The essence of what these three represent can be summed up in two words, “I Will” (which is the foundation of Pride).

"How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! "But you said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High. (Isa. 14:12-14)

- When Satan (the prince of the power of the air) rebelled against his place in God’s creation, he said, “I will be my own god and I will be bigger and better than God, Himself.”

- This spirit of “I will” (Pride) is how he deceived our first parents.

"Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?" And the woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, lest you die.'" And the serpent said to the woman, "You surely shall not die! "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings." (Gen. 3:1-7)

- They believed Satan’s lie that God wanted to keep them less than they could be.

- They believed Satan’s lie that disobeying God and eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil would make them better than they were.

- They made a willful decision to disobey God.

- The result is that Satan, and his spirit of “I Will”, now governs the world and every human being born into it.

- Our first parents sold mankind into slavery to Satan and his spirit of “I will”!!

How does Satan tempt us through our flesh?

An Example:

“But a certain man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and kept back some of the price for himself, with his wife's full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back some of the price of the land? "While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God." (Acts 5:1-4)

Why did Ananias keep back some of the money he was given from the sale of his land?


- He wanted the “glory” of being seen by his friends as a generous, sacrificing Christian while satisfying his greed by keeping some of the money for himself. (the self-centeredness of Pride - sin - in his flesh was being tempted by Satan)

Where did Ananias get the idea to lie about the price of his land?

Peter says Satan filled his heart. Satan gave him the idea.

Is Satan a weird or scary being who wears a red suit, has horns, and carries pitchfork? Of course not!

- The Bible tells us that Satan is an angel who rebelled against God. Satan confronted our first parents directly – face to face. Now he works by “filling our hearts”

How do you think Satan "fills our hearts?"

- He does this by placing his thoughts, ideas, desires, and feelings into us through our flesh.

- He does this by placing these thoughts, ideas, desires, and feelings within us in our own voices.

- He didn’t say to Ananias, “Ananias, why don’t you lie about the amount of money you got for the land you sold. You can receive praise from your friends but still have money in your pocket.”

- Instead, speaking in Ananias’s own voice, he plants the thought using the first person voice, “I can lie about the amount of money I received, get praise, and still have money in my pocket.”

- The result is that Ananias believes the thought to lie is his own. He believes the thought to lie comes from himself.

But it can’t be! As a believer, his heart is good. It cannot think and desire such things.

If the source of the idea was Satan, why does Peter hold Ananias accountable for his sin – trying to lie to God, the Holy Spirit, and his Christian friend's?

Because Ananias should have known where this thought was coming from and chosen to reject it in the power of the Holy Spirit.

As believers, any thought, feeling, or desire that is contrary to God’s will and way is not from us.

- Satan generates these thoughts, ideas, desires, and feelings in us. 

- Satan is tempting us to let go of the Holy Spirit, break free from abiding in Christ, and live out the actions that his planted thoughts, ideas, desires, and feelings require.

Is being tempted to sin a sin? Why or why not?


It is important to remember that a temptation is not sin. Jesus was tempted in all ways but did not sin. Therefore, to be tempted is not a sin.

- Since the thoughts, ideas, desires, or feelings Satan is tempting us with did not originate from ourselves, it is not a sin to have them.

- Satan gives them to us.

- Then, Satan accuses us of being a rotten human being for having them. - How diabolical is that?!

(See Appendix 2)

When does a temptation become a sin?

Any thought, idea, desire or feeling becomes an act of sin when we continue to dwell on it and then choose to live it out.

 - We can only live it out by choosing to break free from abiding in Christ.

- This decision to break free results in our being governed by the sin which indwells our flesh and it's habit patterns instead of the Holy Spirit.

When faced with the initial thought, idea, desire, or feeling we must choose to stand against it in the authority of Jesus. We are in Christ, seated at the right hand of the Father, having His authority over Satan and all his emissaries.

“If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Col. 3:1-3)

- We identify where the thought, idea, or desire is coming from – Satan – and choose to resist him.

- We say to him, “I know what you are tempting me with. I know this thought (or idea or desire or feeling) is not of me. I resist you in the name and authority of Jesus and you must flee from me. You must leave me and take you thought (or idea or desire or feeling) with you.”

(See Appendix 3)

“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Pet. 5:8)

But

“Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you”. (Js. 4:7)

How do we "resist" the Devil?


Why must he flee from us?

IN SUMMARY 

As those who have accepted Jesus and been reborn we are free from Satan and his power. But Satan continually tempts us through the world and the sin which indwells our flesh.

- The flesh, influenced by the world, and prompted by Satan, asks us to beelieve what it says is true about us- who we are, what we want, and how we feel 

-  God asks us to believe Him.

- Moment by moment we must decide and choose who we will believe. 

-  If, in a moment of time, we choose God, we will experience peace and joy as we exhibit the “New Things”. We will be what we were created to be – an image of God.

- If we choose the flesh, we will have a conviction of wrongdoing as we exhibit the “Old Things”.

- Then we must decide if we will confess or not.

- If we choose to confess, we will be forgiven. By confessing we will be restored to fellowship with God. Once again we will have peace and joy, and know meaning and purpose. We will be what we were created to be.

- If we choose not to confess, we will continue in sin.

- As a result of continuing in sin we will lose the peace and joy, the meaning and purpose, which come from living as we were created to be.

- This loss will continue until we do choose to confess.

The Christian life is simple:

- Moment by moment we are to choose to abide in Christ just as branches abide in their vine, thereby experiencing the joy of bearing the fruit of His life through us, as such we reflect the Image of God, and know the peace and significance of being what we were created to be

- We experience joy as we abide because we are fulfilling the meaning and purpose for which we were created.

- We are image bearers of God.

- But a diabolical and vicious enemy opposes us. He desires to steal from us the abundant life God has for us.

- We are at war.

- We will never know the ultimate peace and joy of our new birth until Jesus returns for us and we lose this body of flesh in which sin resides.

- Until Jesus does come for us, we must resist our enemy by faith in Him who loved us and gave Himself for us, confidently affirming that:

“…. greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world.” (1 Jn. 4:40)

And

“…. this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith.” (1 Jn. 5:4)

(See Appendix 6)

Bibliography:

 Steve McVey: Grace Walk / Grace Rules

Dr. Bill Gillham: Lifetime Guarantee

Michael Wells: Sidetracked in the Wilderness / Audio Tape Series “The Abiding Life”

Watchman Nee: The Normal Christian Life

Appendix 1: The Flesh

From The Naked Gospel by Andrew Farley

The Flesh is an approach to gaining a respected, strong, or popular identity in this world.

The Flesh will build any kind of identity (sinful or religious/moral) as long as it gains love, attention, and acceptance from someone.

The Flesh is expressed any time we rely on intellect, strength, or physical appearance to gain purpose and fulfillment.

The Flesh….can serve as a resource from which we gain a sense of wisdom strength, and status.

The Flesh is a way to think and act.

The Flesh works against the Spirit.

The Flesh encourages self-effort. The Flesh seeks identity and purpose.

We choose to put confidence in the Flesh. 

 From Sidetracked in the Wilderness by Michael Wells

"The flesh is the baggage (patterns/ habitual ways of thinking, choosing, and feeling) still stored in the mind, will, and emotions."

 Appendix 2: Satan's Cycle of Defeat

Satan has authority over the indwelling sin in the believer (the flesh patterns in the brain) to:

1.) Deceive the believer by implanting thoughts and ideas with the believer’s own “voice.” Then

2.) The believer CHOOSES with his will

3.) To SET HIS MIND on the deception

4.) Which results in HEIGHTENED EMOTIONS

5.) Which increases PRESSURE on the will

6.) Which CHOOSES to “do the very thing I hate.”

Appendix 3: VICTORY in Jesus

“Don’t be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Rm. 12:2

“For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things you ought.” Gal. 5:17

IDENTIFY:

A surgeon leaves a surgical sponge in you during surgery. There is not a problem “with” you. There is a problem “in” you. After our salvation, our problem is the power of sin “in” us, not our old Adam nature warring against our New nature “within” us.

Rm. 7:17 “So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which indwells me. Rm. 7:20 “But if I am doing the very thing I do not wish, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.”

1 Pet. 5:8 “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

Moment by moment Satan attempts to disrupt our abiding as a branch in the Vine of Christ by using the power of sin that indwells us to tempt us. He does this in three waves: 1.) By sowing first person pronoun “thought seeds” in our minds which will “bloom” into fleshly actions, attitudes, and feelings if left unchallenged. This is what Satan did to Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:3-4). 2.) By getting us to think and act with a “law” mentality. (1 Cor. 15:56 – “I must….”, “I will….”, “I won’t….”, “I can’t….”). and 3.) To accept these thoughts and this mentality as our true selves based on our feelings rather than believing what is true about us based on what God has said is true about us in His Word.

We must IDENTIFY where are thoughts and feelings are coming from.

REMEMBER:

To stand firm against the onslaught of these thoughts, this mentality, and these feelings we must REMEMBER who and what we are as believers.

We are new creations. Our old ways of thinking, acting, reacting, feeling, evaluating, prioritizing, and believing have been put to death when we were crucified with Christ. Christ is now our life. As we abide in Him, His ways of thinking, acting, reacting, evaluating, prioritizing, and believing will freely and naturally live themselves out through us.

Rm. 6:3-4 “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been buried with Him through baptism into His death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”

Rm. 6:6 “knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.”

2 Cor. 5:17 “Therefore, if any man is in Christ, there is a new creation; the old things passed away (perished), behold, new things have come.”

Gal. 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and delivered Himself up for me.”

Rm. 8:2 “for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death, you who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit.”

We must REMEMBER that any moment we “feel” one of the emotional “old things” or “feel” like carrying out one of the “old things” actions we are being tempted, through the power of the sin which indwells our flesh, to believe and/or act upon a lie from satan. These feelings and/or thoughts are not our true selves. We must IDENTIFY satan as the source of these false “feelings/thoughts”.

RESIST:

Having IDENTIFIED the source, having REMEMBERED who we are as new creations in Christ, we must choose to RESIST the devil by the authority that is ours by our ascension with Christ to the right hand of the Father in Heaven.

By that authority, the devil must flee.

Matt. 28:18 “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me, in Heaven and on earth.”

Js. 4:7 “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

Example: “Satan, I recognize this judgmental attitude towards______ as coming from you through the sin which indwells my flesh. I choose to deny its truth and believe what God says is true about me instead. By the authority that is mine in Christ, you must flee.”

EXPERIENCE:

When we IDENTIFY the source, REMEMBER who and what we are in Christ, and choose to RESIST the devil, we will EXPERIENCE the abundant life that Christ promised us. We will no longer be in bondage to the things we hate.

Rm. 7:15 “For that which I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate."

Rather, we will EXPERIENCE the contentment that comes to one “who can do all things through Christ who strengthens, empowers, and enables….” (Phil. 4:13)

Appendix 4: Nothing More – Nothing Less!!

There is a children’s story that tells of a disgruntled choo-choo train. He is unhappy because all he gets to do is pull freight cars from Jonestown to Smithville. All day, every day, he travels the tracks, back and forth, back and forth. As he travels each day he sees the birds flying so free in the sky! He sees the bunnies romping in the fields! He sees the children playing! And the more he sees, the more discouraged he becomes. “Why can’t I be free? Why I am locked on to these tracks? I want something more?” So one day he garners all his energy, and while on a crossing, he jumps the track! Freedom is his! He is excited! “Here I come to romp and play!”

But all too soon his joy turns to sadness. Why? Because he is stuck in the mud! He is not going anywhere. Freedom is not freedom when you need tracks to run on!!!

A lesson is learned. True happiness and satisfaction comes from being what you were created to be. No matter what others may be and do, you can only be what you were created to be. Thus, when the train was put back on the tracks, he was never dissatisfied again. His eyes had been opened. He was who he was, and that would be enough. Now the formally disgruntles train looked forward to every day. Now every day was a day of satisfaction and accomplishment. He knew what he was and what his purpose was. He would be what he was to be – nothing more, nothing less.

How is a Christian to find satisfaction and meaning in life? What is a Christian created to be?

Jesus commissioned His disciples to “….go and make disciples….teaching them to observe all that I have taught you.” Thus, we were created to be disciples, nothing more – nothing less. The logical question is, “What is a disciple?” The dictionary defines a disciple as “an adherent of the doctrine and philosophy of another, a follower.” To be a disciple of Jesus is to believe what Jesus taught about how to live life and to apply that way of living to our own lives.

So, the question then becomes, “How did Jesus live His life?” In essence we are asking, “How did Jesus live the Christian life?” Most of us would reply, “He was God. He lived a Godly life because He was God.” But in the mystery of Jesus’ incarnation, Jesus did not live His life on earth out of His Deity. Phil. 2: 6-7 tells us that Jesus “….did not hold equality with God a thing to be grasped but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant….” In other words, Jesus gave up the free expression of His Godly powers. Although He was both God and man in a oneness that only God can fully understand, during His life on earth He limited Himself to His humanity. That humanity was fully dependent of the Father to manifest Himself through the earthly Jesus. Jesus did not raise Lazarus from the dead; the Father did it through Him. Jesus did not give sight to the blind man; His Father did it through Him. Jesus did not preach the Sermon on the Mount; His Father did it through Him. Sounds heretical you say? Check these verses: “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know –“ Acts 2: 22; “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.” John 10: 14. Jesus lived His Christian life by depending on His Father to live through Him.

Paul was an outstanding disciple of Jesus. How did he live the Christian life? Paul lived his Christian life by depending on Jesus to live through him, as Jesus had depended on His Father to live through Him. In his letter to the Galatian Christians Paul says, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life I live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.” (Gal.2: 20) To the Christians in Colossae Paul writes, “And for this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.” (Col.1: 29) To the Christians in Rome he says, “For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed.” (Rm.15: 18)

Paul was “an adherent of the doctrine and philosophy” of Jesus. He followed the “how to live” philosophy/pattern of his master. He lived in dependence upon Jesus, as Jesus had lived in dependence upon His Father.

And this is exactly how Jesus expects us to live our lives as Christians - depending on Him to live His life out through us. This is what He teaches us in John. 15: 1-11. In this passage Jesus uses the analogy of a grape vine and its branches. Just as a branch cannot produce fruit in and of itself but must be a conduit for the vine to produce fruit through it, we as Christian cannot live the Christian life in and of ourselves. We must be a conduit for Jesus to live His life through us. This is what we are to be – nothing more, nothing less.

There are three main points that we need to understand in this passage. The central truth is found in vs.4-5, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.” “Abiding” means letting Jesus live His life out through us as He let His Father live through Him. (Jn.14: 8-10)

The second point is found in vs.8. In this verse, Jesus tells us that the Father is glorified when we bear much fruit. To glorify someone is to enhance their reputation, to cause their dignity and worth to be clearly seen, understood, and acknowledged by another. When we abide in Christ, letting Him bear the fruit of His nature and character out through us, God the Father’s reputation is enhanced as others come to clearly see God for who He is.

Finally, the result for us is joy. We experience the satisfaction, delight, and lively pleasure that come from being what we were created to be – nothing more, nothing less. 

Let’s take a closer look at this passage verse by verse. 

One of the most reassuring facts of our Christian walk is found in verse 1. 

1 "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.

Jesus states here that His Father is the vinedresser. What is the responsibility of a vinedresser? It is to assure production from the vineyard. Thus, the ultimate responsibility for us to be bountiful fruit bearing branches in the vine of Jesus lies with God the Father. We can rest in the fact that the Father has willingly assumed the responsibility of overseeing our maturing as Christians. We can rest in the fact that the Father, with all His wisdom and power, will do everything He can to get us mature and productive for Him. He has chosen to limit Himself to using us to bring glory to Himself. He will do what is necessary to see that he gets the most from us!!

2 "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every {branch} that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit. How does God work? What does He do? He does what He can to influence us to choose to abide in Christ. This verse tells us that if we are choosing not to abide, and therefore are not bearing fruit, the Father lifts us up and prunes us. (Lifts us is a more appropriate translation than takes away. Both translations are possible. The context determines what to use. No responsible vinedresser would throw away a branch that has great potential. Branches lying on the ground are lifted up and tied off to get them into the sun to give them the best possible chance for productivity.) But what does this imagery mean? What can the Father do to influence us? He can bring circumstances and events into our lives that take us to the end of our self-sufficiency. When we must face things that are beyond our own resources to meet and overcome, we must turn to Jesus. We must admit that apart from Jesus we can do nothing. When the Father has brought such things into our lives, with the result that we turn to Jesus and learn His sufficiency, we are ready to apply it in all areas of our life. We learn how to abide in the crucible of need and then apply what we have learned to a moment by moment walk of abiding. (cp. 2 Cor.12: 7-10)

3 "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.

4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither {can} you, unless you abide in Me.

5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing. What “word” has Jesus spoken to these men? The word that makes them a branch – believe. John uses the word “believe” over 100 times in his gospel and epistles. Two prime examples are Jn.8: 24 “….for unless you believe I am He, you will die in your sins.” and Jn.6: 28-29 “They said therefore to Him, ‘What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.’” In our terminology, these men were saved by their belief in Jesus. They had been born again as Jesus had described in Jn.3. They were ready to be branches in the vine of Jesus. They were ready to be productive and bear fruit. Jesus and the Father could take up residence in them (Jn.14: 23) as soon as Jesus had cleansed them of their sins by His death on the cross. They only needed to grasp hold of and apply the truth of abiding to become the fruit bearers the Father wanted them to be. Their coming flight from Jesus at His arrest, and their denial of Jesus at His trial and crucifixion, would be the crucible the Father used to enlighten them of the foolishness of having any confidence in their own sufficiency to fulfill the mission Jesus would give them. They would fail miserably at these crucial times. They would know from then on the truth of Jesus’ words “….apart from Me you can do nothing.” The remembrance of their failures would drive them to abiding. From then on, as they compared their failures in this time of great testing to Jesus’ obedience, they would know that only Jesus Himself, living through them, could give their mortal flesh (Rm.8: 11) the life necessary to bear fruit the Father desired to produce through them.

6 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

Who are these guys? (….they….) In a literal vineyard, they would be field workers under the authority of the vinedresser who remove the unfruitful branches so the resources of the vine will go to the producing branches. In a literal vineyard, they would be burned. But what does the “they” refer to in the metaphor?

Think of Jesus’ parable of the soils. The seed of His word that fell on hard ground was snatched away by birds. This speaks of those who hear the message of Jesus but choose not to believe. The middle two soils refer to believers (the seed germinates and brings forth life), but either the difficulties of this life or the materialistic temptations of this life pull their lives away from abiding. They do not bear fruit. They may be members in good standing of a sound, Bible based church. They may teach Sunday School or work with the youth. They may do any number of things that those who observe them count as a fruitful ministry, but the reality is, they are living out of their own resources and abilities, and what they are accomplishing has no eternal value for them. It is their fruit, not Jesus’ fruit through them. They are not glorifying the Father. They do not experience the fullness of joy that Jesus offers. The resources of the divine vine go to others.

7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you.

Although this promise is foundational to all prayer, it is a specific promise in this context. The whole concept of Abiding, of Jesus living Himself out through us, of people encountering Jesus when they meet us, is hard to believe! It almost sounds like something out of a Science-Fiction novel!! Yet, here Jesus promises us if we choose to abide in Him, and these words of illustration of a branch and a vine abide in us, we can ask Jesus to bear fruit through us, and He will. He will manifest Himself through our mortal bodies. That is His promise to us.

But we have to ask. God is working through the circumstances of our lives to bring us to complete and utter dependence on Jesus. Jesus has assured us that if we ask upon His words of promise, He will live through us. But we have to ask! The step of asking is the acknowledgement that we understand that apart from Jesus we can do nothing. The act of asking is our acknowledgement that we are stepping out in faith. God wants us to. Jesus is willing to. We activate the truth by our faith in asking.

8 "By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and {so} prove to be My disciples.

To glorify is to enhance the reputation of another person or thing. It is to cause the dignity and worth of that person or thing to be clearly seen, understood, and acknowledged by another. We glorify God by being disciples of Jesus. We glorify God by living in dependence upon the life and power of Jesus to manifest itself through us as Jesus let the life and power of His Father live through Him. By yielding ourselves over to Jesus, we bear much fruit that is supernatural. We exhibit the “New Things” of our “New Heart”. People see a difference in us that is unlike anything else in the world. They see Jesus. As Jesus shared His message on the basis of His uniqueness, we then share the reason we are different. By this the Father is glorified.

9 "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.

10 "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. God’s love for us is unconditional. This means that nothing we do can make God love us more, and nothing we do can make God love us less. (Rm.5: 8 “But God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”) Yet, we all have times of “feeling” unloved. Usually such times are when we have sinned or when difficulties come. Whatever the scenario, Satan is always ready to whisper in our ear that God certainly couldn’t love us because….!! Jesus tells us here that although we are never unloved, we can feel unloved. Yet, it is not a circumstance that makes us feel unloved. We only feel unloved when we choose not to abide in Jesus love.

How do we abide in His love? By keeping His commandments. So, the logical question is, what commandments is Jesus referring to? The context tells us. There are two commandments in this context, thus the plural “commandments.” (“commandments” here does not mean all the commandments of Scripture!) Keeping both is how we “prove” we are Jesus disciples. Remember, by proving we are Jesus disciples, we glorify the Father, and that is our purpose – nothing more, nothing less. (Jn.15: 8)

The first commandment is found in John 13: 34-35, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. The second is found in Jn.15: 4-6 and can be summed up with the words “abide in Me”. And the truth is, we cannot exhibit the first commandment without obeying the second. To truly love one another as Christ loved us is impossible without abiding in Jesus. Apart from abiding and experiencing the love of Christ flowing through us by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit giving life to our new hearts, we can only express human love. Human love is not miraculous love. Human love cannot meet the standard of agape love (1 Cor.13: 4-8), and agape love is the love Jesus had for us.

The simple fact is, whenever we feel unloved by God, there is only one reason. We are not at that moment abiding in Jesus. If we choose to abide, we experience the assurance of God’s love ourselves and exhibit God’s love to others. If we choose not to abide, we lose the assurance, rest, peace, and contentment that is reality of experiencing God’s love for us. We have severed the connection of a branch to a vine and have therefore lost the life of the Vine.

The solution is simple as well. Confess (agree with God) that we have chosen not to abide and give Jesus permission to live through us again. Moment by moment, we will either be abiding and experience the love of the Father and the Son, or we will be in sin, having disobeyed the commandment to abide, and will not be experiencing the love of God. 11 "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and {that} your joy may be made full.

The dictionary defines joy as “an emotion of keen or lively pleasure arising from present or expected good; exultant satisfaction; great gladness.” This is what Jesus wants us to experience. He wants us to know “full” joy. Like the little train that found its joy by coming to realize it was only possible by being and doing what it was created for, so we too can only know the fullness of the joy God has for us by being a branch in the Vine of Christ. This is what we were created for – nothing more, nothing less!!

Old Things: Greed; Jealousy; Lies; Arrogance; Immorality; Anger; Cliques; Sensualness; Rebellion; Evil; Gossip; Slander; Maliciousness; Impurity; Envying; Abusiveness; Insolence; Quarreling; (Rm. 1:28-32; Gal. 5:19-21; Col. 3:5-9)

New Things: Love; Compassion; Humility; Kindness; Gentleness; Patience; Forgiveness; Sympathy; Joy; Concern; Self-Sacrificing; Empathy; Service; Peace; Hopeful; Self-Control  (Gal. 5:22-23; Col. 3:12-15)

“No Person Can Consistently Behave In A Way That is Inconsistent With the Way He Perceives Himself To Be.” William James

I am the salt of the earth (Matt.5:13)
I am the light of the world (Matt.5:14)
I am a child of God (John 1:12)
I am a part of the True Vine, a channel of Christ’s life (John 15:1,5)
I am Christ’s friend (John 15:15)
I am chosen and appointed by Christ to bear His fruit. (John 15:16)
I am a slave of righteousness (Rm.6:18)
I am enslaved to God (Rm.6:22)
I am a son of God; God is spiritually my Father (Rm.8:14; Gal.3:26, 4:6)
I am a joint heir with Christ, sharing His inheritance with Him (Rm.8:17)
I am a temple, a dwelling place of God. His Spirit and His life dwells in me (1 Cor. 3:16, 6:19)
I am united with the Lord and am one spirit with HIm (1 Cor.6:17)
I am a member of Christ’s body (1 Cor.12:27; Eph.5:30)
I am a new creation (2 Cor.5:17)
I am reconciled to God and am a minister of reconciliation (2 Cor.5:18-19)
I am a son of God and one in Christ (Gal.3:26,28)
I am a heir of God since I am a son of God (Gal.4:6-7)
I am a saint (Eph.1:1; 1 Cor.1:2; Phil.1:1; Col.1:2)
I am God’s workmanship, His handiwork, born anew in Christ to do His work (Eph.2:10)
I am a fellow citizen with the rest of God’s family (Eph.2:19)
I am a prisoner of Christ (Eph.3:1, 4:1)
I am righteous and holy (Eph.4:24)
I am a citizen of Heaven, seated in Heaven right now (Phil.3:20; Eph.2:6)
I am hidden with Christ in God (Col.3:3)
I am an expression of the life of Christ because He is my life (Col.3:4)
I am chosen of God, holy and dearly loved (Col.3:12; 1 Thess.1:4)
I am a son of light and not darkness (1 Thess.5:5)
I am a holy partaker of a Heavenly calling (Heb.3:1)
I am a partaker of Christ, I share His life (Heb.3:14)
I am one of God’s “living Stones”, being built up in Christ as a spiritual house (1 Pet.2:5)
I am a member of a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession (1 Pet.2:9-10)
I am an alien and stranger to this world in which I temporarily live (1 Pet.2:11)
I am an enemy of the devil (1 Pet.5:8)
I am a partaker of the Divine nature (2 Pet.1:4)
I am a child of God and I will resemble Christ when He returns (1 Jn.3:1-2)
I am born of God and the evil one, the devil, cannot touch me (1 Jn.5:18)
I am not the great “I am” (Ex.3:14; Jn.8:24, 28, 58) but by the grace of God, I am what I am
(1Cor.15:10)

“Who am I?” taken from Victory Over the Darkness by Neil Anderson