Vision Church NYC

Devotion Summary for 05.10.26
1 John 2:1-10
The Heart of Resurrection: Commandments?

1)John wants us to be in deep fellowship with God and each other. The path to deep fellowship is to speak the truth, walk in the light and to follow God’s commandments to walk like Jesus and to love one another.

2)Before we dive deeper into what to do, we are reminded that we are loved. John’s message is spoken in the tone of a loving father to his dear children. We are also reminded it is because of God’s love that we respond with obedience. We follow his commandments because we are loved.

3)Sometimes believers shy away from obedience, commandments and rules to avoid legalism or the appearance of cultish behavior; but love involves boundaries, rules and action. Love is manifested in living out of rules. Rules/actions are how we demonstrate love.

4)When you love someone, you look for the ways they want to be loved; you do the things they want; do the things they ask you to do; and we avoid the things they ask us not to do.

5)God hopes that we will follow but does not expect us to perfectly follow. When we do not, he provides a way to be forgiven. Jesus himself is our advocate and lawyer on our behalf. He is the atoning sacrifice for us all.

6)It is the experience of love and forgiveness that changes us and motivates us to obey God.

Devotion Summary for 05.03.26
1 John 1
The Heart of Resurrection: Light

1)1 John is a good post resurrection book. John testifies that God himself has come to us and he and the disciples have seen, heard and touched this God. The goal is fellowship with others and with God; these things would make John happy.

2)Fellowship is a diminished word. It is not merely hanging out, eating together or doing activities(religious or otherwise); though you do need a lot of casual and intentional time together. Fellowship is the deep intertwining of lives where you rejoice when others rejoice and weep when others weep.

3)To have fellowship we must be transparent and tell the truth. When we hide or lie, we create barriers to connection to God and others. But when we share the truth about ourselves and confess, we are deeply connected.

4)To have fellowship with God, we must walk in the light. John uses simple language and imagery which over time and reflection yields deeper and deeper truths. To walk in the light is to walk in truth, walk in God’s way, walk the way Jesus walked and walk in the good. What’s good? To walk in darkness is to walk in evil, walk in sin, walk in what’s wrong. Walking is not just knowing or standing but implies movement, direction, destination and following.

5)How do we know if we are walking in the light? We care about the light. We care about the direction of our lives. Those who walk in darkness do not think about these things. Walking in the light does not mean escaping the world. Jesus enters the world, enters into the mud and messiness but still walks in the light.

6)We cannot outrun the darkness because the darkness is inside of us. We cannot avoid sin entirely; in fact God expects us to sin but he is faithful to forgive and purify us when we confess. Faith is a lifelong journey of learning to walk in the light in a dark world