Dave's Diary

Daily Readings: John 1 and Psalm 29

Today we begin our journey through John’s Gospel. We will read it slightly out of chronological chapter order by virtue of taking a detour to chapters 12-19 next week, so that we can focus on the events of Holy Week as recorded in John.

The Gospel of John, written by the “disciple whom Jesus loved”, focuses particularly on Jesus’ ministry in Jerusalem. I’m sure that our daily reading of this beautiful book will help us to notice how John reveals who Jesus is. He does this by: (a) highlighting seven miraculous signs performed by Jesus; (b) relating seven dramatic I AM statements of Jesus, and; (c) recording the testimony of witnesses who testify about the identity of Jesus.

There is so much to comment on in John 1. It is profoundly rich in its revelation of Jesus’ identity as the human incarnation of God. He is the Word of God, the Life of God, and the Light of God, through Whom all things were created, and Who has taken on flesh in the historical person of Jesus. But the verse I want to highlight for its life-application value is v.14:

¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

When the Word of God took on flesh in Jesus, the glory of God was revealed through His life. That glory was manifested through a life overflowing with grace and with truth. As those who have become children of God through our faith in Jesus (v.12-13) we hold the incredible privilege of being called to grow into the likeness of Jesus. And very simply, this means that we are to strive, with all of His power that is at work in us, to live lives that radiate His character, and particularly His grace (undeserved love and kindness towards others) and His truth (honesty, integrity, truthfulness and sincerity) to the best of our ability.

Life Application: To whom can you express the grace of Jesus today? In other words, who needs to receive an expression of your undeserved kindness today? Ask the Lord to show you the opportunity, and then grab it with both hands and just do it!