Rain is falling, thoughts on knowing Jesus

Walking to an inservice this flower
said hello

I am listening to a gentle rain with my windows opened. It is a nice sound. In my studies of the life of Christ from the vantage point of a walker I was reading 1 John 1:1-4 NKJV
"1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— ² the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— ³ that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. ⁴ And these things we write to you that your^[a] joy may be full."
The apostle John was the last of the apostles who walked with Jesus. When the slept out on their 3 1/2 year journey give or take some months when they joined Him, John was part of an inner circle of Jesus' disciples who had a few more experiences. Similar to his intro to the gospel of John, the writer wants us to know Jesus as our Savior and to know Him in a personal way. In 1 John these sentences we have are one sentence in the Greek. You can see this translation tries to deal with this. I highlighted the that which indicates his purposes and then hopeful results of fellowship with God and joy in life.

Just a few hours ago, clouds moving fast

This week several fiends have shared how their relationship with Christ has brought them through tough times.  Sometimes those tough times are in their relationships. Sometimes they are hard times in work or life. Sometimes it is when health fails. In my life, He is there through the tough times, consider Matt. 11:28-30,  11:28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 11:29 Take my yoke  on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 11:30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry.”Net Bible It may be that we think God is ready to clobber us, but consider what Jesus says here. In my ups and downs I have found God to be gentle to me.
John tells us, in John 10:10b one of the purposes why Jesus came, "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." Here John is adding to what he is talking about in 1 John 1:4, "that our joy may be full." One of my cousins right now is in the fight for his life. His wife and family are under tremendous stress and trial. Many times in our lives we go through trials that we pull through and we give praise to God. We often find ourselves weakened or at the end of our rope and some how we pull through. Praying for my cousin I feel so helpless. I pray for him daily, but he is really in a bad way. 
There is another side to this  and that is my cousin has a relationship with Jesus and has for years been in fellowship with Christ. His body like all of us may fail, but he will continue his life with the Lord. A lot  of people today gripe about the Apostle Paul over moral issues, but take note of what he writes in 2 Corinthians 5:8, "We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord." The moment a christian dies they go into the presence of the Lord. Since the fall and sin we were never meant to live forever here on earth. Eternal life which starts when we come to faith in Jesus who died on the cross for our sins continues past death of our outer shells which has helped us enjoy many things in this life but breaks down in all of us.
John himself lived a full life into his 90's. Walking with the fat man embraces the possibility of a long life lived to its fullest. I will be honest with you, I don't want to live to 130. If I can be active and enjoy life to 80 or 90 that is longer than I think I will live. Choosing to walk and eat better has been worth it. My tomorrows look better, but my eternal life will continue most likely through the exodus of death.
Knowing Jesus has brought me joy, and forgiveness and love and just about every good gift I have gotten in my life. I pray for my cousin in the land of the living but I know we will meet again in our real home in the far country God has prepared for us.
The rain has stopped, I was just listening to a night barge going down the river. I hope this blog encourages you and brings joy along the way. Keep walking