Bible League: Living His Word "Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them."— John 14:21 NLT How can you tell if someone loves Jesus Christ? There are a lot of people that say they love Him, but how can you tell if they actually do love Him? Our verse for today answers the question. You can tell if someone actually loves Jesus if they obey His commandments. What are the commandments of Jesus? There are many. The most important of them are the first and second great commandments: "'You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments" (Matthew 22:37—40). Another important one is the one He told to Nicodemus: "You must be born again" (John 3:7). That is, you must be born of the Holy Spirit. Physical birth comes first, and everyone who ever lived was born that way. Spiritual birth comes second, but not everyone has been born that way. Another important one is the command to forgive people: "If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins" (Matthew 6:14—15). No one, of course, obeys the commandments of Jesus perfectly. That's why His commandment about forgiveness is important. Everyone who loves Jesus will need their sins to be forgiven. Everyone will need forgiveness for their failures to obey His commandments. Nevertheless, you can tell who loves Jesus by the spiritual direction of their lives, by their sincere concern to obey the commandments of Jesus. People who only say they love Jesus don't have this concern. The spiritual direction of their lives moves elsewhere. They have other concerns that are more important to them. And while it may seem easy to judge the fruit of other Christians, let us not neglect to examine ourselves. Are Christ's commandments your utmost concern? There's a reward if you love Jesus. Our verse says that the Father and Jesus will return the love. Moreover, Jesus will reveal Himself to you. What does this mean? It means this: "All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them" (John 14:23). What a promise! Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingEzekiel 10, 11, 12 Ezekiel 10 -- Vision of God's Glory Departing from the Temple NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Ezekiel 11 -- Evil Rulers to Be Judged; Israel's Promised Return NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Ezekiel 12 -- Ezekiel Fears for Exile NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Hebrews 11:1-19 Hebrews 11 -- Hall of Fame of Faith NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. Then people who are not Christians will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others.Insight There is more to Christian living than simply loving other Christians. We must be responsible in all areas of life. Some of the Thessalonian Christians had adopted a life of idleness, depending on others for handouts. Some Greeks looked down on manual labor. So Paul told the Thessalonians to work hard and live a quiet life. Challenge You can't be effective in sharing your faith with others if they don't respect you. Whatever you do, do it faithfully and be a positive force in society. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Deuteronomy 32:9 The Lord's portion is his people.How are they his? By his own sovereign choice. He chose them, and set his love upon them. This he did altogether apart from any goodness in them at the time, or any goodness which he foresaw in them. He had mercy on whom he would have mercy, and ordained a chosen company unto eternal life; thus, therefore, are they his by his unconstrained election. They are not only his by choice, but by purchase. He has bought and paid for them to the utmost farthing, hence about his title there can be no dispute. Not with corruptible things, as with silver and gold, but with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord's portion has been fully redeemed. There is no mortgage on his estate; no suits can be raised by opposing claimants, the price was paid in open court, and the Church is the Lord's freehold forever. See the blood-mark upon all the chosen, invisible to human eye, but known to Christ, for "the Lord knoweth them that are his;" he forgetteth none of those whom he has redeemed from among men; he counts the sheep for whom he laid down his life, and remembers well the Church for which he gave himself. They are also his by conquest. What a battle he had in us before we would be won! How long he laid siege to our hearts! How often he sent us terms of capitulation! but we barred our gates, and fenced our walls against him. Do we not remember that glorious hour when he carried our hearts by storm? When he placed his cross against the wall, and scaled our ramparts, planting on our strongholds the blood-red flag of his omnipotent mercy? Yes, we are, indeed, the conquered captives of his omnipotent love. Thus chosen, purchased, and subdued, the rights of our divine possessor are inalienable: we rejoice that we never can be our own; and we desire, day by day, to do his will, and to show forth his glory. Daily Light on the Daily Path 1 Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; 2 Corinthians 6:16 Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, "I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. 1 John 1:3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 4:13 but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. Ephesians 3:17-19 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, • may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, • and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. 1 John 4:15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 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. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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