Glory and Grace

“Father, glorify Your name,” some heard Him say.

A cry from His heart, the Father’s greatness proclaimed.

Sound like thunder; an angel speaking;

Lack of understanding; lack of believing.

A week before His sacrifice, the Savior’s purpose drew near;

His mind in anguish, in His heart, the people He held dear.

For these He gave up His claim of royalty and fame;

For these He took the name Savior for their sin He came.

Not His hour when as man He would want to dash away,

But in the Father’s hour, as the Son, His love to proclaim.

Soul troubled, Father’s glory, Jesus gave His everything

So each person who believed, His love each would receive.

Love more than mere sentiment, more than coins, He gave;

Love most expensive that required a heaven-sent only God could pay.

A love undeserved no mere mortal could ever repay;

Love from God stamped on each believer, “Balance zero, debt is paid.”

Reluctantly we question whether to “give up” our plans

To accept this deep love, this grace, with Him take a stand.

For this purpose, He said, He came to that hour;

For this purpose, we each must choose Him or to cower.

Life in our own strength with our own design and purposes

Can lead us through darkness, sin-stain, roads never certain.

With fear, trepidation, anxiety, and pain

We walk life alone instead of calling His name.

Our pride, our sin, our pushing and shoving Him away

Causes us to falter, to fall, to question the way.

Yet, life full and certain, darkness chased away

Comes with humility, repentance, accepting His pain.

His pain chosen freely because of the Father’s love;

His love given freely, He came down from above.

A love so extreme, for each person so certain

Because He’s Creator, Savior, the breaker of sin’s curse.

How can we fathom a love so great and free

When we never knew, never gave, could not conceive?

It’s more than a statement, more than a lavish, extreme gift.

It came through a Life’s blood, puncture, and anguish.

What greater love can we deem of such great a depth,

Than what Jesus said, a life for a life, a breath for breath?

Still our life for another’s isn’t enough to redeem;

Only Jesus’ life offered can a person make clean.

Cleaned from the stain of a person’s wrong choices.

Washed from the darkness of guilt that haunts us.

Better breathing anew with light for the dark way;

Jesus’ death gives new life, guidance, protection each day.

A death of one sin-free, no need to endure pain,

Yet, He chose because of love to provide a way

For people travel-weary, guilt-laden, sin-stained,

To live with God, be released, proclaim His great name.

This kind of love, once-given, no remittance required

Comes from depth of heart only God can provide.

We receive what’s undeserved, unable to remit;

We give what we have, a grateful heart, love, and obedience.

This depth of love is grace, undeserved and free

For the sin-stained person who turns, repents, and believes.

Jesus, the Son of God, come down because of love

Saves from sin, redeems from death, renews us within.

Grace so much greater than all our sin,

Once given, never rescinded, gives new heart within.

Love only God could provide in such unfathomable depth.

Jesus, His purpose, to that hour, God He glorified to His last breath.

Though unable to offer love at the depth of His grace,

We show our love, His love, with our obedience.

Whether lifted up or cast down by troubles and trials,

As Jesus’ followers, our voices lifted, God glorified.

Oft considered foolish and weak by people refusing to believe,

God’s people, Jesus’ followers, allow His wisdom to be seen.

What’s folly to one man, for others is wise.

What’s weakness in stance is God’s greatness in other’s eyes.

God’s grace given, His love perfect and free

Came through the Son’s death upon crossed-tree.

A love shown with His life at greatest of price,

Requires nothing of us but faith, confession; our heart and life.

He will swallow up death for all time,

And the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces,

And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth;

For the Lord has spoken.

And it will be said in that day,

‘Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us.

This is the LORD for whom we have waited;

Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.’  Isaiah 25:8-9 [NASB])

 

(For more, read John 12:27-50, John 15:13, & 1 Corinthians 1:18-31)

Prayer and Abiding

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me.” (John 15:4 [NASB])

Abiding is active, not lazy. It is not a come when you want. Abiding is not a half-hearted coming to be with Jesus. We do not walk halfway down a street and say we are abiding with our friend. To abide with that friend, we must purposely and actively be in the person’s presence. We have commonalities with that person. Jesus brought us those commonalities through salvation-selfless love and an open door to the Father.

Abiding in John 15 is a continual activity. We don’t say, “Um, wait here; I’ll be back soon or sometime.” Abiding with God is an active, continual (unbroken) fellowship/relationship, a complete staying with God because of commonalities-our recognition of Jesus’ gift of redemption on which we trusted and received salvation, and because of our love for Him. It is the love of God, which we received, and which lives in us though the Holy Spirit.

This then means we can be in God’s presence always, and He desires that deep relationship with us. It is why His Son died for our sins. It means God is always present to help, guide, teach, and correct through His Holy Spirit, a constant influence, and His active hand in our lives to provide and protect. Not only are we to be continually in God’s presence, He is continually in ours dwelling in us to give us divine influence and energy for our daily lives and work.

Abiding is a dual being in relationship, me with God and God with me. Abiding is like a covenant; it is the fruit of the New Covenant given to us through Jesus’ death and resurrection. This dual relationship, covenant, if continual, through the Holy Spirit, shows itself in the fruits born of it-love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, meekness, and self-control. Jesus’ death and resurrection made abiding possible. We must seek to abide in Christ.

With this understanding of abiding (purposely, continually, and actively being in relationship with the Lord because of our love for God and His love for us, and made possible because of His Holy Spirit living in us), we understand what Paul meant in Romans 8:26-27. Paul said,

“In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings to deep for words, and He who searches the heart knows what the mind of the Spirit is because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” [NASB]

For a person to pray with the Spirit’s interceding, that is with a depth that is inexpressible, the person must abide in Christ. Jesus said in John 15:5, “I am the vine and you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit for apart from Me you can do nothing.” [NASB] Apart from Christ, we cannot be in God’s presence. We cannot relate to Him. When we are not abiding in Christ, we are like the branches that did not bear fruit, and were thrown away, dried up, and burned. The Holy Spirit is not actively guiding us without us abiding in Christ.

Now we can understand Paul’s verses of Romans 8:26-27 better. The Spirit can help our weakness in prayer if we are abiding in Christ.  The “help” the Spirit gives means to take hold with another, to walk alongside with and labor together. It is a cooperative action. The Spirit helps us pray, helps us relate to God, abide with Him. Why do we need this help? Because we are weak. We are frail-without sufficient strength-and unable to accomplish what we would like to do. We cannot pray as we want for God’s will to happen because we do not know exactly God’s will in situations. We pray-relate to God-because we love Him. We pray for another person because God loves that person and we want to be Christlike, have the mind of Christ. We want to love people as God loves people. WAIT!! Did you understand that. We pray for other people because of God’s love, which lives in us and shows itself as spiritual fruit. We should pray for a person because we love that person the way God loves that person. That is one of the greatest understandings about prayer.

Our prayers to God come from our relationship with Him. We want to be with Him and become like Him. We want to have the mind of Christ. As we are in relationship with God, our love for Him grows and our hearts are changed so that God’s will becomes our will. His mind becomes our mind. This means God’s love for another person becomes our love for that person. And ultimately, our love for the person, because of God’s love for the person, calls us to pray the will of God for that person.

Genuine prayer involves being in an abiding relationship with God that grows us to be more like Him-having His mind and bearing fruits of the Spirit-so that we have His will and love the people He loves. It allows us to pray the will of God for the person because we love him/her, not knowing necessarily what God’s will is. That is where the Holy Spirit intercedes with groanings too deep for words and asks the Father for His will-those things we do not know how to pray-to come about in the life of the person for whom we are praying.

What does all this mean? Genuine prayer comes from intentionally desiring to be in an active and continual deep relationship (abiding) so we know God better, know His will, and become more like Him. It is part of the forming us into Christlikeness, a growing to know God more and having His will as our will. Prayer is ineffectual unless we are abiding in Christ. Abiding is a continual two-way relationship (a covenant) with God that is an intentional, active, a continual, and a whole-hearted remaining with God. We abide with Him because of our love for Him and His love for us, which redemption through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection makes possible for each person.

Without abiding with Christ, our prayers do not include love for the other person because of God’s love. We are praying based on our tarnished and impure human understanding of love. Without abiding in Christ, our prayers do not incorporate asking God to do His will. We will be like the Gentiles about whom Jesus said, “They suppose they will be heard for their many words.” (Matthew 6:7 [NASB]) Instead, as Jesus said in the Lord’s Prayer, we should recognize Holy God, seek His kingdom, and His will.

Abiding in Christ makes prayer effective. As a result, we pray the will of God be done for the person whom God caused us to love enough to bring before His throne of grace. At that point, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us so that our desire for God’s will, unknown it may be to us, is spoken to the Father. This occurs because our wills unite with God’s will. Prayer helps us grow in our relationship with God. Prayer is relating with God. Abiding in Christ causes our prayers to grow us more like Him every day. That causes our prayers to align with the will of God because of His love for the people He has put in our hearts. We must ask ourselves, “Do I love the person enough to pray for God’s will to be done? Or am I loving the person my way, not God’s way, seeking my will to be done?” Remember, abiding in Christ is intentionally, actively, and continually seeking Him to know Him better, grow more like Him, and do His will because of our love for Him. Without abiding in Christ, we are no better than the Gentiles who prayed and weren’t heard. Jesus said they were like the withered vines that were gathered, thrown out, and burned.

Abiding in Christ is essential for growing more like Him and for genuine prayer. Jesus told the people how to abide in Him in John 15:7 & 10. In these verses, He said abiding with Him happens when you remain in God’s Word and keep His commands to love God and others.

Abiding is necessary for genuine prayer to occur. We must stay in God’s Word, reading, hearing, and studying it. We must also love the Lord, God, with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love our neighbor as ourself. (Mark 12:30-31)

Abiding is necessary for genuine prayer to occur.

Do you pray without abiding?

Lord, please forgive me of my running off and living my own way. Help me to grow closer to You. Help me to become like Jesus and have His mind so that I love You and others with the love You put in me. Please help me to love other people enough to pray for them and pray for Your will to be done even if I don’t understand it. Help me to yield my will for Yours and pray, “Let Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Help me not to allow my understanding of the person’s situation to sway me to pray what I think is best, but instead to pray for Your will even if the person will have to face difficult times. Often it is through difficult times that we return to You, asking for forgiveness, and seeking Your will, Lord. You have a greater plan than I know or understand. Help me to trust Your heart and follow Your way and will. Amen.

A Person of Effective Prayer - Loves Jesus

Introduction

In earlier Bible studies about the effective person of prayer we learned from the Bible the person who wants to be an effective pray-er should be righteous, believe God can do what he or she asks Him in prayer, pray in solitude, be watchful and alert, pray ceaselessly, pray fervently, approach God with his or her whole being, be Spirit-controlled, and love people (even enemies). This week’s lesson from the Bible takes us to another very important aspect for a person to pray effectively. This person who prays must acknowledge and love Jesus.

Loving Jesus appears to be obvious; yet, some people do not love Jesus. How do we know this? Jesus spoke about it in John 16:26-27. He told His disciples,

In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf, for the Father Himself loves you because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father.

Jesus put prayer to God in line with loving God and Himself. The questions then remain:

• In what day does Jesus refer?
• What does praying in Jesus name mean?
• Where does love come from?
• Do we love Jesus?
• How do we love Jesus?
•  How can we be obedient to Jesus?
• How does love of Jesus affect prayer?

Loving Jesus and Prayer

As we delve into these questions, we will understand why obedience to God is important in four ways – it shows our love of Him, aligns our prayers with His will, changes us to be more like Jesus, and grows our relationship with God.

Let’s look deeper at the main verses of John 16:26-27. Before these two verses, Jesus told His disciples if they asked the Father for anything in His name, He would give it to them. He repeats this in verse 26 with his first dependent and independent statement - “in that day”, the day when Jesus is no longer physically on the earth, and “you will ask [of God] in My name.”

The first thing we need to note about verse twenty-six is Jesus said, “in that day.” To which day did He refer? Jesus told them about this in verses sixteen through twenty-two with a parable. He explained it in verses twenty-five through twenty-eight. “In that day,” refers to the day when Jesus no longer walked on the earth, when He would be in heaven beside the Father. Followers of Jesus in the Biblical period would receive His power through the Holy Spirit He would give to believers upon His ascension to heaven. People who become believers after Christ’s ascension receive the gift of the Holy Spirit upon belief in Jesus Christ for salvation. This Helper, one of the three Persons of the Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is what the people of the Old Testament did not have to help them be obedient and stay in covenant with God. Besides helping us have the power to be obedient to God, the Spirit speaks to the Father for us. He intercedes between us and the Father when we cannot to say what is in our hearts. Besides giving us power to be obedient and interceding for us with the Father, the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, guides us into all truth, speaks what He hears the Father and Son say, tells what will come, leads us to live righteous lives, gives peace, ensures us we are God’s children, encourages and strengthens us when we share in Jesus’ sufferings, fills us with His fruit, and teaches, rebukes, and corrects us (John 14:15-27, 16:5-15; Romans 8:1-17; Galatians 5:16-26; 2 Timothy 3:16).

In the first independent statement of verse twenty-six, Jesus said, “you will ask [of God] in My name.” Jesus won’t be the one requesting for you. He gives each believer the Intercessor, the Holy Spirit. When a person asks in Jesus’ name, it means he or she prays with Jesus’ authority and being one with the Father. When a person unites with God through belief in Jesus Christ for salvation and His giving of His Holy Spirit, His will becomes the person’s will and what the person asks, God will answer as long as the person chooses to live life through the power of the Holy Spirit. Praying in Jesus’ name means praying in accordance to God’s will. John stated this in 1 John 5:14-15. He said. “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.” [NASB] When we are followers of Jesus, His Holy Spirit resides in us and He intercedes for us. He does more than that. He grows us to be more Christlike and helps us deepen our relationship with God. Praying in Jesus’ name is not a magic formula for getting what you want. If what you ask is in accordance to God’s will and it will bring Him glory, God will answer your prayer. Praying in accordance with God’s will is the essence of praying in Jesus’ name.

The question remains: why would the Father want to listen to us and answer our prayers? Verse twenty-seven explains that. It says, “For the Father Himself loves you because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father.” [NASB] God loves His children. One reason He loves us is because we love Jesus and trust He came from the Father. Besides this, Romans 5:8 tells us, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” God loves us before we become His child by faith in Jesus Christ and He loves us afterwards. Prayer and the love of Jesus go hand-in-hand. Without loving Jesus and believing He came from the Father, we are not His followers, Christians. If we are not His followers - people who have been made righteous by His death and resurrection for our sins - God will not listen to us. God wants to hear and answer our prayers because He loves us. He said He will not hear the prayers of unrighteous people, only of the righteous (Proverbs 15:29; 1 Timothy 2:8; James 4:3, 5:16; 1 Peter 3:12; 1 John 5:14-15). Since we are followers of Jesus and believe in Him and love Him, when we pray in Jesus’ name, with His power and authority, we understand God will hear and answer us.

Still, the question remains, do you love Jesus? How do you show you love Jesus? Do other people realize you are a Christian and love Jesus? What does loving Jesus mean? Does it affect our life – our words, actions, and thoughts? Let’s delve deeper into this.

Loving Jesus

Show it

Do you really love Jesus? How do you know and can other people recognize it by watching you? Jesus spoke with the Jews who challenged Him by saying they were already free because they were Abraham’s descendants, he is their father. He told them in John 8:39, “If you were Abraham’s children you would do what Abraham did.” He said they were seeking to kill Him, which Abraham didn’t do. They were doing the deed of their father [Satan, vs 44]. Abraham believed in God and He counted it to him as righteousness. His love of God showed in His willingness to obey Him when told to sacrifice Isaac on the altar. Jesus continued in verse forty-two, “If God were your Father [not Satan], you would love me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.” Loving Jesus requires acknowledging He is God’s Son. When a person acknowledges Jesus is God’s Son, that person takes the first step in loving Him. Loving Jesus requires loving the Father, too, because if a person does not love God, that person does not love Jesus whether or not the person believes Jesus came from God. You can understand a god exists, but until you believe God is the Only God, the Father of all humankind and the Maker of all creation, then you will not love Him.

Loving someone shows itself in actions, words, and attitudes. When you love a person, you go out of your way to do things for that one to show the person who love him or her. You may make meals for him/her, give flowers, send cards/emails/letters, or may be there for the person when he/she is having a hard time. Love comes from God because He first loved us (John 17:24-26), even while we were sinners. It is a covenant between two people. Showing your love is important in a loving relationship. Love bonds people tighter together. It proves to the person and other people we care about that person. The same goes for the love of God.

God showed the Israelites who He is. He went before them and routed their enemies. God provided food and drink for them. He made a nation of them and called them His people. To show their love and connectedness to Him, He gave them ten commandments to follow. These Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) comprised two main things – Love God and Love Neighbor. Jesus, Moses, Joshua, Isaiah, Luke, John, and Paul spoke about showing love to God by obeying His commandments.

Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” He stated further in verses 21, and 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.” “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.” [NASB] Jesus said anyone who does not love Him will not obey His teaching in verse twenty-four. Obedience to Jesus shows our love of Him just as obedience to God by the Israelites showed their love for Him.

Paul told the Philippians in Philippians 4:9, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” [NASB] Paul taught about the Gospel and following Jesus, who followed God and His commandments. He exhorted the believers of Philippi to obey what Jesus taught – love God and your neighbor as yourself. In Galatians 5:14, Paul taught people fulfill God’s law in his reiteration of Jesus’ command, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” If you love your neighbor, you keep God’s commandments. It shows love of God when you love your neighbor because you love God enough to obey His commandment. Paul taught people loving God means obeying His commandments.

John spoke again in 1 John 2:4-6 and 1 John 5:3 saying if we keep God’s commandments, we show our love for Him. In 2 John 1:6, he said, when we live according to God’s commandments, we show love to God. Just as Moses told the Israelites in the desert, John continued to teach that loving God requires obedience. He went further in 1 John 5:1 when he said, “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him.” Loving God is connected with loving Jesus. Since we love God, we should believe Jesus is the Messiah God promised to send. When we trust this, our love for God becomes love for Jesus. When we love the Father or the Son, we show it by obedience to their commands and teachings. Sometimes keeping the commandments is difficult, especially when the person whom we must love according to the commandments of God is an enemy, persecutor, or hateful person. John said in 1 John 4:19, we can love because Jesus first loved us. While we were enemies of God, He loved us by sending His Son to die for our sins so we could be in His righteous presence and live with Him forever. Paul said in Romans 5:8, “God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” We can love other people, including those who hate us because God’s love is in each believer. Believers can love because of God’s love implanted in us and experienced by us. We know how to love because of the Father and Son’s example toward us and other people. We recognize how to love and can act on it because of the Son’s Holy Spirit who lives in us because we trust in Jesus Christ and have received salvation from Him.

Before Paul, John, and Jesus taught people to love God by obeying His commandments, Moses and Joshua taught it to the Israelites. In Deuteronomy 7:9, Moses told the Israelites God is faithful and whoever keeps His commandments God will be faithful to them and keep His covenant and lovingkindness with them. When a person keeps God’s commandments, that person shows love to God. Moses went further to say God tests believers to prove whether they love Him. He said in Deuteronomy 13:3, “The LORD your God is testing you to find out if you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” [NASB] God tests us to refine and strengthen us in our relationship with Him and to make sure we really do love Him. This proves our love for Him.

Before Joshua allowed the Israelites of the east side of the Jordan to go home to their promised land, he reminded them of their covenant with God. That covenant required obedience for its effectiveness and to show the Israelites’ love of God. He said in Joshua 22:5, “Be very careful to observe the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God and walk in all His ways and keep His commandment and hold fast to Him and serve Him with all your heart and soul.” Obedience to God and love of God go together, just as obedience to and love of Jesus go together. What does it mean, though, when we do not show love of Jesus with our lives?

Not Showing It

For the people who said they were children of God, when they did not obey Him they showed they did not love Him. Isaiah proclaimed God’s judgment on Israel because of their faithlessness to Him – for abandoning and turning away from Him. Because they rebelled against God, God would allow their country to become desolate. Even with God offering them an opportunity to receive His mercy by cleansing themselves and turning back to Him, they rebelled and God turned His hand against them. When we do not truly love God, which shows in our actions, words, and thoughts, God will turn His back on us and will not listen to us.

Jesus showed in Luke 11:37-54 the Pharisees, though God’s appointed leaders of the Israelites, led the Israelites to turn away from God. He pronounced woe upon them for disregarding justice and the love of God –

• For putting themselves before others and God
• For putting a greater burden of laws on people than upon themselves
• For persecuting and killing God’s prophets and apostles
• For hindering the people from entering into the knowledge of God

The Pharisees hindered the people from knowing the true God and persecuted God’s messengers and children. They led the Israelites astray. This rebellion against God showed lack of love for God. For this, God’s judgment would fall upon them.

Amos, like Isaiah, spoke prophecy from God to Israel because of their rebellion against Him and His commandments. If the Israelite people, person by person, loved God, they would have obeyed His commandments. Just as we do what a person who we love asks, we, too, should do what God asks and commands because we love Him.

Just as Jesus spoke about the Pharisees lack of faith and loving God, James spoke about faith that resulted in works in his letter. He did not say good works would save a person. He said, a person’s faith would show by the works he or she does. In James 2:17 he said, “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.” Genuine faith in Jesus Christ results in good works, which come because of obedience to Jesus’ teachings and commands. Obedience to Jesus and the Father shows our love of them. If we do not love Jesus, we are disobedient and are not children of faith. Our prayers have no power because we truly are not followers of Christ. God has not made us righteous and He will not be in the presence of unrighteousness. This should lead us to ask how we can and should love Jesus. In what ways can we show our love of Jesus?

Show It

With the many texts in the Bible, we learn and understand the way to show God our love for Him is to walk in His ways – obey Him. We realize we love because the Father and Son first loved us. Added to this, when we love the Father and believe Jesus is the Christ born of God then we love Jesus. With these, we understand the love inside of us comes from the Father. He gives love as a gift of His grace. Besides these, we learn that to love the Father and Son we must keep their commandments and teachings – be obedient. On top of these, we read in John 16:26-27 if we love Jesus and trust He came from the Father, we can ask from the Father and because of His love for us, He will hear and answer us. The questions remain. How do we love the Father and Son since we are sinful? How can we always stay strong in our faith? Jesus gives us the answer.

Abiding in Christ Jesus

The love John spoke about throughout his writings (such as John 8:42, 14:15, 21, & 23-24, 15:10, 17:24-26; 1 John 2:4-6, 3:1, 4:19, and 5:1 & 3; 2 John 1:6) and, especially when stating that obeying Jesus’ teachings shows a person loves Him, is agape love. Agape love means to dearly love another person. God puts agape love in each person. Because of God’s love for us and in us, we can show agape love to God and other people. Just as we want to be with other people we love, we should also have a great desire to be with God each day. We will want to abide with God, stay near and not leave Him because of His great love for us and ours for Him. Let us look into what abiding means. Jesus taught about it to His disciples.

The passage of the Bible most often remembered when considering abiding in Christ is John 15. In this chapter, Jesus described abiding in Him as being like a branch staying attached to the vine. He equates our staying with Him as abiding in His love. “Abiding” comes from the Greek word meno. This word means to remain, tarry, not to depart from, to be continually present, and to remain as one. When we consider that loving Jesus means obeying His commands and teachings, we understand this love would come from being continually present with God, abiding with Him. To love and continually do what Jesus commands requires choosing to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit residing in us. When we are so connected with Jesus that the Holy Spirit guides us, we are abiding in His love and power. What do other Bible passages consider abiding to be?

John used the word meno fifty-three times in his letters and Gospel. Twenty of those times, meno was used to teach abiding in Christ. For John and Jesus, abiding meant showing our love of Jesus and the Father. Showing love occurred by obeying the commandments, staying with Jesus and learning from Him through His Word, living through the power of His Holy Spirit, being a disciple, knowing Jesus, bearing fruit, receiving His power, receiving Jesus’ love, participating in suffering and trials because He did, and continually being in the presence of God.  Consider these passages from John:

•  John 1:38-39 – “And Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, ‘What do you seek?’ They said to Him, ‘Rabbi, where are You staying?’ He said to them, ‘Come and you will see.’ So they came and saw where He was staying and they stayed (meno-abide) with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.” These people came to stay (abide) with Jesus and learn from Him.
• John 6:56 – “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in Him.” Those who are true disciples and abide in Him will partake in each part of His life. Abiding with Jesus means learning from Him, obeying Him, and participating in suffering/trials just as He did.
• John 8:31 – “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed in Him, ‘If you continue (meno – abide) in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine.’” People who study the Word, the Bible, and obey what the Father and Son commanded, are true disciples of Jesus. Abiding means learning from God’s Word and living it out.
• John 14:16-17 – Jesus said, “I will ask the Father and He will give you another Helper that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be with you.” Because of a believer’s love of God and His love of them, He will give His Holy Spirit to abide with the believer. Abiding with Jesus means living with the Holy Spirit and receiving all He can give us – teaching, strength or will, power, encouragement, correction, and reproof.
• John 15:4-5 – “Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” A believer who abides with Jesus, who stays continually with Him through the Spirit, and studying and obeying the Word, will bear much fruit. When we do not abide with Jesus, we will be able to do nothing. We will have no power to overcome temptation, to spread the Word, to live fruitful, God-glorifying lives. Abiding is staying with Jesus in the Word by studying and obeying it in the world and bearing fruit.
• John 15:6-7 “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up, and they gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” If a person does not abide with Christ – read His word and follow His commands, live in the power of His Spirit – then that person will be pruned from the branch and thrown in the fire. That person’s non-action for God, - lack of obedience, turning away from God - will show he or she does not truly love God and is not a follower of Jesus. God will throw the person in the fire. Yet, Just as John 16:26-27 says, if we abide in Christ and live by His words, we have the power and are in tune with God’s will so that whatever we ask is in accordance with God’s will and He will answer our prayers. Abiding with Jesus means studying His Word and obeying Him.
•  John 15:9-10 – Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. Obeying Jesus and the Father’s commandments shows our love to them and the world. When we do this, we show we abide in them and their words and love, and They abide in us.
•   1 John 2:6 - “The one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.” The Christian who truly abides in Christ should walk like Jesus walked – according to God’s commandments and will.
• 1 John 2:10 – “The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling.” By obeying God, a Christian shows he or she abides in Jesus. Jesus and the Father commanded us to love one another. Abiding means loving a brother.
• 1 John 2:14b – “I have written to you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.” Abiding in Christ gives the believer power to overcome Satan and His temptations. Abiding in Christ gives power.
•  1 John 2:17 – “The world is passing away, and also its lusts, but the one who does the will of God lives (meno – abides) forever.” The person who truly loves God and believes in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior will not pass away as the world will, but will live forever with God in heaven. Abiding brings the reward of eternal life.
• 1 John 2:24 – “As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.” By abiding in God’s Word and it abiding in your life, you will abide in the Father and Son. You will continually live and be in the presence of God.
• 1 John 2:27-28 – “As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you, but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him. Now little children, abide in Him so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.” The Holy Spirit lives and stays with each believer and teaches you all things so abide in Him. Stay with Jesus in His teachings so you will not be ashamed of what you did and shrink away from Him in shame. Abiding keeps you from sinning and being ashamed in His presence.
• 1 John 3:6, 9 – “No one who abides in Him sins; so one who sins has seen Him or knows Him.” “No one who is born of God practices sin because His seed abides in Him and he cannot sin because he is born of God.” When a believer abides in Christ, he has the power to overcome temptation and acts to receive and use that power so he does not sin. Abiding gives believers the power to overcome temptation. You can tell a believer from a non-believer by the way a person acts and speaks.
• 1 John 3:14-15 – “We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” Abiding in Christ gives the believer the ability to love other believers and each person.
• 1 John 3:17 – “But whoever has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?” Abiding in God gives us the love of God for other believers and other people. It shows by giving what the other believer needs, like food and clothes.
• 1 John 3:24 – “The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.” Abiding in Christ means we keep His commandments. We can know believers by their love of God and other people.
• 1 John 4:12-13 – “No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us because He has given us of His Spirit.” Abiding in God shows our love and care for other people. We can know we are abiding in Him by this and by His Holy Spirit in us.
• 1 John 4:15-16 – “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God. We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” Abiding in God means we believe in the love of God for us, the love He showed by sending His Son to earth to die for our sins. Abiding in love means we are abiding in God and He in us.
• 2 John 1:9 – “Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son.” Abiding in Christ means obeying the teachings of Christ. It shows the Father and Son live in him or her.

John is the only apostle to speak about abiding in Christ in the Gospels. His words contain over half the instances of meno (abide/stay/remain) in the New Testament. Only two other verses in the New Testament besides John’s twenty speak of abiding in Christ. Paul told Timothy to “continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them.” (2 Timothy 3:14) He told Timothy to abide in the Word of God. Abide in Christ and stand strong in his faith and the salvation Jesus gave him. The writer of Hebrew commanded in Hebrews 13:1,”Let love of the brethren continue (meno).” He reiterated Jesus’ command to the disciples. Abide in Christ by obeying His command to love other believers. The power to abide in Christ comes from the Holy Spirit whom we choose to heed each day. By choosing to abide in Christ through the Holy Spirit, we have the power to obey the commands and teaching of Jesus that came from God and show our love of Him. By loving Jesus, which comes through abiding in Christ, we become effective persons of prayer.

Effective Praying Comes through Loving Jesus

When we abide in Christ we are able to live and act in obedience to the Father’s and Jesus’ commands. By abiding in Christ, the Holy Spirit through the Word teaches Christians how to live and how to love God and other people. Believers obtain the power and the will to obey God’s commands through the Spirit. Abiding in Christ gives Christians the power to withstand temptation and suffering. Believers cab commune continually with God through the Holy Spirit. By abiding in Christ, Christians show their love of the Father and Jesus Christ. Believers become more Christlike and their relationship with the Father grows deeper. Abiding with Christ aligns the Christian’s will with God’s will so we pray in accordance to what God desires and knows will be the best answer for each situation while bringing glory to Him.

Jesus taught the disciples in John 16:26-27, a believer prays with the power of Jesus – “in His name” – when he or she loves Him. That means the Christian accepts Jesus is the Son of God, loves the Son and the Father, and, as a child of God led by the Holy Spirit, prays in accordance to the will of God. This comes from abiding in Christ, which Jesus said in John 15:7, “If you abide in me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you.” A Loving Jesus transforms a person and his or her prayers. Praying in accordance to His will means the Christian joins with God by saying “Amen” to His plans as He works His will out in answer to your prayer. These come about because of abiding in Christ through the Holy Spirit.

Relevance and Conclusion

The love of God that brings a person to oneness with Him involves the person’s whole being – heart, soul, mind, and strength. When a person admits Jesus is God’s Son, trusts in Him for salvation from his or her sins, and confesses his or her sins to God, that person becomes a Christian. Being a Christian, a follow of Christ involves loving the Father and Son. Loving them requires all of one’s being. To love God dearly in this way requires abiding in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. When this happens a complete change comes over that person’s life. It changes how the Christian acts so he or she is obedient to Jesus’ teachings. That is physical change. This change affects the mind and heart of a person so he or she wants the best for other people and speaks words of truth, love, kindness, and peace to them because of God’s love in him or her that has changed his or her heart. The changes in a Christian’s spirit because of abiding in Christ show in that believer’s desire to love and obey God at all times, to be with and serve only Him each moment every day.  Genuine love of Jesus causes a genuine change of being. This believer becomes more Christlike and his or her communion with God grows deeper each day. The Christian’s prayers are so in concert with God’s will that to ask in Jesus name is asking the Lord’s will be done, just as Jesus taught us in the Lord’s Prayer.

The belief in and love of Jesus Christ the Son of God underpins the effectiveness of prayer. Through Jesus, as we abide with Him through His Spirit, God will come near and listen to our prayers. He will act on them and give what we or others need. God loved us while we were still sinners. He loves us now are His children saved by the blood of His only Son, Jesus the Messiah. We, as sinners saved by His grace, love Him and His Son, Jesus. We obey Their commands and everything the Word teaches us. We abide with Them and They with us through the gift of the Helper, whom Jesus gives each believer. From this abiding our communing brings about answer to prayer. We know we can “ask whatever we wish and it will be done for us,” as Jesus said in John 15:7. An effective person of prayer believes Jesus is the Son of God and loves Jesus with his or her whole being – heart, soul, mind, and strength.

What keeps you from loving Jesus - obeying and abiding in Him?

Are you an effective prayer person?

Accept Him as the Son of God.

Believe in Him as your Savior.

Love  Him with your whole being.

Abide in Him and be an Effective Person of Prayer

“If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you.” John 15:7 [NASB]

“In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf, for the Father Himself loves you because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father.” John 16:26-27 [NASB]

John 15:12-17 - A Devotion

John 15:12-17
"12 "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. 13 "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. 14 "You are My friends if you do what I command you. 15 "No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. 16 "You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever * * you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. 17 "This I command you, that you love one another."

This verse's theme is Jesus' command to His disciples to love one another. He states it in verse 12 and repeats it in verse 17.

We notice the kind of love of which He spoke. This kind of love does not look at a person's status, even if their status seems lower than us. The love Jesus spoke of is qualitatively greater than normal human love. It is a kind of love that would die for a friend. This "friend" comes from the Greek word philos, which means someone so close they are or could be considered family. All Jesus' disciples then are family and worthy for whom to die.

Jesus gave this great depth of love as well as a commission. He is the one who chose you and called you "philos" friend. Jesus is the one who appointed you to go. He is the one who established your connection to the vine by which spiritual fruit could grow. He gives them the ability to grow their fruit because they are part of His family. They can ask anything of the Father and can grow more like Him. Jesus does all these. He requires only one thing - love of God and each other. 

This passage sheds light that the greatest of all the commandments is loving God and loving neighbors. We cannot hide from that. Jesus didn't hide from it, but gave His life so it could occur. He is the one who chose to love us, to establish us as part of His family, and to give us power to have fruit.

Have you forgotten the depth of Jesus' love for you? Have you forgotten that Jesus chose you? Have you been running the race in your own strength. Go back to Jesus and He will remind you of His love for you and His power to make you strong. He will remind you that you are family and renew your place in His family. Let Jesus be the one who gives you strength, encourages you, loves you, and grows your fruit.

Our Identification

John 15:13 "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”

            What does this verse mean? So often teachers and preachers speak of the action of laying down one’s life and they speak of what it means. They use the example of Christ and use it as the motivation for us to do the same for Him. I want to look at the actors in this verse. There are three: Jesus, His disciples, and others.

            We each go through life as the child of our parents, the partner of our spouse, and the employee of someone else. Jesus came to give us life abundantly. That gift has given us a new relationship title. We become the children of God who serve the High King like the Levites served God in the temple. This allows us the title of co-heir with Christ. As we grow, we become disciples of Christ. Farther in this relationship, we become friends: to Jesus and to others.

In the first phase, we become as the Israelites were when God first chose them to be His people. He wanted a relationship with the people He created. He wanted to be their God. He required their reverence and worship. As His children, they also had to remember they were subservient to Him. They, as His worshippers, had to realize who they were in relation to Him – small and humble compared to His majesty and power. There was such awe that they feared being in God’s presence. Our relationship with God, when we are first re-born is like this. We see how small and insignificant we are in relation to how infinite and mighty He is. We come before Him in humility and adoration knowing who we are and what He has made us to be by His love. We feel as if we should serve our heavenly King through our subservience since we can never be as great and mighty as He is. The humility we feel is correct. God is mighty, powerful, and majestic. He should be worshipped for who He is and for what He has done: Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer, and Lord. We must go beyond this point though if we are to be in a growing relationship with God, though. We must never lose our awe and reverence for Him nor our perspective of Him and His might and majesty.

            In the second phase, when we grow beyond our initial gratefulness, subservience, and awe, we become aware that Jesus saved us for more than this. He left us with eyewitnesses who wrote His teachings down. We begin to see who the disciples are and become disciples ourselves. We walk with them through their three years with Jesus. We learn about the Son of God as foretold in the prophets of the Old Testament and as fulfilled by the coming of Jesus, God incarnate. We learn He has power over demons, illness, life, and death. We learn Jesus will be our judge on the last day. We also learn how to be His followers and what that means. Jesus is our Rabbi now, our teacher. We sit at His feet. We eat at His table. We walk in His footprints down the road with Him. In living with Him and learning to do these things, we learn to be like Jesus. As Jesus said, “He is able to do only what He sees the Father doing.” (John 5:19 [AMP]) As Jesus learned from His Father, so we learn from Jesus our Lord. We are His disciples. This growth phase includes the first phase of awe and subservience, but it includes discipleship now. It includes a commitment of our lives.

            The third phase of our growth in relation to God Jesus states in John 15:15, “No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.” [NASB] It is this phase of growth where our joy is made complete. This phase is when the Son and the Father are pleased with us and count us worthy to be called friend. What does this new status in regard to Jesus mean? He states it Himself like this: a friend lays down his life for his friend. (vs.13) Just as Jesus could not act without having seen the Father, we cannot act unless we see our teacher, Jesus, do it. So many of us read verse 13 as God telling us how great love regards one’s self - as nothing in compared to the value of another friend’s life. What I am saying is this verse tells us how to act and gives us value because of who we are - friends of Jesus. According to Jesus, His friends abide in Him; they live in Him just as He abides in the Father. Jesus states that we know we are abiding in Him if we keep His commandments. He says twice in the chapter what a friend is: friends have love for one another (the brethren) just as Jesus loves us. He states this in verses 12 and 17.

            This is the point we are growing toward – to be like Jesus, to love as Jesus loves. When we see beyond ourselves and how an act will affect us, we are no longer just disciples, but are identified with Christ. Prior to this we counted the cost when we were young converts and learning at the feet of Jesus. We are now walking in the shadow of Jesus and becoming the cost without thinking and without hesitation because we are so identified with Christ. This phase does not mean we have stopped growing in Christ, but is a phase where the growth is unconscious because the life of Christ through His Holy Spirit within us guides us in the way of Christ so we are unconsciously doing as He did, being as He is, and speaking as He spoke. When we reach the phase of our growth when we are unconscious of our own selves and no longer desire anything for ourselves is when Jesus is most consciously visible to others in our words and actions. That is when Jesus calls us friends.

            Jesus calls us His children, His disciples, and His friends. There is nothing we can do to earn any of these privileged titles. The gift of faith, which God gives us, enables us to believe Jesus is the Son of God. The gift of salvation enables us to have eternal life with Him. The gift of the Holy Spirit enables us to follow Jesus and grow more like Him. The only thing Jesus says we can do is this, "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.” (John 15:10 [NASB]) Our part of all this is to keep Jesus’ commandments, His teachings. In doing this, we grow out of ourselves and into more unconscious Christlikeness. We do nothing to earn Jesus’ friendship other than lay down our lives for His. Be filled with His Spirit. Become a believer in Jesus as the Son of God. Become children of the Most High God. Be identified with the Messiah.