Satisfied By Love...Day 30

The final day.  And what I have been reading seems so appropriate.

In John 15 Jesus gives two commands.

• Abide in my love (vs. 9)
• Love one another as I have loved you (vs. 12).

He uses the word "love" eleven times.  He talks of love, of friendship, of joy.

"Hate" or "persecution" is mentioned ten times.  He also talks of a world that hates Him and His disciples.

What is so interesting to me in this section of John is that Jesus spends time explaining what love should look like first.  The disciples hear that they are loved by Jesus, connected to the Father, and commanded to love each other.  

So they can face the ugly parts of this world they lived in.

I was in a small group for a few recent months before it ended.  It became a place of comfort, of understanding, of softening hearts, of friendship, and of love.  We weren't all great friends, but as we learned about finding confidence in Christ we were able to share bits of ourselves that may never have otherwise surfaced.  And being part of that group strengthened me for the days in between.  

Knowing there was a place I would be accepted and encouraged in the choices I've been making as a follower of Christ helped me to walk through moments of feeling rejected in this world.  

When there is a place of love to go back to, and when we remember that the love of Jesus abides in us now, we can be confident even in persecution, however severe.  I live in a cushy country and don't even pretend to know the struggle that others face, but because those who are persecuted leave a legacy for the rest of us, I know it is possible.    

Anne Graham Lotz says this in My Heart's Cry:

"Without their being consciously aware of what He had been doing, Jesus had revealed to His disciples how they would find the courage to not only live their lives for Him on a daily basis but to actually give their lives for Him on a final basis in death.  Because their courage would be the fruit of their love for Him as well as their love for each other."

Maybe this is how we know that we are satisfied by His love.  When we live each day for Him without fear of what others think, when listening to His words becomes like breathing, when we are asked to give our time, our money, our hearts, our lives, and we do it willingly.  When courage is the fruit we bear.

Father, I pray that courage would be fruit that others see in my life and the lives of those reading here today.  That we would continue to seek satisfaction in your unfailing love until we are walking in step with you, hearing you, obeying you, and living the lives you have created us for.  Make us people who delight in your word and hide it deep in our hearts so that when temptation rises to live for ourselves we would hear your words speaking loud because you abide in us.  And as you abide in us would you give us hearts, and minds, to love one another as broken redeemed people walking through a fallen world?  Satisfy us today with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days!
Psalm 90:14