The Wednesday Word 6.29.2022

 

John 15:5-11 New Living Translation

5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. 7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father. 9 “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. 10 When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 11 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!

There is a comfort and a reassurance that comes only from knowing that you are loved, really loved. It is like being wrapped in a warm and cozy blanket. It is like being nestled in the arms of a strong and vigilant parent who will protect you from all harm. There is a satisfaction that comes from the acknowledgment that you are doing your best. These sensations barely scratch the surface of the kind of experience Jesus wants us to enjoy every day. Jesus wants us to know joy.

For me, joy is a warm, glowing light within that is never extinguished. It may be obscured for a moment. I may become so preoccupied with what is going on outside that I lose my balance, but joy is there to catch me. I have been taught to see God’s love all around me in a thousand ways and I have learned that I am an infinitesimal part of that love. I described it best in my mother’s eulogy: cancer was her cause of death, but it could not take her life. Her life shone brightly with the joy she found in loving and being loved, and still does in those of us who knew her. I pray that I may follow her example. I pray that I may follow the example set out for us in the life of our Savior. That kind of joy is there for the asking…something to pray about.

Don’t forget to look for the Lord today. Vicki H.

                                                                                                        photo by Mohamed Nohassi

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