DECEMBER 2, 2023

 “You’ll never know who you are unless you shed who you pretend to be.” 

― Vironika Tugaleva

EZEKIEL 47-48

“And the name of the city from that time on will be:

THE LORD IS THERE.” (48:35) 

1 JOHN 1

5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all^b sin.

8If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

JOURNAL 

Humility and Honesty are the foundation of this letter. Here again we have a former disciple of Christ, having walked with Jesus, having experienced the resurrection and here he is writing letters to christians all over Asia Minor. He cautions against claiming something and not living it...which is thereby using Christ and or moral superiority as a means to puff up or disguise one's sin. 

It is interesting that the exact same warnings issued 2000 years ago...apply today. It is not our stuff, our technology, social media etc...the problem is in our hearts. Going back to scripture affirms that God just wants us to surrender to him, be truly grateful for where we are at this moment in time, and follow him in making the most and the best of it. It doesn't matter if it's 2000 years ago, yesterday, today, tomorrow or 2000 years from now...God's message is still the same. 

11The Lord will guide you always;

he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land

and will strengthen your frame.

You will be like a well-watered garden,

like a spring whose waters never fail.

ISAIAH 58:11