Loving Him Empowers Me
“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever. John 14:15-16 NKJV
Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. John 14:23 NKJV
IF you love Me- you will obey My commandments. This version of scripture communicates if you aren’t obeying everything Jesus commands you don’t love Him. We have all had many moments where we think, I do love Him but man, why do I keep messing up? Then this cycle starts again. Where we ask Him to HELP us but then we lean on our own ability to try to obey again. Only to fail once more.
In verse 23 it reads if we love Jesus and obey then the Father will love us, and they will come and make their home in us. This seems like fools’ gold because none of us can keep his commandments or obey His word on our own accord. Therefore, it tells us He can’t and won’t love us if we can’t obey. It seems hopeless with this belief. The way this has been taught for so many decades has really hurt a lot of people. This type of message is why we have seen so many come into the church to give their lives to Jesus and really try to do what they think is right. They really do try but seem to keep falling short of obedience. After so many times of failing they begin to believe the lies of you can’t do this. He’s disappointed in you again. He’s angry with you because you messed up again. They leave feeling defeated and unloved. We as the church have to look at how things have been taught and be willing to say we got some things wrong.
Now let’s look at how it is really meant to be taught by looking at The Passion Translation. If you don’t know, this translation is written by studying the original language of the day and translating the words to its true meaning.
“Loving me empowers you to obey my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Savior, the Holy Spirit of Truth, who will be to you a friend just like me—and he will never leave you.”
“Jesus replied, “Loving me empowers you to obey my word. And my Father will love you so deeply that we will come to you and make you our dwelling place.”
Jesus is actually teaching us falling in love with Him will empower us to obey. What is my part and your part? We keep coming back to learn to love Him. We keep beholding Him. Keep worshiping Him. Keep pouring the oil on His feet. You must know that when you mess up the first place you run is to His arms. Never run away from Him. Pastor Tim asked a powerful question on Sunday. “What if the thing that is holding you captive is based on how well you let Him love you?”
We must see Him right. We must allow Him to challenge the way we have thought about Him. He says plainly in these verses. He empowers us to obey. Falling in love with Him brings power to our innermost being. How? He sends the Holy Spirit of Truth who will never leave us. He is the same power who raised Jesus from the dead, and He lives in us. Jesus continues to tell us in verse 23, loving me empowers you. He also tells us the Father loves us so deeply that He makes His dwelling place in us. All we have to do is love Him.
Let’s talk about this love affair with Jesus. Think of it this way. Meeting someone new feels exciting. You notice qualities you like, and you spend time together, talking often. As you spend time talking, your feelings grow stronger, and trust builds. You open your heart, allowing love to grow on both sides. You learn more about each other and commit to a lifelong covenant. There will be disappointments and mistakes, but instead of running away, you choose to face challenges together. Your love continues to grow making the two of you a force to be reckoned with.
This is the progression of our relationship with Jesus. The more we spend time with Him talking, listening and facing challenges together you will love Him more and more. As we grow in our love for Him, we are empowered to be who He created us to be. The bright shining light of His goodness.
Every day you surrender that day to Him. The more you behold His goodness the more in love you become and the empowered you are to obey. This walk with Him is not a race. We don’t have to be in a hurry.
