Devotionals for September 27, 2022
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READ
JOHN 14:15-26
If you love me, obey my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you
another Advocate, who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. 18 No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. 19 Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. 20 When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 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.” 22 Judas (not Judas Iscariot, but the other disciple with that name) said to him, “Lord, why are you going to reveal yourself only to us and not to the world at large?” 23 Jesus replied, “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. 24 Anyone who doesn’t love me will not obey me. And remember, my words are not my own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent me. 25 I am telling you these things now while I am still with you. 26 But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.
If you love me, obey my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you
another Advocate, who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. 18 No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. 19 Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. 20 When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 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.” 22 Judas (not Judas Iscariot, but the other disciple with that name) said to him, “Lord, why are you going to reveal yourself only to us and not to the world at large?” 23 Jesus replied, “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. 24 Anyone who doesn’t love me will not obey me. And remember, my words are not my own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent me. 25 I am telling you these things now while I am still with you. 26 But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.
REFLECT
On Sunday, Pastor Clayton encouraged us to love God not only on our terms but on his as well. In fact, if our terms conflict with God’s terms, to defer to love him on his terms. Instead of defining the way we love God solely on the basis of how we feel we are able to best display that love, or on the basis of how we feel from moment to moment, we should love God in the way that he has called us to love him. Pastor Clayton talked about the five love languages, and how people might receive love differently than we do. Of course, they can probably recognize when they are being loved even though it may not be done “in their language”, they receive love and feel most loved when done in a way that is consistent with their love language. In a way, God has told us his “love language”. Not necessarily that he receives love best in one particular way out of the five, but he has been clear again and again about how we can show God that we love him—through obedience. By sacrificing what we want to do, or say, or think, and submitting that to his perfect will for our lives. Don’t just love God on your terms, in your “love language”, start by loving him in the way he has told you to. Obey his commands.
APPLY
Q: How many times in this passage does Jesus tell us that the result of our love for God should be obedience to God?
Q: In what areas are you walking in obedience to God? In what areas are you walking in obedience? Ask God to speak to you and reveal where you are being disobedient.
Q: One of the simplest ways to be obedient to God is by loving others the way he has loved us. How can you sacrificially love someone in your life that way today?
Q: In what areas are you walking in obedience to God? In what areas are you walking in obedience? Ask God to speak to you and reveal where you are being disobedient.
Q: One of the simplest ways to be obedient to God is by loving others the way he has loved us. How can you sacrificially love someone in your life that way today?
SING
PRAY
"May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven."
God help me to receive your love today so that I am able to love you in return and love others as you have loved me. Give me patience and compassion. Give me a desire for true justice and a supernatural threshold for grace. Empower me today to let love be the supreme ethic of my life and be seen and experienced by all that I come in contact with. In Jesus’ name, amen.
God help me to receive your love today so that I am able to love you in return and love others as you have loved me. Give me patience and compassion. Give me a desire for true justice and a supernatural threshold for grace. Empower me today to let love be the supreme ethic of my life and be seen and experienced by all that I come in contact with. In Jesus’ name, amen.