Devotionals for September 30, 2022
Our next Water Baptisms and Baby Dedications will be on October 30! CLICK HERE if you'd like to participate in this.
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
Something that may be easy to look past when reading passages like this is who all Jesus is speaking to. Or to phrase it a bit more clearly, how many Jesus is speaking to? Jesus is not just having a conversation with one person, but with a group of people. And his intention is not that these commands are only for this group of people currently present, but for everyone who would claim Jesus as their Lord and Savior, just as this group of people has. Additionally, his intention was also not that they would take these commands and obey them individually, but communally. That they would follow the two great commandments to love God and love each other and do that in a community that is accountable to one another. In fact, it would be impossible to obey Jesus, and therefore, impossible to love him, outside the context of a redemptive community. It’s so much easier, and so much better, to faithfully follow Jesus with others who are standing by your side and have your back. Not only should our relationship with God have a deeply personal component to it, but should simultaneously have an intentionally communal component to it. God said, “it is not good for man to be alone”. I’m content to assume he knows what he’s talking about.
APPLY
Q: Who is your redemptive community—the group of people who accept the responsibility of following Jesus together and keeping each other accountable to do so? If your answer is “I don’t know”, who at TNLC should you address that with?
Q: How consistently and actively is your community engaged in your life, spiritually or otherwise?
Q: Grade yourself on how well you’ve been performing this communal duty recently. [Advanced level: Ask those who are a part of your community to honestly grade you]
Q: How consistently and actively is your community engaged in your life, spiritually or otherwise?
Q: Grade yourself on how well you’ve been performing this communal duty recently. [Advanced level: Ask those who are a part of your community to honestly grade you]
SING
PRAY
"And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one."
Holy Spirit we need you. Jesus promised that he would send you as an advocate for us, as a helper and encourager. Holy Spirit would you fill us up with your presence until we’re overflowing? Empower us to help each other to love God by obeying his commandments. Give us the humility to walk with one another in grace and truth. Strengthen us together to resist the temptation of the evil one, and rescue us from his schemes. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Holy Spirit we need you. Jesus promised that he would send you as an advocate for us, as a helper and encourager. Holy Spirit would you fill us up with your presence until we’re overflowing? Empower us to help each other to love God by obeying his commandments. Give us the humility to walk with one another in grace and truth. Strengthen us together to resist the temptation of the evil one, and rescue us from his schemes. In Jesus’ name, amen.