Copyright C 2002 by LightheartThe Gospel of Johnfor ReadersEditors PrefaceWe must know before we can love In order to know God we must oftenthink of Him And when we come to love Him we shall then also think ofHim often for our heart will be with our treasure   BrotherLawrences The Practice of the Presence of GodThe way to know God is by reading the gospels Gospel is interpretedGood News  Gods good news to His world It is the new testament andperspective we must have in order to know and love Him as He means usto know and love HimThe gospel of John is called the gospel of love And indeed it is alove story written by that disciple whose heart was totallysurrendered Brother Lawrence whose heart was also totallysurrendered was a great believer in doing what was most practicalsimple and directMay this version of The Gospel of John a readers version help us allto see the exquisite beauty and simple yet practical message of Godsgood news through eyes of lovein His gentle serviceLightheartPracticeGodsPresencecomAugust 2002The Gospel of John1        In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God andthe Word was God The same was in the beginning with God All thingswere made by Him Without Him was not any thing made that was made InHim was life and the life was the light of men The light shineth indarkness and the darkness comprehended it notThere was a man sent from God whose name was John He came to barewitness of the Light that all men through Him might believe John wasnot that Light but was sent to bear witness of that Light That wasthe true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world Hewas in the world and the world was made by Him and the world knew Himnot He came unto His own and His own received Him not But as many asreceived Him to them He gave power to become the sons of God even tothem that believe on His name those who were born not of blood nor ofthe will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God And the Wordwas made flesh and dwelt among us And we beheld His glory the gloryas of the only begotten son of the Father full of grace and truthJohn bore witness of Him and cried saying This was He of whom Ispoke He that cometh after me is preferred before me because He wasbefore me We have all received of His fullness grace for grace Forthe law was given by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus ChristNo man hath seen God at any time The only begotten Son which is inthe bosom of the Father hath declared HimAnd this is the record of John when the Jews sent priests and Levitesfrom Jerusalem to ask him Who art thou And he confessed and did notdeny He confessed I am not the Christ And they asked him What thenArt thou Elias And he saith I am not Art thou that prophet And heanswered No Then said they unto him Who art thou that we may give ananswer to them that sent us What sayest thou of thyself He said I amthe voice of one crying in the wilderness Make straight the way of theLord as was said by the prophet Esaias And they who were sent by thePharisees asked him Why baptizest thou then if thou be not that Christnor Elias nor that prophetJohn answered them saying I baptize with water but there standeth Oneamong you whom ye know not He it is who coming after me ispreferred before me and whose foot straps I am not worthy to unlooseThese things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan where John wasbaptizing When John saw Jesus coming toward him he saith Behold theLamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world This is He of whom Isaid After me cometh a man which is preferred before me because He wasbefore me I knew Him not except that He should be made manifest toIsrael Therefore I come baptizing with water John bore record sayingI saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and it abode uponHim I knew Him not except that He who sent me to baptize with watersaid to me Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending andremaining on Him this is He which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost I sawHim and bare record that this is the Son of GodThe next day John and two of his disciples saw Jesus as He walked Johnsaid Behold the Lamb of God The two disciples heard John speak andfollowed Jesus Jesus turned saw them following and saith unto themWhat seek ye They said to Him Rabbi which is interpreted Masterwhere dwellest Thou He saith unto them Come and see They came andsaw where He dwelt and abode with Him that day It was about the tenthhourOne of the two which heard John speak and followed Jesus was AndrewSimon Peters brother First he findeth his own brother Simon andsaith to him We have found the messias which is interpreted theChrist and he brought him to Jesus When Jesus beheld him He saidThou art Simon the son of Jona Thou shalt be called Cephas which isinterpreted a stoneA day later Jesus went forth into Galilee and findeth Philip and saithunto him Follow me Now Philip was of Bethsaida the city of Andrewand Peter Philip findeth Nathanael and saith unto him We have foundHim of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write Jesus ofNazareth the son of Joseph And Nathanael said unto him Can any goodthing come out of Nazareth Philip saith unto him Come and seeJesus saw Nathanael coming to Him and saith of him Behold an Israelitein whom is no guile Nathanael saith unto Him Whence knowest Thou meJesus answered and said unto him Before Philip called thee