Week 2 - That Your Joy May Be Complete
John 15:9-17
Psalm 51:7-8, 12
Isaiah 61:10
Questions:
Look up the meaning of the Greek word for abide, meno. There are many key words in the definition, but what word out of all those listed stands out the most as it pertains to you.
Write a paragraph about what it means to “lay down your life.”
Much ado has been made over the word “chosen.” In this context, Jesus is talking about much more than spending eternity with Him. He is talking about fulfilling a purpose for which we were specifically designed. For what purpose do you think you were designed and chosen?
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As I read Psalm 51 and Isaiah 61 today to begin my efforts to write this week’s devotional, I am once again filled with awe at the fullness of the joy contained in these passages. The exultation in the Lord our God in Isaiah when the prophet is speaking of being decked and clothed, adorned and covered in clothes of salvation and righteousness. This is what He has done for us through Jesus the Messiah foretold here! Hallelujah!
In Psalm 51 King David knows that his joy will not return until he is forgiven and washed clean from the guilt of his sin and his iniquities are blotted out. In verse 11 we have one of the few OT references to the Holy Spirit’s constant presence in someone’s life. He wants his spirit to be renewed and right. This psalm is a perfect picture of the teachings of Christ—that sin stems from the heart, and repentance must come from the deepest recesses of the heart.
As we look to this week’s passage in John, we hear Jesus continuing His teaching on this last night with his disciples about how to love using Himself as an example. He has already warned them that He will be put to death, and although He does not stress that again here, He does talk about sacrificial love. To obey Christ is often, at least at first, to die to what we desire. It is to die for our friends…are we called to physically die? Not so much in our country. But daily we are called to die to our ourselves and to our desires because they are many. Jesus elevates those who keep His commandment to love like He loves to friendship status. This is an intimate love, which means to welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, and to love dearly. Do we easily accept this love from Jesus, but not so freely give out this love to others, especially the unlovely, or those who don’t return it in the same vein? Ah, sacrifice! What is Jesus daily doing for us?
Jesus also initiated the love, in that He sought out the disciples as He seeks us. He does this for His glory, intending us to bear fruit that will last, fruit that will make its dwelling place with Him also. When He says in v.17 that He commands these things, the same Greek word for command is used in Matthew 28 in the Great Commission. They are to make disciples of all nations teaching them to observe all that He had commanded. What they had witnessed with their own eyes was important, but the teachings of the Son of God would change the heart of mankind and draw man to God and to each other. Jesus boils the commandments down to two, in essence, that if observed, would enable us to abide with Him and achieve fullness of joy. If we cannot love our neighbor, we cannot love the Father—there is really no love in us—because He created each one in His image.
So to summarize this type of love that Jesus is asking us to exemplify that is like His we see:
- A love that is willing to sacrifice by obedience and dying
- An intimate love
- A love that initiates, that moves toward, that gives more than it receives
- A love that produces results through prayer
With a heart full of such love, how could our joy not be complete?
Going back to verses 9-11, Jesus is speaking about abiding in His love as He has abided in the Father’s love. One of the definitions of the word abide in the Greek is abode. How much joy we experience in our Christian walk will be directly related to where we choose to make our abode or our dwelling place. If we make it in ourselves, in our work, or in our families, we won’t have nearly the joy that we will have if we make our dwelling place in Christ. He speaks truth, He has cautioned us, and we need to take heed. We will talk more about why next week.
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