I hope that everyone had a nice Labor Day holiday weekend. I know that my weekend was good. I thank the Lord for an unexpected financial blessing. Please pray that I will find more work. It's still a struggle.
Last week, I wrote about Isaiah chapter 55 and some of the wonderful words contained in that passage of Scripture. While we were in our study of I John last time, we looked at the warning John gave to test the spirits to see if they were from God.
We looked at those points that characterize false teachers. False teachers usually try to add additional revelation to the Bible, and they in some way try to diminish the person and/or the work of Jesus.
Our rule of faith and practice is the Bible. The Bible is God's word. We need to be students of the word so immersed in the word that we know the truth so well that we can easily spot those teachings contrary to the revelation from the Lord contained in the Bible.
As we continue in I John, I'd like to focus on verse four. This verse has a great deal of meaning to me. John says, "Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world."
If we have given our lives to Jesus Christ, we have the Holy Spirit in our heart. We have a relationship with the Lord, and we have His abiding presence with us always.
The world, and this world system, are under the control of the evil one. I think that as we look at the problems and tragedies in this world it is easy to see that there is much injustice and evil in the world.
The forces of evil are arrayed against those who are the children of God. The evil one wants nothing more than to see a Christian fall into sin and become unfruitful in the work of the Lord. As the Bible says, the devil is like a roaring lion going about and seeking whom he may devour.
I know that in my life there are many times when it seems like all of the bad things in this world are pressing in against me and trying to drag me down. These last years since my parents died have been so hard I can't even describe it adequately. A lot of sadness coupled with health problems makes me feel like I want to quit. Death, sadness and pain, which are the works of the evil one, sometimes seem to get me all the way down.
Thanks be to God that greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world. The God whose Spirit dwells within me is greater than what this evil world tries to throw at me to get me down
I really don't know how those without Jesus in their lives get through the times when evil besets them. I know that I've only made it these many years in this fallen world because I have a relationship with Jesus who lives in me and cares about me and gives me the strength when my strength is on the verge of failing.
I don't have the power in myself to overcome temptation and the evil the world brings against me. The power to overcome is from Jesus. He has the power. Through His death and resurrection, He has defeated the power of evil. Through Jesus, we are more than conquerors.
If you are going through a hard time in your life, and you don't know how your going to make it through, call out to the Lord Jesus to be your strength. Ask Him to fight the battle. The one who loves us and gave Himself for us will strengthen us, enable us and fight for us so that we can have a victorious and abundant life.
In verses 7 and 8 of chapter 4, John instructs his readers to be people of love. John says that God is love.
Love is what the Christian religion is all about. God loved us and made a way of redemption. Because God loved us, we should love the world that God loves. The Bible says that the world will know that we are Christians by our love for one another.
Probably the greatest chapter on love in the Bible is I Corinthians 13. In this chapter, Paul details what love is all about. I urge you to read this passage and found out about true love.
Of course, our great example of what true love is is found in Jesus. Jesus' entire life and ministry was about His great love. People were attracted to Jesus because they realized that He truly loved them. Jesus loved the world and loved us so much that He gave His life as a ransom for the sins of the world.
As believers in Jesus, let us follow His example of love. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment