Corona Devo 2076

The fellowship of Christ (with Him and with others) is worth more than anything that the world offers (or deceives us with). 

The apostle John (in the Bible) saw Jesus Christ in the flesh.  Really and truly...John experienced Jesus and...it changed him.  

Jesus changed him.  

John saw living proof of Jesus, and because of the way that Jesus affected John (and was revealed to him)...John just had to share Jesus with others.  John had to proclaim and reveal Jesus to others.  

We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. 

(2) This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. 

(3) We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. (4) We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.  ~I John 1:1-4

John offered this truth to others

Can we sense John's (intense) goal?  He has met and heard and seen Jesus, and John's (life) results of being-affected by Jesus are so powerful and positive...that John can't help but to invite others into this relationship and joy, with him.    

The fullness of life with Jesus is so good that John will not keep it to himself: We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.  ~I John 1:4

Don't we feel the same?   

We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us.  ~I John 1:3

This!  This is the point of our lives!  

We HAVE seen and heard You, Lord, just as John did!  John saw and touched You, Jesus, and we feel as if we have seen and been-touched by You too…over and over in our lives.  How can we NOT proclaim to others what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that they may have fellowship with us...and WITH YOU!?

Decisions.  Directions.  Choices. And outcomes.  Trials for sure, but treasures and fulfillment and communion with our Savior all along the way.  His Way.  

Jesus has been there.  He has revealed Himself to us, but not without purpose and intended-consequence.  Pass it on.  Pass Jesus on to others, so that they can have fellowship with us. 

This is the entire point of our lives: to have Christ revealed to us, and then for us to (in turn) reveal Christ to others. 

He is the word of life, and He was revealed to us---not of our own doing/merit/achievement, but because of the Father's love for us.  Our Heavenly Father chose to reveal Himself to us through His Son, Jesus Christ. 

In a thousand different ways in our lives, Jesus has been revealed to us.  First of all--we're still here.  But other examples include nature/sunrises/ sunsets/birth of a baby/the stars and planets/the living words within the Bible. 

This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life.  ~I John 1:2

Jesus Christ was revealed to me.  
A long time (about 35 years) ago, a friend introduced Christ to me.  And so, through someone else’s love for the Lord and Christian love for me: Christ was revealed to me.  That’s what John was saying and how he meant for faith to be received (from God) and shared (revealed) to others.   That is how God meant for faith to be received and revealed.

Jesus Christ has been revealed to me. 

I pray that Jesus Christ has been revealed to you. 

He is the word of life.

He is our muse, but so much more than that, Jesus is our creative source.  And our foundation.  Jesus Christ is our canon: The original preface to everything and to every chapter in the story of our lives, including the one that we step into today.

He is the word of life.

Because of the depth (and joy!) of all of these revelations relating to Jesus, John was pressed to share Christ with others.  He was compelled to tell about Christ and we must be too.  He is too good/fulfilling/true(!) to keep to ourselves.  Life with Jesus is better/fuller/with-purpose.

This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life.  ~I John 1:2

We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.  ~I John 1:4

John touches on something deep and meaningful here...he wants to introduce Jesus into people's loves and hearts so that you may fully share our joy.

There is joy when Christ is revealed to us and we see Him, Y'All!

There is not joy in the other areas and ideas that we are seeking to find joy in.  We wind up empty Every.  Single.  Time.

There is no in drinking, drugs, sex, food, spending, pornography, illicit publications and books.  Have we tried finding our joy in these dark corners and brightly-lit counterfeits?  I have.

 There is no joy in these avenues.  When will we learn that they do not fill us, but instead deplete our souls of joy.   

But if we have found joy, and if its source has been revealed to us...how can we not testify and proclaim this joy to others?

This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life...  We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.  ~I John 1:2,4

~~~

The fellowship of Christ (with Him and with others) is worth more than anything that the world offers (or deceives us with). 

Have we really and truly experienced Jesus?  Has Jesus changed us?

Then what are we waiting for? We just have to share Jesus with others.  We must proclaim and reveal Him to others, so that they may fully share in our joy, which is the joy of Jesus.  

Life with Jesus is better.  

Let's tell someone about Him today.  Let's testify and proclaim that he is the one who is eternal life, so that they may fully share our joy.


Blessings, 

Sarah 

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Corona Devo 1065

Image
It’s never too late to turn to the Lord.   And--it’s never too late to turn back to the Lord.   Do we GET IT?   King Hezekiah GOT IT.   The people in his area (Israel) had not been following the Lord, and they had fallen away from the (God-ordained) traditions that the Lord had designed to connect His people with Himself,  like going to church (Temple), and like celebrating the festival of Passover.  So they sent a proclamation throughout all Israel...inviting everyone to come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover of the  Lord , the God of Israel. The people had not been celebrating it in great numbers as required in the Law ( 2 Chronicles 30:5). Hezekiah  invited the people back to church!  But how to get the word out? He  wrote letters of invitation to the people (2 Chronicles 30:1), but letters without delivery are dead messages.  Hezekiah needed to get the letters ... to God's people! At the king’s command, runners were...
Read more

Corona Devo 1063

Image
Ever been around boys (of any age)?  They don't concern themselves with talking about   other  boys...they are not (usually) comparative that way, and would prefer to be competitive instead.  They are often contented with jokes and sounds, rather than defaming other guys or discussing their shortfalls. But...ever been around women ( of any age )?  For some sinful reason, our conversations often seem to p ick-a-little, talk-a-little, pick some more and talk, talk, talk about other women.  We  simmer into a boil as we digress and regress into unbecoming chatter about   other  women.   It's a terrible habit and yet girls in elementary school don't need to be taught how and even elderly church biddies can't quite fully withdraw.  We all still fall to condemning others  from time to time.  We have this sinful draw to make ourselves feel good by chirping back and forth and making someone   else   feel bad. It's na...
Read more

Corona Devo 1064

Image
The earth is the   Lord ’s, and everything in it.   The world and all its people belong to him.   (2)  For he laid the earth’s foundation on the seas  and built it on the ocean depths.   ~Psalm 24:1-2 We belong to Him, but also…our world belongs to Him: and  everything in it .   Everything.   Every tree and flower, every person, every pelican, everything. How are we responding to that glorious Truth today?   Can we praise Him today?  Can we acknowledge and absorb (and respond!) to the awesome Truth that we belong to Him :  the Creator of all things, and our Creator?   He laid the earth’s foundation ...and (even)  the earth  knows that it belongs to him ... Do we? Are we choosing to respond to Him today?   The trees do.    Looking out my window as I read these words of God, I saw these words  proven by God as n aked tree-branch arms were raised in praise of their Creat...
Read more