Tag: 1st John 2
Check your heart for hatred!
Scripture reading for November 21st: 1st John 2
Key Scriptures for over-comers: 1st John 2:9-11 “Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.”
The devil is always stirring up emotions in the hearts of mankind. Because of the selfishness of the human heart because of sin, hatred towards one another abounds. Every person is made in the likeness of God and hatred towards another brother or sister is part of the world of darkness. This darkness blinds people and causes them to stumble and fall. Christ’s love alone can cleanse the heart from hatred. Hatred is the precursor of murder!
Observations for over-comers: Over-comers guard their hearts against a return of the old nature and its evil desires and emotions of hatred. The live in the Light of Christ’s glory and mercy. “Therefore as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I will treat you in accordance with the anger and jealousy you showed in your hatred of them and I will make myself known among them when I judge you.” (Ezekiel 35:11)
An anointing from the Holy One!
Scripture reading for November 20th: 1st John 2
John identified the false teachers of his day as ‘antichrists’. An ‘antichrist’ was one who set their own teaching over and against what Christ taught. In other words, Jesus proclaimed that He was the “Son of God”. The antichrists would deny the deity of Jesus, also denying God the Father or our adoption into the Father’s family. They claimed to be Christ-followers but were counterfeits!
“Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us.” (1st John 2:18-19) John taught the church that the appearance of these false teachers marked the time they were living in as the ‘last days’. These teachers came from within the church but were not really part of the true church. We must now be in the last minutes or seconds because these same types of teachers abound in our world today.
“But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. . . I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit–just as it has taught you, remain in Him.” (1st John 2:20, 26-27) God our Father has equipped us with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a Spirit of Truth that lives in each believer to reveal truth and give discernment of false spirits. We must remain in Jesus Christ and follow the Spirit and Word to avoid deception!