From December 3, 2018 – December 9, 2018 we are praying and fasting 12 hours per day (6am – 6pm) only drinking water.
Read: John 14:10 – 17
Memory verse: John14: 15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
In John 14, Jesus is talking with His disciples prior to being arrested, tried, convicted, sentenced, and crucified. He says that He will leave and at some point return to bring them, and all other believers, to His Father’s house. Jesus, Who had already instituted communion as a promise that He will return, then says in John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. Love for God and obedience to His commands are not new and actually go hand-in-hand. Obedience is the outward expression of our love for God. Obeying God is not just about following the rules in the Bible; it is about following the spirit of God’s Word. In other words, we are wrong to say or think that we are excused from obeying what God said, since He did not use the same words we use when He gave the instructions. In reality, if someone has an obedience problem, they also have a love problem. Sin causes us to follow our own selfish desires, but in doing so we reject God’s best for our lives and will always suffocate in our own sin.
Without God’s love, our life will always be out of order. As we accept His love and forgiveness, God wants us to know and worship Him. Most of all, He wants us to love Him. So God takes the initiative to draw us closer to Himself. Like Jesus, we should have such a desire to please God that we do everything He has told us to do without reservation, hesitation or trepidation. We need the kind of relationship with God that says whatever You ask, I will do it, even if I do not like or understand it. We show we love God by obediently living for Him and sharing Him with others.
Pray today:
1. To love God the same way Jesus loves Him,
2. To obey God the same way Jesus obeyed Him, and
3. To obediently share the love of God with the unsaved.
After you read and pray throughout the day, be sure to take time to listen for God to respond. Keep a journal to record what you hear Him say.
