I apologize for not getting out a Musings last week.  Marlys and I enjoyed a few days hosting our three grandkids from Iowa.  What fun we had!  We found out that they are part fish...really love the water.  And I have a grandson who is very interested in history...a rarity these days.  We had fun watching Gettysburg and Gods and Generals movies.  And Marlys enjoyed a time of crafts with Meghan.  Our grandkids are growing up...Josiah will be in the fourth grade this fall, with Meghan and Abby being in the second grade, and our little Ethan enters kindergarten in Texas.  Now wonder we feel older.  But, anyway now you know why there was no Musings last week. 

It has been a hot week here this week.  Hot and dry.  We could use some rain.  We are significantly below the normal we need for a growing season.  So I keep the hoses going.  Our community has watering restrictions, so there have been several nights when I get up at midnight to get the hoses going.  But so far everything continues to grow.  But God's watering method is much better and healthier than mine.  So will continue to hope for rain. 

On the world's stage, the political dogfights for 2008 are beginning to heat up.  While some begin to fade, the front runners gain strength.  And the accusations begin to be hurled.  It is going to be a long way until November 2008.  One wonders what condition the world will be in then.  Israel seems to have quieted down, although the Israelis are certainly not relaxing their alertness.  I read in one of the Israeli papers this week that many now believe there will be no war with Syria or Hezbullah this summer; instead both groups will continue to arm themselves with Iranian missiles.  The situation in the Gaza Strip is a different story.  With the United States and the European Union now throwing support behind Prime Minister Abbas of the PA, the Israelis are also moving in that direction of support.  The attempt to isolate Hamas and Gaza will not work, however.  Hamas has their pipeline through Egypt, and Egypt simply cannot, or perhaps truer to the point, will not shut down that pipeline.  And then there is the support from Iran.  Both Hamas and Hezbullah take their marching orders from Tehran.  And the Iranians will only continue to threaten Israel through Hamas and Hezbullah, but will not seek direct confrontation until they are convinced they have the military superiority to win.  I do believe that we are getting closer to the end.  I visited with a lady the other day who told me that she was not planning on dying as she thought the rapture was that close.  I hope she is right...but will continue keeping an eye on the Scriptures as well as an eye on the world. 

For our study this week, I want to focus upon the first few verses of the Gospel of John, chapter 1.  Friends, I believe that these may be the most important verses within the Bible; certainly they are within the Gospel of John.  Do I understand all that is said?  Absolutely not!  My mind cannot comprehend the magnitude of that very first verse: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  Friend, do you understand what John is saying?  How can a person be both "with" another person, and yet at the same time "be" that other person?  Yet, this is who Jesus Christ was and is.   He is God in the flesh.  So, let's look at the first two verses in this study - John 1:1-2

"In the beginning" is a phrase that draws us like a magnet to the opening words of the Bible: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."  Genesis was a time of newness, of creativity.  It was a time of life, of potential.  Now, the Apostle John says that he is about the recount another time of newness of creativity, a time of new life, a time of new potential.  It was to be a time of new involvement with God and His world.  Now, John wants us also to know that there is a continuity between that first time of newness in Genesis 1 and the newness he is about to describe.  That continuity is Jesus Christ.  Christ was there when the world was first created.  And, now Christ is about to do a new work.  Furthermore, John wants us to know that the Word (Jesus Christ) was not one of the created things in Genesis 1.  The Word was there before there was a creation.  There never was a time when the Word was not!  As John would later record, Jesus said, "Before Abraham was (born), I am."  Now, as we shall see in a couple of weeks, this is where it gets very interesting and complex.  The eternal Word which existed before time began, also had a birthdate, the same as you and me.  We call this the incarnation, and we shall discover this truth in verse 14.  But, spend a few moments just pondering the magnitude of that thought.  The eternal Word was born and died...He had a beginning and an ending, as far as the world was concerned.  Yet He was much more than that.  Wow!

Also, in that very first verse, John wants us to know that the Word was not only God, but was also with God.  There has always been the closest and most intimate relationship between the Word and God.  No one can tell us what God is like, what God's will is for us, what God's love and heart and mind are like, as can Jesus.  Let me see if I can illustrate this truth.  Suppose an employer wanted to find out some information about one of his employees, who would he talk with?  Of course he would talk with that person's friends and family members.  Because the Word was with God we know that Jesus is the only person in the whole world who can tell us what God is like and how God feels toward us.  Remember these words of Jesus to Philip, "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time?  Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.  How can you say, 'Show us the Father?'" (John 14:9).

What does this all mean?  It means that the very theme of John's Gospel is God Himself.  It was to God that Nicodemus came.  It was to God that the woman at the well came.  It was God who stood before Lazarus' tomb.  It was God who cried out from the cross, "It is finished."  Friends, no other gospel trumpets the deity of Christ with such clarity as does this gospel.  So, as you read, remember you are reading a portion of God's story.  Amazing. 

In our next study, we will continue examining these first few verses.  Until then, celebrate the presence of Christ in your life.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: Man sees your actions, but God sees your motives.  (Thomas a Kempis)