John 14:15-19

John 14:15 If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

With these 9 words Jesus tells us that true love will result in a willing obedience to Him. It is a shocking statement for those of us who often do not keep His commandments (which is all of us), since we could possibly surmise that in not doing so we do not love Him. This is not the only place where God promises to love those who keep His commandments, and it is particularly seen throughout Deuteronomy, 10:12-13 for example, “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good?” Now that last part is interesting; these commandments are for our own good. These are not just a bunch of frivolous orders given by an ego-maniacal god to satisfy a sense of self-importance, but rather more like the loving teachings of a concerned parent, who is sorely grieved by our disobedience. If we truly love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength (which Jesus tells us is the greatest commandment), then it will be our hearts desire to keep His commandments. Love your neighbor as yourself, this is the other great commandment that should regulate all of our interactions with other people in this world. The only way to keep this commandment is to keep the first and truly love God, without His love it is not possible to love others as we have been called to do. I have taken a cue from others and wrote Mark 12:29-31 on my hand as a reminder to love my God and love others.

~Jeremy

John 14:15 reads, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” Such a simple statement, yet it has the power to change lives. The ramifications of this statement are huge though. It is saying that If I truly love Christ, if I truly am a servant and child of God then it should show. It also says that if I don’t keep His commandments then I am not showing love towards the one who outpoured all His love for me, a sinner. Christ adds on to this in verse 21 by saying he will disclose himself to those who keeps His commandments. He is saying that he will show us his glory and reveal himself. 1 John 5:3 says that His commandments are not even burdensome, that I should just simply walk in them. His commandments go against the world and the desires of my flesh, and I daily struggle with the ones that Christ said are the greatest. Love God with ALL my heart, and love my neighbor as MYSELF. Yet it says they are not burdensome. I need a change of heart. Realizing that if Christ loved me to the point of death, then I can daily try to walk in a way that loves God with ALL my heart, ALL my soul, ALL my mind, and ALL my strength. That I can put others before myself. This short verse really calls for a dying to self. I can’t do these things without God’s strength. They are still a burden to me and a daily struggle, but the first four words are my motivation. IF you love me. I need to pray every morning to be filled with the Spirit, to have God’s discernment and to reflect on what His love looks like so that I have it more on the forefront of my mind. I want Romans 8:39 to go along with this reflection too though, that nothing can separate me from the Love of God.

~Kristin

John 14:16 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,

What an amazing truth, Jesus our intercessor petitioned the Father to send us the Holy Spirit, who will remain with us forever. Later in verse 26 Jesus tells us, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” This really identifies for us the purpose of sending the Holy Spirit, He is the method by which we learn all things and remember that which Christ has already taught us. Since Jesus ascended to the Father we have needed the Holy Spirit to speak to us on His behalf, just as Jesus speaks to the Father on our behalf. I think of trying times where a comforting verse will come to mind, either for myself or for someone else, and I feel that it has been brought to mind by the Holy Spirit. This is one of the reasons why He is called our “Helper”. Back in verse 12, Jesus tells us, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.” With the help of the Holy Spirit, and really through His power entirely, we are to be able to do great works here on earth. So my prayer is really that I submit to the power of the Holy Spirit within me, so that He can work through me to do the will of the Father. I want to empty myself and be filled with Him.

~Jeremy

I John 14:16 reads, “I will ask the Father and He will give you another Helper that He may be with you forever.” God chose not to leave use here on earth alone, from the beginning of time He knew we needed the Spirit to stay within us to guide us towards the truth. John 16 talks about how the Spirit will disclose the truth to believers and that He will glorify God as he guides us. When reflecting on gifts God has given me I often focus on my salvation, talents, or my circumstances. I never think about the gift of the Spirit and how it was God’s love poured out into my heart. The Spirit is constantly doing work in me, helping me, convicting me, and comforting me. Since reading Be Filled Now by Roy Hession, I have found myself asking God for a fill of Himself, that I would be less of me and more of Him. I would previously be frustrated with myself and ask God for a change of circumstances, but now my prayers are rather different. “God, would you fill me with your Spirit, give me your discernment and walk with me in this challenging time, I feel like I can’t do this, but I know you’re with me every step of the way.” It is amazing to me that God would simply give His Spirit to live within us, as a promise as what is to come and a helper right now. I Thessalonians 5:19 talks about not quenching the Spirit, but instead giving thanks and rejoicing in every circumstance. An ungrateful or pessimistic heart sounds like it smothers the Spirit within me. Asking God for a filling of His Spirit has now become a regular part of my morning prayer to God because it’s when I feel my most empty. I want to continue this and be more thankful for the gift of the Spirit, seeing it as the love of God poured out for me, living in me.

~Kristin

John 14:17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

How tragic are the words, “whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him”? If that is not motivation for our missionary mandate then I don't know what is. Our strength and our Helper, the Spirit of truth, that speaks deeply within our hearts conviction of sin and words of encouragement, constantly leading us back to Calvary where our victory is already won. I want to share this truth, and it is my hearts desire that all other hearts would be filled with the Spirit, that everyone I meet would see Him and know Him. As Jesus said in the sermon on the mount, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Christ is our light and it is through the power of the Holy Spirit that we shine for all the world to see. For too much of my life I have been a light under a basket, rather than a lamp on a stand, and I cannot imagine how much it grieves the Lord to hide that which He has so graciously given me.

~Jeremy

John 14:17 reads, “That is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because he abides with you and will be in you.” Having the Spirit within me is evidence that I am a child of God, and is a glimpse and promise of what is to come in eternity. Because I have the Spirit abiding in me I need to walk in accordance to the Spirit not according to my fleshly wants. Romans 8:13 words it as “if you are living according to the flesh you must die but if by the spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body you will live.” The better life, and eternal life is with the walk of Christ, putting to death the flesh. I have been going through Colossians during On the Mount Time and chapter 3 has been very convicting. I have the Spirit within me, I am a child of God, called to put on a new self, and a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. I am to bear with one another and forgive one another. I can continue to do these things having the Spirit of truth within me, guiding me, and convicting me daily when I fail to live this out. My practical application is to walk according to the Spirit. A simple reminder of the word walk near my mirror will remind me to walk in a way that is less of my flesh and more like Christ. If my seal is that I am a child of God, then my words and actions should be a display of this to the world.

~Kristin

John 14:18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

Praise the Lord for your wonderful truth, that you will one day return for us. As you have told us elsewhere in scripture, “Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.” (Matt 24:42) and “For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” (1 Thess 5:2) So we should always be ready for your return. That means seeking first the Kingdom of God, and worshiping You with prayer and fasting. Our goal is to strive to build your kingdom through the spreading of your gospel, the good news of your death and resurrection, your glorious sacrifice to save sinners like me. I must see the urgency of this calling, since the hourglass has been turned and I have no idea when it will run out. For this reason my motto should be Semper Paratus, always prepared. Always prepared to share the gospel when the opportunity presents itself, always prepared to show the love the love of Christ whenever possible, always prepared to die to myself in humble adoration of my Lord. I will remember that I am not an orphan, because my Father is in Heaven. For my application I am going to pray before I go out into town and before kids club and really any time I might encounter someone who does not know the Lord that He would give me an opportunity to share His love through the gospel. Perhaps by doing so I can see others join the body of Christ before He comes to us again.

~Jeremy

In Mark 10 we see Jesus teaching crowds that gathered around him. People were bringing children to Jesus so that he would touch them. Immediately the disciples start scolding the crowd. Jesus had more important things to do than touch and be with children. Jesus was indignant that his disciples would act this way towards the children and begins to explain that in order for one to receive the kingdom of God they must be like a child. Children are under the rule of the father. They are to look to their father as an example of how to live. When problems arise, a child goes to their father for good advice. When needing food and clothing, the father cares for the child and gives it what it needs. A child does not make decisions as wise as its father and therefore will make many mistakes. When a child disobeys it receives fair discipline and love from the father. A child is not in charge of its life, but instead is under the council of its father. I love how John 14:18 reads that we are orphans without Christ and that Christ will come to us. I am reminded that we are children. Christ refers to us as fatherless without him. He could have said I will not leave you widows, or I will not leave you by-yourself but He sees us as his children, children that cannot live without him. It does not say I will not leave you orphans, come to me. It says that Christ will come to us. Like a father makes a promise to a child, saying I am here for you, I will always be here for you. He will return. He even comes to the disciples after his death to show them that he has not completely left them as he promised. He tells us that we will have his Spirit here with us as a comforter and as a guide through life and that he will return to earth one day and is waiting for us when we go to have eternal life with him. Hebrews 13:5 says that he will never desert us or forsake us. He knows we need him, but do I always acknowledge that I need him. Am I the rebellious teenager that looks to the father saying,” You’ve taught me enough, just let me be, I have been doing fine on my own so far, I’ll just come running back to you when I mess up and need someone to fix my mistakes.” So often I see myself doing this. Saying to God that I’ve got things under control instead of seeking His face. My application of this verse is to pray for friends, family, and loved ones who truly are orphans in this life because they do not yet know Christ as their father.

  

~Kristin

John 14:19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.

I am not sure if, in this passage, Jesus was speaking directly regarding His appearances to the disciples after the resurrection, or if He was referring to the time following His ascension, or possibly both. However, I do see an interesting correlation to the world today. After Jesus's death, the world definitely did not see Him any more. He appeared only to His disciples, and even today He seems to only be seen by those who follow Him. I don't know if this is necessarily due to a supernatural blindness to the way God moves in this world, or just the world's refusal to acknowledge His work. Regardless, the world does not know Jesus, and those in the world cannot see Him, but we who are of the Lord can see Him. In fact, Jesus once scolded the apostles saying, “Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear?” They should not have been questioning Jesus because they had seen, and they were with Him. So often I have found myself forgetting what Jesus looks like, when all I can see is the world. When I am deep in the embrace of the world I am clinging to death, attempting to resurrect my old self. In doing so I am forgetting the cross, and forgetting that Christ lives, but He does live, and because He lives I also will live. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Cor 5:17) Because He lives, I live, and I see Him.  

~Jeremy

John 14:19 reminds me of John 6 when Christ calls himself the bread of life (John 6:35); that whoever eats him will also live (John 6:57). Colossians 2 says that I was circumcised with Christ, with the removal of the body of the flesh. That I was buried with Him in baptism, and that I was raised up with Him through faith. When I was dead in my flesh and sins, Christ made me alive. All things were forgiven and all my decrees against me were nailed to the cross. This passage makes the sacrifice of Christ so personal. Because he lives, I also will live. Christ rescued me by submitting to the nails, the nails that killed my flesh as His flesh was killed. Jesus seemed to be giving exhortation to me and to the disciples, saying get up and live. Do not be burdened by sins that have been forgiven before they were even your thoughts. Be a free man. Get up, be a follower for Me with zeal in your heart while remembering that because I live, you will also live. I want to memorize Acts 20:24, as a motivator when I feel the weight of this world. “But none of these things move me, nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with Joy and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. The first part of John 14:19 is just as personal as thinking about the latter part and the sacrifice of Christ. I do see Christ, I have never felt so close with Him, and yet the world no longer sees Him. They do not know the joy I feel daily, the burden that is lifted from me when I contemplate over not counting my life dear to myself. What other motivator do I really need to share the truth with the world then this verse? 1) The world does not see Him, and 2) I live because of Christ.

~Kristin