“If you love me, keep my commands.”<\/em> – John 14:15 (NIV)<\/strong><\/p>\n Jesus links love and obedience: \u201cIf you love Me, keep My commands.\u201d Obedience is not meant to be a cold religious duty; it is the natural response of a heart that has been captured by His love. You are not trying to earn Christ\u2019s affection; you are responding to it.<\/p>\n As a new believer, some of His commands may stretch or unsettle you. Forgiving those who hurt you, walking in purity, telling the truth, or letting go of certain habits may feel costly. In those moments, it helps to remember who is asking, this is the One who laid down His life for you.<\/p>\n When you obey out of love, obedience becomes lighter, even when it is still challenging. Each \u201cyes\u201d becomes a way of saying, \u201cJesus, You are worth it.\u201d Over time, obedience shapes your character and reinforces your intimacy with Him, confirming that His ways are truly good.<\/p>\n Jesus, I want my obedience to come from love. When Your commands feel difficult, remind me of Your sacrifice and Your goodness. Give me grace to say \u201cyes\u201d even when it is uncomfortable. Amen.<\/p>\n Identify one specific command or principle of Jesus that you\u2019ve been avoiding. Take one small step to obey it today, trusting His heart towards you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Key Scripture: “If you love me, keep my commands.” – John 14:15 (NIV) Reflection: Jesus links love and obedience: \u201cIf you love Me, keep My commands.\u201d Obedience is not meant to be a cold religious duty; it is the natural response of a heart that has been captured by His love. You are not trying […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotionals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.illuminatedgospel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.illuminatedgospel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.illuminatedgospel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.illuminatedgospel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.illuminatedgospel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging.illuminatedgospel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1385\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.illuminatedgospel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.illuminatedgospel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.illuminatedgospel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Reflection:<\/h5>\n
Prayer:<\/h5>\n
Today\u2019s Action Step:<\/h5>\n