The Christian cannot give devotion to both the world and God, divided devotion cannot lead to eternal life or real love.

If you want to be certain that you are rightly following God and not fooling yourself, you need trailblazes for the journey. Three such guideposts are; obeying God’s commands, living as Jesus did and refusing to let hate set your course.

Over the next few weeks I want to walk with you through some select passages of 1 John. In particular I what you to pay attention to a simple phrase through 1 John “This is,” God uses these little words to show us important declarations of how we can know that we are following Jesus rightly and are healthy as his Church.

You and I need to be soaked in the scriptures. Not just a light sprinkle. Not just a quick rinse. But soaked deeply so that the word of God permeates our lives.

There is only one way to face the impossible, with mustard seed faith.

You are called to live by mustard seed faith; a faith that is confident and located exclusively in the God of the Bible, his promises and his power.

It is a terrible thing when our actions do not match our faith. This week I want to share with you a passage from James 2:17-18. This passage makes it clear that faith must be connected to action, our deeds.

Trust is an essential element of faith. Over the next three weeks we are going to spend a little time looking at Faith, that element of belief that each Christian must exercise to receive salvation and live well.

There is something in David’s prayer life that you and I can learn from. Godly prayer consists of both seeking and waiting. Each must happen in their turn with confidence in God. When we do this we find confidence, strength and peace in our prayers.

Godly courage comes not by resolutely facing our troubles and fears but by resolutely facing into the power and goodness of God.

Hebrews 10:24-25 tells us that God calls his people to a better way, love and good deeds by God’s standard. We learn how to live out this higher calling by being the Church pushing and encouraging other to be more and more like Jesus.