1 John 5

Take a few minutes to read 1 John 5. You can read it in your own Bible or find it online here.

Here is the verse/thought that stood out to me...

1 John 5

21 Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.

Set aside some time this weekend and take an inventory of your life ... your time, your thoughts, your finances. Is there anything in there that might be taking God’s place in your heart? If so, do everything you can to get rid of it ... it’s not worth keeping.

1 John 4

Take a few minutes to read 1 John 4. You can read it in your own Bible or find it online here.

Here are the verses/thoughts that stood out to me...

1 John 4

10 This is real love - not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.

12 No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.

I love the possibility of that thought ... that people can experience God’s love when they see me expressing it to others. This is all the more important when you consider that a lot of people haven’t chosen to accept God’s love because they really don’t understand it.

In Over Your Head Part 2

This past weekend, I used the story of Mary (Martha’s sister) to remind us where God wants to lead us on our journey in this life. Take a minute to reread the beautiful picture of how she brought honor to Jesus.

John 12

2 A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate with him.

3 Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.

Jesus wants to lead us to a place of humble sacrifice ... a place where He can use us to make an eternal difference in the lives of others (reread Mark 14:9). This can only happen when we set aside some really good distractions so we can experience the “one thing worth being concerned about” (reread Luke 10:38-42). Are you spending 10 minutes a day “listening at the feet of Jesus”?

1 John 3

Take a few minutes to read 1 John 3. You can read it in your own Bible or find it online here.

Here are the verses/thoughts that stood out to me...

1 John 3

18 Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.

19 Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God.

It is always good for me to be reminded that actions speak louder than words.

1 John 2

Take a few minutes to read 1 John 2. You can read it in your own Bible or find it online here.

Here are the verses/thoughts that stood out to me...

1 John 2

15 Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.

16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.

17 And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

There are a lot of things that satan tries to entice us with in this world; but we need to maintain an eternal perspective. The achievements and pleasures of this world are all temporary. A true, personal relationship with God ... maintained through obedience to His word (see 1 John 2:5) ... is eternal.