Meditate on This:
 |
| When the Day of Judgment comes... will you be afraid? |
And
as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the
day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus
here in this world.
1 John 4:17
NLT
The verse in
context:
Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to
speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes
from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. This is how we know
if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet
acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit
of God. But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the
truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of
the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already
here. But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a
victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than
the spirit who lives in the world. Those people belong to this world, so they
speak from the world's viewpoint, and the world listens to them. But we belong
to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they
do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or
the spirit of deception. ... And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we
live in him and he in us. Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now
testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they
live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in
his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in
them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not
be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because
we live like Jesus here in this world. 1 John 4:1-6, 13-17 (Underlined for emphasis.)
There is so
much in this passage that it is almost overwhelming, but note the portions
underlined. Sometimes you just have to dissect what you read to choose what is
important. This is a good reminder: the
Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. All who confess that
Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God
and… you belong to God, my dear
children. Those are Biblical truths to hang onto and to share with
others. Believing that Jesus is God Son, our Savior, makes us part of God’s
family—His children. The more we know about God, the more we love Him. That is
a cyclic, upward spiraling phenomenon. And
as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. John continued to
write about perfect love in the next verse.
Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels
all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that
we have not fully experienced his perfect love. 1 John 4:18
No fear. How
perfect is that? There are so few things in life that are “perfect” but we cling
to those things that are as near perfect as we can get like relationships, friends,
foods and memories. The relationship we should strive for the most is that one
with Jesus—who was and is perfect and offers us a perfect love—with no fear.
Knowing that one day we will all stand before Him in Judgment could be a very
scary situation, but also knowing that He has our back takes away all fear. He
knows our sins—He died for those very sins. As long as we’ve repented of those
sins, we are free and clear. Now that is a win-win situation for all those who
believe in Jesus as the Son of God. Are you on Jesus’ winning team? Do you
belong to Him?
Prayer ~ Jesus, we are awed by Your
sacrifice for our sins. You are perfect and we want to know You more…and live
in You. And
as we live in You, God, our love grows more perfect. 1 John 4:17.
Daily Bible Reading: Daniel 10-12
© 2019 Text and
photos by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
All
scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted.
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