Jacobs Thoughts and Doings

Our son, Paul, our noted professional photographer, took my picture outside his studio. What happened to all that hair, where did it go?  And the left eye squint!  And the creased neck?  It is not a mystery but a transformation!

It is nice growing old but it takes a bit of getting used to. God is good, that is not only a truism but a fact that I and Anna Ruth attest to.  Let’s get on with life!  Life in the love of God.  Every day is precious, every friend special, every breath a joy.

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

1 John 1:5 – 10

I am impressed all over again with the simplicity and power of these words that actually jumped to life for me many years ago when living in Africa.  I, of course, felt, as a missionary, that I was there as a teacher.  After a few years there I discovered that a central reason for being there was to learn how to “walk in the light.”  This most amazing truth was not an educational matter; it was a deeply spiritual reality that I needed to discover at ever deeper levels.

What do we communicate?  What should we communicate?  Walking in God’s light may seem absurdly simple but its power cannot be questioned. When I am walking in the light as God is in the light, made possible by the cleansing blood of Jesus, I have fellowship, not only with God, but with all those who are walking that way.  We should try to live in peace with all people.  If what I read here and what I know in my heart is true, then my deepest fellowship with another human being is this common walking in the light of God.

This is our first monarch worm of the year, on one of our milkweed plants, specially planted for monarchs.  Here it is filling itself with a small milk weed pod that, if allowed to mature, resembles a fish.

We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete. 1 John 1:3, 4

In a way, we are handicapped in that we were not there when Jesus stilled the angry storms, fed the multitudes, healed the sick and spoke words of divine grace as he revealed the heart of his Father in heaven.  We were not among the disciples whom he blessed and bade good will as he ascended into glory.

John, the one who wrote this letter, is much aware of the fact that he had the advantage of actually being there while those to whom he is writing were not. John cannot change that but he can declare with absolutely certainty, together with those were physically there on the Mount of Olives in Palestine when Jesus revealed himself as alive forever, that he will be in and with his followers with an intimacy that is hard to believe, even closer than when he was physically among them, for all time.

John knew Jesus abode in him by the Holy Spirit and he wants nothing less for us today.  That is why he wrote about the indwelling Jesus – so that our joy will be complete.

John proclaims that Jesus is in him, Jesus is likewise in us.  That is the core of our fellowship on earth and for eternity.  Not that we have done anything but that Jesus indwells all those who love him – authentic fellowship. How many of us might there be?  Multitudes from every tribe and nation, from every era, are in that intimate fellowship with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit from now to eternity.

Overwhelming, indeed, just to know that!

Evan, on a hot Summer day, is about to dip into some yummy variety of ice creams as Elizabeth looks on with skepticism. His weapon – a small spoon. Evan expresses only triumph!  So goes the more leisurely warm days.

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 1 John 1

Jesus is “the Word of Life.”  What does that mean?  That Jesus gives life I know, but what about Word?  What meaning does that have that is not just Creator?  Is it like we read in the opening verses of the Bible when God spoke and marvelous things happened as all things were created – we hear the resounding echo of “God spoke and it was…”  I believe so.

Everything in me is there because God spoke.  Likewise, the leaf of the maple tree in our back yard is there because God spoke and it continues to do what maple trees are supposed to do – because God spoke.   The moon and the sun shine on the earth, a result of God’s Word, his unshakable desire.  I grew in my mother, Trella’s womb, because of God’s overpowering Word.  I find it to be the warmest thought I can possibly think, “God spoke therefore I am.”  Can love be more intimate than that?  What about that as a miracle of God’s grace?  To believe and know I am the result of God’s Word, specifically regarding me, astounds me and humbles me beyond words..

As “the Word of Life,” he gives life.  He is the source of life.  There would be no life without our Father God. As I suck the truth out of that I am satisfied and loved. Join me in gasping at its reality  –  God in Christ is the living Word.  Because of that I am alive, writing these few lines of praise.

We had the joy of hosting our dear friend from North East India, Leaderwell, last week.  He blessed us again with his presence, his love and his wisdom.  Our friendship over the past 12 or so years has been a huge blessing to us. He developed the Leadership Development track for Global Disciples, a program that has blessed hundreds of Christ-honoring leaders around the world.  Our house is his.  He is one of God’s special gifts to us.

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 1 John 1:1

Do I catch what God is saying here?  The God who created the million plus galaxies in the heavens, the pure and holy God, the Awesome One, is telling us who Jesus is and what he did to make it possible for poor frail human beings like us to – hold your breath – to have intimacy with that eternal God!!

WE HEARD HIM.  The disciples heard his physical voice, they also heard with their spiritual ears. God wants to tell us that He loves us and that Jesus will talk with us if we wish. Is it possible that we can chat with God?   Absolutely amazing.

John goes on, WE SEE GOD WITH OUR EYES, wide open.  In addition to hearing God we see him.  We see all of his attributes in Jesus Christ, his mercy, his love, his judgment. John uses human sensory abilities like hearing and seeing and touching to illustrate the reality of having fellowship with God!  These terms are so intimate that we simply stand in awe at what God in Christ has done for us.  Touch God?  Yes.  As simple as that, but as profound as eternity itself.

John goes on, WE LOOKED AT HIM.  This implies pondering what we see, recognizing its importance. Many people give Jesus a glance and that is it. No, we are invited to examine him entirely, to look into his heart, his love and his unsurpassed compassion. Stand and look!

John goes on, OUR HANDS HAVE TOUCHED AND HANDLED HIM.  Is God touchable??  That is what is marvelous about God’s plan for man’s redemption. Not only does God invite us to touch him in Christ but to embrace him with all our might like he embraces us.

Come all, listen to God in Christ, see him pour out his life for us, ponder that astounding truth, then reach out, not only to touch him but to embrace Him in his entirety. That is the gift God is offering us – it is the gift that John invites us to receive in the first lines of his letter.

A sure sign of Summer is the appearance of the fresh sweet corn.  Anna Ruth and Elizabeth do what you do – husk, snap the cob off, remove carefully as much silk as you can, then boil slightly.  EAT. Mmm.  We get ours at the Stahl stand near Landis Homes.  This year the ears seem especially full and nutritious.

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.  We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.  We write this to make our joy complete. I John 1:1 – 4

If I may, I leave 2 Timothy with all that precious letter stirred in our hearts and minds, to ponder, consider and believe and turn to the faith of another Disciple, John.

He opens his first letter with a paragraph of surprises and assurances. The opening of his first letter is nothing less than a treasure trove of God’s grace and love.

John focuses his attention on Jesus, solely. Who is he? That which was from the beginning. Obviously this means Father, Son and Holy Spirit are co-equal in terms of time, if we can even conceive time as eternal, a thought too lofty for me.  Jesus is not created, HE IS!  He took on a mortal body in order to redeem us for God.  His birth on earth is nothing less than the appearance of Jesus in the form of a human being, a helpless baby.  Amazing. He existed long before that – “in the beginning.”  Think of that!

Jesus is eternal.  Quite a claim for a man born of Mary in Bethlehem that night of nights, under the moon and stars of our small solar system, taking on the form of man in order to rescue the race and turn the hearts of all who will believe, on to God.  Can it be?  And if that is true, what difference does that make?

It makes all the difference in the world. He is God among us! Emmanuel. And his purpose is to open the door to fellowship with the Father for all persons for all time.

This is not a hope or a desire but a reality.  And if a reality we do well to allow it to shape our faith and change our very lives. There is no other. He is the Word of life.  Only Jesus.