“You are my friends if you do what I command you.” – John 15:14

We delight in the truth that Jesus is the friend of sinners. Jesus certainly is an extraordinary friend!!! He meets us wherever we are. In the filth of our sins… In the depths of our foolishness… In the pits of our own making… In our despair… In our shame… In our humiliation… In our loss… In our sorrow… In our pain… In our guilt… What a friend we have in Jesus!

But are we a friend to Him? Jesus is certainly our friend, but are we His?>> In this verse, Jesus lovingly explained what it looks like to be His friend. It looks like doing what He commanded. Why? Because He is the Lord of the universe. Because His commands are for our good and His glory. Because He gave us His commands so that we may be filled with joy and grow in His power and presence. His commands are so that we will feel His love more fully and richly with each passing day. So, if we’re His friend, we’ll do EVERYTHING He commanded. The easy things and the hard things. The popular things and the deeply unpopular things. The obvious things and the subtle things. All of them!

So, are you a friend to Jesus??? Do you do everything possible to obey what Jesus commanded? Do you diligently love God? Do you deeply love ALL your neighbors? Do you truly love your fellow believers, especially the ones you know? Do you make disciples? Do you walk in holiness, repenting of EVERY sin? Do you crucify your flesh and the sinful desires of your heart? Do you pour yourself out for God’s Kingdom? Do you act as a citizen of God’s Kingdom more than a citizen of a world and a nation? Jesus always meets us where we are but then He commands us to leave that place and #FollowJesus

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” – Ephesians 4:30

The Holy Spirit is a person. He is the third Person of the Godhead. The Holy Spirit isn’t “the force”! If Jesus is your Lord, then the Holy Spirit has marked you as God’s child by coming to live within you. Because the Spirit is a person, the Holy Spirit has feelings. That includes feelings about you, since He lives in you. You can grieve Him. You can please Him. So, how does the Holy Spirit feel about you? Think about that for moment…

As God living in you, the Holy Spirit very much wants what’s best for you. The Spirit wants to see you flourish in close relationship with God the Father and Jesus the Son. When you do things that diminish that relationship, it makes the Spirit sad. That’s what it means to grieve the Holy Spirit. He’s sad when you choose to draw away from God. Your body is a temple because God lives in you. When you defile that temple with sin – sinful actions, sinful words, sinful thoughts, sinful inactions – that grieves the Holy Spirit. When you devote yourself to the temporary pleasures of the world and thereby miss out on some of the eternal pleasures of knowing Christ more fully, that grieves the Holy Spirit.

The opposite is also true. When you repent of sin and receive God’s forgiveness in Christ, you delight the Spirit. When you devote more time and energy to worship, prayer, Bible study and meditation, Christian community, service to God, and sharing Christ with others, you delight the Spirit. When you still your mind and listen for the promptings of the Spirit, obeying them as they come, you delight the Spirit. So, how does the Holy Spirit feel about you today? Have you grieved Him recently or is He pleased as you enjoy His presence each day? Don’t grieve the Spirit, #FollowJesus

“When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out.’” – John 11:43

Can you imagine being in the crowd that day? Standing amidst a crowd still grieving the loss of their beloved brother, neighbor, and friend Lazarus. A crowd that knew he was four days dead and his body was already decaying in the cave in which it had been laid. Then Jesus ordered the tomb to be opened and He thundered, “Lazarus, come out.” The words of that simple, powerful order must have echoed through whole area. And Lazarus came out!

Still wrapped in linen strips, looking like a mummy from a horror movie. But completely alive, fully restored, and ready to be unwrapped. What a moment! What power! Jesus truly IS the Resurrection and the Life. It’s been fairly said that if Jesus hadn’t called Lazarus by name, then His powerful command might have brought everyone walking out of their tombs!

One day, that’s exactly what will happen. One day, Jesus will return and will command everyone to come out of their graves. Those who have trusted their lives to Him in faith will rise in bodies made perfect and reunited with their souls. Those risen in Christ will enjoy eternity with their Savior, body and soul. That day is coming! Do not fear and do not doubt. The day when Jesus will give His command and no matter whether we’re still alive or long passed away, we will come and stand before the throne of our Lord to hear His just and gracious judgment. What a day of rejoicing that will be for those who have trusted in Christ! #FollowJesus

“And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” – John 10:16

When Jesus said these words, they must have stunned His original audience. For centuries, the people of Israel had considered themselves to be God’s exclusive flock. As His chosen people, surely there was no place in His flock for people from other countries and ethnicities. They believed this self-serving lie despite the clear and consistent promises throughout the entire Old Testament that salvation was coming to the entire world.

Then Jesus made it clear. He is the Good Shepherd for EVERYONE who believes in Him. Jew and Gentile. African, European, Asian, American (North and South), and Australian. In Christ, all those distinctions lose their dividing significance. They’re simply part of the beautiful multi-ethnic flock God is assembling from every tribe, language, and ethnic group. Not many different flocks divided by skin color, birth place, language, or accent. One flock with exactly one, and only one, Shepherd – Jesus the Christ.

Meditate on this truth of Jesus. Marinate in it. Rejoice in the glorious truth that you’ve been welcomed into His flock. Embrace the vital truth that there are many other sheep being called into this same flock. Work to make that happen. Welcome new sheep as they hear and respond to the voice of Jesus. Devote your life to helping still more of them hear His voice. #FollowJesus

“And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” – Galatians 5:24

Have YOU??? Have you crucified the flesh with its passions and desires? What does that mean? It means fighting the fight, in the resources of the Holy Spirit, to not only resist but try to kill off every sinful desire that tempts you. It means recognizing when you’ve been holding onto a favorite sin and actively working to nail it to the cross of Christ. To kill it. It means taking “small sins” that “don’t hurt anyone” seriously, recognizing them for what they are – rebellion against God – and trying to kill their presence and influence in their life.

As Christians, we aren’t called to explain or excuse our sins like uncontrolled anger, unconstrained lust, idolatrous love for money and stuff, self-centered ambitions, envy of others, or the tendency to spread gossip and stoke conflict in the church. We’re called to to kill those sins in our life. Forever. To fight back or flee every time they start to tempt us. To fight them to the death.

Those sins may well be “how you were made”, but in Christ, they aren’t how you should continue to be. Not as an adopted child of the Living God! Not as a blood-bought new creation in Christ! Your favorite sins block your enjoyment and growth in the Holy Spirit. They undermine your witness and render you ineffective for the Lord. They hinder your prayers. They keep you from experiencing the Fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control). They aren’t a sweet souvenir from your past, they’re a tool of the Enemy! Crucify your sinful desires and #FollowJesus