A Daily Devotion for Wednesday, December 31
- ontrakk
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
1John 3:16-24
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
The fruits of the Spirit! “And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.” God sees us every minute, every second. He knows our hearts. He knows what we are capable of doing, and what is beyond our reach. We talked last night about listening for God during our prayer time. God also will guide us to opportunities to utilize the fruits of his Spirit within us. If we look and listen for God and His direction, perhaps we will see more opportunities to use our fruits.
Holy Lord, In this brand new year, may I serve others and utilize all of the fruits of the Spirit which have been gifted to me. Help me to see opportunities and to be bold and brave, knowing I am doing your will. Amen
Becky, transforming
1 John 16-24
I think sharing what I have and giving my time to people and causes is a gift God has given me. It always lifts my spirit. It is all good, snippets of time or hours of work, a quick greeting or an entire afternoon of visiting, a store bought gift or a homemade one…giving, sharing, helping is a good life especially when it is for someone who is in real need, has less or is suffering. I need to seek out more opportunities to share God’s love in as many different ways that I can.
Dear God, thank you for providing the gift of opportunity, opportunity to help those in need. Please help me to earnestly seek…
1 John 3:16-24. Helping Our Neighbors
Sometimes we get so involved with our jobs and our family and just living that we forget to look around us to see who we could help. Sometimes we don't look because we don't think we can add anything to our already busy lives. People think helping others involves lots of time commitment and, of course, it can. BUT we forget all the small things we can do for others to brighten their day. Simply smiling and interacting with the people we see can make a difference. Smile at the bank teller and ask about their day. Call someone you've not spoken to for a while. Send cards and notes to shut-ins or…
December 31st, 2025 ( New Year’s Eve )
Daily Devotions
Upper room
December 31th, 2025
Helping your neighbors
My neighbors
1 John 3:17
But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?
This verse shows practical love, not just saying it; if a Christian with resources sees a brother( fellow believer or anyone in need) suffering but closes their heart and withholds help, then God's love isn't truly living in them, demonstrating that real love means action and truth, like sharing blessings to meet needs, not just words. Keeping material things for ourselves, beyond our needs, while brothers or sisters suffer shows a lack…
1John 3:16-24
“If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?”
The love of God is a powerful governor of our behavior. It leads us away from the world’s ways of greed, selfishness and a lack of regard for the welfare of others. These behaviors have become a way of life for some. I read two articles recently that make this point. One was about so-called “miracle flights” where perfectly able-bodied people claim to be disabled and request wheelchair assistance for priority boarding. Naturally, on arrival, these “disabled” people deplane first with no assistance whatsoever. The second was about cruise…