“The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” John 6:63. “You shall be witnesses to Me.” Acts 1:8.

The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night. The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. Psalm 121:6-7.

Our chapter, 1 John 3, is one of the hardest chapters I have ever read. I needed to pray for understanding as I fumbled over the words that convicted my whole being. And afterward in prayer, He reminded me my own hate is a bottleneck – and to let His love pour like living streams in me. That His love can flow and bring the healing I long for; and that as I trust Him, His teaching begins anew as His love brings healing. Here we go: and first, the last sentence from the last chapter, If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him. – See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother. For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous. Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things. 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 the things that are pleasing in His sight. This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

My own heart condemns me because of the hate I have for people who do grievous harm. I know my own thoughts. I know how much I need Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit. This helped this morning from You Are The Beloved by Henri Nouwen: “Imagine how important this message is for us and for the people in our world. If it is true that God in Jesus Christ is waiting for our response to divine love, then we can discover a whole new perspective on how to wait in life. We can learn to be obedient people who do not always try to go back to the action but recognize the fulfillment of our deepest humanity in passion, in waiting. If we can do this, I am convinced that we will come in touch with the power and the glory of God and our own new life. Our service to others will include our helping them see the glory breaking through – not only where they are active but also where they are being acted upon. And so the spirituality of waiting is not simply our waiting for God. It is also participating in God’s own waiting for us and in that way coming to share in the deepest love, which is God’s love.” If you are struck as I was by reading our chapter, overwhelmed by what I know is in me that is so far removed from God’s divine love, listen to what He says to us – Return to Him. Turn to Him and be healed and find the healing we long for. God is Love. His love heals the nations and those who turn to Him now. And let this prayer be in us – that His love brings healing to His children that He can gather them unto Him. This is His commandment…that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another just as He commanded us. Jesus the Son, Creator God, came down to be with us...so that…we know love by this – that He laid down His life for us…and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Is it so hard really to turn to the One who gives so much for us?