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 you
have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because
you have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because
you have known the Father. 14 I have
written unto you, fathers, because you have known Him that is from the
beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because you are strong, and the
word of God abideth in you, and you 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 than 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.
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