Thought Quotient

Check out these words from 1 John chapter 5…

1 John 5:14-21

Confidence and Compassion in Prayer

14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
16 If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that. 17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.

Knowing the True—Rejecting the False

18 We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.
19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.
20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

Note the things that ‘we know’ that are listed there.

We know that He hears us
We know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him
We know that whoever is born of God does not sin
We know that we are of God
We know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding

All of these precede the final one listed - and that is ‘that we may know Him who is true’

Q: Why do we know? Why are we sure?
A: Because we know Him - Jesus! (vs 20)
We have a relationship with the true God.

I’m just like everyone else
We are all hiding
Acting like I have a wealth
Of knowledge and peace

But all I’ve ever wanted
And what men have given their lives for
Is a God who understands my weaknesses
A God that I can love

And is it alright
If I stay here all night
By the shoreline

I cannot believe You are angry or unjust
You have done nothing but have compassion on us
So be near when I’ve given up
Be near me

Bethany Dillon - ‘Be Near Me’

One of my favorite movies of all time is a film based on Martin Luther’s life, “Luther.” It’s so honest. Some of the most compelling scenes are the ones where he is so visibly struggling with the God of the 15th and 16th century Catholic Church… wondering if He was really as unfeeling and rigid as he had been taught. In one scene, Martin is burying a young boy in the church cemetery… which was forbidden, because it was a suicide, and suicides were sent to hell. There’s a crowd forming on the street, and he looks out at them and says, “God must be mercy.”

Every time I watch that movie, I realize how much I’ve been deceived. I’ve been guilted into believing God is something that He’s never been… hard, cold, and merciless; like a kid with a magnifying glass sitting on top of an anthill.

When Martin Luther read the Gospels for the first time, it changed everything. There’s no possible way to fit into words how desperate I was for that in my own life… to see God not as a tyrant, but as a compassionate Father. I long to be free from all the lies I’ve accepted about Him… to come before Him in all confidence, knowing that nothing but the fiercest love is waiting for me there. - Bethany

In Christian theology, atonement is the central doctrine of our faith and can properly include all that our Lord accomplished for us on the cross. It was a vicarious (i.e. substitutionary) atonement. On the Day of Atonement, perhaps the goat which was substituted was in some sense not as valuable as a man, though the goat had never sinned: but God in His matchless grace provided a Substitute who was infinitely better than the sinner, absolutely sinless and holy, and dearer to the Father than all creation. “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23a), and “Him who knew no sin, he made to be sin on our behalf: that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (II Cor. 5:21).

There are two opposite facts that the ingenuity of the theologians could not have reconciled without God’s solution: first, that God is holy and He hates sin, and that by His holy law sin is a capital crime; and second, that “God is love” (I John 4:8); and so the problem was “How can God be just and at the same time justify the sinner?” (cf. Rom. 3:26). John 3:16 tells us that God so loved that He gave — but our blessed Lord was not just a means to an end — He was not a martyr to a cause. In the eternal counsels of the Trinity, He offered Himself to bear our sins (Rev. 13:8), and so, voluntarily, He emptied Himself of the divine trappings of omnipotence, omniscience, and glory (Phil. 2:5-8), that He might be truly human, became the Babe of Bethlehem. For about 33 years He perfectly fulfilled the law on our behalf (Matt. 5:18) and then paid the penalty for our sins in His death for us upon the cross. Our Lord’s work of atonement looks in three directions: looking toward sin and Satan, He redeemed us with His precious blood (I Pet. 1:18,19: “Ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold—but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot”); looking toward us, He reconciled a world of sinners with God (Rom. 5:6-11: “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life”—); and looking toward the Holy Father, He propitiated divine justice (I John 2:2: “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world”).

It seems strange that theologians have invented so many theories of the atonement when the teaching expressed above seems to be clear and simple. A partial answer lies in the difficulty of putting into philosophical language the mysteries of the faith; but a larger explanation is that the truth cannot be explained adequately by those who have not experienced it. - Arthur B. Fowler

So why does food make us feel better? What makes me go directly for the cabinets of cookies and chips when I walk in my door? It’s learned behavior and I have to stop saying, “Chocolate makes me happy” and instead say, “Thin thighs make me happy.” I haven’t come close to mastering it yet. I’ve tried all sorts of methods. Like the time I saw the no carb, no calorie, no fat gummi bears and bought a bag. I started munching on them in my car, and they weren’t half bad. In half an hour they were gone, but I had no guilt. I just should have read the fine print on the package: “Excessive consumption may cause a laxative effect.” May cause? MAY CAUSE? How about, “Watch out kiddies, you’re in for a bumpy ride!” I thought I was going to die. I was sure it was food poisoning. I prayed a lot that day. Once again, I learned if it looks too good to be true — for the last time — it probably is! There are no calorie-free lunches.

So it is in my walk with Christ. I can’t do my one-minute devotionals and expect to be spiritually fed and grounded for the day.

They say you learn from your mistakes
Well I guess I should be a genius
For all the times I’ve fallen on my face
Tangled in my weakness
Wishing someone would say

Keep your head held high
Don’t stop believing
You are God’s child
And His strength is stronger than your weakness
Keep your head held high

Well it’s a crying shame
We’re walking around with our secrets
So afraid of what others might think
Living safe and living defeated
Wanting someone to say

Keep your head held high
Don’t stop believing
You are God’s child
And His strength is stronger than your weakness
Keep your head held high

Warren Barfield - ‘Head Held High’

All our mind’s attention
All our heart’s affection
Every heart-cry, every rhyme
Everybody’s worshipping something

All our life’s devotion
Has been set in motion
Religions dozen for a dime
Everybody’s worshipping something

‘Cause that’s what we were made to do

And I choose You
All my attention, affection
And all my devotion’s for You
If everybody’s worshipping something
I choose You

Point of Grace - ‘I Choose You’

Our contemporary pluralistic society presents us with a confusing display of values, goals, and life-styles. It is not a godless society, but a society full of gods pleading for our attention. The issue is whether to obey our mighty and loving Creator, or to be lost in a hellbound madhouse of confusion.