Category: Hank’s Place

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We are still in 1 John. I have been assuring you that chapter 1 with its conditional forgiveness verses 8-9, “IF we confess our sins, THEN He is faithful to forgive us…” was directed toward the agnostics in their midst. Saying the physical world was bad, corrupt, but the spirit was pure, sinless, and could not be corrupted by bodily actions, they encouraged sinning!

John declares they are deceived. They had better admit their sin and repent. He goes on to stress that those who really know God genuinely walk like He walked. They confess Jesus. They believe upon Jesus. They love one another. 1 Jn 2:3-6.

1 Jn 4:8 declares God is love. He continually gives Himself to others and seeks their benefit. We love because of His great love toward us. And we continually give ourselves to Him and seek His benefit, that is, seek to do the things that please Him. Because we love Him!

John makes the point that we have come to know him if we keep his commandments. No one truly born of God makes a practice of sinning. 1 Jn 3:9.  It’s being in love, deeply in love, with someone. You want to know them—more. Not just about them, like maybe in a book. But BE with them. WALK with them. TALK with them. DO what they are doing. BE FULLY INVOLVED with their lives. All day long. Every moment. And never getting tired of it. Sweet sweet Jesus. Lily of the Valley, our bright morning star. Our Rose of Sharon. Never tiring of wonderful Jesus!

So, 1 John is not about obedience and commandments as something God says we must do to get forgiven or blessings or favor from Him. John says as we come to know Him we shall LOVE Him. We’ll find ourselves delighting in Him and keeping His commandments. This is the grace of God and it is totally marvelous!

So walk in love dear believer, like Jesus did and does in you. And COME ALIVE!

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Welcome to Hank’s Place 

And welcome back to 1 John. Last time we found chapter 1 was directed to agnostics, NOT Christians. Agnostics denied Jesus had come in the flesh. So John declares he’s touched Him! Agnostics said material things like the body were bad, but the spirit was pure, and because the bodily actions could not affect the spirit, folks could sin away the day without concern. John gets to the point: such people needed to admit they have sin, confess it and have Jesus forgive and cleanse them.

1 John can be confusing. John has written in circular style. He speaks a thought, doesn’t develop it, goes on to other thoughts, then comes back with more nuggets of awesomeness concerning the first thought! So take your time in reading this marvelous letter!

Beginning with chapter 2 John uses the word ‘children’ 13 times. NOW he is writing to you and me! What’s he got to say? Well, for one, we have an Advocate with God! We need one because we are not yet fully mature; we may miss it here or there. IF we should sin, our Advocate is right there, before the Father, with His precious blood: that sin is already covered; all our sins are covered. For-ever! Thank JESUS!

Another thing: true children keep His commandments. What are Jesus’ commandments? We believe in Jesus’ name. We love one another. That’s it. That’s 1 John 3:22-23. These are not burdensome John tells us, because in our hearts we want to believe, we want to love one another, for we have God’s nature within us.

There are 3 basic themes in 1 John. True doctrine (not agnosticism), obedient living, and fervent devotion. A Christian, according to John, knows and loves God. Being made alive by the Spirit, and receiving the Spirit, a Christian comes to know God – and knowing God “naturally” results in transformed behavior, which John describes in terms of loving God, obeying God, and loving one another.

Obeying God is following the Spirit – “the anointing” as John calls it.
Today, live in LOVE for God is LOVE – and COME ALIVE!

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When I say “1st John” what verses come to mind? Probably 1 John 1:8-9 “ If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Taken out of context as I’ve just done, the “we” sounds like it means “you and me” doesn’t it? Well, hold on now! John did not write this to convince us of our unworthiness. Or accuse us of denying we have sinned. Or make forgiveness conditional on our confession.

Read the 1st 4 verses of this letter. John opens by declaring that Jesus is real, tangible, has existed in the flesh, and he is telling them so that they too may have fellowship with him. Wait! Why aren’t they already in fellowship with him? Because the group he is writing to has a number of unbelievers. Maybe all of them. They believed the popular notions of the day which rejected Jesus as God coming in the flesh, early gnosticism, and they rejected the fact of sin and committing sin.

In context vs 8-9 make perfect sense! To those who reject the concept of sin – John says, you are wrong! You deceive yourself. Confess your sins to God – and as has He promised, He is faithful and just to forgive you your sins. He’ll make you totally righteous, approved, acceptable, to Him.

Don’t be distressed dear Christian. John is not accusing you of going around deceiving yourself; you are not a bundle of failure and denial committing sins left and right and then denying it. 

You have the Holy Spirit to guide you, God has given you a new nature, His own, and you want to please Him and reject sin. Old things, like your old sin nature, have passed away. 2 Cor 5:17. You can’t keep sinning anymore – 1 John 3:9.

And, you have an Advocate with God, but that’s for next time! We’ll also hear about the Commandments Jesus want us to keep.

So remember, you are IN Him; He is IN you – and that means you have overcome in this life for the GREATER ONE is in you. Don’t you see? John is simply saying that you have COME ALIVE!

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I don’t mean to frighten you, but listen to these verses, which I have taken out of their context:
“… through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” Acts 14:22.
“if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us” 2 Tim 2:12.
“For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.” Heb 3:14.
“Do not fear what you are about to suffer. …Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Rev 2:10.

Tribulations, endure, don’t deny, hold fast our confidence, being faithful unto death! Whoa! This Christian life sounds — impossible. If salvation depends upon us, then we are not saved by Grace but by performance.

These terrifying out of context verses I just are not frightful as you remember Jesus has overcome, Jesus has endured, Jesus has held fast. Jesus has won it, and we are in Him. In UNION with Him. We overcome because He has overcome. 1 Jn 4:4. Just depend on the OVERCOMER who lives in us. 1 Jn 5:4-5.

My friend, take encouragement from Eph 2, 1st 9 verses. First Paul says we were sinners; it was what we did, it was who we were. And picking up in the Message Bible, Paul goes on to say, “(But God) in mercy and with an incredible love, …embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.

Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, AND ALL HIS WORK. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! …we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving.”

TODAY, you ARE an Overcomer. Jesus IS your salvation, even if you don’t feel it. Get on board with this GOOD NEWS—and COME ALIVE!

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Welcome to Hank’s Place Wed 11/7

The Old Covenant had at its center God. A Holy God and you are not! Keep away! Stand at a distance. If even a beast came near Mt Sinai they were to be stoned. Exodus 19:12-13.

But the New Covenant says: “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Heb 4:16. And Heb 10:22 adds, “let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean….” Who did the sprinkling? Jesus, my friend. Jesus!

Heb 8:7-10 states God was NOT pleased with the OC. Why? It depended upon man to fulfill things, the Commandments for instance. And man was weak. So He created a New Covenant. It is full of “I wills” and ends, “they shall be my people.” It is inevitable, unbreakable, and does not rely upon us. It speaks of unbroken relationship and total security. NOTHING can interrupt this blood bought tie. HE WILL—and because HE WILL—we SHALL be His people. We are His: FOREVER! 

Lev 26 gives many promises that are found under the Old Covenant. Things like peace, victory over enemies, safety, abundance, fruitfulness. But all conditioned on OUR obedience, for as vs 3 says, “IF you walk in My statues and KEEP my Commandments and DO THEM.” Walk in. Keep. Do. Our performance meant life or death.

In contrast, in the New Covenant God GIVES US a new heart and a new life. The New Covenant is not like the Old Covenant; for the “WE WILLS’ have been replaced by God’s “I WILL.” Again and again. Everywhere. In everything. 

The Old Covenant was a covenant of WORKS—our works. Conditional upon our obedience to perform them. BUT– the New Covenant  is a covenant of PROMISES TO BE BELIEVED. All the works required in it have been fulfilled through the COMPLETED WORK of Jesus Christ at Calvary. It’s time to believe it! 

Stop your fretting, rejoice in Jesus the GOD Who IS your salvation. Get on board with the GOOD NEWS—and COME ALIVE!

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Once saved—always saved! Eternally speaking, are you feeling uncomfortable – or feeling – secure? I gave my life to Jesus in a Baptist church that leaned toward Arminianism: believing I freely came to Jesus, I walked with a certain uncertainty about my salvation: maybe I could walk OUT of my salvation just as freely, or I could lose it if I started walking in – devilish ways.

You could say my faith in HIS ability to keep me, was not very strong. Instead, I struggled to get things right. Perhaps you do, too. Worries about salvation usually come down to 3 main points:
1 – Seeing God as your Father – sonship. Adopted. Believe it.
2 – Not understanding or appreciating the Cross – where Jesus bore it ALL and ended the system of rule-keeping as the means of pleasing God.
3 – Not seeing Salvation as a PERSON – Jesus Christ. Christ living in YOU, Christ who is your life. Col 3:4. Salvation is NOT a checkbox, but Jesus.

Ever break a promise? Many promises? We all have! Our lives reveal an inability to deliver on our promises. Good days. Bad days. Very bad days. Making promises and apologizing for breaking them. Solution? Instead of standing on OUR feeble promises to God, why not stand on His UNBREAKABLE Promises to us?

Here’s a good one: 1 Cor 1:8-9  “who (that’s Jesus) will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Your salvation is not about YOUR faithfulness; but HIS – and “God IS Faithful.”

Here’s another promise: 2 Cor 1:21-22, “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.” It’s the “Seal of Ownership” my friend. He’s GOT YOU NOW and will never let go – so stop fretting, rejoice in Jesus the GOD of your salvation, and – COME ALIVE!

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Today is All Saint’s Day. And you thought it was Halloween. Not at Hank’s Place! On this day in 1517 Martin Luther posted his “Disputation on the Power of Indulgences” or “95 Theses,” to the door of Castle Church in Wittenburg, Germany. The Reformation was underway! 

Indulgences (Latin for ‘debt repayment’), pertained to a person’s separation from God after death in a place called Purgatory where a person ‘atoned’ for their sins. They paid their sin debt. Sins, said the church then, had been forgiven by God, but sin DEBT had to be personally atoned for by suffering for your evil deeds, or, by indulgences.

Indulgences, you see, could be PURCHASED! A person could pay it forward and reduce their future torment. So, people bought indulgences. The larger the sum the more repayment of debt. Clever, right? For yourself, a loved one – even for those dead. Your payment, made to the church, would spring them out of Purgatory’s pain.

Then Martin Luther, a pious monk, found Ro 1:17, “the just shall live by faith,” not money given to the church. At the time people were taught that money talks, it makes blessings flow and BOOM – sin debts were paid! Luther took issue, declaring, “Indulgences are pious frauds of the faithful.” JESUS has taken our sin away; AND – JESUS has born the punishment for them – JESUS death at Calvary IS the Atonement, the sacrificial and substitutional death Jesus for all people. He has risen, my friend and that tells us IT IS TOTALLY FINISHED – PAYMENT IN FULL has been made!

Can money buy blessings today? Will money gain God’s Favor? Well, some churches stress the tithe. Command it. People are pressured and shamed, extorted into “giving” 10%. Blessings upon blessings are promised — but only as you tithe.

Friend, you couldn’t buy blessings in Luther’s day; you cannot buy blessings now. Jesus didn’t die so you could tithe. He in fact rebuked the Pharisees, calling them hypocrites for nullifying the TRUE word of God through their traditions. Mk 7:7-13. Search the New Testament – you will find that generous giving is encouraged. You have Christ Jesus, within, so generous giving is a part of you. GIVE — because that’s who you are. The Holy Spirit has replaced the tithe – listen to Him, not a calculator! Blessings? You have been blessed with every spiritual blessing already, because of Jesus’ Atonement.

It’s Reformation Day! So come out from under the cloud of obligation and condemnation. Money cannot buy you blessings, you’ve already got them in Jesus, so – COME ALIVE!

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In Jn 13 Jesus has just washed the disciples’ feet, commanded they love one another, and told Peter he will deny Him 3 times. Jesus sensed their anxiety rising for the next chapter begins: “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.” That’s an imperative BELIEVE in Me! I’m going away, preparing a place for you with My Father, and I WILL come back for you. 

Jn 14 is all comfort and assurance. But vs 15 can be really anxiety producing when read out of context by a LAWman w/o the grace of God. What’s it say, you ask? 

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” The LAWman, who say God loves you but He kind of hates you too, thinks it reads, “You must prove your love for Me by keeping my commandments.”  Don’t YOU read it that way, my friend! Chill!

Jesus is speaking comforting words, assuring words this entire chapter. Jesus is simply saying, when you love Him, it is going to show to others. They will see you walking in His words, instructions, commands. 

Think of a child, perhaps your own, who loves their parents. They don’t go around worrying, “I have to prove my love for my parents. I have to obey every word they say. It’s all about obedience.” NO WAY! Because they love you, they ‘naturally’ follow what you tell them. Simple? SIMPLE! So, RELAX. 

See the Love of God at Calvary. Receive the love of God. Experience True Love. Let it fill the voids in your life, heal all the hurts and disappointments and rejection. As you allow His love to embrace you, you will find your capacity to love in return increasing – to the point of loving others as He has loved you. 

Keep His word (that’s Jn 14:23)? Now don’t get anxious! For in vs 26 Jesus tell us, “…the Helper, the Holy Spirit, …will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” Yes, love God, you’ll know by the Spirit what He is saying –and by His grace you’ll be doing it. Do your realize — you have — COME ALIVE!

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God never intended us to present our best performances to Him for approval. His intention was and is that we believe in Jesus, then grow in grace and godliness.

A little baby at birth is 100% human. It cannot get any more human. When we were born again, we became something NEW: Christians. With God on the inside, complete in Him, lacking nothing, blessed with every spiritual blessing. GLORY to JESUS. 

Now like the baby, we are growing into who we truly are – Leaving behind what we once were, because we ARE NEW creations. It’s no longer rule keeping, it’s God believing! 

Listen to these excerpts from Paul in Galatians 2 & 3 – the Message Bible. 

“We know very well that we are not set right with God by rule-keeping but only through personal faith in Jesus Christ. How do we know? We tried it…. Convinced that no human being can please God by self-improvement, we believed in Jesus as the Messiah.”

Then Paul says, “I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn’t work. So I quit being a “law man” so that I could be God’s man.”

He adds, “If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily. (But) …You crazy Galatians! Did someone put a hex on you? … Something crazy has happened, for it’s obvious that you no longer have the crucified Jesus in clear focus in your lives.” 

“How did your new life begin? Was it by working your heads off to please God? Or was it by responding to God’s Message to you? … only crazy people would think they could complete by their own efforts what was begun by God. If you weren’t smart enough or strong enough to begin it, how do you suppose you could perfect it?”

“…Doing things FOR God is the opposite of entering into what God does for you.”

Rule-keeping will only beget more rule-keeping. Dispense with your anxious self-effort my friend. Trust the Lord to complete what He has begun in you. Walk by the Spirit — and COME ALIVE!

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This is a place – of Grace. Real grace instructs us to say NO to ungodliness and worldly desires. Titus 2:12. Genuine grace is never greasy.

Let me ask you: are you constantly ‘trying’ to be a better Christian? ‘Trying’ to pray more? ‘Trying’ to give more? ‘Trying’ to serve more? ‘Trying’ to read the Bible more? I’m getting tired just asking! Know what, friend? By trying and trying you are living under self-imposed Law. Try try try – you won’t get to that place of rest.

We enter His rest by ceasing from our efforts. Believe Jesus HAS done ALL the work for us. Rest in this truth – receive His grace. And more grace. Isn’t that better?

That’s Heb 4:9-10 paraphrased. And verse 11 says: “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest;” another version says says ‘be diligent to enter His rest.”
How do we strive to enter that rest?

We accomplish this by holding fast to our confession! Most people barely have a confession even in the best of times. Hold fast your confession, especially in the worst times! When life is so hard we don’t want to get out of bed. When loneliness has imprisoned you in solitary. In times of temptation, especially if we have fallen into that temptation. Yes, we hold fast our confession ALL THE TIME!

Friend, what IS your confession? That you are weak and sinful? Powerless? Fearful?An eternal failure? NONSENSE! Let your confession be the TRUTH – that’s what GOD says about you. Such as, “I am the righteousness of God” 2 Cor 5:21. “I am a new creation – the old sinful me has died.” 2 Cor 5:17. “I am one spirit with the Lord.” 1 Cor 6:17 “I am a holy vessel for the Lord.” Col 1:22.

Jesus is our Great High Priest who has sympathy for our weaknesses, not scorn! Heb 4:14-15. Draw near to His throne. It is a throne of grace, not judgment. Hold FAST your confession my friend. Head for the Throne for the mercy and grace to help that you need!

Jesus WILL help! Yes – hold fast — and COME ALIVE!

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