Just a bit of Love.

Do you ever get to that point in your personal Bible reading when there are just so many choices of where to read you get overwhelmed and end up reading a Psalm? :D Lately I have been doing that, but it was not entirely satisfying, so I did a sister-ish thing and asked Sarah to assign me a book to read.

 "Ummm....First John?" she answered, looking at me as if to be sure I was okay.

It was an off-the-cuff answer, but Sarah? I'm so glad you gave it to me! :D I hadn't read 1 John in awhile, but ever since I started reading I've been overwhelmed and delighted by the richness and tenderness of this book of God's word. Right from the start John gives the Gospel and tells us that he writes these things to us that our joy may be full.That, right there, is such a great reminder of what the Christian life must be. Full of joy and abundant in it.

Maybe it's because I'm a writer myself and I pay attention to little things like sentence structure, but I was also impressed by the very word choices John used. He piles words upon words in a way that leaves you feeling as if your arms were full to the brim with packages of God's love. There is no condemnation in the way John writes, only a desperate plea for us to recognize the love of Jesus for us. I love the first part of chapter 2:

"My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world."

Wham! The richness of the gift of grace is seen so clearly here, even by how we are addressed as "Little children." Not Dirty Little Sinners, not You People Out There, not Everyone in the World Who Needs a Savior, but as if Christ stooped down, gathered us in His strong, all-encompassing arms, and whispered, "Little Children, come to Me."

 Then in 1 John 2:22 he says, "Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also."

This verse is worded so flawlessly. It states the case of things with clarity and conciseness, without pointing fingers. It is so beautifully black and white and loving. Deny the Son and you won't have the Father either. But acknowledge the Son and you have both of Them. :)
In the end of Chapter Two there is a whole paragraph that strikes deep chords with me:

"These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him." (1 John 2:26-27)

I will admit that I struggle with loving the Prunes & Prisms variety of Christians--those who value propriety above a personal relationship with Jesus. We have all met these poor, constricted people who put on so many garments of "convictions" that they can scarcely breathe, they are so pressed on from all sides.

 I want to caution us all to only put on the convictions God hands us, not ones that Men, fallible Men tell us to put on. There are times when God may use Men to convict us, but listen for the Shepherd's voice and listen only to Him. As he says, we do not need to be taught by Men, for the Holy Spirit and God's word will teach us all things, as it has already taught us.
Did we need people to tell us taking a cookie from the jar was wrong as a child? No, we knew it was wrong because the Holy Spirit was teaching us. Do we need people to tell us to do or not to do something? No. Ask Jesus about it and He will show you His stand on the point. He will answer, and after that don't mind what Men say--you've got the approval of the Most High Lord.
 Anyway, I think I've succeeded in taking you for a hopeless ramble again, but I just thought I'd share some of the things the Lord had been teaching me recently. I hope it encourages one of you!