Daily Inspirations

  Good morning. Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God; and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. Now the good part: for whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith. You are an overcomer! It may not look like it, but you are. Are you sure? And who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. You believe that, so you overcome the world. Again it may not feel like it, but you have overcome the world! Father thank You that the reader has overcome all obstacles that are in his/her way. Show him/her what he/she needs to do every step of the way. And now a little humor to start your day off right. A woman and her baby get on a bus. The bus driver say...

  Good morning. We know we are safe in God's hands because: there is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We may fear things that might happen to us, but we should not fear God. As the commercial says, we are in good hands. We have to be careful to not let fear of things that might happen turn into fear of what God will do to us. God only wants the best for us. When you are afraid, that is real punishment. We love, because He first loved us. Outside of Him, there is no true love. If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. It was not a suggestion when Jesus said to love one another. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also. Just because you love the brethren, does not mean that you accept everything they...

  Good morning. John says about himself: and we have beheld and bear witness that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. John didn't just read about it in a book or hear it from someone – he was there personally with the Son. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. There are religions that say that Jesus was a really good man and perhaps even a prophet; but they do not agree that He was the Son of God. But that is the number one tenant of Christianity – John 3:16! And we have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. Remember that in Greek the word "is" does not mean equal to. Just because God is love does not mean that love is God. Love is one of God's attributes, but it is not God Himself. By this, love is perfected with us, that we may have confidence in the Day of Judgment; because as He is, so also a...

  Good morning. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. That of course is true love (I just watched The Princess Bride). God did that for us before we even existed. If God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. He demonstrated to us how we should love our brethren. Some supposedly Christians wouldn't give the time of day, much less their only child for the brethren. How do we know that God is in us? No one has beheld God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. How do we know that God exists; after all no one has ever seen Him? We know He exists because of His love in us. If He did not exist, it would be impossible for us to have this kind of love dwelling in us. How do we know that we abide in Him: by this we know th...

  Good morning. Yesterday we talked about we have overcome them: they are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. This is so true today in many different ways. People say such ridiculously horrible things; and people listen to them because the ones speaking and the ones listening are both from the world. They actually want to hear these things. We do not want to hear them because: 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. If someone is of God, then he/she listens to those speaking the truth of God. And then those verses we used to sing as a song: beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He who loveth not (bum, bum, bum),   knoweth not God, for God is love – beloved let us love one another. First John four, seven and eight. That's kind of definitive....

  Good Sunday morning. 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. I've told you before about there being groups of so-called apostles and prophets. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; and this is the spirit of the Antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. Here again John is fighting the beginnings of Gnosticism. They did not believe that Jesus came in the flesh. At water baptism He came in the Spirit upon the man Jesus, and then left Him when He was on the cross. And then a verse we all love: you are from God and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. We are overcomers – not because of anything we did; but because of everything He did. Sadly we do n...

  Good morning. We shall know by this that we are of the truth, and shall assure our heart before Him, in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God (now get this); and whatever we ask, we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. How about them apples? Yeah but I don't want to have to keep a bunch of commandments. This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as He commanded us. Well we already believe in the name of His Son. That just leaves one itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny one - right? Actually sometimes it is much harder than the other. And the one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. How do we know that He abides in us? I'm glad you asked. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. That's how you can...

  Good morning. Just what do you think would be a litmus test to determine your entering into life? No it's not what church you go to; nor is it a bunch of doctrinal statements that you believe in. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. That's it? That's how we can know? He who does not love abides in death. That's pretty plain. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. Seriously? You don't know some of my brethren. There are a few I would like to… Anyway, you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. How do you know you have love for the brethren? We know love by this, that He lay down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. He was our example for love. There's probably not a lot of people that we would lay our lives down for outside of family. And then a verse reminiscent of James. But whoever has the world's goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his hea...

  Good morning. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. That makes it pretty clear. Of course that does not mean that you never sin. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. As we've said before, you should be acting like your Father. Since God only practices righteousness, then so should we. That part is clear; but the second part may not be. If you don't love your brother, you're not of God? For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; not as Cain who was of the evil one, and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous. Evil hates righteous. That's because righteousness shines its lights on evil deeds. And what about us? Do not marve...

  Good morning. Continuing with purity: everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. The NASB has added the word "practices" to make it clearer. Otherwise it sounds like if you sin one time it's all over baby. You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. And so to keep from sinning – no one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. Again the idea is practices sin. Let no one deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. Sins - don't know Him; righteous - know Him. There are those who claim to know Him even though they sin continually. They try to get you to join in with them so they don't feel convicted. But we have the following: The one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil. And what is the work of...

  Good morning. Abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. Imagine how ashamed you would be if you went about sinning and then Jesus returned. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him. It's not someone who just does righteousness once in a while, but one who practices it continually. It is a lifestyle. See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is. This is our future and our hope. People do everything they can to live longer and look better in this body. But our hope is on the one to come. So what should we do? Everyone who has this h...

  Good morning. So how can we be safe from all of these deceivers? Let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you will also abide in the Son and in the Father. Too many people are trying to obtain new knowledge. There is only one true knowledge – Jesus. That does not mean that you cannot learn some things that you did not realize were in the Bible. Remember all of that about Gnosticism. Knowledge was important, not relationship with Jesus. And this is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life. These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. Sadly there are people today who are trying to deceive us. Now some of them have been deceived themselves and actually believe that what they are saying is true. They think they are trying to lead you into the truth when it is actually deception. As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no n...

  Good morning. John told them that he did not write to them because they did not know the truth, but because they did know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar, but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the Antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; The one who confesses the Son has the Father also. There are billions of people that say there is more than one way to God. The problem is – they do not go through the Son. In fact you're getting more and more people who have been Christians for many years that are now saying there is more than one way to God. Perhaps they have been listening to preachers who have been misled. Another possible reason is that some friend or relative of theirs believes that, and they want to believe that that friend or relative is going to heaven. So they are making accommodations in their own beliefs to be comforted that the friend or relative is also going ...

  Good morning. Yesterday we saw bad things about the world. The good news is that: the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever. The things of the world seem good for a season – but they do not last forever. Want to abide forever – then do the will of God. Children, it is the last hour. (And this was 2000 years ago.) And just as you heard that Antichrist is coming, even now many Antichrists have arisen; from this we know that it is the last hour. That is even truer today. There are so many people that are against Jesus. It used to be that they just were not for Him; now they are actually against Him. Then something that is kind of scary: they went out from us, but they were not really of us. They were a part of the church, and yet they were Antichrists. How can that be? For if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, in order that it might be shown that they all are not of us. Darkness cannot ...

  Good morning. Happy Valentine’s Day! I will definitely be praying for you. John starts out by saying he is writing to you little children because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake. It is a done deal; so if the devil says what about thus and so, you can say it is forgiven - that is in the past; my old man did it. John also says he's writing because you know Him. He's not just a man you read about in a book. Also, because you have overcome the evil one. No matter what the devil is throwing at you right now, you have overcome him! And then a couple of verses that covers about everything. Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves 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 boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. All three of these were used against Jesus in the wilderness by the devil. His flesh was hungry, He saw th...

  Good morning. Continuing: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked. The word abides conveys more than just simply being a Christian. You should be walking just like Jesus walked. An observer should not be able to tell the two of you apart. Then John says he's not writing a new commandment but an old one which is the word you have heard. On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. That is sounding a lot like the Gospel of John. The one who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. Actions do speak louder than words. Jesus had every reason to hate Judas, but He loved him to the end. How much more should we love our brethren. The one who loves his brother abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and w...

  Good morning. John says that he's writing these things that you may not sin. If you don't know, you may inadvertently sin. But if you do sin – we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. The word translated advocate is the Greek word Paraclete, which is also used for the Holy Spirit. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. The mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant was known as the propitiatory. The blood of the animal slain was sprinkled upon it to cover the sins of the people. The blood of Jesus was sprinkled upon the heavenly one to take away our sins. How do you know if you know Jesus? By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. That is true; but sadly it does not happen in the church often enough: however the one who says "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. We should be se...

  Good morning. And this is the message we have heard from Him and announced to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. Of course we heard this message in the Gospel of John about Jesus being the light of the world. "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." Those who do evil deeds do not want the light because the light reveals their wickedness. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. There are a lot of people sitting in churches that are that way. As far as religion goes – a little dab will do you. But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. That is a powerful statement. It's not just that we have forgiveness; His blood cleanses us from every sin. If we say that we have no sin, we...

  Good morning. Now we are moving on to first John. What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of Life. Some of the authors of the books of the New Testament did not know Jesus. They relied on witnesses; and witnesses can sometimes disagree. But John was there – he knew what was real and what was not. You also had people who went around trying to get disciples of their own for monetary reasons. They made up stuff to suit their own needs. What John says, we know is true. And the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us - what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, that you also may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write, so that our joy may be made complete. John wanted us to know wh...

  Good morning. So we have this fiery end coming. But what will follow? According to His promise we are looking for a new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. It won't be like today's world where we have both righteousness and evil dwelling – there will only be righteousness! Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless. We do not want Him to come and us not be ready. And regard the patience of our Lord to be salvation. We might get impatient for Him to return, but we need to remember – that if He had come one hundred years ago, we would not be saved. Just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. Some people use the phrase rest ...

  Good morning. Back to Peter: remember he was saying that the Lord is not slow about His promise but wants all to come to repentance. Even though that is true, sooner or later we have: but the day the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. There are a lot of times in the old and New Testament that the day of the Lord is mentioned. Many times it is in a judgment situation, as this one is. And other times it seems to be about Jesus's return and our rising from the dead. This is definitely about the former. After all, this does not happen until after the millennium. So it seems like two different things when it says the day of the Lord. But it may all come down to verse eight:1000 years is as one day to the Lord. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for...

  Good morning. Continuing with those saying that ever since the fathers fell sleep all continues as it was from the beginning of creation: when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. It is so amazing that everything was created through the word of God: God said it – and it happened! And so if He says now – it will happen! But the present heavens and earth by His word are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. It will happen – guaranteed! And then an often quoted verse: do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as 1000 years, and 1000 years as one day. Time does not affect God – just us. We get anxious when things don't happen as quickly as we would like them to. But God says it will happen – "in a minu...

  Good morning. Continuing where we left off with - the last state has become worse for them than the first: for it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment delivered to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb "a dog returns to its own vomit", and here is the pig quote – "A sow, after washing, returns to its wallowing in the mire". That's not very appetizing. They will of course be very miserable; but they will blame Christianity not their own actions for their misery. They will in fact behave worse than before. He reminds them about the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles. As we've said before, it is good and necessary to be reminded of things that we have heard before. And then something that will become worse and worse: in the last days mockers will come with their mockin...

  Good morning. And now a great warning: for if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; (Sodom & Lot), then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation ( Remember the Lord's Prayer: " lead us not into temptation"), and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment. He goes on and on about these ungodly people. They speak out arrogant words of vanity while they entice those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, promising them freedom while they are slaves of corruption. This is true in many walks of life, not just in religion. "Be exactly like us, and you will be free". The people who say such things do not realize that they themselves have no freedom – they are enslave...

  Good morning. But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. No one made this up. They could not have! And because it comes through the Holy Spirit, no one can brag. Since it comes from God, it is infallible. But because people want to know the future so much: false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. All they have to do is give a little truth mixed with a lot of lies. People want to believe so much. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long-ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. Again ...

  Good morning. Peter says, hey all this stuff about Jesus wasn't just something I heard from someone who made it all up. For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, "This is My beloved Son with whom I am well pleased." And we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. No one had to convince Peter that Jesus was God's Son. He heard it for himself. And so we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. The word is all that is needed to bring us to the point where we believe that Jesus is God's Son. We cannot all hear a word from heaven to convince u...

  Good morning. At the end yesterday we saw a lot of qualities we should have. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble. Now that is a guarantee that you can take to the bank. It does make sense. If you are practicing those good things, you will not even want to be doing the bad things. For in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. Therefore, I shall always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you. We all need reminding now and again. It's all too easy to get your focus off of the things that are really important. And I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as al...

  Good morning. Because of His promises and our partaking of the divine nature: for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge; and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness; and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. Wow, what a progression! It would take diligence to obtain all of that. It seems to progress until you get to love. But this is not just some frivolous goal. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice that it is not just that you have these qualities, but they are increasing. And what if you don't have them? He who lacks these qualities is blind or shortsighted having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Sadly it is common to go away from them. It is as he say...