This is a prologue, where John is introducing the book of 1 John. He first lets us know that what he is about to declare and make known to us through the book is what he has experienced, what he has seen, and what he has observed concerning the Word of God. 

He lets us know that the Word does not simply sit in his mind like something he knows—but rather, the Word has become alive in him. He is a witness to the Word. He can confirm that the Word is true. He has personally seen the Word at work in his life.

Jesus, to him, is not someone he simply heard of. Jesus is alive in him. He has seen Jesus, sat with Him, observed Him, experienced Him, drank from Him, and seen everything He can do. 

He has come to a place where the Word declared has become his personal experience. In short, the Word has become living in Him, and he has a personal testimony or witness that the Word is actually true and living, according to his personal observation and experience.

For many of us, we dare not blame Thomas in the Bible, the disciple of Jesus well-known for doubting His resurrection. He needed reassurance—a physical confirmation that He was really risen. 

We don’t blame Thomas because we know we have been there... 

We have heard His Word, and we have certainly been told what He is capable of. We have been told how He can move mountains. We have been told how He has come through for people when they were at the end of their rope, only left with some hope in Him and clinging to Him for help and for Him to see them through what they are going through. 

We have heard how He is called Rapha because He has healed many of their sicknesses or negative situations. How they call Him a Deliverer, for delivering many from the palms of the wicked one and the hold of darkness—breaking the chains that held them bound. 

We have also heard others calling Him Jireh—Yahweh their provider. He helped them when they needed a miracle to settle their financial bills. I can go on and on and on—you can recall everything you know He is capable of. 

But have we really come to genuinely experience this Jesus in our personal lives? Do we have a personal experience to prove what we hear about Him and His Word? 

Can we really trust that He is who He says He is? Can He do what they say He can do, at least in our case? Can He heal us? Can He really restore? Or deliver us? Help us? Does He really love us? Has He forgiven us? Or simply, can I trust Him?

In this Bible passage, John tells us about his experience with the Word of Life. He has personally experienced the Word. In him, the Word has been tried and tested, and proven to be true and living. He has seen that the Word is not empty, but that the Word is life, carrying the power and ability to manifest its truth. The Word is Jesus. He speaks, and it is done.

Today, we are encouraged to let the Word of God become a personal experience in our lives, to let the Word become personally manifested in our lives. 

We need to go deeper with Jesus and His Word to a point where we can relate to His power, His love, and the life carried in His Word. We have to carry the testimony of Jesus and His Word at work in our lives. We have to come from just observing, seeing, and hearing into experiencing the Word of Life at work in us. 

By this, like John, we will be able to carry the testimony of the Word and become God’s light to the dark world, bearing the witness of His Word. But we have to surrender, speak the Word, declare it over our lives, and trust in Him. We have to test and see that the Lord is good and that He can be trusted. 

There is nothing to lose on our part when we choose to surrender and trust in Him in order to experience Him.

We will actually experience His Word in our lives and carry our own testimonies (proofs) that He is actually real. We will be able to proclaim that He is Rapha after witnessing His healing in our lives. We will be able to proclaim that He is actually a Deliverer when we witness His saving power at work in our lives. We will be able to make Him known as the Jireh, the One who provides to the world, after experiencing His gracious supply to our needs according to His riches in glory. 

We will be able to witness and preach a God we personally know, a Word that we can prove.

It will be more real and powerful to proclaim that Jesus heals when we can truly attest to it. We can witness better that Jesus saves when we have experienced His saving grace. 

And Jesus is more than willing to personally reveal Himself in our lives if we let Him, and then tell the world about Him.

Many will be drawn to Him through our personal revelations of Jesus and His Word.

Let us pray that God will reveal Himself in our lives. That His Word will become living in our lives, transforming and empowering us in Christ. Let us pray that He will help us move from being mere observers, spectators, and empty proclaimers of His Word, into experienced witnesses of His love and power.

Amen.

PRAYER

Let us pray.

Lord, we desire to go beyond simply hearing and knowing about You. We really long to have a deeper, personal encounter with Jesus. We yearn to see Your Word become alive within us and our lives. Help us to move from being mere observers to being real witnesses of Your Truth. May we experience Your healing, Your saving grace, and Your provision in our lives, so that we may boldly proclaim Your goodness to the world.

Reveal Yourself to us, Lord, in ways that are undeniable. Let Your Word be tested and proven true in our lives, carrying the power to transform and empower us in Christ. Make us witnesses of Your love and power, so that through our personal testimonies, many will be drawn to You.

We ask that You guide us in our journey of faith, helping us to trust You more deeply, and to live out the truths of Your Word each day. May we be lights in the darkness, bearing witness to Your glory and grace.

In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

1 John 1:3 (NKJV):

"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.