Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  Day 296

October 22;   John 13:35;   81/260(II);   ‘Love, A Disciple Identifier’

John 13:35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." 

Just before the Feast of the Passover, the Lord Jesus was having supper with His disciples and He used this time together to teach them.  He taught them about serving and the dignity of serving, even by doing seemingly demeaning tasks. Like washing someone’s feet.  If we do anything in the name of Jesus and out of a sincere desire to bless someone, our actions are blessed and are a powerful witness to others.  Jesus also taught His disciples the New Testament Law, which is love.  The love Jesus spoke of, was the God kind of love.  God’s love is based on the character of the one loving and not the actions of the one who is loved.  God’s love simply says I love you, without you having to do anything to merit His love.  This is the love that Jesus loved us with and explains His willingness to go to the cross for all of humanity, regardless of their feelings towards Him.  The agape love of God, is deposited into your spirit, by the Holy Spirit, when you become Born Again.  The Lord Jesus tells us in v35, that if we will love others with the love He loved us with, and with the love that is now in our heart, that love will be easily recognizable and prove to those who experience His love through us, that we are a Christian, a disciplined follower of Jesus.  The love of God and the way that love manifests through us, is so different, that over a period of time that love, will make a very positive impact on those who do not yet know Jesus.  God’s love baffles and refreshes the mind of the lost and is a powerful ‘advertisement’ for Jesus to the spirit of the unbelievers.  God’s love never fails to impact them.