As I was reading in I John this morning the Lord stopped me right at the beginning to ponder the first two verses. These verses show the love John had for those he wrote to. That love is the love of Christ. He is affectionate in his writing when he wrote, "My dear children..." That is exactly what the Lord wants to lavish on us...His affection. He also is wanting us to grasp what he has grasped about the Lord...He will forgive us of our sins IF we sin. I believe John was wanting us to realize we do not have to sin. This is a hard concept for most people to understand. But we truly do not have to blatantly sin. We may involuntarily sin by doing something such as hurting someone with our words and not realizing it. But we do not have to be intentional in sinning. The only way for this to be a part of one's life is they must be sanctified through and through. In other words, one must take on the mind of Christ and live in His presence, doing His will in order to not sin. Yesterday in children's Sunday school we talked about God living in our heart and what it meant. One made the statement, "I asked Jesus in my heart but how do I know He really lives there?" What a pleasure to allow the Holy Spirit to speak through me in answering that question. As I reflect back on it, I'm not even completely sure what I said. I am confident it wasn't my words but instead they were from the Holy Spirit. I love the part in these verses that says we have an Advocate that will plead our case to our Heavenly Father. It is really cool to think about Jesus being our Advocate on the cross when He died for our sins and now He is our Advocate after His resurrection because He died for our sins.
Dear Jesus,
Thank You for yesterday and all of the ways You encouraged me! Thank You for bringing old friends to worship with us. Thank You for the love shown to us by our new friends. Thank You for the time of fellowship we had around the fire last night with neighbors. It was a full day and by the time I went to bed I was so ready but it was a blessed day. Lord, today is a new day. I am not sure where You will direct me or who will be in my path but I do know You are in control of this day. Father, fill me to overflowing so You are my words and actions. Most of all Father I pray You will be my attitude. Father, I am so grateful for the way You love on me and encourage me. I also am grateful and want to thank You for being My Advocate. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment