Today’s Reading: John 15:12-17
Hearing God’s Voice for Today:
“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full…Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends…No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends. You did not choose me, but I chose you.”
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Jesus wants you to have his complete joy. It comes by abiding in him. When your life is rooted in him, his joy will be in you. This reality can’t be forced or mandated. It naturally flows from him to you when you abide and remain in him.
The Savior wants you to know he loves you. The proof is that he laid down his life for you. It’s the greatest example of selfless love the world has ever seen. He laid down his life for his friends.
You are his friend. Moses and Abraham were also called his friends. Yes, before you gave your life to the Lord, you were a rebel and an enemy. But now, through Jesus’ death, you are a close friend. He will never betray or desert you. You are friends forever.
What a friend you have in Jesus! He bears all your sins and grief. You have the privilege of coming to him daily in prayer. You forfeit a lot of peace and bear much needless pain because you don’t go to him in prayer. So carry everything to him in prayer. After all, he is your friend.
Here is another insight about your relationship with Jesus. You are no longer merely a servant. Humanly speaking, servants have no rights or relationship with their master. They are second-class citizens. Their job description is simply to obey the master.
But as a believer, you are an adopted child of the King of the universe. All he owns is now yours. Royal blood pulsates through your veins. The Father yearns to spend time with you.
Yes, you still obey him—as a servant does. But there is a major shift in motivation. You obey because you want to, not because you have to. You obey because of your close relationship with him. Joy increases as you willingly obey what he tells you to do.
You are Jesus’ personal friend, and a chosen member of his heavenly family. He wants to spend time with you every day, as any good friend wants to do. He is closer than a brother. Your friendship with him will never be broken. He died so you could be friends. Could there be greater love? What more could he give to you?
Live today in the reality of that close, personal relationship.
It should bring joy to your heart. And make his joy in you complete.
[from “Hearing the Voice of God” by Pastor David Chadwick, Moments of Hope Church, Charlotte, NC]