Jesus’ Words in Red “IF”

Jesus’ Words in Red

“IF”

"If you love me, you will obey what I command.”

Jesus said “IF” - the word that changes everything

All of us have looked at life and said, What If?

What if I had…????

Life can change dramatically with an “If”

Life is made up of choices

 So the “If” will always be a question in our minds

Jesus said, “If you love Me”

“IF”

Jesus said, “IF” –

 The word that changes everything.

All of us have looked at life and said, What If?

What if I had…????

Life can change dramatically with an “If”.

Life is made up of choices,

 so the “If” will always be a question in our minds.

Jesus said…

 “If you love Me”

“If” “Love”

When I was a boy I watched the musical,

 “Carousal” By Rogers and Hammerstein.

It was in our little living room

on a black and white TV.

As I watched I connected with one

of the main characters, “Billy Bigelow”.

 

I remember trying so hard to hold back my tears

not wanting my mom and siblings to see me cry.

When it was over I left the

house and bawled my eyes out.

One of the scenes Billy

and Julie sing a duet called…

“If I Loved You”

The songs describes the difficulties

of expressing the words of love.

If I loved you,

Time and again I would try to say

All I'd want you to know.

If I loved you,

Words wouldn't come in an easy way

Round in circles I'd go!

Longin' to tell you,

But afraid and shy,

I'd let my golden chances pass me by!

Soon you'd leave me,

Off you would go in the mist of day,

Never, never to know how I loved you

If I loved you.

“If I love you”…

 “I’d let golden chances pass me by”

Then the chorus reveals the

fear of the loved one leaving.

Never to experience how that

love would change everything.

Jesus, the One the disciples loved, was leaving.

How would His absence

affect their love for Him?

Jesus is using the word Agape…

“If you love Me”

  

This love is a choice, making

the “If” even more impacting.

This is the love Jesus demonstrated

for us, had for us, in Romans 5:8…

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Jesus’ love was demonstrated

to us, who did not love Him…

“If you love Me”

Think about the changes

it will make in your life.

Think about the times you

may not understand His love.

Why His love for you does not

give you everything you want.

Or, the times you feel like Jesus

did on the cross when He said…

“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me”

"If you love me, you will obey what I command.”

For some of us a command

is not a sign of love.

To “Obey” is a violation of my freedom.

I should never have to

give up my “If” – My choices.

Yet, that is the weight He is

putting on this love commitment.

Look at the statistics of those who choose to

live together outside of the marriage covenant.

That alone reveals how hard it is for

us to embrace these words of Jesus…

"If you love me, you will obey what I command.”

In the song, “If I Love You”

there is a verse that says…

There's a hell of a lotta stars in the sky,

And the sky's so big the sea looks small,

And two little people, you and I

We don't count at all.

Does our love really matter?

 Does doing my own thing

really change anything?

Yes, you count.

Your “If” matters.

Your “If” matters to you, to

others, and most of all to God.

“Ifs” matter for eternity.

Billy Bigelow comes to the

point of what is life all about…

“On a night like this I start to

wonder what life is all about”

Doesn’t it make sense that the

Creator would have the answers?

Borrowing the question Jesus asked Peter

later, Jesus is saying to all of us…

“Do you love me?”

Then…

“you will obey what I command.”

Love changes everything.

Make sure your love of God is strong

enough to “obey what He commands”.

If you have this type of love,

 you will not have any…

“What Ifs”

But if you continue to love yourself more…

You will always wonder what

blessing you might have missed.

"If you love me, you will obey what I command.”

“If I Loved You”

https://youtu.be/iuHAh-2xGxw

Scripture Reading

John 14:15-24 NIV

15 "If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." 

22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, "But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?"

23 Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.