Did Jesus Command? - Part 2

In John chapters 15 and 16, Jesus is continuing to talk to his disciples at the Last Supper.

Another blow-away verse for me was the following -- "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you." (vs.9) As the God of the Universe, perfect in love, has loved his own Son, so the Son loves us?!

These chapters also expounds on what and how Jesus commands-- "If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love." (15:10)

Seems like pretty high bar, doesn't it? But the very next verse says-- "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you."

We are no longer slaves to sin, but slaves to righteousness! This really is joyous news! But here's another twist-- "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends..." (vs.15a)

Chapter sixteen talks about how we are to remain in Christ and follow what he commands-- "Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you." (vs. 7) and "When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth."

We're not in this alone! We have a counselor and a guide--"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." (1 Timothy 1:7)

And lastly-- "Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete." (vs.24b)

But, be forewarned...

"...You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." ~ James 4:2b-3

O Lord, increase my faith!!

~~~
"Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise"! (James 5:13b)

In Christ,
Ellie

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

People Matter

Image
Today was one of those first time experiences that I'll never forget. I've been a part of our local Church Body - Southwest Wake Christian Assembly (SWCA) - for right around eight years, and although we've had a dozen births and a handful of marriages, we've never had a death of one of Body members. One of our oldest members, Mr. Bob, was just transferred to Hospice this week with likely only a few more days to live on this earth. The whole situation was rather sudden - I knew he'd struggled with health issues for a while and was weak, but I didn't realize how close he's been to death. Today I got to visit him. Unfortunately, he was sound asleep the whole time, but I still got to talk and sing loudly to him. Even if he didn't hear anything I said or sang, I'm sure God will pass along the message when Mr. Bob falls into His embrace. I admit, I cried. It was emotional seeing him there, knowing he won't be here for much longer. I was also sad tha...
Read more

Joy and "Genesius"

Image
So much has gone on in the past couple weeks!! Not only did I finish my joy study (yay!), but I got through the last two weeks of rehearsals and three performances of a Christian Youth Theatre play! (www.spiritualtwist.com) The play, titled "Genesius", focused on the persecution of early Christians in Rome, 303 AD. It explicitly shared the Gospel, and touched on themes like sacrifice, surrender, faith, love, joy in trials, and much more! I was HUGELY blessed to be able to be a part of this production, and know I will never be the same, especially after the role I played. My character's name was Claudia. Not only was she a Christian, but she was also a noblewoman, which was less common in those days. Her (fictional) husband was also an important official and a close friend of the Emperor, Diocletian. When Claudia and her daughter, Lydia, are captured and brought before the Emperor (which happens during the play), he tries to get Claudia to renounce her faith, first by a...
Read more

Dance Before the Lord

Image
Today I read 2 Samuel 6. This is when David and all of Israel are bringing the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem. The first time is a failure (the dude touches the Ark and dies, David gets spooked, and lets some other guy take care of it for a while), but I focused my study on the second part of the chapter, when they're bringing it in again the right way. It says that David danced before the Lord (and subsequently all of Israel) with "all his might". There were shouts, and trumpets, and other musical instruments blaring, I'm sure. Then David began "leaping and dancing" in celebration and thankfulness before the Lord. Not only is David held in honor by the people for this whole-hearted display (as we find out later in the chapter), but David also blesses the people by giving them all food. However, David's wife Michal (Saul's daughter), despises and condemns David for his dancing, saying that he made an utter fool of himself before the people....
Read more