Keeping On

DEVOTION 1 JOHN KEEPING ON 1 John 5:18-20 18 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. 19 We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. 20 We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true — even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. NIV Well, there it is, if we are born of God will simply will not continue to live a life of sin. If we are born of God we will keep ourselves in the love of God, under his protection and direction for our lives. If this is the case then there is absolutely no cause to fear anything the devil can throw at us. It would seem there are three forces in the world, God, the Devil and ourselves. It appears God allows the Devil to have control over the world, that is all those who are not keeping themselves in the love of God. It would also appear since we have heard what the Son has said and have the understanding of the truth, that all those others have not heard the Son and do not understand the truth, but are being deceived by Satan into believing his lies. God actively pursues all his creation to come to him, but allows them to make their own mind up regarding doing that. He provides the truth, explains how it works, offers it to anyone who wants it, and then gives the Holy Spirit to assist them in their journey with him. On the other hand, the Devil does not provide the truth, but spins lies and deceives people not giving them any choice, but entrapping them, snaring them in his web of untruths, enslaving them in the ways of the world, so they will not be willing to listen to the truth of God. But we know the truth, we have the Son, we have the Spirit and we keep ourselves firming within the love of God so that anything Satan says to us, we see it for want it is, a lie. We are not deceived by him into thinking it is alright to do certain things, that God won’t mind, or that we shouldn’t care if he does. Satan brings temptations in many forms, but all of them are attempts to get is to leave the love of God and follow after his ways. Yes, we will fail at times and we will sin. We will never be able to attain a pure sinless condition as long as we are in these bodies, but we do not live the lifestyle of those who are being deceived by Satan. They refuse to acknowledge the truth of God, and live solely for their own pleasure, at least that is what they may think, but actually they are living for the pleasure of Satan. We desire to please God, they by default are pleasing Satan. Even though we fail to be perfect and still struggle with certain sins, we have not left the truth of God for the lies of Satan. We know when we fail, and we seek his forgiveness, and find it, and go on with our walk with him. We have a relationship with the one true God, we know the truth, we have the Son and we have eternal life. We need to keep on keeping on.