1 John 2:1 --- My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
Today in my quiet time with the Lord we were still hanging out in verse 1 of 1 John chapter 2. Sometimes He has so much to say in what we see as so little. I absolutely love that His word is as deep as we allow ourselves to go into it with Him. I can read/listen from the shoreline, I can get my feet wet, I can go waist deep, but when you keep going with Him, you end up in the middle of this river and He just immerses you and grabs hold of you with the current of His holiness and love and BAM you're just carried to exciting places with Him!! Okay enough gushing about the Word and how awesome and deep and amazing it is… for now anyway.
Also, if you hate reading. It bores you. It's tough. It's frustrating. Please hear me, reading is a skill and the more you work on a skill the better and easier it gets. Don’t give up! Do it every single day. It will get easier and then you might just find you enjoy using this new reading skill you're developing!
Yesterday my quiet time led me to a very direct part of verse 1, "You May Not Sin". Honestly I typed up my recap on facebook, then struggled with posting it. It was pointed, it was direct and I thought, someone might get upset over this. Someone could get offended. Etc… I finally came to recognize the fear buzzing around in my head. I knew what I had to do. Fear Go!, Holy Spirit come! He's always here but I just welcomed and specifically invited Him to be part of this situation. Then instantly I knew to click post. The reason I share this is because God's directed me to be transparent and share my joys and sometimes struggles of walking through this life with Him, for Him and in Him.
With that out of the way…"YOU MAY NOT SIN!" Gandalf said yesterday… oh wait, that was John who wrote that, just Gandalf in my silly artwork. LOL.. Yes I'm a nerd/geek/dork if you haven't figured that out. So what happens when I do slip up. When I stump my toe and I yell, as SpongeBob SquarePants once called them "sentence enhancers" or worse or even much worse. We all know the struggles of being human. From unforgiveness, to anger, to lying and with how internet, youtube, tiktok, TV, social media is now, there is instant access to every single bit of vile wickedness and sin the earth has to offer.
Why Phillip with all the words? Because we're going to mess up. God tells us clearly in His word. I mean right here in 1 John 2:1 it's saying don't sin, but if you do… there is an ADVOCATE for you before the Holy Holy Holy Father God, and it is Jesus Christ the righteous! Oh I love that. It's not just Jesus, it is full title, all the credentials at the ready, Jesus Christ the Righteous!
The word advocate in the Greek is paraklētos and for any scholars out there you might know this is the same word used to describe the Holy Spirit. Reason being it means: summoned, called to one's side, especially called to one's aid, one who pleads another's cause before a judge, a pleader, counsel for defense, legal assistant, an advocate, intercessor, helper, aider, assistant.
So here is what the Lord was saying to me today in this. When I mess up and sin, I'm guilty. End of story. I did it. My fingerprints are on it. DNA is at the crime scene. I'm done for. Jesus doesn't just go down the hall to the judge's office and work out a plea deal behind the scene. NO, He comes alongside us at the trial. He stands right with us, the accused, the guilty party. He comes alongside and he intercedes to the Father for us. Not to say we didn't mess up, but to say, this is paid for. The sentence has already been carried out by Me, Jesus Christ the Righteous. I paid this in full, at the cross for this young man.
I just can't shake this image of getting ready to walk into the court room of God, ready to confess, I know I'm guilty, then I look over and Jesus is right there gently smiling. Calm. Puts His hand on my shoulder and says, "Let's go take care of this. I'll do the talking when it comes to the penalty phase, so just breathe and trust in me." It just brings tears to my eyes thinking of this.
I've typed so much and if you've read this far, or ever read any my posts I think God will give you a special sticker when you get to heaven for having the patience and building your reading skills.
I pray you read these posts and don't just take my word. I'm just a random man who is being obedient to the Lord in sharing all of my intimate time with God on social media. Come and see Jesus for yourself. Open the Word and let Him speak to you. Get to know Him yourself. Take all I say here and filter it through His Word! You'll never regret a second of it, I promise.
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