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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Christian Devotional – June 23, 2014
Read 1 John chapter 3 VERSE: 1 John 3:6–No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. TRUTH: When we come to God and repent of our sin, God forgives us and makes us new. Since we are new, we now have new desires and new thoughts. Sure, those old thoughts will still surface and try to lead us astray. However, we can hold fast to God, knowing that He lives in us and through Him, we can be victorious over the temptations that come our way today. RESPONSE: Father, You have given us a wonderful chance…
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Christian Devotional – June 21, 2014
Read 1 John chapter 3 VERSE: 1 John 3:3–All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. TRUTH: As mentioned yesterday, we have the hope of being made like Him. We have that so, so how should we respond? We should be purifying ourselves. Now, since we cannot make ourselves pure, we must come to Him and allow Him to work in our life to purify us. We can have full confidence in God’s ability to purify us as we are seeking Him. RESPONSE: Father, You are pure and in You I place my hope. I will have full confidence that all You have promised,…
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Christian Devotional – June 20, 2014
Read 1 John chapter 3 VERSE: 1 John 3:2–Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not been made known. But we know that when Christ appeared, we should be like him for we shall see him as he is. TRUTH: Once we have asked Jesus into our hearts, we are in the process of being made like Jesus. One day, we will be completely changed, but in the meantime, we are being molded and made more like Him every day. We may not know exactly what that looks like, but we know that God knows both the process and the finished product. We…
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Christian Devotional – June 19, 2014
Read 1 John chapter 3 VERSE: 1 John 3:1–See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. TRUTH: We are so privileged to be called the children of God and that is through the great love that God has for us. He made a way for us to come to him that the world does not understand. They don’t know or respect us because they don’t know or respect God. As we reflect God, they will turn away from us…