Closing Words

1 Jn. 5:14-15

And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. An if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him.

 

John declared his purpose in writing the book: that those who believed in the Son of God would be assured of eternal life. Not only that but they could have confidence that if they prayed according to His will, He would hear and answer. Glorious! But sometimes it is hard to know the will of God in a situation that is specifically not mentioned in the Word.

 

Then he discussed sin in the life of a brother. What is the believer's right course of action? Ask the Father to give him life. Do not pray for the sin unto death. Even though all wrongdoing is unto sin, not all sin is the sin unto death. If someone is born of God, he will not continue sinning because he is protected by God from the evil one. Believers are in the power of God but the world lies in the power of the evil one.

 

We can rest assured that since the Son has given us understanding through His Spirit, we will be able to discern truth. We are in Him who is Truth, in the Son of God, in Christ Jesus our Lord. He is the true God and eternal life. Because all this is true, keep yourselves from idols!!!

 

Father,

Open my eyes to any idolatry in my life. Give me Your love for the sisters and brothers in my life. Thank You for eternal life and for assured prayer. Teach me how to know Your will.

In His name,

Amen

 



Overcomers

1 Jn. 5:5

Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

 

If I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, I have been born of God! And I do! As a result of this new birth and because I love the Father, I love those who have also been born again. We share the same Father, both believe in Jesus, and both have a new nature. Wow! How do I know that I love my brothers and sisters in Christ? I know because I obey God's commandments! Jesus said, A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.[Jn. 13:34-35] Love is my identifying quality.

 

How do I overcome the world? By being born of God through faith by grace! By believing that Jesus is the Son of God. Without Jesus I would have no way to the Father. I would have no faith or grace. His death and resurrection is my life. As I live in resurrection life, each day more of my flesh dies with Him. When Jesus left His earthly ministry, He gifted believers with His Spirit. The Spirit is the one who testifies with my spirit that I am a child of God. He is Truth. Through Jesus I am not only a child of God, an overcomer the world, but I have eternal life! Life is in the Son! Having Jesus means life eternal praising God with all the saints who believe as well. So many blessings!! What a loving and great God!

 

Father,

Thank You for Jesus and all that comes into my life because He is my life. As you drew me to Yourself for salvation, draw my heart to You in obedience to all Your words. Open my eyes to see my flesh and my sin. Grow my desire to be like You in all that I do, say, and feel.

In Jesus name,

Amen 

More 'By This'...

1 Jn. 3:13

By this we know that we abide in Him and He is us, because He has given us of His Spirit.

 

 

How important is love! Initially, we are called Beloved. Love is now part of my name. God has given me of Himself in that He gave me love. I love others because I have been born of God and know God. Love is the identifier, the assurance, the new nature, the relationship builder, and the link to the Divine.

 

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

 

In love, God was made manifest to me in the person of His Son so that I might live through Him. He sacrificed His Son, His only beloved and begotten Son. By doing this, He reached out to me. He loved me first when I were still dead in our sins. He loved me so much that He sent His Son to be the propitiation for my sins, the substitute. Because God loved me in such a way that I ought to love  anothesr. Even though no one has seen God, He abides in me and His love is perfected in me. Through His great grace His power is perfected in my weakness.

 

I are not only assured of Him abiding in me by His love but also by the gift of His Spirit. Whoever confesses, acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in Him and he in God. Jesus Christ is the portal, the go-between, the One who made it all possible.

 

By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as He is so also are we in this world.

 

Love is not only perfected in me so that I might love others, that I might have the gift of the Spirit, and so that I might have assurance of God abiding in me, but also so that I may have no fear of judgment. There is no fear in love, but perfect love cast our fear. This perfect love has no fear because Christ has taken the judgment when He died for my sins. What a gift! If I say that I love God but hate my brother, I am a liar. It is just that simple. It doesn't matter what he has done or how justified I feel. How can I love God whom I have not seen when I can't even love my brother that I have seen. Whoevers loves God must also love his brother.

 

So we have come to know the love of God for us.

 

Father,

Thank You for this great love, for the gift of the Spirit, for the gift of the Son, for Him being my propitiation, for no fear of  judgment, for giving me a love that can love others, and for perfecting Your love in me.

In the Name of the Propitiation,

Amen

Another 'By This'...

1 Jn. 4: 6

We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of Truth and the spirit of error.

 

How do believers discern false teaching? Any teaching must be tested by doctrinal accuracy and practical application. John commands believers to test every spirit not to be automatically believing every word that they hear. What is said must line up clearly with Scripture in word and in deed. Of course, the watershed issue is Jesus Christ. Does this teaching confess Jesus as the Son of God in the flesh? Does this teaching include His full humanity and His full deity? Many will say He was a good man, a great teacher, or another prophet. But not so! This is a spirit of antichrist, a spirit of man's own making that was in the world in Paul's day and is still in the world today.

 

Believers need not fear because Jesus Christ and the Spirit who are in them are greater than any spirit in the world. Jesus already overcame  these spirits [Satan and his demonic horde] through His death and resurrection. They are playing a losing game, trying to capture as many weak minds as they can before their time is up. Since believers are from God, whoever knows God, listens to them, not just hears but listens. What they say will make sense! But those who do not listen [no doubt only hear], and do not agree are not. What believers say will not make sense to them. It will not feed their humanistic, materialistic, worldly view of life. Agreement to Scripture signals the Sprit of Truth or the spirit of error! There is no variation! There is no softening of the message to make it more palatable! By this...either believe in Christ for who He says He is or don't...no fence riding!

 

Father,

Give me Your grace and strength to speak for You. Take away my foolish fear and fill me with the spirit of power, love and a self-control.

In the Name of Jesus,

Amen

By This...

1Jn. 3: 16

By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

 

By this we know love. Without the self-sacrifice of Jesus, we would never know true love, love that can save a soul and reconcile that soul to God.  The flesh does not know this kind of love; instead, it knows lust, self-gratification, pleasure, etc. But love through the divine is amazing and truly a gift from God. If we know this love, and we do, it demands that we follow in its footsteps. We must lay down our lives for our brothers. We must not only love in word and talk, but in deed and in truth. How better than through the One who is the Truth, the Way, and the Life! 

 

1Jn. 3:19

By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before Him...

 

If our heart condemn us, God is greater. His infinite, omniscient knowledge knows our heart. If our heart does not condemn us, and it can't because of the sacrifice of Jesus that covers us in His blood, we can be confident before God. Our prayers will be answered because of our obedience to the Word. And the word says we believe in the name of Jesus and love one another! Whoever keeps His commandments, abides in God. Here is the rub! To keep the commandments, we must be in the Word to even know the commandments. 

1 Jn. 3:24

Whoever keeps His commandments abides in God, and God in Him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit He has given us.

 

How do we know Jesus abides in us, lives in us every moment? First, by knowing and keeping His commandments  Secondly, by His Spirit that He has given us. God called us to be His children. He sent His Son to make that possible through His death and shed blood on the cross. Then Jesus gave us the gift of His Spirit to lead, guide, and teach us. Not only that but He gave us Himself to live in us, Christ in me the hope of glory! And He gave us His Word so we would know how to live. Saved, sealed, and enabled to live a life that will bring glory to God! And what do I do? Accept it as the glorious gift that it is! Surrender to the One who love me! Desire to be His every minute of the day, not just in word and talk but in deed and truth.

 

Father,

Thank You for the greatest gift ever! Give me the grace to accept, surrender, and desire.

In Jesus name,

Amen



Love One Another

1 Jn. 3:11

For this is the message that you ha e heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

 

It sounds like a simple message! Love one another. Yet, in reality it is a hard message. Consider Cain who killed his brother out of jealousy because his deeds were evil while Abel's were righteous. In the heart of all men is this same murderous strain. Certainly not many of us murder, but many of us hate, or do more socially acceptable things, ignore or avoid one another, don't return phone calls, or worse yet, don't answer, etc.  People just bug us if they prevent us from having our way. We are self-centered people who want all the love coming our way. But Jesus came to change that. His example was one of self-sacrifice. He gave His all even to the point of dying so that we might live in newness of life. This new life allows for no hatred of our brother no matter how it manifests itself. In fact, if we claim new life and hate our brother, we are deceiving ourselves. There is no new life in the heart of a murderer [hater]!

 

Jesus' sacrifice on the cross was the single most teachable moment, by it we know love! Love is now indelibly imprinted on the souls, minds, hearts, and spirits of His followers. As He laid down His life for us, so we in turn, must lay down our lives for others. If we see someone destitute of clothing, food, or shelter, we must not close our hearts to them. If we do we have not demonstrated the love of Christ. We must meet the need! A closed heart is devoid of the love of God. His love must abide and grow constantly. The final word is to love in word and talk, but also to love in deed and truth. Talk is not enough! Actions reveal the truth. We must love in deed and truth!

 

Father,

Help me to love as You loved me, as Your Son loved me. Make my deeds and actions match the truth of my words and talk. Grow me in Your love.

In Jesus name,

Amen 

 



Practice

1 Jn. 3:9-10

No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

 

The sin issue is pretty cut and dried. There is no gray ground of indecision. Those born of God do not make a practice of sinning! Jesus came to take away sin, if we continue in sin, it defeats what He did on the cross. He died so that I might live in new life, not a life plagued by sin. If someone says that it is ok to practice a lifestyle of sin, they are deceiving false teachers. Whoever makes a practice of sin is of the Devil, and whoever practices righteousness is of God. The operative word here is practice. Just as I am not going to be 100% righteous so I will not be 100% free of sin. But my attitude toward each of these states must be drastically different. I must abhor sin, confessing and repenting immediately. As I practice righteousness, there will be times that I will fall. But God is faithful and just to forgive as long as I confess.

 

It was the Father's great love for me that made this new life possible, that I could be called a child of God. At this time I am in transition not fully seeing what I will be. But when Jesus comes for me, than I will see Him as He is, and I will be known fully as well. Everyone who hopes in Him purifies Himself as He is pure. Jesus is my hope and the way for me to be purified, free from slavery to sin. He is my strength to live as I should, to live a life that is free from the practice of sin and is committed to the practice of righteousness.

 

Father,

Give me Your strength and grace to live as Your word teaches. Help me break the sins that still bind me. Give me a heart that yearns for You constantly and one that is deeply grieved by my sin.

In Jesus name,

Amen