A Work in Progress….

3 John 1:13 I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink.

I am reminded by the vagueness at the end of 3 John 1 of the rampant persecution of Christians of the time. The writer does not refer to himself by name, he doesn’t say much that is clearly on his heart and mind, he refers to other believers—both with him and at the letter’s destination—as simply friends. All of this, commentary posits, was to avoid persecution for the writer and receiver.

3 John 1:14a I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face….

I am humbled and thankful that I do not have to hide my faith. I don’t have to write vague words and mask my identity for fear of persecution. I am rather ashamed that I take such a monumental privilege for granted.

3 John 1:14b …Peace to you. The friends here send their greetings….

Lord, Thank You for the freedom to proclaim Your glory, to encourage Your people, to not have to hide my faith to protect my life. Help me to shine Your light brightly, to love You and love others boldly. Always. Amen.

3 John 1:14c …Greet the friends there by name.

Have a blessed day.

2 John 1:5 And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another.

Love one another. Walk in love. Love God. Love others. So incredibly simple, this command, but often ridiculously difficult to live.

2 John 1:6 And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

For me, pride is the root of my troubles with this command. My pride often leads me to anger, fear, or bitterness, and these emotions make it hard to love others deeply, fiercely, and unconditionally.

2 John 1:7 I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.

Lord, Thank You for the reminder of Your commandment to love. Thank You for the reminder that my pride is my biggest obstacle to living Your love in action. Help me to surrender my pride to You so that I can love more deeply in Your name. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

2 John 1:12 I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.

Have a blessed day.

1 John 5:14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

It has taken me a long time to make some sort of peace with verses 14 and 15. I can’t say I’ve got it all figured out, but here is how I made peace: Isaiah 55:8, “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.”

1 John 5:15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

God’s ways are far beyond anything I could imagine. He knows what’s best. He knows the eternal repercussions. I have to trust Him. Isaiah 43:19, See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness…. He is making a way, even if I cannot yet perceive it, even if it looks nothing like I hoped or imagined. I have to trust Him.

1 John 5:20a We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true….

Lord, I know it is utterly ridiculous for me to struggle to trust the God of all creation, maker of heaven and earth. Forgive me. Thank You for answering my prayers, even when I struggle to understand Your answers. Help me to trust You always. Amen.

1 John 5:20b …And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

Have a blessed day.

1 John 4:7-8 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

I have mentioned more than once the billboards I’ve seen before that say: “Just love everyone. I’ll sort them out later. ~God” To me, that idea is the heart of God’s message, Jesus’s message: Just love everyone.

1 John 4:9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

Oftentimes that’s easier said than done—loving everyone. We have to love past our own issues and past the other person’s. But I truly believe that at the heart of most issues is the deep need to be loved and accepted—warts and all, faults and all, unlovableness and all. We all need love. And God is love personified.

1 John 4:10-11 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Lord, Your commandment—love everyone—is so easy, but absolutely not simple. Life, pride, grudges, so many things get in the way of loving others. Help us to see the simplicity of what You ask of us. Help us to make love our default, no matter how difficult it is. Help us to love as You love. Deeply, lavishly, completely. Amen.

1 John 4:16b-17 …God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.

Have a blessed day. I love you.

1 John 3:1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

We are deeply loved children of God. He created us—individually, uniquely, wonderfully—for a purpose. He loves us fiercely. He lavishes love upon us. These truths bring me incredible comfort, especially when life gets me down.

1 John 3:2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

The fact that we are deeply loved children of God gives us hope. We are His. Eternally. “[W]hat we will be has not yet been made known.” He didn’t create us and abandon us. He has big plans for us. Eternal plans for us.

1 John 3:3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

Lord, Sometimes life is hard. It is so easy to get caught up in the cares and worries of this world. Thank You for this reminder that we are Yours. Eternally. That You love us. Deeply, fiercely, lavishly. When this life makes us doubt our value, help us remember our worth in You alone. Amen.

1 John 3:18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

Have a blessed day.

1 John 2:4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.

There is a vast difference between knowing Jesus and abiding in Him. Knowing seems much more superficial, more surface-level. I can know every detail of someone’s life and story, but knowing does not indicate that that knowledge has any effect on me—my behavior, my attitude. Knowing is strictly intellectual.

1 John 2:5-6 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

Abiding, however, involves the head and the heart. If I am abiding in Christ, then my life is rooted in His. I actively strive to live in Him, to embody His values and attitudes, to be His hands and feet. Abiding in Him is a lifestyle, not an intellectual hobby.

1 John 2:9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness.

Lord, I want to abide in You, to root myself so firmly in Your love that it’s impossible to tell where You end and I begin. Help me to invest time and effort into my relationship with You. Help me to actively emulate your love and care for humanity. Draw me closer. Amen.

1 John 2:10 Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.

Have a blessed day.

1 John 1:4 We write this to make our joy complete.

God created us to live in relationship with each other, and communication is a part of that. Many times I try to bolster communication, communion, through texts to loved ones and dear friends—an inspirational quote, a quirky picture or meme, a random text. These are ways that I say, “I love you. I miss you. Your relationship is important to me.”

1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

For me, those connections help strengthen God’s light by reminding me I am not alone. This world can be so dark, so negative, so lonely. Knowing I have the love and support of God’s community is vital to my mental well-being. It helps me to walk in God’s light.

1 John 1:6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.

Lord, Now we see through a glass darkly. We misunderstand each other. We frustrate each other. We alienate each other. Darkness lurks around every corner. Help us to strengthen the relationships that draw us closer to You. Help us to walk in Your light. Always. Amen.

1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

Have a blessed day.