God is Love

Posted on January 26, 2026 by Don Merritt

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.  This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

1 John 4:16b-18

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This short text is tricky; we need to be sharp to get the full benefit of it.  “God is love.” OK, so far, so good, this part is easy.  Them John says, Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.  For us to live in love is to also live in God, and when we do that, God lives in us because God and love are parallel. They are inseparable.  Here comes the curve: John is building again.  Because of the inseparable nature of God and love, living our lives in love will make love complete, and ensure that we will be confident on the day of judgment: This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment:OK, this one is really interesting… John finishes this way:

In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

Did you catch that?  If we live in love, we live in God, and God lives in us.  This is because love and God cannot be separated.  If we live this way, we live like Jesus lived.  Jesus did not fear death, why should He− He knew exactly where He was going!  When we live in love, we need to have no fear of judgment, for that love drives fear of judgment out of our lives.

When a person dies, the next step is judgment.  You might believe that we die and immediately go to judgment, or you might believe that we die and sleep until judgment day, but to be honest, it doesn’t matter.  Judgment is the next step either way.  Just as Jesus knew exactly where He was going, so do we, we are going to be at His side.

So what really happens?

When we go to judgment, there are two sets of books. There is the Book of Life and there are the Books of Deeds.  If your name is in the Book of Life, that’s it, you’re in!  If not, the other books are consulted, and you are judged by your deeds: You don’t want to be involved in those deeds books.  The judgment is not a horrifying ordeal if you are in the Book of Life.  Your name is read and that’s it, “welcome home.”  What John is telling us here is that living in love means that our names are in the Book of Life.

Let’s put it another way: We read about this day in Revelation 21:11 ff. If you are in Christ, living in love (they are the same thing) your name is in the Book of Life.  That being the case, you are not being put on trial or accused of anything at all, for your sins have been taken away entirely; they are as far from you as the east is from the west.  There is no sin to even discuss: Period.  That is why John can say here that perfect love drives out all fear.  The love God has always had for you terminated all discussion and your appearance at judgment is like a welcoming ceremony.

There is a lot more love to come tomorrow- see you then!

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Introduction to Proverbs

Posted on January 26, 2026 by Don Merritt
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In thinking about the best way to proceed with a study of the Proverbs would be to write an introductory post that outlines briefly, my plan of attack, and add a few notes about the structure of the book. Then in the next post, to begin looking at the text in earnest. Along the way, I will also add several notes about the background and history of the work in the form of “Bonus Posts”.

Some thoughts about the structure are necessary to study any book of the Bible, but it is even more important for this one because of its unusual nature. Proverbs obviously is not structured quite like any other book of the Old Testament. For one thing, it appears to be a collection of collections, as many commentators before me have pointed out. For another, it is a book that has a subtle, but definite structure, aside from the divisions of collections; a structure that provides a cohesiveness that might otherwise be overlooked.

Collections

We can easily glean from the text that there are six collections of material in this book:

PassageCollection
10:1-22:16“the proverbs of Solomon”
22:17-24:22“the words of the wise”
24:23-34“also these are by the wise”
25:1-29:27“also these are the proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah transcribed”
30:1-33“the words of Agur”
31:1-9“the words of Lamuel”

Overall Structure

Some have suggested that the structure of the book is like an envelope: Chapters 1-9 open in the form of an instruction of a father to his son, and it concludes with wisdom personified in the form of a beautiful woman. Chapter 31begins with the introduction of a queen mother to her son in verses 1-9 and then concludes with the remaining verses consisting of a beautiful poem that personifies wisdom in the form of the perfect wife. In between these two sections are the collections of short verses and passages that are contained within the envelope.

At first blush, Proverbs seems to be a random collection of fragments all thrown together. Topics appear here and there, but aren’t always organized together, yet the book isn’t quite as random as it may seem at first. Proverbs is a teaching about life, and life isn’t so well organized either. Things come up here, then aren’t mentioned for a time, and then pop up again, just as in life itself. As we continue through the book, I think you’ll start to see this random, yet not really so random structure, for the truly wonderful collection of collections that it is.

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Sunday Reflection: January 25, 2026

Posted on January 25, 2026 by Don Merritt
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Happy Saturday to all!

Posted on January 24, 2026 by Don Merritt
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I started this blog back in 2011, which is a bit hard for me to believe, was 15 years ago or so. My real reason for doing this was to practice writing, and to regain the writing discipline to sit down to write something, and to start typing right away. The truth is, my time as a staff writer had ended long before, as I moved into management where the writing happened in a more rational way than “Hey, the Big Guy wants language for such and such yesterday.”

Over that time, you lose the knack of switching your thinking process on a dime and putting content on paper instantly. Oh, yes, and you start to develop bad writing habits, too.

It should be obvious to anyone who regularly visits this site that those bad habits still need a great deal of work.

All of this chit chat is really leading up to my reason for writing this morning, which is to introduce a new series of posts that will begin Monday at 6am EST. You see, I’ve thought about writing a series on the Poetic Books of the Old Testament for years, but I haven’t gone beyond Ecclesiastes, which I’ve done a couple of times, and Song of Songs, which I’ve also done a couple of times. Just to be clear, the Poetic Books are Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs (or Song of Solomon), and the Psalms- they are also called “Wisdom Literature”.

I did begin a series years ago on Proverbs, but I never finished it. It turned out to be the only series I’ve ever started and not finished; it isn’t as easy to blog through as I thought it was…

With that little bit of background, I will begin a series on Proverbs, which will be completed. After that, I’ll be left with Psalms and Job, both of which will be a challenge, although for completely different reasons. Psalms is huge, which makes it a challenge to hold an audience’s attention. Job is not a personal favorite and rather long, making it hard to hold my attention…

Sounds like great fun! We’ll get under way on Monday; see you then.

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More Love

Posted on January 23, 2026 by Don Merritt

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

1 John 4:11-12

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John is continuing his thoughts that we looked at in vv. 7-10, and as I mentioned last time, this is the central core of Christian theology, the part that everything else is built upon.  Simply stated, this love core flows like this:

1. God loved us while we were still sinners.

2. God sent His Son to die for our sins.

3. We loved God and responded to the Gospel.

4. God loved our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Therefore, so do we.

We see this pattern at work once again in verse 11.  God loved us, so we should love each other. Then John, as was his custom, takes one more step.  Since no one has ever seen God, and since God loves all of us and we love Him, if we also love each other, God’s love will be complete in us and visibly expressed within His Body, the Church.  This is as far as John has gone so far…

At this point, we can infer that there is another step.  The other step is implied in John’s mentioning that “no one has seen God.”  OK, why did he choose to write that?  Think…

No one has seen God, but if we love one another as God loved us, then His love will live amongst us, and through us all will see it.

I have seen several debates about Evolution and Creation.  These kinds of discussions usually have at their core, an assumption that if we cannot observe some “evidence” that God exists, then we can determine that He does not exist.  I’m no scientist, but this seems to be a natural inclination on the part of people who are educated about the Scientific Method.  Remember that one from your school days?  It was the one about observations, and testing theories with observable evidence.

Back to John.  Have you ever thought that it would be nice if you could find the positive “proof” of God’s existence? Yes, something that can be observed and studied?

Are you sitting down?

John just gave it to you− The proof is God’s love at work in our lives and within the Body of Christ; at least it should be.  Maybe if we started taking these verses to heart and putting them into our everyday manner of living, like we are commanded by God to do, more people would notice that the greatest “proof” of God, the observable evidence, is right there in front of us all: Love for one another as Jesus has loved us, and gave His life for us.

Let’s wrap up for today with a question to think about: Do you ever wonder if it is a coincidence that the whole concept of Godly love has been corrupted and demeaned in our culture? After all, doesn’t society use the word “love” to mean just about anything other than Godly love?

Never fear, there’s a lot more love coming our way next time as we continue our journey here in the great love chapter: See you Monday!

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The Power of a Word

Posted on January 23, 2026 by Don Merritt
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We often assume that the big words are the really important ones, yet the more I think about it, the more I believe that it’s really the little words that make or break a person. This is particularly true for those of us who are followers of our Lord Jesus Christ. We read passages in the Bible that are greatly comforting, encouraging or even empowering, and we add one little word to the picture, and send our lives into despair.  One such word, containing only three little letters can be a killer.  That word is “but.”

Yes, I believe God’s promises, but…” Yes, I’m walking in newness of life with Jesus, but…” I am a new creation in Christ, but…” “My sins are forgiven, but…”

Dear brother or sister, there is no “but” in any of those verses!

We are called to love one another, and there is no “but.” We are called to relationship with God through Christ, and there is no “but.”  We must pray continually, and there is no “but.” We must focus on our relationships with Jesus Christ and there is no “but.”

The word “but” has a cousin, and that is the word “try.”  They are close cousins; you may have noticed that they often hang out together. “Yes, I will try, but… I know it won’t work.”

The Bible has much to say on a wide variety of topics, including a better way to live our lives, and quite frankly, it usually gives simple answers to life’s challenges.  Simple doesn’t always mean easy, it means uncomplicated, easy to comprehend.  Easy to do is another matter entirely.  All of the Biblical answers to life’s challenges begin with our relationship with Jesus.  If you think surmounting an obstacle is difficult in life, just try to do it alone.  You’ll find out what hard really is!  You might be interested to know that every person or couple I’ve ever counselled had the same root problem: No healthy relationship with Christ. You simply can’t live by Scriptural principles without it, any more than someone who is not a follower of Christ can… and for the same reason.  Know what that reason is?  This too is simple: They can’t see why they should even bother to try. In a non-Christian, this attitude is perfectly understandable, even sensible, but for the Christian, it is deadly.

Before I go any further, I should make it very clear that I am not talking about people who face addiction, mental illness or severe emotional trauma, I’m referring to more typical spiritual situations.  These other folks need a mentor who is experienced with those specific problems.  Let’s be honest, most of us don’t have those kinds of issues to surmount.

I’m not sitting here at my keyboard this morning trying to play “Shrink” I’m simply trying to put some Biblical teaching out there for consideration.  Take it if you find it helpful or toss it in the bin if it isn’t.  In any case, focus your whole being on your relationship with Christ.  This is easier for some than it is for others, I understand that, so if it is hard for you, better get started.  I’ve set forth many ideas along these lines in this blog for 15 years now, and particularly in the last couple of weeks, so there is plenty of ideas here.  There are also many ideas on other blogs, and some of you have posted some great stuff yourselves lately.

Seek the resources available in your local church.  Your church should be a place of love and healing, and there should be people either in the congregation, in the leadership or on staff who can mentor you through this… and if there isn’t I’d suggest that you might be in the wrong church!  There should be people who are glad to help, and who want nothing at all in return.

Whatever you do, loose the word “but” from your vocabulary, and be suspicious of the word “try.” We must find a way to “do” in these areas, don’t you think? Here’s something I’ll leave you with.  I know I’ve written posts on this verse several times, so here’s the quick version.  Suppose you come upon one of the promises of Scripture, like the one that says that you are a new creation in Christ, the old is gone and the new is here… “but” you don’t feel all that new because the old stuff is still giving you problems.  Notice I didn’t quote the verse, I paraphrased it and added the “but” portion that I’ve heard so many times over the years… and maybe I’ve said it myself once or twice.  Now, I’ll quote a different verse: “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.”  (Gen. 15:5; Rom. 4:3) Abraham was far from perfect, but he believed God.  God credited his belief to him as righteousness.  When we take the promises of God, and add “but” after them, are we being righteous?  Maybe we ‘re really telling God that we don’t believe Him, instead…  Let’s not listen to the lie of the enemy that usually follows the word “but.”  Instead, let’s act in faith, believing in His Word and seeking His presence with confident hope, that we will find the peace that we are seeking in Him. That, dear reader, is my prayer for you.

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This is Love

Posted on January 22, 2026 by Don Merritt

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

1 John 4:7-10

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We are now beginning the central core of this letter, and this core runs from verse 7 to the end of this chapter.  It is not only the central core of the letter, but it is also the central core of Christian theology.  All of those comparisons at the beginning of the letter, and all of the discussion of evil, antichrists and the testing of spirits come back to this theme, for without it, the rest of the theology of our faith is rendered meaningless.  In short, what is written in this section is the one thing that gives Christianity its power and authority, and against which the gates of Hell itself cannot, and will not stand.

The last sentence in this text is the key: God loved us. In fact, He loved us while we were lost, and not loving Him at all.  Yet God loved us anyway− He loved us so much that He sent Jesus to die for us.  Yes, you’re right, this has already been pointed out in this letter, but here it is again, as the core of everything else: that is how important it is that we grasp this simple concept.

How could God love us so much and in spite of everything?  Because God is love.

That being the case, we are to love one another, just as God loved us.  Nobody can do this unless God is in that person, which is to say that person is in Christ.  Loving one another as God loved us runs counter to every teaching of this world, as it also runs against our natural human inclinations.  Therefore, if a person does not love, it is because God is not in him or her.

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Closing Rally!

Posted on January 22, 2026 by Don Merritt
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Well, here we are at the end of our road trip, our journey of discovery where we explored that little theory I posed last week.  I hope you have enjoyed the trip we have taken together, whether you like my theory or not, for if nothing else, we considered some interesting topics, topics that deserve our thought from time to time.

The other day, Sunday to be exact, I was speaking with another guy about a class we had just left.  It was a history class on a certain sequence of events that took place in the first decade of the 20th century.  There were these guys who decided to write papers, articles, publish magazines and essays on some very important issues within the church.  Some of these great issues were the types of buildings people should worship in, whether or not you can have musical instruments in worship, Missionary Societies, and various other issues of a similar nature. In those days, they postulated significant Biblical arguments either in support of these things or in opposition to these things; both sides of these debates participated.  Both sides were convinced they were right, both sides were very assertive… And they succeeded in dividing God’s people on a very large-scale. Some of these debates had been going on for 40 years, and when they ended… or have they? …many Christian brothers were not on speaking terms.

All during these decades, church leaders were arguing, debating, fighting, disputing over these kinds of things, destroying their relationships, neglecting God’s priorities: Love God, love your neighbor, make disciples… We had to agree that while these things may have been important to the people in the fight, they were nowhere to be found in Scripture, and couldn’t be considered God’s priorities.  We also agreed that there are some things about which the Bible is not very clear, but that the things that are important to God are very clear indeed in the Scriptures. One of those things about which the Bible is quite clear is argument, disputes, dissentions and divisions.

What I take from that fact is that there are many things upon which Christians may disagree, but that we must not indulge our selfish pride and divide God’s church. Can we practically come to blows with each other over some fine point of doctrine, when we are in His presence?  Will we dispute with our neighbor to such a degree that we cannot have fellowship with him, when we are supposed to love him?  Will we damage the Body of Christ while proclaiming that we love Him? The thing those guys back in the 1900’s were really fighting over were really just their traditions, anyway.  Why oh why do we act this way so often?

I think we do this because it is our natural human nature.  People argue about everything, from sports to movies, to music, to politics and sadly the Bible.  Pride, self…rebellion, wanting to be like the Most High God… This is a good time to insert the original theory…

“Christian theology is not particularly difficult to understand.  Its precepts and premises are fairly simple, it was given to “regular” guys to share with the world, and they did it.  Yes, of course they had a lot of help from the Holy Spirit, but then so do we. Yet we love to argue, follow tradition and form to avoid spiritual growth and reaching out, because they are counter-intuitive, and the fact that they are counter-intuitive is exactly the point of all things being new, for our human intuition isn’t new, it’s the old thing that Jesus died to free us from.”

God’s ways are not like our natural ways and inclinations.  In Christ, all things are new, the old is gone and the new has arrived. Our “natural man” has other ideas and desperately tries to move us away from God’s path, for God’s path is new, strange, scary and counter-intuitive.  The “natural man” would rather keep things the way they’ve always been, so he yearns for disputes, or safe havens like predictability, traditions, paperwork, rules, regulations to avoid leaving the old comfort zone, where spiritual growth is not to be found.  Yes sir, that really is the point, after it’s all been said and done.

Well dear reader, that’s about all she wrote!  Agree or disagree, that’s up to you.  In either case, I’ll end with three questions as promised:

1. Is God speaking to you in this study?

2. If so, what is He saying?

3. What are you going to do about it?

It’s been a great pleasure having you along; see you next time!

Don

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Photo of the Week: January 21, 2026

Posted on January 21, 2026 by Don Merritt
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Walking around one day, I came upon a small lake full of turtles. Always happy to make new friends, I just had to get a shot or two!

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Test the Spirits

Posted on January 21, 2026 by Don Merritt

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

1 John 4:1-3

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Oh, my word what a timely text!  With the previous chapter ending by saying that we can know that Jesus lives in us because of the (Holy) Spirit He gave us, now John takes another step forward in our experience.  How can we tell who is right and who is not?

Simple: Test the spirits.

Well, it is simple, but at first it sounded a little creepy to me. On closer examination, however, it isn’t creepy and it isn’t hard.  Does a teacher or commentator acknowledge that Jesus Christ came in the flesh?  Do they acknowledge Him at all? If they do, they are from God; if they don’t, they are not from God. If they don’t acknowledge Jesus, they aren’t from God, they are antichrist. If this is so, would we consider them a reliable source of insight?  Well, you can decide that one…

 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

1 John 4:4-6

John finishes this thought in these verses, making his point even clearer.  We have overcome the spirit of antichrist, because the Holy Spirit within us is greater by far that the spirit of antichrist could ever dream of being.  Interesting points to bear in mind when reading commentaries, blogs and books.  These false teachers speak from the viewpoint of the world, not from the viewpoint of God, and the world will listen to them. Yes, and while the world will listen to the false teacher, the spirit of antichrist, the world will not generally listen to us, for they simply can’t fathom what we are talking about, so let’s not be surprised by this.

I’ve spoken with many Christians who fear that they might be tricked and led astray, and I always tell them that they will not be tricked and led astray if they have a strong relationship with Christ.  That is precisely what John is asserting here.  It’s so simple to tell the difference, and when you were little, your mother or father probably told you how to recognize who is credible and who is not, for I’ll bet they told you to “consider the source.” To put it another way, I wouldn’t recommend that we take spiritual advice from an atheist, nor would I suggest that we should take Bible instruction from a non-believer.

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