Sep 21 2024

Today's Bible Verse

If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth.

Add to Favorites Share with Friend Today's Bible study

In this verse, John lays out a test for our salvation very clearly: If we walk in darkness, we do not have fellowship with the Lord. The Lord brought light into the world, and the light is irresistible if you know God. Therefore, if we remain in darkness, it means we do not truly know the Lord.

This is not meant to be harsh or overly difficult. Instead, it's an encouragement for us to see that the Lord wants more for us than to live in sin or darkness. However, even on the other side of getting to know the Lord, it can often seem like we are still in darkness. What do we do when we feel that way?

The first thing we can do is to remember the truth of His Word. Even though it might seem like we're walking alone or in darkness, His word tells us that He is guiding our every step and that He is the light of the world. In other words, we can submit our emotions to the truth, and then we can let those truths dominate our feelings.

We can also turn to the Lord in prayer. We should be honest with Him, telling Him exactly how we feel. Being vulnerable before the Lord by asking Him to help us gives us the opportunity to communicate with Him and hear what He has to say to us.

The Lord speaks to us when we truly want to move forward and walk with Him, and He will show us the areas of our lives that we have not submitted yet to Him. He will show us the darkness in our lives that He wants to fill up with His light.

Today's Prayer

Dear Lord, I thank you that you are so good. I thank you that you cover me with grace as I try to draw nearer to you. Help me to dwell in your name and anchor myself in you always. Expose the areas of darkness that are in my life and make me new in you, Jesus. I love you. In your name, amen.

Add to Favorites Share with Friend

Sep 20 2024

Yesterday's Bible Verse

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

:

Add to Favorites Share with Friend
Yesterday's Bible study

In this verse from James, we get an important reminder that we should not only listen to the Bible, but also do what it says. We could have the entire Bible memorized, but that doesn't mean anything if we have not applied it to our lives. We cannot give our lives to Christ and continue to be the same people. Knowing Him catalyzes radical transformation.

It can be easy to feel like our work as Christians is done for the day after we've read the Bible for fifteen minutes in the morning. The box on our checklist is checked, and we want to move on with the rest of our day. However, if that is the limit of the Bible's influence on our lives, says James, we are deceived. If we read the Bible but never become more like God, we are missing out on the purpose of studying the Word.

There are several ways to avoid the self-deception that can come from studying without application. The first is to cultivate an active prayer life in addition to studying the Word. When you pray, you can ask the Lord for clarity about areas in your life that need to change. He will show you specific sins that He does not want you to live in bondage to. Then, when you open the Bible, you see how people talked to the Lord about sin and how He worked in their hearts and minds to draw them closer to Him.

When we discover that the Word is living and active, it will begin to affect the way we live our lives. We will begin to carry scripture around with us, even if we haven't memorized it, and the Lord will begin to use it in our minds to help us stay away from sin and to draw closer to Him.

Becoming a doer of the Word takes practice and is a journey instead of a destination. As we open the Word not merely to check the box on our to-do list, but to get to know God, He will begin to change our hearts and mold us into the kind of doers that James encourages us to become.

Yesterday's Prayer

Dear Lord, I thank you for the transformative power of your Word. Help me to live out the things that I know from it. Use it to change my life and make me more and more like you. I love you, Jesus, and I am so thankful that I get to have a relationship with you. In your name, amen.


Add to Favorites Share with Friend


← View Last Verse View Next Verse →