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1 John 5:11, 12 - Eternal Life Is A Relationship With Jesus.

1 John 5:11, 12 (NIV) And this is the 
testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life 
is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he 
who does not have the Son of God does not have 
life.  

COMMENTARY

   Eternal life doesn't merely mean going to 
heaven when you die and living forever, as amazing 
and wonderful as that promise is. Eternal life 
involves knowing Almighty God intimately. That began 
the moment you entered into a relationship with 
Christ, and it will extend throughout eternity.  
   Eternal life, however, is a quality of 
life more than a quantity. It's abundant life. 
It's security in the nurturing intimacy of your 
personal relationship with your heavenly Father, 
contentment in the joy of His presence with you, and 
radiantly hopeful because of His promises to you. To 
thoroughly experience eternal life in the present as 
well as in the future, you must continually 
strive to know God more intimately.  
   Some Christians seem to think that they 
have to wait until heaven to truly know and 
experience Christ, so they unwisely neglect their 
relationship with Christ in this life. Yet Scripture 
suggests that we take with us into eternity the 
relationship with God that we began on earth.  
   God invites us to experience and enjoy 
eternal life - by knowing and experiencing Him. 
Start enjoying eternal life  today. [Being 
Still With God Every Day by Henry Blackaby re John 
17:3] 

   If you asked people if they are going to 
heaven or hell, many of them will likely say, I 
hope Ill go to heaven. 
   But hope just isnt good enough. I pray 
thats not your answer. Your eternal destiny is too 
important not to know for sure. 
   Its foolish to be unprepared for what 
we all know is inevitable: death. The most 
recent statistics show that mortality rates in the 
world remain 100 percent!  
   Youre not guaranteed another minute on 
this planet, much less another hour. Dont put 
off the most important choice youll ever 
make. 
   The Bible says in 1 John 5:11-12, And 
this is the testimony: God has given us eternal 
life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the 
Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of 
God does not have life (NIV). 
   Thats about as clear as you can get. 
If you have Jesus, you have life. If you 
dont have Jesus, you do not have life. You have a 
choice. [Daily Devotional by Rick Warren: 
https://pastorrick.com/devotional/] 

   We have the desire for happiness deeply 
ingrained within us. In other words, God has hardwired 
us to be happy. So where do we find this 
happiness? 
   We wont find it is in this world, 
because the world bases happiness on how well things 
are going. If things are going reasonably well, 
then were happy. If things are not going so 
well, then were unhappy. 
   When you obtain everything, when you have 
all your dreams fulfilled, when you reach all 
your goals and maybe surpass them, you find how 
empty it is. And then you realize that happiness 
isnt in those things at all. 
   I think in many cases, the people you 
follow on social media and those you admire or look 
up to may have a far more miserable life than 
you have. 
   One Gallup study on the subject of 
happiness found that spiritually committed people are 
twice as likely to report being very happy than 
the least spiritually committed people. 
   Ill take that a step further: Godly 
people will be the happiest people. As the Bible 
says, Happy are the people whose God is the 
Lord! (Psalm 144:15 NKJV). 
   C. S. Lewis put it this way: God 
designed the human machine to run on Himself. He 
Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to 
burn, or the food our spirits were designed to 
feed on. There is no other. That is why it is 
just no good asking God to make us happy in our 
own way  God cannot give us a happiness and 
peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. 
There is no such thing. 
   The more we chase after the Lord, the 
more godly well become - and the more well 
find the happiness that has eluded us for so 
long. [Greg Laurie from Harvest Ministries; 
https://www.harvestdaily.com re Psalm 144:15] 

God made us: invented us as a man invents an 
engine. A car is made to run on petrol, and it would 
not run properly on anything else. Now God 
designed the human machine to run on Himself. He 
Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to 
burn, or the food our spirits were designed to 
feed on. There is no other. That is why it is 
just no good asking God to make us happy in our 
own way without bothering about religion. God 
cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from 
Himself, because it is not there. There is no such 
thing. C. S. Lewis in Mere Christianity  

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

When you seek My face, put aside thoughts of 
everything else. I am above all, as well as in all; 
your communion with Me transcends both time and 
circumstances. Be prepared to be blessed bountifully by My 
Presence, for I am a God of unlimited abundance. Open 
wide your heart and mind to receive more and more 
of Me. When your Joy in Me meets My Joy in you, 
there are fireworks of heavenly ecstasy. This is 
eternal life here and now: a tiny foretaste of what 
awaits you in the life to come. Now you see only a 
poor reflection as in a mirror, but then you will 
see face to Face. (John 15:11; 1 Cor. 13:12) 
[Jesus Calling by Sarah Young] 

LINKS FOR FURTHER STUDY ON THIS PASSAGE AND 
TOPIC 

1 John 5:11, 12 - Eternal Life Is A 
Relationship With Jesus. 

http://www.abible.com/devotions/2006/20061214-0741.html 

John 17:3 - A Supreme Relationship with 
Jesus Christ is Eternal Life. 

http://www.abible.com/devotions/2018/20180823-1030.html 

YOUR COMMENTS

If anyone has a paraphrase, commentary or 
testimony on this passage of Scripture, either 
personal or otherwise, I would be interested in 
hearing from you.  Thanks in advance and let's keep 
uplifting Jesus that all might be drawn to Him. Fred 
Gibbs  

LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT

Most Important Decision in Life: 
http://www.youtube.com/embed/WGnEuGwvXqU?rel=0 

A Man without Equal by Bill Bright: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiVa7UoruIo 

Seeking God Made Real: 
http://vimeo.com/31489782 

Prayer Made Real: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc8VdMV26VE 

Importance of Choice: 
http://creationhealth.com/CREATION-Health/Choice [click on video]  

Medical Seminar on Healthful Living by David 
DeRose, MD, MPH: 
https://www.smartlifestyletv.com/lifestart 

LINKS FOR BIBLE STUDIES 

Lifting Up Jesus Bible Studies: 
http://www.liftingupjesus.net/ 

Amazing Facts Bible Studies: 
http://www.amazingfacts.org/bible-study/bible-study-guides.aspx  

Hope Awakens Bible Study Guides: 
https://www.hopeawakens.study/lesson-header;id=2 

Glow Tract Video Bible Studies: 
http://www.bibleresearch.info/ 

LINKS FOR BIBLE PROPHECY SEMINARS

Unlocking Bible Prophecies by Cami Oetman of 
Adventist World Radio (currently live): 
https://bible.awr.org/the-warning/ 

Hope Awakens by John Bradshaw of IIW: 
https://itiswritten.tv/programs/hope-awakens 

The Last Day of Prophecy by Pastor Doug 
Batchelor: 
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmGvdtMCf1aJTiC59-lPtuUMEq_uEn0BK 

Prophecies Decoded by Pastor Ron Clouzet: 
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1A435C5373550657