Abide in My Love

J

“As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Abide in My love”  John 15:9

If what I’m reading is truth, (I believe it is) then this means that as long as I am abiding in Jesus Christ, His love that is in me because of His presence, in me will produce His love, joy, and peace in my heart.  

The connection between Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and the Father was very close. In fact, there is no where in Scripture that says Jesus did anything without Him.  That is some kind of love!   The contrast here between how much God loved His Son and how much His Son loved His Father is amazing.  It openly speaks of a close relationship that is built on love for each other.    

You would think that this kind of love, one that produces joy, and peace in my heart would be something at the top of my list of things to do, right?   But look at what Jesus follows that with.  

“As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you.  Abide in My love.” 

“Abide in My love”    This gift of love of the Father and His Son for you is so vital in your growth that He commands us to stay in this love.   Without it we shrivel up and become like a withered branch having no evidence of Him in us to others.

 There is no doubt we love Jesus right?  But it’s what He has more of for us than we do that matters.    Where is the resource of that kind of love that produces joy and peace in our hearts?    Of course, from Jesus.  We cannot in our best day supply anything like it.  We need to stay close to the source of that supply.     If you were thirsty, you wouldn’t go out and drink catsup would you?   No, you’d go to what you already know will quench the need.  You would drink water!      Jesus is the source of that joy and peace in your heart if you are going to live for Him.

Because we love Him, we keep His commandments; and, as we keep His commandments, we abide in His love and experience it in a deeper way.

Several times in John’s Gospel you will find Jesus speaking about the Father’s love for Him. We forget that the Father loves the Son, and because the Father does love the Son:

• He has put all things into the Son’s hand (John 3:35)
• He has revealed all things to the Son.  (John 5:20)
• The Father loved the Son before the foundation of the world. (John 17:24)
• The Father loved the Son when the Son died on the cross. (John 10:17)

It’s an amazing thing for us as believers today that we can experience personally that same love!   Jesus prayed “that the love which Thou hast loved Me may be in them” John 17:26

Personally, I need this more than anything else.  I am like a dry cistern without any water without His love.  What good is water faucet that doesn’t give what?  Water.    Get alone with Him today.  Take a five minute walk away from your desk or wherever you find yourself and go to Him.  He is already loving you and desiring that you be filled with His love. 

“Little children, love one another”

Check out this video,  about this abiding love.