Keeping His Commandments

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John14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me: and he that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

The commandments of Jesus is to do the will of the Father. The will of the Father is to live in truth, and truth is to have the Spirit of Truth living within us. Keeping the commandments of Jesus is not a list of things we do or not do, yes God does spell out things that we should not be doing, but loving Jesus goes beyond following rules, to keep His commandments is to love Him with all our hearts, mind, body and soul. To love like He would love, to live in harmony with truth and yes, to abstain from anything that is evil, wicked, or sinful. We are no longer in bondage to sin, but love has cast away fear of sin and doubt. Keeping His commandments because we love Him sets us free to live a life holy and acceptable to Him. Sin is still a temptation, and it will entice, Satan is out to destroy the apple of God’s eye. But we have this assurance that Jesus will not leave us alone, He has given us the Comforter, the Spirit of truth to resist the enemy of our soul. Stay in His love, keep His commandments. 

Living in World of Tribulation

John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

There is no doubt about it. Being a Christian does not exempt you from bad things not happening. Many doubt God’s love and care when bad things happen. “If He is a God of love, why did He let this happen?” The journey we walk is filled with events that will cause us to search our heart and test our faith. In a world that is filled with darkness, will we let our light shine, or will we let the darkness shut our light out? Jesus said, when you face hard times and life situations become hard to bare, He says, “cheer up, I have this under control”. It is human to take our eyes off the Master of the sea and look around at the billowing waves. But Jesus has promise not to leave us or forsake us. The Comforter has come to cheer us up and help us to withstand the darkness, and let our light shine. This world is full of darkness and tribulation. May the light of Christ in you pierce the darkness of this world.

Let Not Your Heart Be Troubles

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Becoming anxious about the future and events that may or may not happen has a way of troubling the heart. We fret and worry about many things. We are afraid that life will take us down a road that will cause pain and suffering. We look about us and we see friends and loved ones that are facing difficult situation and it is only a matter of time that we will come face to face with our own troubled heart. It will come, but Jesus say, don’t let it consume your life, don’t let it trouble your heart. I promise peace during times of trouble. I will send One who will comfort the heart when it is troubled.  When the rubber hits the road, and the reality of life’s troubles are at our door step, there but only one who can bring peace, it is peace that comes from the Father above. When your hearts becomes trouble, trust not in the peace of this world, but believe God that He will give you peace that will calm the storm that troubles your heart.

The Promise of Jesus

John 14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

The promise of Jesus given to believers that there will be one that will not only be with us, but “shall be in you” Such was the case on the day of Pentecost. The day that believers gathered together in the upper room united together in prayer. The Holy Spirit came, purifying their heart’s by faith, filling their heart with burning love, gave them power over the works of darkness and sin. As believers, we need the Holy Spirit to come into our lives and lead us and direct our path. He is the source of truth who will not lead us astray. Believers in Christ are still human vessels subject to the temptation of Satan. It is essential that we have the Holy Spirit in us to be all that God wants us to be. The Holy Spirit want to work in our lives, but we must submit ourselves, our will, our desires to His will. Let the Spirit of Truth be our standard of living. We are never alone, and He will go before us.

The Comforter

 John 14:18, 20 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you…At that day you shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you… you know him; for he dwells with you, and shall be in you.

The promise is given to believers. The Comforter, who is the Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to live in His word. For He is the Spirit of truth and lead us into a deeper relationship with Christ. He leads us to help us find who we really are. Our identity is found in the person of Christ. We have left the ways of the flesh. By the Holy Spirit, the flesh has been crucified and put to death. In the newness of life, The Holy Spirit dwells within us. He is not just with us, but He is the power that lives within us to give us power over sin and fear. He is the Spirit of love that will cast out all fear. This is the comfort given to believers, that Christ dwells in us and we in Him. 

We Can Do Nothing

John 5:19  Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself…

Helpless we are without the help of God. Jesus, the God-man relied on the help of his Father to achieve the work He was sent to do. It was not the will of the God man, but the will of the Father that Jesus sought. How much more, human flesh do we need to trust God to be the one to do the work that needs to be done. We are but His instruments doing His will to build the Kingdom of God. Without Him, our efforts are futile, and worthless. The commission is to go into all the world, but He promise that He would send the Comforter to enable us to carry out His work. We our vessels in the hand of God to do with as He pleased. Makes us, molds us, and uses us for His glory. 

He Dwells Within Us

1 John 4:13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.

How do we know that God can live within us? How do we know that we are part of the branch, living in the vine? Jesus promise that the Comforter would come and would dwell with us and in us after He would ascend and go to the Father, He would lead and guide us into all truth. We don’t fully understand how God, who is one can be three. Many analogies have be given to demonstrate this wonder, but they seem to come short of the mystical possibility that God manifest Himself in three personas, each part of the Godhead, and yet individual entities. The Spirit of God bears witness, or testifies with our spiritual nature that we are of God. All that confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that He came to die for our sins can have this witness in their heart. The Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, Elohim, have condescended to earth to dwell with in our hearts. Emmanuel, God is with us, can be a reality within each one of us if we but let Him in.

Trouble Times

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

We all go through trouble times. We face things in life that bring uncertainty. We become anxious, and our hearts become fearful of the “What if’s” of life. Our minds are filled with “If only” we would had done it differently. Then there is the trouble of the soul when God seems to be afar off and it appears we are all alone facing life’s unwanted circumstances. Where is peace? Will trouble never cease? In times like this we need Jesus, we need a comforter that will calm life’s trouble waters. In the eye of the storm, the Holy Spirit is there, sent by the Father to bring peace and assurance that He will never leave us or forsake us. His promise is for those who love Him and keep His commandments. He knows our heart and knows our desire to live for Him. He said, He will not leave us comfortless. He will come, and where Jesus is, there is peace.

Sorrow in this Life

John 16:22  And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.

Sorrow is part of life. Emotion of sadness and disappoints are experiences we all have. Jesus recognized that such emotion are inevitable, but He does not want us to live there. There is a tomorrow and there is the promise of the Holy Spirit. When He comes, He will fill our hearts with joy and even tho we will experience sorrow, we can be assure that the Holy Spirit will be there with us and help us through those difficult times. He is our Comforter and in time of need, He will not leave us or forsake us. Yes, Jesus has returned to the Father, but he has sent His Spirit to live with us. One day, Jesus will return to gather all those who love Him. Sorrow on this earth will be gone, and we will live forever in His presence. 

The Promise of the Comforter

John 14:16 “And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever”- 

Jesus knows that the journey we walk will sometime be a hard and difficult. There will be times when we will suffer from loneliness, heartache, misunderstanding, the loss of someone close to us, persecution, and temptation. The promise of the Comforter was given to believers by Jesus. The world is not a friend of grace and resents the fact that Christian not only follow Jesus Christ, but Christians believe that He is the only way to the Father. Walking with God require more than mere determination, yes we must have resolve that we will follow Him to the end, but our real help and strength comes from the Comforter that was sent to us by the Father. That is why it is so important that we allow the Holy Spirit to take full control of our life. That is why we must abandoned ourselves in full consecration to the whole will of God, so the Comforter can come to abide in our hearts. On the day of Pentecost, The Comforter came in His fullness and filled the believers with His presences. They were filled with power from on high to help believers live life through the difficult times, to give them the strength to speak the truth, and power to be a witness that would reflect the true nature of God. With the indwelling of the Comforter, we can be a true testament to the world what the grace of God can do. Our witness is not tainted with sin and selfish living. The Comforter has come to abide and He will make the difference as we walk this journey on earth. The promise of the Father is for us all today, open your heart to Him and let Him abide with you for ever!