1 John 4:16 [16] “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” John has had so much to say about love in this epistle. He has emphasized it over and over again. He has talked about God’s love toward us, and our love toward God. Here in our verse he is doing the exact same thing again. He will mention it even more as we continue through the book.  Why does he place so much emphasis on this subject? Our …

1 John 4:15 [15] “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.”  In our devotional verse today, the Lord opens the door for every man. This open door is found in the first word, “whosoever”. This a familiar word in the scriptures, and is a word that our Savior used often. What a declaration, and what an invitation for all who will accept Christ as their personal Savior! The good news of the gospel is that everyone, and anyone, can walk through the doorway of salvation.  Salvation is an open …

1 John 4:14  [14] “And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.” What is it that makes the God of the Bible separate from all of the false gods of this world? There are many ways we could answer this question, but I want to answer it by saying, it is because HE IS ALIVE! The God of the Bible is not dead! He is living, breathing and working in the lives of men. The God of Heaven and earth has a heartbeat! Our devotional verse reveals his …

1 John 4:13 [13] “Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.” The verse before us holds a triple blessing within it. The first blessing we see, is the fact that we can dwell in him. When you consider who we are, and you consider who he is, then you will realize what a blessing it is to dwell in him. What a blessing that God would open his heart to us, allowing us to love him, worship him and fellowship with him. The word dwell also reveals …

1 John 4:12 [12] “No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.” Atheists will say that God does not exist. They will say that they do not believe in his existence because no one has ever actually seen God. They will also argue, that even if he did exist, it would be impossible for him to be everywhere at the same time. Yet they believe in something as simple as the air they breathe. Air is not visible, but we know it exists. Air …

1 John 4:11 [11] “Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” Heaven will be a place of no misunderstandings. There will be no division or separation in the glory world. It is going to be a place of eternal happiness and love among the family of God. What a time God’s people will experience as we live together and serve our Creator and our King! However, we are not in heaven right now. God’s children need each other more in this present world than ever before. Too often Satan gets the advantage because the …

1 John 4:10 [10] “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” One of the great mysteries of God’s love is that He loved us first. God did not turn his heart toward man because man sought after God. He took the initiative in our life. God saw the need in man’s life before man was aware that he even had a need. God knew the end result of man, and what his eternal state would be if he was not delivered. He knew …

1 John 4:9 [9] “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.” When I read our verse many precious songs flood my mind. Songs like, “Amazing Love How Can It Be?”, “The Love of God”, or “Isn’t the Love of Jesus Something Wonderful?”. These are all songs that try to describe the divine love given to us. The truth is that the love manifested by God the Father and God the Son will always be a mystery to those who receive …

1 John 4:8 [8] “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” How can people live with the absence of love? Never expressing love for their children, their spouse or the parents who sacrificed and raised them. What a tragedy when someone lives such a selfish life only thinking about number one. It is hard to comprehend how someone can abandon their loved ones, or go so far as to even mistreat them. Why do we live in a world that at times can seem so cruel? The answer is in our verse. The Bible makes it …

1 John 4:7 [7] “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.” The verse before us begins by addressing the saints of God. John uses the word “Beloved”. How fitting this word is for this verse because it is a word of love, and John is going to emphasize four truths concerning love. I call these cords of love because they seemingly tie together.  The first cord I see is the sharing of love. John gives the admonishment to love one another. Although at times …