Loving One Another: A Journey Through 1 John 4:7-21

Loving One Another: A  Prayerful Journey Through 1 John 4: 7-21

 "Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love."

          Dear Heavenly Father, bring on the love...

"God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins."

 Thank you for sending Jesus to die for my sins- Woo Hoo! What love, what sacrifice...

 "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 is brought to full expression in us."

   For many who profess Your name , we have a long way to go to truly walk this out fully in our homes, marriages, parenting, in ministries, at work, our own backyard, across the nations... Thank you for your patience God. You took care of the 'sin issue' at the cross Jesus, help us to walk out your grace in every way- every day. Help us to learn to BE the church not simply go to one!

"And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world. All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God.  We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love."

 Jesus asked Peter, "Who do you say that I am"? (Mathew 16:15).  I know that you are real as I've hid Your word in my heart, and profoundly experienced Your presence in my life...Jesus is the Son of God! Bring on the testimonies!

"God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world."

Thank you God for teaching me what it means to be "in Christ". Profound! The challenge for us is to stay firmly in Him on our journey and not stray! Be my strength, be my guide!

"Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.  We love each other because he loved us first."

It's all about his love. God's radical, life transforming grace giving sacrificial love found in a relationship with Jesus Christ. Incredible- Fear vs Faith? I choose Faith in JC! I've come to know that perfect love and continually come back to that 'first love' to guide me:)

 If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?  And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their Christian brothers and sisters."  1 John 4:7-21 AMEN!  

Now this is where we are tested hey friends? This is where my heart beats to the sound of a my Heavenly Father's heartbeat for his children to walk in love, unity and honour. I ache for the church, the body of Christ to truly get into alignment and stop the ridiculous sibling rivalry game and behave, serve, radiate and impart God's love as the family of believers was created to be! Sure- we see pockets of beautiful unity all around, but I declare we were created for so much MORE!  As a non-denominational ministry to all women, that's one of our passions here at Women's Journey of Faith- One of our 'key principles' to restoration- our vision... It starts and ends in love Our God has given us the ministry of Reconciliation!

  This Valentine's, let's put more focus on the love of God and HIS perfect unfailing love. Romantic love is lovely, but God's redeeming life giving love is relentless.  We all need to get over ourselves and  confess our pride in order to fill and refill ourselves up with Christ's abounding love-truth and grace. Then, only then- can we love others as He first loved us.

Jodi Kozan is the founder, President of Women's Journey of Faith. She is the momma to four daughters, married to Tim since 1990 and has been leading WJOF since it's inception in 1999.  Passionate about their vision "The Restoration of Women", she has come to know deeply that restoration begins in the heart, extends to the family which seeks to infiltrate the world! To express this passion, she enjoys how the ministry has expanded in various forms over the years to include our annual conference (This year's "Flourish" event is Nov 7-8) and our spring Sharing the Journey seminar is coming up on April 4-5 in Saskatoon, SK Canada. Visit our website to learn more about WJOF and other awesome opportunities to engage like our tour to Israel in March 2015, reading women's faith stories and other aspects of encouragement for your journey:)  To read more about Jodi's story, her testimony and speaking topics, visit her blog "Jodi's Journey" or on her personal website.