As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. John 15:9-11(ESV)
Dear Lord Jesus, how can it be? How is it possible that you love us as the Father loves you? With unfettered joy, the fullness of affection, and a deluge of delight. We believe, help our unbelief
Jesus, to abide in your love is a command we’ll gladly keep. As a fish swims the depths of the Pacific Ocean and an eagle soars the heights of the Alaska skyline, so shall we seek to abide in your love. It was your obedience that earned the fullness of God’s love for us, and it’s our obedience that frees us to enjoy every good thing we have in you.
Because you have perfectly fulfilled the law for us, God’s commands are no longer a burden to us (1 John 5:3). By them we understand how to love as you love us; how to live at the pace of grace, instead of at the race for more; how to steward our freedom, instead of squandering our moments. Hallelujah, we’re not under the weight and condemnation of the law, we’re in you and under grace (Rom. 6:14). Hallelujah, we’ve been set free from performance-based living, for a life of whole-heart loving. Take us farther up and farther into the ways and means of grace, Lord Jesus.
May your Word and, and everything it teaches us, increasingly become more precious to us than fine gold, and sweeter than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb (Ps. 19:10); for it warns us of the insanity of sin, and woos us unto a life of true freedom and joy (Ps. 19:7-13). May the pleasure we find in obeying you be only second to the pleasure we have in being loved by you.
And now, as we lean into the demands, surprises, and pains of this day, knowing you are praying for the fullness of our joy, we will seek to live for the praise of your glorious grace (Eph. 1:6). So very Amen we pray, in your magnificent and merciful name.
