Skip to main content

Praying Through God’s Word: 1 John

1 John 1:1-2:17
We thank You, Lord, that Your Son, “Jesus Christ” died “for our sins” (1 John 2:1-2). This is Good News. It’s great news! It’s the best news we could ever hear – and it comes from You. What love You have for us. Help us not to keep this love to ourselves. Help us to share the Good News – “the blood of Jesus, God’s Son, cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
1 John 2:18-3:18
We thank You, Lord, for Your gift of “eternal life” (1 John 2:24-25). Our enjoyment of eternal life has already begun – “We are God’s children now.” Our full enjoyment of eternal life is still to come – “It does not yet appear what we shall be” (1 John 3:2). Here-and-now, help us to experience Christ’s victory: “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). Help us to look beyond the here-and-now, to look ahead to our full enjoyment of Christ’s victory – “When He appears, we shall be like Him” (1 John 3:2).
1 John 3:19-4:21
“God is greater than our hearts” (1 John 3:20). When, Lord, we are deeply aware of our own sinfulness, help us to remember that You love us. You know the truth about us – “The heart is deceitful, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). You know everything about us – and You keep on loving us. We see how much You love us when we look at Jesus, crucified for us (Romans 5:8).
1 John 5:1-21
What great blessings You have given to us! You have brought us into Your family: “Every one who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God” (1 John 5:1). You lead us in the way of victory: “Who is it that overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:5). When we forget what You have done for us, what You are still doing for us, help us to remember Jesus. Help us to remember that He is our Saviour. He has saved us – and He is leading us on into a closer walk with You. Thank You, Lord.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Help us, Lord, to become better people – not bitter people!

2 Chronicles 26:1-28:27 Help us, Lord, to learn from the failure of King Uzziah. He began well – “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord … He set himself to seek God” (2 Chronicles 26:4-5). He lost his way – “When he was strong, he grew proud, and he was false to the Lord his God” ( 2 Chronicles 26:16). Help us, Lord, to become better people – not bitter people!

One Year Bible: Day 68 - Leviticus 19:1-20:27; Mark 14:43-72; Proverbs 6:30-35

Central to the teaching of Leviticus is its emphasis on the holiness of God and His purpose of making His people holy: “Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God. Keep My decrees and follow them. I am the Lord, who makes you holy … You are to be holy to Me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be My own” ( Leviticus 20:7-8 , 26 ). We are commanded to “be holy.” We have the Lord’s promise that He will make us holy – holy to the Lord, different from those who live according to worldly standards. Jesus was perfectly holy, yet He did not defend Himself when He was falsely accused by evil men ( Mark 14:55-61 ). He “confessed our sin”, took our place, bearing the punishment for our sins. We must not be ashamed to confess Him – “Yes, I am with Jesus. Yes, I am His disciple” (contrast Peter’s denial in Mark 14:66-72 ). there is judgment for those who destroy themselves by going the world’s way rather th...

The great promise of the Gospel and the strong warning of the Gospel

We have the great promise of the Gospel. In Christ, there is full salvation for all who come to God through Him. Alongside this great promise, there is also the strong warning of the Gospel. We read the solemn words of Psalm 11:6 – “On the wicked he will rain fire and brimstone; a scorching wind will be their lot” “Fire and brimstone” – What are we to say about this? We must note that Psalm 11 doesn’t end with “fire and brimstone.” It ends with the words: “upright men will see His face” (Psalm 11:7). God doesn’t want to leave us where He finds us. He doesn’t want to leave us trembling in fear of “fire and brimstone.” He speaks to us of these things so that we might see our need of the Saviour. He speaks to us of these things so that we might”flee from the wrath to come” (Luke 3:7). He speaks to us of these things so that we might find our way to the Cross of Christ. He speaks to us of these things so that we might learn to confess our sins and receive God’s forgiveness: “...