Today's Passage - 1 John 1:3-4

1 John 1:3-4   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.   "Have fellowship" doesn't just mean casual socializing, but true fellowship in the Lord.  It's based on the same foundation - Having fellowship together within one life.  There are many denominations within Christianity, some are baptized by sprinkling but others by full emersion in water, some hold reserved services and others sing and dance.  Nevertheless, our unity is never one based on form, organization or doctrines; our unity is based on the one life that we have, which is the life from God.  My daughters used to fight a lot when they were young, and sometimes my elder daughter would get mad and asked, "daddy, can we get rid of my little sister?"  I would tell her, "no way, she'll always be your little sister because we're always one family!"  We adopt the same life, so no matter how many disputes are between us we still belong to one family, because we all share one life.   Similarly, John said here that "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 may have fellowship with each other and enjoy life in the big family of the Lord because we adopted the same life from God.  Whenever I think of God's family, I ask that He give us an open mind, because there are all kinds of people in God's Kingdom.  It's like a big garden that not only has flowers of one color, God's garden has flowers of all colors, and His completeness and glory are manifested everywhere.  Each time I see people worshiping God in different ways, I am filled with gratitude and joy.  When you have an open mind, you will not fall into unnecessary bitterness and hatred, but be naturally filled with joy.  May we appreciate the joy in God's family!   Pray with Pastor Tong   Lord, we thank you because we're not in God's family alone, but you've put us in one big family with all types of people who adopted the same life.  May you give us an open mind and joyful heart, so that we may appreciate different ways to practice our faith in you.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!   Support Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Expansion Project See what's happening on our social sites