Abiding in the Love of God: by Andrew Murray

 

 "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.

Now remain in my love.
 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love,

just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 

John 15:9-10

Our blessed Lord not only said, “Abide in me” (John 15:4), but also, “Abide in My love.” To reveal this life in His love to us in all its divine beauty and blessedness, Jesus tells us that His love for us, in which we are to abide, is just the same as the Father’s love for Him, the love in which He abides. Surely, if anything were necessary to make the abiding in His love more wonderful and attractive, this ought to do so. “As the Father hath loved Me, so have I loved you: continue ye in My love.”

We are the beloved of Jesus. As the Father loved Him, He loves us. And what we need is to take time and to worship and wait until we see the infinite love of God in all its power and glory streaming forth on us through the heart of Jesus. It is seeking to make itself known, receiving complete possession of us, and offering itself as our home and resting place. Oh, if the Christian would only take the time to let this wondrous thought fill him, “I am the beloved of the Lord. Jesus loves me every moment, just as the Father loved Him.” Then how our faith would grow, and we would believe that we are loved as Christ was.

Oh, this Christlike obedience, leading to a Christlike abiding in the divine love! To attain it, we must study Christ more. He emptied Himself, humbled Himself, and became obedient. (See Philippians 2:8.)May He empty and humble us, too! We must yield ourselves to be taught obedience by Him. We need to listen to what He has told us about how He did nothing of Himself, but only what He saw and heard from the Father. Entire dependence on the Father was the root of His obedience and the secret of His knowledge of the Father’s deeper secrets. (See John 5:19–20.) God’s love and man’s obedience are like the lock and key fitting into each other. It is God’s grace that has fitted the key to the lock; it is man who uses the key to unlock the treasures of love.