January 6: 1 John 5:5-13

Key Verse: 1 John 5:9
We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son.

Devotion:
How many times have you accepted what your friend has said as being the truth without checking up on it? How many times have you found it hard to accept what someone is saying because it is a new thing you are hearing? We all have those whom we believe and those whom we find to be dubious, and we stick to those because we can see them and hear them…

Some people find it difficult to believe what God says because they cannot see Him and the things He says are hard for them to grasp. This is where we come in, the ones who believe God and trust what we read in the bible. If we can be witnesses to those people who find it hard, then we could be able to lighten their burden of doubt.

We read about how Jesus came to us, how he was a great testimony, how he submitted to baptism, had great compassion on many people, submitted to human sinners so he could take on the sin debt we owe, died, came back to life to defeat death and showed us the Holy Spirit for our support. We should be standing up and reminding people this is what we believe!

God made this all possible, giving us a life in human form, giving us time to accept Him as our God and to accept the eternal life He gives us – just because we believe these truths! Share it a little!

Points to Ponder:
How many times do you believe your friends?

How many times do you believe God?

January 5: 1 John 3:11-15

Key Verse: 1 John 3:12
Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.

Devotion:
How many times have you been told or heard someone say “Don’t be like them”? We all do tend to judge people by the actions they do and the lives they live which raises a question; is it right to judge people? If you are comparing them to others you are probably not judging them per-say but comparing them to the life God would prefer us to live.

The message behind these verses is to love one another and the story of Cain is being used as an example of how we should not live! Cain became jealous of his brother through what his mother was feeding him and his own feelings. He was being influenced by the people around him and the environment; again the message here is to identify these sort of things in our lives so we can avoid ending up like Cain!

If we focus on our own lives and the things we do, we are going to be able to accept guidance from the Holy Spirit much easier than if we are being influenced by our surroundings and peers. If we feel like we cannot escape from these trappings then we should probably live in an environment that is encouraging rather than discouraging and righteous rather than evil.

In short, it takes some actions from you to move in the right direction in your life. Don’t expect others to do everything for you or to guide you in everything – because they may be influenced themselves. Rather try to listen to righteous guidance from someone righteous: the Holy Spirit!

Points to Ponder:
Who influences you the most in life?

How much do you invite the Holy Spirit to join you in life?

January 4: 1 John 3:7-10

Key Verse: 1 John 3:8
The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.

Devotion:
If we look at the world around us we can see how easy it is to give in to temptation and do all the wrong things in life. As Christians we know we are doing wrong so should want to avoid all the things we know are wrong; but the evil one continues to throw doubts in our minds so we give in to the temptations instead of working against them – this is the way of the evil one!

Jesus came to destroy the devil’s work and give us a better chance at avoiding the evil things promoted by the evil one. When we accept Jesus into our lives we also invite the holy spirit to live with us. By doing this we have an automatic guide against all evil things because the Holy Spirit does not want to have any evil in us when we are living with Him!

When we do good and abhor evil we allow the people around us to see we are different from the world because of our communion with Christ. We live for Him and work against the evil in the world. But if we continue to invite evil into our lives then we are working with the evil one and against God! We know this and become aware of this because the Holy Spirit prompts us against all evil.

So, don’t allow the evil one to continue introducing evil into your life. Simply say no and keep Christ closer!

Points to Ponder:
Do you feel guilty when you do something wrong?

Do you know the Holy Spirit is prompting you?