1 John

I am trying a new way to learn the bible. You read one book in the New Testament for the whole month. That way by the end of the month you KNOW that book. You start with a short book. In this case I started with 1 John. It only has 5 chapters. I read it over and over and over. I wrote down some key verses for myself to remember and apply to my everyday life. Then each month I move on to a new book, divide the chapters up by sections and focus on each section for a month. By the end of 3 years (yes I said 3 years) I will KNOW the New Testament (yes, I only said the New Testament, LOL). Reading the bible is not about reading it front to back, it's about picking it apart verse by verse and studying it. People can say they read the bible, but that doesn't mean they KNOW it. I am going to list the key verses I would like to remember along with my own commentary in red. So here I go....

1 John 1:6
So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God, but go on living in spiritual darkness. We are not living in the truth. (NLT) Here, this verse is saying that if you claim to live by God and follow his rules, but continue to sin and live in darkness, then you are lying. I found myself in this predicament a few years back. I knew I believed in God and tried to be a good person, but deep down inside, I felt I was not a good person. There were things about myself I was not happy with. My dependency on pot, cigarettes, my foul language, the movies and shows I watched, the music I listened to. Every one of those went against the Word of God. How could I have fellowship with Him and continue to think it was alright to live the way I was living. I needed to do some re-prioritizing in my life.

1 John 2:6
Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Christ did.
This is why I (well, not really me. God changed them) changed my ways. I needed to live my life as Christ did. I may not ever be able to be as perfect as Him, but I can try to live as righteous as I can. I try my hardest to live a sin-free life. It isn't easy at all and I do still sin, but I try not to and when I do I repent and do no more. Because I desired fellowship with God, He helped me stop the sins I was doing in order to live in His light.

1 John 2:15
Stop loving this evil world and all that it offers you, for when you love the world, you show that you do not have love for the Father in you. 16 For the world offers only the lust for physical pleasure, the lust for everything we see, and pride in our possessions. These are not from the Father. They are from the evil world. 17 And this world is fading away, along with everything it craves. But if you do the will of God, you will live forever.
This verse is pretty much saying.... well...what it says...Stop loving this world and the things in it. I use to love watching any kind of entertainment news, listening to the latest celebrity gossip, now I cannot stand to watch those type of programs. They are filled with things of the world. Who cares who is wearing what? Who is divorcing who? Who drives what? Why does these things matter to us? Why did it matter to me? Because anything that can get our focus off of God and onto other things it all a part of Satan's plan. You don't have to worship Satan, just as long as your focus is off of God, he is happy with that. Stop loving the things of this world and keep your focus on God! I see the world in a total different light since I have applied that line of thinking to my life. And boy what a release it has been for me!

1 John 2:23
Anyone who denies the Son doesn't have the Father either. But anyone who confesses the Son has the Father also.
Here is where the bible clearly states the you cannot have God without the Son and the Son is Jesus. If you don't believe in Jesus, then you don't believe in God. Simple as that. Because Jesus is God!

1 John 2:27
But you have received the Holy Spirit, and He lives within you, so you don't need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you all things, and what he teaches is true, it is not a lie.
I have always wondered how I knew what was wrong to do without actually having someone tell me that it is wrong. Now I know that it's the Holy Spirit that is telling me that it is wrong. Since He lives within me, He helps me make the right decisions for my life.

1 John 3:1
...but the people who belong to this world don't know God, so they don't understand that we are His children.
It is hard being a Christian. It is hard when my family doesn't completely understand where I am coming from. I am just trying to live my life for God since I am His child. I enjoy my life, I feel it is full of love. God has blessed me. He helps me to see the big picture. I know it's hard for others to understand, I had a hard time understanding at one time to, so I just have to remember how it was for me when I was in their shoes at one time.

1 John 3:10
...anyone who does not obey God's command and does not love other Christians does not belong to God.
This is a good verse to remember when someone is claiming to be Christian but is not acting like one. You can tell when someone is trying their hardest to be a good Christian and when someone claims to be a Christian but is clearly not following the Christian life style. Your actions speak louder then words. The world is watching your actions, so if you claim to be a Christian, you outta act like one.

1 John 3:13
So don't be surprised dear friends, if the world hates you.
Like I said before, being a Christian is hard. People are not always going to understand why you are the way you are, why you do the things you do, why you think the way you think. And it causes conflict. It's nothing to be surprised about. It's inevitable.

1 John 3:20
...God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything.
God is greater than our hearts.... so that essentially means that we need to listen to God, not our hearts. My heart has been wrong more than once. My heart has caused me pain. My heart had caused me to react in ways I shouldn't have. But God is never wrong. God never causes pain. And God will tell you the right ways to react. Because God knows everything!

1 John 4:2
This is the way to find out if they have the spirit of God. If a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ became a human being, that person has the spirit of God. 3 If a prophet does not acknowledge Jesus, that person is not from God. 4 But you belong to God, my dear children, you have already won your fight with these false prophets, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. 5 These people belong to this world, so they speak from the world's point of view and the world listens to them.
This is also another good verse to remember when you have some religions knocking at your door. Ask them who Jesus is. Some might be vague about it, and seem to believe that Jesus is God, but do your own research and see what you find. Never take ANYONE'S word for it, only Gods! If you are not so sure about what others are telling you, again take only God's word for it. And His word is the bible. See what the scripture says, if it doesn't align with scripture then it is not of God, but of the world. And since the God is greater than the world, His word is greater than the worlds.

Well, these are the ones that I wrote down, but there was many, many more. I could of written down that whole book! It is a very good read! I am excited to move on to the next book at the beginning of May. Hope you were able to understand where all this was coming from. I know sometimes my thoughts can be a little scatter brainish, LOL! Thanks for reading!!