Love in the truth

The elder,

To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.                           3 John 1

I am struck by the way in which John opens this letter.

Firstly, Jesus is the truth: “I am the way and the truth and the life.” When Jesus came to earth to live among us, the Word made flesh, He came full of grace and truth (John 1.14). And so, we love each other in the truth. We love each other in the fullness of who Jesus was and what He represented. We love Him without pretence or denial.

This leads to a further understanding of the truth, and that is the truth about us as humans. If I am to love a brother or sister in the truth of Jesus, I must then love that brother or sister in the truth of who they are at the time that my love is called for. They may be in miserable condition in themselves. This is the truth of the moment. I must love them where they are and how they are.

Furthermore, I need to accept the truth about me. I may not feel myself to be in a very loving state. I must likewise accept how and where I am, and call upon God to help me to love in – and out of – that place.

Loving Father,

You are the God of love. You are love. Please help me to love always in the truth. Let me love in the truth of who You are, the truth of who my brothers and sisters are, and the truth of who I am.

By Your Holy Spirit show me the way of love in every circumstance. Lead me in the pure love that is found only in You. Let me embrace all people in Your truth. And show me, please, the lambs and the sheep as you see them.

I love You, Lord. Let me love freely as Jesus did. I ask this in His precious Name.            Amen.

Be faithful

“I know your afflictions and your poverty – yet you are rich!

Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.”              Rev. 2.9a,10b

The Lord truly knows it all. It was not easy being a Christian in Smyrna. The Roman population were proud and fiercely for emperor worship. Coupled with this was a large and active, hostile Jewish population.

Consequently, the Christians would have suffered. Jesus even mentions Satan as leading some of the so-called Jews. Suffering may well have caused physical and material poverty.

But the Lord knows that the richness of life for the true believer is not to be found in material wealth or physical affluence, but in who we are in God.

I am a child of God whom He loves very dearly. He has a plan for my life and He has purposes for me to achieve.

I have felt a lack in the material provisions of life and, sadly, it had begun to affect me. That is now changing, and this comes as I choose to turn full-on to God.

I take the encouragement that Jesus offers to the church at Smyrna to “Be faithful.” He warns them of coming persecution, even to the point of death. I don’t know if this is in the offing for me, but it really matters not. What I see as more important is my faithfulness to Him. I have been blessed by relationship with Him. In this I am rich, I am truly, truly rich. May I never forget this. And may I relegate thoughts of material needs to a more appropriate position in my priorities list. May I lower them out of my present vision. Let me believe, truly believe, that God will supply all I need. And let me use my time, effort and energy to focus on Him. This is where my wealth lies. Here I am rich.

Lord God, Loving Father,

I thank You for the richness You have lavished upon me. I know what it is to be loved by You. I know the joy of having love for You and receiving love from You that I can share with my fellow beings. I thank You for every opportunity You give me to share this love.

I hand over all of my physical and material needs to You. You are the source and provider of all that I need and want. Let me look not to my own devices and strategies but let me look always to You. You are my everything.

May love flow in tangible form through all the events of my life. I love You and I want to share that love. Enable me, please, in Jesus’ Name I ask.                                      Amen.

God will

“I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”                    Gen. 41.16

Joseph knew where his strength lay and he did not hide the fact that the power and ability was with God and not in himself. It almost looks as if God responds by honouring Joseph with the outcome. I don’t suggest that Joseph manipulates God in any way but what I see is rather the partnership that can evolve out of faith and trust, commitment and dedication.

Paul describes us as God’s fellow workers (1 Cor. 3.9). Yes, yes! What an encouraging title. And what a wonderful picture it conjures up, of the committed man or woman sold out to God and working in sweet partnership with Him.

Joseph was thirty when this present dramatic change came in to his life. I am more than twice that age, yet I choose to remind myself that this is not important. I can never be late in God’s timing. Once again, I hear the words He gave me quite a few years ago when I thought I was too old – Remember Moses!

Lord God,

I see the partnership that is at work with Joseph and Yourself. I rejoice to see his acknowledgment of you, and Your wonderful response.

I come to You, seeking partnership with You. I know we are in relationship, but I seek more of it. I relish the thought of being a fellow worker with You. I see this clearly in Joseph’s life.

I come, Lord, for whatever You may have for me to do. I come to sit at Your feet and worship You in breath-taking wonder. I come to enjoy relationship with You – to walk with You and talk with You, to go places with You, and to be still with You. Receive me, in Jesus’ Name I ask.                                                                                                                                      Amen.

Contradictions

The LORD was with Joseph, and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.                          Gen. 39.2

The seemingly contradictory aspects of Joseph’s life repeat as his story unfolds. He is the favourite son, but he is envied and despised by his brothers. His father’s favour is lost to him when his brothers sell him into captivity. Then he is bought by the Egyptian official, Potipher, and taken into his household. God is with him and he prospers, rising to be head over the whole household.

What an amazing story of two diametrically opposite forces. He is victimised and greatly abused at the hands of man, yet God is with him. Is God perhaps testing him in this? And this is but the beginning. There’s more! Potipher’s wife takes a fancy to the young Joseph. She invites him to her bed. He resists and she counters with false accusation against him which sees him stripped of all authority and success and thrown into prison. The pendulum has suddenly swung to the opposite pole. Yet all is not lost.

But while Joseph was there in the prison, the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favour in the eyes of the prison warden. (vv 20, 21)

I think I might be feeling pretty cheated by this time. I might also be tempted to say, “What’s the point? Everything’s against me!” I don’t think Joseph responded this way. While the Scriptures don’t state it categorically it seems reasonable that Joseph responded in the goal rather as he had done in Potipher’s house – by giving of his best.

Even in the unfriendly environs of a prison, Joseph prospered. He was put in charge over everyone else. It seems like the man cannot fail despite what comes against him...because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did. (v23)

Lord God,

I rejoice in Your faithfulness. You were with Joseph at every turn and he knew Your mercy, grace and favour. I praise You for his response, which saw him give of his best in every situation. I pray that I might always respond to situations and difficulties by giving of my best. Let me not waste energy by questioning why things happen. Let me rather simply give of my best, and look to You for the rest.

Forgive me for those times when I question You. Who am I to bring You to account? I’m sorry, Lord. Please receive me afresh. Whatever might be ahead, I look to You. I ask for strength and wisdom in Your Holy Spirit to go forward. Let us enjoy the day as we journey forth together, in Jesus’ Name I pray.                                                                 Amen.

God’s house

Then they set out, and the terror of God fell upon the towns all around them so that no one pursued them.                  Gen. 35.5

God had spoken to Jacob telling him to go up to Bethel, the place where God had appeared to him previously, and to settle there.

Jacob had named the place Bethel (which means the house of God) because he had experienced an amazing encounter with God in that place. He knew it was a holy place, and a place of divine power.

Whether or not it was this knowledge that moved him we may never know, but in verse 2 we read of Jacob charging his household to rid themselves of all other gods, to purify themselves before the one true God and to dress themselves in clean clothes. This strikes me as somewhat uncharacteristic for the Jacob I have been reading about. Maybe I am a little too cynical. Perhaps Jacob had experienced a true and complete change of heart after his struggles with God. Or maybe his actions were the result of the Holy Spirit’s working in him. For whatever reason, I believe he most certainly did the right thing.

And it’s as if God endorses this with his blessing. As the clean, purified and God-focused people set out, their mighty God is with them. He protects them from all threat and danger. He leads them safely to the place where He wants them to be. God confirms His promise to Jacob, the promise that comes to him from Abraham and Isaac.

It excites me to read of people being in the place where God wants them to be. In that place they may enjoy the fullness of God’s blessing.

God spoke to Jacob and Jacob heard. He responded accordingly after first making sure he was cleansed and prepared for the things of God. He was obedient, and God blessed him.

Lord God,

Thank You for this example and reminder of obedience. I see also in this narration the magnitude of Your power. I ask You to reveal more of this power to me. I pray that I might come to a place of knowledge and active respect for the greatness that is You. May I be blessed to see Your power in action in my life?

I seek a divine harmony between my head and my heart and I ask for Your intervention and working in me so that, daily, I experience more and more of the reality of who You are and what You are able to do. Show me more of Your glory, Your might and Your easy ability to do anything, to change any present circumstance and to bring forth a new thing that will liberate, heal and bring glory to You, O Great God.                                                   Amen.