Thought for November 2, 2023

  •  1533: John Calvin escapes Paris by lowering himself on bed sheets
  • 1783: Washington bids farewell to his army
  • 1824: Popular vote for President first recorded--Jackson defeats John Quincy Adams
  • 1867: Harper's Bazaar Magazine first published
  • 1880: James Garfield elected President. Accepted Christ at age 18; preached his first sermon in 1853. Served as a Major General in the War of Northern Aggression. Known for telling his soldiers of their need for a personal relationship with Christ.
  • 1898: First cheerleaders at a college football game--Minnesota
  • 1917: Balfour Declaration supports a Jewish state in Palestine
  • 1944: Auschwitz begins gassing inmates
  • 1947: U.S. wins first post-war Ryder Cup with Ben Hogan as captain
  • 1947: Howard Hughes flies the Spruce Goose
  • 1983: Martin Luther King holiday established
  • Born: Daniel Boone, Marie Antoinette, James K Polk, George Boole [Boolean algebra], Burt Lancaster, Ken Rosewall, David Schwimmer, 
  • Died: Jenny Lind, George Bernard Shaw, James Thurber
Thought:
Turned to First John this morning, one of my favorites. This first chapter is so powerful and profound. This morning I am thinking about 1:1-4. Here are the thoughts I am pondering:
  • Jesus was from the beginning. [1:1] How important is that fact alone for us. The Jesus who came to walk this earth, live the life I could never live, die the death I deserved, be victorious over that death and rise to sit on His Father's throne is not created, not temporal, not limited by time or space--He was in the beginning. All things that we see were created by Him and for Him. And not only that The Word was with God and the Word was God--Jesus is God and has been forever. 
  • Jesus is life [1:2]. Jesus Himself proclaimed--"I am the Way, the Truth and the Life." There is life in no other. Outside of Christ is death. Paul said the wages of sin is death and all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Help me today realize that what most people see and think is life is not life, but death--deceived by the evil one. There is life no place but Jesus.
  • Jesus in His grace and mercy manifested Himself to us. [1:2] Think about the word manifest. That which was not evident to the senses made Himself evident. God is Spirit. Jesus understood that flesh had difficulty comprehending spiritual things. So He manifested Himself so we could see, hear, touch. And that is what John praises here and in John 1. Jesus loved us enough to take human form to help us know Him. The dictionary says that to manifest is to  make evident, to show plainly, to put beyond question or doubt. Jesus says--if you want to know the Father--My Father and I are One. If you have seen ME, you have seen the Father. 
  • John has experienced Jesus personally [1:1, 3] John tells us that he heard with his ears, saw with his eyes, touched with his hands the manifestation that was Jesus. He is an eyewitness--he beheld His glory, the glory of the Father. Now John wants to share his experience with us. That is how we feel when we share Christ. We have experienced Him and we want others to have that experience.
  • John's goal is for us to have that same fellowship that he experienced with Jesus [and through Jesus with the Father] [1:3]. Think about that. The apostle that Jesus loved wants me to experience God the same way he did. I cannot see Jesus in the flesh, I cannot hear a voice coming from a fleshly body, I cannot touch Him--BUT, I have seen Jesus in the love of those who serve Him. I have seen His compassion and forgiveness in the lives of those who claim Him as Lord. I have heard His voice. I have been touched by those who are conduits of His touch. And as the word says, I have tasted the joy, peace, love that is in Christ. 
  • John's joy cannot be complete until he has shared what he has experienced in Christ [1:4] Think about that. If my joy is incomplete today, perhaps it is because I have not shared Christ today. 
What a great way to start the day--know who Jesus is, know he loved enough to manifest Himself to us, think about all the ways Jesus has manifested Himself to you, now share.

Blessings
Larry

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