Memory Verse for the week of 2/7/2010: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8
Today’s Passage: “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” I John 4:4
This passage gives me such hope and it is a great follow-up though to the last devotional passages we read together in “Blessings in Suffering”. We move from realizing that there are blessings that can come from suffering to understanding that Christ has already overcome death and suffering and that we are not left alone without hope.
Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.” I Corinthians 2:12. God gave this Spirit to various men in the Old Testament such as the prophets, Moses and King David as well as to the apostles and other writers of the New Testament so that those who heard and read their messages would know they were sent from God. The apostles received miraculous understanding and were given God’s Word to share with others (Luke 12:11-12, Acts 2:4 and 4:8).
Now we have the Word of God, inspired of the Holy Spirit and written down for us. We can read the things that the apostles witnessed and were given inspiration to speak by the Spirit of God. Thus we can rejoice that we live in a time where the Word of God is written down and can be found in most homes. What a blessing we are given to be able to study the Word after we hear something spoken to ensure that it is truly found in the Bible as the Bereans did in Acts 17:11. We do not have to rely on others to read the Word to us. With this blessing comes a great responsibility on our part to read God’s Word for ourselves. When we do not, we may find ourselves in the Israelites’ predicament in Hosea 4:6: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”
Throughout Old Testament times, God’s Word was spoken to the patriarchs, prophets and priests. Yet during certain times in history, God’s law was lost entirely because the people were not taught it. There were no copies available for them to read so God’s Book of the Law was lost. An example is found during the reign of King Josiah in 2 Kings 22:3-20. This can happen to us today if we fail to read God’s Word and thus do not gain knowledge, understanding and wisdom from it.
God wants us to be His children. In order to be pleasing to God, we must seek what He desires (found in the Holy Bible) and obey His commandments. As is said of our Savior Jesus Christ “who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” Hebrews 5:6-9. Jesus is our great example of obedience.
We are taught in James 4:4 that “friendship with the world is enmity with God.” If we do not seek the things of God, we become comfortable with the things in the world and these lead to death. John was inspired to write, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world” I John 2:15-16. The only way to identify the “lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life” is through studying and meditating upon God’s Word. Contrary to popular belief, we are not born with an understanding of truth and goodness but we must seek it through the Word of God.
We also read that “every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.” I John 4:3. We studied about the antichrist that is in the world already: those who deny Christ as our Lord and Savior. Evil exists in the world. Yet this is not the end of the story. We have hope in the Lord. “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” I John 5:4. So we see that by being “born of God”, we will overcome the world and the powers of evil in it.
Further, we are given the good news that “your sins have been forgiven on account of his name. I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one” I John 2:12-14. Jesus has overcome sin and death and by so doing, He is victorious. “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33. Christ has already overcome the world! We need only obey God and remain on the Lord’s side.
Our passage for today is “you are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” I John 4:4. How wonderful and awesome that we have the promise that the Spirit of God that works within us is greater than the devil and as God’s children, we do not need to fear. We have great hope! Our Christ has already won the victory.
This passage teaches us how we can overcome the powers of darkness: “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand” Eph 6:11-13.
May God bless each of us as we stand our ground, declaring our love of the Lord and teaching others of the hope of the gospel.
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