Do You Want To Be Like Jesus Today? Series

The Proof of the Spirit

1 John 4:10-4:17

This month in our Fresh Fire series we are considering the Holy Spirit in the Life and Ministry of Jesus.

Looking at the life of Christ, is something that is essential for every believer.

To help us grow in our understanding of Him & our relationship with Him.

The fact that you are here this morning would suggest that you still want to learn about God, you want to experience the blessing of knowing God more, you want to grow closer to Him.

To follow Christ properly, we need to be in relationship with Him.

And it’s fair to say that there are some days when we feel so close to God.

There are some days when we can really sense His presence with us.

There are some days when it is easy to walk in the purpose and plan God has for each of us.

Then there are those days when life just gets in the way and maybe we we struggle to focus on God.

In your life - are there things that crop up each day that just seem to grab your attention?

Relationships, families, work, situations, circumstances, likes, wants, desires,

even our hobbies can just get in the way.

When we should be waiting for God to speak,

to act, to move, to bless we often

make God wait for us don’t we?

Following Christ is a daily journey.

And God wants our daily commitment to Him.

To trust Him, to serve Him, to learn more about Him.

To think about the things of God.

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How often do you think about the things of God?

How much time do you spend reading the Bible?

There is so much in God’s word that we need to put into practice in our own lives.

We need to ensure we are not running on empty.

We all need to regularly fill our minds and our hearts with God’s word.

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When you read the Bible do you understand everything you read?

Be honest, there are some parts of the Bible that you love to read,

words that bring encouragement,

words that bring comfort,

words that bring assurance,

words of promise that you claim for yourself,

those parts we love to read.

Then there are parts we skim over,

things like the genealogies,

this one begat that one, that begat the other.

Then there are the parts that we read but don’t fully comprehend.

We trust them. We know they are true - but we can’t wrap our minds around the depth of what they really mean - like the passage I want us to consider together this morning: 1 John 4:10-17

10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. 12 No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and His love is brought to full expression in us.

13 And God has given us His Spirit as proof that we live in Him and He in us. 14 Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent His Son to be the Saviour of the world. 15 All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. 16 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in His love.

God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. 17 And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face Him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. (1 John 4:10-17, NLT)

That is an amazing passage - so much truth and depth.

We read it, we trust it, we know it applies to us, yet we don’t fully grasp the depth of what God has done for us do we?

There are many things that we do not fully comprehend when we read the Bible - but they are God’s Words and God’s word is truth and we can trust His word.

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Verse 10 - This is real love—not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

We may never comprehend just how high and wide and deep God’s love is for us - But we know He loves us don’t we.

As Christian’s we trust in the fact that Jesus came, and lived, and died, and rose again to conquer Sin and death.