March 11, 2019
1 John 2:1-6 New Living Translation (NLT)
Today is the fifth day of our 40-Day Lenten Series, “Praying for a Kingdom Heart.” Lent should be a time of prayerful reflection, repentance, and restoration as we draw closer to the heart of God. A Kingdom heart grows through obedience to God’s Word and by following Christ’s way of living.
Salvation is for the world, but each individual must, by faith, accept the work of grace. The Father desires a relationship with every follower of Christ; he connects in order to have fellowship and bring salvation to human hearts. In our passage, today, the Apostle John teaches who God is and how he expects his children to live. He cautions those listening to run from anything that would break fellowship with God. The Apostle John speaks as a loving teacher to his disciples. He encourages them not to sin. Truth: We have a way to stay in right fellowship with the Father.
Christ calls us to live in the truth and be obedient to follow him, but sometimes our steps are wayward. John comes along to tell these Christ followers they cannot lose their fellowship or salvation with God, because they have an Advocate who intercedes for them with the Father. Sin hinders us, but Jesus has made a way for us to regain that fellowship through repentance of sin. As we are forgiven we must grow from that place to overcome the sin that previously so easily hindered us. Mature love for God manifests in obedience. Obedience measures our faithfulness and the truly faithful bear the Kingdom fruit of righteousness. The mature, obedient, and faithful to the will of God are the ones who “know” God. If we are going to “know” God, it means we have to take up our cross and follow Jesus. Truth: We must reflect on and examine our level of obedience. Love for God and his rule over our attitudes and actions, as well as love for others will mark our lives.
During Lent, we will be using the acronym P.R.A.Y. as we pray for a Kingdom Heart. P=praise, R=repent, A=ask, and Y=yield. May God bless you as you spend time in God’s Word and in prayer today.
1 John 2:1-6
2 My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. 2 He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.
3 And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. 4 If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. 5 But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. 6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.
Prayer: Lord, I praise you for the wonderful and amazing way you bring me into salvation. I repent for sometimes having a careless attitude about fellowship with you; I desire to grow and “know” you more. I ask that you make my sin more and more apparent to me. I don’t want to ask for forgiveness and then simply go back to sinning. I desire change; to yield to the Truth. In Jesus’ name. Amen.