3Jn 1:1 The elder unto the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in the TRUTH.
3Jn 1:2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
3Jn 1:3 For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the TRUTH that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the TRUTH.
3Jn 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in TRUTH.
In truth.
The TRUTH is all that our Savior came to give to us, to preach to us, to live as an example of because HE is the TRUTH. Christ embodies the TRUTH. There is NO deception in our Savior, there is NO falsehood in our Lord, none! He never bent the truth, He never twisted the truth, He never told only half a truth, He never deceived not once! Did He use parables and speak in such a way it was hard for some to understand? Yes. But He never did that to deceive, not to a single person. Those who found it hard to comprehend what He was saying failed to have their heart open to Him, failed to allow Him into their hearts fully. Those who remained spiritually blinded did so because they lack the true desire to know the Savior. And if our Savior said something that was hard to understand sometimes those who really had their hearts open and were seeking the truth were not ready to fully understand- not until a later time. But our Savior never spoke a single untruth. Every word out of His mouth was truth. Every action He made was truth.
Is it any wonder that so many people feared Him? They did fear Him and they wanted to silence Him and they did so by crucifying Him. There is power in the truth and often people want to hear lies, because truth would convict them and they'd see a failing in themselves that they don't want to admit to. Pride has been the downfall of so many people. It's our pride that rears it's ugly head against the truth in so many ways. We don't want to be WRONG. We don't want to be wrong even in the little things that have no bearing on eternal matters other than when those little things add up they fester and grow into big things.
In reading Mere Christianity, a book I enjoy by C.S. Lewis, he says in one part (and I'm paraphrasing badly) that a man with a temper isn't so bad unless that temper grows worse little by little, year after year. However if that man's life didn't end after the human's average lifespan but continued on through eternity how AWFUL it would be if that temper continued to grow throughout eternity. The gist of it is- while little things might not seem like such a big deal now, they would if you measure them to eternity. A growing temper that continues to grow would be a monstrous temper over time unending. So all the defects in our characters- all the UNTRUTH we live in- must be purged by our Savior before we can ever hope to be His through eternity.
3Jn 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in TRUTH.
Is it any wonder it says here in this verse - NO greater joy than to hear that my children walk in TRUTH.
Walking in truth. Walking in Christ. Living in truth. Living in Christ. We must always strive to do this without ceasing.
Does this mean we won't ever fail? No. It means we will fail and then fall at the feet of our Savior. It means that we will allow the lessons to be learned. It means we will not become impenetrable stone, but clay- pliable in our Lord's hand- able to be molded, able to be shaped. We are called to walk through fires of trials and tribulations, not to suffer through them only to come out of them without a single change. What good is a refining fire if the metal put into it in order to purify it, doesn't change at all? What good is a trial if absolutely nothing is learned from all that has been gone through? If you are put to the test does it do any good if you don't learn where you failed? Only by learning where you went wrong can you allow that knowledge to keep you from continuing on down the wrong way.
Yes, sometimes it seems as if we have faults that reoccur over and over and it seems as if we'll never learn- but the lesson we might be learning because of this happenstance is the patience we need to deal with yet another problem in the future. We can NEVER give up, that is Satan's joy, when we give up. We have to hold fast to our Savior, and the TRUTH found in Him!
We must be found WALKING in the truth! Always in HIS truth!
By HIS GRACE, HIS LOVE!
3Jn 1:2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
3Jn 1:3 For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the TRUTH that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the TRUTH.
3Jn 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in TRUTH.
In truth.
The TRUTH is all that our Savior came to give to us, to preach to us, to live as an example of because HE is the TRUTH. Christ embodies the TRUTH. There is NO deception in our Savior, there is NO falsehood in our Lord, none! He never bent the truth, He never twisted the truth, He never told only half a truth, He never deceived not once! Did He use parables and speak in such a way it was hard for some to understand? Yes. But He never did that to deceive, not to a single person. Those who found it hard to comprehend what He was saying failed to have their heart open to Him, failed to allow Him into their hearts fully. Those who remained spiritually blinded did so because they lack the true desire to know the Savior. And if our Savior said something that was hard to understand sometimes those who really had their hearts open and were seeking the truth were not ready to fully understand- not until a later time. But our Savior never spoke a single untruth. Every word out of His mouth was truth. Every action He made was truth.
Is it any wonder that so many people feared Him? They did fear Him and they wanted to silence Him and they did so by crucifying Him. There is power in the truth and often people want to hear lies, because truth would convict them and they'd see a failing in themselves that they don't want to admit to. Pride has been the downfall of so many people. It's our pride that rears it's ugly head against the truth in so many ways. We don't want to be WRONG. We don't want to be wrong even in the little things that have no bearing on eternal matters other than when those little things add up they fester and grow into big things.
In reading Mere Christianity, a book I enjoy by C.S. Lewis, he says in one part (and I'm paraphrasing badly) that a man with a temper isn't so bad unless that temper grows worse little by little, year after year. However if that man's life didn't end after the human's average lifespan but continued on through eternity how AWFUL it would be if that temper continued to grow throughout eternity. The gist of it is- while little things might not seem like such a big deal now, they would if you measure them to eternity. A growing temper that continues to grow would be a monstrous temper over time unending. So all the defects in our characters- all the UNTRUTH we live in- must be purged by our Savior before we can ever hope to be His through eternity.
3Jn 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in TRUTH.
Is it any wonder it says here in this verse - NO greater joy than to hear that my children walk in TRUTH.
Walking in truth. Walking in Christ. Living in truth. Living in Christ. We must always strive to do this without ceasing.
Does this mean we won't ever fail? No. It means we will fail and then fall at the feet of our Savior. It means that we will allow the lessons to be learned. It means we will not become impenetrable stone, but clay- pliable in our Lord's hand- able to be molded, able to be shaped. We are called to walk through fires of trials and tribulations, not to suffer through them only to come out of them without a single change. What good is a refining fire if the metal put into it in order to purify it, doesn't change at all? What good is a trial if absolutely nothing is learned from all that has been gone through? If you are put to the test does it do any good if you don't learn where you failed? Only by learning where you went wrong can you allow that knowledge to keep you from continuing on down the wrong way.
Yes, sometimes it seems as if we have faults that reoccur over and over and it seems as if we'll never learn- but the lesson we might be learning because of this happenstance is the patience we need to deal with yet another problem in the future. We can NEVER give up, that is Satan's joy, when we give up. We have to hold fast to our Savior, and the TRUTH found in Him!
We must be found WALKING in the truth! Always in HIS truth!
By HIS GRACE, HIS LOVE!
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