May 2, 2018
John 14:21-28 The Message (MSG)
Jesus left us with two commandment. He said all the other commands of Father God could be summed up this way: “‘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.”
We are to love the LORD—Christ who is the visible image of the invisible God—with all our hearts. That means we love him and obey him; in other words we keep his commandments of love. How blessed we are that Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to help and teach us to love the way God requires. You may feel that certain people are beyond your capability to love and that may be true. But they are not beyond God’s capability to love through you. We must allow God’s love to flow. Stay strong and stay committed to love the LORD and allow him to have his way of love in and through your life.
21 “The person who knows my commandments and keeps them, that’s who loves me. And the person who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and make myself plain to him.”
22 Judas (not Iscariot) said, “Master, why is it that you are about to make yourself plain to us but not to the world?”
23-24 “Because a loveless world,” said Jesus, “is a sightless world. If anyone loves me, he will carefully keep my word and my Father will love him—we’ll move right into the neighborhood! Not loving me means not keeping my words. The message you are hearing isn’t mine. It’s the message of the Father who sent me.
25-27 “I’m telling you these things while I’m still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught.
28 “You’ve heard me tell you, ‘I’m going away, and I’m coming back.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I’m on my way to the Father because the Father is the goal and purpose of my life.
Prayer: Lord, I know you are coming back and you will call me to give an account for how I loved the people you brought into my life. Not everyone has been easy to love, Lord, and I am sure I could have love more sincerely. But, from this day forward I pray for your help to continue to run the race of love until you return. In Jesus’ name Amen.