“Our Daily Bread”  http://odb.org

The Daily Devotions of Greg Laurie  http://www.harvest.org/devotional

Written by bruce r. mills for “God’s group”  @ www.Godsmanforever.com

“The importance of 1 John 1:9 for the ‘born again’ Christian”  (Part 3)

1 John 1:9 …  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  (NKJV)

On my first days writing about the importance of invoking 1 John 1:9 before engaging in godly activities…I listed 5 things for which we should be in right standing before God, before we start…  Here they are again:  1 John 1:9 should be invoked…A) before we pray…B) before we read scripture…C) before we open our hearts and minds to hearing a sermon in church on Sunday… D) before we share our faith with someone who has not yet been saved by God’s grace alone…and E) [Absolutely the most important of the 5] before we take part in Communion at church…  I am sure there are many more opportune times besides these 5, to seek God’s forgiveness…especially every time the Holy Spirit convicts us that we have sinned…   You can read Day 1 and Day 2 in reference number 1. & 2. Below…

Today I am going to share D) and E) with you.

1. D) Sharing your faith: 

Here is why you should invoke 1 John 1:9 after the Holy Spirit urges you to share your faith with someone around you that He is urging you to share your testimony and/or the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ with…  What ??   You say the Holy Spirit doesn’t urge you to witness to anyone ??  You must first be a “born again” Christian, who has been indwelt by God with the Holy Spirit…  To become a “born again Christian, saved by God’s grace alone…go to P.S. at the end, and seek the Lord while He may still be found…Isaiah 55:6-7…

But once you have the Holy Spirit living within you…you have to be attuned to His urging by invoking  1 John 1:9 every day through prayer, when you are convicted by the Holy Spirit that you have sinned…to be right with God…  [See Day 1. Post]   When you are righteous before a just and Holy God, (with sins confessed, repented of, and turned from)…you will be cleansed by God “from all unrighteousness”, and filled with the Holy Spirit …Ephesians 5:18-20…  Being filled with the Holy Spirit means you have submitted yourself to allow the Holy Spirit to take total control of your life, (for that moment in time, until your next sin), as you humbly submit to the Holy Spirit’s guidance and direction for your life…

Since God never makes any mistakes…I often wonder why any “born again” Christian would ever want to dismiss the urging of the Holy Spirit…  Actually, it is no surprise that the “born again” Christian is NOT listening to the Holy Spirit’s urging… If God is not the most important Person/thing in your life, He won’t force you to obey the urging of the Holy Spirit, because He has given us free will…  I know this for a fact, because for the better part of the first 7 years and 2 days from the time I was graced by God with salvation (at the age of almost 52)…God was NOT first in my life…☹   I was reading the Bible virtually every day; and going to church every week…but alas, God was NOT most important in my life…  God led me to read a sermon by REV. C.H. Spurgeon from 1859, titled… “Grieving the Holy Spirit”…  This sermon changed my life on 6/04/2009 from that day on…  If God is not most important in your life as a “born again” Christian, I urge you to open Spurgeon’s sermon, and read it !!  God may use this sermon to change your life as well !!    [See reference number 3. Below]

When you are walking in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16), and you ask God to place someone in your path to share the love of Christ…it is the Holy Spirit who will urge you to share your faith…  Did you ask God to place someone in your path today, to be able to share the love of Christ ??  If you don’t ask God, you won’t receive your request…James 4:3…  But rest assured, if the Holy Spirit urges you to witness to someone (a command for ALL believers, by Jesus Himself, with His last spoken words to us before ascending into heaven…Matthew 28:19-20), He will give you the right words at the right time to share your faith…  The Holy Spirit will help you if He is alive and active in your humbly submitted life !!  This is why you invoke…1 John 1:9…  to be right with the Lord, when you are about to share your faith with someone in need of hearing the truth God wants all of us to hear…

1. E)  Before taking Communion:

Being right with the Lord, with all sins, confessed, repented of and turned from…is without a doubt the most important reason to invoke 1 John 1:9 before you partake of Communion at church…(1 Corinthians 11:17-33)  The apostle Paul gives us a warning that we are to examine ourselves before we take Communion…(1 Corinthians 11:28)  For those who take Communion in an unworthy manner (those harboring willful unrepentant sins that they have no intention of turning from- like living in fornication with someone as a “born again” Christian), we are given this most important warning, by the apostle Paul, in…

1 Corinthians 11:29-30…  For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. 30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.  (NKJV)

My friends, “and many sleep” means that God has the right to snuff out your life !!!!  I would think this point should be mentioned by EVERY pastor before Communion is partaken of !!  I have talked to several pastors about the need to warn believers living in willful unrepentant sin before taking Communion (if they are NOT going to turn and repent of this sin)…and they are not all on the same page…  Some pastors just urge their members to search their heart before taking Communion…  There is no mention of the warning that God has the right to snuff them out, if Communion is taken in an unworthy manner…  Some pastors mention this warning, if they remember…  But two of the pastors I spoke with, told me that warning believers with willful unrepentant sin that was not going to be turned from, was an extremely important part before taking Communion…  One said he told his members…you can take Communion harboring this sin/sins if you want…  But you take it at your own risk !!!

If we are living in sin, our heart is deceitful above all things…Jeremiah 17:9…  God is not going to even hear our prayers, if we have sin residing in our heart (some that we are not even aware of… [See Psalm 66:18, Isaiah 59:1-2, and 1 Peter 3:12 ]   King David knew this…  This is why he pleaded to God to search his heart, in…

Psalm 139:23-24…  Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; ²⁴ And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting. (NKJV)

Isaiah 59:2…  But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.  (NKJV)

I took Communion for several years, when God was NOT most important in my life…  I wish the pastor had warned me about this MOST SEVERE SIN !!  All those years of prayer, and God didn’t hear them !!  ☹   If God is not most important in your life, you are a “lukewarm” Christian… Christ tells us this, in…Revelation 3:15-16… “So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. (V.16)   This should bring all “born again” believers to their knees in shame !!  You are sinning through what is called the “sin of omission”, as penned by the apostle James, in…

James 4:17…  Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.  (NKJV)

My friends, if God is not most important in your life, you should get on your knees with godly sorrow, and humbly ask God to take back control of your life…  If you have lost the “FIRE” you once had for the Lord…you should seek the Lord’s face, asking for His forgiveness…and submit your lives again to God’s will, and to the power of the Holy Spirit…  When you’re “ON FIRE” for the Lord…you WILL be blessed beyond belief !!  I spent a day writing about being “ON FIRE” for the Lord (or Not)…that you can read about in reference number 4. Below…

There you have it my friends…  Two more of the 5 reasons for invoking 1 John 1:9 to live a Spirit filled life that will be pleasing in God’s eyes…  I believe 1 John 1:9 is the absolute most important piece of scripture in God’s Word, for the “born again” Christian…  It should be memorized, and used every time the Holy Spirit convicts us of any and all sins…  We should also invoke 1 John 1:9 before we engage in any of the 5 godly activities I have written about…  Here is this most important piece of scripture again, to finish up today’s post…

1 John 1:9 …  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  (NKJV)

Gracious God and heavenly Father…I am ever so thankful that Your Son Jesus Christ shed His blood on the cross at Calvary, to cover my lifetime of sins…  I pray Father, that Your living and powerful Word (Hebrews 4:12), would cut right to the bone of those not now living lives that are “ON FIRE” for You… I pray You change hearts and lives right now…so that believers could benefit from the many promises and blessings that living a Spirit filled life will bring into the lives of those that live in obedience to Your will and Your ways…  I pray for this miraculous change in every readers life, in Jesus’ most precious name and for His sake…Amen…

Blessings in Christ,  bruce

References:

1. Day 1 post-  https://godsmanforever.com/2020/09/24/the-importance-of-1-john-19-for-the-born-again-christian-9-24-2020-written-by-bruce-r-mills-for-gods-group/

1. Day 2 post- https://godsmanforever.com/2020/09/27/the-importance-of-1-john-19-for-the-born-again-christian-part-2-9-27-2020-written-by-bruce-r-mills-for-gods-group-www-godsmanforever-com/

2. Sermon by Spurgeon- “Grieving the Holy Spirit”-  http://www.romans45.org/spurgeon/sermons/0278.htm

3. “ON FIRE” for the Lord- or not-  https://godsmanforever.com/2020/08/01/are-you-a-christian-in-gods-eyes-and-on-fire-for-the-lord-or-not/

P.S.  When there is no other place to turn…turn to God !!  If you’re not a “born again” Christian, is the Holy Spirit urging you to open this link ??  Here is the truth for this most important days writing, about how God’s grace is received to become a Christian in God’s eyes; through understanding and obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ…   https://godsmanforever.com

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