The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
(Thanks to Marie for inspiration on this one.)
"Personal"
Our eldest daughter Marie and I had a wonderful discussion the other night about the Gospel of John. She made the very insightful point that John's account of the earthly life of the Lord Jesus Christ stands as the most personal of all the Gospels, recounting numerous encounters of the Savior with individuals. We both agreed this is not surprising since John introduces his treatise with,
"In the beginning was the Word…" (John 1:1).
Words involve communication between conscious beings. This implies relationship and fellowship with God purposed to proceed from His love received by human hearts, which then respond to Him in reciprocal devotion, commitment, affection, and discourse. The Psalmist referenced such grace and faith:
"When Thou saidst, Seek ye My face, my heart said unto Thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek" (Psalm 27:8).
God exists as a relationship, that is, one God dwelling in three Persons eternally bound by loving union and communion with one another. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that the race of beings originally created in His image bears the capacity for communication with Him and with others. This constitutes the greatest blessing of our existence. Presently, however, we also find communication with God and people the greatest challenge of our existence. Deeply within, born again believers know our Lord to be the very Life of our lives, meaning that vital fellowship with Him serves as the essence of who and what we are about. "In Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore" (Psalm 16:11). However, distractions and diversions abound in our experience of this freely given potential for communion with God. Our flesh also resists the close fellowship with our Heavenly Father that exalts the Lord Jesus and leads us to a Heavenly emphasis even as we properly attend to earthly responsibilities and privileges (Galatians 5:17). Thus, we affirm fellowship with God as the delight of our hearts, while acknowledging how great the challenge we all face in availing ourselves to this, the very Life of our lives.
John referred to himself as "the disciple whom Jesus loved" (John 21:20). In no way did John mean that the Lord did not love the other disciples. He rather meant that Christ's love had become the hallmark of his own personal existence. The same is true of every believer. Our awareness and access of communion with God ebbs and flows because of the aforementioned challenges. We therefore do well to encourage one another to remember that God made us for relationship and fellowship with Himself, and for that bond to lead us in loving communication with others. I am especially blessed to say that a discussion with my daughter resulted in much consideration of this truth, as well as writing this message. Yes, "fullness of joy" and "pleasures forevermore" await us when we join John in the realization of how personal He desires to be with us, and how much He delights in our fellowship…
"The Lord taketh pleasure in His people."
(Psalm 149:4)
"The prayer of the upright is His delight."
(Proverbs 15:8)
Weekly Memory Verse
"When Thou saidst, Seek ye My face, my heart said unto Thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek."
(Psalm 27:8)
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