Day 2 | John 15:4,9-12
Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me…—John 15: 4 (NIV)
As the Father has loved me, so have I 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 so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ——John 15: 9-12 (NIV)
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. —John 15: 9 (ESV)
For Reflection:
Sitting beside Dad in the hospital ER—his bed and its tangle of tubes and wires, monitors beeping, I gain a new perspective on abiding; I experience this longing to remain near. I watch him sleep, hear him breathe; it is hard to see him weak. Tears well in my eyes as I look to God, reluctantly releasing my control of Dad’s care to those trained to do so, and trusting God has the outcome. Still, I stay close. I sit and I watch him, grateful to be near; wanting to stay close, within reach – a touch – wanting not to leave his side, I remain. For a time. I recall similar feelings when we brought home each of our newborn sons.
Maybe you’ve experienced this longing to remain near someone you love, rush to their side, stay close: a newborn child; a friend or family member who moved away – or one who is sick; family when you’re away at camp, or college. Or separated by conflict? Maybe you’ve experienced someone staying by your side in a time of vulnerability.
I wonder how our experiences longing to remain near people we love might give us a taste of God’s desire to abide in and with us. His deep, promised abiding. A prayer of Jesus’s echoes in my mind:
“Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us ...” John 17:21b
I think about the invitation and promises of God’s presence in and with us always, His active guidance in our lives; His transforming presence and power. As I remain with Dad, I’m aware of my connection with God, who actively infuses peace amid worry. His way influences mine. He guides our experiences and interactions: providing grace and patience that overflow to people around us. In God’s presence, my instinctive impatience with the delays and disturbances were diminished; His grace makes way for growing compassion toward each of them. My frustration and discouragement with the cruelty of illness are overshadowed by emerging gratitude as I recognize the gift of being with my Dad as he rests, for access to care. I am grateful for perspective, attitude, and feelings somehow graciously transformed by Jesus. He fills us with His joy and invites us to remain in Him–through prayer and His word. He helps us keep His command to love Him and love others – including those who we don’t instinctively love, who frustrate or oppose us, even those not meeting our expectations. As we abide in His love, we find true joy.
Let us Pray:
Lord, thank you for your abiding presence, with us and in us. Help us to remain in you. To trust you. To receive your love and perspective and allow your love and joy to reframe our experiences, transform our mindset and responses to flow toward others we encounter. Would you shine your light amid darkness for us all. In your holy name, Jesus, we pray. Amen.
Questions:
I wonder how much deeper and true the joy of Jesus is, than the joy I can extract from my circumstances?
I wonder what the completeness of joy that Jesus promises looks and feels like?
I wonder what Jesus would have me release in order to fully experience His abiding love and joy?