| “In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands.” |
| —1 John 5:3 |
Seeing all of the turmoil here in the United States and around the world has created a sense of disappointment and despair within many believer’s minds and hearts. Yesterday, I read comments, from writers who cover various points on the spectrum of Christianity, criticizing each other for a variety of attitudes and actions with which they disagreed. At one point I said out loud:
“Hey! We’re all in the same camp! We all belong to Jesus! Let’s stop fighting each other and join hands to do what God has called us to do—namely, to overcome the sinful world through the power of God’s love, as enabled by the in-dwelling Holy Spirit.”
Isn’t it rather silly to waste our energy criticizing fellow believers, when our real enemy watches us and laughs at our self-imposed disarray? We need to cling to the Apostle John’s words from 1 John 5:1-5:
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.
This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands.
And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world.
This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
As we begin another new day, I sincerely invite you to join with me, so that togerther we can develop a mindset of an overcomer. Just as our Savior, Jesus, has overcome sin and death, so may we overcome whatever may try to drag us down.
The Holy Spirit waits to aid us in our quest for obedience. Let us allow Him to wrap His arms of love around us and guide us along the pathway of our lives. Let us obediently grab hold of each other and cling to each other. Togerther, let us lift up the name of Jesus and, by the power of the in-dwelling Holy Spirit, become strong and useful instruments of His love and grace in this very needy world.
Originally posted on Thursday, February 5, 2015
