Dear Friends,
Jamie and I have a new favorite restaurant. It’s a little Indian gastropub in Sorrento Valley called Daru. They serve Indian beers, which we don’t care for, and a variety of Indian street foods that we had never tried or heard of before we came there for the first time. We love trying new things, and everything we’ve tried has been fun and delicious. So, we keep coming back, wanting to try everything on the menu that we haven’t tried yet. We’ve been inviting friends and family to go there with us and recommending it to other friends whenever eating out comes up in our conversations. The owner has gotten used to seeing us at this point and comes out to say hello to us.
When I find joy in something, I want to talk about it with anyone who will listen. And the one thing that gives me even more joy is to have other people try it with me and find joy in it as well. This is why I’m constantly talking about Jesus - because Jesus is the most joyful thing I have experienced yet. The best thing in the world that can happen to me is to be able to enjoy Jesus together with other people who are also coming to know him. John says something similar in the letter 1 John.
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. (1 John 1:1-4 NIV)
Here, John explains that he, and others who were followers of Jesus while Jesus was living a human life on earth, saw Jesus, touched Jesus, and spoke with Jesus. And as they came to know Jesus and did life together with him, they found Jesus to be life itself. John goes on to explain that the reason he is telling his readers about this is because he finds so much joy in his relationship with Jesus and, through Jesus, with the Father and Creator of the universe, that he wants everyone else to have this relationship too. The one thing that brings him even more joy is sharing his joy with others who are also entering into life in an entirely new way as they come into relationship with Jesus.
I haven’t ever seen Jesus. Nor have I touched him. But I have heard and experienced him and have begun to know him and to walk with him. And I have found that knowing him is life itself. What great joy it is to share this together with all of you at Coast who are beginning to walk with him as well. Let’s pray together that we would, like John, continually share this experience with others and invite them to share our joy.
Jesus, thank you for the great joy that you have brought into our lives. Thank you for the gift of life and love together with you for eternity. We delight in sharing our fellowship with you with each other and long to share this fellowship with those who have yet to experience it. Cause us to long for this even more and to speak of you with confidence and delight to all who are wiling to hear. Amen.
Love in Christ,
Michelle
