Can you handle a hard truth?! It is important to understand!

Today again, I have been humbled by the Word of GOD.
It is interesting how GOD can listen to us, then give us a very ‘hard truth’ to swallow.
I have a tendency to stumble (don’t we all?)
And today’s message from GOD made me begin to doubt…

But then I heard that little voice inside of me say, keep reading!
And as I read the rest of 1 John 3, it was a confirmation that GOD is working in me.

When I prayed today, I asked what message GOD, do you want me to hear and pass on to others?
Today’s verse is 1 John 3:16 – This is how we know what love is: JESUS CHRIST laid down his life for us.
And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

What a beautiful and simple verse, easy to understand, right?
Then I went and read all of 1 John 3.
I will let you all read the whole of the passage on your own, but I will talk about parts of the passage that hit hard for me.

First, verses 1 thru 3 talk about us who put all our faith in JESUS CHRIST are children of GOD, and the world wont see it.
Last night when I was talking with my son, I told him this exact thing.

But then when I read verses 4 thru 10… I had to stop for a while.
Yesterday, I stumbled in my thoughts and actions and sinned.
I let myself stumble, and was immediately mad at myself for being so weak.
These verses allowed doubt to creep into my mind and heart.
(and I believe just as I wrote that last sentence, the HOLY SPIRIT whispered to me “that is why verses without context are so dangerous.”)

I immediately started praying to JESUS CHRIST, the HOLY SPIRIT, and the FATHER YAHWEH that I hate my sinful nature, that I wanted to
ensure my previous calloused heart of stone was replaced by a heart of flesh as a follower of JESUS CHRIST.
That is when I heard that little voice (which I believe is the HOLY SPIRIT) say “keep reading.”

So, I did!
Let’s break down Verses 11 thru 24 which are titled ‘More on Love and Hatred’
The passage goes on to tell us to not carry hatred in our hearts.
That this is the sin we can no longer have, as it is of the devil.
That JESUS CHRIST told us how to live our lives if we follow HIM!

Verses 11 thru 15:
11 For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.
13 Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.
14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.
15 Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.

Verses 16 thru 18:
16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?
18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

Verses 19 thru 24 tell us if we are living for ourselves or for GOD:
19 This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence:
20 If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God
22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.
23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
24 The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

We are to spread the GOOD NEWS (that is JESUS CHRIST).
We are to be loving to fellow believers (verse 13 states ‘brothers and sisters’ – in the Greek Adelphoi- it means fellow believers both male and female)
We learn by confirmation in the Gospels that the world will hate us, because they do not know JESUS CHRIST.
We need to constantly be in the Bible – putting on the armor of GOD- so we can be ready for all things that are coming.
All praise and glory to our LORD and SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST!