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"Jesus replied, 'Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.' " —John 14:23
Bible Reading
JOHN 14:18-24
Devotional
To love Jesus means to obey him: "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching." Love for Christ, like love in marriage, is a very practical thing. It consists not of speeches but of deeds. Or, if speeches are called for, they are tolerable only if they are consistent with actions.
A person who is attached to Christ in this way of love-through-obedience experiences the grace of God ever more richly in her life. She feels a continual trust in God's grace. In fact, God lives in her!
We learn to think of God in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We think of God in that way because that's how the Bible reveals the one eternal God. We think of God the Father as the One above us, as the creator and ruler. We think of God the Son as the One who is for us, the mediator. We think of the God the Holy Spirit as the One who is in us.
However, the three are one, because there is only one true God. And although the Bible teaches (usually) that it is the Holy Spirit who comes to live in us when we receive the grace of God, here Jesus says, "We—the Father and I—will make our home with them."
The everlasting God makes his dwelling place in us if we love Jesus Christ. The thought is so rich that it almost scares us.
The almighty God, who once lived in a golden temple so that his people could come to him, has now chosen to live in my fellow believers and in me. What grace! And what a noble obligation! Now we are the place where people must find God.
This teaching states once and for all the deepest reason why grace must flow through us to others, once we have believed in Jesus.
REFLECTIONS
"The everlasting God makes his dwelling place in us if we love Jesus Christ." Think on that stunning truth and its implications for your life.
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Our daily lives are to be honoring to God and bring glory to His name. The King of kings saved us, brought us into His family and we are to honor Him by following in His footsteps, living lives according to His will, teaching those around us of His love and of the great things He has and does and will do. Our lives are no longer our own, once we have the Spirit of God in our hearts, living in us and guiding us to do God's work while we still remain on this earth. The Bible is our compass and the Spirit of God is our guide and our comforter. The work may not always be easy, but God's promised to help us, that He cares for us and that He has given us the most important thing ever. Salvation. To know that God has made his dwelling place in us if we love Jesus Christ is a huge thing to grasp. We have some big work ahead of us if He is in our heart. Some days I feel silly and unneeded but thankfully, God reminds me daily that even the smallest work I do for Him are not small in His eyes. He enjoys me, He loves me, He has given me His spirit to go with me wherever I tread. What an amazing God we serve! Amen!
2 comments:
To love Jesus means to obey him: "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching."
Obedience is key to loving Christ.
If we look at that in terms of practical relationships;
could we say that any person loves another person they are continually disobedient to? be it child, spouse, friend
even so in our walk with Christ
he calls us his friends IF we obey his commands
what are some of the commands Christ calls us to?
amen. we are called to live with holiness as our aim, to bring Glory to His name, to speak the truth. something i'm learning and seeing that does not exist in many churches today is the lack of truth being preached even if it is not a friendly topic. the truth is ALWAYS the most loving thing you can give a person, even if it is uncomfortable or what have you.
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