The first epistle of John displays a unique writing style. One of the most characteristic aspects of this apostle’s letters is the way in which he frequently compares or contrasts spiritual situations.

​In 1 John 1:9-10, for example, he contrasts “If we confess our sins” with “If we claim we have not sinned.”  As we continue through his letter we find that he compares “Whoever loves his brother” with “whoever hates his brother” (1 John 2:10-11); “The one who does what is right” with “The one who does what is sinful” (1 John 3:7-8); “Every spirit that acknowledges … Jesus …” with “every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus” (1 John 4:2-3), and so on.

This frequent use of comparison or contrast lends a dynamic force to what John writes –  it is straightforward, to the point, and unequivocal.  But sometimes the lesson behind the comparison is not quite as easy to see, and we may miss it if we do not keep an eye open for occurrences of the pattern. A good example of this is found in the third chapter of John’s letter:

This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God … (1 John 3:19-21).

The immediate contrast between “If our hearts condemn us” and “if our hearts do not condemn us” is clear enough, but the lesson John points to here is perhaps not as obvious.  At face value it might seem that John is simply saying if our hearts or “consciences” condemn us, God is greater than our hearts (vs. 20); but what does that mean?
 
To understand the contrast John is making, we must widen our view to look at the context in which these verses appear.  Beginning in verse 10 of chapter 3, all the way up to verse 19 where John begins to talk about our consciences condemning or not condemning us, John speaks continually about whether we love one another or not: “This is how we know who the children of God are … Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister. For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another….  We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other… Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:10-18).

John then states that “This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: if our hearts condemn us …” (vs. 19-20).  Knowing that “we belong to the truth,” as John puts it, is not a result of what he says next –  our hearts condemning or not condemning us – because we cannot always trust our own conscience to be a judge of our behavior (Jeremiah 17:9). Rather, John refers to what he has just said:  that we love others in our behavior and in truth (vs. 18); and to what he says after this verse, that we have confidence before God because we keep his commands “… to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us” (vs. 23).  

The theme of love is really the main point of the third chapter and of John’s entire letter, and this immediate context allows us to paraphrase the point of 1 John 3:19-20 something like this:

“… because we demonstrate our love for one another in actions and in truth, we know that we are the children of God and this sets our conscience at rest… Even if our conscience sometimes causes us to doubt our standing before God, we know our conscience is not the final judge and that God, who sees the love he has placed within us, accepts us and hears us – for ongoing love of others in our lives is the proof that God does not reject or condemn us, and that he hears us.”
​
We all occasionally groan under the weight of conscience and in our most discouraged moments we may wonder if we are really a child of God, or if God hears us.  But John’s message shows us that the outgoing and ongoing love God places in us through his Spirit is the proof that we are indeed his children.  It's a tremendously encouraging lesson, but –  like many of John’s lessons –  it is one we can only see properly when we consider what he wrote in its full context. 

*For more studies on the Epistles of John, download our free book Seven Letters: Lessons from the General Epistles available in e-book and audio book formats here.

The word “gospel” means “good news” and in that sense, all the four gospels contain a joyful message. But there is one gospel that focuses on joy – we might almost say it is filled with joy – and that gospel is Luke. Joy may not be as noticeable as some of Luke’s other themes, but it is a very real emphasis of his gospel, nonetheless.  Luke begins and ends his account of the life of Jesus by focusing on joy, and between these two “bookends” he mentions joy more than any other gospel – in fact, more than any other book of the New Testament.

At the beginning of his gospel, Luke (alone) records two events in which great joy is  evident. Luke gives us a “prequel” to his account by recording the birth story of John the Baptist – whose parents are told “He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth” (Luke 1:14). Luke notes that while still in Elizabeth’s womb, John “leaped for joy” (Luke 1:44) at the sound of Mary’s voice, and that even her neighbors and relatives shared her joy (Luke 1:58).

In the same way, in Luke’s account of the nativity of Christ, joy is equally evident when the angel announces the birth of Jesus to the shepherds with the words: “I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people” (Luke 2:10).  That “good news” was, of course, the beginning of the “gospel” – a message of potentially unparalleled joy for everyone (“for all the people”) that through Jesus Christ those who were lost and doomed could now be saved.
Once we enter the body of Luke’s gospel, we find multiple references to joy. Luke records Jesus’ admonition that we find joy even in times of persecution (Luke 6:23), that those like the seed that fell on rocky ground only temporarily receive the word with joy (Luke 8:13), that the seventy–two Jesus sent out returned with joy (Luke 10:17), and that Jesus himself was full of joy through the Holy Spirit (Luke 10:21).

But it is the joy of the lost being found that underlies much of what the Evangelist writes.  Joy is at the heart of the three parables he records regarding the shepherd who goes in search of the lost sheep (Luke 15:3–7), the woman who searches for a lost coin (Luke 15:8–10), and the father who daily looked for the return of his lost son (Luke 15:11–32). Each of these parables ends with a joyful celebration: the shepherd invites everyone to rejoice with him, as does the woman when she finds her coin, and the father whose son had been lost has finally returned.

But while Matthew records, for example, some of the parable of the lost sheep (Matthew 18:12–14), Luke alone includes Jesus’ words “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety–nine righteous persons who do not need to repent” (Luke 15:7). In the same way, all four gospels record the miracles of Jesus, and the resurrected Jesus appearing to the disciples, but only Luke records the joy of the people at Jesus’ works (Luke 19:37), and only Luke (Luke 24:41) and John (John 20:20) record the disciples’ great joy at seeing their resurrected Lord.

When we look for it, we find joy throughout the third gospel. Given what we have seen of this continued focus, it is perhaps not surprising that Luke’s account ends in exactly that way – with the words “Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy ...” (Luke 24:52).

If we want to read a gospel account that highlights the joy that Jesus and his disciples had, or we would simply like to read the Bible’s most joy–filled book, we need look no further than Luke.

*Extracted from our free e-book Lessons from Luke: Understanding More of the Third Gospel. Download a free copy here.

Ironic as it might seem, the further we progress along the way to which we are called as Christians, the more it seems we see the failings and errors  of our own nature.   That can be discouraging at times, but when it happens we need to remember something. 

The Bible gives us two stories that speak to this situation, though we might not realize it unless we give the matter some thought. The first story, in the Old Testament, relates to a vision of the prophet Isaiah:

“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple… “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty” (Isaiah 6:1,5).

Isaiah’s very clear reaction on seeing God in this vision was one of understanding his own spiritual inadequacy and “uncleanness.”   Now compare this story with another in the New Testament  – how Jesus revealed his divine power to Peter and the men fishing with him:

“One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret … he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”….   When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break …. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”  (Luke 5:1-8).

Although these two stories may seem very different on the surface, Peter’s reaction to seeing even a small glimpse of Jesus’ divinity was not unlike the effect of the vision of Isaiah – it was a realization of his own unworthiness and sinful nature.   Admittedly, these events occurred at the beginning of the careers of the two servants of God, but the principle remains the same – the more we come to understand of God, the more we are conscious of our own failings. 

It was many years after the conversion of the apostle Paul that he wrote: “What a wretched man I am!” (Romans 7:24), and “… I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle…” (1 Corinthians 15:9). Yet Paul continued this same thought to the Corinthian Christians: “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect” (vs. 10).  Despite his painful awareness of his own failings – after many years  of God working with him – Paul could still say near the end of his life: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).  Both statements were true! Just like the rest of us, Paul doubtless realized his own spiritual failings all the more as the years progressed, yet he knew that God was changing him and completing a purpose in his life.  

To use a simple analogy, before conversion we live in spiritual darkness – like living in a dark room – and cannot see any of the “stains” and “black marks” of sin that cover us.  As we are converted and move  toward the “light” (remember, God is spiritual light), the more we begin to see those black marks on ourselves – and the brighter the light becomes, the more we see even the smallest stains.

It is a  simple truth of the Christian life that the more we grow and come to see God, the less we like what we see of ourselves. Yet this can be encouraging – looked at the other way around, the less we like what we see of ourselves the more we are probably seeing of God and moving closer to him! 

This is not the same as living our lives in a despondent spiritual attitude that focuses on how unworthy we are.  It is just an honest realization of our own spiritual inadequacy and a heightened awareness of ways in which we do fail – sometimes in small things that we would never have noticed earlier in our Christian lives. 
 
Perhaps we can say that our occasional discouragement with our own failings can be turned around.  The more we see the failings of our own nature, the more we can be encouraged that we are doubtless moving closer to God who is enabling us to see those things.  We can rejoice that just as we see ourselves more clearly as we move closer to God, he can continue the process of helping us to see him and making us more like him. 

Sometimes God speaks to us …. despite everything.

Matthew sat alone in his cell staring at the letter.  Imprisoned in a country not friendly to Christianity, Matthew (not his real name) was kept in relative isolation and the only contact he had with the outside world was in the form of occasional heavily censored letters he was allowed to receive from his family. The letters had any words of encouragement – especially scripture quotations – completely covered over by the heavy black markers of the government prison censors.

In the long months Matthew had been imprisoned he had come to deeply resent those patches of blackness that cut him off from the love of his family.  Until today.  Now, Matthew looked at the patches of black obscuring much of the latest letter he had received and smiled.  Matthew was a happier man.

The truth of the situation had dawned on Matthew like a personal revelation. He had come to see that the black marks and patches on his letters did not obscure his family’s love for him – they highlighted it.  He saw that every obscuring black mark was not a denial of the love felt for him, but proof of it.  Sometimes he could guess that there was a scripture behind the blackness from quote marks not obscured at the beginning or end of the marking. If the censors blacked out words individually he could guess from a short word blacked out after the quote marks that it was probably the reference to a quoted verse in Psalms, which his family knew was his favorite book of the Bible. Very occasionally, if he held the letter up to what light he had, he could make out faint traces of what was written and have some idea of what was being said  to him.

As time progressed, Matthew came to resent the black marks less and less. Sometimes he would take out a letter and just look at the marks, because he knew that behind them was the love of his family, and understanding what lay behind the black marks – even though he could not see through them – sustained Matthew until he was eventually released.

Sometimes, when we go through the trials of life, it’s hard to see God’s love for us.  We may even come to resent the black marks and clouds of life: the illnesses, job losses, persecutions, or whatever seems to obscure God’s love and concern for us.  But if we learn to see them as we should, we can come to see behind the black patches in our lives.   On occasion we may be able to make out the writing of loving correction in things that go wrong (Hebrews 12:6), but this is not always the case and often, like Job, we may see that we are being given an opportunity to learn or grow. But, again like Job, we don’t always see God for the storm – until we realize we are being taught something and we hear the voice of God speaking through the dark clouds (Job 38:1), or through the dark patches that seem to come between us and him.  

In fact, if we come to see the black patches of life as we should, we realize that once we have committed ourselves to God, we can know that his love is always behind them even if we do not see it clearly (1 Corinthians 13:12).  We can remember that every dark patch of life, although it might seem to obscure God's love,  in reality is being used to teach, guide and form us, or to help others in some way. We come to realize that the black patches of life do not deny Gods’ love for us; they actually affirm that it is there.  

From John Ortberg, THE ME I WANT TO BE:  BECOMING GOD’S BEST VERSION OF YOU.  Zondervan, 2010, p. 21.


“How is your spiritual life going?”  

I used to answer this question by looking at the state of my devotional activities.  Did I pray and read the Bible enough today?  The problem is that by this measure the Pharisees always win.  People can be very disciplined, but remain proud and spiteful.  How do we measure spiritual growth so that the Pharisees don’t win?  

 I asked a wise man, “How do you assess the well-being of your soul?”  He immediately said, “I ask myself two questions”:  Am I growing more easily discouraged these days?  Am I growing more easily irritated these days?  

At the core of a flourishing soul are the love of God and the peace of God.  If peace is growing in me, I am less easily discouraged.  If love is growing, I am less easily irritated.  It was a brilliantly helpful diagnostic to assess the health of my soul.  

How would you answer those two questions?

Could you use some encouragement right now? Do you know anyone who could?   Either way the new book just published by our sister site, TacticalChristianity.org is for you! 

This new eBook is a collection of practical essays – some from past blog posts on our sites and some specifically written for this book – on a subject we all need to hear about: encouragement.

Some Days We Soar: Words of Encouragement for the Christian Life is available in different formats (including PDF so you can read it on any electronic device). The book  is written from a non-denominational perspective, is completely free and free of advertising. You do not need to give an email address or any other information to download the book (just click on the link on our sister site's "Downloads" page and enjoy).  Like all our books, if you enjoy Some Days We Soar and find it profitable, feel free to make a copy of the file and pass it, or the URL, along to your friends and others you know who may find the book helpful.

This book may not make your problems go away, but it may help you soar over them, so download it now and remember the encouraging fact we mentioned – it's free!

For other free eBooks, see the "Downloads" page on this site here.

For the ancient Romans, being “two faced” was not a negative thing suggesting hypocrisy as in our culture. The pagan Romans had their two-faced god Janus who presided over beginnings and transitions, endings and time. Janus was particularly associated with beginnings such as the new year (though there is indication the month of January was not named after him, as popularly believed, but rather after the goddess Juno).  

Janus’ two faces looked back and forward – both over what had happened in the past as well as toward what lay ahead.  It seems that there is something in human nature that tends to do this – to look back as much as we  look forward. 

After all, what we will be and do is so often the product of what we have been and have done. 
Yet this is the very attitude that the apostle Paul argues against in telling us “ … I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of [salvation]. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead” (Philippians 3:13).  There is physical evidence that this is a good idea. Despite the fact that many regard New Year’s as a time of celebration and partying, it is also, tragically, a time of many suicides each year.  The reason for a great many of those suicides – where it is known – is usually not because of fear of the future, but because of discouragement and sorrow over the past.

There is certainly nothing wrong with remembering lessons learned in the past and in reminiscing on times with loved ones and good things such as blessings we have received. However, both the Bible and modern psychology make it clear that there is nothing to be gained by staring at the negatives of our past, and this is especially true at this time of year.  Focusing two ways – looking as much backward as forward – is just another way of being “double minded,” which we know the Bible also tells us not to be (James 1:8).

We know the old clichés: “Focusing on the past is like driving your car with your eyes on the rearview mirror,” “If the past calls, don’t answer – it has nothing new to say,” and so on, but they really are true. While Christians, hopefully, are not at as high a risk of situational depression as many less fortunate individuals, remembering the problems of our past – all the way up to yesterday – can distract us from where we should be going.  Those old Janus statues illustrate this. The face that looks back cannot see the future, and the face that looks forward cannot see the past. It’s a useful analogy to remember as we go into each new year and every new day.

It's something we all like to receive and something we can all use.  What is it?   You'll see soon - but first you have to take a pop quiz!  Don’t worry, though – there are only two questions and I’ll take the quiz with you.

First Question: How many times (roughly, but estimating an average) do you think you could use some encouragement in a given month, considering your financial, health, family, work or other problems?  Answer: I don’t know about you, but I’d say a bit of friendly encouragement might certainly help once or twice a month – and I’m very fortunate not to have too many major problems at this point.

Second Question:  How many times, on average, do you think you encourage others in a given month?  Answer: Oops! I have to admit that if I don’t actively think about it, it might not be often – and if everyone around me could use some encouragement once or twice a month (doubtless there are others who could use a good bit more), that is quite a deficit.

Some people are upbeat and encouraging by nature.  Acts 4:36 mentions Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, to whom the apostles gave the name Barnabas - or “son of encouragement.”  We aren’t given further details, but if you know a man or woman like Barnabas, you know what a difference such an individual can make in our daily lives.  

Romans 12:8 shows that some people, like Barnabas, have this trait in large measure: “[If your gift is] to encourage, then give encouragement.” So although most of us may have to work at developing this trait,  encouragement is also one of the gifts of the Spirit of God (I Corinthians 12:4-11, 13:4-7) that we can claim in faith, as we see in this week’s article “Encouragement in the Faith.”  We encourage you to take a look ….