DEVOTION – DAY 564

1 John 4:13-15 “Acknowledge Jesus Is The Son Of God”

1 John 4:13-15 “13 This is how we know that we live in Him, and He in us: He has given us of His Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the son of God, God lives in them and they in God.”

In 1 John 4:12, the apostle John tells us that “no one has ever seen God.” How do people know that God exists, if no one has ever seen God, since God is Spirit? This question has often been asked. The answer is given to us in 1 John 4:13-15. People are able to discern God’s presence because they can feel God’s love through Christians, because God lives in them. Vs 13 confirms that God chooses to come to live inside Christians. 

At the moment of a person’s conversion, when he or she opens their hearts to receive Jesus into their lives as Lord and Savior, God’s Holy Spirit would live in all believers. The Holy Spirit will begin to change believers from the inside out. People will begin to notice changes in the new believers because there is a desire to testify about God, the Father, and about His sending His Son into the world as Savior (v14). Again, in v15, this verse confirms that all who acknowledges Jesus Christ as God, the Son, as Lord and Savior, God will come to live in them by sending the Holy Spirit to live in them.

We know someone who faced a personal crisis. In desperation, the person asked us to pray for him. We prayed for him. We also told him that he could pray by himself. But in order that God would listen to his prayers, he had to allow God into his life and that he must have a relationship with God. Otherwise, on what basis could he expect God to hear and answer his prayers? After thinking the matter over, he agreed to open his heart to receive Jesus Christ into his life as his personal Lord and Savior. By acknowledging that Jesus is the Son of God, God came into his life. We have seen changes in this man since his conversion. He is interested in reading the Bible to know more about God. He loves to come to church. He is active in church. All these changes is the work of the Holy Spirit living within him bringing about spiritual changes. His family have seen these changes in him. 

Let us pray: Heavenly Father, we praise you for you are loving and gracious. Thank you for your free gift of salvation given to all who seek and open their hearts to receive your Son, the Lord Jesus into their lives as their Lord and Savior. We pray for the salvation of our friends and family members who have yet to invite the Lord Jesus into their lives as their Lord and Savior. We humbly pray in the wonderful name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. 

Questions

1. Have you opened your hearts to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? Read John 3:16-17.
2. If you have not received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, what is stopping you? Will you confess your sins, repent and invite Him into your life as your Lord and Savior? 
3. If you are a Christian, what changes have you seen within yourselves that are evidence of the presence and work of the Holy Spirit living within you? Share.
4. How have these changes within you made an impact on yur friends and family members? Share.