King James Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: Fellowship With God
Date: Tuesday December 20, 2011
Chapters: I John 1-3
All Scripture quoted comes from the King James Version, words in red are quoted by Jesus.

Hello My Friend,

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” -Romans 12:1-3.

Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, made the ultimate sacrifice when He laid down His life to pay the penalty for sin to all who believe in Him. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” -Romans 5:8. It is only by believing in what He has done on the cross and accepting Him that we can be saved from hell. Since we are only justified by believing and accepting Jesus Christ, it is our duty to surrender ourselves over to God as a living sacrifice (not dead), transforming ourselves into the likeness of Christ.

The Book of I John is the twenty-third book of the New Testament, sixty-second book of the Bible, and contains five chapters. The author of this epistle (letter) is John (the same John who authored the Gospel of John as well as Revelation) and it was written to Christians who were falling into satanic deception. John wrote the letter somewhere around 90AD. The purpose of the letter was to remind believers how they might know they have eternal life and that true fellowship with Christ is the evidence of a joyous Christian life. What we are to learn from the letter is that the proof of our salvation lies within our fellowship with Christ as He cleanses us from all sin. “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” - I John 1:6,7.

Okay, so we are saved by grace and not by any works of righteousness, if we receive Christ as our Savior than we receive eternal life and heaven, it does not get taken away if we sin, and we cannot lose our salvation. Why? Christ died once for us, we only need to ask Him once to save us. So, if we are saved by grace and cannot lose our salvation why is it important that we live a righteous life? We are saved, We have been redeemed, we have escaped the penalty of death by Christ dying for us. Do we thank Him by becoming more wicked than we were or do we thank Him by living as He lived. This is the message that John sent out to every saved person who turned from Christ and fell back into living a sinful life.

“This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” -I John 1:5-10.

Fellowship with God, which has only been made possible through Christ, the eternal Word, can be maintained only by walking in the light, which signifies the recognizing of our sins as they are revealed to us, confessing them, and forsaking the. “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” -Romans 5:9,10.

To fellowship with God and know the power of His love is impossible without practical observance of His Word, which means that we must seek to walk as Christ walked, showing love to all , but also living in separation from the things of the world. John stress the importance of the born again believer living by the Word of God.

“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him...Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” - I John 2:1-5,15-17.

I do not know how many people I know that have received Christ, and live a more sinful life than they did before they got saved, those same people also trying to tempt me to fall into sin. My only strength and ability to resist temptation is walking with Christ, getting in God's Word, and living by it. While we can never really know if a person is saved, a good indication is how they behave under stressful and tempting circumstances. They are not perfect, they are not sinless, even after they are saved, but those who truly want God in their lives, day by day change their lives into a Christlike image. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;” - II Corinthians 5:17,18.

It is only by the love, mercy, and grace of God that we, who by nature are heirs of sin, should be called the sons of God and given such hopes in Christ. It is a contradiction to such love and hope to live in sin and impurity. John reminds all who are saved that they are sons of God and that purity and the love of and for God are the marks of our transition into a Christlike image, impurity on the other hand is of the devil.

“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure...He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.” -I John 3:2,3,8-12.

Just as we become children of God by believing in and accepting Christ, those who are just plan wicked and live in constant sin become children of the devil. Remember, God is the Creator of all people, but those who refuse to acknowledge God or live a sinful life despite their knowledge of the truth are under the influence of the devil, not created of the devil. Satan has a lot of power, but he is not God, the only thing he creates is separation from God. Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed...If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.

Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it...Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.” - John 8:34-36,42-44,51.
All who believe in and receive Christ receive eternal life, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” -Romans 6:23. Praise God!

Today's Prayer:
Dear God,
Lord, it’s interesting that we often plead for Your attention and certainly expect You to listen to our prayers as You assure us through Your Word that You hear us when we call on You. But for true fellowship with You to exist we too must listen to Your voice through Scripture, through fellow believers, through Your many works of creation, and through Your still small voice that beckons our attention. You have so much to tell us that will often encourage us, sometimes reprove us, but always encourage us to follow You commands and the much needed guidance You give us as we journey here below. Help us to listen, to heed, and to be steadfast in our daily fellowship with You. In Jesus' name. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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