“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.” John 15:9
John, the beloved disciple, in chapter 15, records Jesus telling the disciples to abide in Him. It means to remain and stay.
When my kids were small, they loved to sleep right beside me. My daughter would fall asleep with her delicate arm wrapped behind my neck and my son would fall asleep with his chubby little hand on the front of my neck.
A small child abides with a parent. Kids invite parents into their imaginative world of play, they want to snuggle, share drinks and food, and receive love with an expectation it will always be there.
What if we looked at our Heavenly Father like a child looks at a parent? What if we chose to abide in His love and see Jesus truly as our friend? According to this chapter at least three things will happen...
First, God will be glorified through the fruit that we produce (verse 8). His love will be evident in our life and will pour out into the lives of those around us. Second, our joy will be full (verse 11). Even in hard times the joy of the LORD can be our strength because our hope is in Him. We can trust that He will bring good from our circumstances even when we cannot see it. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” Romans 15:13 Lastly, we can know that our prayers will be answered when we abide in Him and ask the Father in Jesus name (verse 7,16). Prayers will be different if we are abiding in Him because the Holy Spirit will lead us when we pray. We can be assured there is power when our prayers are led by the Spirit of God.
Father, give us the heart of a child that loves You and finds no greater desire than to abide in Jesus! My friends, may we find ourselves resting on our Savior’s chest like John did. Jesus is the Friend of all friends, and He has chosen you and is longing to abide with you!
Dig Deeper
John 15:1-17 | Romans 15:13 | Nehemiah 8:10 | 1 John 5:14-15