The Second Epistle of John is one of my favorite readings. Walk in truth in vs. 4, gives us the understand that to know truth requires our doing it. Love is a key in vs. 5,6 and to love pleases God. I admit to you that both walk in truth and love one another makes me think of a portion of one of Winston Churchill’s quotes: “It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma…” The mystery of Jesus Christ and His laying in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and His hanging on a cross for our sins and the thoughts of His Second Coming brings me to ponder it as a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. I think it is just waiting to be solved by the action of Love from each of us.
I always linger over the Salutation and Blessing of this letter. Was the writer addressing a Mother and her children? A Spiritual leader in the church and her spiritual children, the Church and her children.
I am posting this Epistle in full for you to read and reflect on and hopefully motivate each of us to love and for love to motivate us to obedience. I pray that the words of our mouth, the meditation of our hearts and the obedience of our actions will all be acceptable to Our Father as we endeavor to know and walk in truth. Be Blessed this day, I pray.
2 John 1-12 NIV
The elder, To the chosen (elect) lady and her children, whom I love in the truth and not I only, but also all who know the truth – because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever:
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.
It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work.
I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.
The children of your chosen sister send their greetings.
thedailylily.com 
I like what Sara says about the mystery and the enigma concerning Jesus Christ’s birth, death and resurrection. She says the mystery of it is waiting to be solved by the “action of love by each of us”. That means not merely lip-service; not just saying ‘i luv yew, brother’ but by action, works, service, feats…..James says, “But be DOERS of the Word.. OBEDIENT..(John says this is love…obedience) and not just hearers deceiving yourselves.” And James goes on to say, that if a brother or sister is hungry or cold, what good does it do to say a blessing and say you HOPE they are warm and fed? The AMP BIBLE says, if you don’t act with compassion and help them, “What good does that blessing do?” “Show me your alleged faith apart from good works, (if you can), and I by my good works will show you my obedience and thus my FAITH and my LOVE” (James2:18 AMP)
David Teems, in his devotional, writes; “If true love gives of itself in the least, (yet) it gives all. It’s LOVE’S way. LOVE is an all or nothing proposition. If I love at all, I love completely, following the whole rule of Love. If I deny any in the least, I deny all, for CHRIST is the WHOLE RULE OF LOVE”
If we don’t have Jesus in our hearts would we not only be giving lip service and our hearts would be far from Him? That is about all we could do.
Romans 3:13-14 has something to say about our lips…”Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they have practiced deceit. The poison of asps is under their lips. Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness…”
We brush our teeth and go to the dentist an awlful lot but do we really wash our mouths. Wonder if that is why parents sometimes would wash their children’s mouth with soap and water.
I think you can show lots of love with a clean mouth and tongue. For surely the prophets spoke and we are still receiving their love even today from spoken words. Yes, God even gives gifts of “words” to some so they can give to others. The gift of prophecy, the gift of wisdom, the gift of knowledge. We need to recognize these gifts from others and be as thanksful for the Word as we are at times with money or our show toys.
I am thinking in terms here of God’s spiritual gifts to each of us and using them together to make a whole. Some with words, some with service and some with giving.
You say “…to know truth requires our doing it.” This reverberated in my being…it is not head knowledge but action knowledge. As John 1:6 and 2:5 says “If we say we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth…..He who says I know Him and does not keep His commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him.”
I looked in dictionary words from Winston Churchill’s quote above to try to understand walking in love more fully. I saw ‘It’s a riddle’ (a puzzling question, something or someone difficult to understand),
‘Wrapped in a mystery’ (a religious truth that one can only be known by revelation and cannot fully understand)
‘Inside an enigma’ (obscure speech or writing; a mysterious person).
You told us it is ‘only solved by the action of love from each of us.” It seems we can obey His commandments by helping to solve this mystery for others if we will take action by speaking and showing to others His Love and leading them to Him..to His Nativity. Reading your comment ‘Motivated by Love’ under your article “Why the Nativity”, helped me see this illustrated. Your gift-giving is an action that helps bring others into the understanding of the Nativity because you are the Nativity as we all should be. I don’t want to keep Him ‘waiting’ for His riddle to be solved this Christmas but I pray that I can also be a part of the solution for others through, as you said…’the words of my mouth, the meditation of my heart and my actions.’ Thank you for this article.
Debi, you sure have poured out love by bringing forth such beauty for many to enjoy through your Christmas flowers and trees. My home and our church is all aglow with much beauty with many beautiful poinsettias of many colors all because of you.
There is much mystery even in the legend of the poinsettia. The Christmas Tree and the gifts under the tree. But, I love the beautiful bows that adorn the packages and you are a very skilled bow maker as well as gardener. The Apostle Paul was also a skilled tent maker. When we see the skilled artisans at work making all things beautiful to show forth Jesus and His Birth it sure does make one’s heart leap inside of them. Maybe like Elizabeth felt when the baby leaped in her when she saw the Mother of the Messiah approaching her for a visit.
We see more and more how Christmas is “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma…”
Mentioning Christmas ‘legends’ brought to mind the poinsettia and the stories that go with it. Legend has it that a poor,pure-hearted young girl in Mexico had no gift to bring the Christ Child for Christmas Eve services. She was so sad. All she could find to give was some weeds along the roadside which she gathered and with embarressment laid at the foot of the Nativity. Suddenly a miracle occurred. The weeds burst into beautiful star shaped red blooms! A humble gift, given from a heart of love, was transformed into such beauty and still blooms at Christmas time each year.
I think this legend is a beautiful reminder that a step, an effort, a walk in love will not fail.
Another inspiring account is also about the poinsettia, which was discovered in Mexico and brought bought to South Carolina to be propagated by Joel Roberts Poinsett, an ambassador to Mexico who also founded the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. As he ‘walked’ the hill areas of Mexico, he was so taken by the beauty of this plant with blood red blooms that he wanted it brought back to share its beauty with his country. His time, energy and effort of ‘love’ now brings joy to millions at Christmas, a reminder of the blood of Christ shed for all mankind’s sins.
As always I thought deep on this blog because I know it is deep and says more than just the words that are written…Jesus was in a manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes…and now He is in this body(manger)my body/our personal body…wrapped in skin my skin our skin(swaddling cloth)..wrapped in mystery, enigma..waiting to be solved by the action of love from each of us….The action..that which Mary did in Love she gave birth to Jesus ..brought Him forth ..gave light to the world..that we might have life…and now we must do the same..let the life of Him come forth from each of us through love that others may have light and life…the mystery …Christ in us the hope of glory…this is really a deep walk in true love….dj
Dorothy, your thoughts are so thoughtful! Your creative words on the Nativity makes me think of the art I see around us with an angel holding inside her The Nativity Story. I have already been given two this Christnas as gifts. How I sit and watch and look and ponder these beautiful works of art. It really does remind me how Jesus is living inside of me. Such a wonder.
In David Jeremiah’s Book on The Nativity he says “Mary was favored by God for a task that would finally allow each of us to be favored. Gabriel said, “The Lord is with you,” and as a result, the Lord is with us all. In that way, God sent the ultimate Christmas gift not just to Mary but to all of us—and it was Mary who delivered the package.”
Now we have the rights to deliver the living Nativity by His Love going forth into the World.
Again, Dorothy, being the excellent artist that you are brings light to our being through your work of art both from canvas and words.