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CHRISTIANITY OASIS
DAILY BREAD DEVOTIONAL
CHECK THE SPIRITS
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN
CHAPTER 4
It’s a great day
to partake of a lil more Daily Bread! Welcome back, as we continue our study of John’s
first epistle. We’ve found that John touches on a number of different topics
in this letter. So far he’s given us advice on light and darkness, life, the
End Times, Love and righteousness, and in this chapter, he
is talking about spirits.
BeLoved, don’t
believe in every spirit, but
test the spirits, whether they’re of God,
because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you
know the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is
come in the flesh, is of God, and every spirit that doesn’t confess that
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is not of God, and this is that spirit of
antichrist, that you’ve heard would come, and even now it is already in the
world.
Let’s take a
little intermission from the letter for just a moment and talk about the
spirit of antichrist. Did you know that satan wants to be like God, only
opposite? Here’s one example. We know that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit
are one. They are all good. Well, Satan has copied God in the opposite way.
Take a look.
CLICK ON ANY LINK ABOVE TO
LEARN MORE ABOUT THEM
So, consider this.
If Jesus is God’s son, manifested on earth, then antichrist is satan’s
version of himself made flesh, manifested on earth. If the Holy Spirit is
the TRUTH of God and Jesus, then the false prophet will promote the
lies of satan and antichrist. Now, if you’ve studied about
evil
spirits you know that satan uses them to do his will and they can
enter into people. That my friend is what John meant in our last study when
he said there are many antichrists, and in this study, he said there are
many false prophets. Those false prophets, have the spirit of antichrist in
them. When John says there are many antichrists, he is referring to the
false prophets with the spirit of antichrist in them, but they are not
antichrist. Just as, we are Christians, and we have the spirit of Jesus in
us, which is the Holy Spirit, but we are not Jesus Christ. Okay, now back to
John’s letter.
You are of God,
little children, and have overcome those spirits, because the Spirit of God
in you, is greater than he that is in the world. They are of (from) the
world, so they speak of the world and the world hears them. We are of (from)
God, and those who know (recognize) God, hears (understands) us. Those who
are not of God, don’t hear us. This is how we know the difference between
the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error (a spirit that causes you to
err or make mistakes).
BeLoved, let us Love one another: for Love is of God; and every one that
Loves is born of
God, and knows God. He that doesn’t Love, doesn’t know God; because
God is Love. In this, the
Love of God was revealed to us, because He sent His only
begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.
Herein, is Love, not that we Loved God, but that He
Loved us, and sent His Son to be
the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
BeLoved, if God so Loved us, we ought to also Love one another.
No man has ever seen God. If we
Love one another, God lives in us, and His Love is completed in us. And by
this we know that we live in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of
His Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to
be the Savior of the world.
Whoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of
God, God lives in him, and he in God. And we have known (experienced and
understood) and believed the Love that God has for us.
God is Love; and he
that lives in Love, lives in God, and God in him. In this, is our Love made
perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as He is,
so are we in this world.
There is no fear
in Love; but perfect (complete) Love casts out fear: because fear involves
torment. He that fears is not made perfect (complete) in Love.
Fear not! It’s a
popular phrase from the Bible. Why?
Because fear is of the devil. In this
day and age, instead of, fear not, we say, don’t worry. Worry turns to fret,
fret turns to fear, and fear is of the devil. That’s why John says there is
no fear in Love, but perfect Love abolishes fear.
We
Love God,
because He first Loved us. If a man says, I
Love God, and hates his brother,
he is a liar: because he who doesn’t Love his brother whom he has seen, how
can he Love God whom he has not seen? And we have this commandment from Him,
that he who Loves God, Loves his brother also.
When John wrote
this letter, he wanted to get across Jesus’ commandment to Love one another
as He Loved. It’s all about Love. Jesus said it’s the most important
commandment. If you Love, you’ve got it made. Love will make you perfect in
God’s eyes. What does that mean, perfect? It means, complete, mature (yet
still as a child), flawless, pure, everything you want to be in God’s eyes.
If you Love, evil spirits aren’t gonna want to hang around you, let alone
live in you, because if God is Love, evil is the opposite. If you Love, you
will repel evil. And John also stresses several times, that
confessing that
Jesus is the Son of God is the key to everything.
When we share
again, we’ll look at the last chapter in this Love-ly letter from John, so
don’t miss it. See you soon, right back here at Daily Bread.
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IF you believe
that JESUS CHRIST is working in this Ministry and you have
felt the presence of the HOLY SPIRIT:
PROVE HIS PROMISE
OF BLESSINGS
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