Present and Accounted For
May 29, 2025
In the Apostle John’s first letter, he was talking to a group of Believers he had led to the revelation of the Gospel of Jesus. In this short writing, he made some amazing claims. There are some meaty statements which need thorough chewing.
Please take the time to slowly read so as to hear what he is saying. It goes to the essential point which I have been attempting to share.
Look, I’m not trying to sell you on some religion, some trite and crusted ritualized practice.
What I am trying to do is to introduce everyone to the personal and dynamic relationship with the living God of the Bible, the Person who is and who was and who ever will be there — and there for whoever chooses to look.
Oh, it will take a little bit of honest introspection. It will take an active self-assessment rather than playing the Blame Game. It will take your open-mindedness and a willingness for change.
Stubborn self-righteousness or faithful adherence to dogmatic rituals have no place in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Biblical faithfulness.
It took me a long time, because I am slow on the uptake and rather thick-skulled, but God has been extremely patient with me.
But it doesn’t have to be that way for you.
All the same, if you seek the truth, if you seek such transcendent qualities as righteousness, peace, fairness, and justice — if you sincerely seek, you will sincerely find, and you will find out that God truly exists and Jesus is the answer to all life’s questions… or should I rather say that Jesus has all the answers to your questions…
A man with many friends can still be ruined, but a true friend sticks closer than a brother. — Proverbs 18:24, International Standard Version (ISV).
In the first chapter John wrote:
What existed from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we observed and touched with our own hands — this the Word of life! This life was revealed to us, and we have seen it and testify about it. We declare to you this eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us. What we have seen and heard we declare to you so that you, too, can have fellowship with us. Now this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus, the Messiah. We are writing these things so that our joy may be full.
This is the message that we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness — none at all! If we claim that we have fellowship with him but keep living in darkness, we are lying and not practicing the truth. But if we keep living in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we do not have any sin, we are deceiving ourselves and we’re not being truthful to ourselves. If we make it our habit to confess our sins, in his faithful righteousness he forgives us for those sins and cleanses us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have never sinned, we make him a liar and his word has no place in us.
Just to clarify and with emphasis, here is a morsel from the main course — the meat God has prepared for this Gospel Banquet. To savor its flavor, chew on it for a bit…
It is Jesus who has the power and authority to both forgive and to cleanse us from our sins and to overpower our sinful nature — our guilt and all the consequences of our serious wrongdoing — both internally and externally.
Not any man. Not any Religious Leader. Not any charismatic or glamorous person of influence. Be careful.
Many will give you something besides prime rib on your plate… It might look delicious, but…
Sooner or later (and I hope sooner) you’ll find out it isn’t meat that they are serving up, but instead, something more like shoe leather.
