From the Epistles of John: Is your joy complete?

 Good day

We are busy with a series discussing the Epistles of John. We know that John was the disciple whom Jesus loved. But John was also one of the two brothers who asked Jesus whether they can sit on His right and His left in His kingdom (Mark10:35-45). They didn’t understand at the time that Jesus didn’t come as a physical saviour to literally redeem Israel from the Roman occupation. But I think Jesus actually liked them for asking that, just as God liked Jacob for wanting what He had for him and rejected Esau for despising God’s gift (Hebrews12:16-17, Malachi1:2-3). Even though Jacob seemed dishonest in the way he got hold of the birthright, he did get it through a legitimate business deal. It was Esau, who disregarded his birthright, who displeased the Lord. Although Jacob seemed dishonest when he deceived Isaac, he was doing the right thing, for he had been the rightful firstborn at that moment. The Lord loved his heart which was eager to have what God had for him and as a result blessed him abundantly for it.

In the same way, Jesus loved James and John’s desire to be in His inner circle, even though it seemed obnoxious to the others at the time. John, James, Peter, and sometimes Andrew were in fact Jesus’ inner circle of disciples. He took only them onto the mountain of transfiguration, into the room when he raised Jairus’ daughter to life, with Him when He prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, and discussed the end times with them only.

The above were some interesting revelations I received about John, the writer of the epistles, which I thought you might like to know.

Right, let’s see what we can learn from the first epistle of John. We are now at chapter one verse three.

 ^“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 (or ‘your’ in some manuscripts) joy complete,” (1 John 1:3-4).

We have learned in the previous post that John and the other disciples had the privilege to experience firsthand this magnificent, eternal person, Jesus, who is eternal life. They saw Him, heard Him, touched Him, had fun with Him, and so on. And now John, the one who had been closest to Jesus, said he wanted the reader to have fellowship with them whilst they have fellowship with the Father and with Jesus Christ. It’s almost like electricity flowing through a wire. You pick the anointing up from John who received it from the Father and Jesus.

Shouldn’t this be a dream for each of us? Your fellowship with Jesus and Father God should shine so much from you that people around you would like to have fellowship with you, just to experience God through you. This is why Jesus said in Matthew 5:14-16: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Jesus said that you are the light. You have no choice in it. Your light shines regardless. You cannot switch it on and off. The closer your fellowship with the Lord is, the brighter your light shines and the more people are drawn to you, and when they realise that you have been in close fellowship with the Lord, they will glorify the Father!

“When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realised that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus,” (Acts 4:13). Would people be able to say this of you? Is your relationship with the Lord of such a nature that people see the love, the peace, the joy, the patience, the kindness, the faithfulness, the gentleness, the self-control, and the good works, and then realise the Father had something to do with it and glorify Him? This will bring you ultimate joy, make your joy complete. This is all we need in life, but Satan knows it and therefore suggests all kinds of distractions all the time, stealing your joy. Why don’t you deepen your fellowship with the Lord so your joy may be complete?