Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

Background
John was writing to mostly second generation Christians around 85-90 AD.  They needed reinforcement on key things Jesus did and taught because Gnostics, Orthodox Jews and other cultural groups would have been sowing seeds of doubt.

John wanted to make clear statements about these key things.  In this section of his letter, he provides strong validation of Jesus as the Son of God and that He rose from the dead.

John made it perfectly clear that faith in Jesus was complete redemption from sin which was not offered by animal sacrifices.

What it meant to the original audience
With people trying to pull them back into needing to earn God’s love (“works” based salvation), this was likely very comforting to them.

For us today
Today, we still tend to want to earn favor with God and go to Heaven by “being a basically good person”.  God, like a loving and wise parent, wants us to understand we are loved even when we mess up badly.

God made His love clear:  We can 100% KNOW that we are forgiven of all our sins past, present and future if we acknowledge we are sinners and accept Jesus’ death on the cross as the consequences payment for all our sins.

“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever”

Background
Before Jesus came, God only spoke through the prophets and access to God was through the priests.  God was loving, but it was easy to misunderstand God and perceive Him as a harsh authoritarian.

What it meant to the original audience
The idea that God wanted to be our personal loving and wise Father had never been seen — anywhere!  It changed everything.  The perceived difference was like going from being under the authority of a drill sergeant to being under wing of a loving a wise parent.  And having the Holy Spirit there to help us communicate made it that much better.

For us today
Today, we have the tendency to approach God with an attitude of “Here is the problem and how it needs to be fixed.  Please make it happen God.”  But God knew and understood the root of the problem before we even knew it existed.  We need to be seeking God’s loving and wise solution rather than telling Him what needs to be done.  Most commonly, the Holy Spirit gives us that guidance though us listening while in the Word, but can come in a variety of ways.  It might come through Christian music, podcasts, sermons, believers, etc.  The more these are filling our ears, the quicker we are likely to hear.

The guidance of the Holy Spirit, combined with the Word, is our most valuable resource, yet often our last resort.  Let’s change that!!!

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Background
God created in humans, His children, a tendency to look forward into the future for the hope of something better.  God, even better than a loving and wise parent, has plans for a good future for us.  While the primary target of that is an eternity in Heaven where sin will no longer reign and people there will have wholesome relationships, we can get a taste of it here.  If we are seeking first the two greatest commandments, we will find peace and purpose even in places that are undesirable because of the sins of this world.

What it meant to the original audience
The letter to the Philippians was written by Paul while he was in prison and they, like many of the new churches established at that time, were experiencing a variety of pressures from the surrounding society and the Jews.  But Paul was enthusiastic because of the spiritual growth he was seeing in them and the other churches.  And they were excited because of all that the Gospel had brought to their lives.

For us today
Today, the more we seek the two greatest commandments, the more we will experience both joy and persecution.  But, if we understand who God is and what He is doing, the more that anxieties will be replaced with peace and purpose.

Ultimate peace and purpose come only from a close relationship with God.

But Saul was ravaging the church.  Entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.  Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.

Background
When the Church began, it was not accepted by the Jews or the Romans.  Furthermore, it was still only in Jerusalem and only reaching out to Jews.  The Jews rejected Jesus as the Messiah because they were looking for a leader like Moses and David that would rescue them from physical oppression (Roman rule) instead of rescuing them from their spiritual oppression (their sin).  As such, the Jews saw the believers as turning Jews hearts from the teachings (The Law) that they had lived under for the last 1,500 years.  And they had a long history of consequences whenever they did not purge people that taught differently.  As such, Saul (later renamed by God to Paul) and the Jews had a passion to purge these believers which they considered false teachers.

But the message of the Gospel, a message of a loving God that is full of grace and mercy, was very appealing and started to grow.  The Jews decided it was time to end this movement and started  targeting believers.  Stephen became the first recorded martyr as recorded in Acts 6-7 and the persecution began to get very harsh.

Unlike verses that are teaching principles or commands, these verses are “narrative” describing the actions of what they did.  We learn and are encouraged by their faith rather than being given truths upon which to guide our faith decisions.  We will focus on the “why” of their “faith in action” rather expanding on a taught principle / command.

What it meant to the original audience
When the early Church experienced the Gospel with hearts opened by the Holy Spirit, they understood true love, eternal purpose and the overwhelming value of Heaven over things of this world.  As such, when persecution came and becoming refugees was their best option, they found it completely natural to tell people why accepting the consequences of faith was a natural decision.  God validated their faith by recording it in His Word.

For us today
Today, depending on where you live in the world, you may be experiencing similar harsh persecution or you may be living a comfortable Christian walk or something in between those two ends of the spectrum.  Our ability to respond correctly depends on our understanding of the Word and our connection to the Spirit.

Do you have a strong enough foundation in what God is doing to give a love-based response to opposition and persecution?

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control

Background
When Jesus came, he introduced the New Covenant which brought three major differences in the life of God’s people.

• Holy Spirit indwelling of individuals
• Justification by grace, not works
• Elevation of “loving others” to peer of “loving God”

In case you are thinking there was a fourth major difference that being the New Testament, remember that didn’t happen for a couple hundred more years.

Imagine having “religion” instead of a “relationship” with God.  That is what it was like for everyone before Jesus came.  The prophets had a special connection with God, but everyone else was practicing religion.  Religion does not foster the fruits of the Spirit.  That was clearly shown by 1,500 years under The Law.

What it meant to the original audience
When Jesus came, He showed that a heart attitude of love was the goal, not justification through religious obedience.  It was a completely different motivation and it appealed to our true design that gets the most joy and purpose out of serving rather than being served.  Having a history of “obligation”, their heart was opened to truly loving others.  The evidence was so profound that the early Church grew very quickly throughout the Roman Empire.

For us today
Today, we should ask ourselves if others would describe us as having the fruits of the Spirit.  Either way, we should be constantly probing ourselves for areas of focus on “self”.  The best way to do that to be spending daily time in the Word and asking the Spirit to surface areas where we need to grow and to serve.

Daily time in the Word is the most common way the Spirit surfaces focus on “self” rather than heart attitudes that foster the fruits of the Spirit.

Take my yoke upon you and you will find rest for your soul.

Background
Making life work in the first century was tough.  There was no sick or vacation pay, no modern medicine or hospitals, no social security or unemployment benefits.  Crooked tax collectors could extract from you whatever they felt they could get.  Roman occupiers would tax whatever they needed to expand the empire.  Persecution for the faith was harsh.  Natural disasters and health issues could put you into debtor prison.  On top of that, remnant feelings of never being good enough for God could be completely disheartening.  As Peter said in Acts 15:10, the Law was more than a person could bear.

A grace-filled personal relationship with a loving and wise Heavenly Father was not something that had a long history for people.  It was definitely not the perspective of the culture.  The promise of God found in Matthew 6:33 that if they seek “first” the two greatest commandments that God would meet their material needs was a step of faith that looked like foolishness to culture around them.

What it meant to the original audience
They needed to take a big step of faith to live a life based on values and promises never before seen.  Those that found it could not be turned from it regardless of the cost as highlighted in Acts 8:3-4 where it records them sharing the Gospel as they fled for doing so.

For us today
Today, with technology, social media, a sexualized entertainment industry and a society growingly antagonistic to Christianity, it can be easy to feel pressures that God has no intent for you to bear.  Only when we are in close sync with Him can we close out the noise of the world and live the purpose He has for us.

God knows your abilities, purpose and joys.  Look to Him to recognize what are the false demands of the world.

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.

Background
Another verse that is easy to take out of context — especially if you live in a Western culture.  In the West, you are taught that you are the master of your destiny.  And, in a sense, that is true.  But the question is, “Is that the best approach?”

There may some truth to it in managing your career.  But, if your career is focused on providing your purpose, you will likely find at the end of your life it was a hollow approach.

As you grow to understand what is really happening in this world, we realize our true purpose is found in the two greatest commandments.  And neither commandment is about exalting “self”.

As Jesus was getting close to the Cross, He prayed to the Father, “…glorify me that I may glorify you”.  In other words, Jesus asked to be glorified to draw attention to the Father and what He is doing.  Jesus was getting a tremendous amount of attention, but He knew that He needed to redirect that attention to accomplish something with bigger and lasting purpose.

What it meant to the original audience
They were in a culture that had a long history where victory and conquering went to the mighty.  At the time, the Romans ruled over the Israelites much to their dismay.  Slavery had been common for thousands of years across conquering nations.  But they had learned how to find peace and purpose in any situation.  They learned that if you “seek first” God and others, you find that becoming a tool in that hand of God provides ultimate purpose and peace.

For us today
Today, depending on the culture in which you live, the world teaches you where to seek purpose.  It may be exalting ancestors, self, family, wealth, etc.  But none of those compare to knowing that you are helping others to find the love and wisdom of our Heavenly Father, the only true source of peace and purpose.

Being an agent for something bigger than yourself is the most rewarding place to be.

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Background
A verse that is commonly taken out of its context

Important items of context:

• It is part of summary closing thoughts to a letter, so the context is the full letter
• “all things” in the context of this full letter are the enablers for spreading the gospel which correctly falls into the calling for all of us to the two greatest commandments
• “through Him” is full recognition that our success is completely dependent on reliance on Him just as Israel needed to be reliant on Him in order to achieve what God set before them

Reminder that the early Church was in a very different place than most of us today.  For the last 1,500 years, “God’s people” were clearly identified as “the nation” of Israel and differentiated by “The Law”.  Now, Jesus changed that to be open to “all people” and differentiated by “the Gospel” which is summarized in “seeking first” the two greatest commandments.  But the hard part was that this cross cultural “spiritual kingdom” was hard to communicate in world full of nations, kings and borders.

They needed to be able to communicate that now “relationships and heart attitudes” are at least as important, if not more important, than “rules and outward actions”.  All this in a context of being vilified by the Romans and the Jews.

They needed God to open hearts and doors if they were going to spread this this spiritual kingdom across all the nations.

What it meant to the original audience
They needed to trust in God in a completely new way.  Previously, God won “physical battles” for “the nation”.  Now they needed to win “heart battles” of “individuals”.  It was going to take the Holy Spirit’s guidance and power rather than the power of an army with arrows and swords.  In a sense, the power needed to come from the same source (God) as it had for the last 1,500 years, but now the goal was completely different.

For us today
Today, depending on where you live, “doing all things” and “through His strength” can mean very different things.  If you are in a country where Christianity is banned and persecuted, you will directly sense this need much more clearly. If you live in a country where Christianity and personal accomplishment freedoms are more broadly accepted, your battle is more likely to be one of humbling yourself from a tendency to take on the battle in your own strength and wisdom.

The best measure of our reliance on Him is our prayer life…

Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.

Background
The early Church had very good reasons to be anxious.  Persecution was severe.  In Jerusalem, many fled.  Outside Jerusalem, Jews sought to have them banished from key parts of society and Gentiles mostly looked at them with disdain.  While some had the wealth and influence to live with less issues, many had to rely on other Christians to meet key needs.

What it meant to the original audience
Lacking the ability to meet financial, social or other needs created anxiety because there was no government safety net programs.  And, being subject to discrimination reduced the options for getting needs met.  This is where the second greatest commandment really showed how God works.  Sometimes miraculously (unspoken needs met) or more commonly through the Christian community living the principles God taught them (spoken needs met), God provided.  It wasn’t always smooth because people are imperfect (Acts 6:1-7), but God provided via community and that drew even more people to understand and believe in God’s message.

For us today
Today, depending on where you live, your anxieties are likely very different.  But God is aware of them and waiting for you to ask and trust.  And, God sees all sizes of needs, so don’t be afraid to let Him know your needs.

A couple of qualifiers:

• It should be noted that God is there to help when you are seeking the two greatest commandments as He promises in Matthew 6:25-33.  If you are accumulating issues seeking the personal pleasures of this world, God will be looking deeper into your heart attitudes as part of His response.  This is the same as any loving parent would if their child is starting to have issues because of selfish attitudes and actions.
• If you are expecting “comfort” to reduce your anxiety, there is no promise for that.  The early church and many Christians around the world today are finding peace in the storm rather than peace from the storm.

Our loving and wise Heavenly Father sees our issues and cares for us.

Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 

Background
The early Church started in Israel as per God’s plan.  As seen in multiple places in Genesis (18:18, 22:18, 26:4, etc.), Israel was supposed to be a witness to the world that trusting God and loving others led to a blessed life.  And, at various points in their history, they did trust God, He blessed them and other nations saw that.  But their human nature also led them to many other times in their history to trust in and seek “self”.  When they did, natural and God-sent consequences soon came their way.

Over time, their “self” focus led them to put God into a box of do’s and don’ts provider and they lost the purpose in their internal design of finding their ultimate purpose and satisfaction in trusting their loving and wise Heavenly Father and loving others as much as themselves.  Much to their dismay, they were under Roman rule when Jesus was sent to them.

What it meant to the original audience
A call back to the two greatest commandments.  Jesus said that all the commandments could be summarized in the two greatest commandments:  Love God and love your neighbor as you love yourself.  The early Church grew quickly because they learned how to love and serve others more than “self”.  They saw the results so clearly that they were willing to suffer and die for it.

For us today
Today, like so many times in history, people and cultures have again lost the purpose and benefit of being outward focused as God designed us.  Many in Western cultures have fully embraced “self” and the insightful find it hollow.  Many in the Eastern cultures have been taught to put others above self, but it is usually an obligation rather than love based and also turns out to be hollow.  Only when we truly understand to actually love others as we love ourselves do we understand the old adage “it is better to give than to receive”.

Loving others as much as ourselves is the key to finding purpose and peace.