Contemplative Bible Reading

1 John 4:18 (New Living Translation) Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. A little research shows that I blogged about this verse back in 2009. Time flies, and […]

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1 John 3:16 (New Living Translation) We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. I find the wording of this and other translation lacking. Notice how the words “gave up his life for us” are […]

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1 John 2 (New Living Translation) 15 Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. 16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in […]

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1 John 4:12 (New Living Translation) No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. The second sentence here is haunting. That is a pretty big IF. God lives in me if I love others about me. If […]

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1 John 2:27 (New Living Translation) But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught […]

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1 John 4:19-21 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: […]

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1 John 2:15-17 (New International Version) 15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world — the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has […]

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1 John 4:18 (New International Version) 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. Over the years I have read and written about fear and the workplace. “Drive out fear” is one phrase that […]

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1 John 4:7-8 (New International Version) 7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. I see a promise and a challenge here. First the promise, love […]

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