1 John 5
Add your thoughts in the comment section below; remember it’s perfectly fine to comment on a verse that’s already been mentioned. It’s around-the-table conversation, only digital.
Blessings,
Phil —
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1 John 5
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. 2 We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments. 3 Loving God means keeping his commandments, and really, that isn’t difficult. 4 For every child of God defeats this evil world by trusting Christ to give the victory. 5 And the ones who win this battle against the world are the ones who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
6 And Jesus Christ was revealed as God’s Son by his baptism in water and by shedding his blood on the cross—not by water only, but by water and blood. And the Spirit also gives us the testimony that this is true. 7 So we have these three witnesses— 8 the Spirit, the water, and the blood—and all three agree. 9 Since we believe human testimony, surely we can believe the testimony that comes from God. And God has testified about his Son. 10 All who believe in the Son of God know that this is true. Those who don’t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about his Son.
11 And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 So whoever has God’s Son has life; whoever does not have his Son does not have life.
13 I write this to you who believe in the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life. 14 And we can be confident that he will listen to us whenever we ask him for anything in line with his will. 15 And if we know he is listening when we make our requests, we can be sure that he will give us what we ask for.
16 If you see a Christian brother or sister sinning in a way that does not lead to death, you should pray, and God will give that person life. But there is a sin that leads to death, and I am not saying you should pray for those who commit it. 17 Every wrong is sin, but not all sin leads to death.
18 We know that those who have become part of God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, for God’s Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot get his hands on them. 19 We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the power and control of the evil one. 20 And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we are in God because we are in his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life.
21 Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.
Print this chapter once, or find your “hard-copy” of the Bible, and circle the word “believe” every time it occurs in this chapter. Think the apostle John is trying to tell us something? it’s not a prayer, it’s not linked to anything but believing.
Now circle or underline “know” – those have to do with confidence. You’ll see some action verbs associated with “know” but they follow “believe”.
Something to ponder when you’re sitting at a red light and it’s taking too long to change to green.
Phil—
I smiled when I read 14-15 this morning:
14 And we can be confident that he will listen to us whenever we ask him for anything in line with his will. 15 And if we know he is listening when we make our requests, we can be sure that he will give us what we ask for.
I’m asking Him for something specific right now. It’s multi-faceted, actually, and I’m excited as can be, waiting for His “yes”. No, not anxious, excited! 😀
I look forward to writing about how He answers – hopefully soon.
Phil—
Activities @ my thoughts
We were asked to highlight the word “believe” and “know” every time they occured in this chapter. This really helped me ponder what this chapter was saying. Ive never used this technique before – thanks Phil
By doing the first exercise I could tell how important John felt it was for us to put our trust in God.
Verse 1
By believing we earn the right to be called a child of God. What a priviallge!!!
Verse 2
By loving others and following His commands we are actually loving Him and pleasing Him
Verse 5 and 19
reminds me that if God is for us who can be against us (and win)
Verse 10 and 20
We can believe and know what Jesus did really did occur and that He was who He said He was. The Son of God.
Verse 13 and 20
We can assured of eternal life by believing and knowing God is real
Verse 14 and 15
Are wonderful!!! He will listen to us!!! its like I said yesterday we are never alone!!! Praise Him
Verse 18
We are safe from harm when we are with Him. Again such reassureance
Verse 19
reminds me although we live in this world we are not part of it
I like the way verses 5 and 19; 10 and 20; and 13 and 20 kind of line up with each other and add to each other
I also LOVE verses 14, 15 and 18
Lastly
if we believe then
we know what the truth is
and it will set us free