Memorial Day | John 15:13

Start your day with a short, Scripture-centered devotional from Paul Michael. In about seven minutes, you will hear the Word, reflect on its truth, and be encouraged to live it out in everyday life.

Memorial Day | John 15:13

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Transcript

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Welcome to your daily devotional with me, PMV. Although for right now it's not daily, it's weekly, as we reassess and recalibrate some things in this ministry moving forward to try to reach more and more people with the Word of God and the hope of Jesus Christ. But today, May 25th, 2026, this memorial day, I want to share a very special message with you from John chapter 15. Okay, let's look at John chapter 15, beginning at verse 9. It says, As the Father loved me, now these are the words of Jesus. He's with his disciples. They're in the upper room. It's right before he's going to go to the Garden of Gethsemane and be betrayed and handed over to be crucified. So these are some of his last words to his disciples as they're all together there before the crucifixion. And he says, As the Father has loved me, so in the way in which the Father has loved me, I also loved you. I've loved you and abide in my love. So the way in which the Father's loved me, I've loved you that way, and I want you to stay in that. Even though I'm going, I want you to continue and remain to abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love. So he's telling them how, just as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love. Now, what's the deal with keeping his commandments and abiding in his love? How does that go together? Well, here it is. It's all about a relationship. And Jesus has given us the example. Jesus came to this earth in obedience to the Father. He walked in obedience to the Father. His perfect, sinless life made him the substitute for us in our place. He took our sins upon himself. He died on a cross in our place. He rose again from the grave. And in all of that, he was perfectly obedient to the Father. And he maintained this relationship of love with the Father. You know, it's hard to have a good relationship with somebody that you're constantly rebelling against or kicking against or fighting. Our sin is rebellion against Almighty God. Jesus has come to this earth. He has submitted himself to the will of the Father, even though he's fully God Himself. He's given us an example of what it is to walk in this relationship of love, this obedience to the Father's will. He's looked at us and he said, Now you walk in my love and abide in me the same way that I've shown you how I've walked in the Father's love, how I've abided in the Father's love, how I have been obedient to the will of the Father. So it's not that random when you really think about it. It's about a relationship. And Jesus is saying, even though I'm about to go away, you can abide, you can remain in me and in my love. Because he's not only going to die, he's going to rise again from the grave. They don't understand all this at the point that he's saying it, but it will make sense to them later. Now, the other thing about that is to learn to abide in the love of God is to understand that God's love for you is a great strength to your life. It is a hiding place for you. It brings confidence to your life to realize God loves me. He's for me, not against me. And so I really can walk and live in a way that is pleasing to him in a loving relationship with him. I can stay in that and know the power of his love. Jesus continues, verse 11, These things I have spoken to you that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. It's interesting he moves from love to joy. And he wants his joy, a supernatural joy, to fill us and to be full in us. So again, moving from love to joy, but there's also a commonality here. He says in verse 12, This is my commandment that you love one another as I've loved you. So it comes back to love, but also to obedience. You won't know the fullness of the joy of Christ or the fullness of the confidence that comes in resting in the love of God if you're walking in disobedience to Christ. It's as we obey Him that we know his love to its deepest measure, and his joy is full in our lives. Again, it comes back to a relationship. But what he's also saying here is that it extends beyond just our relationship with him to now others. He's saying, This is my commandment that you love one another. So take what you've been given and now give it away. Extend it to others. Love others in the manner in which I have loved you. When how has he loved us? Well, verse 13, greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. And that's what I was thinking of this Memorial Day weekend. We celebrate Memorial Day as we remember those who gave their lives in previous battles for the freedoms and the victory that we walk in today. And so, spiritually speaking, we have victory over sin. We have new life because of Christ, who has given himself, he's laid down his life for us. And what he tells us in return is to give ourselves from one another. Again, we're to love one another as he's loved us, and then he defines that in verse 13. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. So what he's saying is I've received the Father's love, I've abided in it, I've walked in it, I've been obedient to it. You've received my love, you walk in it, you be obedient to me. But what that also means is that you're going to love others. It's not just a vertical relationship with God, it is horizontal. It affects the way that you treat those around you. And that love, if we love as Christ has loved us, is sacrificial. And that is what flies against the flesh, and that is what flies against what this world tells us. Our own flesh does not like sacrifice. The world tells us to do what you can for yourself. Don't worry about others. In fact, use others if it helps you to get ahead. But Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, has broken into time and space, and he has given us an example of sacrificial love. We have experienced that love, and he looks at us and he says, now you go love that way. My friends, that is impossible in and of our own strength. But thank God that through Jesus Christ, we not only can be forgiven of our sins, but we can be filled with God's Spirit, and it is His Spirit who enables us to live this joyful and this loving life, to have the life of Christ lived through us. That is, he has given his life sacrificially for us. Now we can love others in that way. And the amazing thing about the kingdom of God is that as we give ourselves, we actually receive the most. It's as we lay down our lives that we receive the greatest benefit. And even for a believer in Jesus Christ, if you are persecuted unto death for Jesus' name, it's still your greatest gain. You go to heaven. You receive your heavenly reward. So don't buy into the lies of this world, the me first mentality. Take up the mindset of Christ. Receive the love of God, rest in the love of God. Let it disarm you and go forth and love others as God has loved you in Jesus Christ. I hope you have a great rest of your Memorial Day. Thank you for tuning in. For more information, go to pnvministries.org.