Posts by Alan Allegra (Page 3)

1 John, Day 4 When Love Breaks Through (1 John 3:10 – 24) By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers (1 John 3:16). As he sat in his car, he didn’t know what he was going to say to the love of his life. A few decisions he had made would shake up the relational ecosystem of their lives, sending shock waves through their family,…

1 John, Day 3 DISTINGUISHING TRUE CHRISTIANS FROM THOSE WHO WERE NOT CHRISTIANS “Interlude of Confidence” — Chapter 2:12 – 14 “Avoid the World’s Evils” — Chapter 2:15 – 17 “The Fellowship of Truth” — 2:18 – 27  The apostle John states to believers in this passage that when you receive Christ as your Savior, your heart has been renewed. You have been given the light from God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Love for your fellow brother has been…

1 John, Day 2 Fellowship of Righteousness (1 John 2:28 – 3:9) “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning…

2 Peter, Day 4 2 Peter 3 | Back to the Future “The future influences the present just as much as the past” (Friedrich Nietzsche) One of my all-time favorite movies is Back to the Future, in which the star is literally driven into the past and must return to the future, which would bring him to the present. In the BTTF trilogy, our hero also spends time in the future. One of the lessons of the movies is that…

2 Peter, Day 3 False Teachers, Part 2 Scripture Reading: 2 Peter 2:12 – 22 Growing up, I had a friend who got involved in a cult when he was in high school. This cult preyed on young people, and he got sucked in. He left home with the cult’s help and they moved him to a different city. Since he was not yet 18, they denied any knowledge of where he was or of helping him at all. His…

1 Peter, Day 5 1 Peter 5 GOD’S GRACE CARRIES US THROUGH SUFFERING “True Grace through Serving” — Chapter 5 The charge to the elders — Verses 1 – 4 Peter completes 1 Peter with challenges to the elders of the churches. He states that he witnessed the sufferings of Christ and that he, as Peter, will share in the glory that will eventually be revealed. Peter makes the following points: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your…

1 Peter, Day 3 1 Peter 3 Submit to Being Submissive “[S]ubmitting to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Ephesians 5:20) When I started cramming for this devotional, I opened my ESV Bible to 1 Peter Chapter 3, which I thought was a good place to start. I had to laugh because the heading at the top of the chapter reads, “Wives and Husbands.” So far, so good, until I got to the next section heading: “Suffering for Righteousness’…

1 Peter, Day 1 Former Ignorance versus Future Glory (I Peter 1) It all comes down to the word “hope.” This word has been part of so many conversations in the last year. The chaos that has ensued in our culture has drawn people to a journey looking for hope. As believers, we have been born again into hope: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born…

James, Day 5 The Power of Prayer (James 5) “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he…

James, Day 4 FAITH WORKS and PRACTICE THE WORD God is a Jealous God — James 4:1 – 10 Bring Your Speech in Line with Godly Views — James 4:11 – 17 Submit yourselves to God James starts with the question in Chapter 4 directed at Christians (believers): “What causes fights and quarrels among you?” Then, he answers his own question: Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill…