1 John. .Week 4. .Assignment

Hope ya’ll had a great weekend!!

It was salsa day here. .My friend Lisa and I. .

have been making salsa for TEN years now!!

Our families start asking about it by mid summer!!

The first year. .we had one little pot and an antique water bath canner. .

we worked ALL day and had about 20 jars to split between us. .

Now we have at least 3 pots on the stove simmering through the day. .and 2 canners. .

This year our water bath was on the front deck on top of Jeremy’s propane turkey fryer burner!! (we’ve also canned using the side burner of our grill!)

We’ve learned a few things along the way. .and are a LOT more efficient!!

Saturday. .we worked from about 8:45 until 5. .and canned a little over 37 GALLONS. .of salsa!!

Yes. .that is G-A-L-L-O-N-S!!

My house always smells like a million bucks. .

and there is NO shortage of opinions on the flavors J

 It’s one of the best forms of exhaustion that I know!! (By the way. .the mustard yellow wall color is soon to go. .the last drag race of the season was today. .and NOW. .I’M the honey do list!! Woop, woop!

 

 

So. .Let's get back to the book of 1 John. .
It's our last week here!

 



What is love? 
Have you ever REALLY thought about it??
Many would say that love is a feeling. .
and I agree with that. .
Love may START as a feeling. .
but then if someone disappoints. .
that love turns to dislike or even hate. .
so how does that go wrong??
I LOVE my kids. .
but there are many days that I don’t FEEL love. .
I feel irritation, I feel disappointment, so what becomes of love then??
The divorce rate stands at nearly 50%. .
those people didn’t go into a marriage EXPECTING a divorce in their future. .
They were in LOVE. .
so WHAT happens to that??
I don’t know if many of the rest of you have felt this. .
but my honeymoon LOVE was over a long time ago. .
and sometimes love is still that feeling. .
but for a LONG time, when love CEASED feeling like that. .
I wrestled with it. .where is the LOVE??
Until. .I came to terms with the fact that love is a CHOICE. .
And the love that Jesus talks about throughout the bible. .
is a CHOOSING kind of love. .
We choose to serve others. .
we choose to be kind to our enemies in addition to our brothers (because even the pagans love their brothers Matthew 5:43-48).
John instructs multiple times in 1 John. .
that we should LOVE others. .
and if we don’t love others. .
we are not abiding in God. .
God IS love. .
so can we understand the magnitude of what he is telling us??
 I hope this little word study will help us see more clearly. .
Did you know there are different kinds of love??

There are. .
and the Greek language had 3 words for love. .
but only one word that it translated into in English. .
Eros. .a greek form of the word love. .
describes a sexual or passionate type of love. .
it’s where our English word EROTIC comes from. .
Uh, not the love we find in scripture.  

Phileo. is "mental" love. It means affectionate regard or friendship in both ancient and Modern Greek. This type of love has give and take. It is a dispassionate, virtuous love, a concept developed by Aristotle. It includes loyalty to friends, family, and community, and requires virtue, equality and familiarity. In ancient texts, philos denoted a general type of love, used for love between family, between friends, a desire or enjoyment of an activity, as well as between lovers. (Courtesy of Wikipedia)

But a third kind of love. .
and the love that I believe that John is talking to us about in his book. .
is that of Agape love. .
This is a “Love-as-God-loves type”. .
it’s unconditional. .
it’s a selfless love--when we give love. .
but expect NOTHING in return. .
a human quality??
 I don’t think so!
 It’s a love that comes FROM God!!
I can’t GIVE that kind of love from my own efforts or desire. .Can you? 
 Read what Wikipedia says about this type of love. .
Even if you are familiar with this concept. .
read thru this. .I found it intriguing and enlightening.

Agape Classical Greek: ἀγάπη, agápē  is one of the Koine Greek words translated into English as love; one which became particularly appropriated in Christian theology as the love of God or Christ for humankind. In the New Testament, it refers to the covenant love of God for humans, as well as the human reciprocal love for God; the term necessarily extends to the love of one’s fellow man. Many have thought that this word represents divine, unconditional, self-sacrificing, active, volitional, and thoughtful love. Although the word does not have specific religious connotation, the word has been used by a variety of contemporary and ancient sources, including biblical authors and Christian authors. Greek philosophers at the time of Plato and other ancient authors have used forms of the word to denote love of a spouse or family, or affection for a particular activity, in contrast to philia (an affection that could denote friendship, brotherhood or generally non-sexual affection) and eros, an affection of a sexual nature. Thomas Jay Oord has defined agape as "an intentional response to promote well-being when responding to that which has generated ill-being (stop and read that line again. .it is a bit tricky. .read it outloud)

A journalist of Time Magazine has described John 3:16 as "one of the most famous and well-known Bible verses. It has been called the 'Gospel in a nutshell' because it is considered a summary of the central doctrines of Christianity." The verb translated "loved" in this verse is ἠγάπησεν (ēgapēsen), past tense of "agapaō".

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

—John 3:16, 

Agape received a broader usage under later Christian writers as the word that specifically denoted "Christian" love or "charity" (1 Corinthians 13:1–8), or even God himself (1 John 4:8, ὁ θεὸς ἀγάπη ἐστίν, "God is Love").

The term agape is rarely used in ancient manuscripts, but was used by the early Christians to refer to the self-sacrificing love of God for humanity, which they were committed to reciprocating and practicing towards God and among one another. When 1 John 4:8 says "God is love," the Greek New Testament uses the word agape to describe God's love.

The Christian usage of the term agape comes almost directly from the canonical Gospels' accounts of the teachings of Jesus. When asked what was the great commandment, "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Matthew 22:37-40)

In the King James Version of the New Testament, the word agape is translated "charity" [in some places] which has a contemporary connotation of giving to meet needs of the less fortunate.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said:

You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love (agapēseis) your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love (agapāte) your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you?

—Matthew 5:43-46, 

Christian writers have generally described agape as a form of love which is both unconditional and voluntary. Tertullian, in his 2nd century defense of Christians, remarks how Christian love attracted pagan notice: "What marks us in the eyes of our enemies is our loving kindness. 'Only look,' they say, 'look how they love one another' " (Apology 39).

Anglican theologian O. C. Quick cautions however that this agape within human experience is "a very partial and rudimentary realization," and that "in its pure form it is essentially divine." Quick suggests that,

If we could imagine the love of One who loves men purely for their own sake, and not because of any need or desire of his own, purely desires their good, and yet loves them wholly, not for what at this moment they are, but for what He knows He can make of them because He made them, then we should have in our minds some true image of the love of the Father and Creator of mankind.

In the New Testament the word agape is often used to describe God's love. However, other forms of the word agape (such as agapaō) are at times used in a negative sense. Such examples include:

2 Timothy 4:10— "...for Demas hath forsaken me, having loved [agapaō] this present world...".
John 12:43— "For they loved [agapaō] the praise of men more than the praise of God."
John 3:19— "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved [agapaō] darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

In these cases, the sense is that the object of that agapē is an idol, taking the place that should be God's own

So. .
ponder the different types of love this week. .
as you read. .
and really consider how you can show the agape love of God to those around you!!

This week. .
we will be reading 1 John for the last times. .
read in whichever text you prefer, or continue looking through different translations.
Our assignments for the week. .
will include
considering how we have caught ourselves changing our habits and lives based on what we have spent the last month studying. .
if you haven’t made any changes. .
Be accountable to us as to WHAT you PLAN to start changing based on 1 John studies. .
You may want to make a new sheet in your notebook. .
Heading. .I want to be a DOER and not a HEARER (James 1:22)
HOW will 1 John change my personality and my life. .
make a list of goals to work on.

Finally. .
choose one of the questions below to consider and research if needed so that you can provide an answer to the group next weekend. I don’t care if everyone uses the same question. .
it actually would be quite beneficial for each of us to consider EACH question. .
and then you can fight it out next weekend to see who gets to answer first J

1.)     List some attitudes and actions that you consider “wordly”

2.)   Which of the promises in 1 John 2:12-14 are most promising to you and why?

3.)   The teachings attributed to Christ are widely regarded as being wise and helpful. .so does it really matter whether he actually lived (remember, the false teachers said he didn’t and some today believe he was only a good man)?? WHY?

4.)  What are some practical things that Christians can do to strengthen their fellowship with one another? Why would it be important?

5.)   What resources does John say God gave us to keep us from being led astray?

6.)   What are some specific protective measures you need to take to better prepare for the false teachers you are likely to encounter (remember that Revelation tells us that there will be a MAJOR false prophet coming with the Antichrist soon and will lead many people astray. .we should be ready too!)

7.)   How does the truth of “Christ in you” encourage you as you seek to live a life of obedience?

8.)   In Matthew 16:13-23 the apostle Peter makes one insightful, God-honoring statement, only to turn around and utter a devilishly inspired comment. What does this tell us about our need to be discerning?

Enjoy your last week in 1 John!!