1 John 3:23-24 --- And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.
We reached the end of 1 John chapter 3 today. It has been an immensely powerful and deep time of getting to know Him more. There has been so much He has shown me over these past few weeks. The further we walk together, the more I see Him and recognize His voice throughout the day. It's brought a new level of peace for me.
So ultra-nerd time, in the BBC show Doctor Who, anyone who spends time in his TARDIS, which is a time machine/dimensional spaceship, gets the side effect of being able to understand alien languages perfectly. Clever way everyone could speak English on the show. Anyway, the more time I spend in God's presence every single day, the more I am able to hear and see Him everywhere I go!
If you struggle to hear God, choose to spend time with Him every day in talking to him/prayer, reading His word, in praise. Tell Him you want to hear Him, you want to learn His voice. Then read His word and see how He talks, see what He says, watch what He does! Keep doing it. Amanda struggled with this as well, then one day she decided to get up earlier to pray and read her bible more. After doing it consistently for a few weeks, something changed for her. She didn't feel that struggle to hear Him like she had before. She can share her full testimony, but I've seen it happen in my life and in her life, so I know it can happen in yours!
Long intro to this one but we close out chapter 3 with a few straightforward verses.
His commandment in v23 is made up of two verbs for us: BELIEVE and LOVE. BELIEVE in the name of His son Jesus Christ. LOVE one another as He commanded us. (John 13:34 & John 15:12)
Over the past few days in 1 John 3:19-22 we've found Assurance and Answered prayer. Today in v23 we find Abiding. Knowing that if we keep His commandments, which everything God guides us in is rooted in BELIEVE in Jesus Christ and LOVE one another as He's shown/told us, then we ABIDE in God and He in us.
In true Fatherly fashion, He knows we struggle and stumble sometimes, so He gives a final assurance on how we know we're abiding together with Him. We know by the Spirit he has given us. Holy Spirit that is.
I'm brought back to Doctor Who, yes I'm a nerd/geek, but in the show when people come out of the ship in other countries or on alien planets, they hear every language and every alien perfectly in English. Again, clever TV trick, but my point is there is an unseen thing that has changed inside them. As believers/followers of Christ Jesus we have an unseen change inside as well, we now have the Holy Spirit!
I close out with this entry from Guzzik's commentary that really sums this up.
"Abides in Him: Those who abide in Jesus know they are abiding in Jesus, because of the presence and assurance of the Holy Spirit. John again is giving the same idea as Romans 8:16 (The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God).
i. Romans 8:9 tells us that anyone who belongs to Jesus has the Spirit in him; that indwelling Holy Spirit gives us assurance. You can’t be abiding in Jesus and not know it, though you may be attacked with doubt from time to time.
ii. The one who does not keep God’s commandments does not have the ground of confidence that he abides in Jesus. As well, he does not truly have the assurance of the Holy Spirit’s presence in his life.
iii. To know if you really have this assurance can take spiritual discernment, and that is what John deals with in the very next verse. But God has already given us another basis for assurance: seeing if we love one another (1 John 3:19)."
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