Monday Morning Scripture – 1 John 3:1-12

Children of God Love One Another

1 See what an incredible quality of love the Father has shown to us, that we would [be permitted to] be named and called andcounted the children of God! And so we are! For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

2 Beloved, we are [even here and] now children of God, and it is not yet made clear what we will be [after His coming]. We know that when He comes and is revealed, we will [as His children] be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is [in all His glory].

3 And everyone who has this hope [confidently placed] in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure (holy, undefiled, guiltless).

4 Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness [ignoring God’s law by action or neglect or by tolerating wrongdoing—being unrestrained by His commands and His will].

5 You know that He appeared [in visible form as a man] in order to take away sins; and in Him there is [absolutely] no sin [for He has neither the sin nature nor has He committed sin or acts worthy of blame].

6 No one who abides in Him [who remains united in fellowship with Him—deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin. No one who habitually sins has seen Him or known Him.

7 Little children (believers, dear ones), do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who practices righteousness [the one who strives to live a consistently honorable life—in private as well as in public—and to conform to God’s precepts] is righteous, just as He is righteous.

8 The one who practices sin [separating himself from God, and offending Him by acts of disobedience, indifference, or rebellion] is of the devil [and takes his inner character and moral values from him, not God]; for the devil has sinned and violated God’s law from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.

9 No one who is born of God [deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin, because [1]God’s seed [His principle of life, the essence of His righteous character] remains [permanently] in him [who is born again—who is reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose]; and he [who is born again] cannot habitually [live a life characterized by] sin, because he is born of God and longs to please Him.

10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are clearly identified: anyone who does not practice righteousness [who does not seek God’s will in thought, action, and purpose] is not of God, nor is the one who does not [unselfishly] [2]love his [believing] brother.

11 For this is the message which you [believers] have heard from the beginning [of your relationship with Christ], that we should [unselfishly] love and seek the best for one another;

12 and not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother [Abel]. And why did he murder him? Because Cain’s deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.

1 John 3:1-12 (AMP)

Footnotes

  1. 1 John 3:9 I.e. in human terms, God’s seed is like a divine “genetic code” which is passed on to His children and produces in them the desire to live in a way which pleases Him.
  2. 1 John 3:10 See note 2:10.

Sunday Morning Scripture – Psalm 84

Longing for the Temple Worship

To the Chief Musician; set to a [1]Philistine lute. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

1 How lovely are Your dwelling places, O Lord of hosts! My soul (my life, my inner self) longs for and greatly desires the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.

3 The bird has found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young—even Your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.

4 Blessed and greatly favored are those who dwell in Your house and Your presence; they will be singing Your praises all the day long. Selah.

5 Blessed and greatly favored is the man whose strength is in You, in [2]whose heart are the highways to Zion.

6 Passing through the Valley of Weeping ([3]Baca), they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with blessings.

7 They go from strength to strength [increasing in victorious power]; each of them appears before God in Zion.

8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; listen, O God of Jacob! Selah.

9 See our shield, O God, and look at the face of Your anointed [the king as Your representative].

10 For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand [anywhere else]; I would rather stand [as a doorkeeper] at the threshold of the house of my God than to live [at ease] in the tents of wickedness.

11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord bestows grace and favor and honor; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

12 O Lord of hosts, how blessed and greatly favored is the man who trusts in You [believing in You, relying on You, and committing himself to You with confident hope and expectation].

Psalm 84:1-12 (AMP)

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 84:1 A technical musical term, meaning uncertain.
  2. Psalm 84:5 Lit their.
  3. Psalm 84:6 Possibly a kind of plant.

Lion Bites – Global Prophetic Alliance – Love Foundation

I am undoing you in the overwhelming reality of my outrageous love for you. If you will let me wreck you with my love, it’s power will overcome you and demolish all that has constructed itself that was not of me. It will break up and destroy old foundations of lies and man-made structures and all the things you have built on wrong motives.

My love is coming with truth and power to knock through even the ceilings of limitations you have placed on you and even let intimidate you or squash you. Let me come and destroy all that hinders you and limits you. Let me show you all the idols you have leaned on or relied upon instead of me, watch as they topple down before you like mute stone statues.

Then wait in peace and hear my voice and see the new way, the new ground settling in your inner being, heart and spirit. Let me build upon you the new and the pioneering on the settled still ground from a pure love foundation. For I am Love. Love is me. There is no fear in love. Perfect love casts out all fear. So you have been brought low to the ground but be built up again with my love, on my love, in my love.

Activation:

Ask God to envelop you with the power of his love and let his love come and pour out the truth to you to show you and expose any areas in your life that have not been built on God’s love and foundation. Break agreement with any lies that have been built into the core of your being that have limited you or kept you hidden or made you feel unworthy. Ask God for forgiveness where you have turned to idols to bring comfort instead of him. Let God pour his love into the very beginning of you in the new now, to build on you and in you and through you with his love.

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

1 John 4:18 (NIV)

#lionbites