📖 How to know if you love God

Have you checked out the Thinking Biblically podcast? Every Tuesday morning, I release a new episode where I help you think biblically about current events, ethical issues, and cultural questions so you can have a confident, grounded faith.

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I. Many people may say they love God, but Scripture gives us a clear and obvious way to test that statement.

1 John 5:2-3 states:

“This is how we know that we love God’s children: when we love God and obey his commands. For this is what love for God is: to keep his commands. And his commands are not a burden…”

Just because someone says something, that doesn't make it true. The only way to test whether you or I truly love God is by our willingness to obey his commands and submit to him.

Not perfectly, since no one does, but the overall direction of our lives should be one of seeking to obey God and repenting when we fall short, knowing that he always responds to repentance with grace.

In fact, John also writes this in 1 John 2:4:

“The one who says, 'I have come to know him,' and yet doesn't keep his commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him."

Do you love God? To say “yes” to that, you also must be able to say “yes” to this: do you seek and desire to obey his commands?

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II. Being a foreigner can be hard.

Be that a literal foreigner, who arrives and has to learn a new language, customs, and culture, and who may very likely look physically different than most everyone else around them.

But even being a “foreigner” in the sense of moving to a new town where you are not “from around here,” or being new to a job, or even to a church. You can feel like, or in some cases really be, an “outsider.”And yet, God has strong words for anyone who is outside the faith but gives their life the Lord and wants to follow him.

We read this beautiful and powerful passage in Isaiah 56:3-4:

No foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord should say, “The Lord will exclude me from his people,” and the eunuch should not say, “Look, I am a dried-up tree.” For the Lord says this: “For the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, and choose what pleases me, and hold firmly to my covenant, I will give them, in my house and within my walls, a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters. I will give each of them an everlasting name that will never be cut off.

What great news! No matter your family background, your ethnicity, where you live, or what past decisions you have made, as we are told in Romans 10:13, "For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

The Lord will never exclude anyone who has joined themselves to him.

JI Packer on waiting on the Lord:

"'Wait on the Lord' is a constant refrain in the Psalms, and it is a necessary word, for God often keeps us waiting.

He is not in such a hurry as we are, and it is not his way to give more light on the future than we need for action in the present, or to guide us more than one step at a time. When in doubt, do nothing, but continue to wait on God. When action is needed, light will come."

This week’s question: How should a Christian respond when an authority wants to restrict them from practicing their faith?

Have a Bible question, or a situation in your life you want a biblical perspective on? Submit it here to be answered in a future Bible Made Simple Newsletter edition.

The Fort Bragg Cartel by Seth Harp

A book primarily documenting the very dark side of the various special forces units in the United States, with a specific focus on the Fort Bragg military base in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

This is a fantastic display of investigative reporting and journalism by the author.

If you have a high sense of justice, this book will anger you often because of the amount of evil and criminal activity he exposes throughout the book, pretty much all of which ultimately is either covered up or dismissed by the military.

You'll learn a lot about United States military operations over the last 25 years as well. And, personally, I can't help but wonder about the public and private response the author has received, not just from military leaders, but specifically from those he mentions in the book.

He exposes some shady characters and calls out a cartel by name, so to do that in a book is quite bold. Though, I do think the book title is a little misleading, as there is not an actual cartel that runs out of Fort Bragg or that area.

In a sense, this book reads like a true crime podcast, but it can get pretty detailed at times and does mention a lot of cases. I wouldn't say it gets stuck in the weeds, but it almost felt like that at times.

A very interesting and informative read. Sad and chilling at times as well. At some parts it reads like a good story, but at other parts it can get a little factual and dry. I am glad to have read it.

8/10

This week on Thinking Biblically, I discuss 4 Things The Bible Teaches About Hell. There are many incorrect caricatures about what the Bible says about hell and its purpose. In this week’s episode, I seek to provide some clarity.

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P.S. Different era, same problems…