WEBVTT 00:04.233 --> 00:13.866 [SPEAKER_00]: As we continue our week on a biting in the true vine of God, today we'll explore obedience and how it relates to a biting in God. 00:14.867 --> 00:19.594 [SPEAKER_00]: Take a moment even now to open your heart to trust God a fresh. 00:20.495 --> 00:26.523 [SPEAKER_00]: He will always be for us and know what is best for us in every part of life. 00:27.364 --> 00:33.092 [SPEAKER_00]: He is so good, 00:33.376 --> 00:35.995 [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to the first 15 podcast. 01:01.996 --> 01:07.622 [SPEAKER_00]: our Scripture for today comes from John chapter 15 verses 9 through 10. 01:08.583 --> 01:17.912 [SPEAKER_00]: Scripture says, As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you, abide in my love. 01:19.073 --> 01:27.902 [SPEAKER_00]: 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. 01:31.578 --> 01:37.385 [SPEAKER_00]: The concept of obedience has become shrouded with a connotation of negativity. 01:38.626 --> 01:46.115 [SPEAKER_00]: When we think of obedience, we normally infer a feeling of doing a task apart from a desire or longing. 01:47.277 --> 01:52.523 [SPEAKER_00]: We associate obedience with obligation rather than fulfillment. 01:53.549 --> 01:59.660 [SPEAKER_00]: But when Jesus walked on the earth, he carried out a very different lifestyle of obedience. 02:01.142 --> 02:06.372 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus' life demonstrates what obedience to our heavenly Father is meant to look like. 02:07.754 --> 02:16.249 [SPEAKER_00]: Obedience to God is choosing to live a lifestyle of love and devotion to our God, who has loved us completely. 02:17.950 --> 02:26.001 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus says in John 15 verses 9 through 10, as the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. 02:26.061 --> 02:28.244 [SPEAKER_00]: Abide in my love. 02:29.285 --> 02:32.670 [SPEAKER_00]: If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love. 02:33.491 --> 02:38.237 [SPEAKER_00]: Just as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in His love. 02:40.613 --> 02:45.448 [SPEAKER_00]: too often, we miss the heart of God when he calls us to obedience. 02:46.852 --> 02:53.813 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus illustrates here that he lived his life reciprocating the love he was shown by his father. 02:54.923 --> 03:02.435 [SPEAKER_00]: He lived his life in obedience to God out of the wealth of relationship he had, not out of obligation. 03:03.656 --> 03:06.922 [SPEAKER_00]: And Jesus simply asks us to do the same. 03:08.043 --> 03:20.863 [SPEAKER_00]: He invites us into the process of receiving and giving love as the foundation of our life that we might abide in the depth of relationship with our Heavenly Father as He did. 03:22.582 --> 03:27.653 [SPEAKER_00]: In Luke 10, verse 27, Jesus states the greatest commandments. 03:28.635 --> 03:39.257 [SPEAKER_00]: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strengths and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself. 03:41.566 --> 03:49.798 [SPEAKER_00]: How incredible is the heart of our God that He doesn't call us to a lifestyle of obligation or undesired sacrifice. 03:50.760 --> 03:56.949 [SPEAKER_00]: But a lifestyle in which we reciprocate the vast love we've been shown in Christ to all the earth. 03:58.471 --> 04:03.659 [SPEAKER_00]: God doesn't merely set rules before you, but relationship as the goal. 04:04.961 --> 04:08.586 [SPEAKER_00]: He's after your heart totally and completely, 04:10.574 --> 04:15.660 [SPEAKER_00]: in a world wrapped up in a self-seeking self-satisfying agenda. 04:16.522 --> 04:23.931 [SPEAKER_00]: God sets us free to step outside of the burden of ourselves and frees us to live for others. 04:25.813 --> 04:39.130 [SPEAKER_00]: In a world wrought with the weight of pride, God pours out His unceasing selfless love, which has the power to transform us into children who abide 04:40.443 --> 04:53.187 [SPEAKER_00]: If we will choose to abide in God's commandments and love wholeheartedly, we will experience a satisfaction unknown to those with the attitude of selfishness and pride. 04:54.489 --> 05:00.460 [SPEAKER_00]: We will experience the abundant life only those who abide in God can obtain. 05:01.672 --> 05:05.195 [SPEAKER_00]: So, abide in God's commandments today. 05:06.316 --> 05:10.961 [SPEAKER_00]: Choose to live a lifestyle of a whole-hearted love of God and others. 05:12.442 --> 05:17.087 [SPEAKER_00]: Choose to live in obedience to God in response to His amazing love. 05:18.308 --> 05:27.797 [SPEAKER_00]: And discover the power, purpose, and freedom that comes from ministering to others with the very love you've been shown in Christ. 05:29.161 --> 05:32.370 [SPEAKER_00]: settle your heart as you enter guided prayer. 06:23.448 --> 06:29.881 [SPEAKER_00]: As we begin, meditate on God's commandment for us to love Him and one another. 06:29.921 --> 06:36.495 [SPEAKER_00]: Receive the call to a lifestyle of love as you reflect on God's Word. 06:37.724 --> 06:47.436 [SPEAKER_00]: John 15 verses nine and ten says, as the Father has loved me, so have I loved you, abide in my love. 06:48.558 --> 06:52.042 [SPEAKER_00]: If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love. 06:52.683 --> 07:06.060 [SPEAKER_00]: Just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in His love. 07:07.677 --> 07:18.497 [UNKNOWN]: Thank you. 07:42.794 --> 07:47.601 [SPEAKER_00]: In next, spend time receiving the love of your Heavenly Father. 07:48.723 --> 07:56.815 [SPEAKER_00]: God always desires to fill you up with the knowledge of His love before He would have you love Him or others in return. 07:57.936 --> 08:10.455 [SPEAKER_00]: So take time and receive a fresh outpouring of the love He has for you today. 08:50.885 --> 08:56.456 [SPEAKER_00]: And last, ask the spirit to guide you to a lifestyle of love today. 08:57.839 --> 09:03.731 [SPEAKER_00]: Spend time allowing him to reveal different ways in which he would call you to love others. 09:05.094 --> 09:07.218 [SPEAKER_00]: How can you love your spouse better today? 09:08.240 --> 09:11.948 [SPEAKER_00]: How can you love your best friend, coworker, or neighbor? 09:12.839 --> 09:24.158 [SPEAKER_00]: Ask the Spirit to pour out the love of God through you today, and commit to loving others even when it goes against the tides of comfort and culture. 09:25.480 --> 09:39.083 [SPEAKER_00]: James 122 says, 09:51.820 --> 09:58.455 [UNKNOWN]: Thank you. 10:15.361 --> 10:18.720 [SPEAKER_00]: May we abide in the love of our Heavenly Father today. 10:18.780 --> 10:23.245 [SPEAKER_00]: May we choose to live a lifestyle of love. 10:23.798 --> 10:29.985 [SPEAKER_00]: and may our prayer be like that of the Psalmist in Psalm 119 versus 32 through 35. 10:31.086 --> 10:37.093 [SPEAKER_00]: As we go about our days, living to see God's glory come on earth as it is in heaven. 10:38.415 --> 10:45.503 [SPEAKER_00]: Scripture says, I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart. 10:45.483 --> 10:50.732 [SPEAKER_00]: Teach me O Lord, the way of your statutes, and I will keep it to the end. 10:51.934 --> 10:57.564 [SPEAKER_00]: Give me understanding that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart. 10:58.767 --> 11:09.786 [SPEAKER_00]: Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. 11:16.398 --> 11:18.880 [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for listening to today's devotional. 11:19.201 --> 11:21.103 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm Josh Miller with First and Team. 11:21.903 --> 11:30.472 [SPEAKER_00]: As you go about your day today, choose right now to be obedient to any sense of direction God gave you on how to love others well. 11:31.353 --> 11:31.994 [SPEAKER_00]: Write it down. 11:32.654 --> 11:34.556 [SPEAKER_00]: Share it with a friend or family member. 11:35.357 --> 11:45.527 [SPEAKER_00]: And seek today to follow God's leading, knowing that following Him wholeheartedly is the way to experience the fullest, richest life. 11:45.507 --> 11:51.315 [SPEAKER_00]: Have a wonderful rest of your day, and may God bless you as you see again.