http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20John%201:1-8&version=MSG
1-2From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in—we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands. The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we're telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us.
3-4We saw it, we heard it, and now we're telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy!
Walk in the Light
5This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on to you: God is light, pure light; there's not a trace of darkness in him.6-7If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we're obviously lying through our teeth—we're not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God's Son, purges all our sin.
8-10If we claim that we're free of sin, we're only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won't let us down; he'll be true to himself. He'll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we've never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.
THURSDAY, APRIL 12 Read 1 John 1:1-8
unknown. Upper Room Disciplines 2012 (p. 115). Kindle Edition.
...When we sin, God doesn't stop loving us; but we may sense that something blocks both God's blessings and our conscious sense of God's presence. Admitting our sins and naming them is the first step to removing that block.
God is so gracious. He has provided the means by which we can stay in constant fellowship with Him. I can let go of the behaviors and thoughts that keep me away from God, and His forgiveness allows me to reconnect with Him. God has never left me, but my sin has kept me from experiencing His presence.
There are not enough words of praise and thankfulness that God has done this for each and every one of us.
Romans 8:38-39
The Message (MSG)
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%208:%2038-39&version=MSGDo you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ's love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:
They kill us in cold blood because they hate you. We're sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.
None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I'm absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.
In moments of clarity, when I can wrap my mind and heart around this idea, I am blown away by how much God loves me, the lengths to which He went, the sacrifice that Jesus willingly made, so that I could be in fellowship with God.
And this is freely available to anyone! God is amazing! And I am forever grateful!
