Today’s passage: 1 John 5:16–17 Focus verse: There is a sin that leads to death. (1 John 5:16) Today’s passage teaches us some unusual things about prayer. First, John encourages us to pray for others when we notice sin in their lives. This isn’t all people, but our brothers and sisters in Jesus. Then God will give […]
Today’s passage: 1 John 5:13–15 Focus verse: If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. (1 John 5:14) When we pray, do we think God hears us? Does he answer our prayers? All of them? The Bible says so. Consider what Scripture teaches. First, we can have assurance that God does indeed hear our […]
Today’s passage: 1 John 5:6–12 Focus verse: For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. (1 John 5:7–8) The Old Testament gives a rule that to convict someone requires two or three witnesses (Deuteronomy 19:15). The testimony of one person is not enough. Two people must […]
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 […]