Fear No Fear

“As the Father loved Me, I also loved you. Remain in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, even as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love” (John 15:9-10, MEV). Jesus loves us enough to tell us how to do it. We need to rest in Him. We NEED to. It’s how we are going to make it through what’s ahead of us. It doesn’t matter if what is ahead of us is a sunny day, a cloudy day, or a day when a hurricane is going to strike. In order to get through it, we need to rest in Jesus. It is when we are connected and rooted in Him that we are spiritually productive. That is when we are communicating effectively. That is when we are blessing others to our full capacity. That is when we are guiding, helping, encouraging, and spreading joy most effectively. That is when we are staying humble, with all the benefits that has for our lives and the lives of those around us. It is our survival manual. It is our place of praise and thanksgiving. It is why we can be singing songs to the Lord when the world is collapsing. It is why we can praise through tears. It is how we can stand on the Word and not reject our testimony and the declaration of God’s glory. It is how we endure. Jesus is where we get all of that. It is VITAL that we remain in Him. Jesus loves us enough not to make us guess. Not to make us figure it out on our own. Jesus loves us enough to tell us how to do it. If we stay in His love, if we stay focused on His love, everything else follows. We are obedient, when our love of Jesus is our focus. We are humbly submitted, when our love of Jesus is our focus. We are able to receive from Him, when our love of Jesus is our focus. We are able to give in joy, when our love of Jesus is our focus. It is the love of Jesus that is the beginning and ending of our trust in Him. We might be willing to believe what He says because He is God, but we don’t trust Him unless we love Him. When we love, we obey. When we obey, we stay close to Him. When we stay close to Him, we learn to love Him more. By focusing on our love for Him and living that love as an expression of our devotion to our Lord and Saviour, we remain in a place that deepens that love. It is a wonderful cycle of closeness designed to forge a deep and lasting relationship with God. It is why Jesus sacrificed Himself. To lay the foundation for this relationship. His love began it. Our love for Him and our acceptance of His love for us continues it, strengthens it, and deepens it. With foundations like that, ones that are being ever-strengthened, we have a security in life that nothing else can give us. No matter WHAT happens, we’re covered.