Key Themes for 1 John
1. Our obedience in faith keeps us in fellowship with God.
2. God will forgive our sins.
3. We can measure any truth by where it places Jesus in relation to God.
4. God's love and Christ's victory are the Christian's inheritance.

The key verse for the whole book of 1 John is this...
Chapter 1:3
"What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, that you also may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ." (NASB)

In chapter 1 John is trying to prove to the false teachers that Jesus was and is real. John knows this because he has heard Jesus, seen Jesus with his own eyes, he has looked directly at Jesus, and he has touched Jesus. Jesus gave us His "word" in order for us to get to know Him through that. Jesus is "light" which means He is full of goodness and truth. We need to believe that Jesus is the light and follow that light daily. If we say we follow the light, but do not, we are liars. Jesus will wash away our sins if we ask Him to forgive us and then not continue in that sin. It is important for us to ask daily for forgiveness, because you never know when Jesus will come. We need to get ready, He is coming! We just don't know when. My favorite verse that tells us to confess our sins is in Psalm.

Ps. 32:5 reads...
"I acknowledged my sin to Thee, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord"; and Thou didst forgive the guilt of my sin."

Jesus does forgive, we just have to ask for it.

Please feel free to post any comments for discussion. I will be glad to discuss this with anyone.

1 John 2....coming soon

I am finally to 1 Corinthians 13. The "Love" chapter! In this chapter it is still talking about our spiritual gifts and how we need to use them to show our love for Christ. The key verse for the whole book of 1 Corinthians is 13:1 "I may speak in different languages (tongues) of people or even angels. But if I do not have love, I am only a noisy bell or a crashing cymbal." Basically, if we don't have love for God or our fellow Christians, or even ourselves, we have nothing.

I am going to leave you today with the most famous verses in chapter 13.

"Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it down not brag, and it is not proud. Love is not rude, is not selfish, and does not get upset with others. Love does not count up wrongs that have been done. Love is not happy with evil but is happy with the truth. Love patiently accepts all things. It always trusts, always hopes, and always remains strong. Love never ends."

I like to think of my husband and the love we share when I read this. I love thinking how God hates divorce and that since true love never ends, we will be together until the end of time. God's love works this way too. He will never leave us or forsake us. He too is with us till the end of time and even on through eternity. If your life isn't right with God and you have been baptized. I would love to study with you and help you to make that decision. It is more important than anything else you will ever decide.

First off this morning, I would like to share an email I received this morning. It was a prayer and it's wonderful!

Relax your mind and humble your heart to focus on Christ. Allow God to be
the only person on your mind while you read this prayer. If we can take the
time to read long jokes, stories, etc., we should give the same respect to
this prayer. Friends, who pray together, stay together.
If you pray this prayer, change the number.

Dear Lord, I thank you for this day. I thank You for my being able to see
and to hear this morning. I'm blessed because You are a forgiving God and an
understanding God. You have done so much for me and You keep on blessing me.
Forgive me this day for everything I have done, said or thought that was
not pleasing to you. I ask now for Your forgiveness.

Please keep me safe from all danger and harm. Help me to start this day
with a new attitude and plenty of gratitude. Let me make the best of each
and every day to clear my mind so that I can hear from You.

Please broaden my mind that I can accept all things.

Let me not whine and whimper over things I have no control over.. Let me
continue to see sin through God's eyes and acknowledge it as evil. And when
I sin, let me rep ent, and confess with my mouth my wrongdoing, and receive
the forgiveness of God.

And when this world closes in on me, let me remember Jesus' example -- to
slip away and find a quiet place to pray. It's the best response when I'm
pushed beyond my limits. I know that when I can't pray, You listen to my
heart. Continue to use me to do Your will.

Continue to bless me that I may be a blessing to others. Keep me strong
that I may help the weak. Keep me uplifted that I may have words of
encouragement for others. I pray for those who are lost and can't find their
way. I pray for those who are misjudged and misunderstood. I pray for those
who don't know You intimately. I pray for those who will delete this without
sharing it with others. I pray for those who don't believe. But I thank you
that I believe.

I believe that God changes people and God changes things.. I pray for all
my sisters and brothers. For each and every family member in their
households. I pray for peace, love, and joy in their homes, that they are
out of debt and all their needs are met.

I pray that every eye that reads this knows there is no problem,
circumstance, or situation greater than God. Every battle is in Your hands
for You to fight I pray that these words be received into the hearts of
every eye that sees them and every mouth that confesses them willingly..

This is my prayer.
In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Now that you've read that amazing prayer, I would like to leave you with a few thoughts from 1 Corinthians 12.

God gave each one of us a special talent. Our job is to use that talent to serve Him in some way. He gave everything He had up for us, so using what He gave us to show others the way is the least we can do. Each person is different, but each person is special because God made them that way.

Another topic covered in this chapter was Unity. Having unity in the church and with every Christian is important. This goes back to gifts. Each person has a different one. Maybe there is someone great at public speaking, someone great at singing, and someone great at leading the congregation in prayer. When using these talents together in unity, the worship to our savior will be wonderful. Our God wants us to work together always to bring people to Christ.

I hope that what I'm doing here every morning will truly do that for someone. I would love for all of us to go to Heaven, but we have to work together to bring everyone to Christ. It takes an army, but we have that power. Why? Because God gave it to each and every one of us as our spiritual gift.

Hi everyone, this is my first official blog post. I hope you all will find this blog useful and encouraging. I hope to make Christian friends and hold online Bible studies. I love God and hope to make this blog a ministry. I do a personal bible study every morning. As I do them I hope to find something encouraging to write each day.

Right now I am reading 1 Corinthians and this morning I did chapter 11. I wanted to share some thoughts that I had about this chapter. First of all, we need to remember as Christians that the order of authority goes like this: God, Christ, Man, Woman. This is important to remember. Wives need to be submissive to their husbands always. Woman came from man and was made for man (vs. 8,9).

This chapter also discussed worship. A few scriptures that can be read to help with this concept are as follows: Exodus 34:14; Luke 4:8; John 4:20-24; and Philippians 3:3. These will help in showing you how to worship.

The main point for today comes from Max Lucado. I use his devotional bible to do my studies, so a lot will come from him.

ARE YOU A MARTHA, MARY, LAZARUS OR A JUDAS?
"If God has called you to be a Martha, then serve! Remind the rest of us that there is evangelism in feeding the poor and there is worship in nursing the sick."
"If God as called you to be a Mary, then worship! Remind the rest of us that we don't have to be busy to be holy. Urge us with your example to put down our clipboards and megaphones and be quiet in worship."
"If God has called you to be a Lazarus, then testify. Remind the rest of us that we, too, have a story to tell. We, too, have neighbors who are lost. We, too, have died and been resurrected.

If you are a Judas, then you are a thief! All Judas was good at was take, take, take and never gave in return. If you do this then you are a Judas and should be warned. God sees your selfishness.

"If you are a Martha, be strengthened. God sees your service."
"If you are a Mary, be encouraged. God receives your worship."
"If you are a Lazarus, be strong. God honors your conviction."

Always remember to show others the service of God, and most importantly always worship in spirit and truth!

I hope everyone is touched by my posts and will feel free to give comments and strike up discussions.