Joy Through Love

John 15:9-17 (NLT)
⁹ “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love.
¹⁰ When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.
¹¹ I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!
¹² This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.
¹³ There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command.
¹⁵ I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.
¹⁶ You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name.
¹⁷ This is my command: Love each other. 
For us to experience real joy every day we must remain in the love with which Jesus has loved us. Then in verse 10 Jesus tells us how to remain in His love. We remain in Jesus' love when we obey Him. Have you seen any unhappy Christians lately? Now we know why they are so unhappy, it's because they are not obeying their Lord and Master. His joy remains in us as we do what He says. He uses Himself as an example of obedience. Whatever the Father told Jesus to do, He did it without hesitation. In that obedience to the Father's will, Jesus kept Himself in the Father's love.
Jesus said He is telling us these things so that our joy may be full. In fact Jesus says it will overflow. How would you like to overflow with the love of God no matter what circumstance or situation you find yourself in?
It is possible as we are obedient to God's word as given us in the bible.
Jesus commands us to love others as He has loved us. His love is unconditional. We are to love others even when they don't please us. There is no greater love we can show others than when we lay down our will to serve someone else's need. Love must have an expression, it's not just words but it is an action toward someone else.
Jesus goes on to say that we are His friends if we obey Him. The opposite is if we don't obey we are not His friend. Jesus says that He confides in you and I. He shares with us all that the Father has told Him. That makes us Jesus' friend if we do what the Father has told Jesus we should do.
When you got saved, you might have thought you chose Jesus but in reality according to this word from Jesus, He chose you. That should make you feel joyful that Jesus would choose you. That's how much love He has for you.
Jesus has appointed us to go and keep on producing this fruit of love wherever we go and at all times. If we do, we will not only receive whatever we ask the Father in Jesus' name, but we will remain in the love of Jesus to the point of it overflowing out of our lives into the lives of others. So now you know how to always be full of God's love, be obedient to His words. This implies a very close, intimate relationship to God to where you will experience His love moving in you each and every day. He will reveal more of Himself to you as you live your life in obedience to Him.
Have you ever even experienced this love of Jesus in your life at all? If not you are missing out on life's greatest blessing and you will also miss heaven. Everyone must admit and confess their sins to God and ask Jesus Christ to for give those sins. Then you must invite Him into your life to take charge of you. When you do this, you will experience the love of God like you never thought possible. Then you will be able to share that love with those around you and you will experience the overflowing love of Jesus in your life to the point of whatever you ask the Father in Jesus' name, He will do it.