BBD 10.15.13 The Search (Classic)
Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>
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The Burning Bush Devotional
14,000 Subscribers
to the Email Devotional
Classic from 2006
10.15.13
The Search
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of
God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to
believe in the name of the Son of God. - 1 John 5:13.
Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God
dwells in you? - 1 Corinthians 3:16.
There is a search underway in McLean County, Illinois and
the searchers are very determined. They are using modern technological tools,
including, heat-seeking devices and infrared devices to find their quarry. They
are setting up traps and gathering more evidence. What or who are they
searching for? They are searching for the legendary Sasquatch aka Bigfoot.
There has been a sighting in the area of a couple of the creatures, a mother
and a baby. There have also been sightings of the legendary creatures across
the world in many countries and so the search continues.
There is another search that those who say they are
Christians might want to conduct. What kind of search would that be? It would
be a search of the heart to determine whether or not the Holy Spirit is
residing within. In the last chapter of 1 John the apostle John sums up his
reason for writing the letter by saying in, 1 John 5:13, "These things I have written to you who believe in the
name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that
you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God."
This search of the heart is going to involve a tool much
different from those being used to search for Bigfoot. The tool we need to use
to determine whether we have the Holy Spirit within and therefore have eternal
life is prayer. John says that we can have absolute confidence in this tool as
he says in 1 John 5:14-15, "Now this is the
confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will,
He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we
have the petitions that we have asked of Him."
The apostle John along with tool of prayer gives us some
things to prayerfully consider in our search. Here are some of them:
1. 1 John 2:3-4:
"Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who
says, 'I know Him,' and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the
truth is not in him." If we know
Jesus as our Savior, we will have a desire to be obedient to Him. Thankfully,
John also tells us, "My little children,
these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we
have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is
the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole
world (1 John 2:1-2 - also see 1 John 1:9)." John does make it clear
that it is possible that we may sin after coming to know Jesus as our Savior
but we should have a desire to live in obedience to Him. When we sin, we should
run to our Lord to find His forgiveness and restore our fellowship with Him.
2. 1 John 2:5b-6:
"By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought
himself also to walk just as He walked." If we have eternal life and the Holy Spirit is living
within us, we should be living our lives as Jesus would live. Are you trying to
live your life as Jesus would live it?
3. 1 John 2:9-10:
"He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness
until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause
for stumbling in him." If the love
of God abides within us and we abide in Him we will love as He has loved us.
There should be no room for prejudice in the heart of a believer.
4. 1 John
2:15-16: "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone
loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the
world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not
of the Father but is of the world." Is
our love for our Lord greater than our love of the world? It should be if we
belong to Him.
I pray that your search will be successful because it is
God’s will that you know whether or not you have eternal life. The apostle John
makes it clear that you can know for sure whether you have been saved, have the
Holy Spirit living within you, and are in possession of eternal life. Once you
have eternal life by definition it can never be taken away because eternal life
means it is forever, everlasting, never ending life.
Copyright © 2006-2013. Ed
Wrather. The Burning Bush website has been online since January 31, 1998. On
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