Scripture:
1 John 4:7-21
Fri, 21 January 2022

Maturing in God’s Love

Observation:

What has the quality of our relationship with God got to do with the way we love people?

Deeper Reflection
SINCE GOD IS LOVE (VV.8, 16), IF WE ARE BORN OF GOD and know (i.e. have a relationship with) Him, we will experience and express God’s love for one another (vv.7, 11). God’s love is not a sentimental, feelings-only kind of love. It is an intentional act of the will. It is a choice to put the interests of others first. God Himself is the supreme example of that love. Because God chose to put the interests of fallen, spiritually dead human beings – sinners who rebel against His rule and disobey His commands – before His own interests, He sent His only Son Jesus Christ into the world to die on our behalf to give us life (v.9) by being the “propitiation”55 for our sins (v.10). Through believing in Jesus the Son of God and the Saviour of the world (vv.14-15), we enter into a relationship with God and His Spirit dwells in us (v.13). When we abide in God and He in us,56 His indwelling Spirit enables us to love people with God’s love; in this way, God’s love runs its course in our lives and we will increasingly be like God in His central attribute of love (vv.16-17). As the day of God’s judgment upon the world approaches, true believers will not fear but have great confidence that they belong to God and bear His likeness in the way they love people (vv.17-18).57 Indeed, God is the source and motivation of our love – we love God because He first loved us (v.19) and we love other people with God’s love because He has commanded us to do so (v.20).
55 Or atoning sacrifice (Greek hilasmos). This has “the idea of turning away the divine wrath…God’s love for us is expressed in his sending his Son to be the propitiation (the propitiatory sacrifice) for our sins on the cross…The contemporary English ‘atoning sacrifice’ communicates this idea more effectively”: NET Bible study note. 56 I.e. we remain closely connected to God through His Word and prayer. 57 When God’s love is perfected (i.e. reaches the end of its course) in God’s people, they will find themselves having fully matured in their experience and expression of God’s love.
Application:

What is God saying to me about how I am experiencing and living out His love in my life?

Prayer:
Write a prayer to God as your response from your meditation on and application of the Scriptures.
Prayer Pointers:
  • Give thanks and praise
  • Pray for SGI leaders: To mature in their experience and expression of God’s love
  • Pray for significant people
  • Pray for those in need
  • Pray for self

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Daily Devo
Daily Devotional Journal
Scripture:
Daniel 10:11-12, 14-19
Tue, 26 September 2023

A Man of High Esteem

Observation:

What significant observations can you make about Daniel being called “man of high esteem” (vv.11, 19)?

Deeper Reflection
One of the heavenly beings called Daniel “man of high esteem” (v.11). This honour was bestowed on Daniel emphatically, in that it was repeated twice (v.19). This “high esteem” did not come from man, but from God Himself. God gave this honour to Daniel toward the end of his life when God called him to “enter into rest” (Dan 12:13). As a youth, Daniel “made up his mind not to defile himself with the king’s choice food” (Dan 1:8), and as an old man, he was faithful to God in spending time with Him in his “three times a day” devotion, even if it means to be thrown into the lions’ den (Dan 6:10). Daniel was finishing well in his life with “humbling yourself before your God” (v.12). When we think of finishing well in terms of successful accomplishments, we must be careful that we are not exalting ourselves.It is not for us to see ourselves in any way as a person of high esteem before God. It is for God to say that to us (2 Cor 10:17-18). Daniel never saw himself as a “man of high esteem”. A key emphasis in Daniel 10 is Daniel being greatly overwhelmed by the holiness and glory of God represented by the heavenly being with an awesome appearance (Dan 10:5-10, 15-18). And it was in this encounter with God when he was called “man of high esteem” that Daniel said, “How can such a servant of my Lord talk with such as my Lord?”50 (v.17). The man highly esteemed by God saw his unworthiness before God.
50 I have theologically translated “my lord” to “my Lord”, since the heavenly being is a representation of God.
Application:

What does being highly esteemed by God mean to me?

Prayer:
Write a prayer to God as your response from your meditation on and application of the Scriptures.
Prayer Pointers:
  • Give thanks and praise
  • Pray for pastors and staff: To be able to see oneself as God sees
  • Pray for significant people
  • Pray for those in need
  • Pray for self

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