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Jesus Christ is within us and is much greater than any false prophet or Satan. By virtue of the fact that Jesus resides in our hearts we have overcome. Our Messiah is much greater than any false prophet or Satan. We have overcome with him and he is always with us. Whenever I am afraid I call on His name. He never lets me down. A Bible verse, a hymn, a prayer and there He is.

The very basis of incarnation that we celebrate at Christmas is Jesus is God in the flesh and is until the cross. He came to earth as an infant and grew and experienced and walked with us. He knew us but now he KNOWS us. Satan does not want us to believe anything positive about Jesus. He is the direct opposite. Everything good about Jesus, Satan is everything bad. Jesus living out his 30 some years in human form tells me he really knows the temptations and all of the feelings we have. The significance of the crucifixion and the resurrection is that he was human yet chose to take on all of our sins and die and yet show us that he loved us so much we were forgiven and can have eternal life if we receive him in our hearts. This is the basis of my religion and my belief

John baptized with water. Jesus baptized with the Holy Spirit. This baptism is an outward sign of an inward deep belief. We are born again into the Kingdom of God. Not a ceremony to be taken lightly!!! We have new birth by the Spirit.

Lamb of God tells us that Jesus is the sacrifice. Lambs were used by the Jews for sacrifices for the forgiveness of sin. Jesus pure and unblemished was the sacrifice for our sins. The prophecy in Isaiah describes His ministry and sacrifice that He took on himself by divine appointment. He humbled himself for us and forgave us of all of our sins.

John shows humility by saying he is not worthy to untie the thongs of the sandals of the one who comes after him. We are all servants of the God himself as was John. Jesus made himself a servant to the people. Humility and serving another is all part of the great love of our religion. We are equal in His sight. John sees himself only as one who came before Him to tell of His coming. As a minister I ask before I approach the altar each Sunday for His help, His words, and anything that comes from my mouth be pleasing to Him. Anything I do is for him no credit is due me. All is His. As long as we know everything we do is for the glory of the Father and to help another human we are on the right track.

John baptized as an act of purification and forgiveness. It was a cleansing. John was getting those ready for the one who would come after.

John the Baptist was being "hassled" by the religious leaders because he was telling them who he wasn't. He was telling them things they did not want to hear. example The Kingdom of God is at hand, repent. They would be saying among themselves who is he. John just said who he wasn't. We all have a fear of what we do not know or understand. I think this is one thing that was going on. Plus the other thing would be where am I in all of this? John understand that his mission was to make way for the one who would come. I feel much conflict could be expected. After all weren't things going along just fine! The rich were getting richer, the poor getting poorer and those who knew the Messiah would come kept anticipating.

Jesus is the "Only God" to me means He always was, is and will be. Nothing before Him. He was just there. I may be wrong but I do not believe John makes a distinction between God the Father and God the Son. Understanding the Trinity - I explain it this way to the children. I am my husband's wife, I am my children's mother, and I am me. But, all are one.

To me, as a Christian, and I may have it wrong, God becoming flesh is important because He loved us. He created the world and gave us everything. What did we do with it? We learned and very quickly to kill, lie, cheat and steal. God flooded the world and started again. Once again the wheel turned and we killed, lied, cheated and stole. He sent prophets. Same thing. Kings same thing. So after remaining quiet for 400 years, He sent a baby. Born in a cave to poor but a proud people. Raised among us he knew our pain. He knew our hunger. He knew love, sadness, and death. He came into His own and drew men to him. He lived our lives! This to me is important. He walked this earth just like I do. He came for me. He died for me and the sins I will commit next year. He defeated death for me so if I freely receive I will live in eternity with him. Everything He did was for me. I know He did this. He has walked with me through my husband's cancer and he is still fighting. I have MS and am not in very good condition right now, He is with me. I know if I have do deal with anything He is always with me giving me strength. My life has changed alot. I have a chronic disease and at my age I know I am drawing to "a close" as is my husband. We have no fear of death as He will walk with us. We are both ministers and we know we have done our best. He is waiting for us.

To receive Jesus is to accept 100%, no doubts, fully believe. I think to believe in is to accept that He is there. Not placing your whole being into His hands, just knowing he is there kind of like Wal-Mart. We believe it to be the store with the groceries and everything one could want. To have a spiritual relationship with God is to commune with him. To love him and to follow the commandments. Also this is a new birth by water and the blood. We become his children and He becomes our Father. Those who do not receive become children of the dark.

John the Baptist was sent ahead of Jesus to affirm that Jesus is the Lamb of God. He testifies as in a court today that Jesus is who he says he is. He testifies with authority. We are made in His likeness. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week we are on this earth to show the light. We as Christians, Believers, are affirming the Light is Jesus the Lamb of God. (or we should be!!) John the Baptist, for his beliefs was beheaded. He condemned adultery, was imprisoned and beheaded for spite. To stand up for Jesus is not popular. In this country it is not so bad. People who do not want to hear may walk away or laugh. In foreign counties where I have been standing up for what you believe is dangerous. In Africa a group will contest you with arms. But, God is beside you, with you, and always for you. One must do as one believes. I did not back down and we ended up laughing. We agreed we had different Gods and if we truly believed it was ok.

According to the Apostle John Jesus IS fully God. Jesus is the independent personified expression of God. He is the Word. He is, He was, and always will be. The ministry of Jesus is God's word made "flesh". Made for us to see and feel and hopefully understand.

We need teachers in the church to help us, or give us what we need for the work of the ministry. God will lead you to it, and he will get you through it by giving you what you need to do it. But, we need teachers to guide us. I believe the anointing is the calling. That remains internal. Now we need to be guided on how to use it. Like the ministry. Some are called but need the teachers' guidance on what to do.

I believe that to abide/remain/continue in Jesus means to walk with him and try to become more like him in all you do. If we are abiding in Jesus we will always put God first and love our neighbors as we love ourselves. We will become a Matthew 25 Christian. If one is not abiding in Jesus we have rejected the only one with whom we will have eternal life. The me becomes much more important. We live for ourselves in this type of Christian. We abandon our early teachings of Jesus and think we can do it all ourselves.

The Holy Spirit is our internal teacher and the "friend" that reminds us of everything Jesus has said. Reading the Bible and studying it, fellowship with other Christians, prayer is not only teaching us and living in us it is the Holy Spirit pointing us in the footsteps of Jesus. The Bible and the Holy Spirit instill in us the right way to go. We learn by example and if we do these things we have the example of Jesus to follow and the Holy Spirit will guide us.

The anointing that John is talking about is the Holy Spirit that each member of the congregation had received. the anointing is connected to the Holy Spirit in the Bible in that God chose or called people to service and oil was used to anoint them. When anointed the Spirit of the Lord came over them. Every Christian has the Holy Spirit with them if they follow Jesus. This is our Advocate, our Friend, our Consoler. Jesus when he ascended said the Advocate would be with us. But, I believe God "calls" certain people to do certain jobs. I was "called" to the ministry at 13. Later in life I was called again. This time I was anointed with the Holy Spirit. I felt a "kiss" on the top of my head and liquid fire poured over me. That is the only was I can describe it. I burned from within. I felt full yet wanted more. The grass became greener, the sky bluer, the scriptures cleared. It was awesome. That is the anointing.

John expects the antichrist to come, but is not yet revealed. Enemies of Christ, false doctrine that denied Jesus was God in human form and immoral behavior. However in Revelation, the antichrist was revealed to John as the beast rising from the sea. The antichrist, the enemies of the church that are in the church now is not THE antichrist but influenced by the spirit of the antichrist. The antichrist is at work even now. The antichrist will come an is an abomination that causes total desolation. The antichrist is at work in the squabbling, the undermining acts that are performed by members of a congregation that tear down a church. These people are under the influence of the antichrist.

There are three sins that John gives examples of in this passage; 1) **** of the flesh, 2) **** of the eyes, and 3) pride of life. We are but mortal man. We sin. We at times will desire something that is forbidden. We will look at a member of the opposite sex and we can be real proud of possessions. Sometimes we just plain do not see this in ourselves. By being of the world and wanting these things which are fleeting and do us no good after a time we endanger our eternal life with Christ. We do not need these worldly things to live with the Father.

"The world" in verses 15-16 refers to that which is not godly. That which takes your time, energy and love away from God. Anything that we put above God is of the world and it keeps us from loving the Father.

John encourages children, young men, and fathers. I believe as in any family we need encouragement and support and feedback to know you are growing in the right direction. John was encouraging people of all ages. John was encouraging each to his own age group and activities. A child would not need the same type of encouragement as fathers. Each age group needs a different type of encouragement.

Hate and unforgiveness blind so spiritually in that they consume. We leave no room except for vengeance. Love frees us from the fire of hate. When this happens to us we can come into the light with love. Confess to the Father, forgive and forget. Let love fill your heart.

We need to love Christ. We can be serious about obey without becoming legalistic and judgmental leading to a self-righteous very simply. Love the Lord your God, with your whole heart and love your neighbor as yourself. When tithing giving just what you have to, helping the poor, only if seem, loving your neighbor, only if you have too. Love is something that is given freely. If you are required by law to do something you are only doing it because you have to. We need first a plan. Stick to the plan or mission you have set up for yourself. Ex. Upon rising in the morning, Bible study and prayer. Prayer all day long. Keep God first in your life. Read the Bible and not just read STUDY! The more we study the more we can actually feel Jesus and know his ways. Pattern your life after him, be a God Coin!

John gives us the assurance that if we do sin we have one who will speak to the Father in our defense. That person is Jesus Christ. This is comforting in that before He knew us He loved us. He was the first fruit sacrifice for us so that no longer was a sacrifice necessary. Anyone who loves us this much and wants to live with us in eternity we want to please. We should try to live a Godly life free from sin.

My definition of confession is to admit one's wrong doing. It is important to confess of your sins because it clears the soul. You can take a deep breath. You do not have to look over your shoulder. You confess to another human, yourself and God. You feel free. If we stop confessing our sins the love in our heart for God, for ourselves, and for others just dries up. If we confess of our sins, the Father will forgive us. Not only forgive, but forget. We have a clean slate to start over. He will make us clean. Forgiving us of our sins is a confession from us and the Father forgives. A cleansing is to purify us through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the part of us that others see when we do not know we are being observed. It is the inner us. This is the part that needs cleansed.

When a Christian walks in darkness or willfully does what they know to be wrong they are surely sinning. To walk in darkness is to sin, or be without the light of our Lord. When we do this and know it we are deceiving only ourselves. If we walk in the light we have the fellowship with our believers and Jesus' blood to cleanse us. To return to the light is to repent and turn from the dark and walk in the light with other Christians.