Posts with the tag “1-john”

Daily Devotional from 1 John 5--Verse 21Little children, keep yourselves from idols.John Calvin famously said, “the human heart is an idol factory.” There’s just no way around it. We are hard-wired for worship. If Jesus is not the object of your devotion and affection, you will manufacture little deities. Causes and careers will be your idols and icons. Hobbies and pursuits will be your gods and g...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 1 John 4--Verse 11Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.I’m so thankful for the Body of Believers. We are all around the world, diverse, have  different worldviews—yet God has called us together as His children. That’s amazing! Any Christian you meet is your brother and your sister.Jesus, in love, sacrificed Himself so that we could be free from death...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 1 John 3—Verses 19-21No 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.This doesn’t mean that once we are saved, we don’t sin ever again. This means we don’t embrace a lifestyle of sin, our hearts shift toward the righteousness of God, toward Jesus. We now desire to be free from sin and...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 1 John 2--Verse 2b (CSB)But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the righteous one.If this were a court room, we would be the defendant and Jesus would be our defense attorney. The enemy would be prosecuting, naming all of our sin, all of the reasons we deserve eternal punishment. Jesus is defending us, proving that our sins were already covere...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 1 John 1--Verse 3That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.This epistle is written, eyewitness testimony by John, who lived life with Jesus and came to know Him as the eternal Son of God. This is John who wants to share his story to make his...  Read More

1 John 5:21Little children, keep yourselves from idols. John Calvin has famously said, “the human heart is an idol factory.” There’s just no way around it. We are hard-wired for worship. If Jesus is not the object of your fierce devotion and tender affection you will manufacture little deities. Causes and careers will be your idols and icons. Hobbies and pursuits will be your gods and goddesses. P...  Read More

1 John 4:18There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. Being afraid of someone is not a very loving thing to do. Think about that. We don’t typically equate being intimidated with being unloving, but that’s exactly what it is. If you are afraid of your neighbor because he is gruff or your boss beca...  Read More

1 John 3:17If anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Your heart has a door. Make sure it stays propped open. You never want it to latch on a brother, especially if you possess the world’s goods. But, on the chance it does, do not be surprised if you get a knock. Scripture says, Jesus stands at the door. Don’t i...  Read More

1 John 2:1If anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ the righteous. “I can never go to church. I’m just too big of a sinner. Lord knows, I would be struck down by a bolt of lightning!”   For anybody to think such a thing is clearly not acquainted with this verse. Jesus is not the sinner’s enemy; he is their advocate. He didn’t come for righteous people anyhow; he came fo...  Read More

1 John 1:9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We recently had a rat living in our barbeque. I wanted to ignore the fact that he was there. So, I put it out of my mind. But after our hound kept sniffing the unit with keen interest, I finally admitted we had to take care of the problem. I knocked the grill with a broom st...  Read More