Tell the World

     John 15:9-13; As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commandments and remained 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, that he lay down his life for his friends.  What a good Father! He wants us to be filled with complete joy.  He wants the best for us, and he tells us -his children- what we need to do to remain in his everlasting love. He asks that we obey him by loving others.  The thing that is so beautiful about God, is that he does not ask more of us than he asked of his own son.  Jesus came to the earth and loved all.  Jesus wants us to love all as well.
     But, he warns us that that does not mean everything will be hunky-dory.  Since the world is corrupt and full of people that Satan has gotten a hold of, bad things happen to good people. John 15:20-21; If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teachings, they will obey yours also.    21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me. Our job as Christians is to love like Christ loved and teach like Christ taught.  People may hate us, but we have God with us.  I would rather have the Lord on my side and be persecuted by humans and demons, than suffer God's wrath because I turned away from him and would not tell the world of his love. John 16:33; In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.  Everyone has problems. But I put my trust in someone who has the ultimate power. He left his throne in heaven, came to earth, suffered the worst death possible, all for the sake of his people. He loves us so much that he would do that.  The least I can do in return is to follow what he asked and love the people he died for.
     When the soldiers came to take Jesus, it was not as though he did not have the power to resist them.  He still had the power to health the sick and raise people from the grave, but because he loved his people so much, he went with the soldiers. John 18:4-6; Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, "Who is it you want?"   5 "Jesus of Nazareth," they [the soldiers] replied.   "I am he," Jesus said.  6 When Jesus said, "I am he," they drew back and fell to the ground.  I love this verse because here Jesus is not shouting, yet when he gently says those powerful words, "I am he," the soldiers go flying back.  I would be pretty scared if I were one of them.  No one even touched me, yet I fell to the ground after some man I am about to arrest spoke to me! Jesus had the power to snap his fingers and have the angels come and defend him. John 18:11; "Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?"  Jesus was prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for those he loved.  He was prepared to lay down his life just to prove to sinful people that he loved them.
     I have sometimes heard teenage girls talk about boy bands, and they say that from the words that the boys sing, they know that they are loved. They feel like they can get through the day because a boy that has not even met them says that he loves them.  Well, I am not very wise, but I have heard from wise people that actions speak louder than words.  Jesus loves the people in the world. He may not like there sin, but he loves the people.  It is up to us to tell others about Jesus and what he did to prove that he really does love us. A girl may feel loved by a boy she has never met because he sings about how he loves her. How much more could we change the world if we told about the abounding love of Jesus Christ?  He died on a cross for us all and gave us his word, the Bible, to tell us that he loves us.  All we have to do is read and tell the world what we read.
     I do not know about you, but I cannot keep my mouth shut up. That someone would die for a sinner like me is absolutely incredible. When I see a movie or read a good book, I can hardly wait to tell people the exciting news about what I just learned. How could I keep quiet about this even greater gift God has given me. He died so that I might live. He died so that you might live. I shall tell the world of his love, despite the troubles I may endure. God loves me, and all I can do is forever praise and obey him. I do not want to stray from someone so indescribably amazing. I will remain in him.  I will tell the world full of darkness about the light that I have, so that they too can become children of the light.

~Daughter of the Light