A Common Man’s Guide to God: A 31-Day Devotional of First John

By J. Scott Hesler

Many claim they know what it means to be a Christian, but is anyone in a position to say for sure?

As an eyewitness to the life of Christ, the Apostle John presents authentic Christianity in its simplest form. His letter to the church titled “First John” convincingly shows us that ordinary people who walk with God know the truth, live right, and love completely—three characteristics of a true follower of Christ.

Correctly understood, John’s picture of the Christian life is more than a helpful definition. It is an essential blueprint for living a dynamic, balanced spiritual life.

A Common Man’s Guide to God leads you on an in-depth journey of First John, paragraph by paragraph, over thirty-one days. It expands on John’s themes of truth, obedience, and love.

Accurate to the text yet practical, this straightforward devotional is the perfect starting place for anyone hungry for a genuine relationship with God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jan 26, 2022
• ISBN: 9781664255036

J. Scott Hesler

J. Scott Hesler has been a drill press operator, assembly line worker, watermelon picker, construction worker, warehouse stock boy, and salmon processor in Alaska. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Christian education from Taylor University and from Dallas Theological Seminary. He was a youth pastor in California, a volunteer area director for Young Life, a leader in Surfing Expeditions and Adventures, a church growth consultant in Australia for Church Resource Ministries, English pastor at the Chinese Christian Church of Greater Washington, D.C., an interim pastor in Washington, D.C. and West Virginia, and senior pastor of Potomac Baptist Church in Potomac Falls, Virginia. He is married with four children.

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Unless otherwise indicated, all scriptures are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.

The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) is adapted from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-5504-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-5505-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-5503-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022901500

WestBow Press rev. date: 1/26/2022

To my faithful friend and discerning wife, Laurie, and the crown of life, my four children: Kaleigh, Elissa, Hayden, and Matthew, along with their spouses Leo, Kayleigh and any others who may come!

A special thanks also goes to the uncommonly gracious people of three churches who journeyed with me in the writing of this book:

Plymouth Congregational Church

Whittier, California

Chinese Christian Church

Greater Washington, DC

Potomac Baptist Church

Potomac Falls, Virginia

CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

Appendixes

Plan to Grow

The Text of 1 John Thematically

PREFACE

God is no longer a stranger somewhere away in the heavens;

He is no longer some stray force or power somewhere, some supreme energy. God is no longer some potentate or lawgiver far removed from us; God is now someone who we KNOW.

—Martin Lloyd Jones, in Fellowship with God

Most of us are common. Ordinary. Despite the incessant calls to greatness, we’ll leave almost no footprint on this earth. We won’t change the world, and chances are we won’t even make the local news. But though we are common, we’re not ignorant; nor do we feel unimportant. We are ordinary, but we still believe our lives count for something. We have dreams and yearnings, one of which (sometimes buried underneath a lot of hurt and confusion) is to know our Creator. Despite our unremarkable lives, we have this audacious hope that, for some unexplainable reason, God might take an interest in us, or at least make sense of our chaotic world. We’ve even heard it said that some people walk with God! That sounds impossibly wonderful. Still, there’s a haunting attraction to that picture: average people—common people like us—walking with the Almighty.

The Common Man’s Guide to God is for ordinary people who get up every day and go to work. It’s for people who earnestly want to know God but also have school, work, or family obligations. Their search for God requires them to steal away for a brief moment of prayer before the events of the day sweep them away. Their needs are profound, but their schedules are jammed. If this in any way sounds familiar, you may find this devotional helpful.

The Bible is a rich treasure of wisdom written by many different types of men, from fig growers, to diplomats, to kings. One of those writers, however, is especially good at relating to common people, probably because he was a common person himself—a simple fisherman. His name was John, and his letter, 1 John, is a straightforward description of what it’s like for common people to walk with God. He gets down to business quickly. He gives us the big picture. His style is simple, and he repeats things for us, in case we don’t get them the first time. First John is an eyewitness account of a fisherman who lived two thousand years ago in which he describes what it’s like to walk with Jesus, an uncommon common man whom John knew personally. He traveled with Jesus, heard his teachings, saw miracles with his own eyes, and then watched Jesus die at the hands of his countrymen. John’s testimony is an accurate, pure, undistorted view of the meaning of being a true follower of Jesus Christ, both then and now.

For more than twenty centuries, 1 John has helped millions of ordinary people discover authentic Christianity. Average people can be extraordinarily happy in God, and using John’s firsthand knowledge of Christ, John explains how that’s possible.

The purpose of this devotional is to adorn and put on display the message of 1 John so that we common people learn how to walk with an uncommon God. When we do that, our average worlds become anything but ordinary. The God of the universe invades our mundane realities, transforming our lives in this world, while at the same time preparing us for the next world.

In the end, God balances the scales. The famous, the powerful, and the elite of this world will fade into insignificance. But the common man who walks with God abides forever.

INTRODUCTION TO 1 JOHN

John’s intention for this little letter was to help regular people know whether they’re truly walking with God. Lots of folks who thought they walked with God didn’t, and some who thought they didn’t, did. Through the centuries, some priests, bishops, theologians, and pastors have missed it, while many common people have found it. So how do we know?

Toward the end of the book, John says, "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life" (1 John 5:13).

Know! Be certain! Have no questions or doubts.

Throughout this letter, John says, Here is how you can tell whether you have a relationship with God or whether you’re just kidding yourself. This is the reality about God, and this is how you can know whether you walk with Him or not. As you will see, his reality checks have nothing to do with a high standing in some religious organization or church.

A key word in 1 John is abiding (from the Greek word μενω, which is used twenty-four times in 1 John), which conveys the idea of dwelling, staying, remaining, or continuing. John uses this word to describe how we should relate to God—that we should remain with Him, in Him. The opposite would be checking in with God once in a while. And as we read his description of abiding, we pick up an intimacy here. We abide in God, and He with us! This is far from a cold and distant religious duty. There’s nothing here of joining an organized religion, performing rituals, lighting candles, or saying certain prayers. This is a one-on-one intimacy with God, unfiltered by any church or denomination. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him (1 John 4:16b).

John uses other words, such as walk with (περιπατεω, used five times) and fellowship (κοινωνια, used four times) to describe this ongoing, ever-present companionship with God.

This continuous friendship is what John explains is the goal of every true believer every day, in