“You show that you are my intimate friends when you obey all that I command you. I have never called you ‘servants,’ because a master doesn’t confide in his servants, and servants don’t always understand what the master is doing. But I call you my most intimate and cherished friends, for I reveal to you everything that I’ve heard from my Father. You didn’t choose me, but I’ve chosen  and commissioned you to go into the world  to bear fruit. And your fruit will last, because whatever you ask of my Father, for my sake, he will give it to you! So this is my parting command: Love one another deeply!” John 15:14-17 TPT

I wanted to finish up the week with the continuation of John 15:14-17 because these words sum up for us the biggest part of the commissioning; Love one another deeply!

After spending some time in these verses, I saw something I don’t think I’ve seen before. It’s the love of God that gives us power over all the power of the enemy. Think about it. If love can cover a multitude of sin, that’s powerful. If the Love of God can change Saul the persecutor into Paul the evangelist, that’s powerful. If that same Love can change you, that’s powerful.

That parting command yanked my chain this morning. It’s one thing to love those who love us, it’s quite another to love those who try us, disagree with us and simply make life difficult for us. I don’t know about you, but that is draining. It zaps your peace, your joy and stresses you out big time! I don’t like that feeling.

Someone once said, if satan can’t steal your joy, he can’t take your goods. Well I’m going to take it up a notch; if you allow him to lower your love gage, he can take away your goods, your peace and your joy. Perhaps that’s why Jesus ended with that. To show us the importance of loving others as He loves us.

My prayer today is simple; Father, may the love you placed in me be fanned today so that the flames of it burn off the hate in others. May they be so affected by it that they begin to infect others. May the depth of it be so big that as I enter the room, everyone sees the light being reflected from me.

It’s all for Your Glory, Amen

Sandy G