Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. 3 John 1:11 NIV
Background:
The apostle John was writing this letter to a dear friend called Gaius. We do not know too much about this friend except the fact that John held him in high regard. He was even compared with another in the same assembly who was doing what was wrong. John would not hesitate to call anyone out by name, who was doing either good or evil. Only if the church of God today would be like this: call out and expose sin, before it becomes a stumbling block to God's perfect will for his people. Another lesson this would teach me is that God notices everything I do. The motive and heart behind all I do are laid bare before God, and it is foolishness to think that the God who created the heart can be fooled by the deceit of the heart. I still find that there is still nothing in all of creation, formed and placed by God, that God cannot control. That is power at its fullness, and my life will only have impact and effect if I fully understand and live by this truth.
Focus:
The present earth is under the influence of sin and unfortunately, the power of sin is also seen in church. The devil also wants to copy all that God has made available, and the issue is that the devil's version is usually easy to follow. In this same chapter, John spoke about a man in church, who loved to be first. He must have been a leader, and he must have influenced people, but John, by the help of the Holy Spirit, had identified the man as a hypocrite. Beware of men and women with a form of Godliness but without the manifestation of the power of God. John warned Gaius to be careful about men like these, and to be careful of the things he would imitate. Human beings, by nature, are like sponges, and we soak up whatever it is that we see and hear regularly. The power of daily exposure and experience is that habits, lifestyle and character are formed from these. Which ones am I building on at the moment?
Conclusion:
What you do is a function of who you are and belong to. My citizenship defines my impact. I cannot be a lawful citizen of a country whose sovereignty and authority I do not recognize or submit to. My life is a public display of my private devotion. It is possible for a man to pretend for a while, but it cannot be sustained forever. As long as God is not sitting on the throne of my heart, in charge, in control and dictating terms, my life cannot produce anything that looks like what God can use. Being and doing good come from God; you cannot give what you don't have. You also can't fake what you can't produce. God is good and does good, because that is his nature. He will only produce after His kind, so if I find myself doing evil, it will be clear that I do not have God in me. Have you seen God? Does He know you as His own? God's time of favour is here.
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