1 John 1:3, 4 - Sharing Jesus With Joy.
1 John 1:3, 4 (NLT) We proclaim to you what
we ourselves have actually seen and heard so
that you may have fellowship with us. And our
fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus
Christ. 4 We are writing these things so that you
may fully share our joy.
1 John 1:3, 4 (MSG) We saw it, we heard it,
and now we're telling you so you can experience
it along with us, this experience of communion
with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 Our
motive for writing is simply this: We want you to
enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy!
COMMENTARY PEARL
When my wife, Lois, and I started dating,
I came up with a strategy to encourage her to
fall more in love with me. She was a lot in love
with me from the beginning, but I wanted to
increase that.
What I decided to do was to take her to
the amusement park. Once we had wandered around
the amusement park for a while, and had enjoyed
some of the games and food, I coolly asked her if
she wanted to ride the Wild Mouse. Lois had
never been on the Wild Mouse ride before. But I
had. I knew how wild the Wild Mouse really was.
She didn't have any idea because it looked like
an innocent ride.
I knew Lois' personality and that going
on the Wild Mouse would be a tough situation
for her. But I hadn't told her that. I had only
mentioned that we should go on a nice ride together.
So we got on the Wild Mouse. The thing
began to shoot out making it seem like our small
car was going to fly right off of the edge of
the track. Lois screamed. Then she scooted
closer to me. Our car veered to the right and then
shot out again making it seem like we were going
to zoom straight out into mid-air. Lois
screamed again. Then she scooted even more closely to
me this time. By the end of the ride, Lois
wasn't sitting far away from me at all. She was
sitting as close as possible. That had been my
plan.
I had wanted Lois to sit closer all
along. The Wild Mouse accomplished that.
Sometimes God puts us on a wild ride.
Life seems to be out of our control. At times,
God allows these situations because He knows
they will move us closer to Him and when we get
closer to Him, we will discover that He is more
than we ever imagined Him to be. [Alternative
View with Dr. Tony Evans;
https://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/alternative-view-with-dr-tony-evans/]
COMMENTARY
Daniel Rowlands, a famous Welsh
revivalist of a past century, said: "The whole purpose
of the Christian message can be summarized in a
single word - fellowship."
What did he mean? First John 1:3 spells
it out clearly: "And indeed our fellowship is
with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ."
Listen to it as it appears in The Amplified Bible:
"What we have seen and ourselves heard, we are
also telling you, so that you too may realize and
enjoy fellowship as partners and partakers with
us. And this fellowship that we have is with
the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ, the
Messiah." At first, John seems to say that the
fellowship is "with us," but he hastens to add that our
fellowship "is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus
Christ."
Follow me carefully now, for what I am
about to say can be easily misunderstood: the
person who does not know fellowship with God can
never know fellowship with anyone else. It must be
noted that I am here using the word "fellowship"
in its highest possible sense. The one who does
not know fellowship with God will feel,
consciously or unconsciously, that he is cut off from
the very roots of his being. He will feel like a
spiritual orphan. This is why our horizontal
relationships - that is, our relationship with ourselves
and with others - can never be fully realized
until we experience a vertical relationship, a
relationship with God. Only when we are reconciled with
God do we have the potential for experiencing
true fellowship with ourselves and with others.
[Every Day With Jesus Bible with Selwyn Hughes
devotional re 1 Corinthians 1:9]
Jesus calls us to be His witnesses.
When some Christians hear this word, they worry
that they need exceptional skill or charisma in
order to share the good news with others. Yet to
witness is not to merely speak of the plan of
salvation to someone. The word literally means to see,
hear, or know by personal presence and perception;
to testify; bear witness to; give or afford
evidence of. When John wrote that he was sharing what
he had experienced first-hand, he was saying,
I am full of joy because of the experience of
knowing Jesus, and I want to invite you to share in
that joy!
When youre in love with someone, you
are excited about the relationship and time
spent together. Likewise, when youre in love
with Jesus, you cant keep to yourself the joy
that comes from knowing Him - it just spills
over, bearing witness and strengthening other
believers. In fact, as you give testimony of who God is
and how Hes working in your life, it makes no
difference whether you speak quietly or with great
exuberance: in their spirit, Christians will pick up on
the deep, genuine gladness in your heart that
goes beyond natural happiness. And people who
dont yet know the Lord will find themselves
hungering for the relationship you have. In that way,
they will be drawn to His Spirit in you.
Witnessing is not a matter of eloquence
or talent. Its an overflow of the personal
relationship with Jesus Christ that is conforming you to
His image. As you allow the Holy Spirit to
increasingly express His life and power through you,
contagious joy will be fruit of His indwelling
presence. [In Touch Daily Devotional by Charles
Stanley at www.intouch.org]
LINK FOR FURTHER STUDY ON THIS TOPIC
1 John 1:3, 4 - Sharing Jesus With Joy.
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2009/20090613-2332.html
YOUR COMMENTS
If anyone has a paraphrase, commentary or
testimony on this passage of Scripture, either
personal or otherwise, I would be interested in
hearing from you. Thanks in advance and let's keep
uplifting Jesus that all might be drawn to Him. Fred
Gibbs
LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT
Most Important Decision in Life:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/WGnEuGwvXqU?rel=0
A Man without Equal by Bill Bright:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiVa7UoruIo
Seeking God Made Real:
http://vimeo.com/31489782
Prayer Made Real:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc8VdMV26VE
Importance of Choice:
http://creationhealth.com/CREATION-Health/Choice [click on video]
Medical Seminar on Healthful Living by David
DeRose, MD, MPH:
https://www.smartlifestyletv.com/lifestart
LINKS FOR BIBLE STUDIES
Lifting Up Jesus Bible Studies:
http://www.liftingupjesus.net/
Amazing Facts Bible Studies:
http://www.amazingfacts.org/bible-study/bible-study-guides.aspx
Hope Awakens Bible Study Guides:
https://www.hopeawakens.study/lesson-header;id=2
Glow Tract Video Bible Studies:
http://www.bibleresearch.info/
LINKS FOR BIBLE PROPHECY SEMINARS
Revelation Now by Pastor Doug Batchelor:
https://www.revelationnow.com/
Unlocking Bible Prophecies by Cami Oetman of
Adventist World Radio:
https://bible.awr.org/en/the-signs/
Hope Awakens by John Bradshaw of IIW:
https://itiswritten.tv/programs/hope-awakens
Prophecies Decoded by Pastor Ron Clouzet:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1A435C5373550657
