A selection of Bible commentaries available on Amazon and also in Manna bookshop in Streatham, London…
Why not check one out and enjoy the teaching from the Word of God…
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“This is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, even as he commanded.”
This in real faith terms, in the only commandment to us from the Lord our God. To believe with all our heart, mind and soul on the Lord Jesus Christ and what He has procured for us on the cross at Calvary. This is really the only way we can please the Lord. Only faith is the currency of this transaction, for we have nothing to give in our destitution. Only a living and active faith in Christ will produce the love spoken of here, the love for fellow believers. We will not love truly without the cleansing from our sin with the blood of Christ and the active indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our souls. Only the work of God will produce the faith and love required if we are to please the Lord.
We are both commanded to believe and commanded to love one another.
“They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
Acts 16:31
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, just like I have loved you; that you also love one another.”
John 13:34
These two commands are the touchstones of the Christian life. One starts the life of faith and the other is the feature of it. We cannot ignored either. We cannot love without the redeeming faith in the Saviour, and we have no faith without the love of God for us. When we come into the family of God we become like our Father who’s name and nature is love.
Jesus also commands us to love because it is the mark of the Holy Spirit on our life and the defining feature of the Christian character. All our thought life, speaking and deeds should be loving and have this motivation.
“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
John 13:35
We know we are not like this. We argue, rebel, reject reason, resent, justify ourselves, and any number of strategies we use to deflect our responsibility to love. Only God knows our heart and is prepared to work with us to make us like His Son.
Do we want this? Do we seek it?
Beloved, let us examine ourselves and see if we keep these commandments and if we are really in the household of faith.
“… and whatever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight.”
There is a state of being we can live in where God will listen and answer all our prayers that we ask for. It is a state of total surrender to the will and law of God. We cannot access this position without a total change in our character and a repenting of all our corrupt ways.
God does not spoil His children nor does He have favourites. But for all who love Him enough to keep His holy commandments, there is also answers to prayers. Whatever we ask will be according to His will, for we will be in tune with His ways and purposes for us and for other people. We will know the Lord and therefore pray with understanding and insight on behalf of other people. However, we must walk a worthy walk with Him, not in the conceits of our own thinking or imagination, but in the reality of everyday life.
What does it look like to be pleasing in the sight of the holy God?
We will walk with God in obedience and faith and seek His will for our lives. His will is that we live holy lives as He is holy.
“Therefore, prepare your minds for action. Be sober, and set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ— as children of obedience, not conforming yourselves according to your former lusts as in your ignorance, but just as he who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all of your behavior, because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
1 Peter 1:13-16
We will conform out life to the standards set out for us in the Word of God and not according to the craven appetites of this world. The power of our living comes from the Father who gave the Word and from the indwelling Holy Spirit. He will witness to us and keep our conscience sensitive to the approaches of sin so that we stay away from temptation.
Beloved, there is so much more to be gained from following the Lord Jesus than from fraternising with this world. Let us be holy people, who’s prayers are heard and answered and we are full of the Holy Spirit who guides us.
“The insistent prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective.”
James 5:16
“Beloved, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have boldness toward God;”
How wonderful to have that holy boldness before the Lord! How wonderful to be so assured that nothing puts us down or distresses us, for we are safe under the sheltering wings of Christ. How secure in his love to be safe to talk with Him and relate to Him as a person would talk with a friend.
“The Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.”
Exodus 33:11
What a blessing Moses enjoyed and we also can enjoy by keeping short accounts with God and walking in His holy way. We can be close to the Lord when our conscience is clear and there is no outstanding and deliberate sin standing in the way of our fellowship with the Lord. Too often we allow ourselves to wander and to indulge in things that take us away from the Lord and leave us cold towards Him and His purposes for our life.
If only we would resist the temptations of the evil one; the sin that lives in our hearts; and bad motivations that are the root cause of our sin, and cast them out, so that our heart is clean and fit to commune with the living God. We easily become hardened to sin and get used to doing certain things and don’t even count wrongdoing for what it is. Our conscience become quiet because we have silenced it with repeated sin and so we live our life away from God.
We must ask for sensitive consciences that feels it when sin is near so that we can run away and escape from it. We must examine our hearts and seek out the sins that infest it and confess them to the Lord, turning away from them forever. The trouble is we get caught in the net of certain sins; they become a habit and it is difficult to break out from them. We must continually seek the Lord and make straight paths for our feet, so that we do not keep falling into these pits that take us away from God.
Beloved, let us be brave and walk wholly with God – deal with the intentions and propensities of our sinful hearts and have holy hearts that love God with all strength and devotion. Then our conscience will have peace and we will have peace with God, walking with Him daily in confidence and holy boldness.
“Having therefore such a hope, we use great boldness of speech… Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face seeing the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the Spirit.”
2 Corinthians 3:12 and 17-18
“Beloved, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have boldness toward God;”
How wonderful to have that holy boldness before the Lord! How wonderful to be so assured that nothing puts us down or distresses us, for we are safe under the sheltering wings of Christ. How secure in his love to be safe to talk with Him and relate to Him as a person would talk with a friend.
“The Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.”
Exodus 33:11
What a blessing Moses enjoyed and we also can enjoy by keeping short accounts with God and walking in His holy way. We can be close to the Lord when our conscience is clear and there is no outstanding and deliberate sin standing in the way of our fellowship with the Lord. Too often we allow ourselves to wander and to indulge in things that take us away from the Lord and leave us cold towards Him and His purposes for our life.
If only we would resist the temptations of the evil one; the sin that lives in our hearts; and bad motivations that are the root cause of our sin, and cast them out, so that our heart is clean and fit to commune with the living God. We easily become hardened to sin and get used to doing certain things and don’t even count wrongdoing for what it is. Our conscience become quiet because we have silenced it with repeated sin and so we live our life away from God.
We must ask for sensitive consciences that feels it when sin is near so that we can run away and escape from it. We must examine our hearts and seek out the sins that infest it and confess them to the Lord, turning away from them forever. The trouble is we get caught in the net of certain sins; they become a habit and it is difficult to break out from them. We must continually seek the Lord and make straight paths for our feet, so that we do not keep falling into these pits that take us away from God.
Beloved, let us be brave and walk wholly with God – deal with the intentions and propensities of our sinful hearts and have holy hearts that love God with all strength and devotion. Then our conscience will have peace and we will have peace with God, walking with Him daily in confidence and holy boldness.
“Having therefore such a hope, we use great boldness of speech… Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face seeing the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the Spirit.”
2 Corinthians 3:12 and 17-18
“… because if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.”
The personal assurance that we belong to God and are adopted into His family is very precious. The Christian who has lost that sense of assurance and belonging is altogether miserable. It is a terrible state to be in, to believe and yet believe you do not really belong and are a false believer. It causes so much spiritual pain, and the enemy of our souls uses it to torment us.
God is not behind this pain and is eager to pour in the comfort of the oil and the wine of the Holy Spirit. If we are in the grip of depression, we will not even have the comfort to our good works, for our mind so condemns us with the negativity. Only God can comfort us and only the wine of the Word of God will see us through. The comfort of other people can be insufficient also and we long to grasp the truths of the Scripture that we might find the permanent and thorough reassurance of the Lord or God.
God is greater than the condemnation of our own hearts and the encouragement of our good deeds. He knows the end of all things and we must trust Him to bring us safely through. His Word is our only hope and comfort.
“Be free from the love of money, content with such things as you have, for he has said, “I will in no way leave you, neither will I in any way forsake you.”Deuteronomy 31:6
Hebrews 13:5
The Lord can never break His Word, because of who He is and we can trust in Him in all circumstances. It is He who keeps us and brings such Scriptures to mind for our comfort and strength. We must set all doubt aside and trust in the Word of the Lord. It is easy to doubt, for our faith lacks substance and we are not yet made perfect.
We can say that we doubt ourselves and our experiences with the Lord, but really we are doubting Him. This should not be and we must take ourselves in hand and cast our all fear and anxiety about our position before the Lord. He is our salvation and He will bring us through every doubt and trial and it will strengthen our faith for the next time we encounter the doubt. God is greater and He can turn us around through the ministry of His Scripture and the bringing to mind of our blessings in Christ.
“For God didn’t give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.”
2 Timothy 1:7
God has not brought us into the kingdom to be weak and temperamental believers, but weak people who stand in His strength and are able to deflect temptations and fears through the knowledge of the Word. We take our confidence in the Lord and trust Him implicitly for all we need. He gives us the power to overcome and the ability to love His ways so that we believe His word and the self-control to put down our doubts and exercise our living faith in the Saviour who has rescued us from it.
“And by this we know that we are of the truth, and persuade our hearts before him,”
It is a common thought process to blame ourselves for things and lose our assurance of the grace of God. We all fail at Christian living and we all need forgiveness every day. We can get our minds on a spiral of blame that drags us down and the enemy comes in with his accusations and we can become lacking in our personal assurance of salvation. We think we are too sinful and we think we have overstepped a mark that has been set for us, and failed the Lord or, in fact, we were never really sorry at all for our sin. We can bring doubts on ourself by falsely rehearsing our past and imagining all sorts of things that drag us down into depressions and guilt complexes. The Apostle is not wishing this at all, but encouraging us to follow the path of Christ which will bless us, help us to grow as Christian people and build or faith.
It is easy to guilt trip ourselves and the enemy loves it, for he can fuel that fire and hurt us badly and take away our joy. We encourage ourselves in knowing the good things we have done for the Lord, especially if they are done in secret at the impetus of the Holy Spirit in our minds and ideas. It is good to listen to Him because He never makes us feel guilt and blame but encourages us in holy living and sacrificial giving.
“But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you.”
John 14:26
The Holy Spirit is our great confidant and comrade in the fight with self and sin. He will always lead us in the right way for our good and the good of the sisters and brothers in Christ. It’s easy to say we should have done this or that, but the closer we walk with God, the promptings of the Spirit will be heard and followed by us and the more joyful we will be. Do not allow the enemy to spoil our happiness in the Lord by entertaining sin, unbelief, doubt and lack of assurance.
Our good works can be an encouragement to us too and remind us of the work of God in our own heart and mind. Our good deeds follow us to remind us of the grace of God working in our hearts – the grace that has saved us in the first place.
“I heard the voice from heaven saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.'” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labours; for their works follow with them.”
Revelation 13:14
We can take our encouragement from our works in this life and be thankful for the work of God in our life. We can use the presence of the acts of kindness and love we have shown to others to witness to us that we belong to God. Our good deeds do not save us but are an evidence of our faith and the work of the Spirit in our life. They are a marker that we have a good conscience towards God, especially done in secret and leading to the glory of God and not ourselves.
“My little children, let’s not love in word only, or with the tongue only, but in deed and truth.”
They say we should put our money where our mouth is, and so we should! The words of comfort can come out of our mouths so easily, but the actual practical help that people need, we are slow to offer and do.
“… and one of you tells them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled;” and yet you didn’t give them the things the body needs, what good is it?”
James 2:16
The words are empty when your stomach is hungry and your body is cold. Sisters and brothers, we must rally around each other and earnestly seek ways to help out our fellow believers and the outsiders to the faith as well. The beloved Apostle addresses us as the children in the family of God and so our hearts must be for each other.
Perhaps we have resources and what we do with them in our responsibility. God has given us these things for our benefit and for the benefit of other people as well. Having the ability to give gives the opportunity to be generous and to exercise our gifts of grace, which makes us more Christ-like and less beholden to this world. If we keep our resources for ourselves or for our own people, our families, how are we any different from the worldly person? We claim to live by the truth and to live truthful lives to God, so we should follow this teaching from the Word of God.
No one should judge another as to what resources we think people have and our claim to them. It is easy to feel that people should give us things and support us, when really we should be supporting ourselves and having more to give to others! It is easy to become dependent and even have a feeling to resentment towards someone we think has more than us. We should not judge by appearances because we do not know other people’s situations and what they re facing in their lives. God gives ability and resources to everyone and it is our judgment what we do with them. God will hold each of us accountable for our whole life and not just money in a bank. God will ask us about our words and deeds and how we put them to use for the sake of other people. Never underestimate the power of even an encouraging word! Everyone can do that.
“So then each one of us will give account of himself to God.”
Romans 14:12
Beloved, we should have in mind the mind of Christ who held nothing back for our sake, and we hold nothing back for the sake of our sisters and brothers. Let us take the responsibility for our deeds and live for Christ.
“But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and closes his heart of compassion against him, how does the love of God remain in him?”
It can be easy to say we would die for someone knowing it will probably never happen! But what about sharing what we have right now?
What about sharing our money and goods, and even our skills, with sisters and brothers we can see in need? This seems to be a different issue, but it in reality it is the same issue of love for each other. Will we share, or protect our own interests? This is where the rubber hits the road, when it affects my daily income, my time and my interests it becomes an issues much closer to the heart.
Let us not be hypocrites in this regard, saying we love Christ and yet not really loving others in the reality of living.
“Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil. Cling to that which is good. In love of the brothers be tenderly affectionate to one another; in honour prefer one another, not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, enduring in troubles, continuing steadfastly in prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, and given to hospitality.”
Romans 12:9-13
This is very clear. We serve each other as we have need and we watch out for each other in care and attention to our lack and needs. We do not undermine each other but watch for difficulties and wants that need to be supplied. We must not make people dependant but encourage each other to work and be active in the society we find ourselves in, including our circle of Christian friends. It is the heart of love that is able to observe the situation with other people and be able to reach out in love to supply need in a creative way. Playing the lady or gentleman bountiful, will not reflect Christ but the humble serving of others in a way that they will understand and benefit from.
If we are fortunate to belong to the Lord and He has supplied us with more than we need, how can we watch sisters and brothers struggle and do nothing? This verse from the Apostle John says we have a responsibility toward each other and not just words to comfort, but deeds that satisfy needs and even wants. We are compelled to give out of our resources that we have been given by the Lord. Our funds and skills and gifts are not our own, but belong to the Lord who has given us the ability to have them. Surely our hearts full of love should reach out to others and supply the needs of the household of faith?
When we see Christians struggling, how can we close up our emotions and foster the lack of compassion we see in the world all around us. Many people struggle and if we have the ability to relieve that situation and do not, we are adding to the grief.
Beloved, let us not take what we have to ourselves alone, though it is the Lord’s provision, but let us share and give and meet the needs of our fellow believers wherever there is that need…
The outcome for us will be closeness to Christ and a likeness to Christ that will mark everything we do, and bring our Lord such glory, thankfulness and praise.
“For this service of giving that you perform not only makes up for lack among the saints, but abounds also through much giving of thanks to God, seeing that through the proof given by this service, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the Good News of Christ and for the generosity of your contribution to them and to all, while they themselves also, with supplication on your behalf, yearn for you by reason of the exceeding grace of God in you. Now thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift!”
2 Corinthians 9:12-15
“By this we know love, because he laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.”
What kind of person would you die for? Who would you die for?
This verse suggests strongly that our love for other believers should be so strong and close that we would die for them. This is the complete opposite to the hatefulness we can harbour, as we saw in the previous verse. As the sisters and brothers in Christ we should be so Christ-like that we are willing to emulate our Lord and give our lives for each other. This is not the normal human way, for we protect ourselves at all costs and self-preservation is crucial to our human temperament. There are few, if any, in the reality of our thinking that we would give our lives for. Perhaps a loving and loved partner or favoured children, but not just any old body!
The power of love is not in sentimental words and feelings but in action and open deed. Christ showed us the way in this when He loved us so completely from all eternity, that He willingly and purposefully laid down His life for us to save us from the consequences of the just sentence on our sin. We were not His friends, but sworn enemies who would never seek Him or love Him. Yet his love is so strong that He was willing to die for us that we might know love. This is how we know true love. Through His once for all powerful love for us it is possible for us to experience and know love – his love for us. We only love Christ because He has loved us first.
“We love him, because he first loved us.”
1 John 4:19
The sobering truth is we would never love the Lord and never love without Him. Love is from the Spirit of God and the defining mark of the Christian and only the work of the Spirit brings true love into a life. We are not loving creatures because we are so full of self, and to change that selfish trait takes a work of God to show us the way to love.
Jesus gave His life in love for us, so we should be like Him in all our dealings with other people. We should be willing to risk our life for others and to put ourselves in the direct line of fire of the hand of death for the sake of the sisters and brothers, and many even do so for the sake of the outsider. This is the mentality of the Christian missionary who gives up all for the sake of the elect in another place.
“For one will hardly die for a righteous man. Yet perhaps for a good person someone would even dare to die. But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:7-8
There have been many dear sisters and brothers who have given all for the sake of Christ and others people to spread the good news of Jesus. They have been infiltrated with the love of their Saviour for them, and have worked out the effect of it in their own thinking and actions. This is the mindset of the believer who follows the Master who showed us the way. We will not naturally die for someone we do not even know, or for someone we consider unworthy. Yet Christ died for us, we, the most unworthy of all, and we must adopt his mindset towards the people of God and the outsider. The way of Christ is one of sacrifice and we give all for His dear sake, as He gave for us.
What about people we don’t agree with, people who are a different sect of belief from us? Would we be willing to die for them? People who think different doctrinal thoughts than us…?
The Lord makes no distinction. We should be willing to even give our lives for any fellow believer in Jesus no matter what their persuasion and belief about issues. This follows on from the command to love each other unconditionally and completely. We do not set ourselves above other people, but do as we would wish to be done to us.
“Be imitators of God, as beloved children. Walk in love, even as Christ also loved us and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling fragrance.”
Ephesians 5:1-2
Beloved, this is a principle of the ChristIan life and the logical outworking of the love of God…are we ready for it…
Daughters of the Kingdom 