No fear in love

1Jn 4:18  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

Fear- dread-terror.

PERFECT LOVE casts our fear.

Remember this from yesterday--

1Jn 4:12 ...If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.

ONLY if God is dwelling in us is HIS love PERFECTED in us, and that happens ONLY if we LOVE one another.  THAT perfected love is what will cast out fear, it will cast out torment. If we are filled with fear, with terror, with dread, then we are not loving others as we should, we are not allowing God to live in us. The more fear we have the less our God is in us.

Some people are naturally (or so it seems) more fearful than others. Some are more apprehensive, some are anxious and filled with anxiety, and fear is a way of life to them. Being somewhat such a person- finding myself having an anxiety attack at ten years old- long before our medical/psychological fields truly knew what they were- I was suddenly experiencing this strange, awful, physical reaction to nothing I could understand at the time, later, MUCH later, I would realize the catalyst was my father leaving us for a week to attend a work function in another state, something ten year old me had never had to deal with- dad was ALWAYS the one that was there even when mom went through a lot of medical stuff. Anyway, here I was thrust into this horror of fear caused by something totally alien to me and my life was altered from that point on.  There was a point in my life I hated to leave the house (praise God that was only a short/dark period of my life) that fear was so incredibly intense and even today I cannot honestly say I have no fear in my life- does this mean God is not dwelling in me, that I do not love others enough, that I don't have the perfect love of God in my life?  It's possible, but then again I HAVE to say this… at the point we allow ourselves to believe that we are perfected, aren't we yet again caught up in self-delusion, self-righteousness?  

Paul said this- and I've gone back to it time and again because I have to-

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Oh wretched man that I am.  Those words came from Paul, one of God's apostles. Were there ever any closer to God than the apostles? And yet those words describing Himself as wretched, those words calling his body the body of death came from one close to God!

What is the message being given here?

I believe- and I could be wrong- but I believe that we are in a PERFECTION PROCESS, a GROWTH PROCESS, that we are living towards that perfection but it's NOT something that we pull on like a longed for warm coat, button up and never take off. This perfection is a living, breathing thing because this perfection is the LOVE of GOD dwelling in us as we love others!

Perfected love will automatically dispel fear and the greatest fear we COULD have is the fear of losing life eternal with our Savior! Yes?

This should be our GREATEST ever fear. All other things to fear are not to do with our eternal life. When we fear spiders, strangers, birds, germs, death itself, we are fearing things that do NOT affect our eternal life. The thing that affects our eternal life is whether or not we have accepted the love that our Savior has for us, and in accepting that love it LIVES within us as something ALIVE being perfected and the result--  is our LOVE for others -- which in reality is God's love for us alive, perfect. 

To NOT have the love of God in us should be our greatest fear!
To NOT have the forgiveness of our Savior, this should be our greatest fear!
To NOT have the righteousness of Christ standing in place of our filthiness, this should be our greatest fear!
To NOT KNOW GOD, to NOT BE KNOWN BY GOD this should be our greatest fear!

Perfect love- GOD- casts out any fear we have that we should not have eternal life.

We must have FAITH in God, believing in God fully, trusting in our God more than we could ever trust in ourselves.  We have a lot to fear if we are placing our faith in ourselves and not God. We should be filled with terror, dread, fear, horror  if we are looking INWARD for salvation and not outward to our God to be saved.

1Jn 4:18  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

We are perfected by GOD in us, and GOD casts out all our fear.

All by the grace of our God, all by HIS love!  Please perfect us!

When love towards God, and love towards others ceases- sin begins.

1Jn 4:12  No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.

1Jn 4:13  Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.

1Jn 4:14  And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.

1Jn 4:15  Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.

1Jn 4:16  And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

IF

IF

ONLY  IF we LOVE ONE ANOTHER will GOD dwell IN US, and HIS LOVE will be perfected in us.

When we find ourselves not loving one another we can be assured that God's love is not being perfected in us.

Selflessness- something we are totally unfamiliar with, most of us any way. The world revolves around us- our needs, our wants, our desires, our  lack of appreciation, the list is endless. The selfishness that exists in us is horrific, is it any wonder that there will be FEW who actually find that narrow path and go down it? It calls for the sacrifice of us in a VERY real way.

Knowing God means LOVING OTHERS.

Loving others means God will dwell in us and HIS love will be perfected in us.

We know that we dwell in HIM and He in us- because he gives us of his SPIRIT.

And WE have seen

And DO testify that the FATHER sent the SON to be the SAVIOR of the WORLD.

We must CONFESS that JESUS is the SON of GOD- and God will dwell in US, and we will dwell in GOD.

We must believe the LOVE God has towards us.

GOD IS LOVE.

If we dwell in LOVE- we dwell in GOD- and GOD dwells in us.

We can have BOLDNESS in the day of judgment if we LOVE- because if we LOVE we are with God and God is with US.

LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE.

Ultimately it is LOVE.

When love towards God, and love towards others ceases- sin begins.

Jas 1:14  But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

Jas 1:15  Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

When we are drawn away by our own lusts and enticed-  when we are drawn away from loving God, from loving others-we are tempted.  When we begin to follow our OWN desires, our OWN lusts, we are NOT loving others or God.  Once we are convinced to please ourselves first and foremost we begin to sin. When we continue to seek self over God and others, and do not veer from that path it is the path that leads to death.

Self seeking is death. Loving others is life.

Please LORD take these selfish desires from us!

Help us to love OTHERS, to love YOU more and more!

Love truly is the answer, the real answer, the truth. LOVE is God.

LOVE.

Love- not some fairy tale of emotion that satan has made it out to be, but real love, the deep abiding love that gives up self fully through CHRIST.

All through CHRIST.

Live through HIM

1Jn 4:9  In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
1Jn 4:10  Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
1Jn 4:11  Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

That we might LIVE THROUGH HIM.

Our Savior - sinless- undeserving of death- took on death the penalty for sin- all for us who deserve death- us who are filled with sin.  We are filled with UNLOVING acts time and time again.

Whether the unloving is towards God or towards our fellowman- we time and time again stop loving one or the other- or both.

Our God has NEVER stopped loving us and this is why He could die for us sinless.

Our God loves us who are completely UNDESERVING. There isn't a single thing we do that can make us deserving, it's totally UNDESERVED love we are given.

NO one has to deserve our love in order for us to give it to them-this is love- the love of God- the love GOD would have us give to one another.

No one need be good enough to get our love.
No one need be Godly enough to get our love.
No one need be nice enough to get our love.
No one need be decent, giving, kind, friendly, sweet, endearing, tolerant, in order to get our love.

It is TRULY the love of God when it is given without it being deserved.

How easy it is for us to give hate for hate, to revile when we are reviled, to despise when we are despised, to be mean when we are being abused. Our natural inclination is to strike out when we are struck.

God's love tells us to love all the more when we are hated, to forgive even more those that despise us, to accept the horrors of abuse heaped upon us without giving into the temptation to return the same hated behavior to those giving it to us.

How incredibly easy it is to be defensive, to stand up for ourselves and tell ourselves that it's good and right to not allow ourselves to be mistreated- verbally, physically, emotionally, mentally.

1Jn 4:11  Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

This is the love we are to give to each other, always. Every person no matter how ungodly seeming is NOT beyond our ability to love with GOD'S love. If we choose NOT to love another because of our perception of them (even if it is a correct assessment and admitted by them personally) then we are possibly being ungodly to one that God is in the process of converting.  Paul is an example. Would Peter, John, James or any of the Apostles have looked at Paul when he was in the throes of actively persecuting those who believed on Christ, and thought for a moment he would be a great instrument in God's hands? Would Stephen who died as Paul stood by holding the coats of those throwing their deadly stones at him, murdering him, have thought there is one God is molding and shaping for His work? Paul was a hater, a terrible, terrible hater of Christ followers. Paul wanted to hunt down these Christ followers and destroy them all.  Would we look at those who seem as far from Christ as you can get and believe they could be God's chosen? We tend to condemn, not love. Christ died for ALL, each person has the opportunity to choose to believe in Christ Jesus their Savior. When we do NOT love even the worst of the worst- we are condemning them as unworthy and yet Christ Jesus died for them too! It is the devil's influence filling even the most vile of people, and we need to pray for those we least want to pray for, those least deserving in our thoughts, in our beliefs.

As God loved us we MUST love each other!

I don't know about you, but I know I'm very, very undeserving of the sacrifice my Savior made for me.

We must love and to love we must know God, we must understand as far as we are able the sacrifice our Savior made for us- this is the love of God.

Please Lord, please, help us to LOVE.

Love is of God

1Jn 4:7  Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
1Jn 4:8  He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love

LOVE one another.
For LOVE is of GOD.
Everyone that LOVETH- is born of GOD and knows GOD.
He that LOVES not - does not know GOD.
GOD is LOVE.

Love - God.
God - Love.

LOVE-

Mat 5:43  Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt LOVE* thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Mat 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Mat 5:45  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
Mat 5:46  For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
Mat 5:47  And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?

G25 LOVE*
- Transliteration: Agapao
- Phonetic: ag-ap-ah'-o
- Definition:
1. of persons
a. to welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly

To welcome- not to turn away, not to refuse.
To entertain- to engage pleasantly.
To be fond of- to feel kindness towards.
To love dearly- to care for exceedingly.

People don't love not really love, not anymore.

There is a guardedness, a barrier erected and that barrier is made up of SELF.

To love is to give of self- selflessly- without reservation- without making sure that one you are attempting to love is deserving of that love. If we pause to consider whether or not another is deserving of our love- that isn't love at all.

Mat 24:12  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

1Jn 4:7  Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
1Jn 4:8  He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love


Our love cannot be self-centered, our love must be God's love- unconditional- loving when not loved- not just loving when we feel loved, or feel like loving.

Please LORD please, take our selfishness, our selfish hearts away from us and fill us with YOUR love, YOUR SPIRIT, YOU.

Help us to KNOW YOU GOD, so that we may love, truly love.

Spirit of truth and spirit of error

1Jn 4:4  Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
1Jn 4:5  They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
1Jn 4:6  We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

Greater is HE that is in US than he that is in the world.

Always God will be greater than Satan. 

We live in a world that Satan rules. You look around and it doesn't take very long at all for a person to realize that our God of love has allowed man's choice to sin, man's choice to listen to Satan, to rule this world. Only our God's mercy has preserved us, us who will love the LORD with all our hearts, believing in Him over all.  We are preserved by God. Our eternal life is preserved by our Savior. Everything that happens to us does so for a reason. When we read the book of Job and realize the extent of the horrors He endured, we know that all we endure is likewise for reasons beyond our ability to comprehend.

God is greater in us, greater than Satan will ever be.

Hearing God, listening to His truths, this is something we MUST do.

There is a spirit of truth and a spirit of error.

Truth and error.

God and the world possessed by Satan.

There is so much falsehood in the world, so much. We have to cling to the truth. We have to cling to Christ. We have to keep our God alive in us through faith, and not be OF the world. Not seek to be OF the world, but OF GOD. Actively seeking God not encouraging the worldly ways above Him which is so easy to do!

We are of GOD.
We overcome the world because of God in us.
God is GREATER than all.

Jesus Christ is come in the Flesh

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
1Jn 4:2  Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
1Jn 4:3  And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.


We must confess that our Savior came in the flesh just like we come in the flesh with the ability to sin.

Our Savior was born of a woman who sinned. No where in the word of God are we told that Mary was sinless. She was blessed but so were others in the Bible.

Gen 17:19  And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
Gen 17:20  And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.

Ishmael was blessed by God.

Gen 24:1  And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.

Abraham was blessed.

This is what was said to Mary-

Luk 1:28  And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

She was HIGHLY FAVORED.
The LORD was with HER.
She was BLESSED among women.

No where are we told she is sinless, no where at all. 

Abraham wasn't without sin and God blessed him.
Ishmael wasn't without sin and he was blessed.

You can be blessed and have sinned.

The reason our Savior was taking on OUR FLESH was to feel our infirmities.

Heb 4:15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

He could FEEL the same struggles of the flesh as we feel!  Yet HE did NOT sin!  He conquered where we fell. He won where we lost. He did what we could not do. He could HAVE SINNED, but He didn't! He had to PROVE that man in flesh could serve God and their fellowman in love, and He did. This is what He came to do. He FOUGHT the spiritual battle, and it was a fight! A real fight! To think otherwise is to belittle our Savior's achievement. To think otherwise would mean that He didn't have to do things that way, He could have just stayed in Heaven, not begotten as God's Son in human flesh- but God with God- and saved us that way by simply saying the words. It couldn't be that way, to do it that way would have stripped our freedom of choice from us. In making us with that freedom of choice the amazing gift made us in God's likeness. The ability to choose.  And our Savior came to earth, God taking on flesh, begotten of the Father as His Son- and He PROVED that the flesh could conquer death, could conquer sin, He did for us what we could NOT do, and HE DID IT FOR US! He proved it to us that it could be done and IN HIM we are now able to do it-through HIS achievement. When we are CONNECTED fully with HIM by faith, trusting in HIM and HIS righteousness, asking for and receiving forgiveness, repenting of our sinful selves, we are then living in the SPIRIT- connected fully.

If we do NOT confess that our Savior came in the flesh that could sin, then we are not God's, and SO incredibly many people do just that, they do NOT confess that our Savior truly came in flesh. They've changed the flesh He came in, they've altered and made it so that it would have been impossible for Him to sin. They've even claimed that His human mother was sinless that's how far some have taken the humanity of Jesus and changed it to suit their ideas and NOT God's.

The spirit of the antichrist - those who would put their own beliefs in place of God's, taking away the fact our Savior truly came in human flesh and all that means.

Please LORD, please help us NEVER to have the spirit of antichrist in  us! Please, save us from ourselves!

Bless us Lord, keep us Lord, forgive us Lord, save us Lord, help us Lord, heal us Lord!

All through YOU! All in YOUR LOVE!

The Flesh of our Savior

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
1Jn 4:2  Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
1Jn 4:3  And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

Let's take a look at the verses containing the word 'flesh' for a bit--

Mat 16:17  And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for FLESH and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

Mat 24:22  And except those days should be shortened, there should no FLESH be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

Mat 26:41  Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the FLESH is weak.

Luk 3:6  And all FLESH shall see the salvation of God.

Luk 24:39  Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not FLESH and bones, as ye see me have.

Joh 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
Joh 1:13  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the FLESH, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Joh 1:14  And the Word was made  FLESH, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Joh 3:5  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6  That which is born of the FLESH is FLESH; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Joh 3:7  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

Rom 1:3  Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the FLESH

Rom 8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the FLESH, but after the Spirit.

Rom 8:3  For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the FLESH, God sending his own Son IN THE LIKENESS OF SINFUL FLESH, and for sin, condemned sin in the FLESH:
Rom 8:4  That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the FLESH, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:5  For they that are after the FLESH do mind the things of the FLESH; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Rom 8:6  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Rom 8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Rom 8:8  So then they that are in the FLESH cannot please God.
Rom 8:9  But ye are not in the FLESH, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Rom 8:10  And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
Rom 8:11  But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
Rom 8:12  Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the FLESH, to live after the FLESH.
Rom 8:13  For if ye live after the FLESH, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
Rom 8:14  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Rom 8:15  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Rom 8:16  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Rom 8:17  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

*******

 Flesh.

Our Savior was FLESH and BLOOD. He gave us the example of His FLESH and BLOOD so we could NOT doubt the reality of what He was composed of. Not that He wanted us to really physically eat His skin and drink His real blood- it is symbolic and the symbol is the REALITY of what our SAVIOR came to earth as- FLESH, like our flesh.

Flesh such as the seed of David inherited, flesh that felt the FULL pull of temptation.

Our Savior inherited that same FLESH. He COULD have sinned! Think about it, make it REAL to you.

Our Savior COULD HAVE SINNED!

It sounds almost wrong to say it, to think it, to believe that it could have happened.

If we believe that it wasn't possible we take away the FLESH of our Savior and give Him only the status of God. We take away the fact that He COULD be tempted. Why would Satan try to tempt Him if it were IMPOSSIBLE for our Savior to sin? He wouldn't have, there would have been NO point at all whatsoever. To conquer you have to have had the ability to fail, not succeed or it is not conquering. And our Savior conquered death- the ultimate result of sin eternal non-existence, the second death.


More on this tomorrow, all by the grace of God, all through HIS LOVE!

Try the spirits

1Jn 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
1Jn 4:2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
1Jn 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

We've discussed this a little bit before- the word- 'antichrist'.

The modern word for anti- is against, but the word used to mean- in place of.

The word antichrist means 'in place of Christ'.

The spirit of antichrist- the spirit of that which tries to take the place of our true Savior.

When we think of our Savior coming in the flesh- people generally don't have too much objection to this fact. However people start to differ and become uncomfortable when they begin to discuss the flesh of our Savior.

Some believe that our Savior came in flesh but such flesh that it was essentially impossible for Him to sin. They believe His nature was different from ours. And in believing that- it's all but impossible for them to believe this--

Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

For our Savior to be tempted in ALL points like WE are would mean that He had to have the same propensity, the same flesh as we have or else He could NEVER be tempted like WE are in our sinful flesh.

This is the flesh issue that will divide so many.

The flesh our Savior came in.

Some just think about skin, and yes, Jesus came in skin like we have. To those who are just thinking of flesh as skin there is no issue- and of course those who don't believe our Savior really existed are 'against' Christ. Do you see where semantics can play a HUGE part in things? There is TRUTH in words and there are lies. People fill the words with lies and misdirection and then expect truth to be found, but how can people find it when it's shrouded in darkness?

We cannot believe EVERY spirit.
We have to TRY the spirits.
Some will be of God, others of Satan.
Those spirits, those prophets that are of God must confess that Jesus is come in the flesh.

The flesh of our humanity.

More on this tomorrow by the grace of God!

God's will first, our will last, the very last.

1Jn 3:22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
1Jn 3:23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
1Jn 3:24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

In keeping our Lord's commandments- dwelling in our Savior- and our Savior dwelling in us- loving one another-believing in Jesus Christ the Son of the Father- we KNOW HE abides in us- and we will receive whatever we ask.

People say that's crazy talk, God won't give us whatever we want no matter what. The TRUTH is, God WILL give us whatsoever we ask IF we are abiding in Him because whatever we ask for will be ONLY that which is good and right in HIS eyes. Abiding in Him truly, we will NOT ask for anything that God will not grant us. If we are asking for things and God is not giving them to us- we have to look at our lives, look at our abiding in Christ. Are we keeping His commandments? Are we doing the things that are pleasing in His sight? Are we believing on the name of God's Son- Jesus Christ? Are we LOVING one another?

Seriously, we NEED To examine our lives. We expect so much from God. We expect Him to do for us and us do nothing. Why? Because we cannot do ANYTHING to give us salvation, but that doesn't mean we have NOTHING to give, that nothing is expected of us in our lives. We are expected to have FAITH. We are expected to let that FAITH be REAL in our lives. That REAL faith will alter our life. We STOP living solely for self and desire to live for God. We desire to want to PLEASE God even knowing that nothing we do will give us salvation- that salvation is an unwarranted, amazing gift bestowed upon us by our loving FATHER and loving SON, through the HOLY SPIRIT.

Faith will have us love, love will give us faith, and through it all we will find out, we will discover the love of our God's commandments, the love of LOVING others, the LOVE of believing. We will ONLY- by the grace of God- desire and live for the things of God and God WILL give us whatsoever we ask of Him.

This isn't a get rich quick scheme, or an instantaneous healing act that we must have even if we desperately need money, or healing, or even both. There can be NO schemes, just truth, just love, just belief. You see we will first ask that God's will be done and it will. The will of God may include that we face some very, very difficult trials for reasons God alone will know. God's will first, our will last, the very last.

All in His love, all by His Spirit!

Our heart- condemns or condemns not

1Jn 3:20 For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.
1Jn 3:21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.

God is greater than our heart.
Our heart will either condemn us or not condemn us.

Remember this--

1Jn 3:17 But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
1Jn 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
1Jn 3:19 And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him

IF we love we are not condemned.

We know if we love. We know if we don't love.

When our heart condemns us- it is condemning us because we don't love- we are not loving in action as God would have us love one another, and we cannot assure our hearts before God.

And GOD knows our heart better than we do. We cannot hide our hearts from God. That is why this is my prayer-

Psa 51:9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
Psa 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Psa 51:11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
Psa 51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

Create in me a CLEAN heart.

I need God to create in me a CLEAN heart, a heart that doesn't condemn me.

I long to have confidence towards God.

Putting my confidence anywhere else will only offer a false security if it offers any.

1Jn 3:20 For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.
1Jn 3:21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.

We have to comprehend the reality that nothing we are is hid from God. He knows the good, the bad, and the ugly, as well as the beautiful that is in us. He knows whether we long to be His. He knows our hearts and HE can CREATE in us a CLEAN heart. The heart of filth we possess can be cleaned. It's not irreparably stained, not if we believe in our Savior who died to be able to cleanse our hearts.

We must believe that our God will clean our hearts, we must have this faith in God, it's only with this faith in God that our heart won't condemn us. As long as we place our hope within ourselves we will never have a clean heart. We can try to wash our own heart over and over again, we can scrub at it, throw all the mental, emotion bleach we want onto our own filthy heart and it will forever remain stained. There isn't a SINGLE thing we can do to clean our own heart. We cannot do it, just as there are some things only a dry cleaner can get out, ONLY God can cleanse our heart. Our heart cleaner- God. We must go to Him and only Him and stop trying to scrub the filth from our own heart.

We must live our lives as we have been told in God's word to live it and trust in our God to save us.

We do have an Advocate with the Father and when we feel the weight of transgressions heavy upon us we have to go to our Advocate and seek forgiveness, seeking to be cleansed by the only One who can clean us.

Psa 51:7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Our confidence must be in GOD, only then our heart will not condemn us.

The verse reads- if our hearts condemns us not THEN we have confidence towards God- and that is a FACT. Our hearts will condemn us if we have no confidence towards God. And God knows whether we submit to Him or not, He knows.

God knows- He is greater than our own conscience, greater than our heart- and He knows.

All by HIS grace! May we be cleansed by Him and our hearts have confidence towards Him.

All by HIS LOVE!

Assure our hearts before Him

1Jn 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
1Jn 3:19 And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.

Hereby we KNOW that we are of the truth.
Hereby we KNOW that we are of our Savior.

If we love actively.

It's easy to say- I love you.

I know some people might say it's not easy at all and that's true for some people but others find it easy to say. I know about three, four, maybe five years ago suddenly it became important for me to tell the people I love that I love them. Maybe it was one of those thing I read- who knows- but I never wanted to regret NOT telling those I love that I love them. So it began, and at first it wasn't as easy to do but now- now it's easy to do and yet now it almost seems as if it's become more habit when in truth it's not, at least not for me. Believe it or not before I say those words I have that momentary thought about saying it and why- wanting the person I'm saying it to, to know that I love them and if that's the last time I see them then they'll remember, or I'll remember that it wasn't something that went unsaid.

So when I say it is easy to say I love you it is, and many might say it without truly meaning it, without any action behind it.

Every single person I've told I love you- at least over the last few years or so- I really hope that if the action of love has been needed that I've acted out of love and not just spoke those words to them.

I'm not a very demonstrative person, not at all. And I fight satan all the time as He encourages my selfishness, being selfless doesn't come easy to me and I hate that about myself. So these verses really hit home with me. I want to, I need to love in deed and in truth, in action and in Christ and I pray to God that He make this possible in me. What seems impossible to me, isn't impossible to God.

Luk 18:27 And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.

I want to know I'm of the truth. I want to assure my heart before my Savior all by loving not in my words- not by just saying the words- but in action, in my interaction with those I love, and to all as we are to love our fellowman. Please Lord, help me to truly LOVE all by YOUR grace and mercy.

All through You Lord, all through YOU.

In Action and In Christ

1Jn 3:17 But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
1Jn 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

Loving others.

If we love others we will care for them. If we see another in need we and turn our backs on them we are NOT loving others. If we consider our OWN needs first- we are not loving others.

It's so incredibly hard to put others first to the point of us having nothing.

There was a popular television show episode that depicted a man who was giving away his money and lots of it. He was giving and giving and giving until his family left him because he was no longer seemingly concerned with providing them with all the things they wanted etc. Well he fell ill and the physician in charge of his case decided his giving was due to a medical problem not because he was actually caring and giving. This show went on and made it just that- they found a tumor in his brain that pressed on a certain part that made him this overly caring man, willing to lay down his life to save another- literally. What the show wanted to get across is that people are NOT like that, they aren't selfless, they have to be sick to be so. And you know what- with the way people are today- it's sadly true.

Even in my own life I have this huge war going on- the battle between what I KNOW is right and what I would rather do. The battle between wanting to help others, but not wanting to destitute myself looms large in me. Is this selfishness? I fear it is. EVEN with little things- things that are asked of me- I find myself resenting them and this is the FLESH battle within. As soon as I start resenting I recognize that it's wrong and by the grace of God sometimes I can take the chastising and that feeling goes away, others times it's not such a quick release from the battle.

This flesh battle is REAL, so incredibly real. Saying 'flesh' battle almost makes it sound physical but more often than not the flesh battle isn't a battle of tangible flesh but of spirit- emotional, mental- and the flesh war is a battle of flesh DESIRES against spiritual TRUTHS.

Flesh desires warring against spiritual truths- this is our battle.

So when the conflict rages within us we have to expect it and NOT give into the despair satan wants to make us feel. If he can get us to live in despair then he has won us, taken us from our Savior. We have to FIGHT! And oh what a fight it is! Such a fight! A fight we will have until our Savior returns or until our life is over and we are sleeping in the grave.

We will NOT get to a place we are outside of the battle and if we do we have to worry, really worry.

Please Lord, help us to endure, help us fight the battle by choosing to be with YOU, choosing to abide in YOU. We have to seek forgiveness always. It is YOUR righteousness we have to live in, not our own. Help us LORD. Help us to give LORD. Help us to love others MORE than ourselves. Help us LORD because we are immersed in selfishness, drowning in self, choosing ourselves over others, please…help us.

1Jn 3:17 But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
1Jn 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

In DEED and in TRUTH.

In DEED- in actions.

In TRUTH- in CHRIST!

Because HE laid down HIS life for us

1Jn 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

WE ought to LAY down our lives for others.

If we are commanded to lay down our lives for others- something so HUGE- does it stand to reason that we are to lay down our lives for others as we live? Seriously. Are we to allow others to dictate to us how we should live- for them? Is it WRONG for them to ask us to do for them? Should we feel put upon and deny them what they ask of us?

Our Savior went about doing good. Our Savior helped so many people in any way He could, even to the point of wearing Himself out time and time again. Our Savior did NOT contribute to ANY sin! Our Savior did NOT help anyone sin! Our Savior helped, He healed and told those He healed to go and SIN NO MORE.

When others are asking for our help- asking for us to do good UNTO them, if we refuse then we are NOT living in Christ, we are NOT abiding in our Savior!

We really do have to lay down our SELF all the way up to the point of death- to do good unto others. Our Savior taught us this and yet we live in a world where there is so much selfishness, so much pain, so much heartache all caused by others hurting others.

I read something today that broke my heart- men/boys sexually attacking a mentally challenged young girl only 17, and her mother saying they've been doing so since she was 12. My heart broke, it broke. This world is so sick, so filled with people who have no love for each other, no love at all whatsoever. The thing they try to call love is nothing like the love of our SAVIOR which is ALL about loving others and loving the One who CREATED us. The words of our Savior--

Mat 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

-- is so TRUE! Never more true, never. We've never had this many people living in this world at one time- not ever and it's growing more populated daily. With more people there is so much more hatred, more sin, more ungodliness, so much more SELF LOVE, and a lot less love for others.

We are to LAY DOWN OUR LIVES FOR OTHERS if the need arises, as CHRIST laid down HIS life for all of US.

And if we are to DIE for others, give up our very life to save another, then how can we NOT give all we can to others as long as we live? How do we STOP when it comes to giving while living, and yet try to convince ourselves that we would lay down our lives for others if need be? What kind of self deception is that? We choose to hold back while we live- not giving- not loving others fully as our Savior would have us if we really abide in Him and love HIM, and if we hold back we are NOT HIS! We will NOT be found in HIM.

It doesn't matter if you feel inclined to help- what matters is helping. Seriously. Satan would have us so caught up in our feelings that we *FEEL* that we should *FEEL* like giving, only then are we truly giving. That if we hold the LEAST bit of feeling of resentment then it ruins everything. We HAVE to realize, we really, really have to realize that we are made of FLESH and we are fighting that FLESH, we fight daily, hourly, minutely against our own flesh being that isn't inclined towards the spiritual life we must live. As we fight we'll have SATAN whispering in our ear that we are NOT God's, and we are not HIS because we don't *FEEL* inclined to be loving towards others.

We have to set our FEELINGS aside and CHOOSE to LOVE regardless of those feelings.

We choose to love and we choose to give, to lay down our lives, and to live for loving others as our Savior did. This is a CHOICE we make.

So while Satan might be whispering his evilness to us trying to get us to despair because we don't fit the mold that we imagine we should as loving Christians, we have ignore him and CHOOSE to not living by feelings, but through FAITH. Faith tells us that we can have HOPE, not in ourselves but in our GOD, in HIS ability to LOVE.

Please LORD, help us choose to love and in choosing to love- live to love others all the way up to the point of laying down our lives if we need to. Please LORD, through YOU! Through YOUR LOVE ALWAYS!

We can KNOW that we have passed from death to life...

1Jn 3:14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.

Because we LOVE our fellowman- we have the hope of eternal life.
If we DO NOT love our fellowman we only have the hope of death.

This is TRUTH beyond what so many want to ever imagine.
People want to believe that to gain eternal life means so much more, but the truth is, eternal life is found in our SAVIOR, through HIS GRACE. And when we live under the grace of our SAVIOR He will enable us to LOVE Him and love others.

We have to make the CHOICE regardless of any circumstance we find ourselves in. The choice to have FAITH in GOD, FAITH in our SAVIOR'S GRACE, our SAVIOR'S RIGHTEOUSNESS!

It is a choice and again, people want to cloud it up with so much other stuff. Do this, do that, to the other thing and you'll be saved. The truth if we must BELIEVE in our SAVIOR fully, wholly and LIVE in HIM, ABIDE in HIM, then we are HIS and we MUST BE HIS!

We MUST be CHRIST'S! We must belong to our SAVIOR and not even ourselves. We must belong to HIM, NOT OURSELVES.

We can KNOW if we belong to HIM if we LOVE OTHERS more than we love ourselves! Because those who long to be HIS, to abide in HIM will LOVE OTHERS. If we find ourselves NOT loving others we must repent of that, we must ask forgiveness, and we MUST fall at the feet of GRACE so that HE lives through us! Only through HIM can we LOVE at all! If we try to love outside of that abiding in HIM then we are trying to produce a self-love that can't be allowed to exist. Our love for others must come from HIS LOVE and ONLY HIS LOVE in us.

1Jn 3:15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

If we choose to HATE our fellowman then we are choosing death, eternal death. We are choosing to purposely hate, to purposely disobey our God!

Please LORD, please keep us from hating anyone! So many seem to live to encourage hate- hate of themselves or hate of others. Whole organizations are filled with hate and spewing that hate through others, encouraging that hate. ANY person who claims to love our Savior and to abide in Him and they encourage the hating of ANYONE, regardless of their actions, is not of Christ.

Our Savior forgave those who brutalized Him, those who murdered HIM, those who HATED HIM!

Our SAVIOR hated NO ONE!
And we THROUGH HIM can hate NO ONE.

Please Lord, help us to LOVE, to truly LOVE with YOUR LOVE.

Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.

1Jn 3:13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.

Marvel not.

Don't be surprised.

We cannot be shocked by the hate we receive when we truly love God and out of that love- love our fellow man.

Have you felt the hate? I don't think I have, not like I know others around the world have been and are being hated by others.

Being a Christian in an Islamic dominated country like Iran and others in the Middle East, and even in Africa- is often something that takes amazing courage. When those Christians read these words- 'Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.' When they read these words they understand in a very real way. They live seeing the hatred in their fellow man's eyes. They live hearing the hate-filled words spewed at them in anger. They feel the sting of stones, bullets, fire, fists as they are beaten senselessly all because they love God, all because they love their SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST!

And they are told not to be surprised, not to marvel when they are hated.

I sit here and I marvel at it, even after I'm told not to because I don't live in that existence, it's foreign to me.

Marvel not if the world hates me!

Oh, how much time we spend wanting NOT to be hated! Not that we all want everyone in the entire world to like us, we know better than that, but the majority of people aren't living a life where they actively want others to despise them. As we grow up, go to school - preschool, kindergarten, elementary levels, middle school, high school, college- we do NOT want to make enemies as a rule. We tend to try and find a few good people to become friends with and the rest we want to co-exist without any trouble. We do NOT want to be hated.

Yet we are to MARVEL NOT if the WORLD HATES US!

And the world will hate us why? Because we LOVE!

Because we LOVE we are hated.

And it's not a hidden love, it's a known love. A love others know we have in us, a REAL love, a POWERFUL love, CHRIST'S LOVE! How will then know of this love we have, they'll know because we love THEM, we truly LOVE them, with Christ's LOVE.

Be of God - NOT of that wicked one

1Jn 3:11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
1Jn 3:12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.

LOVE ONE ANOTHER

NOT as CAIN who was of that wicked one.

Cain belonged to Satan. He belonged to Satan and his works were evil.
Abel belonged to God and his works were righteous.

We have to choose a side too. We are either on Satan's or God's, Cain's or Abel's, Wicked or Righteous.

When we LOVE one another we are on God's side, on the side Abel was on, on the side of righteousness.

We have to LOVE not hate.

And we can't LOVE the love of self.

Cain loved HIMSELF. Cain was MORE concerned with HIMSELF.

We get so caught up in OURSELVES that we can scarcely think of another without first thinking about how our interaction with them will affect us. We put ourselves first and that is what Satan did- put HIMSELF first. Is it any wonder that sort of self love is so incredibly wrong? Is it any wonder that when we love self first we are NOT loving others?

If we LOVE our selves MORE than others we are not following the will of our God.

We CANNOT LOVE OURSELVES before we love God or others - that is NOT in the dictates of God.

The EXTREME importance of loving others cannot be overemphasized.

Realizing that LOVING others before SELF is a very real, true love, makes us pause for a moment because we so horribly have love confused with our selves- with receiving more so than giving.

Only by the grace of God will we learn to love truly- in HIS LOVE.

And this IS something we have to LEARN- because if we think it will come naturally to us then we are caught up in Satan's trap. If we expect it to be NATURAL to us then we are setting ourselves up to fail miserably!

Choose to love, make a choice to love, make a decision to love, actively love, decide to love and in all that LOVING others!

All through our Savior's GRACE and MERCY, HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS - ALWAYS!

The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away

Job 1:21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

Job 2:9 Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.
Job 2:10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.

Job 40:1 Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said,
Job 40:2 Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.
Job 40:3 Then Job answered the LORD, and said,
Job 40:4 Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
Job 40:5 Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.

Job 42:6 Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.

The LORD gives.
The LORD takes.
Blessed be the name of the LORD.

We receive GOOD at the hand of God.
We receive EVIL at the hand of God- He allows evil to befall us.

We are VILE.
We ABHOR ourselves.

We MUST repent.

God's ways are past our finding them out. When we look at our world and all the horrors that are allowed to happen, Satan wants us to curse God for it all as we try to comprehend it all, thinking that we really do have a way of understanding- when in truth we don't. The horrors, and they are many and unimaginable in their vileness, exist and even the INNOCENT are made to endure them. People love to throw this up high in the air to top their list of reasons why they don't want to believe in a God who allows such agonizing horror. The worse the reprehensible act the more convinced they become that they do NOT want to believe in a God who sits back and watches as the terror unfolds. As tears falls, as gut wrenching sorrow doubles them over for the tragedies occurring around every corner people would rather believe there is no God than believe there is a God who has the power to stop the awfulness, yet does not.

The thing is- our God is MERCIFUL- the horrors, no matter how vile and no matter how long those horrors must be endure- they do eventually end. A God who would allow endless torture, would be a God I could not imagine. All this world's sorrows are TEMPORARY to ETERNITY.

If we spend an entire lifetime- from birth to old age-80, 90 years in pain- we have to take comfort knowing there is an end, a stopping point.

We cannot begin to comprehend why people are put through horrors unimaginable, we simply can't. For that matter we can't comprehend the reality we call life -much at all- no matter how long scientists and the great minds that exist over the ages try to define it all.

If God were a man who had MAGICAL powers upon earth and then he allowed evil to exist- then we could comprehend. But GOD is NOT a man and NEVER will be a man- He is the CREATOR of MAN, He can never be what HE'S CREATED any more than an architect could become a house, a gardener become a flower garden, a doctor a cure. It's IMPOSSIBLE. God did become man in JESUS CHRIST- God taking on flesh and feeling our infirmities completely- but God did NOT cease being GOD in order to become human. The FATHER GOD has forever been God without human flesh. GOD the SON took on the very flesh He'd had a hand in creating and while He laid aside HIS powers and relied upon God the FATHER'S there was never a moment when the power of GOD the Father was gone, NEVER.

From everlasting to everlasting God exists and will forever exist and THIS we cannot fully comprehend in our humanity, in our seemingly finite, our possibly finite, existence.

Job was a righteous man- even God said so.
Yet Job's righteousness became corrupted as He was tried, corrupted because He began to believe in His own righteousness and condemned God for what he perceived was an unjust punishment. Job was in severe pain, in agony, his very existence a nightmare and he was trying to make sense of it. It didn't help that others were telling him it had to be because He'd done something wrong. The others couldn't comprehend that God' s plans could include allowing someone to be tortured by the devil, someone who had done nothing to deserve it.

We cannot begin to comprehend God's ways, they are so incredibly far above us. We don't know that some horror now might not be for some good later, we haven't a clue. We can guess all we want, but we don't know. The horrors we encounter seem to be enough to drive us mad with grief, and yet when all is said and down we have to trust that our Lord has HIS reasons far beyond our understanding and those reasons are just.

I think a lot of what goes on in our lives we forget to contribute to our God. The sun shining, the moon, the stars, the very breath we breathe, the heart that beats in our chests, the flower unfolding, the rain that drops, the majestic mountains, the clouds that form- we stop realizing the power of God and take for granted those very things that He has a hand in.

People want to explain everything and when they can't they make us their own theories and call them factual and scientific just because it's something they perceive and others agree with. What was scientific a 100 years ago might be proven complete wrong today, yet people believe their ideas were factual and true.

Just because you figure out the dna sequence does not mean you've created dna itself. Just because you take a stem cell and create other things from that cell, does not mean you've created a stem cell or can. Just because you've created a mechanical device for a heart does not mean you've created a heart. I could go on and on, but you have to get the point at least somewhat. How many of you know how your television receives the information that is portrayed on the screen? How many of you fully comprehend how electricity is harnessed and sent through wires to your house? How many of you comprehend radio waves? The majority of people don't have the understanding of these things and yet some do, they learn it and go on to learn more. Understanding things did not make them the creator of things. Understanding how to record of voice onto a tiny electronic chip, does not mean you understand every single point of that to the minutest detail. You might know how to put pieces together so they create something, but that doesn't mean you know how to create the pieces themselves. A bricklayer can mix up mortar to lay between the bricks, but he's using things he didn't create to make that mix.

We've come a long, long way from knowing very little about how things work, and we've debunked many a superstition, but in doing so MANY have tried to take God out of everything. Before we lived in a world that held the belief that God created, now we live in a world that takes great pride in what man seems to create. Satan has worked very hard to get people to believe in themselves over God, to believe in things over God and he's done a very thorough job of it. We like to say that if you are SMART you don't believe in the fairy tale, the fable of God, and people love to believe they are smart. The reality, they are more foolish than they'll ever know.

Jas 5:11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

1Pe 1:6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
1Pe 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

By our God's mercy! By our God's love! May we endure to the end clinging to Christ's righteousness.

We've sadly learned to base our ability to love upon conditions

1Jn 3:11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

Heard from the beginning-

-we should LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

Joh 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
Joh 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Joh 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

A new commandment- an ADDITIONAL commandment- a commandment that is an addition to the moral ten. This addition to the commandments, this new command was necessary because our SAVIOR was manifested to us and an example to look to- an example that had NOT existed before.

LOVE as HE LOVED.

Jesus was manifested. Jesus' love was manifested to mankind. Jesus - God taking on human flesh and loving us as a Son of God in a way that He couldn't for thousands of years.

So while Jesus could say this in answer to the question--

Mat 22:36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

The man asking the question of our Savior was speaking of the moral commandments and Jesus said- on THESE two commandments hang ALL the law and the prophets.

The first and the second.

And Jesus could also say this in answer to the question--

Mat 19:16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
Mat 19:17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
Mat 19:18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
Mat 19:19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

The commandments of the MORAL law!

The moral law of the ten commandments were given to guide us into a full love of God and a full love of our fellowman.

Our Savior LIVED the law perfectly never straying from it for a single instance- how do I know? Our Savior was sinless. Being sinless means not transgressing the law of God, because sin is a transgression of the law. Jesus loved God perfectly, Jesus loved his fellowman perfectly, and He is our perfect example.

1Jn 3:11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

This is our Savior's message.

LOVE.

When we sin we are guilty of NOT LOVING.

That sin of coveting exists because we are not loving selflessly, we are not loving our fellow man.
That sin of taking God's name is vain exists because we are not loving God.

It's the same for the entire moral law, all ten commandments.

It's the transgression of NOT LOVING.

We've sadly learned to base our ability to love upon conditions that we were NEVER supposed to have, never.

I'll love if…

I can't love because…

If he/she shows they love me…

I'll stop loving you if you do this or that…

I could never love someone that…

Conditions!

Sin is NOT LOVING, and the results that come from NOT LOVING, the actions caused by NOT LOVING.

If we put conditions on our ability to love God and love others, we are NOT loving as our Savior loved. He loved us while we were yet sinners.

Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Please LORD teach us to LOVE as YOU LOVED!

Please!

Help us to love one another, and to love You!

By Your GRACE and MERCY! By Your LOVE!

Manifest in God

1Jn 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
1Jn 3:10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.


The children of God are manifest-

The children of God are - made visible, made known, made actual, realized, recognized.
The children of the devil are also manifest.

We are manifested by the choices we make.

We choose to remain sinners, and we also choose to be born again- born of God.

Jesus said these words--

Joh 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

MUST be BORN AGAIN.

We must be born again and born again of God.

Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Born of the SPIRIT.

Those who are born of the Spirit claim their Savior as their righteousness, seeking to give themselves wholly to Him, begging forgiveness, knowing their unworthiness, recognizing their full dependence upon Jesus Christ. We are born of flesh, and given an opportunity to be born of the Spirit.

If we are born of the Spirit we will not seek to willfully sin. We will recognize our sins and seek to repent of them and ask for forgiveness -- NOT seek to keep living in sin. Those who are embroiled in sin wanting to remain in it will do so and they are of their father the devil.

Sin is forever tempting us, forever until our Savior returns for us. We have to surrender ourselves to HIM, to our GOD. We have to keep ourselves IN HIM, having FAITH in HIS ability to save us, to forgive us, to love us.

When we are IN our Savior we cannot sin.
When we are HIS, covered by HIM we cannot sin.

Outside of Him we are lost sinners.

It is ONLY when our SAVIOR is ours that we are sinless, we are NEVER sinless on our own, never!

We must abide in Christ.
We must live in Christ.

We must love our fellow man, we must love as our Savior loves, love through Him, love because He loves, loves because His Spirit in us lives.

All in HIM! Always!

Jesus came to destroy sin- NOT excuse it

1Jn 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
1Jn 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

Do NOT be deceived.
If you DO righteousness- you are righteous- as our Savior is righteous.
If you SIN- you are OF the devil- the devil sinned from the beginning.
The Son of God was MANIFESTED- created- brought into being- God taking on flesh- all to DESTROY the works of the devil- SIN.

Our Savior is righteous and if we ABIDE in Him- we will be righteous because of Him. Any righteousness we do, we do it because HE enables us to do that righteousness.

If we sin we are doing the works of the devil.
Sin exists because of the devil. When we sin we are working FOR the devil.
Sinning isn't trivial.
Sinning isn't something we can simply overlook and ignore.
Every sin needs to be confessed and repented of.
If we sin and are not concerned about the sin we've committed then we've been blinded by the devil. The devil will use every opportunity possible to get us numbed to the sins we commit, to make us call EVIL - GOOD. When Satan gets us to believe that evil is good he's blinded us to the TRUTH. And when we are blind to the truth we are lost to our Savior.

Our SAVIOR came into existence as the Son of God so He could eradicate sin once and for all. The kingdom of heaven, the promise of eternal life with our Savior, with God the Father - is all promised to those who abhor sin because SIN is of the devil!

We need to despise sin because is SEPARATES us from God!

Righteousness is GOD.
Sin is of SATAN.

Jesus will destroy ALL SIN.
All sinners will be destroyed.
Not a single sinner will live.

Those who have sinned and repented, finding forgiveness in our Savior are COVERED by HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS!

Those who have sinned and have NOT repented will NOT be forgiven and they will be destroyed.

We must be found in CHRIST'S RIGHTEOUSNESS!

He came to destroy sin, not excuse it.

Abide in love

1Jn 3:6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.

Not seen Him.
Doesn't know Him.

Those who CHOOSE to willfully sin, those who choose NOT to love God or love others, can't see our Savior, the can't know Him.

When we CHOOSE not to love, we are in fact CHOOSING to live in sin.

So many get all caught up in the BLATANT sins they ignore the fact that that ALL sins are transgressions of God's laws and all of God's laws have to do with love because- God is love. NOT loving is the GREATEST sin, seriously, because it is the source of each and every sin.

If we abide in our Savior we are abiding in LOVE. Remember- God is LOVE. Abiding in love keeps us from sinning.

The love of God is so amazing we can scarcely comprehend it.

We get so caught up in our own self we believe love is something we are to get, to obtain, to seek. We believe we are loved when others treat us special and care for us.

The truth is love is something we are to GIVE. Our lives should not be spent trying to find love, but rather trying to give love to others, to God.

We spend SO much time thinking about the love we receive, or should receive, want to receive. How many days of depression are spent by millions because of the HUGE misconceptions about love? We kill ourselves because we are NOT loved by others, we haven't found love.

People say they are IN LOVE when the truth is, they are CHOOSING to involve themselves with another person to mutually benefit each other, by sharing their feelings, their lives, their trials, their happiness. LOVE isn't the idealized fantasy we grow up on- that shows up in movies and in books, on tv, over and over again. So many of those idealize LOVE end up without any love, why, because they stop choosing to share the burdens, and the good times with each other. Maybe someone more exciting comes along, someone who seems better to share our lives with, or maybe we want to simply not share our lives with anyone for awhile.

When we put the fantasy spin on love if we are NOT grounded in the reality of that newness - that learning and sharing with another - wearing off over time, then that love we are so filled with can tragically die. We have to CONTINUE to choose to share the life of another when we view them at their worst. We need to imagine them at their worst, not idolize them at their best and end up shocked when we view their basest humanity.

Love.

1Jn 3:6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.

If we love we see- we know our Savior.
If we do not love, if we don't see and know our Savior then we are sinning and living in sin.

We need to love.

To love and in love abide in our Savior- who IS LOVE.

Sin- not loving God or others

1Jn 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
1Jn 3:5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.

When you think of sin do you think of the law of God?

Seriously. Do you think of the law of God when you sin?

The law says that we are to LOVE GOD, and LOVE OUR FELLOW MAN, all those ten commandments- that moral law is summed up in those two acts. Out of love for God we follow the first four commandments, out of love for our fellow man we follow the last six commandments.

When we sin- we are NOT loving God, and we are NOT loving our fellow man.

Any sin we commit is a sin because we stop loving God and our fellow man.

You cannot sin in any other way because sin IS the transgression of the law and that law tells us to LOVE God and LOVE others.

We STOP loving God when we love ourselves more than we love Him.

So many of our sins are committed because we choose to love ourselves more than God. We can spend our whole lives believing we love others and if we do NOT love God it means nothing. That love we believe we have for others is really a selfish desire to get accolades from them, to feel self-important, to be the person who is lauded for their actions. We HAVE to realize that every SIN we commit is a breaking of the law, it's GOD'S law and we break it when we sin.

Our Savior was manifested- our Savior - our God took on human flesh- so He could TAKE AWAY our sins. So that He could FORGIVE us when we commit acts that show our lack of love for Him and for Others. When we transgress His law that tells us we MUST LOVE HIM and OTHERS, He came to forgive us those acts that reveal how unloving we really, really are!

We can be unloving towards HIM and towards others, and that is sin.

Our Savior forgives our lovelessness, knowing that our propensity towards selfishness, towards self-love, is soooo incredibly great. We NEED HIM to draw us out of ourselves, it is ONLY our SAVIOR who can give us what we need to LOVE as we need to LOVE- selflessly. It is HIS righteousness that must stand in place of our unrighteousness. God has to see His Son's righteousness in OUR PLACE, because we have NONE. And we must submit ourselves to the SON completely, knowing we have NOTHING that is worthy in and of ourselves, it's ALL HIM and ONLY HIM, we choose!

By HIS GRACE! HIS LOVE!

Not peace- but division

Luk 12:51 Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division

Way too many people believe that our Savior came to GIVE peace on earth.
We've heard it over and over especially during the Christmas holiday season- Peace on Earth. Why because of this--

Luk 2:14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Who said those words?

Luk 2:13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying
Luk 2:14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

This is on the occasion of Jesus' birth and the angels are praising God. The goal of having peace on earth is a goal that will only be achieved when our Savior comes again. That Jesus was born - the fact that He is the AUTHOR of peace means everything. Without the birth of the Messiah there would be no hope for any peace on earth, ever.

Too many people take this to mean that Jesus wants peace on earth here and now without His return, yet clearly our Savior speaks these words.

Luk 12:51 Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division

How do you equate that with the belief people have that we are to STRIVE for peace on earth?

The fact of the matter is- there will NOT be world peace- but we are to strive for individual peace among each other.

Heb 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord

We are to abide in our Savior and in abiding in Him we are to have peace towards all those around us- not strife.

World peace- no- not until our Savior returns.

Luk 12:51 Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division

Jesus said- suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth?

And He answers-

No.

Not only does he say no, He says this-

But RATHER division.

DIVISION!

And He continues by explaining this--

Luk 12:52 For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three.
Luk 12:53 The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

Division- NOT PEACE.

The dividing factor is between those with our Savior and those not with our Savior. And the division will be as close as one family member against another. This isn't PEACE promised, this is division. And wherever there is division there comes strife. When peace isn't prevailing then strife is. There is one or the other.

Our Savior KNOWS that there is a fight between the flesh and the spirit, a fight between those who strive to live in the spirit and those who choose to live in the flesh. We war with ourselves over the spirit and the flesh and we war with others around us. As long as there is sin in the world there will be this division, our Savior has told us this. He didn't come to give peace on earth.

We have to comprehend this because way too many people WANT there to be worldwide peace without our Savior having come again. They're expecting this now, striving towards it as if they're ignoring our Savior's own words completely.

We cannot ignore His words, we have to hear them! We have to understand what we're facing not hide from it. When we try to put our own spin on the words of the Lord then we are following our own path and NOT His. We need to follow HIM in all ways.

Please Lord help us to understand that the division we face is something that will remain in the world around us until You come again to take us home with You. Help us Lord to understand that we can be in You and have division surround us. Satan will fight us at ever step, and at every step You are there to fight for us!

Please Lord, help us, bless us, forgive us! LOVE us.

Your love always.

No Fence to Straddle

Dan 12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
Dan 12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

1Jn 2:28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

There will be only TWO types of people at the coming of our Savior.
Those in Christ and those filled with shame and guilt.
Only two types, there will be NONE that are in between the two, not a single one.

We think that hovering somewhere between abiding in Christ and living for the world is a good place to be. We're not among the class of people considered on the lunatic fringe for their obsessive religion, and we aren't fully engulfed in the debauchery of the world. As we live in that hovering existence we somehow try to convince ourselves that it's an acceptable place to live. Yet there is NO fence to straddle when our Savior comes. All those who are sitting on the fence - not fully Christ's, and not fully the world's- will be LOST. Because at His coming ONLY those who are abiding in Him will have the confidence that will come from living in Him, and they won't be ashamed at all. Those who have one foot dangling over the fence dipped in the mire of the world will feel shame, shame for not living fully in Christ.

Living in Christ.

What it means to live in Christ is to live as He lived, to love as He loves.

Does this mean we need to live a cultish life in a commune somewhere? For some it might mean just that. Each of us has to pray that the Lord shows us the path we need to take. For some they'll need to stand in the middle of the sin darkened world as beacons of light set on a hill, not hid away in some wooded secluded cabin. Some will have to live among temptation, their cross to bear a very, very heavy one. Others will face less temptation, but have other fires to refine them.

Everyone has their own refining furnace to face, no two furnaces are the same. I can look at another's furnace and wish it were mine because it seems to burn less hot, yet the truth is, EVERYONE has a furnace designed to burn the impurities from them and it's a painful process whether you only have a few impurities or many.

We can't walk in another's shoes, but sometimes it'd be great if we could, just so we could understand the reality they are immersed in and not judge them by our own reality.

We have to live in Christ as HE guides us as individuals to live.

John did not live as Peter did, yet they were both Apostles of Christ. Shouldn't their lives have been exactly the same if they were both walking with our Savior? No. Why? Because each was called down a separate road with different obstacles. Some might say Peter suffered more for having been murdered, while John was allowed to live into old age. Others would say John suffered more because he lived so much longer. The opinions are varied and yet the bottom line is their abiding in Christ, no matter what they faced.

We have to CHOOSE to live for Christ, a conscious, fully aware choice to live in HIM.
We cannot pull on a costume of Christianity and hope the costume is enough. The heart must be Christ's. Our outward covering means nothing if our heart is not our God's. We can tug on the costume every day, some day's wearing more of it than others, but that façade will NOT keep God from seeing through to our hearts. It doesn't matter a whit what others believe, it matters what our Savior knows.

When our Savior comes He will find only two sorts of people living-

Those that are abiding in Him and those who are not.
Those that will feel the amazing love fully at His coming, and those who will feel nothing but shame.
Those that will no longer feel any weight of guilt upon them, and those who will feel the crushing guilt of their sins.

We choose daily.
We choose to abide in our Savior or abide in Satan.
When we aren't choosing to abide in Jesus Christ then we are automatically abiding in Satan.
We can't fool ourselves into thinking there is a fence to sit upon because there isn't, it's illusion that Satan has erected to keep many people lost in Him while they are none the wiser.

Please Lord help us to fully abide in YOU, no matter the seeming cost to us, that cost is NOTHING compared to the price YOU paid to give us the choice to choose SALVATION IN YOU!

Hope purifies

1Jn 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
1Jn 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Hope.

Without hope there is NOTHING.

Those who have no hope have nothing to believe in.

You see it all the time on various tv shows, in various movies the tragic sense of living a life of hopelessness. The theme in a lot of those shows is getting that hope back, because the moral of the story is to live without hope is to live without really being alive. But unlike movies a lot people today live without hope. The living for the here and now is all that matters. The living for the various plans made for the next day, or the next week, or even the next vacation might be a way of life but beyond that the hope for more is missing. A lot people have lost sight of the reason our Savior came to earth, taking on human flesh, living among sin, and dying among sin and sinners. He came to bring the gospel of the kingdom of HEAVEN. He came to bring the message of hope in eternal life through HIM, through HIS grace. Our Savior's sole purpose in coming to our world was to bring us salvation in HIM and that salvation is for eternal life in the kingdom of heaven. Our Savior did NOT come to bring us a happy, wonderful, pain free, life here and now. The promise was for SALVATION from this world of sin, this world of pain. This is the HOPE. The hope isn't for things to go wonderfully here and now. When tragedy strikes as it all too often does we somehow feel abandoned by God, forsaken by God, forgotten by God, punished by God, we feel betrayed by God, and as a result of all that we hardened our hearts towards God. Satan loves when this happens, absolutely dances with delight when people blame God for the tragedies that are allowed to happen to them. They, for some reason believe that by believing and loving God that they'll be put under a protective dome and the horrible tragedies of life will pass them by, that they'll be spared the agonies others who don't believe in God like they do must endure. That isn't found anywhere in the Bible, not in one single place. We are to hope for the NEXT world, our REAL home, our heavenly abode, for life with our Savior, not for our lives here and now to be tragedy free.

The hope we must have is in JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD AND SAVIOR, OUR COMING KING. This is the hope we must have CONSTANTLY, not just on certain occasions, it's a hope we must have LIVING in us. This hope that when our Savior appears we will be like Him, that we will see HIM as He is, must be REAL to us because it is that HOPE that will purify us- EVEN AS HE IS PURE.

We can be purified through the HOPE in our Savior, that we will be PURE as HE is PURE. It is HIS purity that we are given, not a purity of our own outside of HIM. We do NOT purify ourselves and then go to HIM, that is a HUGE DEADLY mistake too many make. We GO to HIM and live with the HOPE OF HIM and THAT hope will purify us. Satan wants us to try and purify ourselves without Christ, thinking we cannot go to our Savior without first being pure. Was the adulteress pure when she lay at his feet, thrown there by her many accusers who wanted to stone her to death? No. Did Jesus tell her she was filthy and turn His back on her because of her unclean state? No. Jesus forgave her in her unclean, filthy, impure state and told her to sin no more. HE forgave her, HE worked the purifying in her. He could tell her to go and sin no more because He'd purified her, He'd given her the full hope of salvation in Himself, and that hope would guide her from then on, purifying her.

Try all you want you will NEVER make yourself clean enough, it's IMPOSSIBLE!

It's focusing on the HOPE we have in our SAVIOR that will PURIFY us.

As long as we are focusing on ourselves and our inability, or seeming ability to cleanse ourselves, we will keep our eyes off the only One who can truly purify us.

Our focus- this is key. Our HOPE cannot be in our achieving self-cleansing, our HOPE as to be in seeking to be cleansed.

This is truth as it is found IN CHRIST JESUS OUR SAVIOR! This is HOPE.

Called the sons of God

1Jn 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.


Sons of God.

We have various organizations that people consider themselves sons and daughters of, and yet they have no blood tie to anyone.

The aspect of begin a son or daughter is more than our blood relation.

We have children adopted by parents without any blood ties.

Being a son of someone is MORE than just blood.

When a person willingly adopts a child they do so with the intention of raising that child as their own. For all intents and purposes by law they are responsible to do just that- raise the child as their own, they've taken over ownership of that child. The child will not be free of that ownership by law- ever, unless they willingly choose to emancipate themselves from their adopted parents when they are of age.

Just as a birth child at 18 and/or 21 is considered responsible for themselves, an adopted child is the same.

However, any child remains the child of their parents forever, they just become adult children.

Called the sons of God.

Adam was created by God, in God's image.

Jesus was God with God, chosen to be the Son of God when He took on human flesh. The Father God took on His role as the Father as Jesus took on the role of the Son. We become sons of God when we take on the role of repenting, of one seeking to be forgiven, as one who is BORN AGAIN into a spiritual life with Christ, through Christ our Savior.

These are all chosen acts, nothing forced upon anyone, but a willing acceptance, a willing decision that is made.

1Jn 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

It's through LOVE that is given to US by the Father we are given the Son's love.

The WORLD will not KNOW those who are God's sons, why? Because they do not KNOW GOD.

How do we know if we know God- we keep His commandments.

The world does NOT keep God's commandments, and they do NOT know God.

We love God, we keep His commandments, He calls us His sons and the world will NOT know us, will not love us, will not have anything to do with us just as it has nothing to do with God- IN TRUTH.

There will be a lot of false love, a claim to love without any real love at all.

By the grace of God may WE know God and be known of Him as His sons.

Please LORD, know us, love us.

All through Christ Jesus our Savior.

Abide in Him

1Jn 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
1Jn 2:28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
1Jn 2:29 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.

Abide in Him.

Live in Christ.

Make our life in Christ.

Make Christ our life.

This isn't something for just preachers, evangelists, or those who say they have a special calling from God. This is for ALL OF US!

We must ALL make Christ our life because if we don't we aren't abiding in Him and if we aren't abiding in Him then we are going to be ashamed at HIS coming.

Ashamed.

You've felt ashamed before haven't you? Ashamed at some bad behavior you've committed, something hurtful you've said. That shame penetrates to your very core, doesn't it? It can eat away at a person, it can cause a spiritual ache inside that is brutal. Shame. It's KNOWING you've sinned, you've done wrong. We feel that shame because the HOLY SPIRIT is convicting us of that wrong, of that sin.

IF we are not abiding in Christ then when He comes we WILL feel ashamed without any doubt. We will feel the weight of our sin upon us because our Savior will not have taken that sin for us. When we abide in Christ we are abiding in His forgiveness, His love, His salvation. We cannot live a life separated from our Savior and expect salvation, it's an impossibility.

It's very true that ol' saying about imagine Jesus with you at all times, if you can't then you have to question whether or not you're walking with Him. People will get ridiculous with it and say silly nonsense about that, but for the MOST part if you cannot live with Jesus by your side even in your imagining, will you ever be able to imagine the reality of eternal life with Him?

It's true, another bit about the people that do not gain salvation are not losing out because they would NOT be happy there if they did have it. To those who believe eternal life in Christ is everything that seems ludicrous, but to those whose lives are happiest in their sins, in their separation from God, they would not desire life eternal with Him. It's heartbreakingly sad, but true.

We MUST abide in Christ!

By HIS GRACE!

In HIS LOVE!