II JOHN

"And this is love: that we walk in obedience to His commands.  As you heard from the beginning, His command is that you walk in love."  (II John 1:6 - II John has no "3:16")

The apostle John wrote this short book of the Bible. the second in a series of three letters he wrote to fellow-believers to emphasize truth and love and to warn them about false teachings.  The book of II John is a letter about love.  The love of God.  The Bible is a love story; it is the most intricate, beautiful love story you will ever read.  The more you read and study it, the more details will be revealed to you. It is a love letter from God to you.



Love is what each of us wants and needs. Our world is filled with words about love - greeting cards, popular music,  magazines - they fill us with dreams of love and give us ideas of some sort of perfect romance.  But, this rarely exists.  We long for love.  We yearn to love and be loved,  but see very few examples of real love living in our world today.  Christ is the direct opposite of the world's ways, the opposite of the world's values.  Christ is the opposite of the self-centered world we live in. Believers in Him need to claim His ideals, reflecting love and acting with love toward one another.

In the book of John, the following conversation takes place, revealing just how important love is: "Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together.  One of them, an expert in the law, tested Him with this question: 'Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?'  Jesus replied, '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.  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.' "   (Matthew 22:34-40

So, the command to walk in love is both old and new.   In the Bible the old foreshadows the new and the new reflects back to the old.  In the above quote, Jesus is referring to the book of Deuteronomy wherein God gave mankind instructions on how to live in love... the Torah and the commandments.

The apostle Paul wrote beautifully of love in his first letter to the Corinthians:

"If I speak in the tongue of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails...When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.  When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.  Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain:  faith, hope, and love.  But the greatest of these is love."  (I Corinthians 13:1-13)

Love God.  Then, love one another.  This is walking in love.

HABAKKUK 3:16

"I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound, decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled.  Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us."  (NIV)

     The prophet Habakkuk wrote this short book of the Bible.  Like so many of the prophets, he had observed corruption, unrest, famine, and violence.  He went to God in prayer with earnest questions:  WHY?  Why, do  the deceitful people seem to get away with their dishonesty?  Will they ever be punished? Why do the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper?  And, WHEN?  When will You rescue us from our enemies?  When will You answer my pleas?

     Habakkuk was honest and direct with God about his concerns.  And God answered, explaining that He would make things right, but that it would be done in His time - not according to man's wishes. (Often, we think we know what's best for us, but only God can see the big picture... His vision extends all the way to eternity)

  

my photo, entitled, "Lone Tree Seeking God", taken in Israel

       This book of the Bible reminds me so much of how I feel. Right now. Today. In a world filled with corruption, violence, and blatant sin... Sometimes it seems as if evil people will prosper forever, while the "little people" struggle to get by from day to day.  I find myself asking God the same questions Habakkuk asked Him thousands of years ago... WHY?   and, WHEN?  I find myself pleading with God to rescue me from the worries of this world... Food prices going up. Utility prices skyrocketing. No end in sight to the apparent political unrest of the world.  "Wars and rumors of wars..."

  

       But, Habakkuk sets the example: He remained faithful and obedient despite the terrible times he was living in.  The  next three verses, following the "3:16" reveal Habakkuk's faith:   17  Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,  18  yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.  19  The sovereign Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, He enables me to go on the heights."  And, that is how the book of Habakkuk ends.  What a nice, uplifting ending!

     Sometimes it seems as if evil will prosper forever.  But this isn't so... God believes in justice.  We are often impatient, unable to see the full picture.  But, trust Him and He will be your strength.

     "In the multitude of my thoughts within me, Thy comforts delight my soul."

                                                         Psalm 94:19  KJV)