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 home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.”

Personal Challenge

Jesus is the living Word of God. When He tells us to keep His word, what is He saying? He wants us to be obedient to Him, to love our God as He does, to love our neighbor as He does, to do the works that He calls us to do. We do not do any of this to earn His favor or to purchase our ticket to paradise. We do this because we love Him and appreciate all that He does for us. By living this way, we will truly experience God’s love, we will have God Himself, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, make their home with us. If we choose to not keep His words, then that is an indicator that we do not love him. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Psalms 36:7 (35:8)

How You multiply Your mercy, O God!
The sons of men shall hope under the shelter of Your wings.

Encouraging Words

We are so blessed that our God loves us, His entire creation, so much. We can always put our hope in Him and His mercy, knowing that just like the mother hen, He will shelter us under his wings. Glory be to God!

John 14:15-17

If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

Personal Challenge

This passage tells us about the Holy Spirit that Jesus prayed to the Father on our behalf for. The Holy Spirit is such a critical part of our life in Christ. However. He starts off with an expectation of us. If we love him? This sounds so simple, but it goes so much deeper than just saying that we love him. He expects active love from us. We do this by keeping the two commandments that He gave us: loving God and loving our neighbor. This is how people will know that we love God! Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Psalms 35:22-23 (34:22-23)

You saw this, O Lord; do not keep silence;
O Lord, do not be far from me.
Arise, O Lord, attend to my judgment,
My God and my Lord, to my cause.

Encouraging Words

I love how David so transparently expresses his feelings and his needs in his psalms. It is no wonder that God called him a man after His own heart. We all have those times where we feel all alone. We can cry out to God just as David did. We can plea with God to not be far from us and to be there to judge our causes. Glory be to God!

John 14:6

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Encouraging Words

Jesus is truth and life made manifest in human form. He is our way to a relationship with the living, loving God. We cannot be in a relationship with God without the work of Jesus. Glory be to God!

Psalms 34:18 (33:19)

The Lord is near those who are brokenhearted,
And He will save the humble in spirit.

Encouraging Words

Our God has a special love for those who are brokenhearted and humble is spirit. Jesus reiterated this when He gave us the beatitudes. For us to truly experience the depths of God’s love, we too must become brokenhearted for both our sins and for those who do not yet know Jesus. We must also be humble in spirit, submitting to our Lord and to one another to fully see the breadth of His salvation. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

John 14:12

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

Encouraging Words

We must always be careful to not get to a place where we begin to believe that the works that we do for God earn us our salvation. Our salvation is a free gift from Him. We must also not go so far in the other direction that we do no works for Him. If we love Him, follow Him, and appreciate the work that He has done for us, then we delight in doing His work to win more souls to Him. He promises us here that if we believe in Him, He will manifest Himself in us so much that we will do great things for Him. Glory be to God!

Psalms 34:12-15 (33:13-16)

Who is the man who desires life,
Who loves to see good days?
Keep your tongue from evil,
And your lips from speaking deceit.
Shun evil and do good;
Seek peace and pursue it.
The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous,
And His ears are open to their supplications.

Personal Challenge

Do we truly desire to live a full life? It is indeed possible. Contrary to the human way of thinking, God has pointed out to us in His scriptures, what things we can do to experience a full life, a life of righteousness. We are told to keep our tongue from evil and our lips from speaking deceit. Oh, how far from that has our society, especially the politicians and those who worships them, has strayed. We are to shun evil and do good, to seek peace and pursue it. God wants us to live His ways and not those of the world around us. Glory be to God!