Love - Love Your Brother (Daily Devotional)

Hello and welcome, we're glad that you could join us on Living Supernaturally, the daily devotion of All People's church. Today on Living Supernaturally, we are meditating on God's word, especially from John's first epistle and we see in 1 John that there are several verses that talk about the love of God and different aspects of God's love and what it does to us and the potential of how it can touch and impact others. So, we're looking today at 1 John chapter 2, verses 9 to 11 and it says here, ‘he who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.’ So, some very straight talking here that John does and he brings out the difference or the distinguishing factor between loving God and loving others. When we read through this, we see that it is possible for a person to say that they are spiritual, it is possible for a person to experience God, experience salvation, love the word and read the word and want to be righteous and live a righteous life and so on. But if this person hates his brother, he considers himself to be in the light but if he hates his brother, it says here that he is in darkness and not in the light. Whereas if one loves his brother, then he abides in the light, he continues to stay in the light and he continues to walk in the light. Light of course, we're referring to the revelation that comes from God, we're referring to the presence of God where we read that God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. So, we are referring to everything - His kingdom, His realm, His presence, His power and revelation and so on, when we refer to the light. It says here that whoever loves his brother, abides in the light or stays in the light, continues in the light and there is no cause for stumbling, there is no reason, there is no barrier, there is no cause for that person to trip and fall, to stumble and fall. Why? Because that person has decided and is living a life to love his brother. Verse 11 says, "But he who hates his brother is in darkness." Now, that's the reality, he who hates his brother. No matter how much we say that we love God, no matter how much we do to walk in righteousness, if this one aspect of our lives is not set right, if there is so much of strife and so much of bitterness that we hate our brother, it says here that we walk in darkness which is the opposite of walking in light and is the opposite of God's nature, which is the opposite of realm of God's kingdom. We then walk in darkness, which means we are putting ourselves in satan's territory, we are walking according to satan's laws and satan's steps and so that blinds our eyes. Shall we pray? Father, we thank you that you've called us to walk in light. Lord, so order our steps that we may walk in light, that we may walk in righteousness. As we continue to love, the way you love, to love our brothers, may we walk and abide in the light. We thank you for this possibility, we pray that you would empower us by your Spirit to do this, in Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

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