1 John study-Chapter one

Over the holiday break I took some time out of all our limes, and made some time to study. My book of choice was 1 John. I happen to really love this book. It is on my favorite books of the Bible list...along with about 65 others! I also have always wanted to do a word study on the “ifs” of this book. That is exactly what I did this time.

I will be posting my notes one chapter at a time over the next (including this one) five Saturdays. I will include the definitions of the word “if” in each post so you can have easy access to them. Please feel free to add your comments if you have any. I hope that this will bless you in some small way as it blessed me much while I was studying.

What does if mean? From Dictinary.com…

If

Conjunction

1. in case that; granting or supposing that; on condition that: Sing if you want to.

2. even though: an enthusiastic if small audience

3. whether: He asked if I knew Spanish.

4. used to introduce an exclamatory phrase: If only Dad could see me now!

5. when or whenever: If it was raining, we had to play inside.

Noun

6. a supposition; uncertain possibility: The future is full of ifs.

7.a condition, requirement, or stipulation: There are too many ifs in his agreement.

There are two Greek words for if used in 1 John.

They are: ean and ei.

Thayer’s Greek Lexicon defines ean as:

A conditional particle, which makes reference to time and to experience, introducing something future, but not determining, before the event, whether it is certainly to take place; if, in case.

And ei as:

First a conditional particle, if; secondly, an interrogative particle, whether.

If, quite a word that is. So much can hang on those two small letters.

Now for the if’s.

Chapter 1

Verse 6 “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:”

If—ean

If we say that we have fellowship…we are saying that we profess to be like Him, that is God. We are to be like Him, and by doing so we are in fellowship with Him. But, we are taking a lot on when we say that we have fellowship with God.

…and walk in darkness…This is referring to living in sin. Throughout the Bible light refers to God, and the Christian way of living, and darkness refers to the life of sin, without God. We cannot live in fellowship with God, and be in sin.

…we lie, and do not the truth…simple, if we are saying that we are in fellowship with God, and are living in sin, then we are liars. We cannot do this and have the truth in us. We must either be in fellowship with God not living in sin, or be out of God living in sin. You cannot do both.

Verse 7 “But if we walk in the light, and he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

If--ean

I really love this verse! There is so much hope and promise in it…it makes me feel happy inside…but at the same time…there is a lot in it!

But if we walk in the light, and he is in the light…if we walk in the light…that one statement is powerful. We MUST be in the light! He, that is God is in the light and we want to be there with Him. If we are not in the light…well…we are not with God. Sad thought that. But what happens if we are in the light with God?

...we have fellowship one with another…fellowship with each other. I love to fellowship with my brothers and sisters in Christ! It’s probably my favorite thing to do. Seriously, we would not enjoy that bliss of fellowship outside of Christ. It’s important to be in Christ! But this is not all…

…and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin…not only do we have the bliss of fellowship, but we also have the forgiveness of sins. And not just some…all sin. Every single one. We must stay in the light to continue to receive this forgiveness. If we step outside of the light, we will not have access to that forgiveness.

Verse 8 “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

If--ean

This verse is actually quite simple…if we say we have no sin…Romans 3:23 says that all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Not a single person in history has been perfect (except Christ). But if we say that we have no sin…

...we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us…we become liars, which is a sin. We cannot lie about our sin, and still be in the truth. We must rid ourselves of sin and walk in the truth. And staying in the truth is the only way to stay in fellowship with God.

Verse 9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

If--ean

This is another verse that has so much in it…and it’s special in a way. I remember memorizing it years ago for Bible class…and it has stuck with me all these years. God is willing to forgive us, no matter how “big” the sin is. But it is really up to us if that sin is forgiven. If we are willing to confess our sins, only then will God forgive us. This verse really brings out the importance of the word if to me. If we don’t confess our sins….we will remain unforgiven, thus living in sin, thus not in fellowship with God. That is a scary thought. To gain forgiveness we MUST confess our sins to God.

Verse 10 “If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

If--ean

If we say that we have not sinned…it is impossible for any to make this claim. As we already saw in Rom 3:23 all have sinned. And if we dare to make the claim that we are without sin…

…we make him a liar, and his word is not in us…when we claim to have no sin, we are calling God a liar, and we know that He is not a liar…there is nothing but truth in Him. And not only do we make Him a liar, we do not have His word in us. We can only know how to be right with God if we are in His word, admit that we are sinners and confess our sins to Him.

This chapter and the ifs in it have taught me that 1) salvation is conditional, 2) we cannot lie about our sin and be right with God and 3) that one must be willing to confess to gain forgiveness. These ifs may be small…but they carry great importance to the Christian life.

A walk in the country

One day this week we went done to the La Brea area again and spent some time by some good friends there. After we had eaten a lovely Trinidadian meal, we took a walk down the road by their house. These are some of the many pictures that I took as we walked along. It was very beautiful to put it mildly. I loved being in the country....to see green for a long way, to not hear the constant noise of the city, and to be in the middle of God's beautiful creation.

I hope you enjoy looking at these as much as I had fun walking in the country and taking them!

Isn't it lovely?

These are blooms that look like a scorpion...really cool!

Oranges.....

A pretty butterfly.....

The moon was lovely!

I love living in the Caribbean!

Sorrel

Since I have included sorrel in some of my recent blogs, I decided it is is time to give an explanation as to what sorrel is for all of my non Trini followers. Sorrel is the bloom of a perennial garden plant. (I have actually never seen the plant...just the blooms). Around Christmas time is when it is in season and you will find heaps of it all over the markets...in vans (pick-up trucks if you are in the USA) along the sides of the road...and when I say piles...I mean piles! Not just a bit on a table....but HUGE piles of the stuff. Total this holiday I used 19 lbs of sorrel.

Here is what it looks like....

To make sorrel (as in the drink) you acquire at least 3-4 lbs of sorrel for a good start.

(Isn't it beautiful?)

Give it a good wash...and then take the seed part out....you don't use it....

After all the seed pods are out, chunk it all into a pot (or to save time...just put it in the pot as you go), throw in some cloves...you know..till it looks right and 1 or 2 cinnamon sticks and some water. Not to much water...but just enough...about 2/3 a pot full. Or maybe 3/4....just till it's right.

Turn it on...and let it cook for a good while...until....

it's done...which means you are tired of waiting for it to be done...and you call it done anyway! No really, it should be a bit thicker than water and have a lovely red color to it. The flower part should be very soft as well.

Then, you strain the pulp and spices out, and commence the making of the drink! Depending on how thick you cook the sorrel down, you dilute it about half (maybe a bit more)....but really to taste. Throw in some good ole Trinidad brown sugar (imported from Guyana) till it's just right. Chill if you have time...or just put it over some ice and mmmm.....it real good boi! It's best with a meal...or for a snack...or to drink when you are thirsty...or....yeah...anytime!

But...now you may ask...what do you with the left over pulp? Well...many people just throw it away. But...I decided that something must be done with it...so I did some looking around on the net and found a recipe for sorrel jam.

So then...I had to try it. It's really easy...you take out the spices...and blend up the sorrel, add some ginger, cinnamon and ground cloves. Then add in some sugar to taste and cook down.

In texture and thickness it is very much like apple butter but in taste...well it's sorrel. And it's very good....with butter and bread...to eat plain...on hot biscuits....and any other way you like jam!

I have enjoyed muchly getting to learn new things here in Trinidad...and sorrel is one of my new favorites.

Holidays 2011...week two

Our next week was just as good...with more friends and more fun!

On Monday we had Miles' 14th birthday. I can't believe my next to youngest sibling is 14 years old! Time sure flies! We had hamburgers and coke floats...we couldn't get root beer....and it was good! Then we had a movie...stayed up late...and had a grand time!

Then Tuesday rolled in and we had another family over for lunch and an all afternoon/evening lime. We played cards...rummy and all fours...watched a movie...had plenty of laughs!

Playing rummy.....

A winning hand!

Having fun!

Spur of the moment piano "lesson!!!"

Watching a movie......

And playing all fours!

Wednesday....well we cleaned up the place a bit...and then took a trip up high street and did some shopping.

Thursday was a family only day. We have been on the go a lot and decided we needed a day just for us. So we packed up some pie, veggies and some snacks and headed off the the beach.

Some yummy pie! We went south....and just for the record...I love south. There is something so homey and lovely about going south...to quote Treebeard..."it's much easier to go south..it's like going down hill." The beach we went to was the one we went to in 2009 when we came here as a family. We had not been back since then, it was good to go back. The beach was not crowded so we had a nice almond tree to ourselves for shade. We played in the water, we collected shells, we ate, and then took naps. I spent an hour and a half reading...in the sun...without sunscreen on my legs...not a smart idea if you wanted to know! And to add to the sunburn...the sand flies were very bad! Needless to say, I still had a great day! After we had our naps...we took a long walk down the beach. It was lovely and deserted and so beautiful! It's amazing to just stand on the shore of the ocean and see the waves...and hear the water and be with my family....who by the way I love dearly. Then we packed up and headed home. (I am sad that I don't have many pictures...it rained on us many times and I didn't risk the camera getting wet.)

That brings us to Friday. Ohhh Friday. Friday was one of those days....when I wished time would stand still for a long time. Two of the second year students from La Brea (Adrian and Trovel) came up for a lovely lime by us. They arrived in time to help set the table for lunch...yeah...they need table setting lessons! We had lasagna, french bread and salad. And sorrel of course. It's about finished for the season and so we got some for the last lime of the year.

We played cards...yeah...all fours again....and music. We hooked up one of the computers to the sound system (the TV) and look turns picking out a song to play. We sure jumped around....but we had a great time. Then along about dinner time I fixed some saltfish (not only is it one of my favorites, both the "boys" like it especially, Adrian) and we polished off the last of the lasagna. Then more cards....and more laughter and above all, lovely Christian fellowship. Even with the current (power) out for a few hours time was still against us and a bit after midnight, the fun had to end. But I know one thing, this is only a tiny taste of what heaven will be like, and I also know I'll see these boys as well as so many other dear friends in that Perfect place!

Saturday ended not only the second of three weeks of our vacation, but it ended the old year. Here in Trinidad most of the congregations have a fellowship that lasts from about 9 PM to 1-2 AM. This year, the first being on a Sunday, the fellowship/worship started at 9:00 PM and went until about 1 AM. South it was again, down to La Brea. We sang for a good hour and a half, had a couple of skits, teaching a Bible based lesson, and then had a worship service. The preaching started at about 11:15 and ended at 10 after midnight.

Preaching in the new year!

(Yes, the clock is correct!! It was 11:45 PM!!)
Then we had the Lord's Supper, another song or two and the close of the Sunday worship. It was so amazing to bring the new year in in worship to the King!

Enjoying some good singing in the new year.
I had never done anything like this before, and I am so glad we chose to do that instead of just going to bed! And of course the fellowship after was so worth staying up until 1 AM! We all passed around New Years greetings and hugs and the smiles were huge! It is such a JOY to be part of this kind of family! One that loves each other, that cares about each other and most importantly is going to heaven together! I am so blessed to have this kind of family!

We headed home and were in bed by about 2:40ish. We slept for a few hours and then got up and went to Sunday morning worship with another congregation. No, we did not "have" to go seeing as we had already had one time of worship, but we chose to anyway. When you love so may people here, you can't not continuing to fellowship!

That ends week two...and now, we have one left, and then school begins again. It will be good to be back at school, but at the same time a bit sad. This vacation has been the best in a long time! If only it could go on forever...but wait...in Heaven...it WILL go on forever! And how wonderful it will be to have no clocks to tell us to go home! We can and will fellowship for days and days with no end!

Happy New Year!!!!

Yep. It's that time again. A new year.

2012

I'm not really a new years resolution kind of person. There is absolutely nothing wrong with making a resolution and then sticking to it...in fact, it's great to do those things. But...as a Christian, should not every day be the time to make a resolution? It should be. As a Christian, we must daily make it our goal to be close to God, to spend time in His Word, to spend more time in prayer.

What will you do this year? Will you grow as a Christian? Will you put Him most important in your life? Will you spend much time in prayer? How important will God be to you this year?

All these questions are ones that we should ask ourselves daily, not just on January 1st.

So my challenge for me...and for you if you are up to it, is to do just this: grow closer to God this year, read the Bible daily, and make God the center of my (and your) life.

Oh...and smile! It makes the world a brighter place!

Holidays 2011...week one

This is our second holiday season away from the USA. Last year we had just moved here and were not used to the Trinidad holidays...so we did our own thing.

But this year...since we are now Trini...we had (are having) a much more Trini Christmas/New Years.

Those of us in the school have 3 weeks off from classes. We had/have much planned for this time...places to go...friends to lime with...and food to eat...and most importantly lots of wonderful Christian fellowship!

Our week began with a few days at home...then our first stop was to learn to make Callaloo, a delicious Trinidadian dish. It is made from pig tail, dasheen bush (a type of greens), a bit of pumpkin, peppers (hot and sweet), the right combination of spies and a bit of okra. Mix it all up and cook it until all done...mash it up good with a callaloo swizzler and eat! It's one of my favorite dishes here in Trinidad...that and salt fish.

We also learned how to make stewed chicken and see some real Trini cooking take place. We had a blast...learned a lot...ate some good food, and enjoyed a good time of fellowship!

Our next stop was actually two. We were invited to spend a day with another family we have grown to love very much. They live out in the country...so in many ways it's like being at our old place in the US. It's quiet, you can see green for a long ways, it's very homey, and the fellowship is always great! We were served a lovely meal, made jam, played cards, laughed, and did not want to leave. We proved that you can play Dutch Blitz...and sing at the same time! It was one of those days that I wish I could relive. But...I can't...so I will just treasure the memories.

Then, the next day, we joined the students at the dorm for another great day with the same family again! This time the father was in for a brief one day stay from his off shore job. We were so blessed to have two days in the country, away from the noise of the city, fellowshipping and enjoying the company of our brethren.

We enjoied more good food.....

and played some of our favorite games...Rummy (Trini style), all fours and a family/student favorite of Dutch Blitz.

It is a very fun game....that includes lots of hands.....

....and lots of colorful cards.....

....and gets very fast and crazy! But it's SO MUCH fun....especially the part where one team yells "BLITZ!!!!" and the rest of the players all yell "NNOOOOOO!!!!"

Yeah...it's fun.

Then, after a day of rest, we made our own special meal. We got a ham (it's cheaper at this time of year...), sweet potatoes, green beans, rolls, broccoli and cauliflower salad, five cup salad, sorrel and tea. Then for desserts we had orange rolls and coconut cream pie...with fresh coconut! It was good...and my favorite part was that I found fresh cranberries...REAL fresh cranberries. And I made my favorite salad...with apples and oranges....it was good!

I am so thankful for all the I have been blessed with...so may good friends and precious family. I have loved the last week...and look forward to the next two!