It's strange - i feel like I'm supposed to just share these 2 verses - don't know why - here they are...
1 John 5
11 And this is what God has testified:
He has given us eternal life,
and this life is in his Son.
12 Whoever has the Son has life;
whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.
That's pretty unequivocal...
1 John 4
7 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. 8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
9 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. 10 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.
11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. 12 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.
13 And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. 14 Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. 16 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.
God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. 17 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.
18 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. 19 We love each other because he loved us first.
20 If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? 21 And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.
1 John 3
11 This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12 We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous. 13 So don’t be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.
14 If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead. 15 Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.
16 We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?
18 Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. 19 Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. 20 Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.
21 Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. 22 And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him.
23 And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us. 24 Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us.
1 John 2
1 My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin.
But if anyone does sin,
we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father.
He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.
2 He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins;
and not only our sins
but the sins of all the world.
3 And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments.
4 If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments,
that person is a liar and is not living in the truth.
5 But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him.
That is how we know we are living in him.
6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.
7 Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you;
rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning.
This old commandment—to love one another—is the same message you heard before.
8 Yet it is also new.
Jesus lived the truth of this commandment,
and you also are living it.
For the darkness is disappearing,
and the true light is already shining.
9 If anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates a fellow believer,
that person is still living in darkness.
10 Anyone who loves a fellow believer is living in the light
and does not cause others to stumble.
11 But anyone who hates a fellow believer is still living and walking in darkness.
Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.
12 I am writing to you who are God’s children
because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus.
13 I am writing to you who are mature in the faith
because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning.
I am writing to you who are young in the faith
because you have won your battle with the evil one.
14 I have written to you who are God’s children
because you know the Father.
I have written to you who are mature in the faith
because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning.
I have written to you who are young in the faith
because you are strong.
God’s word lives in your hearts,
and you have won your battle with the evil one.
15 Do not love this world
nor the things it offers you,
for when you love the world,
you do not have the love of the Father in you.
16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure,
a craving for everything we see,
and pride in our achievements and possessions.
These are not from the Father,
but are from this world.
17 And this world is fading away,
along with everything that people crave.
But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.
1 John 1
1 We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning,
whom we have heard and seen.
We saw him with our own eyes
and touched him with our own hands.
He is the Word of life.
2 This one who is life itself was revealed to us,
and we have seen him.
And now we testify and proclaim to you
that he is the one who is eternal life.
He was with the Father,
and then he was revealed to us.
3 We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard
so that you may have fellowship with us.
And our fellowship is with the Father
and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
4 We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.
5 This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you:
God is light,
and there is no darkness in him at all.
6 So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God
but go on living in spiritual darkness;
we are not practicing the truth.
7 But if we are living in the light,
as God is in the light,
then we have fellowship with each other,
and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
8 If we claim we have no sin,
we are only fooling ourselves
and not living in the truth.
9 But if we confess our sins to him,
he is faithful
and just
to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
10 If we claim we have not sinned,
we are calling God a liar
and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.
Mark 4
3 “Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seed. 4 As he scattered it across his field, some of the seed fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate it. 5 Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seed sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. 6 But the plant soon wilted under the hot sun, and since it didn’t have deep roots, it died. 7 Other seed fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants so they produced no grain. 8 Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” 9 Then he said, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”
10 Later, when Jesus was alone with the twelve disciples and with the others who were gathered around, they asked him what the parables meant.
11 He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secret of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables for everything I say to outsiders, 12 so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled:
‘When they see what I do,
they will learn nothing.
When they hear what I say,
they will not understand.
Otherwise, they will turn to me
and be forgiven'”
13 Then Jesus said to them, “If you can’t understand the meaning of this parable, how will you understand all the other parables? 14 The farmer plants seed by taking God’s word to others. 15 The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message, only to have Satan come at once and take it away. 16 The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. 17 But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word. 18 The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word, 19 but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced. 20 And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”
This is Jesus speaking here...
And so I tell you,
keep on asking,
& you will be given what you ask for.
Keep on looking,
& you will find.
Keep on knocking,
& the door will be opened.
For everyone who asks,
receives.
Everyone who seeks,
finds.
nd the door is opened
to everyone who knocks.
Luke 11:9-10
