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Hey guys, welcome back to another episode of the Way UK podcast.

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My name is Michelle and today I'm joined by Zoe!

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Yee-yoo!

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And today we'll be joining Yo, you heard me!

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I love that!

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Yee-yoo!

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Sorry!

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We're going to be diving into the second chapter of two John.

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One John?

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First John.

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First John.

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Chapter two.

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Chapter two.

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A bit of a tonkish doing it.

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Bit of a tongue twister.

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Before we even started, I said one Peter.

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So it's better than that.

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Right book.

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But if you haven't already tuned into the first chapter, make sure you do because that episode gives you the context and stuff, which will help you understand what's going on and who John is speaking to.

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but yeah before we head into the episode make sure to share this with other people and if you want to do a bible study with your other friends with us please do do that and send it to your friends but for those who like to listen on the go we have our podcasts all on Spotify and Apple podcast so you can give it a little tune in on there too and but yeah heading into 1 John 2.

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So guys, before we get into it, we just wanted to say we're actually splitting up this chapter because if you flicked it in your Bibles, you're probably seeing it's a pretty long one.

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29 verses.

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Absolutely tongue twisted today, isn't it?

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I know.

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But so basically this podcast is going to be chapter 2 verses 1 to 17.

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Yeah.

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And then the next episode that's coming out will be verses 18 to 29, I think.

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So yeah, stay tuned for that and...

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I'm so excited.

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Let's get into it.

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Let's get into it.

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Let's give it a read.

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My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin.

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But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous one.

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He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins and not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world.

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We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands.

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Whoever says, I know him, but does not do what he commands is a liar.

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And the truth is not in that person.

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But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them.

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This is how we know we are in him.

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Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

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Dear friends, I'm not writing you a new command, but an old one, which you have had since the beginning.

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This old command is a message you have heard.

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I'm writing you a new command.

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Its truth is seen in him and in you because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.

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Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness.

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Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.

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But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness.

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They do not know where they are going because the darkness has blinded them.

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I'm writing to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.

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I'm writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.

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I'm writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.

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I write to you, dear children, because you know the father.

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I write to you fathers because you know him who is from the beginning.

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I write to you young men because you are strong and the word of God lives in you and you have overcome the evil one.

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Do you not love the world or anything in the world?

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If anyone loves the world, love for the father is not in them.

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Everything in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life comes not from the Father but from the world.

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The world and its desires pass away but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

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Sorry for the interruption, we have news.

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Zoe, would you like to share?

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Yes, I would.

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Friends, this September we're heading to Malawi.

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Woo!

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We've heard incredible stories of faith and resilience and we have the opportunity to go and meet the people behind those stories.

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Yes, and we'll be doing that with World Vision, a Christian-led humanitarian charity who work alongside local communities to bring support to children and families and to basically help tackle poverty.

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They do amazing work and we're so excited to be partnering with them.

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Over the course of the trip, we'll be meeting people, shaking hands, hearing stories and seeing the work that's already happening on the ground.

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And we would like to invite you to be a part of it.

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One of the initiatives World Vision runs is called Chosen Sponsorship.

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Now, Chosen basically flips the typical idea of child sponsorship on its head.

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Instead of you choosing a child to sponsor, Chosen returns agency back to the kids and a child chooses you.

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Yes, and so we'll be going to Malawi and be seeing Chosen in action.

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And if you want to get involved, follow the link below and sign up.

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This is the word of the Lord.

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Thanks be to God.

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Thanks be to God.

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Hallelujah.

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Wow.

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This is amazing.

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This is amazing.

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Shall we go through verse by verse?

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Let's do it.

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There is a lot in here.

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There's a lot to unpack.

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Yes, there is.

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We'll give it a go.

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Let's give it a go.

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Let's do it.

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So the first bit, verse 1 to 2, to me just feels like this is just the good news of Jesus.

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It's literally just the gospel.

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Jesus, the righteous one.

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He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

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If it wasn't for Jesus, we wouldn't have this new covenant that we get to live in.

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And I think I just love how John opens up the second covenant.

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chapter this way where he's casting our minds and the minds that he's like the people that he's speaking to um about what this is all about this is all about jesus yeah um not about like the division or the all the stuff that they're going through the people in the community that he's speaking to yeah that he's reminding them that it's about god yeah yeah

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this is the simple gospel yeah exactly he's like i also love how he opens it with my dear children because i think it really demonstrates the relationship that he had with his church like he is well a father figure to them i would say one one who loves them dearly my dear children and then also i love that he like the word advocate that's used here in greek it's parakletos parakletos

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paracletos yeah um but we see that word used when um jesus is speaking to his disciples in john and says to them like it's like right before he is going to the cross and then it's going to

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he he says basically in order for him he has to go so that he can send the advocate for them the helper which is the holy spirit and what is an advocate well an advocate is somebody that stands up or pleads someone else's case before a judge and so it's like that's who jesus is for us

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And John is reminding the church of that.

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Like Jesus is advocating for you with the Father.

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Just deep that for a second.

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That's crazy.

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Jesus, the Son of God, advocates on our behalf.

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Wow.

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It's just crazy.

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Hallelujah.

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And I love at the end of verse two, and not only for ours, he's like reminding the community that it's not just for you guys that Jesus has done this.

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He's done this for the whole world, but also for the sins of the world.

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whole world everyone and that's still true today yeah it's not just for us and our church community but it's for everyone people who like believe in different gods all that it's like jesus is for everyone wow

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It's just amazing.

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Wow.

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And like, yeah, it just as well, verse two, him being the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

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It's like he, and what is atoning?

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Atoning is the reconciliation of humans with God through the life and death of Jesus Christ.

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He's like paid the price for us.

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We know that as Christians.

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And it also reminds me of that verse,

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That's also in John, which is no greater love has a man than this.

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So they don't have life for one's friends.

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Yeah.

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And so I think it's a really beautiful way to start this second chapter of just bringing their minds back to, okay, what is it that we believe people?

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Like, let's not focus on the division that's happening right now.

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The people that are walking away.

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It's the cross.

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It's the cross.

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it's the cross look at the cross yeah and it's jesus i think we like it just makes me think that we can so easily complicate following jesus but it's literally like for me i want to i want to know what it really means to understand what that atoning sacrifice has done for my life you know and it's jesus it's the cross it's what he's done on that bloody cross

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yeah and yeah just to pray for more of that to pray for a revelation of more of him yeah yeah wow that's good we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands i just find that so beautiful that we're called to come to know him

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like it reminds me of um a verse where it says all that the father gives me will come to me and whoever comes to me i will never cast out so literally we have been given the permission to come to him

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before the new covenant before the price that jesus paid on the cross we we had to go through a lot to one have our sins forgiven yeah and to be reconciled to god had to do so much we had to do so much i'd do the most yeah literally literally the most and rightfully so yeah rightfully so but now because of what jesus did on the cross we can come to know him we can come to him

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When you said that, I just thought of what a vulnerable thing it is to know someone and to be known by someone.

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True.

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It's like, it's just the most vulnerable thing to be fully known and to allow somebody to see you for who you truly are.

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Like everything that you are.

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And we like as humans, we pick and choose who we know, who we really know, who we build friendships with, relationships with.

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But Jesus got like God who became a man like he did this so he could know.

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like everyone that wants to accept him everyone he's not discriminating he's like not that it's bad to like pick and choose who you're close with it's good to have boundaries but i just mean like in terms of the absolute grandeur and vastness of jesus's love for us and for all of humanity yeah you know i thought it was beautiful

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And also when the like we know that we've come to know him if we keep his commands.

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I think it's kind of important to note here that we're not keeping his commands out of a fear of being punished if we don't.

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But there's like an invitation to keep his commands out of our love for him.

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It's like the more that you love someone and grow to love them, the more your respect grows for them.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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And when you respect somebody and when you love them, you understand that like when they do give you instructions or rules, they're not doing it from a place of wanting to hurt you or belittle you or patronize you.

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Yeah.

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But from a place of wanting to grow you and love you and strengthen you and discipline you.

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Oh, so good.

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It's cool.

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And to know someone, you have to spend time with them.

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This is true.

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and if we and the commands that he's given us is to love our god with all our hearts all our souls and all our minds yeah yeah mind yeah strength and strength there we go all of it and to love our neighbors and and i guess it's a question of am i loving god with all my mind soul and strength yeah it's a big question yeah

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So shall we read verse four and five together?

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Yeah, I feel like they're kind of... Whoever says I know him but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.

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But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them.

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This is how we know we are in him.

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this comes off as like pretty strong yeah at first glance it's like oh my goodness if i don't do what he commands i'm a liar oh and the truth isn't in me it's like oh i'm scared yeah um but then in the next verse john gives the remedy for that which is obeying god's word right and having love in your heart for him and allowing that to transform your behavior yeah

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you know yeah but the thing is like john is speaking to a community of people who are who one like there's a group of people who are rejecting jesus as messiah and the son of god yeah yeah and he's almost like convicting them and saying do you even know him

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if you knew him you wouldn't be rejecting him yeah yeah you know yeah and and i think it's like jesus good jesus teaches us how to know him yeah and how to know the truth and he's taught taught us this and actually john 8 lol john be writing this you're spinning out wisdom yeah so jesus said to the jews who had believed in him if you abide in my word and are truly my disciple and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free

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You have to abide in the word to know the truth and to know Jesus.

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And that makes me think, what were these guys doing to now reject Jesus as a Messiah, as a son of God?

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Were they not in scripture?

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Were they trying to, I don't know, make up their own thing?

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Like, what were they doing?

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And John is here, like, clearly being very strong about it and saying, hey, guys, you don't know him.

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Yeah.

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You're lying and saying that you do.

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Yeah.

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Which is like convicting for me.

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Yeah.

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For all of us.

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Yeah, for all of us.

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Do I really know him?

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Yeah.

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And then verse six, whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

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It's like,

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wow i mean that's kind of what we're supposed to do as christians that's what we're called to be like is to be like christ yeah um to emulate christ to reflect him in every setting that we're in and i think as well this kind of whole section feels like john disciplining the church yeah which reminds me of that verse in hebrews which is like um the lord disciplines the one that he loves

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yeah good because he's like he's calling them higher he's like no you're better than this you know this you've you've encountered the love of god like don't forget that don't don't let that truth wash away fade away this is actually the only thing that matters yeah you know this is the

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absolutely hit the mic and be passionate it's the only thing you're taking with you into eternity so and he makes a direct link between obedience and our love for him i think the more you grow in love for him the more you're like what you want to yeah you said like you go and respect for somebody when you know them all yeah and it's and it's true for our case with jesus yeah

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whoever claims to live in him must live as jesus said this is a high call for us yeah we we like and and it takes intent being intentional to live like jesus to to follow in his in his ways yeah um yeah it's good

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Dear friends, I'm not writing you a new command, but an old one, which you have had since the beginning.

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This old command is a message you have heard.

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I'm writing you a new command.

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Its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.

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Right.

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When I first read this, I was like, is this a riddle?

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It's confusing.

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what was happening but but with some further reading i i was like okay what is the old command what is that yeah which they've had since the beginning well it's in leviticus which is to love your neighbor as yourself that's the old command

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And to love the Lord your God.

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Yeah.

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I think that's in Deuteronomy.

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I think that one.

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That's just straight off the dome.

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We'll see.

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Fact check me.

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Fact check me.

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But so this is the, he's like, you know this, guys.

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You've been doing this.

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You've been studying this since you were kids.

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Which is also proof that he's probably speaking to Jewish believers.

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Yeah, Jewish believers because they would have known the commandments.

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Yeah, had the scriptures.

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Yeah.

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But then it seems kind of confusing.

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Well, to me, I was confused.

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Then in verse 8, when he says, Yeah, I am writing you a new command.

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Its truth is seen in him, Jesus, and in you, because the darkness is passing, the true light is already shining.

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It's not that, okay, what is making this command new is not the fact that it's an entirely new statement that's being released to all the believers.

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Actually, the command is the same in its content,

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But it's made new by the death and resurrection of Jesus.

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And it's made new in the new covenant.

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Because now all of us can love Jesus.

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All of us can love each other.

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All of us can love God.

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And it's because we get to love God and receive the love from God that we can then love each other.

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It's true.

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And so it's Jesus's new covenant that provides this newness.

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But the message remains the same.

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Praise God.

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Which also reminds me of in John 13 when Jesus says to the disciples before he goes away to the cross, a new command I give you, love one another as I have loved you.

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So you must love one another.

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so he's like really just kind of echoing the words of jesus it's so beautiful like verse in verse 8 it's truth is seen in him and in you i love how like the truth that jesus like truth is jesus and as and and he's given us a spirit and his spirit lives in us and that truth then sets us free and now is is

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it radiates from us which then actually leads into the next verse but it's just so cool that you become who you behold i love that saying it's so true it's so true okay first nine anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness

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oh this is like just really emphasizing the important the importance of love and forgiveness yeah in the family of god i think john is just being like you you cannot we cannot afford to harbor hate to one another we actually can't because it says then you're still in the darkness mm-hmm

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Why do you think that's important?

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I think that's important because unforgiveness and hate and like jealousy, I guess, all of those negative emotions that distance you from another person.

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that doesn't really reflect the unity that Jesus invites us into as the family of God.

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You know, like he calls us to be the body of Christ.

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He calls us to be one as him and the father are one.

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You know, we see this beautiful example of unity in the Trinity, the Holy Trinity.

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It's like the Godhead three in one.

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And I think that's what...

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we are supposed to reflect as the church is to reflect unity in love.

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And I think that hate brings disunity and that doesn't reflect the heart of Jesus for his people.

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So that's why I think it's dangerous.

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Should we read verse 10 and 11?

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Yeah.

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anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light and there is nothing in them to make them stumble but anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness they do not know where they are going because the darkness has blinded them it's crazy to think that there's this there's this immediate link between hate and darkness yeah like clearly hatred blinds us

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yeah and doesn't allow us to see things clearly see other people clearly yeah no i thought like the exact same thing in in verse 11

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When you walk in the darkness, when you're in the dark, obviously you can't see a thing.

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It kind of strips you of any like wisdom that you have.

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You're like walking around like this.

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Making a mess.

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Making a mess.

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Hitting into everything.

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Hitting into everything.

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Like being in the darkness or like being in hate, I'd say is destructive because you're going to make a mess if you're walking around in the darkness.

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It's just going to happen, isn't it?

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Yeah.

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It's like, sorry, it's just inevitable.

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And in that, not only is there, is it destructive because you can make a mess of the things around you, but you could hurt yourself and you could hurt the person that's in front of you.

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True.

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And so I think that's kind of what John is saying here.

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It's like, don't walk in the darkness because you'll literally be blinded.

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You won't be able to walk in wisdom to see the person in front of you for who they truly are because you're blinded by your hate for them.

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And it's like that saying of like, oh, that person saw red and they just went like nuts or that person saw red and they were just like shouting all these things.

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All rationale just goes out the window.

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All you're seeing is this like really intense and heavy emotion and intense.

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it removes your ability to see clearly.

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Wow.

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And so John is basically saying that hatred does, it does blind.

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It removes your ability to see the person in front of you for who they truly are.

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Because it's like once you have something really, I don't know, against someone, it's so easy to then see them only in a negative light and not see them for who they are.

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And then he says in verse 10, anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.

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Like it reminds me of Psalm 34, where it says those who look to him are radiant and their faces are never covered with shame.

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Shame and darkness.

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Like he's called us to live in the light and the light often has this beautiful thing of exposing things that we wouldn't have usually seen in the darkness.

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And I think it's actually God's kindness to reveal those things to us to then bring us freedom in and to be able to love other people well.

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Because like if all we're seeing is red and darkness, like...

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We're just going to hurt everyone on our way and hurt ourselves.

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Exactly.

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Yes.

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So verse 12 to 14.

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I'm writing to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.

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I'm writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.

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I'm writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.

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I write to you, dear children, because you know the father.

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I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.

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I write to you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God lives in you and you have overcome the evil one.

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It feels like a reminder to the saints and people and just followers of Jesus that this is the truth of the gospel and the truth which those who have been set free by the blood of Jesus now get to walk in.

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we get to walk in these truths that you know the word of god lives in us um we do we're doing we're doing all of this because we know the like we know who comes from the beginning that's that's jesus yeah like it it's just almost like he's almost like wrapping it up kind of not wrapping us up but we're taking us back to the main thing again

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Yeah, absolutely.

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And I think as well, I love how specific John is in each of his encouragements to them.

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It's like reminding them of their identity, reminding them of their relationship with God in really specific ways and addressing specific ways.

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people in that and um i read in a commentary as well that some people think that these different types of people the dear children the fathers and the young men actually symbolize different stages of your spiritual walk with god so it was saying that the dear children refers to the church the whole church and there's evidence of that in this text we see john open it up saying my dear children and again and um

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oh yeah, he opens up saying my dear children.

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And then the fathers were the older believers and then the young men were those that are newer to faith.

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Mm-hmm.

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And I think that is so profound because he's speaking to the whole church and also calling out specific members and calling them to remember who they are in Jesus and what God's done for them.

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Yeah, and it's so encouraging to know that there's stages in our maturity and our walk with God that we start off as children and then young men and then fathers.

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Like, what is it, metaphorically speaking?

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Yeah, metaphorically, yeah.

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yeah it's there's a journey of maturity which is so cool for sure all right the last couple verses yeah you do not love the world or anything in the world if anyone loves the world love for the father is not in them

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ish we're in sync ish that is crazy okay when when i read this i thought i was like okay do you not love the world or anything in the world if anyone loves the world love for the father is not in them it reminded me of that verse in matthew it's like you cannot serve two masters you'll love the one and hate the other

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And so I think it's important to note here that John isn't speaking about the type of love that we see in like John 3, 16 for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son.

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He's talking about this type of love here in verse 15.

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He's basically telling the church not to be devoted to the world and the systems of the world, but to be devoted to God.

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And then through your devotion to God, you can accordingly show love to the world.

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You know, Jesus calls us to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world and to be.

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bring his light into all the spaces.

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So John's not saying, don't bring your light, don't show your love to the world.

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He's saying,

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prioritize your love your love order your love accordingly love god first and then you'll be able to love the world be devoted to him not to the world so i thought that was important yeah it's and it's also really good to remember that he's speaking to the discourse that's currently happening in this community and so that's probably why he's also mentioning this too yeah um yeah really good

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For everything in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and pride of life comes not from the Father, but from the world.

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That's crazy.

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The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

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I was reading commentary as well on this.

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And it was basically kind of taking the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and pride of life.

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back to genesis so back to the garden of eden where eve took the forbidden fruit um because one like she saw that what she could gain from it essentially she could gain you know physical fleshly nourishment or fulfillment from it she thought the apple would be tasty um for simpler terms um and then um

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the loss of the eyes she must have seen it she's like oh wait that she looks really really appealing and the pride of life like i mean the serpent told her that she would get to know she would like have the wisdom like all the wisdom in the world and and how often do we fall for that sometimes that we want to know all the things everything we want to know everything we want to have everything we want to satisfy our fleshly desires and and like

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It's so easy to say, like, don't desire those things.

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But it is just hard.

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But again, here he just says, like, this doesn't come from the Father.

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It comes from the world.

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And the thing is, it makes me think, like, what are we doing to...

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store up treasures in heaven because like all these you know material possessions and earthly things they will pass away within a second like within like an earthquake and even our own lives like can be within a blink of an eye we could be gone and all the things that we worked really hard for um over the years could just we leave behind all we take is our souls and and so then that makes me

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really really think like i'll ask myself what am i doing to really store up treasures in heaven and what can i account to god and say this is what i've done yeah because that matters far more so much more and like if you think of the word forever that's eternity that's forever and ever and ever and ever and ever there is no end to eternity but there is an end to our lives on this earth

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Yeah, that's so good, Michelle.

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I think it's like verse 16 is literally John heeding a warning to the church.

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And he's like, I like that he calls out different types of lust, different types of temptation.

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He's like, this is what I've seen.

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Well, I'm assuming he's observing what he's seen with them.

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their communities or within the cities that they're based in and is like, this is what you need to look out for.

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And as well, verse 17, just like to echo what you were saying, like our life here on earth is so fleeting.

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Yeah.

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It's so like a tiny little dot in the whole...

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time situation like what the heck god is outside of time true it's kind of incomprehensible to be honest to my really my little old brain um and we're not made to understand no it's like life is short and that's okay you know it says well

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Is this in the Bible that tomorrow's not promised?

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Yeah, it is.

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Tomorrow's not promised.

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So let's, you know, just love God today, live for him today.

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Yeah.

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And thank him for every day that we have him.

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Yeah.

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And look forward to our spending eternity with him.

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Yeah.

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It's living our lives for eternity.

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with eternity in mind yeah and eternal perspective yeah and um when i was reading a commentary for this there was a quote from saint augustine and like on on this verse of verse 17 i thought it's so beautiful it says hold fast to christ for you he became temporal temporary so that you might partake of eternity

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I just want to start singing.

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Oh, and God, you became a man.

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You took hopeless.

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You're so beautiful.

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i'm with that i'm with that that's all for part one for one john two yes make sure you tune in for part two because we're just getting started started sweetie exactly and so thank you for tuning in make sure to send it to your friends do this bible study together and tune in for from wherever you want to tune in podcast uh spotify apple podcast yes

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youtube pre premium if you have it yeah oh w's and leave a little comment yeah a light of some kind light bulb light bulb all right lots of love guys be blessed we'll see you in the next one bye