Good morning, dear Church family!

Well, here we are. It’s the day after Election Day and all I can say is WOW! And I’m sure glad it’s over! Maybe you felt as Gayla and I did: how is my vote going to make a difference and affect the moral fiber of our nation?

Ice Breaker: What is the hardest moral decision you have ever made? How did this decision affect your marriage, or your relationship with your parents or your children?

1 John 5:1-5 “¹ Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. ² By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. ³ For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. ⁴ For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. ⁵ Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

Think of the moral pressures that we face in the world today, the outlook and standards of the godless society that is surrounding us, constantly intruding upon our consciousness with tremendous pressure to make us conform to these attitudes and standards of life. Think of the temptation to cheat and lie; to get ahead at all costs; to be dishonest, not only in filling out our income tax forms, but in every aspect of business. Another common pressure that comes upon us from the world is to be sexually immoral, which is especially evident among the young and the unmarried. We are encouraged to feed the fire and satisfy the urge, though it may be wrong and even deadly. The pressures around us are tremendous these days, seemingly overpowering at times. There is the pressure to harbor wrong ideas, to react against others the way the world reacts, to strike back and seek revenge, to be resentful and jealous, to be ambitious and cruel. Don’t you feel all this? “The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life”—all of this is of the world.

How do you “overcome” the world? How can you go on, moment by moment, day after day, year after year, living a life that is absolutely contrary to that, based on totally different standards, totally different objectives, totally different evaluations? And to endure not only for ten years, but for decades, against that kind of moral pressure? How do you keep unmoved in the midst of this and not only remain unmoved yourself, but reach out and win others to your side? John says it is by faith; that is all! Not by the faith that you once exercised years ago when you first became a Christian, but by faith in the life of Jesus present in you NOW. By faith in Him at work in you, in the midst of the pressure, countering it with the pressure of His own life.

1. What is the evidence that you have been born of God? (v. 1)
2. How can you know for sure that you are a “child of God”? (John mentions two things in v. 2)
3. Often we think of God’s commandments as hard to keep or burdensome. Yet in v.3, it says, “… his commandments are not burdensome.” What do you think John is trying to convey?
4. Often you hear Christians say, “We are overcomers.” What do they mean by that and what makes you an overcomer? (v. 4)
5. What does faith have to do with overcoming the world? (v 5)

As always, may the Lord use this mid-week devotional to prepare your heart to receive Sunday’s message.

God bless you and I look forward to worshiping with you on Sunday. Invite someone to join you!