# 19 2021 Dev. 1 Jn.4:1. The Spirit of Love! Read all of Ch.4 first. The purpose of these devotionals is to draw closer to God and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.
1 Jn.4:1 “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
1 Jn. 4 has two parts: How do we discern the Holy Spirit? And how de we discern true love? Two very important issues that must be applied to the thinking of our time: critical race theory, cancel culture and the demands of woke awareness. Are these rooted in love and Spirituality? Absolutely not! They are as John tells us: “but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.” Should we as followers of Jesus be afraid? Yes, and no! Yes, because Churches and church people are afraid to speak out: Heaven forbid you are one of those conservative Bible thumpers. No, because “you dear children are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”
How do we discern the Spirits? “ We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.” This is the definitive test, either you believe on Jesus or you don’t!
Part 2: “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.” God showed us His love, before we loved Him, by His Son Jesus, who stands in our place, punished for what we have done, in order to be right with God again. “If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.” In the world we live today, there is much fear, fear of the past , fear of the present and fear of future. Yet God’s love completes us because we “have confidence in the day of judgment: in this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear…”
“We love because He first loved us… And He has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.” Love is the basis for our relationship with God and the basis for our relationship to each other. Love is family, is forgiveness, compassion for the people around us, concern for this physical world, awareness of the suffering of the people of the world and concern for the salvation of every person God places in our path.
Pray with me: Thank you God for saving us, forgive us for the missed opportunities to witness to your love for all people, empower us with your Spirit, open the eyes of our hearts to all those you place in our path, may we see the opportunities to love others as you love us, in Jesus, amen.
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Heavenhigh 