SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 07-01-04
My Worship Time Focus: The Old
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference:
1John 2:7
Message
of the verse: “I am not writing to tell you of any new
command, brothers of mine. It is the old command which you had at the
beginning; it is the old message which you have heard before.” (PHILIPS)
“Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old
commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the
word which you have heard.” (NAS)
John is writing to his readers to
remind them that there has always been a commandment to love. It can be seen in this verse that the
emphasis is new. In the previous section
John has been writing about commandments in general, but in this section he
lifts out the commandment of love and puts it above the rest of the
commandments. Paul writes much about
love in his letters, especially in his letter to the Corinthians, and in
particular in chapter 13, where he concludes that love is the greatest. As mentioned before about the word love, it
is the Greek word agape that is used on many occasions in the NT. The Greeks had three words for love, and two
of them are found in the NT, agape is the kind of love that God loves with, and
is also the kind of love that believers are to love one another with. Philia is a friendship kind of love and is
where we get the name for Philadelphia, which means city of brotherly
love.
It should be noted that when a
person is born again that God puts this agape love into their heart, and it is
certainly different from the kind life that a person has had before their
conversion. Romans 5:8 has this to say
about this kind of love, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:5b gives more insight into a new believer’s new love, “because
the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit
who was given to us.” This new
commandment of love is not natural for a person, but it is a gift that God
gives to all of His born-again children, and He wants us to love one another to
show that we truly belong to Him.
Spiritual meaning for my life
today: As I think back to last
nights lesson on “Who is God,” and the discussion that our group had about
being able to show others who God is, I can’t help but think by loving the
brethren, and also having a love for the lost will surely go a long way in
showing the lost who my God is.
The Word
of God has been a big challenge to my heart as I read it this morning.
My Steps of Faith Today:
To be available to have the Lord fill me with His agape love for my wife
and for others.
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