June 11, 2023 – John’s Writings – Complex Love

Complex Love

Deuteronomy 10:12-20 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ Now I had stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights, as I did the first time, and the Lord listened to me at this time also. It was not his will to destroy you. ¹¹ “Go,” the Lord said to me, “and lead the people on their way, so that they may enter and possess the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.”

¹² And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, ¹³ and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?

¹⁴ To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. ¹⁵ Yet the Lord set his affection on your ancestors and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations—as it is today. ¹⁶ Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. ¹⁷ For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. ¹⁸ He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. ¹⁹ And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. ²⁰ Fear the Lord your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name.

How long did Moses stay on the mountain (verse 10)?

What was not the Lord’s will (verse 10)?

Why was Moses to “Go” and “lead the people on their way” (verse 11)?

What does the Lord ask of Israel (verses 12 and 13)?

Who does “the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it” belong to (verse 14)?

How did the Lord feel about Israel’s ancestors (verse 15)?

In your opinion, how does circumcising their hearts help the Israelites not to “be stiff-necked any longer” (verse 16)?

Who is “God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome” (verse 17)?

Who does the Lord love (verse 18)?

Who are the Israelites to love (verse 19)?

Who are the Israelites to fear (verse 20)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage show us about how to move from being “stiff-necked” to accepting and acknowledging Jesus?

John 13:12-20 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” ¹¹ For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

¹² When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. ¹³ “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. ¹⁴ Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. ¹⁶ Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷ Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

¹⁸ “I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turned against me.’

¹⁹ “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am. ²⁰ Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.”

What do “those who have had a bath” need to wash (verse 10)?

Were all of those with Jesus clean (verse 10)?

What did Jesus know (verse 11)?

Who said “do you understand what I have done for you” (verse 12)?

What is Jesus (verse 13)?

What is Jesus’s command (verse 14)?

Who set the example (verse 15)?

Who is not greater than the master (verse 16)?

When will the disciples, and us, be blessed (verse 17)?

What does Jesus know (verse 18)?

Why was Jesus telling them “now before it happens” (verse 19)?

Who accepts Jesus (verse 20)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage show us about how to move from being “stiff-necked” to accepting and acknowledging Jesus?

In your opinion, how do the words and actions of Jesus in John 13:12-20 teach us about living God’s command in Deuteronomy 10:12-20 to “fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees”?

2 John 4-11 – New International Version (NIV)

⁴ It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. ⁵ And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. ⁶ And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

⁷ I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. ⁸ Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. ⁹ Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. ¹⁰ If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them. ¹¹ Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work.

What has given John “great joy” (verse 4)?

When was the commandment John is going to write given (verse 5)?

What is the commandment (verse 5)?

What is love (verse 6)?

How does John describe the many deceivers (verse 7)?

Where have the many deceivers gone (verse 7)?

What are believers to “watch out” for (verse 8)?

Who does not have God (verse 9)?

Who has “both the Father and the Son” (verse 9)?

How should believers respond to anyone who “comes to you and does not bring this teaching” (verse 10)?

Who “shares in their wicked work” (verse 11)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage show us about how to move from being “stiff-necked” to accepting and acknowledging Jesus?

In your opinion, why is the command that John shared in 2 John 4-11 simpler than the command that Moses gave in Deuteronomy 10:12-20?  Does simpler mean easier?

In your opinion, how would refusing to acknowledge that Jesus came in the flesh, as the deceivers do in 2 John 4-11, undermine the power of John 13:12-20’s message?

Revelation 19:11-16 – New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. ¹² His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. ¹³ He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. ¹⁴ The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. ¹⁵ Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. ¹⁶ On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:

king of kings and lord of lords.

What was “standing open” (verse 11)?

Who is the rider of the white horse (verse 11)?

How does He judge and wage war (verse 11)?

What are His eyes like (verse 12)?

What is His name (verse 13)?

Who was following Him (verse 14)?

What will He do with the sharp sword coming out of His mouth (verse 15)?

What does He tread (verse 15)?

Where is “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS” written (verse 16)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage show us about how to move from being “stiff-necked” to accepting and acknowledging Jesus?

In your opinion, how do you explain the difference in the actions of God who in Deuteronomy 10:12-20 did not want to destroy but who in Revelation 19:11-16 “judges and wages war”?

In your opinion, how do you explain the difference in the actions of Jesus who in John 13:12-20 washed everyone’s feet but who in Revelation 19:11-16 “judges and wages war”?

In your opinion, how does the prophecy of Revelation 19:11-16 that Jesus will strike down nations and rule with an iron scepter make 2 John 4-11’s instruction to “watch out” for deceivers more powerful? 

In your opinion, what do these passages from Deuteronomy, John, 2 John and Revelation teach us the about the complex love of God?

In your opinion, how does the command to love transform those who Jesus has chosen?  How does the command to love transform the world?

 

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

February 12, 2023 – John’s Writings – The Son’s Victorious Kingdom

 The Son’s Victorious Kingdom

Daniel 2:36-45 - New International Version (NIV)

³⁶ “This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. ³⁷ Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; ³⁸ in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.

³⁹ “After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. ⁴⁰ Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. ⁴¹ Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. ⁴² As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. ⁴³ And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.

⁴⁴ “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. ⁴⁵ This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.

What was Daniel going to do with the dream (verse 36)?

Who has given the king “dominion and power and might and glory” (verse 37)?

What is the king (verse 38)?

How will the next kingdom compare to the current kingdom (verse 39)?

What will the fourth kingdom do (verse 40)?

How do we know that the fourth kingdom will “be a divided kingdom” (verse 41)?

Why will the people of the fourth kingdom not remain united (verse 43)?

When will the God of heaven “set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed” (verse 44)?

What will this kingdom do to “all those kingdoms” (verse 44)?

How long will this kingdom “endure” (verse 44)?

What did not cut the rock that is the kingdom that will never be destroyed out of the mountain (verse 45)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about our part in God’s victorious and eternal kingdom?

John 8:30-38 - New International Version (NIV)

³⁰ Even as he spoke, many believed in him.

³¹ To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. ³² Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

³³ They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

³⁴ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. ³⁵ Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. ³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. ³⁷ I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word. ³⁸ I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.”

What happened while Jesus spoke (verse 30)?

Who did Jesus tell “if you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples” (verse 31)?

What else will happen if the hold to Jesus teaching (verse 32)?

In your opinion, why would the Jews say “we are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone” (verse 33)?

How did Jesus respond to them (verse 34)?

Where does the son belong forever (verse 35)?

What happens when the Son sets you free (verse 36)?

Why were the Jews looking to kill Jesus (verse 37)?

What are the Jews doing (verse 38)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about our part in God’s victorious and eternal kingdom?

In your opinion, what do the words of Jesus in John 8:30-38 help us understand about the kingdom that Daniel 2:36-45 says God will set up?

2 John 4-11 – New International Version (NIV)

⁴ It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. ⁵ And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. ⁶ And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

⁷ I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. ⁸ Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. ⁹ Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. ¹⁰ If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them. ¹¹ Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work.

What has given John “great joy” (verse 4)?

What is the command “we have had from the beginning” (verse 5)?

What is love (verse 6)?

Who does “not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh” (verse 7)?

Who is the antichrist (verse 7)?

What are the readers to “watch out” for (verse 8)?

Who “does not have God” (verse 9)?

Who has “both the Father and the Son” (verse 9)?

How should we respond to someone who “does not bring this teaching” (verse 10)?

Who “shares in their wicked work” (verse 11)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about our part in God’s victorious and eternal kingdom?

In your opinion, what does 2 John 4-11 help us understand about how the kingdom that God is setting up in Daniel 2:36-45 is different from the worldly kingdoms that will be crushed?

In your opinion, what differences do John 8:30-38 and 2 John 4-11 show us between the kingdom of God and worldly kingdoms?

Revelation 13:1-10 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ The dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. ² The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. ³ One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast. ⁴ People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?”

⁵ The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months. ⁶ It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. ⁷ It was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. ⁸ All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.

⁹ Whoever has ears, let them hear.

¹⁰ “If anyone is to go into captivity,
    into captivity they will go.
If anyone is to be killed with the sword,
    with the sword they will be killed.”

This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people.

Where did the dragon stand (verse 1)?

Where did the beast come from (verse 1)?

What did the dragon give the beast (verse 2)?

How did the “whole world” respond to the beast (verse 3)?

Who did people worship (verse 4)?

Why was the beast given a mouth (verse 5)?

Who did the beast slander (verse 6)?

What was the beast given the power to do (verse 7)?

Who will worship the beast (verse 8)?

What are people with ears to do (verse 9)?

What is called for “on the part of God’s people” verse 10)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about our part in God’s victorious and eternal kingdom?

In your opinion, what does Daniel 2:36-45 help us understand about the seeming dominance of the beast in Revelation 13:1-10?

In your opinion, how does the conflict between Jesus doing what He saw in His Father’s presence and the Jews doing what they heard from their father in John 8:30-38 help us better understand the conflict between those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life and those whose names are not in Revelation 13:1-10?

In your opinion, why is 2 John 4-11’s command to “love one another” important in relationship to the worldwide worship of the dragon and the beast revealed by Revelation 13:1-10? 

In your opinion, what do these passages from Daniel, John, 1 John and Revelation teach us about how we are freed from the seemingly overwhelmingly powerful world kingdom?

In your opinion, what part do we have in the conflict between the world and Jesus?

 

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)