God's Prerequisite #263

“1 John 3:23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24 The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.”

Did you ever attempt to take a class in school and then discover you couldn’t because you had not had the prerequisite. That meant that until you took chemistry you had to take biology, or before you took calculus you had to take geometry and algebra.

Life has a lot of prerequisites. The New Oxford American Dictionary defines prerequisite as “a thing that is required as a prior condition for something else to happen or exist:”

The Bible is likewise filled with prerequisites. In order for God to live in you and you to live in Him it is necessary to meet the criteria. The prerequisite for that to happen is to keep His commandments. It seems rather harsh of God to require that you keep the commandments in order to have God in you and you in God. Maybe it is the greatest prerequisite in the world.

It is necessary to ask the question, “What Commandments?” Jesus said His commandments are not burdensome. He undoubtedly was not speaking of the Mosaic law or commandments, because they not only were a burden, but they were impossible to keep, and brought death for breaking them. 1 John tells us that the commandments of Jesus are two-fold. The first is to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. The second commandment is to love one another.

And how do you know that he lives in you? You know because the Holy Spirit of God lives in you. He gave you the Holy Spirit to live within you in order that will know you belong to Him. Romans 8:16 “For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children.” NLT

________________Today's personal note from Dennis

Greetings from Starbucks in beautiful Tempe, AZ

Hope you had your lagniappe this past week. Hope several of you had to go to the dictionary to check the word. I learned the word while living in Louisiana. Of course it has French beginnings and means 'something extra special.'  It is always great to have something extra special. Our lagniappe was watching Justin start pulling up to the couch and climbing our one stair in our house. 

Sandy and I had a marvelous time in Globe, AZ. Sandy spoke Sunday morning to the First Christian Church of Globe on the subject, "Extravagant Grace." As usual she did a superb presentation. She used John 2 and the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee as her text. 

We stayed at the beautiful Dream Manor Inn. It is a bed and breakfast perched high on the mountain outside Globe. Carl and Rebecca Williams are the owners and are great hosts. I recommend you check into staying with them sometime. The web site is www.dreammanorinn.com. It is always fun to find local eating establishments that are unique and GOOD. We found one in Globe; Georges Hamburger Shop. Great burgers. 

We had another blowout on a vehicle. This time it was our truck. Sandy and I had both Johnny and Justin in the truck with us. When the tire blew (we were on the freeway going 65 miles per hour plus) I was able to hold it in the road and bring it to a stop. I ended up having to call the Department of Public Service (highway patrol) to help. John came and picked up Sandy and the boys and I got to ride in the back of the squad car. We ended up buying two new tires and have enough damage to the rear quarter panel to have to replace the whole thing. The Arizona heat is my answer to why tires don't last long. It was 114 degrees on Saturday. BUT IT IS A DRY HEAT!!

I will be preaching at Grace Community Church in Tempe on Sunday the 25th at 9:15 and 11:00 AM. Please pray for both of these services and that God would give me the message that the church needs. 

September 29-October 3 I will be preaching at Second Baptist Church of Lebanon, MO. I again ask for your prayers for preparation of messages as well as my own spiritual life. 

Don't forget: "GOD IS GOOD" and His grace and mercy reaches down to all of us.

May God bless you with spiritual renewal. May He be real to you as you walk this life this week. ~ DGW