"Religion says DO, Jesus says DONE."

"I am writing to you who are God's children
     because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus.
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. 
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. 
(1 John 2:12-14)


What an encouragement to know that as long as we have been saved, God has given us such valuable gifts!!! I don't know where exactly any of you are in your faith, but no matter where we are, God has already promised us blessings we could never attain by ourselves. Even if we are just children, (which we all are if we've accepted Christ as God's Son), we can be assured that all our sins have been forgiven, and now we can call God our "Daddy". When we are more mature in the faith, we would've had memorable experiences with Jesus that enter the eternal realms. 

Even as a young Christian, there is hope. You would think that it would take us our whole lifetime to win the battle against the evil one, but God has already won this battle for us. At the college retreat, I shared with the girls a sin I had been struggling with that I didn't know when the battle would end. God has shown that the battle has already been won, and I just have to accept that. Accept that He is our strength, and make room for his Word in our hearts! We've received great achievements in this life already because He's accomplished them. 


      WORLD                                                                   GOD <3
Loving the world  =                                          = Not having the love of the Father  (2:15)
Craving for physical pleasure...                         Completely satisfied by God's Word
Craving for everything we see...                        Completely satisfied by an eternal relationship with Him
Pride in our achievements & possessions(2:16) Strong in His achievements that have become our possessions
Fading away (2:17)                                          Being renewed and becoming more like Jesus


And here's a video that our very own JIACHI posted on my FB! Thanks Josh! (Title of my post came from this vid!)