1 John 3 Today w/ Journalin' too

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God Bless You Today, Lena B

1 John 3
Living as Children of God
1See how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for he allows us to be called his children, and we really are! But the people who belong to this world don't know God, so they don't understand that we are his children. 2Yes, dear friends, we are already God's children, and we can't even imagine what we will be like when Christ returns. But we do know that when he comes we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.
3And all who believe this will keep themselves pure, just as Christ is pure.
4Those who sin are opposed to the law of God, for all sin opposes the law of God. 5And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, for there is no sin in him. 6So if we continue to live in him, we won't sin either. But those who keep on sinning have never known him or understood who he is.
7Dear children, don't let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it is because they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. 8But when people keep on sinning, it shows they belong to the Devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy these works of the Devil. 9Those who have been born into God's family do not sin, because God's life is in them. So they can't keep on sinning, because they have been born of God. 10So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the Devil. Anyone who does not obey God's commands and does not love other Christians F8 does not belong to God.

Love One Another
11This is the message we have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was right. 13So don't be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, F9 if the world hates you.
14If we love our Christian brothers and sisters, it proves that we have passed from death to eternal life. But a person who has no love is still dead. 15Anyone who hates another Christian F10 is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don't have eternal life within them. 16We know what real love is because Christ gave up his life for us. And so we also ought to give up our lives for our Christian brothers and sisters. 17But if anyone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need and refuses to help—how can God's love be in that person?
18Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions. 19It is by our actions that we know we are living in the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before the Lord, 20even if our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
21Dear friends, if our conscience is clear, we can come to God with bold confidence. 22And we will receive whatever we request because we obey him and do the things that please him. 23And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us. 24Those who obey God's commandments live in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Holy Spirit lives in us.
FOOTNOTES:
F8: Greek his brother.
F9: Greek brothers; also in 3:14, 16.
F10: Greek his brother.

Lena Journals to 1 John 3
To be called children of the Father is no small thing. We are not born of God automatically, because we are born into the earth. Being born of the spirit is a willful birth, a birth of choice. Our first birth to earth was not of our own wills, but that of our parents. Their decision gave us opportunity to be here and be able to decide to become children of God as our Father. He chose each of us, yet each of us must come to a place to choose His ways above our own, to choose His ways willingly, change the lifestyle choices from here on out, and adapt to His ways always is His dream come true. To say that we’ll live this way and do it are a whole ‘nother deal. This is what gives us the name “children”, we act as He would, we do what we say we will, even to our own hurt.
Have you ever said something you wished you did not say and then when it came time to do it, you either had to or you’d be going back on your words and you knew that would cost you a lot to do so? This is how God’s kingdom works. Words should be very weighty. One should not speak them too quickly, yet they should be spoken and then expected to be backed up with corresponding actions. This is God’s way – to commit, to say and to do. The keeping of words can be done with His help, when it becomes costly or hard to do.
The biggest commitments that should be made by children of God and kept, are that to God, to serve and love Him forever with lifestyle action, then to love other people as He would, beginning in willful regular demonstration with natural born family and then spiritually born family (church people) and then with those who do not yet know Him by seeing Him demonstrated by someone.
IF we believe in Him and IF we believe we are His children and representatives of Him, we keep ourselves pure. Purity is defined for us through His word, not by other men’s good opinions formulated by culture and what is presently acceptable in behavior. Culture changes. God’s word does not.
I keep to learning more and more of His word and I allow it and I to become one with each other. I form new ideas around what I’ve learned in His word. That’s what I form new opinions from.
I define sin by how God defines sin. I willingly see sin as that which greatly offends God and what would keep me from His intimate fellowship. I stay away from it and stay close to God. If I keep sinning, I still need to be crucified with Christ, I need to seek God to really see Him and to have Him revealed to me. I may need to start my walk over a-new, today the right way, humbled, repentant, and actively living holy, accepting of His word as highest authority over me.
Anyone who does not obey God's commands and does not love other Christians, does not belong to God.
There are some shocking statements in this passage, such as the one above. Believing this will keep me from a lifestyle of self seeking, if I truly have a love for God.
True eternal spirit-led Love obeys, because it wants to. We cannot allow our souls to make excuses for our behaviors whenever we read God’s word.
Look at part “b” of just this sentence – IF I don’t love other Christians (even unperfected, mean, rude ones) I do not belong to God! I’ve heard so many people say, Oh I love God, I just hate the church, or I love GOD , BUT NOT His people! Ouch. It is time for change when we read the book we see this is not possible.
If we love our Christian brothers and sisters, it proves that we have passed from death to eternal life. But a person who has no love is still dead. It shows we are crucified willingly with Christ, allowing His love to be alive in us. AND- We know what real love is because Christ gave up his life for us. And so we also ought to give up our lives for our Christian brothers and sisters. ……let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions. It is by our actions that we know we are living in the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before the Lord…..Those who obey God's commandments live in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Holy Spirit lives in us.
Amen.