abiding sparks igniting
I grew up in a Christian home. And while I had the privilege of attending a private Christian school where I learned about God, God didn’t become personal and real until I was 16. Because at 16, I had my first spiritual spark. At 16 I was dealing with insecurity, materialism, and a false perception of who I was. It wasn’t until I went on my first missions’ trip to Croatia when God ignited my heart. As I went to a gypsy village outside the main city and saw their love and devotion to God even though they had nothing, it showed me what life was really about. That’s when I had my “spark moment”. It’s as if God opened my eyes for the first time, revealing to me that a life ignited with happiness and joy doesn’t come from material things, statues, or good looks, but from abiding in fellowship with God through His love. That night when we returned to the church, I sat on my bunk bed completely in awe and compelled with God’s love. I gave my life to the Lord and promised Him that I would go wherever He wanted me to go, say whatever He wanted me to say, and do whatever He wanted me to do for His glory alone. Once I experienced the love of God in a whole new way, it compelled me to abide in Him and obey his commands. Once I returned home, my spark became a fire that burned more and more for God’s love and World. There more I stared to abide in God’s love and Word, the more I wanted to obey Him, and the fuller of joy I became. Because abiding sparks igniting.
But can I be honest? At times, the flame would slowly dim as sin and temptation creeped at my doorway. When I would take my eyes off the Lord, it felt as if my flame went out. I started to feel far from God and couldn’t hear Him anymore. And as time went on, I would feel so alone as if God left me. The enemy doesn’t want you to abide in Christ. Because when we do, we are ignited with God’s love and joy. Even as seasoned Christians, we at times can feel as if we are going through the motions of life and may lose our spark for Christ. We can combat this by going back to the basics and reminding ourselves that in order to remain in relationship with Christ and experience His joy, we need to abide in His love as we keep His commands. Because when we do, abiding sparks igniting.
In John 15:9-11, Jesus addresses this principle to His disciples.
“As the Father has loved me, so have I 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. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full.”
As Christians, we can remain ignited in Christ as we discover what it means to abide in love, obedience, and joy when we feel like we’re going through the motions. First, we are going to explore how abiding sparks love in verse 9, how abiding sparks obedience in verse 10, and how abiding sparks joy in verse 11.
Abiding Sparks Love
First, we can see that abiding in Christ sparks love. Let’s read John 15:9 again, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.” Jesus introduces the idea of abiding in His love through giving us the very source of this love – the love shared between the Father and the Son. The love that exists in the Trinity is pre-existent before the creation of the world, is unconditional, perfect, and complete. The Father displays His love to the Son by affirming His baptism, declaring that He is well pleased. The Father also, as seen in John 3:35, loves the Son by giving all things into His hands, entrusting Jesus with authority and a divine mission. The Son shows His love for the Father by obeying and submitting to His Fathers will on earth, and by seeking solitude to pray to the Father with a desire for connection and communion in Luke 5:16. And now, God has invited those who call Him Father to enter this loving relationship with the Trinity. We can now experience this type of love that exists in the Godhead when we choose to abide in this love.
When I used to live in Florida while I was in high school, one of my favorite ways to get alone with the Lord and have a heart-to-heart conversation was driving to the beach alone at sunset. I would walk up to the edge of the shore, close my eyes, breath in and out, open my eyes and look as far beyond the shore as I could. In my silence, I would always feel so humbled, so small compared to the grand ocean before me. Even though we know much about the ocean, it’s creatures, it’s currents, and even some abandoned ships lost in its waters. There’s still so much more that we don’t know. It would remind me of God. How God knows and God created the ocean and everything in it. And yet, His love for me is longer than the length of the ocean, and deeper than its depths. The ocean’s strength, beauty, mystery, and peace reminded me of God and who He is. And even with how grand and big God is, He loves and cares for little ole me.
We need to practice being in awe of God and reminding ourselves of who he is. Because when we do, and we begin to understand His great love for us, our spirit will desire to abide in His love. God’s love for us was expressed when He send His Son to die on the cross for our sins. Christ’s love for us was expressed in willingly laying his life down. The love between the Father and the Son fueled this sacrificial act of love. This is how we can remain in fellowship with Him. Abiding sparks being ignited in His love.
Abiding Sparks Obedience
Second, our abiding sparks obedience. Now that Jesus has explained to His disciples that they can experience this love that exists between the Father and the Son by abiding in this love, He describe what this looks like. Let’s look at verse 10, “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.” Jesus outlines how believers can remain in fellowship with the Father and abide in His love - by obeying His commands.
If you’re a parent, grandparent, or have even babysat before, you know may have rules in place to protect children and raise them in the way they should go because of the love and care you have for them. Children may or may not always understand their parents’ rules. But a child who loves and trusts their parents will be more inclined to obey their parent’s guidance and rules. And we usually don’t see this happen until the child matures enough to understand it in this way. When a parent explains the importance of safety (like looking both ways before crossing the street) the child, when motivated by love and trust, obeys the parent by seeing they are being protected.
Just like a child, we may not always understand God’s commands and instruction. But when we truly begin to understand and experience His love, it compels us to obey His commands. Not out of fear, but in love and trust. When obedience is a natural expression of abiding in love, our abiding will spark being ignited into a deeper relationship with God. Our abiding sparks obedience which results in being ignited into a deeper fellowship with God. Abiding sparks being ignited in obedience.
Abiding Sparks Joy
Third, we can see in John 15:11 that abiding sparks joy. Verse 11 says, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” Jesus completes this thought by giving his disciples the reason for conveying this to them – that His joy may be in them and that their joy may be full. When believers are actively seeking to reman in close fellowship with God and are abiding in God’s love and obeying His commands, they will receive a true satisfying joy in Christ.
The fullness of this joy is like water. As humans, we need water to survive. Our bodies are composed of about 60% of water on average. When our bodies are lacking water, a signal is sent to our brain that notifies us when we are dehydrated and need to drink water. It a good thing God make our bodies smart enough to do this so that we can always stay hydrated and live! In the same way, our souls need Christ. He satisfies our longing soul and has saved us from the destruction of our souls. But everything else this world has to offer is like soda (sorry all you soda lovers). Soda tastes really good in the moment but will still leave you thirsty and eventually you will still need to drink water to quench your thirst. There is a satisfying joy that comes when we choose to abide in Christ’s love by obeying His commands.
Jesus’s joy came from doing the Father’s will, and the joy of the disciples came from doing what Jesus commanded them. We can’t expect to have this joy in Christ when we do not choose to abide in His love and obey His commands. We cannot live our lives in contradiction to what the Lord has for us if we want to live in close fellowship with Him. The only way we can be ignited with joy is by abiding in Christ’s love and obeying His commands. Abiding sparks being ignited in joy.
We live in a world full of distractions and hardships…
Therefore, it can be tempting to take our eyes off of Christ, be complacent, or go through the motions in our fellowship with God. We need to keep our relationship with God in check, constantly abiding in Him so we can be ignited in His love, obedience, and joy. When we remind ourselves of this great love between the Father and the Son, we can better understand the love Christ has for us. We can abide in this love by obeying his commands. This will lead us to complete joy in Christ.
I challenge you to evaluate your fellowship with God and ask yourself, are you truly abiding in God’s love, obedience, and joy? Because when we are…
