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            We are to love one another unselfishly and seek the best for one another. We definitely don’t see this is a normal thing in the secular, but remember; though we are in the world we are not of it. The world hated Jesus, Jesus wasn’t apart of the world though HE was in it and those who walked according to the world didn’t like Jesus. Those who walk according to the world probably won’t like us, and we have to be ok with that.

            I once heard someone share a testimony; they were saying how they had been mocked and questioned and made fun of by people and they went to Jesus about it. God said to them that if they don’t have scars on their hands and on their feet then they don’t need an explanation.  We serve Jesus, HE is the only one’s opinion we should care about. We need to stop letting other people get us down and we need to stop being offended by the world.

            Those who walk with the world are loved by the world which means being a christian will cause friction there. Water doesn’t mix or blend with oil; if you are finding yourself intertwined and mixing with the world it may be time for a self check. Though we are in the world we are not of it, its ok if the world thinks your weird or they hate you for your faith, Jesus is worth it. Jesus has chosen us out of the world and for that the world hates us. Don’t let that bother you, ask God to heal you from it and give you a thick skin to endure it. Honestly, the closer we grow to Jesus the less we will care about the worlds options towards us.

            Those who hated Jesus hate God, thats deep. We should be praying for those who openly deny Jesus and God rather than get offended. They hated Him without cause and some still do, those souls need praying for and its hard to pray for them unselfishly when we are caught in offense. We need to stop sulking over persecution and instead pray for those who are caught in the world and can’t seem to find their way to the light. Thank God we have the Holy Spirit to help us today with this.

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            Jesus is the Vine and we are the branches. Every branch that does not bear good fruit is cut off by the vinedresser, God. To every branch that does bear good fruit, it will be continuously pruned. Our walk will always include pruning and room to grow in Him, we will always be growing. However, for those not willing to grow in Him, maybe due to pride, they will be cut off.  Think of the parable where God spits out those who are lukewarm. There is no being lukewarm in His kingdom. Only hot, producing good fruit. We don’t make it about our works, we simply keep seeking Him and allow Him to continuously prune us through repentance when needed and constant surrender (no matter if you are 10 or 80). We are already clean because of the Word He has reached us, we merely need to stay in Him and focus on Him.

            In Christ we can do anything, apart from Him we can do nothing. Our fruit will show if we are in Him or not. If we are in Him we will produce good fruit, that being said we shouldn’t walk around judging everyones fruit. We should be looking at our own fruit and asking God to help us assess where we are with Him and our fruit and make changes for yourself as He shows you.

           As followers we are told to seek the best for one another. We should be praying for our brothers and sisters in Christ and unselfishly want what’s best for them. When is the last time you prayed for another disciple? When’s the last time you truly wanted what’s best for another christian, not out of judgement but out of pure love? If this comes natural to you, keep it up! If it isn’t as natural, ask God to help you think more of others and ask Him to help you see others the way He sees them.

            Jesus chose us so that we could choose Him. Think back to the day you got born again, see how He revealed Himself to you so that you could make the choice to get saved by Him. He chose you, not because of who you are but because He loves you. God doesn’t take the highly trained and experienced ones, He takes the ones that to the world seem inadequate but to Him He sees gems; because He sees what the world can’t, your heart. Yes, He can still take experienced ones too, but the point is its not about your resume, its purely about your heart.  He saw your heart, and chose you because He sees the goodness in your soul.

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            Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. There is no other way to the Father except throughJesus. Jesus is the One that sets apart Christianity from false religions. Jesus is the way and when we seek Him and get a relationship with Him then we get to know the Father. Jesus speaks of how He is one with the Father which the disciples didn’t yet understand. They didn’t understand what He was talking about yet nor understand how they could be with Him.
 
            Anyone who beleives in Jesus will also do the things that He did in the flesh and even greater things because we have the Holy Spirit through what Jesus conquered at the cross. Our lifestyle should look similar to all Jesus did in His ministry; we should be sharing the gospel with others, we should be laying hands on the sick and in Jesus name seeing them healed, we should be active disciples. Jesus said that if we really love Him, we will keep and obey His commandments. Our lifestyles and actions should be a reflection of our love for Jesus. This isn’t about being legalistic in any way, however its simple; whatever we beleive and feel on the inside will be shown by our actions. If our hearts are for Jesus and we are surrendered to Him our actions should show that. If someone isn’t surrendered to Jesus or they don’t love Him yet then their actions will show that as well. It is a good self check to asses our actions regularly,ask God where we fell short and ask that He renews our minds in those areas. Again, this isn’t about legalism its about loving Jesus so much that our life shows that to Him and all who are around us. A Christian means to be like Christ; we should want our actions and our walk to be like Him if we are going to call ourselves Christians.

            Jesus also said that anything we ask the Father in His name, He will do so that the Father may be glorified and celebrated in the Son. When we pray for something and God answers our prayer, don’t hold it in, share it so that it can be celebrated and He can be glorified in it. Share what He has done.

            Again, Jesus mentions that if we love Him we will keep His words and commands. So many beleive that there is no action needed in the Christian walk, some believe merely saying you beleive and love Jesus is all thats needed. Jesus mentions twice in this chapter that if we truly LOVE Him we will keep His words and His commands, this requires action on our parts. This requires actions by us to dedicate time in Him and His word and obeying what His word says and not merely reading it to read it. When we get in the word we should be transformed by it, its not a bullet point to check off of a to do list. When we get transformed by the word we are able to obey the commands and it comes through surrendering and working with God to renew our minds. We have to choose to let God renew our minds and when we do this our lifestyle and actions show that we really do have love for Jesus. We should have so much love for Him that we want His word to change our hearts and we should want to be like Him and have our actions be like His and the mere thought of disobeying His commands should be revolting to us. Reference James 2:14-26; faith without works is dead, our actions matter.

            Jesus also mentions the coming of the Helper, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our comforter, our advocate, intercessor, counselor, and strengthener. The Holy Spirit is how we can be guided by God through life and stay in Him and Him in us. Through the Holy Spirit we are not orphans we are one with God the Father and Jesus. The Holy Spirit teaches us as we walk with Christ so that we can know Him more deeply.

            Jesus gives us peace, not the way the world does but a supernatural internal peace. We can be in the middle of a storm which is the opposite of peace yet be cloaked in His peace in the midst of it. We do not need to let our hearts be troubled nor be afraid. We need to accept and allow His perfect peace to keep us grounded in Him in every storm.

            Jesus told them all of these things so that way, when it came to pass it would give them more faith. God will give us prophetic messages for many reasons but one of the reasons is so that whenever the message comes to pass our faith will grow from hearing His word and seeing His magnificence.

            To end this chapter, Jesus said that satan, the ruler of the world was coming but that the devil had no claim on Him. The devil had no power over Jesus or anything that he could use against Jesus, but Jesus didn’t fight what was about to happen because He knew what the Fathers plan was and was in aggreance with it. HE only wanted to do what the Fathers plan was and thats how we should be, always.