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. John 14:21

This short verse out of the gospel of John contains one of the great promises in all of scripture. It offers the possibility that in the future (from the time of the writing) Jesus would show himself to believers. The word translated as “show” is the Greek word “emphanizo.” In various versions it is translated as show, disclose, manifest, reveal, make fully known, appear, make visible, and so forth.

We can understand this promise in a number of ways. We can understand that Jesus is promising a clearer understanding of who he is and how he operates in his church as we study the Word and meditate on it. We could understand him to be promising that we might hear him more clearly as he speaks to us through his Spirit. He might also be saying that he would display his love and power through us as we minister to others so that they might see Jesus in us. We could even understand this scripture in a way that promises that Jesus might even visit us in visions and dreams.

I personally believe that each of those possibilities is in the mix and that this greater and greater revelation of Jesus has the potential to be a life long process as we grow in our understanding and love for him. They key is in understanding how to release the promise. First of all, Jesus offers the promise to whoever has his commands. To have his commands implies both knowing and possessing. Many of us plan on growing in our love for Jesus without being established in his Word. We plan on praying and worshipping our way into an intimate relationship with Jesus while we continue to live life on our own terms.   Certainly prayer and worship are essential to the relationship but in this text Jesus is placing a premium on knowing his commands and taking ownership of them as his directives for living. There is an abundance of believers today who attend church, play K-Love, and pray daily for God’s blessings but who have significant parts of their lives “unsubmitted” to Jesus. They may be ignorant of his commands or have simply chosen to live by those that feel good and reject those that don’t. That will not bring the revelation of Jesus to our lives.

Secondly, he says that those who have his commands must also obey them. He defines that as a true expression of love. Love always directs us to do what blesses and honors the other person. Love is also expressed by submission. In scripture, children are to submit to parents, wives are to submit to husbands and husbands to wives (submit one to another – Eph.5:21) – and we all are to willingly submit to the Lord. Willing submission to the needs or directives of another is an expression of love as we live to please the other person. Willing submission is also a statement of belief that the one giving the directives or commands can be trusted because they love us and would only command us to do those things that will bless us.

Many of us declare our love to God and then live in disobedience. A friend of my wife Susan and mine has had some issues with the law lately and is spending some time in jail. She has written us to tell us how close she has gotten to Jesus since being imprisoned and was telling us about a great time of personal worship the other day. She said the Lord spoke to her clearly saying, “Worship me by obeying me.” That’s a good word for all of us.

Consistent obedience is truly an indicator of how we view Jesus. Is he Lord? Is he wise? Is he right? Is he trustworthy? Does he love us? If the answer is yes to each of those questions then why would we not obey him in all things? If we don’t live a life of obedience then we must answer “No” to some, if not all, of those questions. The way we live displays what we truly think about Jesus.

The revelation and manifestation of Jesus Christ is a precious commodity like getting an hour with the President of the United States or the CEO of a worldwide company. Their time and knowledge is precious and should be entrusted only to those who are trustworthy in the use of that time and knowledge. We are trustworthy if we are faithful and obedient. If we possess Christ’s commands and willingly obey them, then that is a true test of love and if we love the Son, the Father also takes notice. Ultimately, the reward for loving Jesus is his presence. After all, don’t we want to spend our time with those who love us, trust us, and appreciate us? Why wouldn’t Jesus feel the same?

If we want more of Jesus we will have to give him more of ourselves. If you are not connecting with Jesus or getting a greater revelation of him in your life, you may want to run an audit on your life to see if willing obedience motivated by love is consistently on the books. Be blessed and be obedient – even in the hard things. Then Jesus will gladly come to you.