September 3
He calls us His children
Psalm 108-113/1John 3-5
[About Bible Readingfor the Hungry]
OT
108:1-5My heart is confident in you, O God; no wonder I can sing your praises! Wake up, my soul! Wake up, O harp and lyre! I will waken the dawn with my song. I will thank you, LORD, in front of all the people. I will sing your praises among the nations. For your unfailing love is higher than the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens. May your glory shine over all the earth.
112:1Praise the LORD! Happy are those who fear the LORD. Yes, happy are those who delight in doing what he commands.
113:9He gives the barren woman a home, so that she becomes a happy mother. Praise the LORD!
NT
3:1-3See how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for he allows us to be called his children, and we really are! But the people who belong to this world don’t know God, so they don’t understand that we are his children. Yes, dear friends, we are already God’s children, and we can’t even imagine what we will be like when Christ returns. But we do know that when he comes we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. And all who believe this will keep themselves pure, just as Christ is pure.
:18Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions.
4:7-11 Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is born of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God–for God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love has been brought to full expression through us.
5:19-21We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the power and control of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we are in God because we are in his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life. Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.
OT Flash Points
Praise the Lord! His righteousness endures forever!
Let people attack me but the longings of the wicked will come to nothing
NT Flash Points
How great is God’s love, that He would allow us to be called His Children
No one who continues in sin has ever met Him
Love for each other is the proof of being born of God (carried by God)
Perspective
Every one who loves God, loves His Children
Every one who believes that Jesus is Messiah is a Child of God