I have been doing my study as well, but have not always had the time to comment.  With practically living at the hospital it is sometimes hard to write.  I do agree with Angela, though, that email would be perhaps more direct.  I also believe that this Bible study is much more important than all the little side track topics that we often like to engage in. 

I have also enjoyed going in to see what prayer needs there have been.

Thanks so much,
Robin Mureiko

Hey Melissa,
     So sorry to have been gone so long.  If you go to my blog you will find out why!  Anyway, I thought that Matthew Henry had some wonderful insights into this passage today.  Here is a link:

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/henry/mhc6.xxiii.vi.html

I hope it works.  I really don't understand how to make these things work!

Please keep praying for us.  We have such a long way to go with Carlos and his family, but we truly feel called by the Lord to stay with them through this terrible time.

Love to all of you,
Robin Mureiko
http://hasanyoneseenmypurse.blogspot.com

Yeah!  Woo Hoo!!!

By the way, Melissa, I love that resource library as well!  The article was very clearly started.  Not like my last post! 

I'm still here, Melissa.  Thank you for your faithfulness.  I do not know how to start a post and in the last few times have not known what to do.  Blessings, sister for your steadfastness.

In verse 19,

"And by this we know..."

seems to a continuation of verse 18 where we are

"not to love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth."

My translation in 19 says that

"by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him."

I took this to mean that because we are walking in deed and in truth that we can be confident in coming before Him, not being afraid because we have no relationship with Him.

If, in verse 20, we realize that we are not in deed and in truth and our hearts condemn us, we can also rest in the knowledge that God is greater and can cleanse us and bring us back into the light.

In verse 21, if we do not have known sin, we can come confidently into His presence knowing that what we ask we will receive if we ask in Him will. 

I love verse 22 because as a mother, I love to reward my children when they do right.  Even if it is just with a smile or an encouraging word.  How much more does the Lord want to bless His children when they obey Him and love His creations.

Ladies,
     Would you mind coming to my blog today or whenever you get a chance and read about what is happening in my life right now.  I could really use your prayers!

Blessings to you all,
RobinM
http://hasanyoneseenmypurse.blogspot.com

Thank you everyone!  I am still under the weather, but I too, do not feel alone.  We are undergoing a great deal of change in our housing situation and that is adding to our stress as well, even though the circumstances are great for our whole family!  Does that make sense?  I feel like I am in a fog right now so please forgive my ramblings.  Just know that I am praying for you all and I am grateful for your prayers also.

Robin

I haven't been in the last few days because I am just plain sick! I'm beginning to believe that I too am under attack.  Please pray for me..

RobinM

Oh, why not, let's go overboard! 

You know, just listening to everyone share makes me so excited about what the Lord is doing here.

I can honestly say that I have never been cool enough, rich enough, popular enough to "keep up with the Joneses".

I'm just going to pray that each one of us through the Holy Spirit will be humble enough, giving enough and loving enough that people will see past our outward shell (be it impressive or lowly) and just want Him.

My words look flat on the page as I write them to you.  I wish you could hear the excitement in my voice as I try to express to you what I am feeling for all of you today. 

I am crying, but so happy when I think of all of us seeing Jesus one day and being able to say to Him,

     "Thank you for your wonderful creation, but I love you more! Thank you for all the abundant provision, but I love you more!  Thank you for my loving, sweet family and friends, but I love you more!"

Melissa, could I have your blog address so that I can read what you have to say tonight.  I can't wait! 

I hope that this is coherent.  It is hard to type when you can't see what you are typing!

Sorry that I haven't been posting much, gals.  I have been overrun with people in the last few day and have not had much time to post.  That said, I am still staying up with everyone, just quietly! lol

The word is very clear and very convicting today. 

If you don't love your brother, even if you say that you are walking in the light, you are truly walking in darkness.

I was reading an article of a very good friend the other day and she commented on how her unconfessed sin hinders her prayer life.  She began to also suggest that if her prayer life is hindered then her prayers for the lost, the sick, the hurting, her family, etc. are not being answered.  She wondered if she was hindering others' salvation, health, healing, etc. by keeping unconfessed sin.

Love our brother is, I believe, pivotal in our continued relationship with the Lord.

It isn't an option.

I can't just decide that I love these people in the body and not those.

If I do, then I have certainly been bliinded by the Enemy and I have lost my effectiveness in my daily witness and in my prayer life.

Wow!

John didn't leave us a lot of wiggle room here, did he? 

Such a hard word, but still so encouraging!  If I don't keep His commands then I am not in him.  I have not truly come to know Him.

But, if I do keep His commands it is a clear sign to myself and others that the Holy Spirit is working in me.  I am in Him and I will be coming to know Him better and better.  More and more fully!

How exciting!

RobinM

Hello dear,
     I don't want you to think that I think that I can "fix" your problem.  The Lord is our only source of real comfort, but my dear friend has a sleeping issue as well.  She uses a homeopathic product called Calms Forte.  It has helped her tremendously.  It is all natural.  Not a sleeping pill.  You might see if your local health food store carries it.  She actually found in the grocery store, but you would just have to check.  It is manufactured by a company called Hyland's.
     I'll be praying and hoping for the Lord to show you the way.

Blessings,
RobinM

I'm praying for you right now.  May the Lord truly give you exactly what you need and may you rest in His goodness.

Blessings,
RobinM

I'll be praying.  Do you have a closet in your bedroom?  I put a tiny chair in mine and hide there when I have too.

Blessings,
RobinM

Wow!  Can't wait!

RobinM

I was looking at the fact that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all and cross-referenced to I Timothy 6:15-16.

"...King of king and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen."

Unapproachable light! 

This word light in I Tim. is the same Greek word for light in I John.

We are told to "walk in the light as He Himself is in the light" and then we will have fellowship with one another.

For me, the hope I find is that because we have been told to do this, we CAN do this very thing.

To walk in the light is to walk in truth.  To capture the "little foxes that spoil the vine".  To uncover and share with one another those "seeds of doubt" that the enemy loves to whisper in our ears to cause us to question God's love and the love we have with the brethren.

We have all heard so many sermons on "walking in the light", and it is a deep well to search out, but it is also simply put by John.  If I get up in the middle of the night and don't turn on the light, chances are I may stumble into something.  When I turn on even a tiny nightlight, suddenly I am safe from falling or hurting myself.

And if I "walk in the light as He Himself is in the light", I won't hurt anyone else!

Have a beautiful day, ladies!  Thank you for letting share what was pouring out of my heart this morning.

RobinM