Thursday, July 29, 2010

Distinguishing Truth from Error

Today we ask the question, "How can we distinguish truth from error in spiritual matters?" from 1 John 4:2-3. As a Christian living in this world, we must be able to know what is truth and what is false in order to live a God-honoring life. How do I know what is right and wrong? Over the next 3 sessions, we will seek to answer this question and give practical ideas on how to know the truth. A few things we will mention: 1) Find out what God's Word says, 2) Seek wise counsel, 3) Ask God for wisdom. As you listen and study along with us, what are your thoughts? How do YOU find out what is truth and what is error? Please share!

Monday, July 26, 2010

1 John 4 - An overview

As we begin our study now in chapter 4 of 1 John, we give a brief overview of the first section of verses 1-6. As we study this section of Scripture, keep in mind that the word "spirit" refers to ideas and philosophies of the false prophets that we in the midst of this church. The believers in this church we being bombarded by these false teachings. Therefore, John gave instruction to test the spirits to know whether the teaching was from God or not. So we also ask, how we are to test the spirits. The primary means of knowing whether a teaching comes from God depends on whether or not one believes in the diety of Christ. Many religions today believe that Christ was a real person, but deny His deity. We ought to recognize this teaching as false and hold fast to what we know is true.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Do others know Jesus because of me?

We're asking ourselves the question today, How do other people know that God lives in you? We will talk about a few simple things as we wrap up chapter 3. As you evaluate your life - are you a testimony to Christ? Do others know Jesus because of you?

Friday, July 16, 2010

Prayer, cont...

Verse 23 of 1 John 3 gives us two commands - things we KNOW God wants from us. These commands are to believe in His Son, Jesus Christ, and love others just as we've be instructed before. So the question we are asking about this verse is this: How should the truth affect your prayer life? We will be sharing our thoughts on this over the next couple of days. Please share yours!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Prayer

1 John 3:20-21 lay the foundation for verse 22, " and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him." In the context of this passage, we are talking about loving others in deed. John lays the negative example of Cain and then gives us the positive example of love - Christ! As we fulfill this command to love as Christ loves, it leads us into the discussion of prayer and asking things of God. We can have confidence that we are obeying God's commands and are in a right relationship with God and others that God will hear our requests and answer them! We are seeking the Will of God, so whether the answered prayer returns in our favor or not, we know that God is in control and have peace in that. It's such a blessing to have peace and it's possible, when we are walking according to God's will. We will be spending several days on verse 22, join in the discussion by sharing your thoughts here. Thanks for listening!

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

God knows the Heart

God knows our heart and there are many verses that prove these. We shared two examples of this from Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42) and Peter (John 21:17). What a comfort to know that even though our hearts can be deceived, God knows our heart fully. Here are some verses we read today....look them up and read the truth that God knows all things. Let this truth be an encouragement to you. Over the next several days, we will be talking about this truth. 1)1 Chronicles 28:9, 2) Jeremiah 17:10, 3) Luke 16:14-15, 4) Acts 1:24, 5) Romans 8:26-27, 6) 1 Corinthians 4:3-4.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

A Condemning Heart

1 John 3:20 is a tough one to wrap our minds around! We hope that we can help make this verse clear and we pray that through our discussion on this that we can help you understand more of what the Scriptures say regarding "guilty" feelings. This verse says, "for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything." What does John mean when he talks about this condemning heart? This condemning heart is is NOT a conviction of the Holy Spirit. It is rather a "feeling" that our sinful self gives to us when we might feel guilty about a situation in which we need not feel guilt. It might be that you feel guilty about something that God does not condemn - say missing a morning of devotions for example. The point is that our hearts are deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9) and this verse tells us that God is greater than our hearts. I need not feel guilty if I know in Scripture that God does not condemn me. So in our example of missing devotions, is it a sin that I didn't get up to have my quiet time with God in the morning - No! Rather, I need to understand the importance of having quiet time. I should then seek to have quiet time with God at another point in the day. This is especially an important principle for new moms. I can relate - I have a baby in the home and I know how hard it is to just sit and read God's Word and pray at times. So what we need to do is take advantage of the time we have and spend time with God when there is opportunity and making sure you are using your time wisely. Meditate on His Word through the day, singing songs of praise to Him as you are even washing dishes! Do not condemn yourself that you can't study for 30 minutes a day - that is not what matters to God. There are many other life circumstances where this can apply, this is just one example. What do you think? Have you found yourself condemning yourself in a situation? Please share your thoughts:)

Monday, July 5, 2010

What do we know?

As we move on in our study of 1 John, we come to the section of chapter 3 verses 19-24. In the book of John there are many instances where John says "we know" or "you know." We list for you today the 4 instances from 3:15-24. They are 1) vs. 15 - we know that no one who hates has eternal life, 2) vs. 16 - we know what love is, 3) vs. 19 - we know we are of the truth, 4) vs. 24 - we know that He abides in us by the proof of the Holy Spirit. These truths that we are to "know" ought to reassure us as vs. 19 tells us. When doubts arise, we can go back to the things we know to be true and have peace and confidence because of God's truth. When in doubt to you go to the Truth or do you seek advice and counsel from someone that doesn't know the Truth?

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Fleshing out Love

1 John 3:18 tells believers that love is not just in word or talk but it is proven in deed and in truth. We are talking about this verse and trying to understand what this means. How do we love in deed and in truth? Love is more than just talk - it's love in action. Be genuine in your actions too...don't just go through the motions because God knows your heart! When was there a time where you might have loved in "word" and have missed out on God's blessing of loving in "action"? Evaluate your love life towards others - are you loving in "action" or just in "talk"?