1 John 3:22 [22] And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. I remember hearing an old black preacher say, “You’ve got to pray and work, and work and pray. When work won’t get it, prayer will, and when prayer won’t get it, work will. And when neither prayer nor work won’t get it, you forget it, because you didn’t need it anyhow”. The preacher’s statement best describes our verse for today. We are encouraged to pray and perform.  If you are praying to be a …

1 John 3:21 [21] Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. We have come to the third devotional emphasizing the heart. The first devotional showed us the confirmation of the heart, in verse nineteen. The second devotional dealt with the condemnation of the heart, in verse twenty. Our devotional here, in verse twenty-one, shows the confidence within the heart. Together these three verses prove that God works in the secret chambers of man’s heart.  The truths of God’s Word take root in man’s heart, producing faith-giving assurance. God is greater than the heart of man, …

1 John 3:20 [20] For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. No matter how hard we try, we do not live up to our own expectations, let alone God’s. The same heart that can give us assurance, as we read in the previous verse, can also fill us with guilt. Our heart can condemn us to the point that we live in defeat. This proves a very important principle for every believer. The heart is not to be ignored, but it is not to be the final authority either.  Fact, faith, …

1 John 3:19 [19] And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. Our salvation is assured by the Word of God, the Work of Christ, and the Witness of the Spirit. The deeds that we do are by no means the foundation of our salvation, but they do assure our hearts that faith has taken root in our lives. It has been said many times that, “works do not produce faith, but that genuine faith does produce works.” The bottom line is, that when we are truly saved, we will have …