Chosen Out of the World

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Today let’s read John 15:18-25.

““If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” ‭‭John‬ ‭15‬:‭18‬-‭19‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus warned His disciples that the world would hate them. What is the world? It is the system of values and desires that are opposed to God and His will. (Bible Hub) 

1 John 2:15-17 describes the world: 

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.”‭‭ 1 John‬ ‭2‬:‭15‬-‭16‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The lust of the flesh -sinful cravings; the lust of the eyes — lust for material possessions or appearances; the pride of life —arrogance and self sufficiency; these are all part of the world. 

Those who pursue the things of the world will be in opposition to the things of God. They will hate and persecute the ones who truly follow Jesus… As followers of Jesus we are “chosen out of the world.”

What I must understand is what side am I on? 

Am I pursuing the things of the world?  Do I chase after the sinful cravings of my old sinful nature?  Do I desire prideful importance and position over exalting God as Lord of my life? Do I think I am able to live my life independent of God — not seeking Him, His will, or His truth in His Word? 

Do I love God or Do I love the world? 

Love As He Loved

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Let’s read John 15:9-17

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” ‭‭John‬ ‭15‬:‭12‬-‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Love — A deliberate act of one’s will to promote, benefit, or prosper another for their own sake at no cost to them; a deliberate act of one’s will to do that which is the very best, most excellent, and most profitable for another without expectation of something in return (Living Life Live)

When my oldest was born, I began to get a picture of what God’s sacrificial love is like. I would sacrifice sleep, my time, money, my entire life to provide what I thought was best for that sweet little helpless baby. He had nothing to offer back except his need to be held and loved and his newborn baby smell. 

We are that to God. Honestly if we look deeply at ourselves, what does the God of the universe really get in pursuit of us? For myself, I can tell you… He gets a mess… someone who willingly has chosen to do the opposite of what He commanded time and time again. He gets someone who is helpless to fix themself. The truth is, without Him, I am needy and I am spiritually poor… But HE loves me! HE was willing to give Himself away so that I could be His! 

When I realize all the truth of how God loves me, I realize that my life is not my own. As He has loved me, I am to love others. God’s love is never selfish. It always gives. I am to live my life as He did — willing to give myself away in service to Him and others. My life is not about myself. It is God’s. He fills me with His self sacrificing love so that I can love like Him! 

Do you understand what you are truly like without God’s sacrificial love? 

Do you understand how much God wants you to experience His love?

Are you experiencing His love? And Are you loving like Him?

Abide In His Love

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““As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” ‭‭John‬ ‭15‬:‭9‬-‭11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

You and I are dearly loved by God! In fact, God is love. We were born out of Divine Love, by Divine Love and for Divine Love!  We will never experience what we were meant for if we do not experience God’s Divine Love every moment of every day. This is not a one time spiritual experience. We “remain in {His} love…”  or we ABIDE in it. We are to Abide/ Dwell In Him!  

Jesus talked about being the vine and us being the branches. There is connection between the two. They are one! His Divine Love is similar to the sap that goes between the vine and the branches. It flows in and out of every fiber. If that sap — LOVE — does not flow the branch dies. 

You and I need to live connected to Jesus in a vibrant relationship. This is how we remain in His love!  This relationship is characterized by total obedience to His Word, total submission to His will, and total dependence on Him for everything we need or ABIDING in Christ! 

Am I living connected to Jesus? Am I remaining/ abiding in His love?

 

My Father is the Vinedresser

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Today let’s read John 15:1-8. 

“I am the true vine and my Father is the vinedresser.” (John 15:1 BSB)

It’s that time of the year again, Spring. I have this rose bush that I love. I was looking at it the other day as I walked by and was reminded that I need to tend to it, if I want it to produce the beautiful flowers it produces in a few months. I can see signs of life, but before it really grows and becomes what it was meant to be it needs to be pruned. Sometimes when I am finished cutting off the dead branches, it looks like there is almost nothing left. But give it time. It will be beautiful again this year! 

Jesus tells us that He is the true vine. We are the branches connected to Him. Our Heavenly Father is the vinedresser. The Heavenly Father loves His vine! He wants what is best for it that it will bear much fruit. He cares for it. He cuts off the dead branches and tends to the vines needs insuring its growth and productivity. He is invested in His Vine (Jesus) and the connected branches (Us)!  

Our lives are meant to be lived connected to the “True Vine”. As we are connected, our Heavenly Vinedresser will care for us. He will insure we are watered, watched over, and pruned. The things that are dead in us (sin) need to be cut off and removed for us to really grow and be the beautiful branch He intends for us to be. Our role is to live connected to the “True Vine” and allow the Heavenly Vinedresser to do His work in our lives. 

If my rosebush could resist my pruning and demand to hold onto the dead branches it would not be able to be what it was created to be, a beautiful and productive bush. If we resist God and demand to hold onto the sin in our own lives, we will not ever produce and bear His fruit. Nor will we reflect His beauty. 

Am I allowing my Heavenly Father, the Vinedresser, to do His work in my life? 

Am I submitted to His tender care? Or do I demand to hold onto my own dead ways…(sin) ? 

Am I connected to my source of life — the True Vine? Or am I living independent from Jesus? 

Holy Spirit — We Can Know Him

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Today let’s read John 14:15-31.

“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”‭‭ 2 Corinthians‬ ‭13‬:‭14‬ ‭NIV‬‬
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you…. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” ‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭16‬-‭17‬, ‭26‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus promised the coming of the Holy Spirit to dwell within us! He describes Holy Spirit as “the Advocate” — (Greek — intercessor, comforter, helper, counselor). He is the Spirit of truth who teaches us and reminds us of everything that Jesus has said to us. What a wonderful Friend! 

In 2 Corinthians, Paul spoke of “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit” or the intimate relationship and communication we have with Holy Spirit. A few years ago, I read that verse and it hit me… I have made too little of my relationship with Holy Spirit. If Jesus spoke of what a treasure my relationship with Holy Spirit is, and Paul prayed that the Corinthians would experience this deep relationship, “fellowship” with Him, then why would I not want to experience Him? I began to ask God that I would truly know “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.” 

The Holy Spirit desires for us to know Him! He wants us to listen to His voice. He wants us help us, guide us, speak to us, teach us, comfort us, etc. Will we let Him? Will we listen to Him? 

One of my prayers that I pray frequently is this:

“Holy Spirit, I want to know You in deep fellowship — intimate friendship. I want You to speak to me. Help me to listen to You and obey You in whatever You say. I want to be close to You. I need You to teach me. I want to walk in the Spirit each and every moment of this day.”

Do You desire to know Holy Spirit and His fellowship? Do you desire to experience Him and all that Jesus promised that He would be to you — the Advocate — intercessor, comforter, helper, counselor, teacher, truth —  your best Friend? 

Obedience

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Today let’s read John 14:15-23.

“Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”” ‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Our one true purpose is to KNOW God! Jesus tells His disciples how to fulfill that purpose. He told them that it is the  one  who “keeps” His commands that truly loves Him. It is the one who truly loves Jesus who Jesus shows Himself to or makes Himself KNOWN. 

Jesus said that if we love Him, we will OBEY His teachings and His Father will love us and they will come and make their home with us, or dwell with us. (John 14:23-24) 

Obedience to what God says gives us a close and intimate relationship. Disobedience (sin) put’s God at a distance. It separates us from Him. 

We need to remember that all that God commands us in the Bible is for our good. What He tells us He requires is meant to keep us from harm and to help us walk close to Him. When we are truly in love with Jesus, we will want to do what He says because we will want to please Him and be close to Him.

The problem is when we are not truly living our lives close to Jesus we want our way… when we want it and how we want it… THEN “obedience” seems like it is a “dirty word.”  We do not consider what God wants. If we live our lives at a distance from Him, obedience will seem like a task and a burden. 

Here’s the kicker….We can’t come to God on our own terms… If we live our lives chasing our ways with no consideration of what He has told us, we need to take a look at what is in our spiritual hearts. 

Jesus said the greatest command is this: 

 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your souls and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37) 

If you and I are truly loving God, we will do what He says in His Word. Which means we need to know His Word so we can obey it. 

How is my love life with God? 

Do I desire to KNOW Him and His Word so I can obey Him and then live my life connected to Him in an intimate relationship? 

Or does the word “obey” feel like a dirty word to me? Does it make me recoil at the thought of it?

ONE — A Life Connected to God

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Today let’s read John 14:9-14.

“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”

‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭12‬-‭14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus came to show us the Father. Everything that Jesus did was what His Heavenly Father did. Jesus told His disciples repeatedly that He and His Father were one. He wanted them to understand something that is VERY important to us today. We are invited to participate in that relationship of being one with Him.

Jesus said:

“On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.”

‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

We were created for this very purpose — to live connected to our God, united to Him — one. As we live connected to Him — one with Him, we will do the things He does — His works. We will demonstrate and reflect God to everyone around us. So essentially Jesus was saying in the verses above, I’ve been doing God’s works and displaying who He is to this world. Now I am going back to my Father… Tag you’re it! 

When we come to Jesus our life is no longer our own. Our purpose is no longer to do what we want, when and how we want to. We are here to “do the works {Jesus} had been doing, … and greater things…” 

When we accept Jesus into our lives His Holy Spirit comes to live in us. He is in us and we are in Him. We now are empowered to do the works that the Father had prepared in advance for us to do.(Ephesians 2:10) 

Am I living my life connected to God in a deep and intimate relationship? 

Are His plans my plans?

Are His desires my desires? 

Am I doing His works? 

Am I living one with Him? 

Where I Am You May Also Be

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Today let’s read John 14:1-14.

The story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden was a story of living with God in a close relationship. They had everything! they experienced God fully — walking and talking with Him. 

When they chose to sin, separation came i.e. death. It is hard for us to understand anything different. It is all we have known. God is perfectly holy — sin cannot exist in Him. Sin has separated us from Him. 

Jesus came to restore the relationship lost. His desire is for us to live connected to Him now and to one day be with Him in heaven. 

““Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God ; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” ‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

He wants us to be with Him, where He is! What was lost in the Garden was restored on the Cross! When we accept Jesus we live our lives no longer separated by sin! 

Where Jesus is, we may also be! 

Am I experiencing the relationship that Jesus died to restore me to? Am I walking and talking with God every moment of every day? Or is sin keeping me at a distance from my God?

Love As Jesus Loved

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Today let’s read John 13:18-38.

Time is ticking. Jesus knows His time with His disciples on earth is coming to a close. He gives them a new command: 

““A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”” ‭‭John‬ ‭13‬:‭34‬-‭35‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus had already told them what the greatest command was, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” And the second to love your neighbor as yourself. 

Jesus wanted the ones who follow Him to take that further. That is to love as He loves! This Agape love, “God’s love” is self sacrificial, forgiving, and gives away all for another. It is the kind of love that benefits and prospers another person with no expectation of receiving anything in return. This kind of love is not possible for us to demonstrate in our own lives on our own. It is His love that He pours out inside of us through the Holy Spirit who lives inside of us. (Romans 5:5) 

When we love as Jesus loves, we demonstrate or reflect Him to the world. In fact Jesus says that this is how everyone will know that we are “HIS” disciples — when we love as He loves. We will be living as one who bears HIS Image to the world. 

Holy Spirit we ask You to fill us with Your love so we can do as Jesus commanded. We desire to love as Jesus loved! 

Jesus Served

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Good morning! Today let’s read John 13:1-17.

“It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.”‭‭John‬ ‭13‬:‭1‬ ‭NIV‬‬

God is omniscient (all knowing). Jesus is God so He knows all things. 

“…Jesus knew…” The events that occurred right before Jesus died did not happen by chance and they were not a surprise to Jesus. He knew! He knew that one of His twelve disciples, Judas, would betray Him. He knew another one, Peter, would deny Him. He knew the rest would scatter when faced with the danger in the moments ahead. He knew He would be arrested, beaten, spit upon, have His beard pulled out. He knew He would be made to carry a heavy cross, a Roman instrument of torture, up a hill. He knew He would be crucified. 

So what was Jesus’s response to all the injustice He would suffer? He washed feet… He humbled Himself, took the position of a lowly servant and bowed before the ones who called Him teacher. The Master served…

Why would Jesus do such a thing? LOVE.  He loved His own and He loved them to the end. Everything Jesus did was from His love, His desire to benefit and prosper us with absolutely nothing that could be repaid to Him. 

I think the thing about this account that gets me the most is that Jesus washed Judas’s feet. Even though He knew… Would I do that? Would I serve the one who would betray me?

One more thought… It’s easy to read this account and forget that I am one of those He loves and loved to the end… When I have chosen sin over obedience, I have betrayed Jesus. When I have chosen to go my own way instead of follow His, I have denied Him as Lord. When I have repeatedly refused to live as He has called me to do, I have abandoned Him. Yet, He knows all this and He would willingly wash my feet. Because Jesus came to serve not to be served… 

What is my response to such love?  What is your response to such love? 

Jesus finishes washing feet and then gives an instruction:

““You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.”‭‭ John‬ ‭13‬:‭13‬-‭15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Help me to love as You love, Jesus. Help me to serve as You serve.