Ten Tests: Tests 1-3

Ikthus Daily Word | November 28, 2023 | Tuesday 1 John 4:16 “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” I shall suggest to you ten tests that you can apply to yourself to know for certain that you know the love of God to you. Here is the first. It is a loss and absence of the sense that God is against us. The natural man always feels that God is against him. He would be very glad if he could wake up and read that some bishop or other had proved that God never existed; he would be ready to believe that. The newspapers give publicity to anything that denies the faith; they know the public palate. That is why the natural man is at enmity against God; he feels God is against him. That is why when anything goes wrong he says, “Why does God allow this?” And when men and women are in a state of being antagonistic toward God, then, of course, they cannot love God. So one of the first tests, and I am starting with the lowest, is that we have lost that feeling that God is against us. Second, there is a loss of the fear of God, while a sense of awe remains. Let us approach Him “with reverence and godly fear,” writes the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews (12:28). John is going to elaborate on that; that is the rest of the fourth chapter of 1 John. We lose that craven fear of God, but oh, what a reverence remains. Third, there is a feeling and a sense that God is for us and that God loves us. Now I put it like that quite deliberately because it is so very true to experience. I have lost the sense that God is against me, and I begin to have a feeling and sense that God is for me, that God is kind to me, that He is concerned about me, and that He truly loves me. A Thought to Ponder: I have lost the sense that God is against me, and I begin to have a feeling and sense that God is for me. Devotional Source: Walking with God Day By Day Need Prayers? Message us: ⁠Ikthus Dumaguete⁠ Keep updated by following our socials: ⁠Facebook⁠, ⁠Youtube⁠, ⁠Instagram⁠