Know, Believe, Abide; First John

May the mumbling commence!

Know.  Believe.  Abide.  Do these things in the loving embrace of God.  Know God’s love.  Believe God’s love.  Abide in God’s love.

We have been plumbing the depths and measuring the breadths of God’s love.  It is an endless task.  We have only looked closely at one short epistle of the New Testament.

So, we have no choice than to intellectually know God’s love.  But that cerebral knowing must blossom further into believing in God’s love to the deepest crannies of our soul.  And that belief must find a place to abide in our hearts.

Once this process has been begun, we weep with joy at the audacity of God’s love and mercy.  God loves me.  God loves you.  I want to cry out to all creation that God loves her.

And the best way to cry out such a message of Good News is to… love one another.  There it is again.  There is no getting around it.  Love one another.  Read from First John chapter four (from the English Standard Version):

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.  By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 

We love because he first loved us.  If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 

And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. (4:16-21)

Understanding sets in.  Belief sets in.  Then we abide with God, and the Lord abides with us.

And fear melts away as a deception of Satan.  Fear is often based upon ignorance.  When we learn about the love of God to the depths of our souls and hearts, ignorance is banished. 

So, let go of fear.  We don’t need it anymore.  God loves us and wants the best for us.  Where is fear in that?

Even when the world gives you good reason to fear, rest in the knowledge of God’s love.  Abide in God’s love.  Fear need rule us no more.

So, love one another.  If we cannot love the people who we can see, how can we love our God, whom we cannot see?  See people for what they are – beautiful creatures created in the image of God.  Love one another – sacrificially.

That kind of love will set us apart as children of God.  People will have no choice but to see God manifest in our healthy relationships with one another.  It is so different than the hate and competition of the world, where only the strong survive.

We know that we are weak.  We know also the strength of God’s love, and we abide in it.  That is the belief that saves us.  Believe in the name of Jesus, God’s Son.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out