The reason today's verse means so much to me is because I know how much it means to many of you. And it means so much to many of you because of what's going on in your lives.
Hey KS, I'm talkin to you. Hey LF, I'm talkin to you. Hey WS, I'm talkin to you. In fact, if you're reading this, I'm talkin to you.
It means a lot to us, doesn't it? When somebody knows us and our circumstances and when they make time for us, to love us and encourage us and pray for us, it means a lot, doesn't it?
And yet, as much as our love and encouragement and prayers mean to us as we share with one another, how much more are we loved by our God through His Son, our Savior, Jesus, the Christ? How much does God's love mean to us?
"Having loved his own who were in the world, [Jesus] now showed them the full extent of his love." (John 13:1)
And what exactly did Jesus do in order to show them the full extent of his love at this point of his earthly life?
He washed their feet.
He suffered for their sin, literally down to the bloody bone.
He died for them, took their place on the cross.
And he conquered the power of their sin, which is guilt.
Then he rose from the dead to pour out the promised Holy Spirit so he could live in the hearts of all who would receive him in faith.
And he conquered the power of their death, which is fear. (Fear is paralyzing. It opens the door to spiritual attack.) Jesus conquered our fears. Give your fears to Jesus.
Then he went to heaven and prepared a place for us. He went to His Father's house and prepared a place for you and me.
Then he poured out Holy Spirit so that he could live in us and dine with us. Day after day after everlasting and eternal day.
Some of you, at this point, are in a hurry and need to go. So you're in a hurry for this devotion to be done. I understand. More importantly, God understands.
But for those of you who have another minute or two, I just wanted to tell you again about an old woman, Juanita, in our church who lost her mind a couple years before she died. (I want to tell you this story again because my First Holy Communion teacher, Ms. Lib Alvey died just about a week ago.) Juanita was receiving Holy Communion at her nursing home. Upon being told all that Jesus did in order "to show the full extent of his love" for her, this old and mindless woman was clearly taking time to think about it. After taking it all in, this old and mindless woman smiled and glowed and said, "He did all that for me?"
Friends, if you have a minute later today, maybe you could revisit the above list of things that Jesus did in order "to show the full extent of his love" for you.
Maybe with that revisiting you could pick up the phone or visit an elderly person who would be blessed to be reminded of all that Jesus did for them.
Because the answer to the question is, "Yes, He did all that for you." And he did it because he knows you and your circumstances and so he makes time for you, to love you and encourage you and pray for you.
It means a lot, doesn't it?
Pass it on and...
Praise God!
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