I John 1

Summary:

The Word of Life
Verses 1-4

That which was from the beginning, the apostles saw with their eyes and touched with their hands.  They proclaim and testify to the following, in regards to the Word of Life:  the Life appeared.  The One who is Eternal Life was with the Father and appeared to them.  The apostles proclaim this so that we can have fellowship with them.  Their fellowship is with the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.  John writes this to make our joy complete.

Walking in the Light
Verses 5-10

The message they heard from Him and now declare to us is this:  God is light.  In Him, there is no darkness at all.  If we claim to have fellowship with Him, but walk in darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.  If we walk in the light, we have fellowship with each other. 

The blood of Christ purifies us from all sin.  If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and lack truth.  "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (Vs. 9)  If we claim not to have sinned, we call God a liar and His Word has no place in our lives.

Lori's Thoughts:

Imagine what it must have been like to live with Jesus, in the physical world.  I imagine we would have cooked together, shown each other how we enjoy our coffee, gone running together, talked about music and movies.  It must have been awesome for the apostles. 

You know how you get vibes from people?  I have a friend who trusts no one and always expects things to go wrong.  It's difficult to stay positive around this person.  I have another friend who loves me to bits!  She cooks for me, asks me how I'm doing on a regular basis, we trade books with each other, get each other hooked on movies...and when I've done something wrong that hurts me and those I love, she makes no judgments and doesn't tell me what I should have done or should do.  She already knows that I know what I need to do.  She empathizes and loves me just the same.  I imagine Christ would be a friend like my second friend.

It's amazing how confident the apostles became because of their few years with Christ.  And they saw the world through God's eyes:  broken, but with such potential.  So, they did all they could to give us an opportunity to join in the friendship they have with Christ.  I'm taking it.  I hope you will too.

God wants us to come humbly before Him, with all of our problems and He will heal us and work on us to become confident and whole.  If we come with a "holier than thou" attitude and delude ourselves into thinking we're better than the sinners of this world - we negate the necessity of Christ.  And the devil has won in deceiving us.

When do you go to the doctor?  When you're sick or hurt.
When should you go to God?  When you're broken and ugly.

He makes all things beautiful in His time.