Week 4: An Undivided Heart Scripture Meditation Series invites you to take a step into the joy of God’s presence by really abiding the “one thing.”
Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture (Psalm 100:2).
Today, I pause to abide with God as I meditate on the Word in John 15:9-17.
John 15:9-17
Jesus said to his disciples, “As the Father has loved me, so I have 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. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete..
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.
You did not choose me but I chose you.
And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.”
Do I really know that you are God? Sometimes I wonder; as I worry and hurry and plan and want. I look but I don’t see. I listen but I don’t hear. I love you but the joy is missing.
I confess that most of the time I’m checking in with you, but I’m not really abiding. I’m not taking long, slow, lingering time to just rest in your presence – not most days anyway.
God, I want that. I want that fruit – I want that joy. Thank you for your loving invitation to just abide with you. Help me take you up on your offer – help me let you be God of my life.
As I listen to the passage again…I find a word or phrase that moves my heart…I slowly repeat it to myself and pray my thoughts, my desires, needs and feelings.. I enjoy the presence of the Lord.
John 15:9-17
Jesus said to his disciples, “As the Father has loved me, so I have 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.
I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.
You did not choose me but I chose you.
And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.”
Prayer: Creator God, garden my life – turn it over, cultivate it, and make it ready for gospel seeds to take root. And in quiet darkness let the gospel do its work, slow but powerful, stirring up life in my heart, increasing joy, strengthening all your graces until shoots of new life rise and good fruit bursts forth on the branches of my life, a life beautiful for you and a blessing to others. Amen.
References: Psalm 100:2 (NIV); John 15:9-17 (NIV)
Westminster Larger Catechism 75
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