December 3
Holy Houseguest
Holy Houseguest
1 John 3:7-24
Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. 9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. 10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.
16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
19 This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: 20 If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24 The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
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vs 10 As you check your heart, can you say that you have been doing what is right before God.
vs 18 Are you able to demonstrate love, even to those who are "unlovable" by the world's standards?
Just think of it! You can have confidence before Almighty God. You can know that He loves you! You can know that He listens to you! You can know that He has made a dwelling place in you!
What accommodations have you made for your Holy Houseguest?
It will not do to simply freshen up the guestroom.
You will need to make sure you keep it truly clean and ready for Him to inhabit it at all times.
How can you do that?
By the washing of the Word.... by the connection to him in prayer.... and by dealing with sin as soon as you are aware of it.
It isn't enough to just SAY we love Him... we must love Him by WHAT WE DO, as well.
(not salvation through works! But desiring to do the right things BECAUSE we love Him and don't want anything to stand in the way of that Holy Relationship!)
More on Love and Hatred
11 For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters,[a] if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 15 Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
19 This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: 20 If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24 The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
*******************************
vs 10 As you check your heart, can you say that you have been doing what is right before God.
vs 18 Are you able to demonstrate love, even to those who are "unlovable" by the world's standards?
Just think of it! You can have confidence before Almighty God. You can know that He loves you! You can know that He listens to you! You can know that He has made a dwelling place in you!
What accommodations have you made for your Holy Houseguest?
It will not do to simply freshen up the guestroom.
You will need to make sure you keep it truly clean and ready for Him to inhabit it at all times.
How can you do that?
By the washing of the Word.... by the connection to him in prayer.... and by dealing with sin as soon as you are aware of it.
It isn't enough to just SAY we love Him... we must love Him by WHAT WE DO, as well.
(not salvation through works! But desiring to do the right things BECAUSE we love Him and don't want anything to stand in the way of that Holy Relationship!)
Footnotes:
- 1 John 3:13 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in verse 16.
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