Good morning people who follow the example of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

John 14:23-24 NIV Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.”

I know we talked about this profound mystery and truth yesterday, but I am compelled to lean into it more. I want to pick up where I left off.

The words of Jesus and the actions of the Holy Spirit belong to and originate in the Father.

Jesus said that His words were not His own. He then amplified what He meant by this baffling statement. He said that the words we hear Him speak actually belong to the Father. They not only originate from His Father, they belong to His Father.

I want to keep the focus on God in this season of BIY, but let me point us to something briefly by way of a challenge.

If Jesus and the Holy Spirit only act in response to their Father’s initiation, why do we as created beings struggle so much with submission to the Father’s will?

Jesus and the Holy Spirit are all-powerful, yet they fully submit to their Father. Therefore, strength is not the evidence of a lack of submission, nor is it the evidence of thinking for ourselves. In fact, maybe this is in part where many of the problems of today come from; thinking for ourselves too much and obeying the Father too little.

Jesus and the Holy Spirit are perfectly secure in who they are; they are God. They are also perfectly submitted to the will of the Father. This is the truth about God in whose image we are created.