Today’s passage: 1 John 5:1–5 Focus verse: Everyone born of God overcomes the world. (1 John 5:4) There is a lot packed into today’s passage, but most of it reviews what John has already written. He talks about believing in Jesus as our Savior (the Christ) for us to be born again. How loving the Father is […]
Today’s passage: 1 John 4:19–21 Focus verse: We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19) Perhaps the most misused, most misunderstood word in English is love. I love my wife, and I love to watch movies. I love nature, and I love blue. I love to write, and I love spring. I also love God. […]
Today’s passage: 1 John 4:16–18 Focus verse: There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear. (1 John 4:18) In the Old Testament of the Bible, we read the command to “fear God” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). In the New Testament we see the principle to “love God” (1 Corinthians 8:3), and we read that God is […]
Today’s passage: 1 John 4:13–15 Focus verse: If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. (1 John 4:15) In yesterday’s reading John said that anyone who loves has been born of God and knows him (1 John 4:7). Later we’ll read that anyone who believes in Jesus as […]
Today’s passage: 1 John 4:7–12 Focus verse: This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. (1 John 4:9) So far in John’s letter he’s already talked a lot about love, building up to this passage in chapter four, where the […]
Today’s passage: 1 John 4:4–6 Focus verse: The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. (1 John 4:4) After talking about the Holy Spirit and false prophets—that is, false teachers under Satan’s control—John gives us a comforting truth. As Father God’s children who believe in Jesus, we have the […]
Today’s passage: 1 John 4:1–3 Focus verse: This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. (1 John 4:2) The third chapter of 1 John wraps up with a reference to the Holy Spirit, whom God sent to us. John now contrasts […]
Today’s passage: 1 John 3:21–24 Focus verse: And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. (1 John 3:23) John teaches us that if we have a clear conscience before God, we can be confident that we’ll receive from him whatever we […]
Today’s passage: 1 John 3:16–20 Focus verse: This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. (1 John 3:16) The ultimate expression of love is to die for another, to sacrifice ourselves for the good of someone […]
Today’s passage: 1 John 3:11–15 Focus verse: For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. (1 John 3:11) John tells his audience that we are to love one another. It’s not a new command but one we’ve heard from the beginning. He first mentions this in 1 John 2:7–8. And now […]