What will happen after we take our last breath in our bodies? Were will we go? Will we still be around in spirit form or will we just cease to exist? Is there really a heaven or hell? Is there really something known as salvation? Just what will be waiting for us after we die? John the apostle has been sharing a lot with us about loving God and loving others. He has given us explanation after explanation of how much God wants to fellowship with us and the sacrifice that God made to do so. Today in First John chapter three and verse fourteen, John shares with us the proof that we are born of God, and our future after our last breath will be left in God's loving hands. He wrote:
We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loves not [his] brother abides in death.
Herein lies the clue: Do we love our brothers? This doesn't mean just males, but rather do we love others. Do we love other people, even the undesirable or disagreeable ones? Do we have this underlying love for everyone as God does? Sure they do things differently. Maybe they act differently, dress differently, speak differently, and have different attitudes, but do we love them? Are we able to see them as God sees them for their potential in Him rather than just the manner in which they live? Are prejudices prevalent in our lives or do we make a group of people pay the price for the actions of a few? Do we love them even if their team is the opposing team? John says “we know we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren.”
When we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, we are “born again” in our spirits, and we are able to do what was seemingly impossible to do before. We have passed from death – a spirit that was dead before God in fellowship– to life with God in fellowship. This is salvation, and the Bible is filled with the assurances that once we have this life from God living within us, we no longer have to wonder about death. We shall be with Him. This is the reason God sent His Son Jesus in the first place. He knew it was natural for us to be unloving toward others and toward Him, so He sent His Son Jesus to dies in our place that we might have a new life where it was natural to love God and love others too.
We who know God's love know the love we now have toward others, and this gift from God above gives us the assurance that we have indeed passed from death to life. For those who do not love others, this is what John says: they “abide in death.” In other words, they still have the natural nature that is born within people, and they do not have fellowship with God.
If the reader is having trouble loving others, the answer is simple: Ask God to forgive you, and ask Jesus to come into your life and give you a new nature. Ask the Lord Jesus to implant within you a new spirit that is loving toward others as He is, and watch your entire outlook on the human race be changed before your eyes and within your heart.
Next time we will share together about what John has to say about hating others, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow...there is more...
Look for the new devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ; www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
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