The One Jesus Loved, Day 23 Which one will we choose? We are constantly surrounded by examples of the things that we should do and the things that we should not do. The same was true of the church that John is writing to. Read 3 John 1:9-14. John gives two examples of individuals from the church that he is writing to. One is an example of issues and problems and things that we should not be doing and the second is an example of one who is walking in truth. No matter where we are or what we are going through, we are constantly surrounded by examples of people.…

The One Jesus Loved, Day 22 Your reputation. What do others say about you? Read 3 John 1:5-8. It can be very telling to listen in to what other people think about you. The way you in which they discuss you and how they would describe you to others can be very telling. When you think about when you think about what your reputation is, how would you describe it? In this case, John had heard the story of the church and how much they loved others. Their reputation of love had been shared by others. Do we have a reputation of love? Do others know us because of the…

The One Jesus Loved, Day 21 Who are those we are leading? This third letter from John starts off with the apostle praising God for the people that he had led to Christ and that they are continuing to be faithful. Read 3 John 1:1-4. Certainly as followers of Jesus Christ, we are to be influential in leading and growing and discipling other people in their relationship with Christ. However, it doesn’t stop there. We’re not just to be an influence or a leader or trainer, we are to be helping those people to actually affect change in their own lives. John had no greater joy than to know that…

The One Jesus Loved, Day 20 Complete joy. How can we have complete joy? By sharing together about Jesus. Read 2 John 1:12-13. We have lived in a world these past couple of years that has it has desperately sought to keep us separated. Through fear and through concern about safety and disease, we have been told that we will be better off if we avoid other people and stay away from other people. However, that is not what Jesus teaches us. Yes, we should continue to be smart about what we do, but John recognized that even though he was writing letters and doing his best to stay in…

The One Jesus Loved, Day 19 Continue in God’s teaching. As we read through the next section of this small letter of 2nd John, we see John’s continued emphasis on consistently following the teaching of God. Read 2 John 1:7-11. We must stay with God. As we are working through and understanding the teachings of God, sometimes we can think we know more than we do and sometimes run the risk of running ahead of God. John reminds us that we must stick with the teaching of God and stay with it. We need to keep on his pace. God doesn’t always move at the pace that we would want…

The One Jesus Loved, Day 18 What is love? As we take a look a little deeper into exactly what it means to love, we see this definition in 2 John 1:4-6. To love means to obey. If we are truly loving God, then we will be obedient to everything he says. That’s it. We cannot love God and disobey his word. They simply do not go together. Also, if we are to demonstrate love to other people, it will be love that is consistent and obedient to all that Jesus Christ is. There is no love outside of Jesus Christ. How are we loving other people? How do we…

The One Jesus Loved, Day 17 Truth and love. They go hand in hand and you can’t have one without the other. Read 2 John 1:1-3. Much is said about love in the world today. We are all supposed to be loving one another. However, what does that actually look like? According to John we cannot love without truth. Grace and mercy and peace are all wonderful but they are only found inside of truth and love. If we are not loving in accordance with God’s word, then we are not loving at all. Are we loving in truth? How can we demonstrate love in truth to others?

The One Jesus Loved, Day 16 Final reminders. As we come to the end of this first letter that John wrote, he ends with several reminders. Read 1 John 5:13-21. John wanted the people to know and understand the truth of who God is. He just told them that if you have the son you have the life. So what does having the life mean? As we look at the importance of what it means to have life in Jesus Christ, we see so many reminders through these verses. We need to remember that we are children of Jesus Christ and at the rest of the world is evil. Sinners…

The One Jesus Loved, Day 15 Two choices. Today we see very clearly how to know that we have life. Do we have the Son or not? Read 1 John 5:5-12. As we read through these verses, we see very clearly how to understand whether or not we are a child of God. Do we have the Son? Or do we not? It really all comes down to our relationship with Jesus Christ. How are we relating to him and have we accepted and submitted ourselves to the his lordship in our lives? Only only by giving Christ our life and submitting to him in every area will we truly…

The One Jesus Loved, Day 14 Victory. We’ve seen the importance of love and the impact that Christ’s love in us can have on our own lives and also our interactions with others. Now we see an understanding of victory. Read 1 John 5:1-5. Of all the battles that we end up fighting in our life, we can have victory. However, it might not look like we are expecting it to look. We can have victory in Christ and through Christ. He is the one that overcomes. He is the one that provides victory. We cannot create our own victories, no matter how hard we try. Are we understanding the…