John 14:21
Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.
Improving Our Relationship With Jesus
Jesus clearly said that the greatest commandment was to love the Lord our God will all of our heart, soul, and mind, which is the first and greatest commandment (Matthew 22:37-38). If we love Him, we will strive to obey Him; and if we do, Jesus said that He will manifest Himself to us (John 14:21). To make something or someone manifest means to make it clear or obvious to the eye or mind. A manifest of myself would be my resume, my life story (testimony), my work history, my education, and such. I want Jesus to make Himself manifest to me. Don’t you? One way to do that and improve our relationship with Jesus is to obey Him because He says that whoever obeys what He says (His commandments) is showing that they love Him. As a result of that, He will love them, and this causes Jesus to “manifest myself to him.” I want that!
The Intimacy of Prayer
Nothing draws us closer to God than praying to Him. Imagine you have a best friend (and I hope you do) whom you speak to every single day. He or she is your most trusted friend, and you can tell this person anything at all and have confidence that he or she won’t be blabbing it all around town. Now, imagine Jesus is listening to you and wanting you to tell Him everything about you: your hurts, your fears, your disappointments, your heartaches. Spill it all out. Tell Him everything. Pour out your heart to Him. Any relationship is improved when you share your innermost secrets and thoughts, your aspirations, and your inclinations. Your relationship will always be better the more you are in contact with someone, even more so with Christ.
Abiding in Christ
You know that if you abide in someone, it means you are basically dwelling where they are, which is much of what Jesus said in John 15. The word Jesus said to abide in Him (John 15:7) is the Greek word “menō” and means “to remain under, to tarry,” and “to live.” So if you abide in Jesus’ words, He will abide in you (John 15:4). Then you can ask whatever you will of Him (John 15:7), and “it will be done for you.” Since we know that Jesus is the Word (John 1:1, 14), the more time you spend in His Word, the Bible, the better your relationship with Him will be. This is like Jesus’ biography. It is His life story. It is a Him-book! Do you want to know how to get to know Him better? Read His Word–there you will learn more about Him. The more you know, the more you’ll grow.
A Closing Prayer
Father, I seek to know Jesus so much better and to have a closer, more personal relationship, but I realize I must be living in obedience to His commands, I must be reading His Word daily, and I must be in constant communication (prayer) with Him so that my relationship with Him will get better. So I ask Your help in these things, and in the Great Name of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, I pray.
Amen
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