Pause

Love enters the world of its own accord, for its own reasons. And love is always accompanied by light. That is, love always illuminates the space it occupies.

Watch now for love to enlighten your world. Look to see what new understanding is yours in the presence of love.

Listen

As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

John 15:9-11

Think

Commandments. This is another one of those words we do not like to hear. No one likes to be commanded to do this or that. However, the commandments we read about in scripture are not there because God likes to be the boss. God has given us commandments to show the best way for us to live.

It’s better for us to love our enemies than to hate them. It’s better to tell the truth than to lie. It’s better to take a day of rest each week than to work without stopping. God knows that when we live by these commandments, we are not only living in the way that is safer and more productive for us, we are living in a way that allows us to experience God’s love more deeply.

By living the way that God has told us to live, we are more open to God’s light and love — and that is where true and deep joy comes from.

Nikki Hardeman

Pray

God, you have called us to live in ways that at times seem difficult and even impossible to do. Remind me each day that as I live in the way you have instructed, I am moving closer and closer to you. Make my joy complete, O God. Amen.

Go

As a friend of God,
Go now with the gift of love.
Be prepared to receive joy,
For joy is love's result.
And be set free in your faith,
A faith that does not burden you,
But frees you also to love.