1 John

So, I've been doing a bible study on 1 John for a while now, although I have to confess that I have not been doing the homework the past couple of weeks. But I went this morning anyway and still learned a lot. It is a Kay Arthur study and boy is she good! I love the way she teaches because she just tells it like it is and doesn't try to sugarcoat anything....truth is truth! And that's what I need to hear, and we all need to hear. So, I just thought I would share a few things I learned this morning.
Some parts may seem random, but i'm still going to share.

It was mainly on 1 John 4. We talked some about verse 18 which says "There is no fear in love; because perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment , and the one who fears is not perfected in love." I have heard this verse a lot and read it a lot through the years, and usually just tried to come up with my own ideas on what it meant(still mostly confused), not really using the context too much. And I had heard a lot of people just quote this verse by itself and use it in different ways.....well, I felt like I got some new insight on this verse that I hadn't had before. And the Holy Spirit revealed it to me first a few weeks ago while i was studying these verses, and then confirmed it this morning during our discussion time. It had been a long time since I felt like the Holy Spirit had taught me something new in my own quiet time, so I was excited just to experience that. It may be something you already know, but it was new for me.

I learned that the word "fear" means "to run away from in terror" in this verse and it is referring to the fear of God's judgment. When I realized what this was talking about it reminded me of when I was young, before I was saved. I used to lay in bed at night and wonder what would happen to me after I died.....and it was terrifying, bc I didn't know.....I just thought of total darkness and being alone. THEN, when I became a Christian, I no longer had that fear....I knew I would be in Heaven with Jesus. People who don't know the Lord do have a reason to be afraid and to run in terror because there will be a real day of judgment and they are enemies of God. They don't have Christ's righteousness in them to make them presentable before our Holy God. This makes me want to go out and share with people so bad, yet when I go out, I make excuses and don't say a word most of the time. I am really missing sharing the gospel with people, just talking to people about Jesus.....I hope and pray that God will give me boldness and opportunities soon. so back to the verse, it just made more sense to me....when we are saved through God's perfect love, we need not fear the judgment, because we have Christ in us and our sins have been forgiven. but those who fear the judgment, as they should, have not surrendered their life to Christ and have no righteousness on their own, they are enemies of God....not a good place to be.

every week, i want to write about stuff from this study, but then I don't. it has just been so good, but so hard too. it's all about knowing that you KNOW, that you really KNOW that you are saved. If you have doubts or have friends/family who have doubts, 1 John is the book that gives you the tests and helps you have that assurance of salvation.
"These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life" 1 John 5:13