Let’s stay in 1John, while we are at it, and talk about a topic that sadly, is rarely talked about. What’s the topic? Holiness. I have said many times before, once we sincerely surrender our lives to Jesus, we receive Salvation and become God’s beloved, holy children. Because we are children who are still growing into WHO we will be forevermore, unlike with God, holiness in our case does not mean perfect in every way. But what it does mean is to be set apart. God certainly is set apart from everything and everyone! And He wants His children, those of us who have sincerely surrendered to Jesus as Savior and Lord, to be set apart too. He wants us to be different than this world that, increasingly denies, ignores and insults their Maker. This world cannot have a relationship with Him because this world refuses to submit to His rightful authority as Creator.
But God also wants us to be different than who we used to be when we belonged to this world and tried to live apart from Him. This means we must choose to continue changing, being transformed from our old, sinful MMI person we used to be, and move forward towards this beloved, holy child of God that He says we already are. God already sees our final pure condition, but we must work with the Holy Spirit to reach it by continuing to purify ourselves. This is God’s Hope, my Friends, and it should be ours too. Here is our “verse to remember” from 1John 3:3,
“All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.” 1Jn 3:3 NIV
If we have our Hope in God, then we will change to be more and more like Him…let’s talk about it this week…
Join me in memorizing 52 verses this year:
January: 1- Jn 3:16; 2- 2Co 5:17; 3- Jas 2:26; 4- Eph 2:10
February: 5- Jn 10:10; 6- Ro 6:23; 7- Rev 21:4; 8- Php 4:13
March: 9- 1Pe 5:7; 10- Jn 8:32; 11- Dt 30:19; 12- Jn 3:30; 13- 2Chron 20:3
April: 14- 2Chron 20:12; 15- 2Chron 20:15b; 16- 2Chron 20:17
May: 17- Ro 8:28; 18- 1Co 13:13; 19- Php 2:12; 20- Mt 5:4
June: 21- Lk 23:42; 22- Jas 4:7; 23- Pr 22:6; 24- Mt 5:3; 25- Jn 14:6
July: 26- Jas 2:19; 27- Dt 31:8; 28- Jn 14:15; 29- Jn 8:11
August: 30- Ro 8:1; 31- Pr 4:23; 32- Pr 18:21; 33- Ps 118:24; 34- 1Jn 4:4
September: 35- Mt 16:24; 36- Isa 53:6; 37- Ps 23:1-6
October: 38- Heb 4:12; 39- Jn 15:5
40- Jas 5:16
41- 1Jn 3:1
42- 1Jn 5:12
43- 1Jn 3:3
<>< Peace, Diane
