She’s back: Kim Walker (Smith) has 10,000 Reasons

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2 Timothy. Paul, Almighty, Arts and Entertainment, Bible, Bless The Lord, Christian, Christianity, God, Holy, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus Culture, Kim Walker, Kim Walker-Smith, praise, Religion and Spirituality, song, worship

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Stay with me here…
I’ve got a point today along with the inspiring Sunday music.

I read (March 29 actually):

“Researchers used brain scans to analyze the thought process of people with ‘high justice sensitivity’. By using a functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) brain scanning device, they studied the brain activity as the subjects watched videos showing behavior that was morally good or bad like seeing a person put money in the beggar’s cup or kick the beggar’s cup away. They were asked how much they would blame or praise the person in the video and to complete  questionnaires that assessed cognitive and emotional empathy and their justice sensitivity.

Those who scored high on the justice sensitivity assigned significantly more blame when asked to evaluate scenes of harm and also praised more the act of an helping person. But it was the brain scans that surprised the scientists.

During the behavior-evaluation exercise, people with high justice sensitivity showed more activity in the parts of brain associated with higher order cognition as compared to an average subject whereas the areas of brain concerned with emotional processing were not affected at all. Thus proving that individuals sensitive to justice are cognitively driven, not emotionally as everyone thinks.

So the search of justice does not primarily come from the sentimental motivations like portrayed rather it comes from reason and mental sophisticated analysis.

When evaluating good actions, a high  activity in the regions of brain involved on decision making, motivation and reward was shown, answering why some people react more strongly to justice related situations and why they value justice more than others. The findings also suggest that individuals make judgement about behavior based on how they process the reward value of good actions as compared to bad actions.”

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How do you suppose people are coming to higher-consciousness about social justice?

If you have been following my blog, you may guess that I believe it isn’t by accident — I’m pretty darn sure its because this is what we are doing while we are getting more spiritually fit and mindfully attuned and prayerfully loving. We are changing our brains and our genetics. We are evolving. We are learning and teaching that it is good to love being loving and compassionate. We are learning that we may even have compassion for people that are awful (and of course still have legal justice)… its work; yes it is… its God’s work.

My mission is to promote loving; not religion. You may also though enjoy the remainder of my post today. I hope so.

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Wikipedia short biography

Kim Walker-Smith is an American singer, songwriter, worship leader, and recording artist. She produced her first solo album, titled ‘Here Is My Song‘, which was released in February 2008 through the Jesus Culture record label.

 

Kim Walker-Smith
Sermon: Impatience and fear 

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Program Description
Women’s Conference – Session 2 – August 18, 2011 – Under the theme “What If…”

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 “My hunger for God
far outweighs the hunger
to understand or to have all the answers.”

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Bless Your Holy Name; Jesus!

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Thanks for visiting.

 Eric

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As I face myself in the mirror…
I’m looking for holiness within my human face… 
that will come along.

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Only one Word was on my mind

My soul longs for You

2 Timothy

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Other WordPress Peace bloggers:

http://wordpress.com/tag/b4peace/

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Laughter-A Perfectly Efficacious Therapy Costing Nothing!

Tags

Bible, laughter, natural resources, transcendental wisdom

I’m discovering wisdom from my friend Reigh that has been available in the best selling book of all time… here is a sample:

The Perfect Prescription2014

It is no exaggeration to say that humor is highly infectious-even more infectious than a cold. Actually, humor is not only infectious, it is contagious. The sound of a hearty roaring laughter automatically makes us smile even when we have no clue what the person might be laughing at. Laughter has a way of binding us together-sharing in each other’s happiness. Health-wise, laughter has physiological and psychological health outcomes. For example, it fortifies our immune system. It reduces stress levels and pain. It also decreases inter-personal and intra-personal conflict. Interventional scientific studies affirm the preventive and therapeutic properties of spontaneous laughter.

Laughter has been found to have positive effects on the following:

• Blood Pressure: When a person has a hearty laugh, initially their blood pressure rises, but then it immediately falls to levels below normal, and levels off to normal levels.

•  Hormones: Science claims that laughter is associated with…

View original post 189 more words

we live in Him and He in us

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awareness, Bible, Christianity, God, happiness, Heaven, Jesus, life is beautiful, Religion and Spirituality

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Enjoy your Sunday!

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1 John 4:13-16

13 We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.

15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

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This is simple:
If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God.   In other words, repent and believe that Jesus is the Son of God and you are then grated the promise of eternal life.

Concentration – be acknowledging

1. accept or admit the existence or truth of [Jesus] as divine
2. recognize the importance or quality of the indwelling of Holy Spirit

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How to acknowledge Christ

Luke 12:8-12 “I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”

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Science too demonstrates spirituality

Andrew Newberg

The front part of the brain, which is usually involved in focusing attention and concentration, is more active during meditation.  This makes sense since meditation requires a high degree of concentration. We also found that the more activity increased in the frontal lobe, the more activity decreased in the parietal lobe.

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As a result of sin, we imagine God’s anger and judgment. Thus, we fear wrath — the only just punishment for sins committed against an infinite and eternal God is an infinite punishment/death (Romans 6:23 and Revelation 20:11-15).

That is why we need our Savior. Jesus was born on Earth and then died in our place. He descended to Hell. His death was payment for all sins (2 Corinthians 5:21 and Romans 5:8). Upon resurrection we have the proof that His death was sufficient to pay the penalty for all sins.

Suddenly, a new clarity is available in these revelations.

Jesus is Savior (John 14:6; Acts 4:12).

God isn’t about punishment.

God is forgiveness and God is by His grace bringing us to think about and to want forgiveness. God is love and God wants us to know only about His divine love. We will forget all that is unreal. We will not recall that we’d thought that God would punish us for hate. Hate isn’t real; never was.

In a moment once, when I looked into my mirror, I saw that hate is an illusion. I saw that upon receiving forgiveness, hate is like a pencil mark that is erased as though it never were because indeed it never really was there. It was fear. 

I looked past what I thought was fear and that too faded away into nothingness. Fear too was unreal.

Everything that is eternal flowed through me at that moment. I liked that moment. I practice that moment; because it is real.

I know, there IS a universal moment when there is only eternal joyfulness; that is real; and there, in that moment is every moment that ever will be; eternally real. That moment holds us in space-time until there is no other moment in the the awareness of all that is and ever was to be spiritual.

I pray we will all see this reality that I enjoy sharing about. I pray that God will dwell in us all; every one of us. We will rejoin Him in His reality. All that is illusion will be no more; it never was. This is my strength. This I know. There is all knowledge here in that one eternal moment that is all about us and every-how creating the real us.

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Thanks for visiting.

 Eric

RELATED ARTICLES

• morning Meditation
• ripple-ing
• only one word was on my mind
• when you believe
• what is done for us
• how God showed His Love
• When I Think of You… A new Hallelujah
• our Father
• commandments
• heart coherence? and awake my soul 

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2 Timothy

Tags

2 Timothy. Paul, Bible, God, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus Culture, Kim Walker, Kim Walker-Smith, Paul the Apostle

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In 2005, Walker’s “powerful voice won her $25,000 cash in a competition called “So You Want to Be a Star.” As Kim puts it “Holy Spirit is my friend.”

Kim is considered a forerunner in a worship referred to as prophetic worship. The new style is much more raw and spontaneous in nature than most contemporary Christian music. Her music has grown in popularity over the past few years. Kim is a member of the band Jesus Culture, a youth worship band that hosts multiple worship conferences around the country.

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I am happy to feature Kim Walker-Smith and the scripture, 2 Timothy. I appreciate her youth leadership role in her home town church and her worship music as well.  

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Hold fast the form of sound words,
which thou hast heard of me,
in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

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Related:
Only one Word was on my mind
Jesus Culture – You Won’t Relent and Jason Upton – Peace
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Thanks for visiting,

 Eric

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See also:

Stillness – your essential nature
meditation changes brains
a place called Heaven
morning Meditation
ripple-ing

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what is your heartfelt belief?

Tags

atheism, beliefs, Bible, Divine LOVE, happiness, homeless, life lesson, love, Richard Dawkins

It’s best to take in this article, commentary and video together.

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Atheism is an intellectual luxury for the wealthy
By Chris Arnade, The Guardian

This is a reblog+

They prayed whenever they could find 15 minutes. “Preacher Man”, as we called him, would read from the Bible with his tiny round glasses. It was the only book he had ever read. A dozen or so others would listen, silently praying while stroking rosaries, sitting on bare mattresses, crammed into a half-painted dorm room.

I was the outsider, a 16-year-old working on a summer custodial crew for a local college, saving money to pay for my escape from my hometown. The other employees, close to three dozen, were working to feed themselves, to feed their kids, to pay child support, to pay for the basics of life. I was the only white, everyone else was African-American.

Preacher Man tried to get me to join the prayer meetings, asking me almost daily. I declined, preferring to spend those small work breaks with some of the other guys on the crew. We would use the time to snatch a quick drink or maybe smoke a joint.

Preacher Man would question me, “What do you believe in?” I would decline to engage, out of politeness. He pressed me. Finally I broke, “I am an atheist. I don’t believe in a God. I don’t think the world is only 5,000 years old, I don’t think Cain and Abel married their sisters!”

Preacher Man’s eyes narrowed. He pointed at me, “You are an APE-IEST. An APE-IEST. You going to lead a life of sin and end in hell.”

Three years later I did escape my town, eventually receiving a PhD in physics, and then working on Wall Street for 20 years. A life devoted to rational thought, a life devoted to numbers and clever arguments.

During that time I counted myself an atheist and nodded in agreement as a wave of atheistic fervor swept out of the scientific community and into the media, led by Richard Dawkins.

I saw some of myself in him: quick with arguments, uneasy with emotions, comfortable with logic, able to look at any ideology or any thought process and expose the inconsistencies. We all picked on the Bible, a tome cobbled together over hundreds of years that provides so many inconsistencies. It is the skinny 85lb (35.6kg) weakling for anyone looking to flex their scientific muscles.

I eventually left my Wall Street job and started working with and photographing homeless addicts in the South Bronx. When I first walked into the Bronx I assumed I would find the same cynicism I had towards faith. If anyone seemed the perfect candidate for atheism it was the addicts who see daily how unfair, unjust, and evil the world can be.

None of them are. Rather they are some of the strongest believers I have met, steeped in a combination of Bible, superstition, and folklore.

The first addict I met was Takeesha. She was standing near the high wall of the Corpus Christi Monastery. We talked for close to an hour before I took her picture. When we finished, I asked her how she wanted to be described. She said without any pause, “As who I am. A prostitute, a mother of six, and a child of God.”

Takeesha was raped by a relative when she was 11. Her mother, herself a prostitute, put Takeesha out on the streets at 13, where she has been for the last 30 years. She told me “It’s sad when it’s your mother, who you trust, and she was out there with me, but you know what kept me through all that? God. Whenever I got into the car, God got into the car with me.”

Sonya and Eric, heroin addicts who are homeless, have a picture of the Last Supper that moves with them. It has hung in an abandoned building, it has hung in a sewage-filled basement, and now it leans against the pole in the small space under the interstate where they live.

Sarah, 15 years on the streets, wears a cross around her neck. Always.

Michael, 30 years on the streets, carries a rosary in his pocket. Always.

In any crack house, in the darkest buildings empty of all other furnishings, a worn Bible can be found laying flat amongst needles, caps, lighters, and crack pipes.

Takeesha and the other homeless addicts are brutalized by a system driven by a predatory economic rationalism (a term used recently by J. M. Coetzee in his essay: On Nelson Mandela). They are viewed by the public and seen by almost everyone else as losers.

Just “junkie prostitutes” who live in abandoned buildings. They have their faith because what they believe in doesn’t judge them.

Who am I to tell them that what they believe is irrational? Who am I to tell them the one thing that gives them hope and allows them to find some beauty in an awful world is inconsistent? I cannot tell them that there is nothing beyond this physical life. It would be cruel and pointless.

In these last three years, out from behind my computers, I have been reminded that life is not rational and that everyone makes mistakes. Or, in Biblical terms, we are all sinners.

We are all sinners. On the streets the addicts, with their daily battles and proximity to death, have come to understand this viscerally. Many successful people don’t. Their sense of entitlement and emotional distance has numbed their understanding of our fallibility.

Soon I saw my atheism for what it is: an intellectual belief most accessible to those who have done well.

I look back at my 16-year-old self and see Preacher Man and his listeners differently.

I look at the fragile women praying and see a mother working a minimum wage custodial job, trying to raise three children alone. Her children’s father off drunk somewhere.

I look at the teenager fingering a small cross and see a young woman, abused by a father addicted to whatever, trying to find some moments of peace.

I see Preacher Man himself, living in a beat up shack without electricity, desperate to stay clean, desperate to make sense of a world that has given him little.

They found hope where they could.

I want to go back to that 16-year-old self and tell him to shut up with the “see how clever I am attitude.” I want to tell him to appreciate how easy he had it, with a path out. A path to riches.

I also see Richard Dawkins differently. I see him as a grown up version of that 16-year-old kid, proud of being smart, unable to understand why anyone would believe or think differently from himself. I see a person so removed from humanity and so removed from the ambiguity of life that he finds himself judging those who think differently.

I see someone doing what he claims to hate in others. Preaching from a selfish vantage point.

guardian.co.uk
© Guardian News and Media 2013

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So, there is a lesson here in this. Chris Arnade notes: “I see someone doing what he claims to hate in others. Preaching from a selfish vantage point.” Really — contrasting views is a good thing. Intolerance is wrong (or sinful – sin: missing the point). 

Let’s not forget that suffering is real. Let’s not forget that what people believe is real to them and they have reasons for holding their beliefs.

As for Richard Dawkins, I see him as making a living debating science verses religion. Its odd to me that he’d do this. However, he seems to be enjoying  himself and not at anyone’s great expense really. He’s actually been instrumental for many Christians to take up learning about biology, evolution and so on. It seems basically healthy, I think. Dawkins is the Satan of science in some minds. He’s just a bit militant it seems to others. I just marvel at how he tempers his superior brashness lately. That was a fault I held onto for a long while. 

Maybe Chris Arnade is a bit resentful. Still, he’s moved me with his story. There’s Chris the Wall Street guy turned photographer of the homeless. He’s seeing things differently. He’s working on seeing himself through the world of the lost people.

I eat a slice of humble pie still sometimes. I think we’re best off practicing humility, honesty, working on being open to learn, and being willing to change.

Life’s too complex to have it all right. Yet, loving myself, no matter what, is essential. 

I think we all need to see the world through the lens of our loving selves. When I love myself and see myself in others, I’m growing.

One of my most profound life lessons was to practice seeing that we are mirrors for each other.

 

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Thanks for visiting. I hope this post will help us all be loving of ourselves and others.

 Eric

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Related articles (hunt4truth.wordpress.com)

• Writer considers how people experience God through the story of Jesus
• Religion for Atheists?
• Stillness – your essential nature
• mindfulness and prayerful healing
• is the brain spirituality wired?
• awake my soul
• Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
• Only one Word was on my mind

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a place called Heaven

Tags

awareness, Bible, Christianity, God, happiness, Heaven, Jesus, life is beautiful, Religion and Spirituality

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John 14:1-4 (Jesus is speaking)
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” 

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Thanks for visiting.

 Eric

Related articles

• • morning Meditation
  • ripple-ing
  • only one word was on my mind
  • when you believe
  • what is done for us
  • how God showed His Love
  • When I Think of You… A new Hallelujah
  • our Father
  • commandments
  • heart coherence? and awake my soul 

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Fruits Worthy of Repentance

Tags

Bible, Christ, God, Jesus, Lord, Repentance

the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed…

YAY!

Related articles

• MercyMe I can only imagine (hunt4truth.wordpress.com)
• When I Think of You… A new Hallelujah (hunt4truth.wordpress.com)
• what is done for us (hunt4truth.wordpress.com)
• MercyMe word of God speak (hunt4truth.wordpress.com)

• That God May Grant Repentance (samuelatgilgal.wordpress.com)
• To see and know Him: Day 5 (scottyintheokcvillage.wordpress.com)
• Genuine repentance (wordsofgrace.wordpress.com)

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how God showed His love…

Tags

atone, atoning, Beautiful, Bible, Christianity, consciousness, First Epistle of John, God, happiness, how Gow showed His love, Jesus, love, Love of God, MercyMe, Religion and Spirituality, sacrifice, salvation, Sunday

Enjoy your Sunday! MercyME – Beautiful 1 John 4:9-11 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

I’ve include links to Related pages

• 1 John (NIV) (hunt4truth.wordpress.com)
• mercy me word of God speak (hunt4truth.wordpress.com)
• “God Is Love” (lcgliddenblog.wordpress.com)
• Choose to Love no Matter what (winningleadership.wordpress.com)
• Abide in My Love- Series Introduction (abidingheartsathome.wordpress.com)
• You Were Saved to Serve God (lynvgarcia.wordpress.com)
• You’re Beautiful, My Sweet, Sweet Song!! (godssceneryandpromises.wordpress.com)
• MercyMe – Bring the Rain (proverbsway.com)
• Agape Love: A Biblical Overview (christianity.answers.com)
• Love God With All Your Passion (lyleandpaige.wordpress.com)
• Love and success (buildinglegacies.wordpress.com)

I hope you have time to visit some of the above pages!

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mercy me word of God speak

Tags

Bible, God, HolySpirit, Jesus, Love of God, MercyMe, Sunday, Word of God Speak

Enjoy Your Day! 

I’m finding myself at a loss for words
And the funny thing is it’s okay
The last thing I need is to be heard
But to hear what You would say

[CHORUS]

Word of God speak
Would You pour down like rain
Washing my eyes to see Your majesty
To be still and know
That You’re in this place
Please let me stay and rest
In Your holiness Word of God speak

I’m finding myself in the midst of You
Beyond the music, beyond the noise
All that I need is to be with You
And in the quiet hear Your voice

[REPEAT CHORUS 2x]

I’m finding myself at a loss for words
And the funny thing is it’s okay  

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video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVi4jth2XSg

Thanks for visiting,

 Eric

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1 John (NIV)

Tags

Bible, Christ, consciousness, Eternal Life, First Epistle of John, Forgiveness, God, God the Father, God's love, happiness, Heaven, Jesus, Jesus Christ, love, New International Version, perfect

I post this reminder that as Christians, we know this is our reason for being:

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1 John New International Version (NIV)

1 John 1
The Incarnation of the Word of Life
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our a joy complete.

Light and Darkness, Sin and Forgiveness
5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all b sin.

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
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Footnotes:
a 4 Some manuscripts your
b 7 Or every

1 John 2
1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

Love and Hatred for Fellow Believers
3 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God a is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. 8 Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.

9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister b is still in the darkness. 10 Anyone who loves their brother and sister c lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. 11 But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.

Reasons for Writing
12 I am writing to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name. 13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. 14 I write to you, dear children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

On Not Loving the World
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father d is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

Warnings Against Denying the Son
18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.

20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. e 21 I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. 22 Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

24 As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is what he promised us—eternal life.

26 I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. 27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.

God’s Children and Sin
28 And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.

29 If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.

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Footnotes:
a 5 Or word, God’s love
b 9 The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a believer, whether man or woman, as part of God’s family; also in verse 11; and in 3:15, 17; 4:20; 5:16.
c 10 The Greek word for brother and sister (adelphos) refers here to a believer, whether man or woman, as part of God’s family; also in 3:10; 4:20, 21.
d 15 Or world, the Father’s love
e 20 Some manuscripts and you know all things

1 John 3
1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, a we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. 9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. 10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.

More on Love and Hatred
11 For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, b if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 15 Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.

16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

19 This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: 20 If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24 The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

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Footnotes:
a 2 Or when it is made known
b 13 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in verse 16.

1 John 4
1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit a of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

God’s Love and Ours
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.

17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

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Footnotes:
a 6 Or spirit

1 John 5
Faith in the Incarnate Son of God
1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

6 This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the a Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. 9 We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. 11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Concluding Affirmations
13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

16 If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.

18 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them. 19 We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. 20 We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

21 Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.

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Footnotes:
a 8 Late manuscripts of the Vulgate testify in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. 8And there are three that testify on earth: the (not found in any Greek manuscript before the fourteenth century)

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