Whoa!!!! I love this!

…God never gives a thorn (a death of a loved one, a terminal illness, etc) without this added grace, He takes the thorn to pin aside the veil which hides His face.

From a poem by Martha Snell Nicholson (a “mendicant” is a beggar)

[QTVOTD] LOVE your kids…

“Fathers, do not provoke or irritate or fret your children [do not be hard on them or harass them], lest they become discouraged and sullen and morose and feel inferior and frustrated. [Do not break their spirit.]” Colossians 3:21 -> me: I fear that I have been too hard lined on the rails of life my kids must follow. I feel that the Lord is telling me to let-go-and-let-Him. I would be mortified if Bella, Sophie, or Prim felt discouraged or dispirited. My job is to live out the gospel to my children: that is, to assure them that they are loved and accepted and valued for who they are, not for who they ought to be, should have been, or might (if only they would try a little harder) become. Obedience must never be construed as a condition of my love. When I am obedient to acts of genuine love towards my kids, their obedience may become like that of a follower of Jesus to God -> a glad and loving response.

[Day 26] A Study of 1 John

Top Level Notes for 1 John 5:18-21

Verse 18: WE KNOW with absolute confidence that anyone born of God does not deliberately and knowingly practice committing sin.

  • Jesus within us carefully watches over us and protects us from evil.
  • The devil does not lay hold (get a grip) on him or touch him.

Verse 19: WE KNOW that we are of God. Everything around us is of and under the power/control of the evil one.

Verse 20: WE KNOW that Jesus has come into this world.

  • He has given us understanding and insight to perceive and recognize Him Who is True.
    • We are IN Him Who is True -> His Son Jesus Christ.
    • The True God and life eternal.

Verse 21: Keep yourself from anything that puts itself above God in your life (false idols)

  • Anything and everything that would occupy the place in your heart He alone deserves to inhabit.
  • From any substitute for Him that would take first place in your life.

 

  • WE KNOW – that true believers do not go on knowingly and deliberately sinning (practicing/committing).
  • WE KNOW – that we are OF GOD and no longer part of this world ruled by the power of satan.
  • WE KNOW – that our King, the Lord Jesus Christ, was sent by the Father to teach us about Himself and give us a model of righteousness and truth.
  • Keep NO idols in your life that replace the Lord in your life. Your idols and God cannot coexist in your heart.

[Day 25] A Study of 1 John

Top Level Notes for 1 John 5:11-17

Verse 11&12: This is the testimony a person HAS that believes in the Son of God:

  • God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son
  • He who possesses the Son, HAS eternal life
  • He who does not possess the Son, does not have that life

Verse 13: John writes this to believers so that they who believe in and trust the Son of God will know with settled and absolute knowledge they already have eternal life.

Verse 14: With this knowledge we can have the assurance and privilege of boldness which we have IN Him.

  • This confidence is the knowledge that whatever we ask according to His will, He listens to and hears us.
    • What we ask will be in His will because we are following in His truth. His will becomes our greatest desire.

Verse 15: We can rejoice over our prayers to the Lord offered in faith and seeking His purposes; we can trust they will be answered and give Him the glory when we see those prayers come to pass as we had faith they would (how we expected).

  • I must get better at obtaining this type of prayer life.

Verse 16: If I see a fellow brother in Christ committing a sin they routinely struggle with and that sin is not sin that leads to death (willfully denying the truth and existence of the One True God) then I can pray for God’s power to forgive and restore his life. If I know that someone has openly renounced Christ then praying for forgiveness for that sin is ineffectual.

Verse 17: All wrongdoing is sin. There are sins that do not lead to spiritual death that may be repented of and forgiven.

[Day 24] A Study of 1 John

Top Level Notes for 1 John 5:7-10

Verse 7&8: Two or three witnesses were required by law to constitute adequate testimony.

  • In heaven – the unseen Father, the Word before time, and the influence of the Holy Spirit are all that is needed in the spiritual realm. All powers and principalities know who the Father, Word, and Holy Spirit are.
  • On earth we have 3 witnesses:
    • The Spirit of God:
      • Talked to Abraham
      • Talked to Moses, Joshua, Isiah, and the prophets.
      • Descended upon Jesus in His Baptism in the Jordan.
    • The Water:
      • Those who saw Jesus baptized and the ministry that followed the water and proclamation of the Spirit that Jesus is the Son of God.
    • We have the Blood:
      • The crucifiction and death of the sinless sacrifice that justifies and purifies us.

Verse 9: We accept man’s testimony -> the testimony of the apostles and men of God who witnessed the water, the Spirit, and death of our Savior. How much more then shall we depend on and believe the testimony of the Almighty.

  • What the Lord has said will justify us for all eternity -> MUST be so.

Verse 10: So, if I believe in the Son of God, then I have the witness of God living/dwelling in me. When my heart is following and loving God in all that I do, all I need to do is listen to the Lord’s voice inside of me to hear His attesting of the Truth.

  • The person who does not believe in God essentially throws the testimony of the witness of God out the window and virtually calls Him a liar. This person has not believed all of the evidence set forth by God regarding His Son.