PRAYER REQUEST

I would greatly appreciate your prayers for my grand daughter, Rebekah. Her kidneys are dilated. The doctors do not know why. She is only 8 months old.

Today they do another test. It will be stressful for her mother, my youngest daughter. Pray they have the strength to get through it. Even more so, pray that God will heal this precious little one.

Thanks.

By the way, here is a link to my daughter's take on the situation.

HUMILITY

Tim Challies relates a good story demonstrating the humility of a great man. Read it here.

Jeremiah's Troubles Begin

JEREMIAH 37

JEREMIAH’S TROUBLES BEGIN

37:1, 5
The Time

This chapter leaves the reign of Jehoiakim that was the setting of chapters 35 and 36. It moves forward to Zedekiah. Those two chapters were an insert into the continuing saga of Zekekiah’s reign. Chapter 37 resumes the story.

We know from 2 Kings 24 that Jehoiakim died and left his son, Jehoiachin, to become king at 18 years of age. He is referred to in Jeremiah 37 as Coniah. But Jehoiachin only reigned 3 months, for the Babylonians came and besieged the city. Jeohiachin surrendered himself, his mother and his officials and became a prisoner. The Babylonians carried off the treasures of the temple and the king’s house. They took all the officials and mighty men, the craftsmen and the smiths. Mostly the poor were all that were left.

Nebuchadnessar, the king of Babylon, put Jehiachin’s uncle, Mattaniah on the throne. He changed Mattaniah’s name to Zedekiah. This was in 597 B.C. Zedekiah rebelled and Nebuchadnezzar attacked again.

Verse 5 tells us that during this 2nd siege, the Egyptian army came out to attack the Babylonians while they were busy attacking Jerusalem. The Babylonians withdrew to engage the Egyptians. We know from other sources that the Babylonians defeated the Egyptians, who then withdrew to Egypt and did not come out again. Then the Babylonians returned and destroyed Jerusalem.

It was during this lull in the siege that this prayer request came. This is also the same period during which the slave owners recaptured their freed slaves are recorded in chapter 34. Likely everyone wondered if the Babylonians would return or if Egypt would defeat them or at least weaken them.

37:2
The Spiritual Condition of Judah

Verse 2 tells us that no one listened to Jeremiah’s prophecies and sermons. They rejected him as a prophet and they did not believe God would bring the punishments Jeremiah said were coming, despite the fact that God said he would in the book of Deuteronomy.

This is similar to the situation today with many theological issues. For example, take the issue of Hell. John 3:18 says whoever does not believe in Christ is condemned already for his unbelief. In Matthew 25:41 and 46 he said the condemned depart into eternal punishment. Yet, you often hear people say “I do not believe a loving God would send people to Hell”. Then you read the book of Revelation, where John painted a vivid picture of the final judgment and the casting of unbelievers into Hell. The Word of God says one thing, and they refuse to believe it and choose to believe their own wishful thinking. This is what Zedekiah and his people did.

37:3
The Prayer Request

Despite his unbelief, King Zedekiah faced a terrible hardship with the siege. So, he sent two guys to ask Jeremiah to pray for them. This is ironic. They rejected Jeremiah’s message, in effect rejecting him as God’s prophet. Yet, they thought there might be something to his claim, because they asked him to talk to the Lord for them.

The contemporary example is the person you know who rejects your beliefs and even makes fun of them, but asks you to pray for him or her when trouble comes. I had a friend in college who ridiculed me constantly, yet came to me in the middle of the night for help when he went through tranquilizer withdrawal after his doctor cut him off. Another friend told me, after attending a liberal seminary, that he only believed in a spiritual power in the universe, not a personal, living God. But, years later, when he hurt his back and was out of work, he called me from another state and asked me to pray for him.

You might speculate here that Zedekiah hoped for a miracle like the one granted to Hezekiah, when he killed and ran off the Assyrian armies from Jerusalem. (2 Kings 19:32-37).

37:4
Jeremiah’s Condition

Jeremiah was still free at this point. He had not yet been imprisoned. That would not last long from this point.

37:6-10
The Word From The Lord

In response to this prayer request, the Lord gave Jeremiah a word. The passage does not indicate that Jeremiah prayed before the word came from the Lord. It reads as if the word came in response to the request itself. Indeed, the Lord had already instructed Jeremiah not to pray for the deliverance of Jerusalem. (7:16; 14:11) Plus, in chapter 34, the Lord condemned the people for taking back their slaves and violating the covenant requirements of the Sabbath year.

Unfortunately, the Lord would not answer the prayer for protection with a “yes”. Instead, he told them again that he would destroy the city no matter what they did.

He also told them not to deceive themselves. (9) Specifically, this meant do not believe the Chaldeans (Babylonians) are leaving permanently. They will come back and defeat Judah. You can see how this answer could make some people in Jerusalem mad.

37:11-15
Jeremiah In Jail

Jeremiah tried to leave the city to go to his hometown of Anathoth and claim some land. This may be part of the story where he bought land from his cousin. It is the only reason I can see that he would leave the protection of the city. But he only got as far as the Gate of Benjamin before the guards grabbed him. (13) The location of the gates in the wall around Jerusalem are not precisely known. However, the Benjamin Gate was likely on the north side of the city.

I think this is so, for verse 12 says Jeremiah left to go to the land of Benjamin. Joshua 18 tells us that the allotment to Benjamin was north of the allotment to Judah. Jeremiah’s hometown was Anathoth, a city given to the priests. Joshua 21:17 tells us this.

If you have a Bible with maps showing the allotments to the tribes of Israel, you will see the little territory of Benjamin nestled in the northeast corner of the border with Judah. Its territory went almost to Jerusalem. Anathoth is believed to be about 2 miles north of Jerusalem. So, it makes since that Jeremiah would attempt to leave for his hometown by going through a gate on the north side of the city.

The guard accused Jeremiah of sneaking out of the city to defect to the Babylonians. This was likely because Jeremiah had been saying God wanted them to surrender to the Babylonians and go willingly into exile.

All of the anger of the frustrated officials came to rest on Jeremiah. They beat him and imprisoned him in a house that had been converted into a prison. (15) Evidently, a dungeon had been made. (16) the word is literally “house of the cistern”, so the house may have had its own cistern underground, or under the house, as a water supply. It would have been damp and cold and dark. That would be a place in which you got sick easily. Hebrews 11:36 may refer to Jeremiah’s plight.

How a person receives the word of God is a sign of whether they belong to God. Jesus said ““Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” (John 8:47)

37:16-17
Another Prayer Request

After Jeremiah had been in jail many days, the King must have found out. He sent for him and asked him if there was any word from the Lord. This may have been because Jeremiah never got to deal with the prayer request before. Note, though, that Zedekiah is again acknowledging Jeremiah’s status as the man of God. He expected that Jeremiah could tell him the word of the Lord.

And Jeremiah did indeed tell him the word of the Lord. But again, it was that the king would go into captivity in Babylon. (17)

37:18-20
Jeremiah’s Plea

Since the king inquired of Jeremiah, Jeremiah inquired of the king. He pointed out his innocence and asked to be delivered from the dungeon. He thought he would die there.

37:21
The King Responds Favorably

The king removed Jeremiah from the dungeon and put him in detention in the court of the guard. This is where we found him in chapter 33. This was a great improvement. In addition, he was provided bread to eat until all the bread ran out due to the siege.

God provided for Jeremiah. He gave him favor with the king. He gave him bread. But sometimes the servant suffers. Jeremiah suffered arrest, imprisonment, beating, hatred and rejection.

Christians around the world suffer today. We should pray for them and identify with them. If you are one of them, may God grant you favor with those around you and provide for your safety and your physical needs. Above all, may God give you strength to bring glory to his name.

JEREMIAH 36: JEHOIAKIM REJECTS GOD’S WORD

JEREMIAH 36: JEHOIAKIM REJECTS GOD’S WORD

36:1

When This Happened

This verse says that this word from the Lord came in the 4^th year of King Jehoiakim, which was 605-604 B.C. The Jewish year ran from Nisan to Nisan, or April to April

Chapter 35 was set in the reign of Jehoiakim also. Jehoiakim was a son of Josiah the reformer. But unlike his father, he did not keep the covenant with God.

2 Kings 23 tells us his name was actually Eliakim. But Pharoah Neco subjugated Judah and captured King Jehoaz and took him to Egypt. He put Eliakim, Jehoaz’s brother, on the throne and changed his name to Jehoiakim. He was a vassal of Egypt and paid tribute to Pharoah (king of Egypt).

But then, Nebuchadrezzar had defeated the Egyptian forces at Carchemish and begun moving into Syria on the way to Palestine. Judah became a vassal of Babylon. They rebelled and Babylon retaliated harshly, taking the leading people into exile.

Daniel stated that he went into exile in the 3rd year of Jehoiakim. (Daniel 1:1)

The scroll was not read until the 9^th month of the 5^th year of Jehoiakim’s reign. That was the very month the Babylonian army destroyed the city of Ashkelon of the Philistines. This fast day may have been called in response, to prevent the destruction of Jerusalem. It is interesting to think the scroll was read in December 604 B.C. Here at the end of November 2012, we are 2,616 years and a few days from the reading of the scroll.

So chapters 35 and 36 take a break from the story of the Lord dealing with Zedekiah, the last king before total destruction, to tell events of God dealing with Jehoiakim. Why? It shows again that when Jeremiah prophesied, he delivered the word of the Lord, and those prophesies came true. The Lord performed his word as he stated he would through Jeremiah.

It also gives us context for the way the King and the priests treated Jeremiah in the following chapters.

36:2-3

God’s Instructions

God told Jeremiah to get a scroll and write down all the words the Lord had spoken to Jeremiah in prophecy against Israel and Judah and other nations. This was to be a record of everything Jeremiah prophesied from the time of King Josiah to the time of this chapter. This would be from 627 to 605 B.C., about 22 years. Jeremiah 1:1 tells us Jeremiah first prophesied in the 13^th year of Josiah’s reign.  This would be a big scroll of prophecies.

The purpose of this writing was to call Judah to repentance. They could read all of God’s accusations against them, the punishments he threatened to impose and repent so that God could forgive them. Even after all this time of rebellion, God still extended mercy in calling for repentance, so that he could extend grace and save them from calamity.

God acts this way today, exposing us to the gospel so we can repent and obey him and avoid disaster. Remember how God called the 7 churches of Asia to repent in Revelation 1-3.

36:4-10

Jeremiah instructs Baruch

Baruch served as a secretary to Jeremiah. Jeremiah dictated the prophecies and Baruch wrote them on the scroll.

Next, Jeremiah instructed Baruch to read the scroll at the Temple on a day of fasting when men from all over Judah had come to Jerusalem and the Temple. (6) It may have been a special day to fast for protection, maybe from an invasion by Babylon. An example of this would be in Joel 2:15. There, in a call to repentance, Joel said "Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast."

 

Jeremiah had been banned from coming to the Temple. (5) Likely, Jeremiah had been banned from the Temple for preaching that it would be destroyed. Remember the Temple Sermon of chapter 7, when Jeremiah preached that the Lord would do to the Temple what he did to Shiloh. He destroyed Shiloh through the Philistines during the time Eli was high priest and judge. (1 Samuel 4)

Jeremiah repeated God’s the purpose of their work: that they might repent and God might relent and have mercy on them. It seems, then, that the people had gathered to fast and ask for mercy. But God would not extend mercy unless they repented.

If you like to tie together the historical threads of the Bible (and I do), note that Baruch read the scroll in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan. Shaphan was the state secretary. When the book of the law was found during Josiah’s reign, it was read by Shaphan. (2 Kings 22:3)

Since Gemariah let Baruch read the scroll from his room, he must have been favorable to Jeremiah. Plus, the room or chamber was in the upper court, so Baruch could stand above the people and be heard and seen by everyone.

We should note that Baruch was faithful. He did all that Jeremiah ordered. (8) He had to know that, if Jeremiah was banned from the Temple, the one that read his message at the Temple could get into trouble. But he did it anyway.

It also shows that many play a part in the mission of God. Not everyone becomes a prophet, a preacher or a teacher. But we all have a part and must be faithful to do it.

In 1975, a clay seal with Baruch's  name was discovered. It is now in the Israel Museum. The inscription, is:

Line	Transliteration	Translation
1	lbrkyhw	[belonging] to Berachyahu
2	bn nryhw	son of Neriyahu
3	hspr	the scribe

36:11-19

Cause For Alarm

Micaiah heard the prophecy and had Baruch read it to several of the officials. One of those officials was Elnathan on of Achbor. His father had been part of the story of finding the book of the law during Josiah’s time also.

  

They ascertained it was from Jeremiah. The prophecy must have said something against the king, for they felt they had to tell him about it. But they were concerned for the safety of Baruch and Jeremiah and told them to hide. This indicates they feared the king would receive the message badly and kill them.

36:20

Burning the Scroll

So, the officials brought the scroll to the king and read it to him. A nice amount of detail is told here. The king was in his winter house. It had a fire pot to keep him warm. As the scroll was read, the king would cut off a portion and burn it in the pot until the whole scroll was burned up. The officials even urged him not to burn the scroll, but he kept doing it. He showed utter contempt for the word of God.

The King also did not believe the message. Verse 24 said he was not afraid. If you believed the Babylonians would come and destroy your city and kill your people, you would be afraid. So he obviously did not believe it.

The King was also not moved to repent. Verse 24 said he and his attendants did not tear their clothes. Tearing of clothes was a sign of remorse or sadness, as you would have under conviction of sin.

The writer seems to be drawing a comparison for us, showing the response to God’s word in Josiah’s time (as set out in 2 Kings 22) and the response of Jehoiakim. In each story, a scroll is brought to the king. In each story the scroll first came into the hands of a government official. Both stories record the reaction of the king to the scroll. Josiah immediately set about to obey the law. Jehoiakim did not. Josiah tore his clothes in despair over the his sin and that of his people. (2 Kings 22:11-20) Verse 24 specifically says Jehoiakim did not tear his clothes. In both stories, a further word from God follows the king’s response. (2 Kings 22:15-20; Jeremiah 36:28-31) I think the writer expected his audience to know the story of Josiah well enough to understand these references and make the comparison. 

So the King completely ignored Jeremiah’s message. The one thing the message did was make him angry. The King saw it as treason. So he ordered both Jeremiah and Baruch arrested.

Despite the king’s order, the men could not be found. That was because the Lord hid them. As long as the Lord has work for you to do, you cannot be harmed. Jesus walked through crowds untouched and avoided arrest until the right time came. Peter was delivered from prison by an angel. 

36:27-32

A New Scroll

The Lord had Jeremiah write a new scroll. The Lord is not defeated and his word is not stopped. Jesus said “heaven and earth shall pass away but my words will not pass away. (Matthew 24:35) God said “so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but is shall accomplish that which I purpose and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)

This time the Lord added a punishment for King Jehoiakim. Since he personally scorned the word of the Lord, he would personally suffer judgment. The Lord said he shall have none to sit on the throne of David. He would not have an heir to sit on the throne. This is shown to be true in 37:1.

And even greater, the Messiah would not come through his line. (30) And if we look at Matthew 1 we see this came true. Josiah is listed as the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of deportation. (Matthew 1:11-12) He also does not appear in Luke’s genealogy.

Additionally, he would be killed and not buried. (30) 2 Kings 36:5-6 tells us that Jehoiakim was taken in the first exile. He went in chains to Babylon. There is a play on words here. The King cast the pieces of the scroll into the fire and he would be cast into the heat of day and frost of night.

36:32

Many Similar Words

The last sentence in the chapter says many similar words were added to them. We do not know what those words were.

Not every word spoken or written is preserved by the Holy Spirit. For example, Paul quotes Jesus saying it is better to give than receive. (Acts 20:35) Yet we do not have that in the gospels.

John ended his gospel with these words: “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written”. (John 21:25)

So the Bible does not tell us everything that was said or everything that was done. It does not claim to do so.

God decided what to preserve. He does not preserve or reveal everything. But he revealed to us what he chose to reveal and preserve. And he gives us all we need. 

2 Peter 1:3 says “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence…” The Westminster Confession affirms the sufficiency of Scripture. Here's what the Westminster Confession says,

The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man's salvation, faith and life is either expressly set down in Scripture or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture.

There have been many attacks on God’s word and many attempts to eradicate it. It began in the garden with Satan saying “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?” (Genesis 3:1) God did not say that of course.

In Matthew 4, Satan tempted Jesus by misapplying God’s word. But Jesus resisted him by properly applying God’s word.

In the 1800s, Joseph Smith attacked the sufficiency of the Word by authoring other books that he said were equal to it as scripture.

Today the Bible is attack, almost unwittingly, by those within the church that do not believe in the sufficiency of scripture. They believe we need to add to it. We need psychology, or corporate management techniques, or extra rules or church growth manuals.

Then there are many, like King Jehoiakim, who ignore the parts they do not like, or who remain unaffected by it when it is read or preached. Instead, we should take the advice of James: “be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

That starts with believing the gospel: repenting of sin and trusting Christ for salvation. It continues by applying God’s words to our lives without explaining it away or ignoring the hard parts, but rather humbly bowing before God and saying I believe and I will obey.

BLESSING FOR DELIGHT

MORE ON WILLING OBEDIENCE

Yesterday's study connected love for God with obedience for God. If we love him, we obey his commandments, Jesus says. We saw that the principle was taught in both the old and new testaments.

Here is another verse to that effect. It is Psalm 1:1-2:

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

In simple terms, you are blessed if you delight in God's law and avoid the ways of sin.

Delight in God's standards of living. It is not meant to be a burden but a blessing. Look at a newspaper today and see how many people suffer from the consequences of sin.

Instead of suffering, you can delight in God's law today and rejoice that you are blessed. You are blessed both by your delight in God's law and by your avoidance of suffering the consequences of sin.

Have a blessed day.

JEREMIAH 35: AN EXAMPLE OF OBEDIENCE

JEREMIAH 35: OBEDIENCE & THE EXAMPLE OF THE RECHABITES

In this chapter, God extolled the obedience of the Rechabite people and contrasted them to the disobedience of Israel.

Who Are The Rechabites?

The Rechabites were nomads. They came out of a group called the Kenites, which were descendants of Moses’ father in law. (Judges 4:11) They helped King Jehu fight against the forces worshipping Baal.  The Lord here uses them as an object lesson for the Jews about obedience.

When this happened

35:1

This is one of the instances where the book of Jeremiah is not chronological. This word comes from the Lord during the reign of Jehoiakim, who was the son of Josiah the reformer. This is probably 12-15 years before the events of chapter 34.

So, why did Jeremiah put it here? I think because it makes a stark contrast to chapter 34. In that chapter, the Lord strongly condemned their violation of the covenant in their treatment of slaves. Then, in chapter 35, he offers the stark contrast of the radical obedience of the Rachabites. The Lord gave us the summation in verse 16, when he said “The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have kept the command that their father gave them, but this people has not obeyed me.”

Setting the Stage

35:2-5

The Lord had Jeremiah take the Rechabites to the Temple, to the chamber of one of the prophets, and offer them wine. This is a high pressure situation for the Rechabites. They have already been forced to violate some of their principles by moving into the city. Now they are in the temple itself and given wine by the prophet of God. How do you refuse?

35:6-11

The Rechabites Obey Their Ancestor

The Rechabites refused the offer of wine. They explained the reason: they obeyed their ancestor Jonadab. He gave them a list of rules:

          1. do not drink wine;

          2. do not build houses;

          3. do not sow seed (grow crops); and

          4. live in tents.

For whatever reason, Jonadab wanted his descendants to be nomads and have no permanent place to live. They only came into Jerusalem because the countryside was overrun by Babylonians. He might have been trying to imitate the early days of the Hebrews when Abraham lived in tents.

The Lesson

35:12-17

The Lord pointed out the difference between the Rechabites and the Israelites. The Rechabites had scrupulously obeyed their ancestor, a mere man with man made rules. In contrast, the Israelites had disobeyed God and ignored his messengers the prophets.

Because Israel disobeyed and ignored God, he vowed to bring disaster upon them. (17)

In contrast, because the Rechabites were obedient to their ancestor, God would bless them. “Stand before me” probably means to serve God in the Temple. It is a great blessing to serve the Lord.

This is like God’s promise of blessing on Israel for obeying the covenant. For example, in Isaiah 1:19-20, he said:

If you are willing and obedient,

You shall eat the good of the land;

But if you refuse and rebel

You shall be eaten by the sword

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

What the Point is Not

The point of this story is not to give you a list of rules to obey. Do not go out and sell your house or move out of your apartment and move into a tent based on this story. It was not to give the Israelites a list of rules to obey. They already had that list.

What the Point Is

The point is to show that God values obedience. He honored these people who honored their ancestor with obedience to his rules, so that he could show Israel they dishonored God by disobeying his rules.

Why is it important that Israel obey God’s rules? Why is it important that we obey God?

The reason is this: willing obedience is the sign of love.

You knew we would end up back in the book of Deuteronomy, didn’t you? Well here we are. Look at Deuteronomy 4:5

You shall love the LORD your God will all your heart and with all our soul and with all your might.

The Israelites were to love God with their whole being. How did they express their love for God? Deuteronomy 7:9 tells us. It says “Know therefore that the LORD your God is god, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations…” Those who love God keep his commandments.

When the Israelites kept God’s commandments, they showed that they believed him, they trusted him and they accepted his governance knowing it was best for them.

In Matthew 22:38 Jesus said this same commandment was the first and greatest commandment. He added “mind” to the commandment. Again, the thought is to love the Lord will all our being.

How do we do that? Jesus explained it for us clearly in John 14:15. He said “If you love me, you will keep my commandments”.  Then in verse 21 he said “whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he is it who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father and I will love him and manifest myself to him”. In verse 23 he said it a third time, “if anyone loves me he will keep my word”.

Finally, in verse 24, he said it in the negative: whoever does not love me does not keep my words”.

In Luke 11:28, Jesus said blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it. In Luke 18:21, he said his family is those who hear the word of God and do it.

John echoed this idea in 1 John 5:3, where is said “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” You see in this verse both the idea that we demonstrate our love by keeping his commandments and the idea that we trust him that the commandments are good for us rather than a burden for us.

So, Jesus said the most important commandment was to love the Lord with all your being and that you love the Lord by obeying or keeping his commandments.

The Israelites were never able to obey God continuously. They were not able to love God completely. In the wilderness, despite their deliverance from Egypt, they complained about food and water. They did not trust God to provide.

When they got to Canaan, they worshipped the local gods and did not love the LORD exclusively. There were many revivals. There was a great period during David’s reign and part of Solomon’s. Then it was largely a downward slide.

God called them stiff necked. He called them rebels. He said they profaned his name. They just could not maintain the course.

So how God expect us to obey him?

First, God changes us when we receive Jesus and believe on him. He makes it possible for us to know and obey his law out of love. Remember Jeremiah 31:5. God said “I will put my law within them and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God and they shall be my people”.

Second, God gives us the Holy Spirit to help us. In John 14:16, after Jesus said we will keep his commandments if we love him, he said he will give us the Holy Spirit, another Helper to be with us forever.

Romans 8:15 tells us we did not receive a spirit of slavery but the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry “Abba Father”. The Spirit gives us the ability to look on God as a loving Father and to obey him as loving children.

What are the commands of Jesus?

First, it is to believe the gospel. The first sermon Mark records Jesus preaching is this: “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.” Mark 1:15.

John records Jesus telling Nicodemus: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”. (John 3:16)

Second, it is to bring our lives into conformity with God’s standards. Jesus perfectly reflected the holy character of the Father. He did what the Father said to do and he said what the Father said to say. Now we are to be imitators of Christ. As we read and study the Bible, we submit our selves to the Holy Spirit, asking him to convict us of unrighteousness and repenting when he does. We should continually grow into the likeness of Christ. Year by year we should be more and more like him.   

Then, after loving Jesus, we are to love others as we love ourselves. Matthew 28:39. Remember that Jesus told a parable to explain who your neighbor is. It was a guy in a ditch. It was a guy of another race. It was a guy who did not go to your church. It was a guy who was hurt. It was a guy who was helpless.

It is whoever needs to be loved.

Lots of people need to be loved. Pick one and get busy.