-
Christian Devotional – July 3, 2014
Read 1 John chapter 3 VERSE: 1 John 3:17-18–If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech, but with actions and in truth. TRUTH: We know that God is love and that He has commanded us to love. So what are we doing about it? Loving others is to be an action that we take, not just words or sentiments that we say. Loving others involves meeting their physical needs. We are to see others as Christ sees them and…
-
Christian Devotional – July 2, 2014
Read 1 John chapter 3 VERSE: 1 John 3:16–This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. TRUTH: God is love and through Him we know what love is. He demonstrated love to us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on our behalf. Because we know what love is, we should act and respond the same to others. Our love for them is to be seen through our willingness to sacrifice ourselves for them. Do we show others that we love them or are we just saying the words? Does…
-
Christian Devotional – July 1, 2014
Read 1 John chapter 3 VERSE: 1 John 3:15– Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. TRUTH: Our actions are born from our thoughts. What we are willing to consider in our thoughts, we would be willing to do in real life if the circumstance presented itself. When we think about hating people and the anger involved in that, Jesus Himself even stated that hatred is the same as murder. What thoughts do we allow in our minds? What thoughts do we dwell on? Our obedience to Christ begins with our thoughts, not just our…
-
Christian Devotional – June 30, 2014
Read 1 John chapter 3 VERSE: 1 John 3:14–We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. TRUTH: God is love. We learn love from the Father, and only because of his demonstration of love toward us though Jesus Christ are we able to experience and share true love. Love is a perfect measure of whether a person is truly following God. We cannot “work up” love and we can’t manufacture love. Either we have God’s love in our life that has saved us, or we do not and are still condemned to death. Is our…
-
Christian Devotional – June 29, 2014
Read 1 John chapter 3 VERSE: 1 John 3:13–Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. TRUTH: “This person doesn’t like me!” We start concerning ourselves with what others think of us at a very young age. Unfortunately, some people get so enamored with pleasing others that they will do about anything to keep others in their life happy, even if that means being disobedient to God. However, God indicates that the world will hate us. Plus, their hatred of us shouldn’t surprise us. The world that doesn’t know Christ is not going to understand our motivation for doing what we do. But instead of…
-
Christian Devotional – June 28, 2014
Read 1 John chapter 3 VERSE: 1 John 3:11-12–For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. TRUTH: Cain murdering his brother Abel is a perfect example of evil lashing out at righteousness. Abel was pleasing before the Lord and Cain was jealous. Instead of that spurring him to repentance and restoration with God, Cain became bitter and angry and ultimately destroyed his brother simply because Abel was righteous. When we fall short…
-
Christian Devotional – June 27, 2014
Read 1 John chapter 3 VERSE: 1 John 3:10–This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister. TRUTH: We can share with people through our words whether or not we are followers of Jesus, but it’s by our actions that we give meaning and life to our words. Our actions are easily visible and easily identifiable as to whether we are seeking God or not. How will others perceive our actions? Will we be easily identified as…
-
Christian Devotional – June 26, 2014
Read 1 John chapter 3 VERSE: 1 John 3:9–No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go one sinning, because they have been born of God. TRUTH: What characterizes our life? Do people look at our life and see us seeking after God and Godly things, or do people see us seeking after things of the world? While we will never be perfect while we are here on earth, we can be living a life that is characterized by our trust in God. Have we asked God to be part of our life? Then all we do will be…
-
Christian Devotional – June 25, 2014
Read 1 John chapter 3 VERSE: 1 John 3:8–The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. TRUTH: If the one who does what is right is righteous, like it says in the previous verse, then the one who does what is sinful is of the devil. Satan has been sinning and leading others into sin since the beginning. However, we are not left to fall into Satan’s hands. God sent Jesus Christ to come and destroy what Satan had done, however, we must accept His…
-
Christian Devotional – June 24, 2014
Read 1 John chapter 3 VERSE: 1 John 3:7–Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. TRUTH: How are we righteous? We are made righteous through Jesus and by following Him. He is righteous and as we do what He would have us do, we will be righteous. We must be careful that we aren’t deceived or led astray thinking that we can be made right with God by any other way. Only Jesus is righteous and only through Him will we be made righteous. RESPONSE: Father, You are holy and righteous. I will not…