Because you love me
Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit
John 14:15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 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. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 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.”
22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”
23 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. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 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. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
When I was a child, my mother would tell me to do something and occasionally (probably more often than occasionally) I would ask why. “Because I said so,” she would reply. When our son was young, my husband would use the same reasoning. The last time I heard him say it our son was eighteen and in college. I said, “I don’t think you can use that as a reason for compliance anymore.”
In today’s scripture, Jesus does not tell us to follow Him because He said so, but because we love Him. What a difference between the two approaches. The first is authoritarian. But the second approach used by Jesus simply says, “If you love me…”
It is one thing to receive Jesus as our Savior. Salvation is a wonderful free gift. When I was a child it freed me from the fear of going to Hell when I die. Now that I am much older salvation means so much more. Salvation frees me not from the penalty of some future existence, but it frees me to accomplish God’s work while I am still on this earth.
Salvation is merely the beginning of our journey. Once the Holy Spirit resides within us, we should think differently, act differently, and our behavior should reflect the God who lives within us.
Does the Holy Spirit live within you? Then you should walk in peace. Does the Holy Spirit guide your footsteps? Then you should walk in love. Do you recognize the love and mercy and grace God continues to pour out in your life? Then you should pour out love and mercy and grace upon each and every person you meet.
Do not let your hearts be troubled. The same God who created you has created a clean spirit within you. The same God who created the world will keep your spirit safe from the snares of a world now smothered in sin. As the Bill Gaither song says, “Because He lives you can face tomorrow, and life is worth the living just because He lives.”
PRAYER: Father, help us your children to do as you have commanded, not because of fear of punishment but simply because we love you. Help us to remember that the Holy Spirit lives within each one of us and we are empowered to live as you would have us live, to love as you would have us love, and to change the world one step at a time, one Christ follower at a time. Amen
Let the Holy Spirit live big in you today
2 Tim 1: 3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.
Appeal for Loyalty to Paul and the Gospel
6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 8 So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. 9 He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11 And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.
13 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
Paul’s letter to Timothy is some of the scripture that inspired me when I was young, and it still inspires today. There is so much in these first few verses. Paul begins as he always does by thanking God, reminding Timothy that he is serving the God of his ancestors. Then he lets Timothy know he is praying for him night and day.
Paul loved Timothy like a son. It is so extraordinary to have someone outside of your family to send up prayers for you. Paul says he prayed for Timothy night and day. I am certain Timothy’s grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice also prayed for him night and day, so young Timothy was showered in prayer! Wouldn’t it be great if each one of us would find one person outside of our family whom we would commit to pray for day and night?
Paul reminds Timothy that the gifts he has received from God must not lie dormant, but they must be used so that they will grow and flourish. And he tells Timothy that the Spirit works within us to give us all that we need to accomplish God’s work.
And here is one of the most amazing parts of the scripture. Paul tells Timothy that the grace that is at work within us was present before the beginning of time. God had a plan for us before we were ever conceived, before we ever took our first breath. The grace that God gives to us freely has been at work since the beginning of time, and it is freely available to us today.
Paul finishes by saying he knows in whom he has believed and that God will keep that trust safe until the day of the Lord occurs.
Do you know the grace of God that enables you to withstand trials, sickness and fear? Do you rely on the Holy Spirit to live big within your life so that you have power, love, and discipline to live a holy life? If not, today is a new day. Why not go to God and ask Him to shower you with His grace and ask the Holy Spirit to empower you to do what God has set out for you to accomplish?
PRAYER: Father, we thank you for the Scriptures and how they reveal to us the way we should live. We praise you for grace, we praise you for the Spirit who lives within us. May we purpose today to be all you want us to be for the sake of your Kingdom.
Amen.
Persevere through suffering
James 1:12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, so that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
There is some teaching that espouses if you give the right amount of money to the church and if you tell God the things you want then you will receive them because God wants His children to be healthy and prosperous. I agree that God wants the best for His children, but the gospel never teaches that if we do all of the right things then we will not face difficulties. Instead, we are taught throughout the New Testament that we can expect suffering as Christ followers. The difference between those of us who follow Christ and those who follow the world is that we have a strong and mighty help in Christ Jesus.
God created a perfect world for man, but man made the choice to be disobedient to God and lost his place in paradise. Does God want us to be sick, does He want us to face trials, does He want us to suffer? No, but through the first act of disobedience sin entered this perfect world, and because of sin we have sickness, suffering, and trials.
Jesus paid the price for our individual sins, but the sin problem still exists in this world today. James tells us that we must persevere. He also tells us that God does not tempt us, but it is our own sinful nature that will turn us away from God. James even gives us the progression of sin. We saw this progression with Eve. At first she allowed Lucifer to implant the thought that she could be like God if she ate of the fruit of knowledge. Then she stayed in the vicinity of the tree, looking at it and desiring it. Ultimately she gave in to sin and ate of the tree.
But James goes on to say that every good and perfect gift is from God, and that God does not change. Praise God, He does not change. God is holy, He is present, He is loving, and He wants only the best for us. But until we escape these earthly bonds that hold us here, we will have to endure trials and suffering, Christian or not. Is it not better to endure knowing that you are not alone but that Jesus is your ever present help in the time of need?
PRAYER: Father, may we come to know you as you truly are instead of believing the perversions that it is your will for us to suffer or that we can escape suffering by following some formula. May we stay so close to you that our sinful nature will be nothing more than an afterthought because our heart’s desire will be only for you.
When they are old they will not depart
Proverbs 22:5-7
6 Start children off on the way they should go,
and even when they are old they will not turn from it.
New International Version (NIV)
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This past Sunday I taught adult Bible study to the oldest class in our church. The lesson was from Ezekiel and dealt with shepherds leading the people astray. I told them that I thought the generation to whom I was speaking did a better job of passing along both the tradition of the church and love for the church than my generation. I was surprised to find that many of the class members have children who no longer attend church.
A few months ago I asked my 34 year old son what will happen to the church if his generation does not return. He said, “Oh, mom, the church will go on.” “How,” I asked him, “will the church continue without people?”
I love my son dearly, and I love his wife, but one of the great disappointments of my life is their choice to stay away from church. Perhaps it is because she is Catholic and he is Protestant. Perhaps it is because they both work so hard that they feel church would take up too much of their off time. Perhaps they see the church as irrelevant. Or, perhaps it is as my son once said, “Mom, I think I got enough church growing up.”
Prayer comforts me and today’s verse sustains me, because I know that we raised our son to love God and love the church. I continue to pray that God would soften their hearts and draw them back to Him. In the meantime, I trust, believe and rely on God to keep them in the shadow of His mighty wings and by His prevenient grace draw them to Him. What more can we ask? What more can we hope?
PRAYER: Father, your Word is light and life to us, and we depend on your Word to carry us through. May we each see the fruition of this verse come to pass, that our sons and our daughters would return to the place of their youth. Amen.
Seeking Holiness 