September 8, 2017 IF ANYONE
John 14:23-24 “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Fathers who sent Me.’”
Did you hear that? Jesus and the Father will come and make their abode with us!! And to refresh our memory, ‘abode’ is defined as “a place of residence; a house or home.” How awesome it is to think of the Father and the Son coming to where we are and making their abode with us! Does Jesus and the Father make their abode with everyone? Obviously not. If you read the gospels, you might ask why is it that Jesus talked so much about keeping His word. What Jesus talked about and what Jesus did originated in heaven-out of His relationship with the Father. It was the Father’s heart that man be saved from his sin and be joined to Himself, but in order for that to happen, there had to be a sacrifice for sin. Jesus loved the Father and demonstrated His love to the Father by coming to earth and being the sacrifice for the sins of man. In the kingdom of God, love and keeping commands go hand-in hand. The simple but profound truth is that if one loves God, and His Son Jesus, he will keep the commandments of God-the words of Jesus- and conversely, if one does not keep the commands of God, he does not love God. (If we sin, we keep His word by confessing our sin and tuning from it.) It has nothing to do with a legalistic mindset about trying to keep His commandments in order gain His approval, but because we love Him and He loves us, it becomes our desire to keep His word. God does not desire that we keep His word because He needs our obedience, but because only by walking in His ways do we experience life to the fullest. God wants our trust and our heart to be fully His. When one is born into the family of God, a wonderful transformation takes place, and the transformation process continues throughout our pilgrimage on planet earth. This transformation changes us at the core of our being; self is no longer the ruler in our life, but now it is the love of God that rules all that we are and all that we do-that is the great purpose and the great desire of our Father God-and it’s the miracle of miracles. So, if we are keeping the words of Jesus, then we know that we love Him and we know that He loves us and we know that Jesus and the Father are abiding with us!
1 John 2:5 “but whoever keeps His word, in Him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him.”
Proverbs 4:20-22 “My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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