Daily Devotional in I John 1

Daily Nugget:
In starting the first of his three letters, John the Apostle bluntly covers two areas where many are not completely honest with themselves about. These areas are:

• When people claim to be in fellowship with God, but are not.
  “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:” I John 1:6
  Many times folks fool even themselves into believing that they can talk to God, and He is listening to them, answering them, and they are in full fellowship even when they are in sin. They are lying to themselves.
  
  It is impossible for a believer to have close fellowship with God when there is sin in their life! God hates sins, and although people do not lose their salvation when they fall for sin’s enticement after they are saved, they certainly grieve Him (Ephesians 4:30). That grieving will cost all a close relationship with God. The only remedy for that broken relationship is to turn from sin (Acts 8:22), and again “… walk in the light …” (I John 7). One should then live in the manner in which God requires.
• When people claim to have no sin.
  “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” I John 1:8 Also: vs. 10.
  
  There are those that consider themselves sin-free. My own grandmother claimed to never have sinned. She was a good person by man’s standards, but when I approached her with the Bible-truth that “… all have sinned … (Romans 3:23) she insisted that she was not a sinner. I remember her even being insulted that I would even think such a thing about her. The truth was, no matter how much I loved my grandmom, she was like the rest of us — a sinner! She was deceiving herself, and because of that deception, as far as I know, was never saved.
  
  The only cure for my grandmom and any other person in this state of not recognizing their sin is to recognize their iniquities and admit them. Once we admit and confess it to Him, God is “ … faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:9).
  
  However, that first step is the tough part; recognizing oneself as a sinner. For some, they know it at a young age, but for other folks, such as my grandmom, they can go 80 years and still not recognize their sinnership. This is one of the most important steps for anyone’s salvation; to first realize they are a sinner.

The most valuable and important thing everyone has is their soul. Making the decisions to be close to God or to go Heaven rests mostly on their own shoulders. That decision can only be made when one is completely honest with Him and is willing to do what the Bible demands.

Today’s Thought: The wages of sin is death. There is no minimum wage.

Today’s Reading: I John 1
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
5 ¶ This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
8 ¶ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (KJV)