Complete Joy

DEVOTION 1 JOHN COMPLETE JOY 1 John 1:1-4 1:1 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. 2 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. 3 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. 4 We write this to make our joy complete. NIV Here we have a firsthand account of the truth about the existence of Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and that he is eternal, not just another great human being. Do we need more proof? It is clear that Jesus was with the Father from the beginning of what we know as time. It is clear that Jesus appeared to John, and that John saw, heard, and understood the truth which was revealed to him, and now he wants us to know all of it is real and true. If we have never had any actually supernatural event happen in our lives because of the work of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, we could still believe without any doubt because we have the record of a firsthand witness to all this. Many of us have had supernatural events, healings, miracles, revelations, hearing the voice of God, or some other incredible experience with God. Some of us have never had an event like that, but we still can believe because of the testimony of John which was inspired his experiences with God. John knows that if we believe, we can have the same kind of fellowship he had with Jesus. We can have a partnership with Jesus as John did, we can participate with Jesus as John did. What better thing could ever happen in our life? Could anything this world offer ever come close to that kind of experience? Why we spend so much of our time involved with living life, in human terms, and spend so little time living life in Godly terms when it is the later which can bring us the greatest joy ever known is beyond understanding. Can we have nice things? Absolutely, but it is because God has provided them for us, not us, not our effort. All things accumulated by human effort do not fill our hearts with joy, but those same things when provided by God are evidences of his love for us and that brings intense joy. When we know we have eternal life, the greatest gift from God it is the total fulfillment of joy. Nothing could be greater, nothing could come in a close second, all else fades into oblivion in light of eternal life. My joy is complete.