Families with young children click on this link for your devotional:
https://www.rightnowmedia.org/content/kidsseries/253002?episode=10
JULY 24
Families/Individuals with Young Children
Families with young children click on this link for your devotional:
https://www.rightnowmedia.org/content/kidsseries/253002?episode=10
Families/Individuals with No Young Children
Families/Individuals with no young children, please follow this devotional by Pastor Russ Fairbanks:
Scripture Focus:
1 John 4:1-6 (NASB)
1 Beloved,
do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from
God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2 By this you know the Spirit
of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is
from God;
3 and every spirit that does
not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist,
of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.
4 You are from God, little
children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he
who is in the world.
5 They are from the world;
therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them.
6 We are from God; he who
knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this
we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
I remember hearing a broken hearted mother from her dining room table saying,
"Why doesn't my (young adult) child see that living the life he is living
is wrong? I don't understand why he keeps doing these things." The
answer is, actually, pretty simple: Darkness doesn't understand
light. It can't comprehend it. The world without Christ is
searching for every answer and offering those answers in a form that is
socially acceptable. The most unacceptable answer to mainstream culture
is that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Is it any mystery that
those apart from Christ keep making a mess of their lives in the dark? It
is natural for those apart from Christ to live a life that makes little sense
to a believer.
This passage is making a bold statement that anyone who claims to have the
answer, but denies Christ, is false. Don't believe everything you hear,
but test if what someone says is the truth with the first litmus
test: Is Jesus Christ proclaimed as being from God and the origin of
truth? If the answer is no, then you and I must hold firm to our faith
that Jesus is the supreme source of truth. It may seem like the world is
swept up in following darkness and that the truth is losing ground, but we are
reminded that "Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the
world." Be encouraged Christian! Truth will prevail! You
don't have to explain yourself to everyone for every choice you make.
Yes, be prepared to share the hope you have and the Gospel message, but don't
worry about self-vindication. The truth will prevail and the Lord will be
exalted, so keep following what you know is true. Your choice to live for and
serve Jesus Christ will be vindicated! Greater is He that is in you!
Questions:
How does this Scripture help you understand the need to remain watchful and
spiritually fit? What are some of the false lights that people are
following around you? How can you help protect your family from
deception?
Prayer: Jesus, we depend on You and we build our lives upon Your
Word. We ask you to, as you taught us to pray, "...lead us not
into temptation". Help us to know your voice better every day and to
have the courage to trust and obey.