June 16th - John 1:16-17

John 1:16-17 From God’s abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. People have very different understandings of God. Some see him as being a strict disciplinarian, like a divine policeman. Others see him as a nice old man on a cloud with a flowing beard, very kind but completely cut off from normal life. Then there is the picture of God that we find in John’s Gospel – someone who is unfailingly generous and involved in every part of our daily life. His principal desire is that we should thrive, and he is looking for every possible way of blessing us. That’s what he did long ago when he gave the law to Moses, and then later when he sent Jesus into the world, and that’s still his agenda today. If you head into today with a conviction that God is generous and longing to bless you, it will colour everything that you do. You will be eager to pray, knowing that God loves to hear and respond to your prayers. He doesn’t prevent us from facing the difficulties, disappointments and tragedies which are an integral part of the brokenness of our world, but when you do face challenges, you can be sure that God is present with you and will be working with you to bring blessing to every situation. When Jesus taught his disciples about prayer, he pointed out that it is normal for a human father to give good things to his children. Jesus concluded that if we sinful human beings know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more will our heavenly Father give to us through his Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13)? We can be confident that our generous God will always give us the best because his desire is always to be generous. Question In what ways have you experienced God’s generosity? Prayer Lord God, I thank you for your desire to bless every part of my life. Amen