DEVOTION – DAY 205

John 14:23 “Loving Jesus And Its Benefits”

 

John 14:23 “Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”

 

This verse reminds us that love and obedience goes hand in hand. When we say we love Jesus, it cannot be just superficial words, or saying it in our heads and not meaning it in our hearts. When we say we love Jesus, our love must be expressed in action. Jesus expects those who say they love Him to obey His teachings. His teachings can be found in His Word, the Bible.

 

What does obedience to His Word mean? It means that 1) we are familiar with what the Bible teaches, 2) to be able to regularly recall His Word, 3) to accept that the Bible has authority over us and that we are subject to God’s commands and 4) to apply what the Bible teaches us in our daily lives. This is what Jesus expects us to do when we tell Him we love Him.

 

The result will be great blessings because John 14:23 promises that God the Father will love us back and both the Father and Jesus the Son, will come into our lives and live with us through the Holy Spirit who indwells in all believers. Isn’t that a tremendous blessing?

 

A man was brought up to worship idols. But when he was told about Jesus, he immediately realized that Jesus was different from the idols he had worshipped. Here was God Himself who came to earth in the form of the man in order to save mankind from their sins. When he worshipped idols, he had to always keep giving offerings to the idols because of his sins – but believing in Jesus as Lord and Savior was different. Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice to atone for the sins of Man. This man decided to follow Jesus and invited Jesus into His life as his Lord and Savior and he experienced God’s presence in his life after that. He began to hunger to know God and he quickly bought a Bible. That began his life long journey to obey God and God’s teachings. John 14:23 became true for him. 

 

Let us pray: Heavenly Father, we want to worship you and to tell you we love you with all our hearts, minds and souls. Please help us to show our love to you by being obedient to your word daily for your glory. In the blessed name of the Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

 

Questions

  1. What are the blessings that you have when the Holy Spirit comes to make His home in you? Discuss.
  2. What happens when people say they love the Lord but they only pay lip service to it? Discuss.
  3. How can you show your love to the Lord? Share.
  4. How can you keep God’s Word, the Bible, close to your heart and mind? Discuss.