3 John: Pt. 3 — A ‘Time With God’ Audio Devotion

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Transcript

Good morning. I love helping you put God right in the middle of your life, and we do that by starting our day right, starting our day with time with God, and time with God just shapes your life. It shapes your thinking. It shapes your approach to life. It puts hope right there in the middle of no matter what is happening in your life because you know God is involved. He’s with you.

Well this week we’re looking in the Bible every day at the little book of the Bible called Third John, the 3rd letter of John the Apostle, and this letter was written to one of his good friends named Gaius. We started off this week reading the first few verses of 3rd John. Yesterday we looked at, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. Then he goes on in his letter to Gaius to say, beloved it’s a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God, for they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore, we ought to support people like these that we may be fellow workers for the truth.

So in the first few verses John said to his friend Gaius, I am so excited to hear about how you are walking in the truth because of these brothers who’ve shared with me about your walk with God. And then he says to him, Now these brothers are coming to you, and probably those fellow Christians have taken this letter from John to Gaius, and he says to Gaius.

It’s a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for them. It’s so good that you’re helping them on their way as they are headed out in evangelistic ministry, planting churches, sharing Christ with people. It’s so good that you’re helping them, and now I encourage you, he says, you will do well to send them on their journey as they head out from you, continuing their ministry. Send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. They’ve gone out for the sake of the name. The reason they’re journeying is they’re taking God’s name to more and more people, excepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore, we ought to support people like these.

Here’s one of the principles of life as a Christian.

The Bible tells us our first responsibility is to support those who regularly teach us the word, your leaders in your church. Paul tells us those who are taught the word should share all good things with the ones who teach, so we should be supporting the ministry of those who are teaching us the word. But also, here’s this other principle of giving.

You also ought to be supporting those who are stepping out in faith and who are going on the faith journey trusting God to provide their needs as they are involved in evangelistic ministry to others. Support those who teach you the word in your local church and also support those who are carrying God’s word forward to other places as you look at your own life and your finances, do you recognize that your finances reflect your values.

Are your values really expressing God’s kingdom values and the fact that you’re putting God first in your life?

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Well, as God sends people out to start new ministries, to start new churches, to plant the gospel in new areas of the world, are you partnering with Him in that? Now, here’s the exciting thing. John says, Therefore, we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.

When you support someone who’s headed out by faith, trusting God to provide their needs as they take the gospel to people, you become a fellow worker with them in the truth. You are also carrying the gospel forward as you partner with these people, giving to support what God is doing.

What can you do? Who can you partner with? Who is trusting God and stepping out in faith?

I’m John North.

To go deeper in your faith, visit AFCI.com.au.

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