It's Nothing New

Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.

Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past and the true light now shineth.

He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.

He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.

But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.

1 John 2:7-11

Walking whose walk?

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He that sayeth he abideth in him ought himself also to walk, even as he walked.

1 John 2:6

When we say we are Christians, what should that look like? "I am under grace, I can live however I want." "Come as you are, we accept everyone." Not really.

Who are we aligning ourselves with? Well, "Christian" implies we are following Christ. So, as this verse says, if we say we are in Christ, we must walk as he walked.

He lived in perfect obedience to God, he had compassion on the spiritual blind and lost, as well as the physically poor. He forgave, even those who hated and murdered him. He loved his enemies enough to die for them, and in doing so, give them life in glory.

Am I living this way? Are you? I have to say, for myself, that I find myself lacking and in need of God's grace to walk as Christ walked.

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Knowing That We Know

My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

1 John 2:1-5

Complete In Thee

Lyrics by Aaron Robarts Wolfe and James Martin Gray

Complete in Thee! no work of mine
May take, dear Lord, the place of Thine;
Thy blood hath pardon bought for me,
And I am now complete in Thee.

Complete in Thee—no more shall sin,
Thy grace hath conquered, reign within;
Thy voice shall bid the tempter flee,
And I shall stand complete in Thee.

Complete in Thee—each want supplied,
And no good thing to me denied;
Since Thou my portion, Lord, wilt be,
I ask no more, complete in Thee.

Dear Savior! when before Thy bar
All tribes and tongues assembled are,
Among Thy chosen will I be,
At Thy right hand—complete in Thee.

Yea, justified! O blessed thought! And sanctified! Salvation wrought!
Thy blood hath pardon bought for me, And glorified, I too, shall be!


I love this hymn so much. It's my testimony of what I am in Christ. I am complete. I don't need to marry or have certain friends to be a whole person. Christ made me complete and whole. Anything that is added is just more of God's blessings.

Scripture Memory Commitment

I am making a commitment to myself to memorize more of God's Word on a regular, consistant basis. I have found myself to be lacking in this area. In the past I have participated in several Scripture Memory Challenges with my friend Emily Schuurmans and living the journey. But these don't happen all the time, and I need regular accountability. I am hoping that by sharing my study here I will have the accountability I need to persevere.

1 John 1

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ.
And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
This then is the message which we have heard and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faith and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.