Day 5 - Week 4 - "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life."

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son..."

What do you say about Jesus?  That's the question that John said determines a false prophet from a true one.  In 1 John 4: 1-3, he states, "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God."

It is critical that when we state the verse of John 3:16 that we wholly and completely believe that Jesus Christ is God's one and only Son.  That God sent His Son in the flesh to save this fallen world. I hope you can say with me tonight that Jesus Christ is God's Son incarnate.  There is saving power in that acknowledgement.

John's statement that many false prophets have gone out into the world was true at the time of his writing, and is true today.  There are many, many false prophets who are leading people away from the truth with false ministries that sound appealing, that preach a message of love and acceptance, and that contain many concepts of good, moral living.  But the bottom line is, what do they say about Jesus?  Because a truly Godly ministry will acknowledge that He is God's one and only Son...anything less than that acknowledgement puts them in the category of falsehood.

Is that narrow-minded?  Only if you make it that way.  There is nothing narrow about God's gift of eternal life that He is ready to offer to anyone.  He made the way for us, for all of us...we just have to acknowledge it.

If you have not yet done that, I hope you continue to study His Word until His truth grabs you so strongly that you cannot deny it.  Keep seeking truth, and you will find it. 

"For God SO loved the world..." He wants us to be with Him forever.  2 Peter 3:9 says, "He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentence."

I thank God so much for His perfect plan of salvation.  I thank Him that He was patient with me; I thank Him for anyone reading this right now that is moving one step closer to coming into a saving relationship by acknowledging Jesus as their Savior, bending their knee in repentence, and making God our Father smile by realizing that one less of His children will perish.  He wants us all to be with Him.

Day 3 - Week 4 - John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life."

"For God so loved the world that He gave....."

Gave - to bestow a gift...how would that read..."For God so loved the world that He bestowed to them a gift."

Think of all the gifts that you've been given in your lifetime.  Your favorite Christmas gift as a child, your most treasured gift from your spouse, your most precious gifts from your children.  They are all memorable, as they should be...but in all honesty, how long will they last?  At best, they will last for this lifetime.

Compare that to the gift that God gave us when "He gave His one and only Son." 

The gift, unlike any other, that provides forgiveness of our sins and imparts to us the Holy Spirit to live within us while we are still here on earth.  Acts 2:38, "Peter replied, 'Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'"

The gift, unlike any other, that changes our lives from mortal to eternal.  Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

In my growing up years, we were always taught to write thank you notes for special gifts.  When your grandmother sent you a present, you sat down and wrote a thank you note.  Wedding gifts absolutely required a thank you note.  Thank you notes were "proper etiquette."  But a formal thank you note, that was written without any love behind it, was just that...a mere formality done to satisfy the rules of etiquette.  God doesn't want our formalities in expressing our gratitude.  He doesn't want empty words...so how do we say "Thank You" for the greatest gift ever given?

I think Paul summarized it well in Colossians 3:12-17  "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.  Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

When we live lives like Paul described in those verses, then I think we can also join with Paul in this thank you note for the best gift we have ever received...."Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!"

Day 2 - Week 4 - John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life."

"For God so loved the world..."

We've talked about the depth of God's love, now it's time to talk about the recipient of God's love..the world.  Often when we read the Bible, "the world" (the Greek word kosmos) refers to "the ungodly multitude; the whole mass of men alienated from God, and therefore hostile to the cause of Christ" as when  Jesus says in John 15:18, ""If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first."

Another definition is "the inhabitants of the earth, men, the human family", which seems to be a more appropriate definition for John's use in our verse today.  When you look at the picture included here, does it boggle your mind like it does mine that God so loves each and every one of those people, individually?  That His love was poured out for all mankind, the entire human family, in the gift of Jesus.  Does it break your heart that so many people do not know the love of God, do not understand their value in His eyes?  And does it break your heart even more that some people have heard, and yet don't seem to care?  And does it bother you most of all that those of us who do know God's love, who have experienced the gift of His unbelievable mercy and grace through Jesus, are not more concerned about sharing that message to those who don't?

The same word kosmos is used in Matthew 5:14-16, "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."  The Message says that we are the light, bringing out the God-colors in the world.  I like that, in a world that often seems dull and lustless, the light of God shining through those who know Him brings a brilliance and luminosity. 

We have no problem believing that "God so loved the world..." but I worry that I often don't love the world so very much.  My world becomes very small and limited, very much opposed to the magnitude of the world that is the object of God's love.  I need to remember that every person I meet is the object of God's sacrificial love...He loved them SO much that He gave His one and only Son. 

God loved - He loves - I have received His love - I must share His love with His world by letting my light shine through living a life of love for others and giving God the glory for all He has done for me.

Day 1 - Week 4 - Remember that our first 4 verses are labeled as "The Bible's Fantastic Four"...

...so could you possibly guess what the 4th of these four fantastic verses would be?  It has been called the gospel in a verse, and it is more than likely the first verse you ever memorized...and you probably still have it within easy mental grasp.  Just it's source is used as a statement, as a name for ministries, and as a poster at sports event.  Yes, our final verse of the Bible's Fantastic Four is....John 3:16! 

Now, while you may have a little bit of a breather this week on actual memorization, let's not take this verse lightly.  Let's get into the meat of this very familiar verse--so familiar that in fact when we state it, we tend to recite it without a lot of feeling...and this verse deserves feeling!  Recite it with me now...

John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world, that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life."

When you state this verse out loud, which word receives the most emphasis?  I came to a point a few years ago when studying this verse that the word that I now place the most emphasis on is "so."  If God had not SO loved the world, He may not have been driven to send His one and only Son to the earth.  If God had not SO loved the world, He may not have had the plan of salvation for man in His mind from the beginning of time.  If God had not SO loved the world, He may not have been willing to see His Son die on a cross, taking on the sins of the whole world.  I am so thankful that God SO loved the world, and I'm amazed by the depth of His love for such a group of sinful, rebellious people that have had such a hard time accepting His love.

I just read this in Robert J. Morgan's book that I am using for our list of verses, but this has never been pointed out to me before and I think it's just pretty cool...as I said, this verse has been called the gospel in a verse.  But what is very cool is that the word gospel is literally spelled out in the verse...look at this!

For God so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son, that whoever believes shall not Perish, but have Everlasting Life.

Now how about that?  Maybe not a theological breakthrough, but something you may some time use as a point of interest or a conversation starter.

Please don't think, "I can skip this week...I know this one backwards and forwards."  Instead, please ask God to impress this verse on your heart as it has never been before, with a fresh and deep understanding of everything that God has packed in this very familiar, yet very intense verse of Scripture.

Thank You God for SO loving us....help my love for You to grow in direct proportion to my increasing understanding of the depth of Your love for me. 

Day 7 - Week 3 - John 1:14 "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

Last night for our third verse!  Have you got this one embedded in your heart?  Can you say it aloud with me without looking?  Do it right now.

Doesn't it feel good to repeat God's Word from your heart?  And to have understanding of the words behind your voice?  That's where we need to be by the end of the week with these verses...not just to be able to say them, but to be able to know them, and to be able to pull them from the storage place of our hearts when we are called on to do so. 

When do you see yourself calling on this verse?  What if someone asked you, "Do you really believe that Jesus was actually God?"  Would that be a good time to cite this verse and to share with the person asking the question that this verse was penned by John, who had walked alongside Jesus and who had seem Him when He had been glorified on the Mount of Transfiguration, when He had been hung on the cross, after He was resurrected and when He arose into the heavens.  That John had gone to his grave testifying to what he had seen, and that he had never recounted that testimony, even when faced with imprisonment, exile, and torture. 

What if someone asked you, "What did Jesus' life on earth accomplish?  Why did God need to send Him?"  Would that also be a good time to cite this verse and to share that Jesus had brought with him the fullness of grace and truth...grace that brings with it our acceptance by God, exchanging our unholiness for Jesus' perfection, gaining something that we could never earn; and truth, God's absolute truth that Jesus showed to us throughout His life on earth, showing us the qualities of God in tangible ways so that we could understand that we serve a God of love, of compassion and of absolute justice, and showing us the truth of the only way to eternal life with God. 

What if you have a moment of doubt and ask yourself, "Why Jesus?  Why not any one of the many other ways to find God?"  Would that be a good time to let this verse wash over you with the assurance that John wants us to feel once again...."we have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only", and that because of a Spirit-filled testimony like John's, we can remind ourselves through the continuing empowerment of His Spirit within us, that Jesus is the One who was glorified, who sits at the right hand of God the Father, and who will come again to rule in absolute authority over all.  And we will be able to call on other verses that share in this testimony to over rule the temptor's words of doubt that he would love to have us embrace...but we will be armed and doubts will be dispelled by the power of His Word living within us. 

That is the reason that I am Hiding His Words in My Heart!  I am so happy that you are joining me!

Praise God for His faithfulness - Praise God for His Word - Praise God for Jesus our Savior!

Day 6 - Week 3 - John 1:14 "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

Ready to get it all together...we've broken this verse down into three segments, and while there is merit in that for both memorization and contemplation purposes, the segments belong together as a complete truth.

John 1:14 - "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.  We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

Jesus came - and He came as one of us, living among us.  But to a few, He revealed His heavenly glory, and John was one of the few who had witnessed the glory of the One and Only.  John knew what he had seen, and he was convinced that Jesus could be none other than the One and Only Son of God.  John had witnessed all of Christ's ministry here on earth, and what he had seen he summarized in his description of Jesus as being "full of grace and truth." 

I think John, in reviewing Christ's mission on earth, felt these two attributes were the ones that expressed most completely why Jesus had taken on flesh and made His dwelling among us.

Jesus ministry and His mission were centered on grace --- God's grace for sinful mankind had driven Jesus to taking on flesh and dwelling among us.  Jesus understood grace.  He knew that the cause of grace would ultimately drive Him to the cross.  John could probably identify closely with Paul's words, "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst."  I think we all feel that at one point or another in our lives, we are the worst.  John had probably felt that way too, even thought it's hard for us to imagine either John or Paul among the worst of sinners.  But John understood the fullness of grace, and that it is what had saved him and what continues to save all those who believe.

Twenty-seven times in John's gospel he quotes Jesus as saying, "I tell you the truth"...Jesus had shared more truth of God than man had ever had access to.  Never before had God's truths been shared so intimately with mankind. Paul refers to, "the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."  Here was Jesus, the One and Only, conversing with regular men (not the famous, not the honored, not the rich), sharing eternal truths and calling them His friends.  John 15: 15 records Jesus as saying, "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you." And there again is the grace..

How could John have not felt the absolute grace of God to allow him this special honor...to have walked with Jesus, to have spent time with Him, and to have been called His friend.  John, who had been nothing but a fisherman, but had some how become "the one Jesus loved."

Have we experienced His grace, do we know His truth?

Romans 3:24 says, " The free gift of God's grace makes all of us right with him. Christ Jesus paid the price to set us free."  That's grace.

John 14:6 says, "Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'"  That's truth.

I pray that you know His grace in your life; I pray that you know His truth.  It is why He came.