Today's Scripture: 1 John 4:15-21
"By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.… We love because he first loved us."
Last week, in our study of Reset: Talk It Over, Jesus taught that if we abide in him and his words abide in us, then our wants and desires will align more and more with God's and he will grant them.
The Apostle John uses that same word "abide" in today's passage. If you remember from last week it speaks of losing ourselves in Jesus such that we remain in him, he will permeate our being so that he is reflected more and more in our life.
John has that same idea in mind when he says that to abide in God is to abide in love, for God is love. In other words, as he put it, we love God because he first loved us.
Much like granting our desires, God offers something when we abide in him and in his love, only this time it is both in the here and now, and in the future.
In the here and now, our relationship with God makes room for God's love to have full expression in our lives. As you remain in Christ, as you lose yourself more and more in him, his love has more room to work in and be expressed in your life.
But it doesn't stop there. As the love of God is expressed in your life, and as you love God, fear is driven out. There is no room for it. You don't have to fear what may come your way. You can face it with confidence in God.
Which then leads to the future part of it. When you lose yourself in God and his love, fear is driven out, and you can have the confidence that when you face Jesus you will be accepted by him and not rejected.
The word of God is clear. Judgment will come. However, the word of God is equally clear that those who remain in him and his love, those who love him because he first loved them, can have confidence that they will stand with Jesus when that judgment comes.
Reset your love for God. Lose yourself in Jesus so that his love has full expression in your life.
Think about it …
- Do you have confidence in your standing before God when his judgment comes?
- What is it that causes fear in your life?
- How can you reset your love for God so that fear will be driven out?
