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.

I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. ²⁷ As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.

God’s Children and Sin

²⁸ And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.

²⁹ If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him. 1 John 2:26-29

MEDITATIONAL THOUGHT:. Abide in Him so that you may have confidence and not be ashamed at His coming.

MY THOUGHTS: Our confidence in life needs to begin to flow from the spirit man within us. If it does not, if we continue to rely on confidence established by our success in this world we will very soon be struggling with shame and insecurity, because this world is about to quake with confidence shaking power. Only those remaining on the SOLID ROCK OF JESUS will remain confident.

This confidence comes from abiding in Christ. Abiding requires being in the prayer place consistently and constantly. It requires a deep connection to His Word that comes from practice. It requires knowing Him and His presence not just knowing about Him or about His presence. It requires us to have a personal testimony of our interaction with Him not just the testimonies of other people.

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.

I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. ²⁷ As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.

God’s Children and Sin

²⁸ And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.

²⁹ If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him. 1 John 2:26-29

MEDITATIONAL THOUGHT:The anointing you received from Him (the Holy Spirit) teaches you all things and is real.

MY THOUGHTS: It is stunning to realize that we have access to the God of all knowledge. Not just access…He lives inside of those who believe in Jesus Christ. We are the temples of he Holy Spirit.

It is also stunning to realize, He wants to share information with us, as we pray. Now we don;t have he capacity to handle all his knowledge, but we do have the capacity to handle all the knowledge we need.We just have to spend time seeking Him and allowing Him to direct us to the answers He wants us to discover.

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:. Denial of Jesus as the Christ is a denial of God the Father; confess the Son always.

MY THOUGHTS: Confessing the Son always is not a passive act. It also is not something that is just words. It is a life lived progressively drawing closer to Jesus Christ, using every situation, good and bad, to propel us closer to the One Who Loves Our Souls!

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.