It was the disciples’ deep love for their Lord that transformed them and gave them a sure foundation to weather the storms of life. It was while spending time together, that Jesus imparted His spiritual truths. That is the reason He could tell them in John 15:14-15, “I no longer call you servants but friends, for a servant does not know what his master is doing, for all things I heard from my Father I have made known to you”.
The spiritual truths of the Kingdom are not the transfer of information, but come essentially through spending time with Jesus, who is the way, the truth and the life and to be with those who live the truth of the Kingdom.
‘What am I building my life on? In Matthew 7:24-30 at the end of Jesus’ teaching on the Mount – He describes the wisdom of obedience and the foolishness of disregarding His teaching and carrying on in our old way.
You may ask, what does a friend do? He tells you the hard things because he wants to see you mature not crash one day when the storms come.
It is time to face up to the fact that we must all walk in righteousness, if we are going to know the Lord. Paul instructs Timothy in 2 Tim. 2:19, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity”.
In this grace-conscious age we have magnified God’s grace out of all proportion with the result that there is no fear of God and no true repentance. Grace taken out of all proportion results in ungodly people perverting the truth, and becoming self-serving instead of loving God and each other as ourselves.
When we confess our selfish sin and repent, we come into agreement with the One who is love and He removes the obstacles that cannot be built on. We then see things from His perspective and begin to be disciples of love through obedience.
The prime motivation of love is sacrificial giving, in giving yourself away. At the cross, Jesus sacrificed Himself in love for the whole world.
If we show God’s generosity to others it will widen our own hearts and God can be generous with us. In Luke 6:38 Jesus says, “Give and you will receive, your gift will return to you in full, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, poured into your lap”. This love of heaven is the richest when it gives itself away.
This is the firm foundation of His Word, “When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love just as I obeyed my Father’s commandments and remain in his love “. (John 15:10)
