May the mumbling commence!
Did you ever want the recipe to be steeped in the Holy Spirit of God? In Jesus’ farewell speech recorded in the gospel according to John, Jesus gives us the active ingredients. Read from John chapter fourteen:
"If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, "But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?"
Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (Verses 15-27)
Active ingredient number one: be obedient. Do what Jesus commands. Doing what Jesus commands is how we show love to him.
It means welcoming Jesus into even the darkest and most remote areas of our lives. It means entering into the foreign world of Jesus. In this welcoming and entering ingredient, we become totally encompassed by God the Father.
So, what does Jesus command of us? Read from John chapter fifteen:
"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other.” (Verses 9-17)
Remain, abide, in Jesus the one true vine. The Greek word is menno. Gives a whole new meaning for the denomination of Mennonites, doesn’t it? Abide, remain, menno in Christ’s love. Christ commands us to love one another as he loved us. That means a conscious choice to sacrifice our own perceived wellbeing for the wellbeing of other people.
Wow! That message to love one another – didn’t I spend several days mining the word love in First John? Here it is again. It is a thread that runs not only through John and First John but also through the entire Bible. Repetition means something is important in the Bible and in life in general. Threads are even more important than repetition.
So, here they are, the active ingredients in a life steeped in God’s Holy Spirit: 1) Obey God’s commands, 2) love one another, 3) remain in God’s love. If we combine these active ingredients, we will fully welcome the Spirit of God into our lives.
And a peace will reside – a peace that far exceeds anything that the world can give us. It is a peace that endures through times of hardship, loss, and discouragement. It is a peace that grants full and rightful relationship amongst God and all creation.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
No comments:
Post a Comment