SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 07-09-04
My Worship Time Focus:
Love not the
world
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: 1John 2:12-17
Message of the verses: “12 ¶ I write unto you, little children,
because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake. 13 I write unto you, fathers, because ye have
known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye
have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye
have known the Father. 14 I have written
unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have
written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth
in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.
15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any
man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of
the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the
Father, but is of the world.
17 And the
world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God
abideth for ever.
This section is going to be a bit
different that what I usually do, as I am following the outline that is in Dr.
Wiersbe’s book on 1John, “Be Real.” He
generally explains a paragraph from the Scriptures he is writing on in one or
the chapters of his book, and in this case the paragraph are the verses
above. Sometimes he does not go verse by
verse, but jumps around in his commentary of the paragraph, as he is doing in
this section.
The name of this chapter is “The
Love God Hates,” and it there is discussed four reasons why Christians should
not love the world. This first section
explains what the world is.
There are different uses of the word
world in the Scriptures, as it can mean the physical earth, the people who live
on the earth or the system headed up by Satan that opposes Christ and all is
doing. The last is what the believers
are to hate. John writes in verse 15
that believers are not to love the world, nor anything in the world because the
Lord Jesus Christ opposes all of it.
Christ came to pay for our sins so that He could take us out of the
world system. Believers are to be in the
world, but are not to be of the world, and there is a big difference. This is how the apostle Paul wrote about
where the citizenship of the believer is:
“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Philippians
3:20)
Spiritual meaning for my life
today: It is good to realize exactly
what the definition of the world system is, and it is also good to realize that
my citizenship is in heaven. Jesus
Christ’s death on the cross defeated the three enemies of the believers, which
are the world, the flesh, and the devil, and it is important to remember
this.
The Word
of God was challenging to my heart as I read it this morning.
My Steps of Faith Today: Trust the Lord will bring about the way for Andrew Lech to
return our money to us. Continue to pray
for Ann as she works to this end with Andrew.
Memory verses for the
week: 1Cor. 13:4-7
Love is
patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not
arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked,
does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in
unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all
things, endures all things.
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