Commitment is the defining characteristic of our lives. We can talk about it and the sacrifice involved in keeping our word, but it is quite another thing to live out commitment. The title for a marriage conference was, ‘I still DO!’ and that is what we are going to flesh out. Staying true to our marriage, staying the course with our children 10, 20, 30 years and beyond is huge in a throw away society where all too often the modus operandi is to give up and move on.
In commitment there is identity with Jesus.v1-3
John begins by focusing on the reality of who we are. You have a place in this family, you belong to God and He loves you. He loves you so much that He does not want to leave you where you are and He wants you to catch a glimpse of where you are going and His perfect plan and design for you.
This week we learned about our calling as believers to be a personal house of prayer. I spent the past week in Ottawa with a team from my church at the National House of Prayer www.nhop.ca It is often said “oh, but if the church could return to its roots like the early church!” Certainly that would seem like a noble goal, but what about what the church is to become? What about “Back To The Future!”
Revelation 21:3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, the home of God is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them.
V22 No temple could be seen in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
1 Corinthians 3:16 Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? 2 Corinthians 6:16
We are consecrated to be pure! One day we will be like him, Jesus. We will be part of the everlasting temple in heaven, the bride of Christ.
What does it mean to be consecrated!
· It means to be set apart as God’s children...I love the NLT ....AND WE REALLY ARE! Remember though that the people of the world just don’t get it, they don’t understand the reality that they too can become children of God....That is why we pray the veil the enemy has placed over their eyes would be removed so that they can see the light of the glorious gospel! 2 Corinthians 3:14
· Being holy and loving God are one and the same. Often the concept of being pure, holy growing up was to do nothing, but pure means to keep God at the center of your life....don’t pollute it with other affections!
In commitment we bind together right thinking and right living. v4-10
Have you ever heard of ‘stinking thinking’. Well that happens when your words don’t jive with your lifestyle. It is one thing to say all the right things, its quite another to live it out. This is what is happening here. John is saying that you just don’t get it when you lifestyle doesn’t match up with your beliefs. To commit is a latin word meaning to bind together. If we are truly the temple of God, becoming pure just as Christ is pure that the transformation should be evident in our life. If its not, John is asking the simple question, “Did you really commit your life to Christ in the first place?’ If you did, then you are going to be on the transformational highway to righteousness.
v9 they don’t keep on sinning because God’s life is in them. He is driving the point home the presence of God in your life should make a difference. You just don’t get it when you sin recklessly in light of His Coming.
Another truth we learned about prayer this week is that we have no authority to pray for something in someone’s else life if it hasn’t been or is being dealt with in our own life. To pray for our integrity in our leaders when we do not display integrity holds very little weight with God if any. Judgment must first begin with the house of God 1 Peter 4:17
In commitment we love in to action v11-24
Commitment is being bound to a course of action and John is pleading out of love. Once again he is saying that you just don’t get it when you talk eloquently about loving actions, but that is all that you do and you can sense the frustration in his letter. He is pleading with what he sees as apathy. He is saying let’s stop just saying it and really show it! v18
It was incredible to listen to the Christians MPs in Ottawa this week who shared how much it means to look up and know that we are praying for him as a leader in the midst of all the mud slinging. He spoke with us about how God keeping waking him up at 5:30am on Wednesday mornings to the point where he just has to get up and go to the prayer and Bible study.
I watched our team members love each other not in deed but in action!
Spontaneously praying over each other
Reaching out to people on the street and challenging those not presenting the whole message of God
Taking time to really listen to each other
The Takeaway
V23 And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he commanded us.
How To Sharpen Your Family Commitment.
1. Consecrate your family. It means to declare holy and set apart. Maybe you need to repent of a half hearted commitment to your family. Maybe you need to repent of selfishness and avoidance of your #1 responsibility before God. Its never too late to say to your wife , “I’m sorry, I have not been the husband that God wants me to be.” Maybe it is as a mother to say, “I’m sorry kids, I haven’t been the mother that God wants me to be. I have been distracted with maybe even good things, but they are not the best thing. The shema in the OT clearly has taught that as parents we have the #1 responsibility for training our children in righteousness.
2. Bind Together. Talk to your family about your new commitment and live it out. Take time to set aside a family verse, a family calling. We are a family that keeps our word. We will keep our word, we are not quitters, we will follow through with each other and hold each other up in prayer, keep each other accountable, build in each other strong minded determination to follow through. We are here for each other.
3. Love in to action. It means that we will sacrifice for each other and put the needs of each other first. We will have each other’s back and give each other freedom to pursue dreams and godly desires.
4. Jesus. This is one of those ‘don’t try this at home’ unless you bring Christ centeredness with you. You will be unable to do this in your own strength unless you call on him for His!
In commitment there is identity with Jesus.v1-3
John begins by focusing on the reality of who we are. You have a place in this family, you belong to God and He loves you. He loves you so much that He does not want to leave you where you are and He wants you to catch a glimpse of where you are going and His perfect plan and design for you.
This week we learned about our calling as believers to be a personal house of prayer. I spent the past week in Ottawa with a team from my church at the National House of Prayer www.nhop.ca It is often said “oh, but if the church could return to its roots like the early church!” Certainly that would seem like a noble goal, but what about what the church is to become? What about “Back To The Future!”
Revelation 21:3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, the home of God is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them.
V22 No temple could be seen in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
1 Corinthians 3:16 Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? 2 Corinthians 6:16
We are consecrated to be pure! One day we will be like him, Jesus. We will be part of the everlasting temple in heaven, the bride of Christ.
What does it mean to be consecrated!
· It means to be set apart as God’s children...I love the NLT ....AND WE REALLY ARE! Remember though that the people of the world just don’t get it, they don’t understand the reality that they too can become children of God....That is why we pray the veil the enemy has placed over their eyes would be removed so that they can see the light of the glorious gospel! 2 Corinthians 3:14
· Being holy and loving God are one and the same. Often the concept of being pure, holy growing up was to do nothing, but pure means to keep God at the center of your life....don’t pollute it with other affections!
In commitment we bind together right thinking and right living. v4-10
Have you ever heard of ‘stinking thinking’. Well that happens when your words don’t jive with your lifestyle. It is one thing to say all the right things, its quite another to live it out. This is what is happening here. John is saying that you just don’t get it when you lifestyle doesn’t match up with your beliefs. To commit is a latin word meaning to bind together. If we are truly the temple of God, becoming pure just as Christ is pure that the transformation should be evident in our life. If its not, John is asking the simple question, “Did you really commit your life to Christ in the first place?’ If you did, then you are going to be on the transformational highway to righteousness.
v9 they don’t keep on sinning because God’s life is in them. He is driving the point home the presence of God in your life should make a difference. You just don’t get it when you sin recklessly in light of His Coming.
Another truth we learned about prayer this week is that we have no authority to pray for something in someone’s else life if it hasn’t been or is being dealt with in our own life. To pray for our integrity in our leaders when we do not display integrity holds very little weight with God if any. Judgment must first begin with the house of God 1 Peter 4:17
In commitment we love in to action v11-24
Commitment is being bound to a course of action and John is pleading out of love. Once again he is saying that you just don’t get it when you talk eloquently about loving actions, but that is all that you do and you can sense the frustration in his letter. He is pleading with what he sees as apathy. He is saying let’s stop just saying it and really show it! v18
It was incredible to listen to the Christians MPs in Ottawa this week who shared how much it means to look up and know that we are praying for him as a leader in the midst of all the mud slinging. He spoke with us about how God keeping waking him up at 5:30am on Wednesday mornings to the point where he just has to get up and go to the prayer and Bible study.
I watched our team members love each other not in deed but in action!
Spontaneously praying over each other
Reaching out to people on the street and challenging those not presenting the whole message of God
Taking time to really listen to each other
The Takeaway
V23 And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he commanded us.
How To Sharpen Your Family Commitment.
1. Consecrate your family. It means to declare holy and set apart. Maybe you need to repent of a half hearted commitment to your family. Maybe you need to repent of selfishness and avoidance of your #1 responsibility before God. Its never too late to say to your wife , “I’m sorry, I have not been the husband that God wants me to be.” Maybe it is as a mother to say, “I’m sorry kids, I haven’t been the mother that God wants me to be. I have been distracted with maybe even good things, but they are not the best thing. The shema in the OT clearly has taught that as parents we have the #1 responsibility for training our children in righteousness.
2. Bind Together. Talk to your family about your new commitment and live it out. Take time to set aside a family verse, a family calling. We are a family that keeps our word. We will keep our word, we are not quitters, we will follow through with each other and hold each other up in prayer, keep each other accountable, build in each other strong minded determination to follow through. We are here for each other.
3. Love in to action. It means that we will sacrifice for each other and put the needs of each other first. We will have each other’s back and give each other freedom to pursue dreams and godly desires.
4. Jesus. This is one of those ‘don’t try this at home’ unless you bring Christ centeredness with you. You will be unable to do this in your own strength unless you call on him for His!
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