AND WE KNOW THAT WE ARE OF GOD ,

 

EVENING DEVOTIONS BY James Smith

JANUARY 30

 

I John 5:19

And we know that we are of God, and

the whole world lieth in wickedness.

 
What an honour!
 
What a comfort is this!
 
Yes, we are of God, created anew in Christ Jesus, by the power and agency of the Holy Spirit.
 
Consecrated to his service and glory, by the death of our great High Priest, and the sprinkling of his blood upon us.
 
Set apart in his eternal purpose for his praise, and now brought into holy and profitable relation to him. We were rebels against him, we are now his willing servants.
 
We were his avowed enemies, we are now the children of his love.
 
We know that we are of God,
  by faith in his word—
  by love to his saints—
  by sympathy with himself—
  by the grief we feel when we sin—
  by our pleasure in obeying his will—
  by the contrast there is between us and the world,
in our principles, pleasures, and pursuits.
 
What we are, as distinguished from others, is of God;
   being thus distinguished, we are peculiarly the Lord’s:
      his property, his treasure, his portion, his delight.
 
What an outstanding fact!
 
We are the Lord’s. The grace that made us so must be free and infinite.
 

O Lord, be daily near my heart,

And let my spirit feel thee near;

Then willingly with all I’d part,

Nor count it worthy of a tear.

 
James Smith