Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Promises from the Book of 1 John - Study 4

I will try to wind up the studies on 1 John today.  Don't know if I can, the verses are so good and practical for our Christian walk, but I will try to give you the best of whats left.

1 John 4:15-19  "Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God abides in Him, and he in God.  And we have known and believed the love that God has for us, God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in Him.  Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment.  But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.  We love Him because He first loved us."

These are great and wonderful verses full of promise,  It tells us how to abide in Him , and we know and believe the love that God has for us, if we abide in love, God abides in us.  Easy to understand.  If love has been perfected in us, we may be able to stand before God in the judgment without fear.  Perfect love casts out fear, because fear causes torment and he who fears has not been made perfect in love.  Remember, we love Him because He first loved us.

1 John 5:1-3  "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him.  By this we know that we love God and keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome."  This verse is self-explanatory.

1 John 5:10-12  "He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son.  And this is the testimony that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.  He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life." I believe these verses are very plain too.

1 John 5: 13-15  "Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.  And if we know that He hears us whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him."

We know that we can have confidence in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.  We can ask for forgiveness, for salvation, for souls for the kingdom, if anything furthers His kingdom when we ask we can know that He will answer.  There are lots of selfish prayers that ascend to heaven out of mere greed.  I am so glad that God can read our hearts and differentiate between selfish prayers and not selfish prayers.  It is important that whatever we ask for that it is in the will of God.  Or we can always say, 'Thy will be done' and we will always be safe.

1 John 5:20,21  "And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ.  This is the true God and eternal life.  Little children keep yourselves from idols."

First John was written by John the Beloved, and I believe that is why he speaks about love so much.  He dearly loved His Lord and we should follow His example.  If we are filled with Christ's love, we will not have fear in our hearts about anything because there is no room in our hearts when they are filled with God's love.  This study finishes First John, I so hope you enjoyed these studies as much as I have in doing them.  Love is of God, God is love, if we love Him we will obey Him.  It's pretty simple but hard for some to give up to His pleading, but the reward is eternal life with Him, forever and ever.
Grandma Joan

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