{"id":14913,"date":"2021-03-25T22:00:12","date_gmt":"2021-03-26T05:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/john_15_1-8-copy\/"},"modified":"2021-03-21T17:37:13","modified_gmt":"2021-03-22T00:37:13","slug":"john_15_9-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/john_15_9-17\/","title":{"rendered":"What Does It Mean to Remain in Jesus’ Love?"},"content":{"rendered":"

John 15:9-17 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is John 15:9-17.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

John 15:9-10 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 9-10:\u00a0\u00a0What does it mean to remain in Jesus\u2019 love, as verse 9 says?\u00a0\u00a0Remaining in Jesus\u2019 love (or as some translations say, to \u201cabide\u201d in Jesus\u2019 love) means to stay in tune with Jesus, to keep trusting in Jesus and to obey Jesus\u2019 commands (v10)<\/strong>. Just as Jesus kept in tune with his Father and did not stop obeying his Father\u2019s commands, so Jesus tells us to do the same.\u00a0\u00a0In doing this we will bear much fruit (v5).<\/p>\n

So what happens when we mess up and disobey?\u00a0\u00a0Does it mean that we are cut off from Jesus?\u00a0\u00a0Fortunately,\u00a0it is Jesus\u2019 obedience to the Father that keeps us connected to God, not our own effort<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0So if you mess up and sin after a season of bearing fruit in Jesus, don\u2019t condemn yourself or give up.\u00a0\u00a0Remember that it is Jesus\u2019 faithfulness in the end that keeps us connected to God.<\/p>\n

John 15:11 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 11:\u00a0\u00a0Jesus gives this extended metaphor of him being the vine and us being the branches not to burden us but to give us his joy that completes us and satisfies us.\u00a0\u00a0Abiding in Jesus and staying in close relationship with him is the key to real joy and peace in life.<\/p>\n

John 15:12 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 12:\u00a0\u00a0Jesus calls us to treat each other in the highest way: to love each other the way that Jesus has loved us.<\/p>\n

John 15:13 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 13:\u00a0\u00a0No one will ever show you greater love than Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0Because he calls you his friend, Jesus laid down his life for you.<\/p>\n

John 15:14 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0You are my friends if you do what I command.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 14:\u00a0\u00a0Is Jesus being especially demanding when he says \u201cYou are my friends if you do what I command\u201d?\u00a0\u00a0Isn\u2019t that what bossy kids do when they say, \u201cI\u2019ll only be friends with you if you always do things my way\u201d?\u00a0\u00a0You need to understand that Jesus is no ordinary human being.\u00a0\u00a0He is the king and we are his subjects.\u00a0\u00a0Part of being Jesus\u2019 friend is to do what he commands.<\/p>\n

John 15:15-16 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I 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.
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0You 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.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 15-16:\u00a0\u00a0But Jesus made us not simply to be his servants who follow orders.\u00a0\u00a0He made us to be his friends and partners, who are involved in the family business and are aware of what the Father is up to (v15), who bear fruit for the greater good of the family (v16a), and who experience the joy of God working in our lives and answering our prayers (v16b).<\/p>\n

Another lesson I learn from this passage is that\u00a0your life is not an accident.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0You are specifically chosen by God for a purpose: to go and bear lasting fruit for Jesus<\/strong>\u00a0(v16).<\/p>\n

John 15:17 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0This is my command: Love each other.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 17:\u00a0\u00a0What is the command that Jesus this king of kings tells us to obey: it\u2019s the command to love one another.\u00a0\u00a0Since Jesus gives this command in the context of talking about us bearing fruit, we can say that\u00a0bearing fruit for Jesus is not just about reading our Bibles and going to church.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s about loving others well<\/strong>\u00a0(v17).<\/p>\n

Thank You Jesus that I am chosen and appointed to bear fruit for You.\u00a0\u00a0Thank You that I am not just Your servant; I am also Your friend.\u00a0\u00a0Thank You for making me a partner in the family business.\u00a0\u00a0May I bear the most important fruit of loving others well in my life.\u00a0\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is John 15:9-17.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

John 15:9-10 (NIV)\u00a0
\n9\u00a0\u00a0“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.\u00a0
\n10\u00a0\u00a0If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.<\/p>\n

On verses 9-10:\u00a0\u00a0What does it mean to remain in Jesus\u2019 love, as verse 9 says?\u00a0\u00a0Remaining in Jesus\u2019 love (or as some translations say, to \u201cabide\u201d in Jesus\u2019 love) means to stay in tune with Jesus, to keep trusting in Jesus and to obey Jesus\u2019 commands (v10). Just as Jesus kept in tune with his Father and did not stop obeying his Father\u2019s commands, so Jesus tells us to do the same.\u00a0\u00a0In doing this we will bear much fruit (v5).\u00a0<\/p>\n

So what happens when we mess up and disobey?\u00a0\u00a0Does it mean that we are cut off from Jesus?\u00a0\u00a0Fortunately,\u00a0it is Jesus\u2019 obedience to the Father that keeps us connected to God, not our own effort.\u00a0\u00a0So if you mess up and sin after a season of bearing fruit in Jesus, don\u2019t condemn yourself or give up.\u00a0\u00a0Remember that it is Jesus\u2019 faithfulness in the end that keeps us connected to God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14915,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14913"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14914,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14913\/revisions\/14914"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}