Author: Dave Dishman (Page 61 of 451)

Ever meet an old friend you haven’t seen for years who’s changed so much you don’t recognize him? And maybe the old friend says the same thing about you? As we age appearances reshape (or lose shape). But it’s always disconcerting to not recognize someone you should know.

The apostle John failed to recognize an old friend as well. The Roman emperor Domitian banished John to the island of Patmos to stop him from preaching about Jesus. One day while in the Spirit, he heard a voice like rushing waters telling him to write down a message. Turning around, John saw a figure glowing from head to foot, with eyes of blazing fire. He immediately collapsed as if dead.

The brilliant figure placed his hand on John and said, Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

John did not recognize Jesus, even though he spent three years in his presence and enjoyed a close relationship. Jesus stood before him transformed beyond comprehension. Stunned, John eventually gathered his wits and started taking notes.

Jesus is so much more than what I picture in my head. Kinder and gentler, firmer and stronger, alive and present. As John experienced, Jesus is more staggeringly glorious than anything I can imagine. If Jesus appeared to us in his glory we would all fall down as if dead.

Don’t underestimate Jesus. He’s more amazing than we realize.

Revelation 1 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Motoki Tonn

Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States, an official holiday stretching back to Abraham Lincoln. I love this day dedicated to feasting and giving thanks.

The Bible encourages feasting to remember the goodness and work of the Lord. In one example God instructed Moses regarding Passover: This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast (Exodus 12:14).

It’s good and proper to focus on God’s benevolence. I’m thankful today for my wife, my children and their spouses, my granddaughter, my family and my extended family—every person a gift from the Lord. I’m grateful for good health, a warm house, a job I like and people I like working with, for the ability to travel abroad and to return to a free and prosperous country.

I earned none of these gifts. Everything I possess and enjoy pours from the hand of God. Today I revel in graciousness.

Savor the feast. Fasting awaits—but not this day. Enjoy a second piece of pie, and delight in the goodness of the Lord.

Photo by SANDY HIBBARD

At times when a tragedy is reported, like the sinking of a ship at sea, we refer to those who died as lost souls. You might hear a commentator say, The vessel went down with 27 souls aboard. We tend to refer to a person as a soul only when they’ve passed from this life. But we already possess a soul, it’s just buried under layers of life.

John prayed for his good friend Gaius, using this language of soul. I pray for good fortune in everything you do, and for your good health—that your everyday affairs prosper, as well as your soul!

John prays for favorable life circumstances ( a prayer I utter daily for friends and family), as well as his friend’s health (every prayer gathering I’ve ever attended involved praying for someone’s health). Then John prayed for Gaius’s soul.

John prayed for a soul at peace, a generosity of spirit, a willingness to fully engage the Lord, and a view beyond circumstances to eternity. A flourishing life and robust health are wonderful, but a thriving soul tops them both. May our souls prosper as well.

While I pray often for health and circumstances, I rarely find myself praying for my friend’s souls. Perhaps you would like to join me in praying for our souls today:

Lord, help our souls get along well, even as health rises and falls, and we stumble over rocks in our path. Remind us that our souls, the very core of are being, remain safe in you.

3 John 2 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Robert Katzki

I value consistency. I return to a restaurant knowing that the dish I’ve been craving will be prepared just as before. I like getting into a vehicle that starts. I want the furnace to work in the winter and the lights to turn on every time I flip the switch.

John remained consistent in his teaching. He wrote to a friend, And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

In an earlier letter John wrote, God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. In his gospel John penned the most famous verse in the Bible: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John echoed the voice of Jesus who answered a question about rules in this way: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.

John’s emphasis on love remains consistent with the teachings of Jesus, as well as the other disciples, the Law, the prophets, and indeed all the Bible. Our love of God will manifest as love for the Scriptures, love for God, and love for our neighbor. Since all this is beyond our natural capabilities, God gave us his Holy Spirit to help us love.

John’s teachings finds unsteady footing in my life. But my lack of consistency fails to negate his message. As a follower of Jesus I’m commanded to love, and thankfully I have God’s help to do so.

2 John 5 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Isabella Fischer