not talking about doctrine, and he is not talking about performance, He is instructing us to be on guard against the spirit of antichrist.  Verse one begins with “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.”  To test anything we must understand the propertys of what is to be tested, and without that it becomes almost impossible to measure the item to test.  John being led by the Spirit gives us clear instruction on how to perform the test.  In the second verse we have this instruction: “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.  This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard was coming and now is in the world already.”

These are some of the things we can test: False teachers may say, Jesus was a good teacher, he was a prophet much like Moses or Abraham, but He was not God.   They may say Jesus did a lot of miracles but no one in their right mind would believe he was born of a virgin.  In fact after He arose triumphant over death and the grave many antichrists said He had not really died, or that His disciples had stolen his body.  So the test of a false teacher will always hinge on the deity of the God – man Jesus Christ.

John was not the only one who addressed the false teachers, the apostle Paul being lead by the Spirit of truth wrote the words for us in Colossians 2:8- 9,“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirit of the world, and not according Christ.  For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.”  The Lord Jesus Christ has authority and a false teacher or a person with the spirit of antichrist will not submit to His authority. 

The conflict we see being played out in the world today is God’s wrath on a world system that refuses to accept the authority of His Son, the Christ.  Paul in his letter to the Roman church made that very clear: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.  For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them.  For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.  So they are without excuse.  For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.” (Romans 1:18-23)

I found these words from John very encouraging, that we who are alive with the Spirit of Christ have overcome, that Jesus who lives in us is greater than he who is in the world.  In verses 5 & 6, John tells us these truths: “They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them.  We are from God.  Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us.  By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.  And this I’ve learned, those who put faith in the world and it’s system, often believe those of us who trust in Christ as the only hope, are uninformed and not very bright.  They claim to be wise and yet God calls them fools.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Two great Questions

1 John 3:16-24

In a forty-year career at 3M Company, I was exposed to many bosses, and I learned it was wise to ask this question of the men I worked for: “Am I meeting your expectations?”  That question served me very well, and it always was asked long before any annual review, and with it came another question, I ask the men with authority over me: “What are your short and long term goals and what can I do to help you achieve those goals?”  Both of these questions helped to keep me in focus on what was important to the person who had the ability to promote me or demote me.  I wish I could report that I always used this approach with each of my bosses, but in the beginning of my career I had no understanding of this concept and as I got near the end of my career I ended up working for a man who was not secure in his role and I let that cloud my opinion, believing that those questions would be wasted on him.  I was wrong, and as my friend and boss Kim would often say, it was a bought lesson, a very expensive lesson that brought out my flesh and it exposed how evil my mind was, I dropped the ball and did not honor God with my actions or my response.  In fact, looking back I must say it was pride that kept me from asking those questions and it was the lowest point of my forty years.

What does that have to do with 1 John 3:16-24, everything!  Our Father in heaven has sent the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth to live in each of us who have invited Christ into our lives, and it is a wise Christian that asks; “Am I meeting your expectations?”  Dear Father, “What are your short and long term goals and what can I do to help you achieve those goals for my family, my business, my neighborhood, and your church?”  The apostle John tells us that God has made clear His goals and if we miss these basic goals we have a problem.  The Holy Spirit has made this clear in 1 John 3:16-17, “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. (Jesus said it is rare that someone would die even for a friend, but the Holy Spirit is telling us that when we put others before ourselves, it a form of laying down our life.)  17, But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?” 

John is clear, love is an action, it is not words or talk but it has actions, it has deeds and what actions come from that: “By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.  Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.”  (1 John 3:19-21)  So it is important to ask those two questions: “Am I meeting your expectations.”  Dear Father, “What are your short and long term goals for me, and what can I do to help you achieve those goals for my family, my business, my neighborhood, and your church?” 

When I ask those questions with the intent of obeying, of submitting totally to His authority, the Spirit of truth makes clear these truths; “And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.  Whoever keeps his commandments abides in him, and he in them.  And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he gave us.”  (1 John 3:23-24)  This should come with a warning, these questions need to be ask often, very often, for me it may be many times each day.  And why is that, because I still have old learned patterns in my mind on how to get my needs met outside of the will of God.  My dear friend Bill called them the sixteen lane green highways of my mind, on how to live independent of God’s authority.  I’ve been asking our Father for 30+ years to renew my mind and my dependence on His authority and to make me aware of the truth found in John 10:10.  When it comes to habit, it is important to understand we did not show up on planet earth with ready-made habits.  Oswald Chambers tells us to “Apply it spiritually – when we are bon again, God does not give us a fully fledged series of holy habits, we have to make them; and the forming of habits on the basic of God’s supernatural work in our souls is the education of our spiritual life.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Two emotions that can change a person’s life

 

1 John 3:13-18

“Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” (1John 3:18)

I do not know of anything that has a stronger hold on us than Love and Hate, these two emotions can change a person’s life.  If we examine the word love in our culture it is very confusing; because it is used to express what one likes, but I do not believe anyone who says, “I love those shoes” or “I love that golf course” is referring to a deep lasting relationship with that object.  But the word love is used so often that by doing so we have lost much of it’s meaning.  In marriage it often comes across in this manner, I will love you if, or I will love you because, and both have conditions tie to them. 

I often acknowledge that as a husband to Jan, and a dad, to Natalie, I am brain dead to the needs of a woman.  Books have been written to support such beliefs; “Men are from Mars, and Women from Venus” and it is true that we need to understand what our mate understands love is.  Anabel Gillham who is now in heaven has a much better understanding of this truth than when she penned these words, but they have been very helpful to me as a husband and dad.

1) Listening to me.

2) Taking my problems seriously.

3) Communicating more openly with me.

4) Noticing me more-not just when he wants sex.

5) Saying "thank you" for the little things I do.

6) Being interested in my life, at least acting like he's interested.

7) Showing affection to me when other people are around.

8) Sharing his goals and values with me.

9) Remembering me with little gifts.

10) Taking me out without the kids.

11) Including me in the things he does.

12) Trying to understand me, and not losing his temper while I try to

       explain my feelings.

13) Being more tender to me, using kind and tender words.

That is Annabel’s short list, and she taught these concepts to Bill, her husband. 

I’ve had many-bought lessons on the art of loving and being loved, and with full confidence I can tell my brothers do this and you will see a change in your wife, in your family, and in yourself.  But I also learned this by sitting at the feet of Bill, that God is love.  We were created by God to be loved unconditionally and only God loves unconditionally, therefore each of us needs God, and only God can love through us.

Hate has no understanding of love; hate destroys, hate kills, and the Bible speaks in this way, that hate will attack the physical body of the person who has hate living in them.  I believe the verse in 1 John 3:18 is talking about formalism, and it seems clear to me that it is a big part of our culture.  When it comes to our culture, this letter to Timothy sums up what I’m seeing: 2 Tim 3:1-5, “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God - having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.” (NIV)

Both love and hate have one thing in common, they both have an action, words or talk may have no action.  When love is demonstrated it has the ability to change a child, a family, a marriage, a nation, but when hate is demonstrated and it is often demonstrated in religion, it kills.  It was hate founded in religion that killed Jesus, but God demonstrated his love in this way; “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)  Love is always shown by action, words are often empty.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Love one another

1 John 3:11-18

“For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.” (1 John 3:11)

Why would the Holy Spirit see the need to tell people who have been freed from the power of sin through the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ and have been given the wisdom, righteousness, sanctification; to love one another?  This letter of John was written to Christians, who have been shown so great a love, but are often three quarts low on our dipstick in the love reservoir.  Could it be that many of us are just a little self-absorbed, could it be that we are trying to max out life on planet earth and give little or no thought to what the apostle John had shared earlier in his letter.  Let’s return to that part of the letter, “Do not love the world or the things in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world – the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions – is not from the Father but is from the world.”  That is a very clear message, it seems as if the enemy of our soul has not changed his tactics, they worked on Adam and Eve and they seem to be working well on you and me.

I have no problem taking care of number One, and that is what the Bible refers to as flesh, we all have it and if not put under the control of the Spirit it will rule our mind, our will, and our emotions.  The apostle Paul gave us clarity on this in Galatians 5:16-17, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.  For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”  If you are wondering what flesh looks like, Paul gives us a short list in verses 19-21, and if you go there make sure you read what freedom from the flesh looks like in verses 22-23.  Maybe it would be good to remind us of what freedom from the flesh looks like; it is love, not judgment, it is joy that no one can take from you, but you often give it up without a fight, it is peace, Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  Not as the world gives do I give to you.  Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” (John 14:27)  Who has taken that peace from us, it is very evident that many are troubled and many are afraid.  Have you considered that most of what you fear is your kingdom coming down, it’s a world kingdom, but the good news is it’s not new, in 1John 2:17 we were told, the world is passing away along with its desires.   Often, very often, I am void of patience, and where patience goes so goes kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. 

Speaking about this battle of Spirit and flesh from a personal view, I often forget it’s not over after one victory, it is a war zone, the enemy knows my flesh, in fact he has a good record of what will draw me to believing I can.  And I can, is the battle!  “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)  In Christ “I can,” in Bob I can’t and God never said I could.  Christians, it all comes back to loving, we must put no trust in self we must abide in Christ.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The Practice of Sinning

 

1 John 3:4-10

Do we, or do we not?   Now that is certainly not good English, but do we make a practice of sinning?  If so we also practice lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.  The apostle John letting the Holy Spirit wiggle his lips and move his hand on the parchment, wrote these words; “No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.” (1John 3:6)  What a dilemma!  Has Jesus given all who have come to him by faith the ability to not sin or to keep from making a practice of sinning?

The answer is 100% yes, we choose to sin and yet why would we make such a foolish choice?  I can only come up with three answers to that question; we are either ignorant of what happen when Christ came into our life, we have no real understanding of how our identity changed forever, or we have been taken captive by an evil person.  And the harsh, bold truth is it matters not which of the three scenarios exist, the bottom line is we are not abiding in Christ.

If you think John is teaching something that is not attainable, pay close attention to the apostle Paul in Romans 6: 6,7, “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Looking at verses 11-14, “So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions.  Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.  For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.”  It is clear that many of us are caught in one of the three circumstances listed above, but it comes down to we have chosen to sin.  (Note: sin is used as a noun, it is not a place, and so it has to be a person or thing.)

If you are making a practice of sinning and the act is not disgusting to your spirit, and I’m not talking about killing someone, nor am I talking about stealing or even adultery, none of the big sins, no it may be food, being a glutton, the Bible has a lot of ink on that, it may be your pleasure, doing what you want, when you want, it may be putting self before your family, it matters not because all of these are the tentacles of the evil one reaching deep into your heart, they are all acts of independent living.  If you find that this rings true and yet you also have no desire to change, maybe it would be wise to pay close attention to verses 9,10, “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.  By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Full assurance about Shooting Stars

 

1 John 3:2-3

When I was just a little lad I had many questions about many things; heaven and what that would be like and what would Jesus look like and would we have bodies, would we work, would we eat and drink, would we be able to play football, and would I finely make the team?  It must have been on the minds of many a lad because Jay Livingston and Ray Evans wrote this song that ask a mother many of the same questions.

When I was just a little girl I asked my mother, what will I be Will I be pretty, will I be rich Here's what she said to me.

Que Sera, Sera, Whatever will be, will be The future's not ours, to see Que Sera, Sera
What will be, will be.

When I was young, I fell in love I asked my sweetheart what lies ahead
Will we have rainbows, day after day Here's what my sweetheart said.

Que Sera, Sera, Whatever will be, will be The future's not ours, to see
Que Sera, Sera What will be, will be.

Now I have children of my own They ask their mother, what will I be
Will I be handsome, will I be rich I tell them tenderly.

Que Sera, Sera, Whatever will be, will be The future's not ours, to see
Que Sera, Sera What will be, will be.  (It was first sung by Doris Day in 1956.)

Vanessa Hudgens changed the lyrics and it goes like this: Sometimes I feel like I'm a bird with broken wings At times I dread my now and envy where I've been But that's when quiet wisdom takes control At least I've got a story no one's told

[Chorus]
I finally learned to say Whatever will be will be I've learned to take The good, the bad and breathe 'Cause although we like To know what life's got planned
No one knows if shooting stars will land.  She ended the song in this manner: Whatever will be will be I learned to take The good, the bad and breathe 'Cause although we like
To know what life's got planned Things like that are never in your hands No one knows if shooting stars will land.

There is wisdom in those lyrics, and the apostle John states so clear this message; “Beloved, we are god’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.  And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” (John 3:2-3)  I’m always encouraged when I find others who ask many of these same questions, the apostle Paul gives this answer in Philippians 3:20-21, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”  

Vanessa Hudgens, words should ring in our ears; “Whatever will be will be I learned to take The good, the bad and breathe 'Cause although we like
To know what life's got planned Things like that are never in your hands No one knows if shooting stars will land.”  Listen and be encouraged, for all who are in Christ has this hope, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.  Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”  (1 Corinthians 13:12)  Paul could have ended it with “No one knows if shooting stars will land.” But he would have added these words, but we have full assurance, we who are in Christ, that God has total control of all the shooting stars that come into our lives.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Can Christians Identity be Stolen?

                                                              1 John 3:1

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.  The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”

Have you signed up with one of the many companies that promise to protect your identity?  We are told by the advertisements that every few seconds someone is trying or has stolen someone’s identity, and I’m sure that has some truth to it.  But when it comes to Christian, who claim the name of Christ do they have an identity issues?  On Sunday when many who go by the name Christian show-up for what is called worship, they sing songs, great songs, like “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” or “I Will Sing the Wondrous Story” and what about “I Stand Amazed in the Presence,” but do we?

Only you know if you do, and I must tell you and remind myself that many who are walking in darkness, many who are watching and hoping that you and I are the genuine thing, yes they are hoping we are authentic, not a Sunday Christian but a person who understand these truths: (You are now justified and redeemed) Romans 3:24; (Free from sin’s power) Romans 6:7; (Accepted in Him) Romans 15:7; (Have wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption) 1 Corinthians 1:30; (Mind of Christ is in you) 1 Corinthians 2:16; (One with the Holy Spirit) 1 Corinthians 6:17; (We have the righteousness of God and we cannot get more righteous); ( A son/daughter and heir of God) Galatians 4:7; (Blessed with every spiritual blessing) Ephesians 1:3; (Chosen, holy, blameless before God, Redeemed, forgiven) Ephesians 1:4; (Sealed in the Spirit) Ephesians 1:13.  That’s who we are in Christ, and all who go by His name should acknowledge and agree with what our Father has said about our identity.

Sometime back I wrote a paper on “What If” and in that paper I stated that the lost identity of many Christians would be recovered, and those walking in darkness would see Jesus if we own up to whom we are.  The last paragraph of that paper says; “What If” you and I acted like Jesus tells the truth, and began to act like who God says we are?  How would your life change?  Would you live in fear?  Would you worry about today or the future?  Would you tell others about Jesus?  The answer should be yes, because our actions would match up with our beliefs.  You can be in a room with many TV’s, but unless you turn them on you will not see or hear anything.  God is living in your vessel if you are in Christ, but He is waiting for you and me to believe, He is waiting for us, by faith to turn on your spirit to look and listen, and abide in your source of Life.” 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

                                            

He Does

 

1John 2:24-28

“Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you.  If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father.”

I have a full understanding that most of the people who receive this are better educated than the writer so I must ask you to bear with me when I define a word like abide.  Abide: to remain; to stand fast; to stay, reside, to submit to and carry out, as a decision.  With that word defined, what is it that you heard from the beginning?  Could it be John’s opening statement about Jesus Christ?  “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life – the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us.” (1 John 1:1-2) 

John also wanted to make sure that we understood that not only was He God, but that to have fellowship and to have a relationship we must take seriously this message from Jesus and was recorded in 1 John 1:5-6, “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.  If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”  Often, while studying the Bible, it seems I revert back to a small child in my questioning; this word keeps coming to my mind, “Why”!  I no longer ask how, I’ve come to the understanding my Lord Jesus Christ is the “How,” but I’m still asking why would the Creator want to have fellowship with us?  I’ve come to this deep truth, “He does.”  John 3:16; Ephesians 2: 4-5, give us the “He Does.”

My search for answers to my why, took me back to Genesis 1:26, “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.  And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”  This thought came into my mind, when God formed man out of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, man not only became a living creature, but unlike any other creature, man had the breath of God living in him. They allowed the enemy to talk them out of abiding, and they went from residing with God to an independent life. That’s what Adam and Eve gave up wanting to be like God, and that breath of God was withdrawn. That is why God sent His Son, His only Son, because He loves us, He wants to walk in the garden of our lives and have fellowship with us, and that’s why we must abide in Him.

The other thing that is crystal clear is that like Adam and Eve, we are easily deceived into running after that life of independent living, but God has spoken, and He will not have fellowship with anyone who walks in darkness.  The apostle John, gives this insight: “And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.”  (1John 2:28)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Many Antichrist

 

1 John 2:18-23

A warning about antichrist, and many minds will go instantly to a person who comes on the world stage with all kinds of charisma, he is a handsome person, and he is brilliant; he is a solver of many of the problems facing the world.  And the masses are willing to make him their ruler, because he is a leader, and all he demands is obedience, but they soon will find out that they have lost all freedom, and that he demands to be worshipped.  That is not whom the apostle John is making reference to, the antichrists John is telling us about have been around since Christ walked on planet earth. 

We are seeing more preachers from some church you have never heard of coming on the world stage and telling us that Jesus is coming back on October 12, at 6:01 PM.  That is a very different message from the one given in this letter by apostle John; that time is running out, Jesus is coming back, look at what John has to say: Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come.  Therefore we know that it is the last hour.  They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us.  But they went our, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.  But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.  I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.  Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ?  This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.  No one who denies the Son has the Father.  Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.”

Now we know what to look for or do we?  Do we have names for these antichrists, yes we call then atheist, or agnostic, and they are surely antichrist, but are they whom the apostle John is warning us about.  In 1 John 4:1-3, we have these words: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets (teachers, preachers, seminary professors, and priests) have gone out into the world.  By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.  This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.” (Emphases add)

I learned very early in the art of sales that people do not always hear or understand the subject matter you are trying to sell, so repeating the main points of the presentation is very helpful and success is when the customer can engage in dialogue and they refer to the technology you have discussed.  I’ve also found it is helpful when wives are talking to their husbands while he is watching sports on T.V.  The apostle John must have understood that concept because he is addressing the antichrists two of his three letters to the church, to us.  In his second letter verse 7, “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh.  Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.  Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward.” 

So watch-out my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, for just as Christ lives in you, the spirit of Satan lives in these deceivers, the ones John is referring to as antichrists.  They will be very deceptive, they will be great at putting the right spin on their lies, and they will use very religious words, but they are only out for personal gain, or they are being used to turn your heart away from the word of God, and to guide you to the believes of some man. 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

And that’s the contrast!

 

1 John 2:14-17

The word contrast can be defined as differences between the lightest and the darkest parts of something, for example to create a special effect in a painting, photograph, or in this case John’s letter to the church.  John was showing us a contrast between a Christian who has been taken captive by the desires of their flesh and the world system, and the Christian who is abiding in God.  The one taken captive often says the right words, is a member of their church, sings in the choir, and gives a token or more in its support, but their heart is about their kingdom, not the kingdom of God. 

This is John’s contrast, it begins in verse 14; “I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.  I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.”  These Christians are not your average churchgoers; they know who the Creator is, and they know Jesus and these young men are being commended for spending time in the word of God and obeying it; the Scriptures have become their road map, their guide on how to live in victory on planet earth.  In no way is John saying they are going to have a easy time on planet earth, he is not implying they will have good health, or wealth, no, he is only stating they will live in victory over the evil one.  The contrast is the many who claim the name of Christ, they are morally good people, they do good and not bad, but Jesus said I have this against you; You are not hot or cold, your eyes are on the world system, on what you have or don’t have, and in Revelation 3:17, Jesus makes this observation: “For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.”  The contrast is your stuff does not impress the One who gave His life for you, but the one who abides in and obeys His commandments He takes great pleasure in.  So how can a member of the body of Christ go from someone who Jesus says He wants to spit out of His mouth, to one He takes great pleasure in?  It’s simple, you stop loving self and you ask God to show you how to love Him with all your being.

The apostle John’s words are very confronting to this writer, he is addressing Christians, and it is a warning of what can happen if we take our eyes off the prize, the highest calling my utmost of His highest.  “Do not love the world or the things in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world – the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions – is not from the Father but is from the world.  And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” (1 John 2:15-17)  The contrast between verse 14, and verses 15-17 are so wide that I believe an example might be helpful.  My dermatologist is a great example of a man who abides in the word of God.  Vincent and his wife have three children, but God has put into their heart to make an investment in some older children, and they just adopted four, the oldest is a 15 year old girl, then two 13 year olds, both girls and a 9 year old boy, who has been in an institution almost from birth.  Vincent shared that they understood before obeying that this would not be easy, that it would bring many challenges into their family and home, but they wanted to obey more than they wanted ease of life. 

There are I’m sure many examples of people who listen and obey, but Vincent’s story is fresh, we have been praying and they have been open for over a year to invest in adopting older children who need to have a home, need to see the love of Jesus and that prayer has been answered, and now we are praying for those children.  They do not understand the price that Vincent’s family was willing to pay, they do not understand this new country or it customs, and they sure do not have any understanding of being a family, of being loved.

I am so glad you and I do not have to do as Vincent’s family has done to be obedient, but God does have a plan, and it may not fit into your plans at this time, but the apostle John will tell you that if you are in tune with God, and if you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, it comes down to a choice of kingdoms, yours or His.  And that’s the contrast!

Form the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

"Anxiety is the end of faith"

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1 John 2:7-11

When the word “hate” is used often it denotes a bad connotation about another person.  It is rare thing to hate someone whom we do not know, but some have been taught to hate people of a different race or color than themselves.  Not many, but a few of the worlds religions teach their followers to hate anyone who is different than them, the Muslin religion teaches them to kill infidels, where as Jesus taught His followers to love their enemies and to do good, not harm to those who persecute them.  Has the teaching of Jesus Christ been lost in this generation?  I’m fearful that many of us have been blinded by fear, that many of us who go by the name of Jesus are not keepers of His commandments and when put under the microscope of our community, those we work with and come in contact with do not see Jesus, but see us as religious; just religious. 

You see many of us who go by the name of Christian, and I do mean many read your e-mails, it’s Christians who are acting as if it is up to them to save the world, not by what Jesus commanded, but by getting out the vote.  Before you hang me, please be an informed voter, please vote, and please pray for the ones you sent to congress.  With that said, Matthew 24 is a clear declaration of the closing of this age that we call the Church age, listen to what Jesus said.  “They will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake.  And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.  And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.  And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.  But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”  (Matthew 24:9-13)  These things are happening on our watch!  Many of us are so taken with this world and it’s system that we believe our action of stirring up the masses of Christians can stop it or delay what Jesus spoke about in Matthew 24. 

It will never happen till we repent of wanting our own kingdom, and not His kingdom, but if we who are followers would humble ourselves and pray and seek His face, we would cease from fear, we would love our enemies and then many would see the light of Jesus living in us.  That is the good news, and many would be attracted to Jesus Christ and be saved out of this present darkness and God would say well done, my good and faithful child.  But I also believe that will not stop the haters of God from fulfilling what Jesus said in Matthew 24, “They will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake.” 

But the New Commandment is much the same as the Old Commandment, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the great and first commandment.  And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  (Matthew 22:37-39)  Now do not ask who is my neighbor, it’s anyone you come in contact with, it’s the guy who is telling lies about you at work hoping to get your job.  So the apostle John tells us the following: “But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”  (1John 2:11)  Christians, Jesus has commanded us to be children of the light, have you been blinded by the darkness? This quote from George Mueller speaks volumes: “The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice