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Grace, mercy and peace will be with us,

from God the Father 

and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father,

In truth and love.

~ 2 John 3



Good morning my dear sister!

It is always such a pleasure to be thinking of you! 

Even though it is my joy, occasionally I worry and fret over what I should write to you. Sometimes my thoughts get so tangled up in knots that the words are strangled. As my deadline looms, that knot just seems to get tighter and more tangled. When my thoughts are in such turmoil It’s an indication that I’m not on the right track.

But when I finally give the Lord a chance to squeeze His thoughts into my busy brain, He reminds me that I am not the inspiration for this letter, but the Holy One who lives inside of me! No wonder I had such confusion! So, I abandoned the tangled mess in my mind, perhaps that is for another time, and followed the straight path that God has laid out for me. That path led straight to grace, mercy and peace….. and encouragement for both of us! Isn’t that just like our heavenly Father?

So, that is how we’ve come to contemplate the above verse this morning! Even though we’ve been studying this letter of John’s for the past couple weeks, (right, Connect Groups?) today the passage spoke to me in a way that I never understood before. (Thank you Holy Spirit!)

This is the one three letters that the Apostle John wrote to friends in the early Christian communities. There is some debate about this ‘chosen lady’ who John is writing to in his second letter, but I’m choosing to think this ‘elect one’ is a sister in the Lord. He is writing to her to encourage her soul; perhaps we could call his letter a “Brother2Sister”!

It’s a wonderful letter of encouragement and hope about remaining steadfast in the love of God and love for each other. In that love, He also is addressing the topic of discernment, specifically to be careful of who one hangs out with. (listen to those words being put into your head!)

The Apostle John, beloved disciple of Jesus, begins his letter with a blessing, which is written above. Please read it again, right now, out loud to yourself. Does anything stand out to you?

The one little word that really glows for me today is “us”. 

As far as I can tell, every other blessing in the Word is conferred from the author to the reader.  There’s nothing wrong with that, I’m not about to take on any of the spiritual giants of the Bible! But John’s blessing puts us all on the same level as himself. To me, it seems that he equalizes all of us in the eyes of God. As if somehow we fit together to accomplish the same goal!. 

Each of us have talents, strengths and weaknesses that are unique to ourselves. Like a jigsaw puzzle full of different shapes, when we fit together in God’s design, we make something beautiful beyond description. Perhaps John is one of the corner pieces, yet he is still part of the “us” that is God’s complete puzzle picture! 

Isn’t that wonderful to contemplate? The picture isn’t complete if a piece is missing. In fact the neighboring pieces aren’t completed if their neighbor is missing. Every brother or sister is an integral part of the whole family puzzle, jagged pieces and straight edges alike! John makes that clear in proclaiming God’s grace, mercy and peace is and will always be with “us”, in truth and love!

Knowing that makes me feel jazzed! I’ve seen how among my own children how the little ones look up to their older siblings, even as adults! Have you ever thought of St. John, beloved disciple of Jesus, as your big brother? (in a most reverent way, of course)

Hallelujah!

What has God shown you today? Be on the search for a measure of His grace, mercy and peace with you! It may come from a brother or sister. Perhaps you might have the opportunity to minister God’s grace to someone not in the family yet.

We never know what God might do, but He promises us that if we seek, we will find!

May the Lord bless us with a deeper knowledge and love for Him this week!

With love, your sister, Celeste