Sat.'s Devo - Growing in Maturity

Read: 1 John 1-5
First John is a book for the mature who desire to walk with God. He first establishes that we have all sinned, then he spends the rest of the book telling us we don’t have to sin anymore. God is light and when we become born again, we have the opportunity to walk in God’s light. You can tell you are walking in this light if you love your brother, not that you are perfect.
John addresses three people in the second chapter: fathers, young men and children. Twice he says of the fathers that they have known him that is from the beginning. This word, “father” translates “parent”. It is talking to the ones who are mature and have walked with God for a long time and have years of experience. They have spiritual children who they mentor. They understand that Jesus is the one who created the world and manifested himself through many types in the Old Testament from Adam to his actual appearance.
The second group he addresses is the young men. He says of them that they are strong and have the Word in them. These are the warriors who are learning how to wield their sword and fight. They are growing in their gifts and gaining understanding along the way.
The last group is the little children. They know God as their Father and that is enough to sustain them till they grow and mature.
John, like Peter, Paul and Jude warn them of the deception of the anti-christ spirit which is always on the earth. It is the spirit of deception. We have the anointing of the Holy Spirit so we can discern the difference between good and evil, right and wrong, and truth and a lie.
John goes on to say in the third chapter that Jesus came to earth to take our sins away and if we abide in Him, we can not sin. If we do sin than we have not seen Jesus or known him. Sin is of the devil and Jesus defeated him so sin is defeated in us. This is one of those mysteries that I don’t quite understand.
Chapter Four gives us the litmus test to know whether a spirit is false or true. Does it agree that Jesus came to earth in the flesh as our Messiah? Then John reminds us that the Spirit of God in us is greater than the spirit of the world and the Antichrist. So we have no reason for fear. God is perfect love and His love is strong enough to conquer our deepest fears. When we love God and allow his love to dwell in us, then we love others as he does. Because Jesus overcame the world, we have overcome the world. It has no power over us. Believing in God gives us confidence to pray his will and see it come to pass.
Lord, help us to grow in love and understanding.