Reading your Bible for today November 8

November 8: 1 John 5:18-21

KJV Key Verse: 1 John 5:20
20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

Devotion:
It may sound a bit harsh to divide the world into two parties, for God and against God, but that is exactly what the case is. Those who believe in God belong to Him, whereas everyone else does not yet belong to God. I say not yet because it is my hope all will come to know God before they die, but sadly I know this is not going to be the case. True believers are of God, for God and with God. They will run their lives as best they can with God being the focal point of their lives. Those who do not wish to have God in their lives have their own gods whether they like it or not. Their gods may well be football or drinking or other things which are the focal point of their own lives; what their lives revolve around. Everyone who is not supporting God’s cause must therefore be against His cause. If we are not for God, then we are either ignoring Him or revolting against Him – both are working against Him.

When we start to focus our lives on God, we bring Him to the front of our thoughts. With Him in our daily thoughts, we are less likely to work against Him... What does that mean? Well, if we were walking along with a friend, we would probably not do anything which we knew would offend them. We would not go out of our way to do something they would not like because we know it would upset them. When we walk with God, we tend to think of Him more often and hence do not do things we know will offend Him. It is a life-changing fact.

Our problem is that we allow things to get into our lives because we see all the people around us doing things without regard to God. We are easily led astray and wander off doing things we know God would not approve of. If someone did that to you, would you think they had respect for you? We know what Christ has done for us. We know what we should be doing...

Points to Ponder:
Do you think your friends respect you?

How much respect do you show God?