Remain in God's Love

In the midst of pre-thanksgiving packing craziness, I came across some verses that really struck me - actually I really like all of John 15 - perhaps too much to talk about on one day, but I encourage you all to go read it! It’s great! (I know the picture doesn't have much to do with thanksgiving, but I figured it was slightly related as the Bahamas is definitely someplace where I'd like to remain for a good while...).

As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this that my joy may be complete in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15: 9-13

Inspired by the lovely Rachel Nesbitt and her love for books and words, I decided to look up remain in the dictionary: “to stay in the same place with or with the same person or group; to continue unchanged.” This definition got me thinking: how long do I typically spend in God’s presence on an average day? Does my relationship with Christ continue unchanged throughout the week? I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t measure up when it comes to this – I’m closer to God when it’s convenient to me or when I feel like it. Why is remaining in God’s love so important anyways? Some earlier verses in John 15 give some good insight:

If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15: 5

We can’t serve God well unless we remain in His presence and are constantly plugged into Him. In fact, this verse even implies that we can’t bear any fruit for God without being plugged into Him. I normally think I can do a pretty decent job serving God for short bursts even if I’m not in His presence, but this verse suggests that to bear fruit through serving God in the long run, I’ve got to remain in His love. Not only is it important that we stay in constantly relationship with God so that we can better serve Him, but it’s also important because it brings God (and us) joy! That’s reason enough for me!

So what does remaining in God’s love look like? God says we can remain in His love by loving others as He has loved us. The first word that comes to my head when I think of God’s love for me is selflessness. God gets nothing out of His relationship with me, yet He chooses to love me anyway. Loving others in this same selfness manner is hard – but calls us to serve others in this manner.

So to summarize all of that: we need to remain in God’s presence to remain in His love and selflessly love others. My challenge today is to try to remain in God’s presence all day – think about Him, sing about Him, pray to Him, demonstrate His love to others – it’s a hard challenge, but certainly worthwhile! To kick us off, I’ve got a little music for us (David Crowder Band - O Praise Him):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbmtjQppsao