His Abiding Presence

“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me” (John 14: 18-24).

Behold the depth of this marvelous promise! Jesus promised that He would not leave His disciples as orphans when He returned to the Father. He affirmed two indispensable truths here. First, by using the term “orphans” He reaffirmed the salvation of His disciples and the precious relationship they had with Him… “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13). Second, He promised them a very real and personal presence that would comfort, encourage, and keep them in the trying days that were to come and give them hope beyond the trials of this temporary life… “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God” (Galatians 4:6-7). But the promise was for those who truly loved Him. For any who might be unsure, Jesus offered a clear measure of love for Him… “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word”. For those who are compelled by the love of Christ to keep His word, Jesus promises His abiding presence.

If we’re honest we’ve all had moments when we feel so alone it feels like God has forsaken us. Like David, we may occasionally feel abandoned by God… “How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” (Psalm 13:1). While true disciples may sometimes feel God has deserted them, we know in truth that He is always near… “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). What might be going on in times like these? It could be that our focus has become misdirected. It may be that we’ve become subtly absorbed by something other than Jesus and His word.

The word used by Jesus and translated “keep” here is tēreō and it means to guard, hold fast, keep, preserve, and watch over. The implication is that if we really Love Jesus, we will cherish His word in our hearts. We will long for it. We will prize it above all other words. If we love Jesus more than anything or anyone else we will have a hunger in our hearts that can be satisfied by nothing other than His word… “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). If we truly love Jesus we will value God’s word above the foolishness of the world’s words, traditions, and philosophies… “For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, ‘He catches the wise in their craftiness,’ and again, ‘The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile’” (1 Corinthians 3:19-20). If we love Jesus more than anything else, His word will be our rule for living and the authority for every decision… “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). If we truly love Jesus more than anything else, we will prize and pass His word on to our children like the indispensable family treasure we believe it to be… “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7). In the eyes of our Savior devotion to His word is a direct reflection of our devotion to Him.

As we grow up into Christ our maturing devotion to Him and His word increases our awareness of…

His abiding presence.