Corona Devo 3055
This living-for-the-Lord thing is a group-effort (We can't do it alone!) and friends and family (in the Lord) make the journey-for-Jesus fun at times, and possible at other times.
It can be hard to express what the family of Christ does for us and our spirit, but we should try to express it to them (thank them), so that they can know and be encouraged in knowing what an encouragement their faith is to us.
I am writing to... my dear friend, whom I love in the truth. ~3 John 1:1
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I popped out of bed at 5:45 AM yesterday for a coffee date with one of my good friends-in-Christ. We hadn't caught up in a while, and this early hour was one that we both had available, and so we booked it--and I couldn't have been more tickled to do so. Why? Because I love this dear friend in the truth.
Later in the day, I knew I would be an hour away from my house, but only 14 minutes away from another dear sister-in-Christ of mine. A couple texts later, we had (excitedly) agreed to meet for an impromptu visit for the hour I would be in her area.
What a delight to visit with other ladies-who-love-the-Lord-- about our kids, our families, our failures, and our triumphs in Christ. With both friends, we got lost in fulfilling conversation, questions and laughs.
God meant for us to be blessed and built-up by dear friends in the truth.
Regardless of the hour-of-day, or the distance-away: I can't think of anything more encouraging and spiritually uplifting than sharing conversation and what Christ is doing in our lives with friends-in-the-faith.
My gatherings yesterday did not disappoint.
Who else can we have honest and vulnerable chatter with, pertaining to our real-life wrestles: except friends whose foundation is (also) in the Lord? Simply put: our friendships-in-Christ are life-giving in a world that is (so often) life-draining.
Today, we praise the Lord for other followers-of-Christ that we join (and that join us) on the faith journey. And today we also seek to encourage our friends-and-family-in-Christ.
They are an encouragement in the faith to us...may we be an encouragement in faith to them today. They love the Lord just like we do, and we are grateful for them.
And guess who else is grateful-for and wanting to encourage his friends-in-the-faith?: the apostle John.
When I sat down to read the Bible before my day with sisters-in-Christ on the docket, I found out that John was thinking the same thankful thoughts as me. But he didn't meet for a cup of coffee with his friend (Gaius), he wrote his buddy a note:
This letter is from John, the elder. I am writing to Gaius, my dear friend, whom I love in the truth.
(2) Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit. (3) Some of the traveling teachers recently returned and made me very happy by telling me about your faithfulness and that you are living according to the truth. (4) I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children are following the truth. ~3 John 1:1-4
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These verses narrated my day and echoed my desires concerning the faith-friends that I would encounter that day, but also about all of our brothers and sisters in Christ.
We love them in the truth...don't we?
We hope all is well with them and that they are as healthy in body as they are strong in spirit.
Isn't this a beautiful and on-point prayer by John for his friends-in-faith? Why wouldn't we pray this same prayer for our sisters and brothers in Christ? We admire and are encouraged by their strength in spirit...and John calls down a prayer for them to also stay healthy in body.
Amen to John's prayer and we lift it up to the Lord for our friends-in-faith as well!
John is genuinely encouraged and proud (in the faith, not in pride) of all that his dear friend is doing for the Lord.
We, too, are strengthened by the faith and obedience (to God) of others. The daily lived-out testimony of our brothers and sisters in Christ puts wind in our faith-sails and a spring in our spiritual-step.
Some... made me very happy by telling me about your faithfulness and that you are living according to the truth. (4) I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children are following the truth. ~3 John 1:3-4
John says, "my children" are following the truth, but in this he speaks in a fatherly-way, or as their teacher. John has helped to train and "send out" teachers of God's Truth, including Gaius, to whom he is writing, but he (and we) know that as Believers, we are all God's children.
And as God's children, what better way to be spurred-on than to meet together and to spur one another on.
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, (25) not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. ~Hebrews 10:24-25
It might mean waking up early. It might mean taking a drive. It might mean (like John) writing a letter.
It will definitely mean making the effort, but let's make plans today to love a dear friend in the truth.
Let's pray for our brothers-and-sisters-in-Christ: Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit.
If we are blessed by community-in-Christ, then let's do our part to build it up today! (No matter what time of day!)
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