ENCOURAGEMENT FROM 1st. JOHN 1

     The Apostle  John was  apparently  the  youngest of  the  disciples of  
Christ.  He  along with  his  brother,  James, were  with  Christ from  the beginning  and he was probably closer to Jesus than any of the disciples, 
later  called Apostles.   This may  be the reason for  his being  called the
disciple whom Jesus loved.     

   This letter by the Apostle John was written to those with whom he had 
a part in introducing to Christ and his making  them  disciples.  Referring to them as  his “children,” shows the great  love he had  for them and his  
sense of  responsibility to guide them to maturity in Christ.  Studying the 
letter and those of the other Apostles,  we  see each taking seriously  this
task.  In the church today, my personal observation shows this  not to be  
the case.   It seems evangelists,  pastors  and church  leaders make some
attempts to engage  converts in a  system of formal Bible study and wor- 
ship,  but are rarely known to invest personal time in/with them.  (There 
are certainly  exceptions of  which I know.)  Results  are about the same 
as a family  having a child  born to them, then  leaving the child  to  him-
self,  without instructing him on diet,  personal hygiene or behavior. The 
child would not learn these disciplines on  his own just as a new member  
in the family of God, would not  know how  to go about  learning to  live
a successful, Christ honoring life.  

    There is also the very simple area of encouragement.  It is striking the  
number of  times  this  letter brings up  the  fact that  one cannot live the  
Christ  life without  engaging in the disciplines of love for  brothers, light  
from the Word of God, confession or repentance of sin and the durability 
of a relationship with the Lord because of God’s love for us.

      There is also the absolute  dependence on our Lord for the ability to 
live free from sin and the fact; we are in no way able to live a Christ life without fellow believers holding us accountable. I Trust the remarks  are
not interpreted to be a loss of  confidence in the Church of  Jesus Christ. 
On the contrary, they reinforce the principle of  fellow believers keeping 
each accountable,  since the church is  made up of  just such  individuals. 
The remarks are meant to be a reminder of how we might do a better job 
preparing "babes" in Christ to become  pastors,  evangelists and teachers 
of  tomorrow, when we invest our time and ourselves in their lives.   

   One other area lacking at times is prayerlessness on part of the church, 
you and me,  on behalf of each other.  Without fervent prayer very little 
of  any consequence will  get done in the  life of  individual believers  or 
the  Church as  a  whole.  With fervent prayer on  behalf of our brothers 
and sisters in the Church of Jesus Christ, the Lord will move heaven and 
earth to answer, in the affirmative.

 Romans 12:1-2  (KJV)
 I beseech you therefore,  brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present  your  bodies a  living  sacrifice,  holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  And be  not conformed to this world:  but be ye trans- formed  by the  renewing of  your  mind, that ye may  prove  what  is that 
good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

http://biblicalclarity-don.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-mind-of-christ-philippians-25.html

                                                                           donporter   12.06.13