Today’s Scripture

DAY 10 – Abide in Him

1 John 4:12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

John again writes to us in repeating cycles. Over and over again. Some say that John the Beloved is not the writer of Revelation some call John the Revelator. But if revelation comes by repetition this guy, has it down.

It is interesting to me how loving, abiding, speech and belief have so much connection in our faith.

What do we see here then:

• No one has seen God, and the evidence of His presence is loving one another. Not power, popularity, or feelings. It is love.
• Verse 13 By this – and “by this” meaning THAT LOVE MATURING IN US – We know that we abide in Him and He is us because we have the Spirit and love being perfected in us is experienced as “loving one another” and it is the evidence of maturity.
• I love that it says we abide in Him and He in us – He isn’t trying to be rid of us when we don’t love well. He is maturing us so that we can.

Maturity is a process of growing. This isn’t poof and bam you have made it. It is more like consistent small, tiny acts of love like steps up a mountain. We can’t do it all on one day. We don’t have the endurance. We don’t have the patience. We have to grow through what we go through. There is no use thinking Jesus would be ashamed of me. It takes a lifetime to become the kind of love Jesus was. John said, “We abide in Him and He in us” Truth is every time we fall and rise again to keep going, keep learning to love, this is sanctification. What doesn’t help falls way. We can’t take the baggage, the triggers, the fear, the hurt, the worry. But we gain peace, joy, and hope, patience, life!

Action: Take time to acknowledge the Spirit of God in you and thank God for His provision to abide with you.

Holy Spirit thank you for living in me, a wild, monkey minded, semi-retired control freak, full of ideas and hopes for dreams of better days, with a whole lotta “we can do it!” Keep refining and renewing me.

Thanks for Listening,

Starla