2 JOHN (Letter 63, Larry Crabb’s 66 Love Letters)
Watch Out the Deepest Truth is the Most Easily Missed
Will we remain faithful to God when He withdraws His sense of presence from us?
Will we remain faithful when the feeling of His presence is fully absent?
Jesus Christ did.
Or do we assume that after all are our years of faithful service to him that it’s now time for His spirit to make our obedience easy?
Do we think that from now on walking in truth will mean to be carried along on the narrow road with all opposition swept away in the excitement of walking with Him?
C.S. Lews said – Does God then just forsake those who serve Him best? Well, He who served Him best of all said, near His tortured death, “Why have you forsaken me?”

After having a good experience we may want to assume that now it is our turn to consistently feel spiritually alive, to feel full of passion and excitedly aware of God’s presence.
But if God did that for us, our ministry would suffer. We would have less to say to His followers, and there are many, who wonder why they feel so alone and distant from God after praying so hard to feel otherwise. And we would have less power to speak into the hidden struggles of others, struggles that sometimes rage beneath the facade of togetherness and cheerful contentment that we often mistake for maturity.

Anchoring truth, not giddy excitement, has the power to keep us others-centered when our own pain screams for relief as it kept His Son, fully devoted to God’s plan while He hung on the cross though He was fully in pain, aware only of the Father’s absence.

M Scott Peck wrote that if the Gospel writers had been into PR they would have created a Jesus that most people are trying to create, walking around with a constant smile, patting little children on the head, strolling the earth with an unshakable calmness. But the Jesus of the Gospels did not have the kind of “peace of mind” we normally think of, so perhaps we won’t either.
Have nothing to do with those who claim to know the secret of knowing how to turn every misery into joy and every trial into blessing. God’s plan is not to remove trouble but to sustain us through trouble. Never support the message of people who invite you to live an easier life than Christ lived.

2 JOHN: From Ray Stedman

Click here for entire Bible Summary from Ray Stedman

to be completed

2 JOHN – David Jeremiah (Understanding the 66 Books of the Bible)

Key thought: While we must love one another deeply, we cannot tolerate error and evil in our churches.

Key Verse: Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. 2 John 1:9

Key Action: If we’re vigilant against deceivers and deception, we will receive a full reward without losing the things we’ve worked for (see 2 John 1:8).