Live to Love Scripture Encouragement

John 14:22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?"
Have you ever been afraid that God wasn’t going to do what you thought He was going to do? You question what’s happening because the events aren’t lining up with what you expected. I think that’s what happened to Judas, not Judas Iscariot, but Judas the son of James. If he was thinking that Jesus was going to establish the kingdom in Israel and drive out the Romans, how was He going to do that by revealing Himself to them and not to the world. In Judas’ mind, something must have happened that changed the plan. The natural mind has a worldly perspective, but the spiritual mind envisions God’s kingdom in the hearts of men and women. In reality nothing had happened to change God’s agenda of glorifying Himself in His Son by loving His own and bringing many sons to glory.
From our vantage point, something has happened that changed everything and made it possible for Jesus to disclose Himself to us and not to the world. His death, resurrection, and glorification have occurred and as a result, the living, Lord Jesus Christ lives united with all who believe in Him. Who are those people who are united with Him? We will rejoice in the answer in tomorrow’s live to love encouragement.

Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com

John 14:21 He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him."
In this verse we have a clear statement of what it means to love Jesus and the blessing of loving Him. Those who love Jesus have His commandments and watch over them to keep them. At this point in Jesus’ message to His disciples, He has given them three commandments. 1. John 13:34. Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” Then in John 14:1, Jesus gave two more commands. So #2, “Don’t let your heart be troubled. And #3. Believe in God, believe in Me. John combined the commands of John 14:1 into one single command: Believe in Jesus. In 1 John 3:23-24 he wrote, “This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.”
My spiritual mentor, Jerry White, Jr. taught me that to be a disciple of Jesus, we have to know that God loves us and that we love Him. If those two things are settled in our lives, then our hearts won’t be troubled in this fallen world—no matter what happens. We know He loves us because He reveals Himself to us. He lets us know that He is with and in us as this verse says by the presence of the Holy Spirit. We know that we love Him because we believe He is the life and that loving with Him is the way we keep His commandments. We don’t keep Jesus’ commandments by accident or happenstance. We keep them, guard them intentionally. If you love Jesus, then be intentional about believing and trusting Jesus to be your life. Expect Him to love whoever He puts in your path today?

Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com

Live to Love Blog May 2026 by Norm Wakefield

John 14:20 In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
In what day? I can think of two possible answers from the context. 1. The day of which Jesus spoke was the day they saw Him in His resurrected body in the upper room. 2. The day of which Jesus spoke was the day that each of them received the Holy Spirit. In John 20:19-22 we discover that both of these happened on the same day and within perhaps seconds of each other. “So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.’ And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” We can see why they rejoiced! Then it happened as promised. He gave them the Holy Spirit by breathing on them and simply commanding them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
Which is most important, seeing Jesus alive in His body or receiving the Holy Spirit? This is an important question because we haven’t seen Him physically. We would think that they are blessed more than we. But hear the words of Jesus in John 20:29 spoken to Thomas who didn’t see Him the first time and doubted. Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.” He is speaking of us! The best of the two options then is receiving the Holy Spirit. It indicates that Jesus was indeed God, and was in the Father. We also know that we have an eternal abiding place in Jesus. And furthermore, we know that Jesus dwells in us like the Father dwelled in Jesus. What a glorious day it was when you received the Holy Spirit! We have His life in us and therefore are sent to love in this world just as Jesus was sent.

Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com

John 14:19 After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also.
I don’t know if we can imagine the impact of these words on the disciples. He’s told them He’s leaving so that He can return to live in them so they might live forever with Him. Let’s remember why Jesus told them these things. He was telling them what was to happen in the future so that they might believe that He is the Son of God and the life of the Father. John 13:19 “From now on I am telling you before it comes to pass, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am He.” Within days, Jesus died on the cross, three days later was raised, and then they saw Him—alive—in the upper room again fulfilling this promise—“you will see Me.” If we have life, it is because Jesus, who is the life, died, was raised, was glorified, and lives. He has given us life. The apostle Paul wrote to the Colossians in 3:4. “When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory” for “Christ in you, [is] the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). We are not of this world. We have been loved by God and filled with His life so we can love with Him. We live because He lives, and we love because He is love.

Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com