1 João 5

1 João 5:4

Maclaren - The world conquers me when it succeeds in hindering me from seeing, loving, holding communion with, and serving my Father, God. I conquer it when I lay my hand upon it and force it to help me to get nearer Him, to get more like Him, to think oftener of Him, to do His will more gladly and more constantly. The one victory over the world is to bend it to serve me in the highest things—the attainment of a clearer vision of the divine nature, the attainment of a deeper love to God Himself, and a more glad consecration and service to Him. That is the victory—when you can make the world a ladder to lift you to God. When the world comes between you and God as an obscuring screen, it has conquered you. When the world comes between you and God as a transparent medium you have conquered it. To win victory is to get it beneath your feet and stand upon it, and reach up thereby to God. (Full message Faith Conquering the World) Max Lucado - Doing What’s Right 1 JOHN 5:4 You get impatient with your own life, trying to master a habit or control a sin—and in your frustration begin to wonder where the power of God is. Be patient. God is using today’s difficulties to strengthen you for tomorrow. He is equipping you. The God who makes things grow will help you bear fruit. Dwell on the fact that God lives within you. Think about the power that gives you life. The realization that God is dwelling within you may change the places you want to go and the things you want to do today. Do what is right this week, whatever it is, whatever comes down the path, whatever problems and dilemmas you face—just do what’s right. Maybe no one else is doing what’s right, but you do what’s right. You be honest. You take a stand. You be true. After all, regardless of what you do, God does what is right: he saves you with his grace. - God's Inspirational Promises: A Guide to Living a Life of ... - Page 170 David Jeremiah - VICTORIOUS WARRIORS 1 JOHN 5:4 The Bible says that Satan’s purpose is to blind sinners and beguile Christians, and to hurt and discourage those who belong to God. He will do anything to disturb the mind, deceive the heart, and defeat life. He is actively involved in the world today, and if you read your Bible you’ll find he has always been active: He led Lot into Sodom, got Peter to deny Christ, made Annanias and Sapphira lie to the church, and even dared attack Jesus Christ. If he isn’t afraid to attack the Lord of glory, you should not be surprised to discover that he is willing to attack the most mature Christian. He wants to bring division into the church today, paralyzing its ministry and scandalizing its leaders. Yet the Word of God tells us that this warfare is one for which we may prepare. We can walk into a hostile environment and do warfare for God and not be defeated. Our Commander-in-Chief has already won the war, and He is waiting for us to get in on the victory. God can help us to learn how to be victorious warriors in the great spiritual battle. (See David Jeremiah Morning and Evening Devotions: Holy Moments) Max Lucado - What is unique about the kingdom of God is that you are assured of victory. You have won! If you have no faith in the future, then you have no power in the present. If you have no faith in the life beyond this life, then your present life is going to be powerless. But if you believe in the future and are assured of victory, then there should be a dance in your step and a smile on your face. Kay Arthur - Read Jesus’ messages to the churches in Revelation 2–3. Look at the rewards given to overcomers and you’ll see that true believers are overcomers. Because Christ is in us and because He, by the Holy Spirit, enables us to keep His commandments, we are able to overcome the world! Criswell Freeman - The world makes promises that it simply cannot fulfill. It promises happiness, contentment, prosperity, and abundance. But genuine, lasting abundance is not a function of worldly possessions, it is a function of our thoughts, our actions, and the relationship we choose to create with our God. The world’s promises are incomplete and illusory; God’s promises are unfailing. We must build our lives on the firm foundation of God’s promises . . . nothing else will suffice. (Borrow Purpose for everyday living : finding God in your everyday life) Have the promises of the world ever been a disappointment in your life? If so, what have you learned and how have you changed from that experience? The Weapons of Faith - 1 JOHN 5:4 RSV - Billy Graham One of Satan’s sly devices is to divert our minds from the help God offers us when we struggle against evil, telling us we have to fight the battle alone. But God knows we need His help. The Bible warns, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). What would you do if you met a lion? You’d probably run, and you’d probably grab any weapon you could to fend it off if it attacked. And that should be our strategy in our struggles against evil. When evil and temptation stalk us, our first response should be to flee. And when they still attack, we should use every weapon we have to drive them away. The good news is this: God has provided the weapons! His Word, His angels, His Spirit, the encouragement and prayers of our brothers and sisters in Christ—these and more are weapons God provides. We aren’t in this battle alone—so why act like it? (Borrow Hope for Each Day Words of Wisdom and Faith) EDWARD B. PUSEY. What is victory over the world? It is to cut off, as far as we may, every hold which everything out of God has over us, to study wherein we are weak, and there seek in His strength to be made strong. Be your temptation the love of pleasure, it is to forego it, if of food, to restrain it; if of praise, to put forward others rather than yourself; if of being right in the sight of men, be content to be misjudged, and to keep silence; if of self-indulgence, use hardness, if of display, cut off the occasions and give to the poor, if of having thine own will, practice the submission of it to the wills of others. Henry Blackaby - SPIRIT-POWERED VICTORY - 1 John 5:4 (See Being Still With God Every Day: Discovering God's Plan for ... - Page 290) We all like to succeed, don’t we? And there is no greater triumph than what Jesus accomplished on the cross: His victory over the power of sin and death enables us to be in relationship with God Almighty, our heavenly Father. The victorious Christian life is lived out day by day, hour by hour, as we—by the power of God’s Spirit—break sinful patterns in our lives and seek to obey God. The victorious Christian life is the Spirit’s response to our faith. God gave us the gift of His Holy Spirit, and when we seek to obey God’s will, the Spirit’s power is released in us. According to Ephesians 1:19–20, that power is the same “mighty power which [God] worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places.” The strength to overcome is a gift of God—and we have a great deal more power than we know. What will you do today to access that power and experience fresh victories in your life? David Jeremiah - VICTORIOUS WARRIORS 1 JOHN 5:4 (Borrow Sanctuary : finding moments of refuge) The Bible says that Satan’s purpose is to blind sinners and beguile Christians, and to hurt and discourage those who belong to God. He will do anything to disturb the mind, deceive the heart, and defeat life. He is actively involved in the world today, and if you read your Bible you’ll find he has always been active: He led Lot into Sodom, got Peter to deny Christ, made Annanias and Sapphira lie to the church, and even dared attack Jesus Christ. If he isn’t afraid to attack the Lord of glory, you should not be surprised to discover that he is willing to attack the most mature Christian. He wants to bring division into the church today, paralyzing its ministry and scandalizing its leaders. Yet the Word of God tells us that this warfare is one for which we may prepare. We can walk into a hostile environment and do warfare for God and not be defeated. Our Commander-in-Chief has already won the war, and He is waiting for us to get in on the victory. God can help us to learn how to be victorious warriors in the great spiritual battle. B F Westcott - The Faith presses upon man his noblest desires as obligations, and makes their attainment possible by the gift of the Spirit. Charles Gordon - If we aspire to walk in the power of the new life, we must cast away all hindrances, and it must cost something we really value. Charles Stanley - 1 John 5:4 Whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Tomorrow she has to face the committee and tell them what she thinks. Last month they asked her to review books for a children’s reading club, and she feels that three of the books are detrimental and advocate unbiblical values. She also knows that most of the committee members are not believers and will not understand her arguments. As she thinks about the conflict to come, panic sets in. It isn’t until she recalls past victories in the Lord that she calms down and recognizes that the battle is really His. Look at David’s words of positive confession before he faced the sneering giant, Goliath: “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine” (1 Sam. 17:37 NASB). David could say with unwavering confidence that God would give him the resounding victory. He called to mind former defenseless times when God delivered him from destruction, and he relied on God’s might to do it again. What giant looms in your future? What battle are you headed for today? Are you claiming the victory right now in His name? Always remember—you have a faith that conquers. Father God, there are giants ahead—tremendous battles to face. Give me the faith that conquers. I claim the victory right now in Your name. On Holy Ground: A Daily Devotional - Page 16 A W Tozer - Of Faith and Fear (See The Quotable Tozer: A Topical Compilation of the Wisdom) This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. —1 John 5:4 No matter what the circumstances, we Christians should keep our heads. God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, of love and of a sound mind. It is a dismal thing to see a son of heaven cringe in terror before the sons of earth. We are taught by the Holy Spirit in Scriptures of truth that fear is a kind of prison for the mind and that by it we may spend a lifetime in bondage. To recoil from the approach of mental or physical pain is natural, but to allow our minds to become terrorized is quite another thing. The first is a reflex action; the latter is the result of sin and is a work of the devil to bring us into bondage. Terror is or should be foreign to the redeemed mind. True faith delivers from fear by consciously interposing God between it and the object that would make it afraid. The soul that lives in God is surrounded by the divine Presence so that no enemy can approach it without first disposing of God, a palpable impossibility. This is the victory that overcometh low spirits, a sinking heart, whispers of the devil and all the discouragements of this lower world—even our faith. A W Tozer - Playing at Religion - Mornings with Tozer : daily devotional readings ... (borrow) (See Mornings with Tozer: Daily Devotional Readings - Page 15) Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world. (1 John 5:4) When our faith becomes obedience to our Savior, then it is true faith, indeed! The difficulty we modern Christians face is not misunderstanding the Bible, but persuading our untamed hearts to accept its plain instruction. Our problem is to get the consent of our world-loving minds to make Jesus Lord in fact, as well as in word. For it is one thing to say, “Lord, Lord,” and quite another thing to obey the Lord’s commandments. We may sing “Crown Him Lord of all,” and rejoice in the tones of the loud organ and the deep melody in harmonious voices, but still we have done nothing until we have left the world and set our faces toward the City of God in hard practical reality. The world’s spirit is strong and it can play at religion with every appearance of sincerity. It can have fits of conscience (particularly during Lent)! It will contribute to charitable causes and campaigns on behalf of the poor, but all with its own condition: “Let Christ keep His distance and never assert His Lordship.” This it positively will not endure! Adrian Rogers - This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith. 1 John 5:4 How do you ever gain victory over the wild array of temptations in your life? When you understand how the devil is working, how the flesh is working, and how the world is working, you begin to see the keys to defeating them. When battling against our external foe—the world—the key word to remember is faith. It is faith that overcomes the world. John continues in verse 5: “And who is the one who conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” It is not just faith in a general sense that overcomes the world. Faith that sees Jesus as the Son of God is conquering faith. Think of all that comes to us by faith: • Salvation—“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1). • The fullness of the Spirit—“That the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” (Gal. 3:14). • Victory over the world—“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” (1 John 5:4). • Victory over Satan—“Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one” (Eph. 6:16). • Sanctification—“Those who are sanctified by faith in Me” (Acts 26:18). Think of all the problems that come when we fail to exercise faith: • Worry—“God, I don’t think You can handle this.” • Loneliness—God seems far away. • Guilt—Our guilt gland is overactive because we do not trust God for cleansing. Faith is our acceptance of God’s acceptance of us. • Disobedience—If I truly believed God’s Word, I would not violate it. Catherine Marshall - 1 JOHN 5:4 There is a difference between acceptance and resignation. Resignation is barren of faith in the love of God. It says, “Grievous circumstances have come to me. There is no escaping them.” Acceptance says, “I trust the goodwill, the love of my God. I’ll open my arms and my understanding to what He has allowed to come to me.” Thus acceptance leaves the door of hope wide open to God’s creative plan. How hard is it to accept your circumstances yet live for God anyway? Charles Trumbull - 1 John 5:4 - The secret of complete victory is faith: simply believing that Jesus has done and is doing it all. Victory is entered upon by a single act of faith, as is salvation. Victory is maintained by the attitude of faith. But suppose the believer, having experienced the miracle of victory over sin through trusting his Lord’s sufficiency, comes, somehow, to doubt that sufficiency? At once his victory is broken, and he fails. This is possible at any moment. And at once, if there should be failure through unbelief, comes a real peril. The lie of Satan is whispered in the ear, “You have sinned; and that proves that you never had the blessing you thought you had: you never had the Victorious Life.” This is a lie, of course, as are most of Satan’s attacks. They used to say at the Keswick conferences, “If you should fail, shout Victory!” Not with any idea of denying the reality of the failure, but in recognition of the fact that Jesus has not failed, and that there may be instantaneous and complete restoration through faith in His unimpaired sufficiency. Robert