F O O T H O L D

READING

93 BEING SURE

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

PRAY Look at the description of God's love in Psalm 57:10. Give thanks

for it.

----------------------------------------------------------------

READ 1 John 5:1-21.

----------------------------------------------------------------

THINK Can you find a promise or a warning in this reading?

----------------------------------------------------------------

FOCUS Probably some of the false teachers claimed that 'the Christ' was

a divine spirit that descended upon the human Jesus at his

baptism in Jordan and left him again before his crucifixion. Not

so, says John. This 'abbreviated' Christ is not the Lord of the

Christians. Authentic faith rests in a Jesus whose humanity and

deity were united, even in the agony of the cross.

John's chief purpose in this letter has been to reassure true

Christians of their secure place in Christ.

CONFIDENT OF HEAVEN (13). Weak faith is still saving faith.

Confidence about going to heaven is not presumptuous if it is

based on John's test (see 2:3, 3:10, 3:18-19, 4:13, 4:15).

CONFIDENT IN PRAYER (14-15). Notice that condition 'according to

his will'. Prayer is not a method of getting God to do what we

want, but rather of discovering what HE wants. If Jesus could be

totally honest in Gethsemane (Luke 22:42), we can be sure that he

wants the same honesty from us.

CONFIDENT OF MERCY (16-18). Other Christians may sometimes

disappoint us by their failure to live according to their words.

But we must not quickly write off someone as a hypocrite. While

hope of repentance remains, we must pray and care.

CONFIDENT OF THE FACTS (19-21). In a broken world, we must not be

surprised if our faith is tested. Christians are a colony of

heaven in an empire of demonic influence. We must not give in to

defeatism.

----------------------------------------------------------------

PRAY Ask God to help you to be more confident and sure of your faith.

 


Index - Foot Hold in the Bible

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 |44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88 | 89 | 90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 100  

 
Redistribute freely with this link intact.