Trifecta Love

John 15: 9

Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.

We all know that Jesus is our model, but do we ever consciously consider that he modeled love? Yahweh God is love; His composition is love. So, Jesus emulated His father and showed humanity what real love is.

There is a key in this verse to which I alluded in yesterday’s Word of the Day. Notice that Jesus received love from the Father. What he received, he gave, and in the same measure. He says, essentially, “What I received from the Father I gave to you in like manner.” So, where does that leave us? We must receive the Yahweh Father kind of love and then love others as He has loved us. The potency of God’s love is tripled towards us, though, because we have the love of the Father, the Son and the Spirit. They have poured out Agape love into our very being. “The love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us,” (Romans 5: 5).

Wikipedia defines Agape love as “unconditional love that transcends and persists regardless of circumstance. It goes beyond just the emotions to the extent of seeking the best for others.” This love does not depend on any external factor. It isn’t an emotion. It is a choice, a determination of spirit, though not by works or by strength. Giving Agape love comes from receiving it. God has an infinite capacity for loving us and His love is never predicated on what we have done right. As the definition reads, it is beyond circumstances. As He pours out His love on us, if we will receive it with appreciation and mindfulness, our capacity to love will be enlarged. As we revel in God’s amazing gift to us, we overflow with gratitude resulting in a thankful heart which is better able to give love, even where it is not deserved.

Jesus tells us here that even as God loved him, so he loves us. He doesn’t stop there though. He adds the phrase, “abide in my love.” What do you suppose he meant by that? In a practical sense, how does one abide in his love? When I think of the word abide I think “hang out there.” It is stronger than that though. He means to set up your residence. Pitch your tent in Jesus’ love which is easily said but more difficult in practice. It is not as if we can literally make our physical home in his love, so what does this mean. I believe Jesus is telling us that emotionally, spiritually and even mentally we should stay right here in the midst of his love. The world is too much with us, as Wordsworth warned us. We get so swept up in the things of the world that we stop abiding in his love. We mentally, spiritually and emotionally vacate that space. Jesus wants us to allow his love to be pervasive in our lives and throughout our day. Abiding in his love means that it is constantly with us. We are continually reminded of his great love for us, a love deeper than the deepest ocean, higher than the highest mountain more expansive than space. Keep that in the center of your thoughts, and in the center of your heart. Let your life be absorbed in the love of Jesus, the love of the Father and the loving passion of the Spirit. Then, give some away. Sending you some of His love today.

Life in Christ

Romans 6: 23

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Are you appreciative of what Jesus did for you? Are you sometimes overwhelmed by the magnitude of his accomplishment? Is it humbling thinking that he endured all for you, so that you would have a life of blessing and a path to the Father? I find it overwhelming at times. What he did for me is too big to contain. It overpowers my thinking and I, like you, feel enormously grateful.

In those moments, how can we express our gratitude? Is there a meaningful way to bless him in return or to show him our appreciation? I think there is. The way to thank Jesus for what he has done for us is to live our lives unto him, but what does that mean?

I really believe that this is one of the key elements for the time in which we live. The church has lived through many transfigurations and I believe this is the one for us. Step outside yourself for a moment and imagine what the church body as a whole looks like. If a Martian looked down on earth and saw all the Christians how would he describe us? How would he describe the Christian church, by which I mean the body of believers taken together as one collective? It is an interesting exercise.

When we put ourselves in that position, looking at who we are, there are a couple of things which might stand out. The body of Christ is a collective, a group of individuals attempting to work together for a common goal. We might be characterized, though, as very individualistic and thus unity is a meaningful goal. The clearest way for us to rise to any challenge posed us individually or as a body is to live our lives to Christ.

Every day we have the opportunity to fix our eyes on him or not. We get to choose what we will do with our time. Will we seek him or will we let the worries and the pressures of the world dominate our psyche? Will we pray? There are many things vying for our time and our attention. How do we show Jesus that we appreciate what he did for us? I think it is in the small moments of life. Maybe driving to work you talk with him and say that it is your desire that he accompany you all day. And perhaps as you go through your day, you constantly remind yourself that he is with you. Maybe in the shower you sought his mind and his priorities for you and all day you continually check in with him asking, “What’s next Jesus?”

Let’s be really honest here for a moment because the paragraph above can be a little bit pie in the sky, a little out of reach for some. I know it was for me when I was practicing law. I worked way too many hours each week and was rushed all the time. I ate lunch at my desk and kept on working. Honestly, I didn’t find enough time for Jesus. I didn’t pause and consider him. I just buried my head and forged forward. And even when I had a moment of clarity realizing I needed to turn my attention to him, I rarely heard him answer me. Was it that he was not answering and now he loves me a lot more than he did so that is why I hear him speaking to me more often? Maybe you are like I was and don’t hear Jesus’ or the Father’s voice often. Maybe he loves me more than he loves you and that is why he talks to me now.

Well, of course, that is ridiculous. He loves you like he loves the Father and the Father loves you as much as He loves Jesus. Wow! But how can you live your life to him and for him if you never hear him or never feel him? Sometimes, you just have to make a decision and do something whether you feel his presence or not. We turn our minds to Christ and then sometimes what we could do becomes very obvious. In fact, sometimes you won’t know except in retrospect that he just guided you. That is the way it is for me. I will do something, really not knowing if it is me or him or even being mindful and then when I turn around later, I see his footprints and I am so happy I did as he led even when I really didn’t know I was. It has something to do with intention and focus. My intention is to walk in the footsteps he has laid out for me. I ask him to lead me all day and he is good to do it. I don’t always feel him either, but I have found that now that I do look for him, I find him more frequently. I have opened my spirit, my internal self to be more receptive where I once closed off my heart so that I couldn’t be hurt. Now my spirit is awaiting his touch.

What I am attempting to convey is if you are in that frustrating space where you try to live with Jesus, but you don’t feel him or hear him, fear not. There is a way out and it is about being intentional. Ask yourself what living your life for him and to him today would look like? You have some answers down in your spirit right now and only need to tap into the deposit he has already put in you. If you begin your day asking Jesus how you can show your appreciation for him and how to live your day in him you may not yet hear all the audible answers you would like but you will have a sense within you that you can go through the day more connected with him than other days.

We can purpose in our hearts to live in him, continually connected to him and he will lead us in that objective. He will teach us. There is a transformative process which happens to us as we renew our minds to him. He is the transforming agent, not us, but the renewal of the mind is in our purview. We can turn our minds to him, and we should. As we focus on him, he draws us to him.

The bottom line is this, do what you can do but, do something. Be intentional about living your life to him. Talk to him even if you don’t hear the answers right now. Keep at it because he is listening and he is moving in your life. In fact, he may have written this Word of the Day just for you. Show him thanksgiving by giving him not just your life but your today, moment by moment.