Meeting Jesus

“God’s love for you is without condition.”

Reflecting on I John 4:16, Br. Curtis Almquist invites us to let go of all the preconditions which we presume make us unlovable and embrace the actual circumstances of our life – good and bad – in which God meets us and loves us.

“So which world is it that God loves, the creation in its original glory, or the world that is fallen, broken, imperfect?”

Br. Mark Brown hears in John 3:16 the promise that we are loved in all our imperfect glory.

“We don’t have to earn this; this is a love that is given.”

Br. Keith Nelson suggests how praying with I John 4:9,10 can help us to trust in God’s grace, which transcends our individual feelings on any given day and prompts us to pray.

“God uses experiences of brokenness to break through to us.”

Br. Luke Ditewig meditates on John 3:17, encouraging us to confront our awareness of shame and weakness, and then set it aside, listening for God’s loving response.

“We know that we are loved by God.”

Br. David Vryhof encourages us to take John 1:12,13 to heart, embracing our central identity as beloved children of God.

“The deepest fear that we have is that of losing the loving regard of those close to us, or of even God.”

Br. Jonathan Maury reflects on I John 4:18, inviting us to bring our fears to the Father, just as Jesus did.

“Jesus is God’s way of speaking to us.”

Br. Mark Brown muses on the incredible opening line of John’s Gospel, John 1:1, inviting us to pray with its mystery.

“In Jesus, God took on the totality of our humanity, which means that he was just like us in every way.”

Br. Geoffrey Tristram reflects on John 1:14 and its promise that there is no part of our life we cannot bring to God in prayer.

“Perhaps at times, like me, you’ve found yourself unable to believe that the love of God could include you.”

Br. Jonathan Maury meditates on the healing of the man at the pool at Bethzatha in John 5:2-6, sharing how it has become a touchstone in his own life of prayer.

“When I consider Jesus as teacher, I often think of him as a kind of guru.”

Br. Nicholas Bartoli studies John 13:12-15 for an example of how we can model our lives on Jesus.

“Our first instinct, as soon as our lungs are cleared, is to cry out for help as loud as we can.”

Br. Jim Woodrum finds in I John 4:14 the promise that Jesus has come into our lives – and was incarnated into the human condition – to help us; all we have to do is ask.

“When Christ breaks into our lives nothing is out of bounds.”

Br. Geoffrey Tristram hears in John 20:19,20 an invitation for us to open the locked places in our lives to Christ’s transforming love.

“As beautiful as we are, we’re also a bit of a mess.”

Br. Curtis Almquist reflects on the image of the Good Shepherd in John 10:14, a rich metaphor for our need of help and God’s abiding love for us.

“When we abide in God, when we abide in Jesus, we can thrive.”

Br. James Koester reads John 15:9 and offers practical ideas for how we might call on deep human friendships to help us abide in God.

“The more open we can be, the more authentic our prayer will be.”

Br. David Vryhof finds in John 5:20 the invitation to be vulnerable, open, and intimate in our relationship with God.

“In everything he does Jesus often stops and gives thanks and acknowledges his Father.”

Br. Jim Woodrum studies the model of Jesus’ relationship with the Father in John 5:19 for a hint of the relationship Jesus desires with us.

“Sit, listen to God, with a kind of expectancy that has no expectations.”

Br. Keith Nelson studies John 5:30 as a model for how we build loving relationships with friends and with God.

“Do I focus on the gift, or do I turn and say thank you to the one who gave it?”

Br. Luke Ditewig reflects on I John 4:11,12, inviting us to nurture awareness of God’s love and God’s gifts in our lives.

“As we grow in our love for Jesus, we too begin to see Jesus in new ways in the world.”

Br. Geoffrey Tristram reflects on the beauty of John 13:23 and its portrait of intimate friendship between Jesus and the beloved disciple.

“Drenching our hands with holy water, filling our noses with incense smoke, taking hold of our friends and strangers when we exchange the peace, we are inspired to go out into the world to see and to take hold of Jesus.”

Br. Keith Nelson finds in the witness of Thomas in John 20:26-28 an invitation to a full-bodied engagement with liturgical worship.

“Peter’s sins and transgressions mirror our own.”

Br. Lucas Hall meditates on John 21:15 and Christ’s unlimited mercy toward his disciples.

“I find myself humbled by the story of Mary at Bethany.”

Br. Jonathan Maury looks to the devotion of Mary of Bethany in John 12:3 for an example of how we can move beyond words toward action in our love for Jesus.

“I like to imagine God speaking my name in that tender way in which Jesus spoke the name of Mary.”

Meditating on John 20:18, Br. James Koester invites us to try the “reverse Jesus prayer,” hearing Jesus speak our name with love.

“How have you come to know Jesus?”

Br. Jim Woodrum looks to the example of Andrew in John 1:40-42 and finds inspiration for following our own calling to be evangelists.

“The reminder about abiding, abiding, abiding is don’t run away. Stay put.”

Br. Curtis Almquist meditates on I John 3:1, marveling at the wonderful promise that Jesus not only invites us to abide with him, but that Jesus also wants to abide with us.

“When we take some time in silence, to listen to God as we would listen to a friend, we can come to know the One who speaks to us.”

Br. James Koester reflects on John 10:14,15 and encourages silence as a powerful practice for learning to hear God’s voice.

“Jesus keeps giving us – like our daily bread – food, nourishment for the soul, which is indeed himself.”

Reflecting on John 6:51, Br. Luke Ditewig notes that just as we need to eat every day, so we must allow ourselves to be nourished daily by Jesus.

“It’s important for us first of all to receive God’s love, before we can give it away.”

Br. David Vryhof finds in John 15:5 a powerful image for our own need to stay connected to the love of God, a connection that is the source of our fruitfulness.

“If I’m honest, it’s a real challenge to abide in Christ for the long haul.”

Br. Geoffrey Tristram meditates on the promise of John 14:15-17, encouraging us to consider how the Spirit is prodding us toward authentic life in Christ.

“So there’s a little paradox here…”

Br. Mark Brown meditates on the paradox of John 15:4, pondering how we cannot be separated from God’s love in Christ and yet simultaneously can be more intentional about abiding in God’s love as a conscious choice.

“What is it that you know in the bottom of your heart – of God’s light, and God’s life, and God’s love?”

Br. Curtis Almquist discovers in John 17:18 an invitation for us to speak the Gospel as it has been revealed to each of us, in the individual and unique circumstances of our lives.

“We’re made strong by the model of self-spending love so that we can go out into the world and practice it.”

Br. Keith Nelson finds in I John 3:16 a reminder that the most powerful way to testify to the risen Christ is through serving others in love.

“The reason we know about God’s love revealed in Jesus is because people we knew have witnessed to him on his behalf.”

John 21:24 inspires Br. Mark Brown to reflect on what it means to be a witness to the love of God in Christ.

“A real experience of God. That’s what the world is hungering for.”

Br. David Vryhof reflects on I John 1:1,2 and the importance of grounding our testimony in our own first-hand experience.

“How will the people at work know that God loves you?”

Br. James Koester reflects on John 4:39 for inspiration in how we are called to testify to God’s love for us.