Daily Devo - John 15:16-17 by Matt Wydra

¹⁶You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. ¹⁷This is my command: Love each other.

John 15:16-17

Jesus is basically saying in the first part of this verse that we did not choose to have salvation in him of our own accord, but rather that He gave us the offer to have salvation in him by dying on the cross. Without Jesus’ decision to die on the cross to save us from our sins, there would be no option for us to dedicate our lives to him and be saved. This most likely isn’t something that most of us think about very often. However, this portion of the verse is absolutely critical to salvation. Without Jesus’ willingness to sacrifice His life for us, there would be no way for us to be saved. We would be certain to go to Hell with no hope of rescue. This, however, is not what Jesus wants for us. He has much bigger plans for us than allowing us to simply die and be separated from him forever.

If we make the choice to follow Him, Jesus wants us to go out to the world and spread the goodness of the Gospel. He also requests that we do good deeds in His name. Jesus teaches us another important life lesson here. Instead of striving to earn as many earthly things as possible, Jesus wants us to bear fruit that will last—even in Heaven—by doing good works for His glory. As we bear fruit, Jesus will equip us with whatever we need. This, however, does not exactly mean that we can ask for whatever we want for whatever reason.

Jesus specifically states that “the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name” after one accepts Jesus into his or her heart. This means that we can ask for anything we want that will allow us to better serve Him, and it will be granted to us, one way or another. It doesn’t mean that we only get what will help us to serve him better, though. The idea of the passage at large is that we “remain in Him.” Basically, we can ask for anything, as long as we are lined up with Christ. As we are in tune with Christ, we will desire what He desires for us (Psalm 37:4). Things we ask for simply out of greed or envy, such as a 60-inch flat-screen TV or a million dollars, will not be given to us. Only those items that we truly believe will help bring glory to Him will be given to us upon request. A large amount of spiritual maturity is needed to determine whether the things we’re asking for are for our benefit or Jesus’. Sometimes it can be BOTH, though. Our benefit and Christ’s benefit are not mutually exclusive, and poor spiritual maturity can sometimes make us believe that what we’re asking for would actually honor Him.

In fact, we may not need to ask for anything to honor Him other than the ability to love others. One of the best ways to give glory to God is simply by doing what Jesus did—loving others regardless of what they do to us. Think about it—clearly Jesus loved us very much when he decided to give up his life for us, so what better way exists for us to love Jesus than for us to show that same love to others?

Questions:

1. What are some things that you could ask for to give glory to God?

2. Why do we rarely consider the fact that Jesus gave us the choice to believe in Him? Does this mean that we take for granted the option of salvation?

3. What are some ways that you can show Jesus’ love to others?

Prayer Guide:

Thank God for giving you the gift of salvation. Ask him to better enable you to show Christ’s love to others, especially when it seems like they don’t deserve it. Write down some things that you could ask for that would help you praise Him, and try asking Him for some of these things.

Daily Devo - John 15:10-12

¹⁰ If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. ¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

John 15:10-12

Jesus is very straightforward here. Check this out:

KEEP HIS COMMANDS = REMAINING IN HIS LOVE

What is His command?

HIS COMMAND = LOVE EACH OTHER

He then offers us a promise, if we love each other (which is keeping his command), we will have complete (mature) joy. All of us want joy in life, don't we? I don't know anyone who wants to be miserable (except maybe emo-kids). It seems to most of us believe that getting all we can will give us joy, but Jesus says the opposite. It is through giving of yourself (love) that you gain joy!!!

So, give it a try! Love someone today in a radical way.

PRAY and ask God to give you an opportunity to obey his command to love. Then, take every opportunity you can to love people. I will bet that you will experience more joy than you have in a long time!!!

Daily Devo - John 15:14-15, by Sarah Kenny

“You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my father, I have made known to you.”
John 15: 14-15

In Jesus’ day, servitude was common place. In fact, many of His parables use the character of a servant to illustrate how we must serve God. In these two verses, however, Jesus is not calling us servants, he’s calling us friends. So what’s the difference? Make no mistake, the change in word choice does not mean that we suddenly don’t have to follow God’s commands (Jesus even says, “you are my friends if you do what I command”.) or that He suddenly wants only a little piece of our hearts. The difference is that as “friends” of God, we “know our master’s business”. Jesus didn’t hold back his mission from his disciples or from the first Christians and he doesn’t hold it back from us now. His goal is to reclaim souls that he loves dearly. As his friends, we are Jesus’ allies in this quest. He shares his mission with us because we are his partners, and we have a part to play.

Imagine if Gandalf, from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, had ordered the other members of the Fellowship to follow him to Mordor without them knowing the plan, or even the reason for their journey. Could they still be considered his friends? Similarly, when we plan something with our friends, we would normally fill them in on the details, so that we can draw on their strengths to make whatever we’re doing a success. Well, Jesus has told us his plan and made us his allies or friends, but how can we succeed?

John 15: 15 goes on to say that “everything Jesus learned from his father, he has made known to us”. Jim is right, Jesus didn’t have superpowers. He didn’t do any of his miraculous works alone. He had to call on His Father. If we are followers of Christ, then we have his Holy Spirit in us and are taught to be dependent on God and call on him for what we need, just as Jesus did. In our daily lives, as we try to live as Christ did and help spread the good news of Jesus, we need to be mindful of the fact that we can’t do it alone. The reason that Jesus makes what he’s learned from his Father known to us, is so we can depend on him, not to decrease our power, but to enhance it.

Think of a guitar. It doesn’t make much noise acoustically, but when plugged into an amplifier, it brings forth a great sound. When we try to live our Christian lives, without God, we can’t make much noise, but when we are connected to Him, as the guitar is to the amplifier, we can make a huge sound for the Kingdom. Or, consider something you’ve tried to do alone, for example, attempting to pray more regularly or reach out to a hurting non-Christian friend.

How does knowing that Jesus refers to you as His friend makes His mission and His love even more personal?

PRAY and thank God for considering you a friend and revealing His plans to you. Ask God to reveal what He is doing in your world (school, community, church, youth group). Ask God to help you “plug-in” to him when you are living the life he intended for you.

Daily Devo - 1 John 4:9-10

There was once a sick little girl who was in desperate need of a blood transfusion. As they tested all of the family members, there was only one match: Her five year old brother. Patiently, the doctors and his parents sat down with him and explained to them that his sister really needed his blood otherwise she would continue being very ill. The boy became very upset, but, looking at his older sister, said “Ok, I will do it for her.” As the doctors and nurses prepared everything for the transfusion to take place, he boy nudged the doctor and asked “Will it hurt?” The doctor said, “No, it will just feel like a pinch when I put the needle in”. “No” the boy clarified, “will it hurt when I die?” The doctor couldn’t help but be brought to tears. The little boy thought that he was giving ALL of his blood to his sister. The boy was willing to die so that his sister would be well. That is radical love.

This is very similar to what Christ has done for us:

“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

1 John 4:9-10

Jesus’ love is demonstrated in that He took on death so that we could have life.

PRAY and thank God for His sacrificial, life-giving love. Confess to Him the times you take His love for granted. Thank Him for being willing to die on your behalf.

Daily Devo - 1 John 5:1-2

As the doctor puts the thermometer in your mouth, you sit patiently waiting to see what the temperature will read. If it is high, then you have a fever and need treatment. The thermometer does not cause the illness, it merely tells you if illness is present. Read this passage and see what thermometer we have for our faith:

1Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God by carrying out his commands.

1 John 5:1-2

The “thermometer” given in this passage is this: loving God by carrying out, or obeying His commands. Just like a thermometer does make you sick, but tells you if you are sick, obeying God’s commands does not make you a Christian but tells you if you really are a Christian.

If the thermometer reads a high temperature, you will likely try to treat your fever. In the same way, if you are doing things you know are wrong, or if you are not doing things you know God wants you to do, it is time to treat the illness in your relationship with Christ. I am not saying that you are not a Christian, but that it is worth getting a check-up.

Try these 'diagnostic' questions as a check-up:

How are you doing in your walk? Are you obeying the commands that God has for you?

What are some changes you can make in your life to honor God’s commands?

Can you think of any “treatments” that would help you keep these commands (like an accountability partner or a book dealing with your particular issue)?

Pray and ask God to reveal ways that you can be more faithful and obedient to His commands.

Daily Devo - Luke 10:27

"...love your neighbor as yourself."

Luke 10:27

Dallas Willard said this: “there is a distinctive emphasis by Jesus on loving your neighbor, your ‘near dweller’, not upon loving ‘humanity’ or ‘everyone’. What this means is that our duty and our virtue is to love those with whom we are in effectual contact – those we can really do something about.” Knowing Christ Today, p. 86

Often times we, as Christians, become so overwhelmed by the idea of loving everyone that we choose not to love anyone. After all, if love is sacrificing yourself for another (as Sarah and Laura said this week), then it is crazy to think that we have enough to sacrifice for the whole world.

Loving the whole world is God's job. The job he gave us (as the passage says) is to love those with whom we come into contact every day.

PRAY and ask God to show you the opportunities He has placed in your life each day. Ask Him to reveal to you the 'neighbors' that you can love today.

Daily Devo - John 15:13, by Sarah Bobis

13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.- John 15:17

“I love you.” Pretty heavy words for a not-so-heavy meaning. The word love is thrown around so often that it’s easy to forget what true love is. It isn’t the warm fuzzies that you feel when someone is near, nor is it borrowing a dollar from an acquaintance for lunch and replying, “Thank you, I love you!” Well, if the world’s definition doesn’t work, then what is God’s idea of love?

Jesus answers this question in verse 15. Not only is he referring to his own life sacrifice on the cross, but He is also referring to the sacrifices we make for others. To love is to “lay your life down”; sacrifice by giving of your time, energy, and possessions for those who need it. Christ dedicated His life and His death to save us and to help us come to eternity with the Father. THAT is love.

So what can you do to really “love people”? Think about ways that you can make sacrifices for your friends and family, and remember Christ’s example on the cross. Maybe you could help your family around the house or help a friend study for a test. It won’t always be easy; in fact, sacrifice isn’t supposed to be easy. But there is no greater love than this.

Pray and ask God to show you opportunities in which you can love others, and meditate on the true love that God has shown us through Christ. Ask Him to change your definition of the word “love” and remember what it truly means. Pray for courage to help give others the love God has bestowed upon you to give.