I John 3:24

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Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.

THE STUDY:

          One of the things that I am finding as I study God’s word is that God is a reactional God! James 4:8 “Come near to God and He will come near to you,” and in this passage we read, “Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him.” This is a prime example of God not violating our free will. We are the ones God is waiting on, not the other way around.

          In this verse we read the word “abide” which means to remain in God! Looking at the entire book of I John we can find this word used over 25 times. This is a great indicator that John is trying to make a point: REMAIN IN GOD! John's readers are followers of Jesus but yet they are being led astray by this new view of Jesus (Gnostics). If they remain in God, He remains in them. We can safely say that if they don’t remain in God, He will not remain in them.

WHAT WE CAN WALK AWAY WITH ….

• We walk away this morning knowing this, those who keep God’s word in their heart experience God making his home with them. As an eighth-century English theologian, the Venerable Bede, wrote, “Let God, then, be a home for you, and you be the home of God; remain in God and let God remain in you.”^[1]

CONCLUSION:

           I find, in my own life, times when I try to get God to do what I want and not what He wants. These are those times when we must remain in Him. You might be having a difficult time in your life right now or you might come across someone today who is going through a difficult time. Remember to remain in God and He will remain in you.

Blessings my friends

Pastor Rod

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^[1] Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. (1953-2001). Vol. 14: New Testament commentary : Exposition of James and the Epistles of John. New Testament Commentary (318–319). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.