"Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him."
John 14v21,23
These verses were given to me by my father when I first arrived in Zambia to work in a mission hospital. I still have that letter dated 1950! Having left home, friends and going to an unfamiliar new place with a different climate, friends, strange language and environmant these words were very special to me. "I will show myself to him (her). I will make my home with him (her)."
On the very first day I arrived in totally unfamiliar surroundings, as I stood in the bedroom provided for me I felt very alone. And then God spoke to me "Hope, as I was with you in England, so I am with you here".
Already He was "showing" Himself to me and making His "home" with me.
What could be more precious and reassuring as I started out in a very new life in Africa?
Hope Rudge
I love this thought of God making his home with us. It's a beautiful thought but challenging too, as a new home-owner will want to make changes to the home, and there are rooms I would prefer him to stay out of sometimes!
ReplyDeleteRoger
Hope's comments on these beautiful words of Jesus are a reminder to me of the LIVING word of God. I love it when the Bible becomes alive and we can see His word speaking into our situations to give hope (no pun intended!) and life in all its' fullness.
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