20/20 for JESUS - Blogpost #415 for 11/24/2021: THE HOLY ONE… THE TRUTH… JESUS… THE CHRIST… THE SON… THE ETERNAL LIFE… CHRIST IS RIGHTEOUS…

 

1 John 2:18-29

Warning about Antichrists

¹⁸ ”Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the Antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared. From this we know that the last hour has come. 

¹⁹ These people left our churches, but they never really belonged with us;

otherwise they would have stayed with us. When they left, it proved that they did not belong with us.

²⁰ But you are not like that, for THE HOLY ONE has given you HIS SPIRIT,

 and all of you know THE TRUTH. 

²¹ So I am writing to you not because you don’t know THE TRUTH but because you know the difference between truth and lies. 

²² And who is a liar? Anyone who says that JESUS is not THE CHRIST.  Anyone who denies THE FATHER and THE SON is an antichrist.

 ²³ Anyone who denies THE SON doesn’t have THE FATHER, either. But anyone who acknowledges THE SON has THE FATHER also.

²⁴ So you must remain faithful to what you have been taught from the beginning. If you do, you will remain in fellowship with THE SON and with THE FATHER. 

²⁵ And in this fellowship we enjoy THE ETERNAL LIFE HE promised us.

²⁶ I am writing these things to warn you about those who want to lead you astray. 

²⁷ But you have received THE HOLY SPIRIT,  and HE lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For THE SPIRIT teaches you everything you need to know, and what HE teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as HE has taught you, remain in fellowship with CHRIST.  

Living as Children of God

²⁸ And now, dear children, remain in fellowship with CHRIST so that when HE returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back from HIM in shame.

²⁹ Since we know that CHRIST IS RIGHTEOUS, we also know that all who do what is right are GOD’s children.

20/20 for JESUS - Blogpost #414 for 11/23/2021: ADVOCATE WHO PLEADS OUR CASE BEFORE THE FATHER… JESUS CHRIST… THE ONE WHO IS TRULY RIGHTEOUS… HE HIMSELF IS THE SACRIFICE THAT ATONES FOR OUR SINS—AND NOT ONLY OUR SINS BUT THE SINS OF ALL THE WORLD… THE TRUTH… GOD’s WORD… GOD… JESUS… LOVE… THE TRUE LIGHT… THE LIGHT… THE FAITH… CHRIST, WHO EXISTED FROM THE BEGINNING…

 

 

1 John 2:1-17

2 My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an ADVOCATE WHO PLEADS OUR CASE BEFORE THE FATHER.  HE is JESUS CHRIST,

THE ONE WHO IS TRULY RIGHTEOUS.    

² HE HIMSELF IS THE SACRIFICE THAT ATONES FOR OUR SINS—

 AND NOT ONLY OUR SINS BUT THE SINS OF ALL THE WORLD.

³ And we can be sure that we know HIM if we obey HIS commandments. 

⁴ If someone claims, “I know GOD,” but doesn’t obey GOD’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in THE TRUTH.    

⁵ But those who obey GOD’s WORD truly show how completely they love HIM. That is how we know we are living in HIM. 

⁶ Those who say they live in GOD should live their lives as JESUS did.

A New Commandment

⁷ Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment—to LOVE one another—is the same message you heard before. 

⁸ Yet it is also new. JESUS lived THE TRUTH of this commandment, and you also are living it. For the darkness is disappearing, and THE TRUE LIGHT is already shining.

⁹ If anyone claims, ‘I am living in THE LIGHT,’ but hates a fellow believer, that person is still living in darkness. 

¹⁰ Anyone who loves a fellow believer is living in THE LIGHT and does not cause others to stumble. 

¹¹ But anyone who hates a fellow believer is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.

¹² I am writing to you who are GOD’s children
    because your sins have been forgiven through JESUS.
¹³ I am writing to you who are mature in THE FAITH,
    because you know CHRIST, WHO EXISTED FROM THE BEGINNING.  

I am writing to you who are young in THE FAITH
    because you have won your battle with the evil one.
¹⁴ I have written to you who are GOD’s children
    because you know THE FATHER.
I have written to you who are mature in THE FAITH
    because you know CHRIST, WHO EXISTED FROM THE BEGINNING.  

 I have written to you who are young in THE FAITH
    because you are strong.
GOD’S WORD lives in your hearts,
    and you have won your battle with the evil one.

Do Not Love This World

¹⁵ Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of THE FATHER in you. 

¹⁶ For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, (the lust of the flesh)

a craving for everything we see, (the lust of the eyes)

and pride in our achievements and possessions. (the pride of life)

These are not from THE FATHER, but are from this world. 

¹⁷ And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases GOD will live forever.”

20/20 for JESUS - Blogpost #413 for 11/22/2021: THE ONE WHO EXISTED FROM THE BEGINNING, WHOM WE HAVE HEARD AND SEEN… THE WORD OF LIFE… THIS ONE WHO IS LIFE ITSELF WAS REVEALED TO US… THE ONE WHO IS ETERNAL LIFE… HIS SON, JESUS CHRIST… OUR JOY… JESUS… GOD IS LIGHT, AND THERE IS NO DARKNESS IN HIM AT ALL… GOD... THE TRUTH… IF WE ARE LIVING IN THE LIGHT, THE BLOOD OF JESUS, HIS SON, CLEANSES US FROM ALL SIN… THE LIGHT… THE TRUTH… IF WE CONFESS OUR SINS TO HIM, HE IS FAITHFUL AND JUST TO FORGIVE US OUR SINS AND TO CLEANSE US FROM ALL WICKEDNESS… HIS WORD…

 

1 John 1

"We proclaim to you THE ONE WHO EXISTED FROM THE BEGINNING,

 WHOM WE HAVE HEARD AND SEEN.

We saw HIM with our own eyes and touched HIM with our own hands.

HE is THE WORD OF LIFE. 

² THIS ONE WHO IS LIFE ITSELF WAS REVEALED TO US, and we have seen HIM. And now we testify and proclaim to you that HE is THE ONE WHO IS ETERNAL LIFE.  HE was with THE FATHER, and then HE was revealed to us. 

³ We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with THE FATHER and with HIS SON, JESUS CHRIST.  

 ⁴ We are writing these things so that you may fully share OUR JOY.

Living in the Light

⁵ This is the message we heard from JESUS and now declare to you:

GOD IS LIGHT, AND THERE IS NO DARKNESS IN HIM AT ALL.    

⁶ So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with GOD but go on living in spiritual darkness;

we are not practicing THE TRUTH. 

⁷ But IF WE ARE LIVING IN THE LIGHT, as GOD is in THE LIGHT, then we have fellowship with each other, and THE BLOOD OF JESUS, HIS SON, CLEANSES US FROM ALL SIN.  

⁸ If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in THE TRUTH. 

⁹ But IF WE CONFESS OUR SINS TO HIM,

HE IS FAITHFUL AND JUST TO FORGIVE US OUR SINS AND TO CLEANSE US FROM ALL WICKEDNESS.    

¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling GOD a liar and showing that HIS WORD has no place in our hearts.”

 Something to meditate on and make some spiritual connections...

What are some physical uses of light?  

I'll get us started:

1) For illumination

2) For piercing the darkness

3) For direction

4) For warning

5) For pointing

6) For detection

7) For medicinal purposes

8) To guide

9) To protect

10) To heat

11) To cook

12) To heal

13) To melt

14) To expose...

20/20 for JESUS - Blogpost #412 for 11/21/2021: OUR LORD AND SAVIOR… GOD’S WORD… THE SAME WORD… THE LORD… THE LORD IS NOT SLOW IN KEEPING HIS PROMISE. INSTEAD HE IS PATIENT WITH YOU, NOT WANTING ANYONE TO PERISH, BUT EVERYONE TO COME TO REPENTANCE… GOD… RIGHTEOUSNESS… OUR LORD’S PATIENCE MEANS SALVATION… THE GRACE AND KNOWLEDGE OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST… TO HIM BE GLORY BOTH NOW AND FOREVER…

 

 

2 Peter 3

The Day of the Lord

“Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 

² I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by OUR LORD AND SAVIOR through your apostles.

³ Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 

⁴ They will say, ‘Where is this ‘coming’ HE promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.’ 

⁵ But they deliberately forget that long ago by GOD’S WORD the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 

⁶ By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 

⁷ By THE SAME WORD the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

⁸ But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With THE LORD a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 

⁹ THE LORD IS NOT SLOW IN KEEPING HIS PROMISE. INSTEAD HE IS PATIENT WITH YOU, NOT WANTING ANYONE TO PERISH, BUT EVERYONE TO COME TO REPENTANCE.    

¹⁰ But the day of THE LORD will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

¹¹ Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 

¹² as you look forward to the day of GOD and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 

¹³ But in keeping with HIS promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where RIGHTEOUSNESS dwells.

¹⁴ So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with HIM.

¹⁵ Bear in mind that OUR LORD’S PATIENCE MEANS SALVATION, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that GOD gave him. 

¹⁶ He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

¹⁷ Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. 

¹⁸ But grow in THE GRACE AND KNOWLEDGE OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST.   

 TO HIM BE GLORY BOTH NOW AND FOREVER!

Amen.”

20/20 for JESUS - Blogpost #411 for 11/20/2021: THE SOVEREIGN LORD… THE WAY OF TRUTH… GOD… RIGHTEOUSNESS… THE LORD KNOWS HOW TO RESCUE THE GODLY FROM TRIALS AND TO HOLD THE UNRIGHTEOUS FOR PUNISHMENT ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT… THE LORD… OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST... THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS...

 

2 Peter 2

False Teachers and Their Destruction

"But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying THE SOVEREIGN LORD WHO bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 

² Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring THE WAY OF TRUTH into disrepute. 

³ In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

⁴ For if GOD did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment; 

⁵ if HE did not spare the ancient world when HE brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of RIGHTEOUSNESS, and seven others; 

⁶ if HE condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 

⁷ and if HE rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless 

⁸ (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— 

⁹ if this is so, then THE LORD KNOWS HOW TO RESCUE THE GODLY FROM TRIALS AND TO HOLD THE UNRIGHTEOUS FOR PUNISHMENT ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT.  

¹⁰ This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh^[c] and despise authority.

Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings; 

¹¹ yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such beings when bringing judgment on them from THE LORD. 

¹² But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish.

¹³ They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.

¹⁴ With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood! 

¹⁵ They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer, who loved the wages of wickedness. 

¹⁶ But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—an animal without speech—who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

¹⁷ These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. 

¹⁸ For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. 

¹⁹ They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for ‘people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.’ 

²⁰ If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 

²¹ It would have been better for them not to have known THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. 

²² Of them the proverbs are true: ‘A dog returns to its vomit,’ and, ‘A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.’”

20/20 for JESUS - Blogpost #410 for 11/19/2021: JESUS CHRIST… THROUGH THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF OUR GOD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST HAVE RECEIVED A FAITH AS PRECIOUS AS OURS… GRACE AND PEACE… GOD… JESUS OUR LORD… HIS DIVINE POWER HAS GIVEN US EVERYTHING WE NEED FOR A GODLY LIFE THROUGH OUR KNOWLEDGE OF HIM WHO CALLED US BY HIS OWN GLORY AND GOODNESS… HE HAS GIVEN US HIS VERY GREAT AND PRECIOUS PROMISES, SO THAT THROUGH THEM WE MAY PARTICIPATE IN THE DIVINE NATURE… FAITH… GOODNESS… KNOWLEDGE… SELF-CONTROL… PERSEVERANCE… GODLINESS… GODLINESS… MUTUAL AFFECTION… LOVE… OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST…

 

 

2 Peter 1

“Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of JESUS CHRIST,

To those who THROUGH THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF OUR GOD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST HAVE RECEIVED A FAITH AS PRECIOUS AS OURS:  

²   GRACE AND PEACE be yours in abundance through the knowledge of GOD and of JESUS OUR LORD.  

Confirming One’s Calling and Election

³ HIS DIVINE POWER HAS GIVEN US EVERYTHING WE NEED FOR A GODLY LIFE THROUGH OUR KNOWLEDGE OF HIM WHO CALLED US BY HIS OWN GLORY AND GOODNESS.     

⁴ Through these HE HAS GIVEN US HIS VERY GREAT AND PRECIOUS PROMISES, SO THAT THROUGH THEM WE MAY PARTICIPATE IN THE DIVINE NATURE, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

⁵ For this very reason, make every effort to add to your FAITH GOODNESS;

and to GOODNESS, KNOWLEDGE; 

⁶ and to KNOWLEDGE, SELF-CONTROL;

and to SELF-CONTROL, PERSEVERANCE;

and to PERSEVERANCE, GODLINESS; 

⁷ and to GODLINESS, MUTUAL AFFECTION;

 and to MUTUAL AFFECTION, LOVE.  

⁸ For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.  

⁹ But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

¹⁰ Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 

¹¹ and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST.  

Prophecy of Scripture

¹² So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in THE TRUTH you now have. 

¹³ I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, 

¹⁴ because I know that I will soon put it aside, as OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST has made clear to me. 

¹⁵ And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.

¹⁶ For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST in power, but we were eyewitnesses of HIS MAJESTY. 

¹⁷ HE RECEIVED HONOR AND GLORY FROM GOD THE FATHER WHEN THE VOICE CAME TO HIM FROM THE MAJESTIC GLORY, SAYING, ‘THIS IS MY SON, WHOM I LOVE; WITH HIM I AM WELL PLEASED.’   

 ¹⁸ We ourselves heard THIS VOICE THAT CAME FROM HEAVEN when we were with HIM on the sacred mountain.

¹⁹ We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to A LIGHT SHINING IN A DARK PLACE, until the day dawns and THE MORNING STAR rises in your hearts. 

²⁰ Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 

²¹ For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from GOD as they were carried along by THE HOLY SPIRIT.”