John 14:1-3
Trust in God, but Trust also in Jesus
1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
1 John 4:7-21
God is LOVE
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
John 15:5-17
Love and the Word of Jesus
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
Luke 11:9-13
Ask, Seek, and Knock
9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
John is often called the Disciple of Love...He writes about God and His Love, and His Love for us...He tells us that God is Love...Love comes from God...Everyone who loves is born of God...God lives in us and is made complete is us...We know He is in us, because He has given us His Spirit...Perfect Love can drive out our fears...And since God Loves us we should always remember to love one another...He seems to have taken these verses from the Parable of the Vine and Branches that he wrote about in his Gospel According to John...
We trust people we love...But this trust generally takes time or a period of time, even with the ones we love...We often do not trust those we first meet, even though we may over time, fall in love with them...I have heard people in love say their spouse is the one they trust, and that is one of the reasons they are married and have stayed married...And just because two love each other they do not get or have everything they want...But Love and trust do very much go together...On this subject of trust, Jesus tells us to trust in God, but to also trust in Him...Jesus tells us to trust God...And He also tells us to trust Him...This may take us a little or some time, before we trust our God and His Son...Trust is a part of Love and strengthens love...
In His Parable about the Vine and Branches, John writes and Jesus speaks -further on Love...When He tells us about Love, He gives us the command to love one another... He combines it with His word and commands that He has been teaching...He tells us "If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in His Love...I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete."...We want this completeness...We need His Love to complete us...Jesus has what we need to reach our potential and it begins with trust and His Love...God's Love is in us and made complete in us...When His Love is complete in us, then we can be confident on the day of judgement that we will be like Jesus...If we keep Jesus' teachings in our hearts, we will have joy in our lives and our joy will be complete by His Love...
Jesus teaches us that "If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you...This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My disciples."...When we first ask and pray to Him and keep seeking that prayer, and keep on knocking and being persistent -He will open the door for us and listen to our prayer...
Prayer is our way to communicate with the Father and Son...We need Trust, Love, persistence, and belief in God to communicate with Him...When we communicate with Him and are persistent about our prayers, and follow His words and commands (which is God's will) then our prayers will be answered...Our prayers are answered, when we believe and follow His words that are in us and have remained in us...Our prayers may not always be answered (and we may not get everything we want) or the way we want them, but in Him we must trust...Trusting in Him, shows our love...