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New Testament Reading - Obey the Lord

²²and get whatever we ask for because we are obeying him and doing the things that please him. ²³And this is what God says we must do: Believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another. ²⁴Those who do what God says — they are living with God and he with them. We know this is true because the Holy Spirit he has given us tells us so.

4 ¹Dearly loved friends, don’t always believe everything you hear just because someone says it is a message from God: test it first to see if it really is. For there are many false teachers around, ²and the way to find out if their message is from the Holy Spirit is to ask: Does it really agree that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, actually became man with a human body? If so, then the message is from God. ³If not, the message is not from God but from one who is against Christ, like the “Antichrist” you have heard about who is going to come, and his attitude of enmity against Christ is already abroad in the world.

⁴Dear young friends, you belong to God and have already won your fight with those who are against Christ because there is someone in your hearts who is stronger than any evil teacher in this wicked world. ⁵These men belong to this world, so, quite naturally, they are concerned about worldly affairs and the world pays attention to them. ⁶But we are children of God; that is why only those who have walked and talked with God will listen to us. Others won’t. That is another way to know whether a message is really from God; for if it is, the world won’t listen to it.