"I rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, as we received commandment from the Father" (2 John 4, NKJV). "If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth" (1 John 1:6, NKJV). What important point is being made in both these texts regarding what it means to have a saving relationship with Jesus?

The phrase which stands our here is the one " walking in the truth "
What does it mean to walk in the truth? In the bible the word walk
is used to express the way that a person lives from day to day.

To walk in the truth means to follow the principles of truth as they
are revealed in the scriptures. This passage also talks about the
profession of " Having fellowship with Him " yet if we still walk
in darkness then we do not practice truth.

To walk in darkness is contrasted with practicing the truth. If we
practice the truth we would not walk in darkness and our profession
of having fellowship with Christ would be true. A relationship with
Christ must be accompanied by a life that is molded and modeled after
His life and example.(1 John. 2:6)

Think about your interactions with folk in the past twenty-four hours. How have you treated them? What kind of words did you use? How comfortable would you be if your attitudes and actions toward them were made public (don't worry, one day they will; see Matt. 10:26). What does your answer tell you about what changes you need to see made in your life?


Prayer: Father thank you for the example that you have given us in Jesus Christ. Father I pray that you will help us to learn after the great teacher and love and life the way that He did. Help us to be transformed by the Holy Spirit and my blood of Jesus cover us. Thank you in Jesus name Amen.

Read 1 Timothy 4:2 and Titus 1:15. What important point is Paul talking about here? Our conscience is the place where the Holy Spirit makes contact with us. What can happen to us if we constantly are doing wrong?

Paul here is talking about a poisoned conscience. The conscience is
the mechanism which is used by the Holy Spirit to communicate to us.
When something is wrong , or when God wants us to be aware of
something the conscience is alerted by the Holy Spirit.

If we ignore the voice of our conscience continually then
it becomes difficult for us to hear the Holy Spirit Speak. When
we continually do this we are moving toward committing the
unpardonable sin. When we blaspheme the Holy Spirit there is no
way that this sin can be forgive.

Read Hebrews 5:14 and John 7:16, 17. How do these texts help us better understand the idea of truth as a fruit of the Spirit?

I Hebrews 5:14 we find that we must practice doing what is right
and we must practice using our consciences so that we can discern
between good and evil. When we respond to the promptings of the
Spirit of Truth then we will be able to discern between good and
evil.

Also we must understand that we will be unable to discern the
truth unless we desire to be obedient to the truth. Unless we
desire to follow the truth that the Spirit of Truth instructs
us in then we will be unable to understand. No matter how much
truth is revealed to us our minds will try to bend that truth
toward our on desires.

What's your own experience of a "seared conscience"? How long did it take until the act that had, at first, seared your conscience barely touched it at all? Why did that happen, and why is it so spiritually dangerous?

Often times we fool ourselves into believing that what we are
doing is not that bad, or we think that we are strong enough
but we must never do this at the expense of our conscience.
When your conscience prompts you the best thing to do is to
prayerfully listen.

Prayer: Father I thank you for the gift of your Holy Spirit, please let us not despise the gift that you have given. Forgive us for not heeding the promptings you give us through our consciences, purify our senses for that we my hear your truth. Thank you Father in Jesus name amen.