As you can see, we will be finishing up 1 John through 3 John this week as well as Jude before we head into the Psalms! I am so excited and look forward to your comments!
Here are my S.O.A.P.s for the reading since I last posted:
Saturday, September 20, 2014
1 John 3
Scripture: 1 John 3:18-24 18 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 19 And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. 20 For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. 22 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. 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. 24 Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
Observations: How do we know that we
are children of God?
“by this”
-love for one another that is a
sacrificial kind of love (v. 16)
-we believe in the atoning sacrifice
of Jesus Christ
-having an active conscience (The
ability to recognize what is going on inside me; like a warning system. Romans
2:15)
-boldness in prayer
-obedience to God and doing what is
pleasing to Him
-the presence of the Holy Spirit that
has been given to us
Application: As a true Christian, I
am commanded to love others and live a life of obedience to God.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I’m thankful
for Your Word that instructs me in how to live as Your child. Help me to hide
Your truths deep within my heart so that I will be led and guided by Your Holy
Spirit living within me. Help me to examine my love for others and to love them
unselfishly as Jesus loved me. It’s in His loving name I pray. Amen!
Sunday, September 21, 2014
1 John 4
Scripture: 1 John 4:1-6 Beloved, do not
believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because
many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit
that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that
Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit
of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the
world.
4 You are of God,
little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater
than he who is in the world. 5 They
are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world
hears them. 6 We are of God. He
who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know
the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
Observations: There is a spiritual battle going on
between the truth of God and the lies of Satan. It is absolutely critical that
we as children of God are able to discern between truth that comes from the
Spirit of God and the lies that come from Satan. We are plainly told in verses
two and three how to discern the Spirit of God – whoever confesses Jesus Christ
came in the flesh to save us from our sins. He lived the perfect, sinless life
and died in our place so that our broken relationship with God could be
restored as we receive forgiveness of our sins through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
Application: Salvation is dependent on what we believe
to be true. For this reason, we have to recognize the Spirit of Truth from the
spirit of Antichrist who is opposed to Jesus Christ and is out to spread lies. As children of God, we have the Holy Spirit living inside us to help us discern the truth of God. The
only way to test everything is against the truth of the God’s Holy Word – the Bible.
We must know what God says in His Word so we are not deceived by the lies of Satan.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us Your
Word as our guide and by which we can know the truth and be set free from the
lies of Satan. Help us to hunger and thirst for Your truth that can only be
found in the Bible. Holy Spirit, please help me to understand what I read in the Bible and plant the truth of God deep within my heart. I pray that I would not be deceived by the lies of Satan. Thank You, Jesus, for coming in human flesh and fulfilling
all the requirements of the Law that none of us could fulfill. Thank You for
being the perfect sacrifice required for the forgiveness of sins and for
willingly laying down Your life so that my sins could be forgiven and my relationship
with God could be restored. In the mighty name of Jesus I pray. Amen!
***It's your turn...I would love to read your thoughts about 1 John Chapters 3 and 4 in the comments section below! I'll see you back here on Wednesday!
To read all of my posts in this #BloggingThroughtheBible series, please click on the image below.
Walking in His Grace,
Laurie
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