ReAwakening 1 John 4

"We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in him."  1 John 4:16

Welcome to our final day of 1 John 4!  It has been a challenging read this week.  There is a lot of talk about love in chapter 4, but there's this scary talk of false prophets and the Antichrist.  The love part I get - I like - it's all rainbows and sunshine.  But false prophets & the Antichrist!?   That takes some time to really come to terms with.  

This warning about the spirit of the Antichrist is quite difficult for me because it's just not something that has been discussed much in my upbringing in the Lutheran tradition.  I do believe evil is at work in the world - individually and on larger scales.  So, this idea of false prophets being in the world intrigues me.  One of my SOAK verses for this week was verse 1, 

"Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit.  You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God.  For there are many false prophets in the world."

I didn't SOAK on this verse until the end of the week - after absorbing all the love this chapter has!  But, I was drawn to verse 1 because I saw that while the world changes, it also stays the same.  There were "many false prophets" then and now.  As I spent some time wondering who these false prophets could, be our previous lessons on 'where our hearts lie, there's where our treasure is also', kept coming to mind.  That makes sense to me in the 21st Century!  The false prophets telling me that I will be better & more fulfilled if I: wear a certain size, use a particular product, drive a certain car, shop at the right store, prescribe to the latest lifestyle, trash this & uphold that, it goes on and on!  I consider these 'false prophets' - a bombardment of messages urging me to seek love & wholeness anywhere but the One True God. When I hear these over and over again, I start to believe them.  And that's when I need to take John's advice and test them for myself.
I also recognize that there are actual people out there who are false prophets, claiming to be from God.  I think those are more difficult to discern because people and society are so complex.  But, I'm sure you can think of a few individuals, usually more infamous than famous, or maybe someone you've encountered personally, who fit this description.  People who fan the flames of discontent, stir up trouble for trouble's sake all while claiming they are Christian and following what the Bible says.  People who claim the Bible tells them to hate, ridicule, and discriminate against others.  Yes, we probably know a few of these people.  Would I go so far as to say they have the spirit of the Antichrist?  I don't think so in every case, but certainly misguided and in need of some help.  I add them to my prayer list and move on!

The opening verse is another one I took some time with this week.  It is reassuring that 2 very important things have already happened, John is just reminding us that:
1) God loves us
2) We have put our trust in Him
Sometimes it's the simplest things that we forget as we live our harried & complex lives.  I am so glad that John takes the time to remind us of these precious facts.  When life seems overwhelming, I come back to these: God love me and I trust Him.  What a wonderful mantra!

What was your favorite SOAK verse this week?  What insight or thought would you like to share with the group?  I look forward to reading what you discovered in God's Word!

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Your Partner in Ministry,

Shelly
warrior

"Kind words are like honey - sweet to the soul and healthy for the body."  Proverbs 16:24