SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 08-01-04
My Worship Time Focus: Abide in the Lord
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: 1John 2:28-29
Message of the verse: “28 And now, little children, abide in
Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from
Him in shame at His coming. 29 If you
know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices
righteousness is born of Him.”
(NASB) “28 And now, dear
children, continue to live in fellowship with Christ so that when he returns,
you will be full of courage and not shrink back from him in shame. 29 Since we know that God is always right, we
also know that all who do what is right are his children.” (NLT)
This is a repeat of these two
verses, do to the fact that I had to back up my computer to before the time
when I did this on the 31st of July, and so it erased that spiritual diary.
These two verses are a bridge
between the first theme of this letter, which is the fellowship portion of the
first two chapters, and the second theme of this letter, which is the sonship
(born of God), portion of this letter, and the remaining chapters in the
letter. There are three words I wish to
focus in on at first, and they are abide, appear, and ashamed. The Greek word that the English word abide
comes from has this meaning, “a primary verb; to stay
(in a given place, state, relation or expectancy): — abide, continue, dwell,
endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry (for), X thine own.” John writes that the believer is to abide in
Jesus Christ, and one of the reasons that he is to abide in Jesus Christ is so
that when He returns to collect His Church those who have been abiding in Him
will not be ashamed. The word appear is
referring to the rapture of the Church, which is the snatching away of the
Church by Jesus Christ at the end of this Church age, and one of the things
that will take place shortly after this will be the “Judgment Seat of Christ,”
and in that event all of the believers from the Church age will be judged, not
for sin, but for faithfulness to the Lord with the things He has given them to
do. If the believer has been abiding in
Christ so that he has been faithful to the things that He has called him to do,
then he will be rewarded, but if he has not been faithful he will not be
rewarded, but will be ashamed.
In verse 29 John writes about how
one can identify a true believer, or at least one of the clues to identifying
one, and that is if he is practicing righteousness just as the Father is
righteous.
Spiritual meaning for my life
today: If I want to understand what
the Lord has for me to do in this walk with Him, then I need to abide in Him at
all times to find out what His direction is for me.
The Word
of God has brought conviction to my heart as I read it this morning.
My Steps of Faith Today:
I think that this abiding in Christ is what goes on for the rest of the
day after my personal devotions with God in the morning.
Memory verses for the week: 1Cor. 13: 8-11
Love never
fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are
tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophecy in part;
but when the perfect comes the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a
child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away
with childish things.
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