January 15 / John 15

Here is humanity’s great divide.  Do we live and breathe and find our entire meaning united in Jesus or do we reject him and chose instead to fight through life on our own, alone.   Do we abide in Him or do we despise His very name?  Is our sustenance for life found in Jesus or do we chose to ignore and battle Him and those who are His?  Do we seek to live for Jesus and glorify our heavenly Father or do we live for self, for me?  Life and eternity are based on decisions; some chose Jesus, some reject Him.  It has always been this way, and always will.  But look at the riches that are ours, given to all of us who have given ourselves to Jesus.

To those who love Jesus and obey Him we are promised His love, the love or our creator.  We are promised joy.  Not just any joy, but a joy that comes from God and is full.  Jesus shows us His tenderness and love.  He chose us to be His very own and He gave Himself for our redemption.  He served us and He calls us His friends.  And He calls us to love as He has loved us.

We love Jesus and obey Him.  In a real way we have opted out of the self-centred world system.  We are different because of what Jesus is doing in our lives and we stand out the way a beautiful flower stands out in a field of weeds.  Jesus tells us to not think it strange that those of the world may despise us and all that we stand for, because we stand for Jesus.  Have you suffered for your faith?  Have you lost friends because of your stand for Jesus?  Have you faced persecution?  Many of my brothers and sisters in Cuba know the truth of these verses in a way that I probably will never understand.  Christians in Sudan and other lands know what it is to suffer for the Name.  Jesus promises us joy but tells us that there is a price to be paid for that joy.  There is a cost.

This chapter ends with a most wonderful promise.  The Comforter is with us, the Spirit indwells us and we never, ever live alone.  We have chosen to declare the name of our Lord.  We have chosen to be missionaries, or have we?  No, it is our Lord who chose us, who gave us the privilege of living a life that many others would dearly love to live.  We are on the front lines but we are not alone because we are grafted into the vine which sustains us.  We declare His glory because we understand that without Him we are nothing.  What a glorious chapter.

Gary