Gaius (3 John 1-2)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 05-24-04

 

My Worship Time                                                                                          Focus:  Gaius

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  3 John 1-2

 

            Message of the verse:  “1   This letter is from John the Elder. It is written to Gaius, my dear friend, whom I love in the truth.  2 Dear friend, I am praying that all is well with you and that your body is as healthy as I know your soul is.”  (NLT)

            “1 The elder unto the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth.  2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.”  (AV)

            John wrote this letter to Gaius and to the church that he is a part of, and told of some of the problems that were going on at that church.  There are three men that John writes about in this letter, and two of them are walking in the truth, and doing things that God would have them doing, but the other is not doing the Lord’s will and John deals with that.  This is the shortest letter in the Bible, at least in the Greek.

            John identifies himself the same way in this letter as in 2 John, and that is the elder, and then goes on in the first verse to identify who he is writing to and that is Gaius who is John’s dear friend and whom John loves in the truth.

             John writes about the healthiness of Gaius’ soul, and prays that his body were that healthy in verse two.  John may be saying that his health was not as good as it could have been or it may just be a type of greeting that was normally given then.  At any rate it is clear that John knew that Gaius was healthy in his soul, which is so very important. 

            There are things that a person can do in order to help to have a healthy body, and there are also things a person can do in order to have good spiritual health.  Good nutrition is essential in both physical and spiritual health.  Physical and spiritual exercise is important too.  We must keep physical and spiritual health, and we must get the proper amount of rest, and as far as that goes we need to rest in the Lord.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Gaius is a wonderful example to follow as far as how to be a good Christian.  He was walking in the truth, he was loving, and he had a healthy soul too.  These are all good qualities to have.

 

The Word of God has challenged my heart.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  I must trust the Lord as to whether or not Tim will get this job, and whether or not it is the Lord’s will that I go with him.  The job part looks very inviting to me, but the location of the job does not look that wonderful to me.  I will leave all of this in the Lord’s hands as to whether or not I will get to go or not.

 

Memory verses for the week:  1Cor. 13:1,2

 

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.