CHILDREN OF GOD

by slpcenglish

(REFLECTIONS ON 1 John 3:1-10 ) 1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! Yes, that is what we are! We are children of God. However, do we act and live like the children of God? Or, do we act and […]

YOU CAN’T HAVE ONE WITHOUT THE OTHER

by slpcenglish

(REFLECTIONS ON 1 John 2:18-29 ) The relationship between the Father and the Son, that is God and Jesus Christ, is an important one. We can’t separate the two and choose one and not the other. However, for many that believed in God, believing that Jesus is the Christ was difficult for them to accept. In fact, […]

LIVE WHAT WE KNOW

by slpcenglish

(REFLECTIONS ON 1 John 2:7-17 ) In today’s Scripture, it is clear that John is writing to those that know God and know Jesus. This is the reason he is writing to them: Yes, they know God, and they know Jesus, and they know what it means to believe in God and in Jesus. John writes,  7 […]

THE ATONING SACRIFICE FOR OUR SINS

by slpcenglish

(REFLECTIONS ON 1 John 2:1-6 ) I often like to read 1 John 1:8-10 and 1 John 2:1-2 together because when read together it helps us to understand and make sense of Jesus’ atonement for our sins. Yes, Jesus died for our sins, but not just for one moment in time, at one moment in our life, […]

WALK IN THE TRUE LIGHT

by slpcenglish

(REFLECTIONS ON 1 John 1:5-10 ) Logos into life, the Word into flesh, Jesus Christ as heard, seen and touched by the hands of the disciples, and now being told for generations and generations that through Him we may have a relationship with God, and in God, have life. This takes us from the beginning, God, to […]

LOGOS TO LIFE

by slpcenglish

(REFLECTIONS ON 1 John 1:1-4 ) 1 John 1:1 1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. When we read about the beginning, perhaps that takes us back to Genesis […]

REFORMATION

by slpcenglish

(REFLECTIONS ON Nehemiah 13:15-31 ) As we reach the end of Nehemiah, we see that his last contributions to the rebuilding effort, was to rebuild and reform the people of God. Why is reformation necessary? Reformation is necessary because things change over time. What was once new, becomes old, and what as once spiritual, becomes worldly. What […]

TIME, WHAT IS TIME?

by slpcenglish

(REFLECTIONS ON Nehemiah 13:1-14 ) For us, a quick turn of a page, perhaps not even a page, just the next line down in Biblical text. However, for Israel the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem in Nehemiah 12 to today’s Scripture in Nehemiah 13, approximately 12 years had already passed. Nehemiah had already returned to Persia […]

WHAT IS THE SECRET TO GREAT JOY?

by slpcenglish

(REFLECTIONS ON Nehemiah 12:27-47 ) 27 At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from where they lived and were brought to Jerusalem to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, harps and lyres.  43 And on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given […]

BE A PART OF HIS(S)TORY

by slpcenglish

(REFLECTIONS ON Nehemiah 12:1-26 ) Perhaps we have heard in the past that history, is actually His story, that is the story of our God. That is because God is the beginning and the end. In Genesis 1:1, we are told, “In the beginning God created…” In Revelation 22:12-13, we read, 12 “Look, I am coming soon! […]