God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love โ not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. 1 John … Continue reading Real Love Is Shown, Received, and Taught by the Father
Month: January 2026
Beyond Knowing About God: Rediscovering Intimacy in the Secret Place
The one who does not love has not become acquainted with God [does not and never did know Him], for God is love. [He is the originator of love, and it is an enduring attribute of His nature.] 1 John 4:8 AMP God Is Love โ and That Is the Issue This verse is not … Continue reading Beyond Knowing About God: Rediscovering Intimacy in the Secret Place
Love vs. Legalism
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. I John 4:7 NKJV It's possible to believe all the right things about God and still be far from His heart. John writes 1 John 4:7 like a spiritual X-ray. He is not … Continue reading Love vs. Legalism
Who Are You Listening To?
Those people belong to this world, so they speak from the worldโs viewpoint, and the world listens to them. 1 John 4:5 NLT Have you ever noticed how false prophets almost always sound current? They track world events. They understand systems. They reference leaders and movements with ease. That alone doesnโt make them false โ … Continue reading Who Are You Listening To?
From Deception to Discernment: Restoring Trust After False Prophecy
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. 1 John 4:1 NLT John doesnโt open gently. He opens clearly. Not everyone who says โGod told meโ heard God. Not everyone who sounds spiritual is Spirit-led. And … Continue reading From Deception to Discernment: Restoring Trust After False Prophecy
Faith That Stands When Feelings Donโt
Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. 1 John 3:19 NLT 1 John 3:19โ24 confronts a quiet instability in modern Christianity: believers who are sincere, devoted, and active โ yet governed by how they feel. John does not diagnose this with psychology … Continue reading Faith That Stands When Feelings Donโt
Loving Fearlessly: Trusting Godโs Definition of Love
We know what real love is because Jesus gave up His life for us. 1 John 3:16 NLT โWe know what real love isโฆโJohn doesnโt begin with opinion โ he begins with revelation. Love is not something we define by culture, preference, or comfort. It is revealed in Christ and demonstrated at the cross. Jesus … Continue reading Loving Fearlessly: Trusting Godโs Definition of Love
Love & Murder โ What Does Your Heart Produce?
This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 1 John 3:11 NLT John isnโt introducing a new command. Heโs re-establishing a nonโnegotiable one. Before sin fractured the human story, love was already written on the heart. Before we learned how to hide, compete, compare, or selfโprotect, we were … Continue reading Love & Murder โ What Does Your Heart Produce?
Discernment Without Stones
Everyone who sins is breaking Godโs law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God. 1 John 3:4 NLT There are passages of Scripture that feel like a warm blanketโฆ and then there are passages that feel like a mirror held a little too close to your face. 1 John 3:4โ10 is the … Continue reading Discernment Without Stones
See What Kind of Love This Is
See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! 1 John 3:1 NLT See how very much our Father loves usโฆ John doesnโt ease into this revelation. He grabs us by the shoulders and says, Look. Pay attention. Wake up. This isnโt a side … Continue reading See What Kind of Love This Is
Remain In Him
I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. 1 John 2:26 John isnโt writing to scare the church โ heโs writing to steady it. He says, โI am writing these things to warn you about those who want to lead you astray.โ But notice what he doesnโt … Continue reading Remain In Him
Remain in What You Heard From the Beginning
So you must remain faithful to what you have been taught from the beginning. If you do, you will remain in fellowship with the Son and with the Father. And in this fellowship we enjoy the eternal life he promised us. 1 John 2:24โ25 NLT Understanding the Moment John Was Writing Into John wasnโt writing … Continue reading Remain in What You Heard From the Beginning
Riding With Him
Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the Antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared. From this we know that the last hour has come. 1 John 2:18 NLT Thereโs something about a fire that makes truth easier to hear. No podium. No performance. Just warmth, crackling logs, … Continue reading Riding With Him
Moving Up, Not Just Forward
I am writing to you who are Godโs children because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus. I am writing to you who are mature in the faith because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning. I am writing to you who are young in the faith because you have won your battle with … Continue reading Moving Up, Not Just Forward
Walk In The Light
But anyone who hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them. 1 John 2:11 John isnโt writing poetry for the spiritually curious.Heโs offering spiritual diagnostics for people who think theyโre fine. Heโs speaking … Continue reading Walk In The Light
Live Like Jesus
And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. If someone claims, โI know God,โ but doesnโt obey Godโs commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey Godโs word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know … Continue reading Live Like Jesus
Progress, Not Perfection: Growing Into Christlikeness
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. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins โ and not only … Continue reading Progress, Not Perfection: Growing Into Christlikeness
Got Sin?
โIf we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselvesโฆโ 1 John 1:8 NLT Friends, sometimes the Bible speaks straight to our hearts. 1 John 1:8โ10 does exactly that, shining a clear light on something we all wrestle with: our tendency to deny our sin. Itโs easy to try to present ourselves as … Continue reading Got Sin?
Step Into the Light
This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living … Continue reading Step Into the Light
That Which We Have Seen and Touched
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touchedโฆ 1 John 1:1 John begins with what is tangible, real, and close. He doesnโt start with theory or clever words; he starts with experience. Faith was never meant … Continue reading That Which We Have Seen and Touched
No Resolutions โ Just Relationship
This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24 Happy New Year! Forget resolutions. Forget โbig goalsโ that feel like mountains too high to climb. Today, letโs do something simpler โ and infinitely more life-changing. Letโs embrace each day, every day, with the Lord first thing. … Continue reading No Resolutions โ Just Relationship