I Told My Disciples that I Loved Them - Part 1

Meditations based on readings from

The Story of My Life As Told by Jesus Christ

February 11, 2020

I Told My Disciples that I Loved Them - Part 1

Page 268-269

John 15

Four words caught my attention in today’s passage.

Fruit. Jesus expects his disciples to produce much fruit for him. Jesus’ mission is to make disciples for the transformation of the world. Therefore the fruit he is expecting me to produce, as I remain in him, is lasting fruit that helps people know and love him, and lasting fruit that builds for Jesus’ Kingdom here on earth. This word fruit gives me pause to examine my life for evidence that my focus, my priorities are aimed at producing fruit for Jesus’ Kingdom.

Friend. This word friend gives me pause to examine my life for evidence that I have more than head knowledge about Jesus. Do I actually live my life in the reality of a relationship with Jesus? If so, is that relationship more like boss and employee or servant; or do I hear him call me friend?

Joy. Six times in his Farewell Discourse Jesus speaks of joy. Just as King David said in Psalm 23 that his cup overflowed with the goodness of God, Jesus says he wants me to be filled with his joy. “Yes, your joy will overflow” Jesus said (John 15:11). This word joy gives me pause to examine my life for evidence that Jesus’ joy overflows in my life.

Love. In today’s passage, Jesus speaks of love ten times in eleven verses. Over and over again, he affirms his love for me. Over and over, he affirms his command for me to love others in the very same way he loves me. I believe it is his love that makes it possible for me to produce fruit; it is his love that raises me up in friendship; it is his love that fills my life with joy.  This word love gives me pause to examine my life for evidence that I actually live my life in the truth of Jesus’ love for me.

My Takeaway: “Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love” (I Corinthians 13:13).

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2020 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.