In January our church held its annual congregational fast. For 21 days we prayed together, fasted together and meditated on 1 John . Here are my thoughts from those times of devotion in 1 John.

As he sat on ^vthe Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him ^wprivately, saying, “Tell us, ^xwhen will these things be, and what will be the sign of your ^ycoming and of ^zthe end of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered them, ^a“See that no one leads you astray. 5 For ^bmany will come in my name, saying, ‘I am ^cthe Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you ^dare not alarmed, for this ^emust take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For ^fnation will rise against nation, and ^gkingdom against kingdom, and there will be ^hfamines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of ⁱthe birth pains.

9 “Then ^jthey will deliver you up ^kto tribulation and ^lput you to death, and ^myou will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then many will fall away¹ and ⁿbetray one another and hate one another. 11 And many ^ofalse prophets will arise ^pand lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, ^qthe love of many will grow cold. 13 ^rBut the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom ^swill be proclaimed throughout the whole world ^tas a testimony ^uto all nations, and ^vthen the end will come. I JOHN 2:18-25

MEDITATIONAL THOUGHT:Remaining in the teaching you heard from the beginning ensures you remain in the Son and the Father.

MY THOUGHTS: As Paul the Apostle said, the weapons of our warfare are not like carnal weapons, they are spiritual weapons….BUT….like carnal weapons, the spiritual weapons need constant use in order to be wielded in battle. Owning a sword does not make one a sword master and owning a Bible does not make one a mature Christian. We have to practice with the Word. We have to practice with prayer. We do this by praying. We do this by reading, studying and thinking about the Word of God and above all by living out the Word of God by doing what it says to do.

In January our church held its annual congregational fast. For 21 days we prayed together, fasted together and meditated on 1 John . Here are my thoughts from those times of devotion in 1 John.

Children, ^ait is the last hour, and as you have heard that ^bantichrist is coming, so now ^cmany antichrists have come. ^dTherefore we know that it is the last hour. 19 ^eThey went out from us, but they were not of us; for ^fif they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, ^gthat it might become plain that they all are not of us. 20 But you have been ^hanointed by ⁱthe Holy One, and ^jyou all have knowledge.¹ 21 I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is the liar but ^khe who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is ^bthe antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. 23 ^lNo one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 Let ^mwhat you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then ⁿyou too will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he made to us²—^oeternal life. I JOHN 2:18-25

MEDITATIONAL THOUGHTS: The presence of antichrists is a sign of the last hour; stay alert and grounded in truth.

MY THOUGHTS: Over the course of the last few days I have been meditating a lot on verses like this and also Matthew 24

As he sat on ^vthe Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him ^wprivately, saying, “Tell us, ^xwhen will these things be, and what will be the sign of your ^ycoming and of ^zthe end of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered them, ^a“See that no one leads you astray. 5 For ^bmany will come in my name, saying, ‘I am ^cthe Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you ^dare not alarmed, for this ^emust take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For ^fnation will rise against nation, and ^gkingdom against kingdom, and there will be ^hfamines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of ⁱthe birth pains.

9 “Then ^jthey will deliver you up ^kto tribulation and ^lput you to death, and ^myou will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then many will fall away¹ and ⁿbetray one another and hate one another. 11 And many ^ofalse prophets will arise ^pand lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, ^qthe love of many will grow cold. 13 ^rBut the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom ^swill be proclaimed throughout the whole world ^tas a testimony ^uto all nations, and ^vthen the end will come.

I know that according to 1 John the spirit of Antichrist has been in the world for many thousands of years, but I do feel like that spirit of Antichrist is somehow beginning to manifest in a greater deception than ever before. For me it is more about the increased deception of people of faith that indicates we are coming into the near arrival of God’s kingdom.

In January our church held its annual congregational fast. For 21 days we prayed together, fasted together and meditated on 1 John . Here are my thoughts from those times of devotion in 1 John.

Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. 1 JOHN 2:15-17

MEDITATIONAL THOUGHT:Prioritize your eternal connection with God over temporary worldly allurements.

MY THOUGHTS: I have given a lot of thought as to how I personally prioritize my eternal connection. For me, it has always been about the prayer space and the study of the Word. It all has to flow out of the place of prayer, and by all I mean everything… my whole life… everything. everything I do needs to be influenced or decided by prayer.

Am I doing this? No! Not yet! It is a step by step process, a work in progress. BUT…I am farther along than I was a year ago and I am moving forward. I am learning not to be too worried about how exactly I am going to get where I am going. Where I am is enough for me to work on right now. Don’t get me wrong I am always looking for the next step, and God is always faithful to show me that next step in time. For now I am learning to let Him help me with what I am supposed to focus on now.

In January our church held its annual congregational fast. For 21 days we prayed together, fasted together and meditated on 1 John . Here are my thoughts from those times of devotion in 1 John.

Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. 1 JOHN 2:15-17

MEDITATIONAL THOUGHT:The world’s desires (lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life) are fleeting and pass away.

MY THOUGHTS: One of the keys to overcoming temptation is to remember that those desires pass away. Temptation or the desire for the things of the world come to an end. The desire for anything of the world passes with time. Meanwhile, the desire for the things of Heaven grows the longer we give it space in our lives.

Heavenly desires are stronger than earthly desires and the key to overcoming is to let our desire for Heaven and the things of Heaven supplant our desire for the things of Earth. Overcoming also requires us to shift focus from the things of the Earth to the things of Heaven. We make stronger those things that we focus on; so today focus on the things of Heaven and watch your passion for them grow.