The Fifth and final Chapter of the First Letter of St. John

The Fifth Chapter of the 

First Letter of 

St. John

¹ Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of Godܑ, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child.

(The fifth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verse 1)

Oh, brothers and sisters, the son is the reflection of the Father, therefore when claiming to believe in God the Father we are also claiming to believe in God the Son since they are one Amen. I pray oh God my Father that my faith in You will always be firm even though I at times I face difficult situations Amen.



² By this, we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.


(The fifth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verse 2)


Oh God, my Father, I thank You for giving me the opportunity of loving Your less considered children who are migrants and refugees. I pray that I am given the second chance of loving my own daughter Amen.


³ For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, ⁴ for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith.



(The fifth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verses 3 to 4)



Oh God, my Father, the wars of the world are achieved with missiles and other activity, which breeds more of its negative kind. However our war against the evil spirits of the world is the war of love, especially love towards those who do not show us, love. Our greatest victory is over our natural self, our nature that compels us to fight back our enemies, to hold grudges against those who have hurt us. Amen. 



⁵ Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?


(The fifth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verse 5)


Amen, I do believe that this is the good news of our salvation. I give testimony with my life to this belief that there is no other Salvation than in the Name of Christ Jesus Amen.


⁶ This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth.


(The fifth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verse 6)


Oh God my Father Your birth was special in all conditions for You were not only born of the flesh but also of the Holy Spirit which makes You Holy and Blessed Amen.


⁷ There are three that testify, ⁸ the Spirit and the water and the blood, and these three agree.


(The fifth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verses 7 to 8)


Oh God, my Father in You there is no disparity between the flesh and the spirit because both are united as one whole and all testify for each other. However, as humans, we experience conflict between the demands of the flesh in contrast to the demands of the spirit Amen. I pray to You my God and Father, that You help me find the desired balance.


⁹ If we receive human testimony, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God that he has testified to his Son.




(The fifth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verse 9)


Oh God my Father since we accept theories related to science, management, physics and psychology that all have human rational as a point of departure, why do we find it so hard to accept the teachings found in the Bible as being true holy and relevant to our times. I pray that You make us more open to Your Holy Spirit so that he will free us of our pride and make us more humble to accept You at Your Word without doubt Amen.


¹⁰ Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts. Those who do not believe in God have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son.



(The fifth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verse 10)


Oh God, my Father wherever I go I am a living testimony of Your presence in my life. I cannot stop proclaiming Your Holy Name and the great wonders that You have performed and are still performing in my life Amen.


¹¹ And this is the testimony; God gave 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.


(The fifth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verses 11 to 12)


Oh God my Father, we may have experienced many successes in a lifetime, however, if we never made an experience with You and Your love for us, all have been in vain and is of no value whatsoever Amen. Who has experienced You has the fulfilment of both the material and the spiritual world Amen.



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.




(The fifth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verse 13)


On building upon what the Holy Spirit tells us by verse 13, I add that I share these prayers so that together we can grow together in our relationship with God Amen.



¹⁴  And this is the boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.


(The fifth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verse 14)


Oh God my Father what a great reassurance You gave me tonight. In Your Name oh Jesus, if it is according to Your Will I pray that tomorrow a vaccine is found for the Corona Virus so that it will no longer claim the lives of innocent people. However, God may it be according to Your will and not mine Amen.



¹⁵ And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him.


(The fifth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verse 15)


Oh God, my Father, I am fully convinced that You hear all my prayers and requests, however, on the other hand, I also have faith that You only approve that which is beneficial for my wellbeing Amen,



¹⁶ If you see your brother or sister committing what is not a mortal sin, you will ask, and God will give life to such a one-to those whose sin is not mortal. There is sin that is mortal; I do not say that you should pray about that. ¹⁷ All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not mortal.


(The fifth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verses 16 to 17)



Oh God, my Father, I realize with Your divine help that there are sins and mortal sins. I pray for forgiveness for all my sins and say a big sorry to all those people whom I have wronged or hurt in my life to the present day Amen.



¹⁸ We know that those who are born of God do not sin, but the one who was born of God protects them, and the evil one does not touch them.



(The fifth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verse 18)



Oh God, my Father, I thank You for protecting me against the forces of evil who are my deadly enemies. As a human, I am still weak and prone to sin, however with You fighting for me I am filled with hope and courage to face the world Amen.



¹⁹ We know that we are God's children, and that the whole world lies under the power of the evil one.



(The fifth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verse 19)



Oh God, my Father, I thank You for adopting me as one of Your little children. I also thank You for this blog my God and Father, for if together we save even one soul from the clutches of Satan I would be more than happy. However, I have faith in You that our or Your success rate can be much greater than one person Amen.



²⁰ And we know 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, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. ²¹ Little children, keep yourselves from idols.



(The fifth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verses 20 to 21)



Oh God, my Father, I thank You for giving me an understanding of Your Word even though I am no theologian or philosopher. I thank You for every spoonful a day that You give me every day of my life. It is like medicine for both the mind and the body that keeps me as a whole person Amen.



Oh God, my blessed Father, I would like to end this fifth and final meditation on the first chapter of the first letter of St. John, on this special day of Easter eve, with the following prayer.



Oh God, my Father, today is a special evening. We celebrate our Passover from light to darkness, from the clutches of sin to the freedom of Salvation. I thank You for paying the price of my salvation. I pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit so that You can keep on using me in different settings of life. I pray that as a little child my eyes will always be fixed on You, for only in You do I find love hope and consolation even during the present times of tribulation Amen.



In order to continue with this meditation on the Bible I invite you to click on the following link which takes you to The Second Letter of St. John


https://secondletterofjohn.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-second-letter-of-john-to-update.html

The Fourth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John

The Fourth Chapter of the 

First Letter of 

St. John

¹ Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

(The Fourth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verse 1)

Brothers and Sisters apparently not every spirit is a good spirit and therefore we are to be careful in not communicating with evil spirits such as in spiritism or using the Ouija board in order to communicate with spirits. In order to discern the messages of such spirits, St. Ignatius of Loyola gives us the following instructions.





Discerning of the Spirits




² By this you know the Spirit of God; every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in  the flesh is from God, ³ and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that is coming; and now it is already in the world.




(The Fourth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verses 2 to 3)



Oh God, my beloved Father these bad spirits of the antichrist is still roaming the world, for even during our times there are still conflicting views regarding Your human and divine nature. Others have made films and written books in order to create doubts in the heart of mankind, however, the truth will always be the truth on earth as it is in heaven Amen



⁴ Little children, you are from God, and have conquered them; for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

 


(The Fourth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verse 4)




Oh God my Father we try to seek support and help beyond us by means of psychologists and counsellors and  even doctors who all use the skills of their profession in order to help us, however the major answers and solutions to our problems are in the inner chambers of our soul, which is Your dwelling place and where we can find You any time we want to Amen.



⁵ They are from the world; therefore what they say is from the world, and the world listens to them



(The Fourth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verse 5) 




Oh God my beloved Father, people of the world speak a language that is approved of by the world, people who are close to God, speak a language that is not always acceptable to such people, because they have not yet made the experience of You Amen.




⁶ We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us, and whoever is not from God does not listen to us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.


(The Fourth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verse 6)  




Oh God, my blessed Father, presently I have issues with humans of this earth, who are showing me that they have not in them Your Spirit but the sinful spirit of the world. When I try to mention You and issues related to You such as Your truth, their spirit rebels in protest. Thank You for such people because of they a mirror of what I never wish to be Amen.



⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.



(The Fourth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verses 7 to 8)  




Oh God my blessed Father, how much we love others reflects how much we love You, for we cannot say that we love You and then hate others, for one heart cannot harbour feelings of love and hatred, it is either one or the other Amen.  



⁹  God's love was revealed among us in this way; God sent his only Son into¹⁰ the world so that we might live through him.



(The Fourth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verse 9)  



The greatest act of love was done by You my God and Father, You are love itself, I thank You for having given us Yourself as love Amen.


¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.



(The Fourth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verse 10)



Oh God, my loving Father, I thank You from my heart that You Yourself out of indescribable love chose to be the sacrifice for the atonement of the whole world. Whenever I feel unforgiven I look at You and remember the bloody price that You paid for me Amen




¹¹ Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.



(The Fourth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verse 11)



Oh God my Father, even though I am separated from my wife, and I am experiencing peace again for which I thank You from the bottom of my heart, although I feel angry for her actions, I cannot say that I hate her, for, among her negative acts, I also remember the good times that we had together even though such moments were very limited. I thank You for such moments my God and Father Amen.



¹² No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.


(The Fourth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verse 12)





Oh God, when we love each other we experience Your love, however, I am in a situation where there are people who have hurt me and with whom I am not on good terms. Many people have used me and then have thrown me away like toilet paper. I am sorry but as a human, it is not easy for me to love such people, however, I know that this is Your will and therefore with the help of Your grace it will be done, however, I need a lot of help and support from Your side Amen.



¹³ By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us his spirit.


(The Fourth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verse 13)





Oh, brothers and sisters by means of the barometer of love, we know how much we love each other, and we also can fathom or experience of God's love in our hearts. With a heavy heart, I proclaim that at this point in time I cannot experience the full love of God since there are still people in my life, who have hurt me so much that I am still in a process of healing from the emotional injuries that I have experienced. I pray to God that there will come that day when I am completely healed and be ready to love these people unconditionally Amen.



¹⁴ And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world.


(The Fourth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verse 14)


Oh God, my Father, even though I have not seen I still testify that You exist and that You are the Saviour of the World and my loving Father Amen.



¹⁵ God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God.



(The Fourth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verse 15)



Oh God my Father I know that You abide in me even though I still work in progress, I thank You more than ever for intervening in my life Amen. In public and in private I proclaim You as being my God and Father Amen.



¹⁶ So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.



(The Fourth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verse 16) 




Oh God my Father what a great reassurance this is to know that You will keep on abiding in us even though we are sinners. I pray that we are always a worthy dwelling place for You to abide in. Bless us with Your holy and mighty presence so that the evil spirits will no longer find an opportunity to try and claim their place within us Amen. 



¹⁷ Love has been perfected among us in this; that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world.


(The Fourth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verse 17) 


Oh God my Father, when You took on Yourself the human form You perfected that love that You had already given us. You put on it the seal of perfection that makes us whole as human beings Amen.



¹⁸ There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.



(The Fourth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verse 18) 


Oh God, my Father, fear and faith are not compatible with each other, for where there is fear there is no faith. Where there is fear there is doubt and uncertainty. I pray oh God that You heal us from this doubt that is also related to sin so that we can throw our anchor in You and feel forever secure Amen.



¹⁹ We love because he first loved us.



(The Fourth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verse 19) 




Oh God my Father, only love coming from You is true love. Many people have pledged their love to me including my ex-wife, however, all people have their personal agenda when doing so. There seems to always be a but related to the word love, for only You give us free and unconditional love. You keep on loving us even when we turn against You and show a lack of love. You are always waiting for us to turn back from our ways Amen.



²⁰ Those who say, "I love God," and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.



(The Fourth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verse 20) 



Oh God, my Father, I admit that I do not have a love for she who was my wife, however even though I am angry and hurt about what she is doing to me, I cannot say that I hate her. However, I admit that I have far to go in loving those who have hurt me Amen.



²¹ The commandment we have from him is this; those who love God must love their brothers and sister also.



(The Fourth Chapter of the First Letter of St. John verse 21)



Oh God my Father, give me the strength to obey You and Your commandments for even though I strongly hold that I love and believe in You my actions do not always reflect this love. I pray thatYou teach me to love in the same way that You love me Amen.



I would like to end this reflection on the First Letter of St. John with the following prayer on a special day that as Roman Catholics we commemorate Your Mother Mary whom You gave us as an act of love Amen.



Oh, heavenly parents, I thank you both for loving me, however, my love is not yet complete since as a human I only love those who show me love and respect and this is not love as You meant it to be. I pray that You teach me to love in the same way that You love me Amen 

  

 




 

The Third Chapter of the First Letter of St. John

The Third Chapter of the 

First Letter of 

St. John

¹ See what love the Father has given 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.

(The Third chapter of the First letter of St. John verse 1)

Oh God my Father if the world rejected You, it will also reject me, for if it did not listen to the Master it will not listen to the servant or slave. However, this does not discourage me as it did not discourage the apostles and disciples who kept on proclaiming Your name up to the last second of their life. I pray oh God that You give me that fighting spirit that is never discouraged but keeps on fighting in the sense of never stopping spreading Your name Amen.



² Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this; when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. ³ And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.



(The Third chapter of the First letter of St. John verses 2 to 3)





Oh God my Father this is the third beloved of the morning, and I really appreciate it, for it is best to be loved by You than by the world and its inhabitants. I crave for love at this point in time. I miss the moments when I directly heard Your voice even though I was scared out of my wits. I pray that day by day You continue to reveal Yourself to me my God and Father during these moments of prayer Amen. I thank You my dearly beloved God and Father Amen.



⁴ Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. ⁵ You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.



(The Third chapter of the First letter of St. John verses 4 to 5) 



 Oh God my Father we are aware of how pure and just You are, as much as we are aware of our own sins, even though we may not admit this especially in the presence of others. When I pray and meditate on the Bible my God and Father, I realize how good you are and how not good I still am.


 
⁶ No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him.



 (The Third chapter of the First letter of St. John verse 6)



Oh God my Father, according to this biblical verse I do not have a relationship with You, which is not completely true, for even though I am a sinner You still want to have fellowship with me Amen.


⁷ Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. ⁸ Everyone who commits sin is a child of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. 



 (The Third chapter of the First letter of St. John verses 7 to 8)




Oh God my beloved Father, in truth I consider myself as being a grown up and an adult, however I am still a child in Your eyes. I thank You for accepting me as Your child, who depends on You alone for my care love and well-being Amen.




⁹ Those who have been born of God do not sin, because God's seed abides in them; they cannot sin, because they have been born of God



 (The Third chapter of the First letter of St. John verse 9)




Oh God my beloved Father when I was born in the flesh I was born from a material seed that is purely flesh and matter, however, in time You gave me another opportunity to be born of the Spirit. However, these two natures clash within myself and there are times when my behavior is the fruit of the Spirit and at other times my behavior is that of the flesh. I pray that You help me overcome the flesh and subdue it to the Spirit Amen.



¹⁰ The children of God and the children of the devil are revealed in this way; all who do not do what is right are not from God, nor are those who do not love their brothers and sisters."


(The Third chapter of the First letter of St. John verse 10) 



Oh God, my beloved Father how great is Your name. Even though I am not fully good in my ways, but You know that at least my intentions are well. Even though I wish to separate from my wife, this is not the fruit of hate but love, so that she would be compelled to work and be free from her online gaming addiction. On the other hand, my daughter would see the model of a working mother instead of a gamer. My two goals would be reached with one intervention. I thank You for such a plan my God and Father Amen. 


¹¹ For this is the message you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 


(The Third chapter of the First letter of St. John verse 11)

Oh God, my Father I am aware that if we could not reach this goal of loving each other You would not have ordered us to do so. However since our human nature is as it is, this is not an easy task to accomplish. For to love really and truly as You did means to go against my egotistic nature and be an all giving person to others especially to my wife. However, when that person has hurt me so much it will be only with Your love and grace that I manage to accomplish such a goal, which I feel so weak and cold to do so at the moment. Amen. I feel so decided on starting a new life as a separated person that I do not even feel motivated to love her. I am very sorry my God and Father.



¹² We must not be like Cain who was from the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous.



(The Third chapter of the First letter of St. John verse 12) 



Oh God my beloved Father, I believe that as humans, we have both the Abel and the Cain inside of us, however, at times we permit Abel to take control while at other times we let Cain take full control. I pray that it is the power of Your Holy Spirit that takes full control and not ourselves Amen. 


¹³ Do not be astonished, brothers and sisters, that the world hates you.


(The Third chapter of the First letter of St. John verse 13)


Oh God, my beloved Father, I am getting used to people who hate me because I have this blog and because I spend time in prayer with You. Every time a quarrel takes place, such as that which I had with my wife's father, he insulted me because of my life of prayer, but I am not dismayed for I find my refuge in You and I know how precious these moments of prayer are for me Amen. 


¹⁴ We know that we have passed from death to life because we love one another. Whoever does not love abides in death


(The Third chapter of the First letter of St. John verse 14)


Oh God my beloved Father according to John I am living in a state of death, for I  have no love left for my wife and even for my daughter. I have many hurts that are blocking me from loving them, and this is what makes it more difficult, On the other hand even though I get angry when I think of them if I see somebody hurt them in any way in my presence I would turn a blind eye on them. Therefore in a way I still love them but for my own good, I cannot live under the same roof with them Amen. 


¹⁵ All who hate a brother or sister are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life abiding in them.



(The Third chapter of the First letter of St. John verse 15)


Oh God, my Father, hate is a negative trait. At times I feel so angry at my wife that I say that I hate her, however, it is this hurt that speaks, because I still feel injured by her actions. Moreover, I still feel angry when I see her, I pray to You to help me control my feelings and heal my wounds Amen.


¹⁶ We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us-and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.



(The Third chapter of the First letter of St. John verse 16)



Oh God my beloved Father, at this stage of my life, I have never been tested as to lay down my life for others, I am currently preserving my well being from the onslaughts of others. I pray that if and when I am faced with this test You find me ready for it. 


¹⁷ How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?


(The Third chapter of the First letter of St. John verse 17)


Oh God, my beloved Father, even though I am still a sinful person struggling every day to overcome my sinful self, I still do my best and go out of my way to help and be of service to others. I thank You and praise Your holy Name for giving such a quality even to a sinful person such as myself Amen.


¹⁸ Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.


(The Third chapter of the First letter of St. John verse 18)


Oh God my blessed Father, it is not good enough to say I love You on valentine's day, only and not meaning it, but for the sake of saying it to the one says I love. It is the action that proves how much one really loves. There is a saying that love hurts and another that says love until its hurt. True love is in giving and not in receiving. May we all aim for this type of love so that we become more like You Amen.


¹⁹ And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will treasure our hearts before him ²⁰ whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.


(The Third chapter of the First letter of St. John verses 19 to 20)


Oh God my Father, You know that I try to be in the truth and that even though I am still weak in flesh You know that my spirit craves to experience You. I pray that You speak to my heart so that I will remain in Your truth Amen.


²¹ Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; ²² and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.


(The Third chapter of the First letter of St. John verses 21 to 22)


Oh God my Father, my Father still condemns me for the past but appraises me for the present, for now, the quality of my life has improved and I am freer to praise and worship You and to do good to others Amen. Thank You, Jesus.


²³ And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. ²⁴ All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.



(The Third chapter of the First letter of St. John verses 23 to 24)


Brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus our beloved Father, the key of all righteousness is love, and this means praying and loving not only those who love us but those who do not show us righteousness love and respect. When we go against the logic of the world we are going in favor of Your logic my God and Father and this is the right direction for us to take Amen.


I would like to end this third chapter of the 'First Letter of St. John' with the following prayer:


Oh God my beloved Father, as You have told us many times, we are children of the light and not of the darkness, we radiate love and goodness and not hatred and darkness. However, as humans we are clothed with both natures. I pray that in time You remove our evilness and continue to clothe us with the weapons of the Holy Spirit Amen