Verse of the Day - 1 John 4:18

Perfect love expels all fear. ~ 1 John 4:18 (NLT)

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Here's a fuller portion of the passage...

We have seen and can testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God has God living inside, and that person lives in God. And so we know the love that God has for us, and we trust that love.

God is love. Those who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. This is how love is made perfect in us: that we can be without fear on the day God judges us, because in this world we are like him. Where God's love is, there is no fear, because God's perfect love drives out fear. It is punishment that makes a person fear, so love is not made perfect in the person who fears.
~ 1 John 4:14-18 (NCV)

We were talking in my Bible study group last week about God's wrath, while studying Ephesians 2:3, and how a lot of people who don't believe in God are afraid of Him. They have a pretty good understanding of His holiness and perfection, and they realize that they don't measure up. For them to step foot into a church could cause lightning to strike...or so they jokingly say. God's gonna punish them, and they're afraid.

And hell is a real place...they should be afraid. What they don't know is that they don't have to be afraid of God...Jesus changed all of that. He broke the never-ending cycle of fear and guilt from sin, and showed us the power of God's love. Perfect love.

If you're listening carefully during any given day, you will probably hear strains of fear from people...fearing God, fearing death, fearing hell. Maybe they speak with words, maybe they don't.

* Maybe they work like there's no tomorrow, to keep tomorrow from coming, trying desperately to hold back the sands of time...keeping fit and eating right, trying to keep from having that deadly heart attack or stroke...because what's on the other side is unknown and scary, and they are completely unprepared.

* Maybe they go through exhaustive religious rituals to try to appease a god that they can't begin to understand or trust, but it's the only way they've ever known, so they do their best and hope that it' good enough when they die...

* Maybe they understand the holiness gap between them and God just fine, and work and work and work to attain perfection, with a long list of do's and don'ts, but when they make a mistake, the fear comes rolling in like a flood, because they realize they aren't perfect after all, and what's God gonna do with them...?

The answer for all men's fears about God is in Jesus. "Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God has God living inside, and that person lives in God. And so we know the love that God has for us, and we trust that love."

If you know Him, you have the answer for them. Listen and be ready to share the reason for the hope that you have (1 Peter 3:15). His name is Jesus.

Love,
Joelene