THE SCENARIO: Sunny loves Jesus their Lord O so much; their love for Him shines through in all they do. Sunny is very grateful for the fellowship He has given them presently, and Sunny is using their days to shine His presence in their life onto the folk around them—you know, it just sort of seems to shine out of Sunny naturally because of this deep abiding love they have for Him. We love being around Sunny.
In the outworking of this scenario please consider the following:
1. In some ways Sunny reminds us of John the Beloved. We are almost sure that if Sunny would have been graced to sit next to our Lord at the Last Supper that they would have reclined on His bosom like John did (Jhn 13:23). It is so wonderful that we have a Master like that—we mean to say, He is so accessible and personable. And Sunny senses this accessibility and embraces it with all their being. Who in the Scriptures does Sunny remind you of? How about you Christian friend, are you like Sunny?
2. Sunny is convinced of the manifest presence of our Lord in their life. In fact, Sunny would proclaim that it is His very fellowship that engages their love and animates their discipleship. That is, Sunny’s love is not one-sided on their part in that they sense the manifest love of our Lord engaging their own love for Him and sustaining and cultivating the same. We suppose that our Lord’s fellowship with Sunny is quite uniquely tailor-made just for Sunny, in the same way that His fellowship with all of His true followers is probably quite uniquely tailored just for each of them. Would you agree with that premise? In the privacy of your heart, please consider how He unmistakeably manifests Himself to you in your walk with Him. Consider how He has nurtured your relationship with Himself. Could you say that He has brought you to ever deeper understandings of Himself, as also to ever deeper understandings of your special value to Himself? How has He done this? What do you suppose is His purpose/s for gracing you with His blessed fellowship? Have you ever talked to Him about this so as to find out?
3. Sunny exudes the sweet aroma of their Lord. This is surely the reason why Sunny is such a delight to be around. And it seems as though Sunny does not have to work at this—their heart is so prayerfully focused on loving their Lord that His ways have taken root in Sunny’s being; consequentially, all their relationships are marvelously and fruitfully blessed. Please consider here Sgs 1:3 and 2Cr 2:14; how does knowledge of the Lord (=His ways) come from loving Him?
4. This point is an extension of point three just above. For starters, please consider Jhn 14:15 and compare to Hab 2:4b where righteousness buds forth out of faith—the causal mechanism (=driving force) seems to be the same in both verses—would you agree? With that in mind, please discuss how loving our Lord redounds quite naturally to keeping His commandments, which in turn redounds to multifaceted fruitfulness. Conversely, discuss how keeping His commandments reflects deep love for Him. Finally, what about breaches of His commandments by a believer—would Jesus see that as not loving Him—depends on whether the breach is practiced and protracted (that is, the above causal mechanism is not in force for said believer), or maybe the breach was just a slip, or maybe done out of ignorance—what do you think: Does Jesus weigh such motivations in regard to our love for Him? Please defend Scripturally.
5. Our friend Sunny is a walking portrait of the “joy of the LORD” (Neh 8:10). It really does seem to us that Sunny’s strength comes from their joy of the LORD, as said here in Nehemiah, for they seem to hold an even keel in all weather. How precisely would the joy of the LORD translate into one’s strength? Please discuss this with respect to the setting of this verse in Nehemiah. Would you agree that a deep abiding love of the Lord is tantamount to the joy of the Lord and vice versa?
6. Sunny’s love of God, as also our love for Him, derives from God’s love—we love because He first loved us (1Jo 4:19). How do you understand this verse?
7. Finally, we are struck by the fact that Sunny did not choose our Lord a priori, but He chose Sunny first for a lifetime and eternity of fellowship (consider Jhn 15:15-17). All Sunny did was simply accept His offer of fellowship (Redemption–>Salvation). What proof/s would you offer an inquiring unbeliever that they too have been chosen by our God for a lifetime and eternity of intimate fellowship with Himself. How would you explain to them what that call to fellowship “sounds like” so they can recognize it when it comes their way?